Vancouver Canucks: Lots to like despite loss to Tampa Bay Lightning

The Vancouver Canucks lost 5-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, but this team showed its heart, mental toughness and teamwork in a heated outing against the NHL’s top team.

They say there is no such thing as a moral loss in professional sports, but the Vancouver Canucks have plenty to be pleased about despite falling 5-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Rogers Arena on Tuesday evening.

Not only did they display such resiliency and determination in what was their first regulation loss in two weeks, but the Canucks made it be clear that they are not going to be bullied, even if the opponent is stronger or better.

Lightning forward Danick Martel used his shoulder and hit Troy Stecher during the second period, knocking the 24-year-old blueliner out of the game. The Lightning had plenty of opportunities to build on their 3-1 lead, but the Canucks wouldn’t back down.

Antoine Roussel had enough and gave his team a spark by getting into a brawl with Yanni Gourde. Even Brock Boeser got in on a giant WWE-style scrum.

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Whatever it took, the Canucks wanted Tampa Bay to know they’d have to try harder to take this team down.

The Vancouver locker room also appeared to be in a good mood, despite the loss. Roussel and blueliner Erik Gudbranson were in fine spirits, thank you very much.

“I loved it, to be honest,” Roussel said after the game, per Ed Willes of the Vancouver Sun. “I thought we played a really good game. We battled hard to come back and we had our chances.”

“We feel good about this one,” Gudbranson added, via the team’s official Twitter page.

“It was a one-goal game in the 3rd and we put them on their heels. We couldn’t get that tying goal, but give them credit, that’s a good team.”

Captain-to-be Bo Horvat also had some kind words to share for his teammates:

Yes, the end result (two points were at stake, after all), matter more than fights and brawls. But even though the Canucks were outmatched by a wide margin, they kept on pushing back and forced the league’s top team to earn the win.

This was a great learning experience for a young Vancouver team, and it’s great that they treated it like a playoff game. Because when this group finally comes together and makes a trip to the postseason, they’ll know what it takes.

Resiliency. Mental toughness. Teamwork. Physicality. It was all on display against Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, and that’s it’s okay for the Canucks to feel positive and happy despite not picking up the win.