The Vancouver Canucks (0-1-2) lose for the third straight game, falling 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Conor Garland’s power play goal was the only offence the Canucks could generate, while Artūrs Šilovs stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced. Vancouver has now scored just three goals in their last seven periods, with zero coming at even strength from the top six.
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Once again, the Canucks failed to put forward a full 60-minute effort. If not for Šilovs, who was solid in goal, Vancouver would have been down multiple goals after the first period. Despite eventually finding their legs in the second, they could not solve Andrei Vasilevskiy, scoring just once on 27 shots.
When asked about his team’s lack of goal-scoring, Head Coach Rick Tocchet said, “Sometimes, there’s a rebound, and we’re on the wrong side. To score goals, you have to have a bit of a hockey IQ, and I think sometimes we lose our focus, even when the pucks in front. But yeah, we had a couple of chances in the pipe, and we missed the net.”
The biggest positive from the game was the penalty kill, which went five for five against one of the NHL’s best power play. The penalty kill allowed only three shots on goal while also generating two shots against Vasilevskiy. Overall, Vancouver did a great job of breaking up zone entries, which resulted in the Lightning spending a large portion of their power plays retrieving pucks from their own end.
Tocchet was also asked post-game if not having a win on the season would impact the players. He responded, “I hope not. You gotta dig. We’re gonna play another good team, Florida. Cup champs, you gotta be ready to play. You gotta come to the rink every day trying to get better, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”
Arguably, the Canucks best player was Garland, who scored the only goal of the game. He was all over the ice, finishing the night tied for the team lead with four shots on goal. Garland also saw significant time on both the power play as well as the penalty kill and was credited with drawing two penalties. Three games in, Garland has been one of, if not Vancouver’s top forwards and was rewarded tonight with his first power play goal of the season.
While this game had some positive aspects, Vancouver as a team needs to find a way to elevate its performance. Even Tocchet made it clear that he wasn’t too pleased with some players’ performances, saying post-game, “We just need some guys to pick it up.” While it is…