Canucks: 3 takeaways from 4-2 loss to Maple Leafs

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Bo Horvat and the Vancouver Canucks slotted into Hockey Night in Canada’s main time slot on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Here’s what we learned.

The clouds grow dark over the pacific west coast as the Vancouver Canucks were bested by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday evening.

After a disappointing loss on Thursday against the nation’s capital Ottawa Senators, Vancouver really needed a bounce-back win in order to keep things in check in the tightly packed Pacific Division. Thatcher Demko got the nod from coach, Travis Green, and you knew he would be eager to turn things around and get back on track.

Both teams looking to be in very similar situations. The two Canadian clubs each building a young core, but trying to make the next step with a playoff berth in 2020. Each team very offensively gifted with a fairly balanced defensive match-up, but ultimately Toronto with the advantage in goal.

Demko would need to step his game up and be equal to Toronto’s Frederik Andersen if Canucks were going to find a win. He let in a few soft goals early on, but the Canucks, with all the momentum late, failed to tie the game and force 3-on-3 puck in overtime. No points in the playoff race for the Canucks, but let’s dive into three takeaways from the Saturday night bout.

Thatcher Demko wasn’t sharp

The Vancouver Canucks have a very reliable duo in net, but the little differences between All-Star #1 goaltender, Jacob Markstrom and rookie back up, Demko presented themselves in more ways than one on Saturday. Not to talk badly of the Canucks’ potentially future starter, but he didn’t appear particularly ready for battle.

Just like he has done in each of his last two games, the American back-stopper let in a soft goal early in the game, giving all the energy to the home crowd and placing the rest of his teammates in an uphill battle.

This one was bad and very familiar looking. A barrelling puck through traffic managed to squeak under the arm of Demko and bulge twine. Red lights flashing, crowd buzzing, Demko with his head down, everyone watching knowing it was a routine save.

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Later on, Auston Matthews was presented with his 45th goal of the season, and probably one of his easiest tallies of the game. An embarrassing half wrist shot lazily thrown on net intending to be more of a rebound to create a scoring chance rather than an actual shot. Surprisingly though, it beat an off guard Demko and again sucked the life from the visiting bench.

Heading into the third period, the Canucks had managed to find themselves tied, anyone’s game at this point. Again, without fail, Demko looks unprepared to start the period. The Leafs broke in early and got two chances on Demko and buried it to win the crowd over just 18 seconds into the final period.

Simply, Demko let in three pucks that Markstrom would have stopped. The impact of his loss is beginning to show and Demko needs to find a way to dig deep and play smarter hockey. He’s had two bad games, but it’s too early to panic. He’s shown he can be calm and find wins. Can he do it when it matters most?

It’s no secret that the Canucks roster is not at his best right now. Although they’ve gone through the majority of the season with their core players unscathed, the injury bug has hit during the playoff grind and the healthy core remaining needs to be better.

It’s one thing to be missing Brock Boeser, one of the team’s best snipers, but with their MVP goalie off the roster for the time being, and a rookie goalie expected to man the crease, the core needs to take more responsibility, shoulder a bigger role and ultimately play better defensively in front of Demko.

You can’t really blame them here. Demko had some bad looks but still managed to keep the goals against below four. He may be to blame for playing catchup, but he gave his team a chance to get back in the game. You can’t expect too much more from a rookie goalie, and that’s why the core needs to become the answer and find ways to win hockey games.

If Jim Benning wants to keep his job past 2020, he better make sure Green does what it takes to make the playoffs. It’s up to guys like Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat to rise to the occasion. They didn’t convert on Saturday and it cost them a big two points.

Tyler Myers is the Vancouver Canucks big moneymaker, but lately, he’s stunk up the joint. Just two days ago, he was a -4 against one of the league’s worst offensive teams. Saturday night versus the Maple Leafs and he was just as bad. He was a -2 at the end of the game, but he actually was on the ice for every goal against at even strength.

Combine his two disastrous performances and he’s a horribly looking -6 on the ice. For a big body guy who can move the puck well, he sure looks lost out there recently. He’s been strategically placed on the third pairing, but Green should reconsider his positioning and partner the giant with someone more reliable.

Everyone is bound to go through stretches of bad play, but with Demko in net for the next 2-4 weeks, Myers needs to be stronger in his own end. His $6 million dollar price tag demands it, and so do the Canucks faithful fans.

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Final thoughts…

No time for rest. The Canucks fly to Columbus tonight for game-action tomorrow versus the Blue Jackets. 24 hours between puck drop Saturday and Sunday gives the Canucks a slight disadvantage, but Vancouver will be desperate for a win. The game starts at 4 PM.

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