Vancouver Canucks Record First No-Excuse Loss vs. Senators

The Vancouver Canucks were shut out at home by the worst defensive team in the NHL, the Ottawa Senators, and we are out of excuses.

After two straight losses on a California road trip, Vancouver Canucks fans were not too worried. Six games in nine days, the final two being back-to-back, on the road, against two of the toughest-to-beat Pacific teams. Those were not just excuses, but legitimate reasoning for why you might “only” get nine points out of your first six games.

But getting shut out at home against the Ottawa Senators? Really?

Actively searching for excuses, I can’t find any. Seven games in 11 games are still tough, but this one was back at home and it’s in the first stages of the season, so that isn’t really an excuse anymore. Other teams have similar schedules.

We always knew the Canucks were bad at scoring goals. The top line is still headlined by the Sedin twins, but they are aging and declining, whether you want it or not.

Behind that, there still isn’t much. Sven Baertschi is still far from being a 50-point scorer, Bo Horvat can’t carry the load by himself, and there is always the “who’s on our right wing” question.

But even with the current offensive lineup the Canucks have, at least one goal should be possible against the team that records the most five-on-five goals against in the NHL.

Searching for Reasons

As I said, I can’t find excuses for this one. Objective reasoning is even harder to do.

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Derek Dorsett is injured. There are actually people who said they wish Dorsett was there. But if the Canucks get to the stage where an injury to Derek Dorsett makes a win impossible, they are in real trouble.

What about Alex Burrows then? He’s also injured and was missing from the fourth line. Burrows’ career is a perfect “zero to hero” story, but he is headed right back for zero right now. He is still a valuable leader, but he can’t be the reason for a loss either — at least not when he is off the ice.

Which leaves us with the injury to Chris Tanev. The 26-year-old defenceman is in his prime, and he is the Canucks’ top defenceman. Losing him could totally cost the game, right?

Not quite. Rookie Troy Stecher filled in for Tanev, going from Utica to the Canucks’ top pairing, and was arguably the best player on the team. Having Tanev on the third pairing instead of Philip Larsen would probably help, but not having him on the top pairing really wasn’t the issue either.

Last night, there were three games where the losing team had three goals. The Arizona Coyotes lost 5-3 against the New Jersey Devils, the Buffalo Sabres lost 4-3 against the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 7-3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

A team can get scored on three times but still win — the Canucks just beat themselves in this one by not scoring a single time.

There are no excuses.

Conclusion

So what’s the conclusion? The Canucks need to win again ASAP.

After last game, I said it wasn’t time to panic. After this one, it isn’t really either. Every team has a terrible game every once in a while, every team gets shut out on occasion, and every team can lose three in a row.

Next: Canucks Goaltending Good Enough to Steal Games

We can only hope things change again soon. The come-from-behind Canucks turned into the stay-behind-forever Canucks way too quickly this season.