If the Vancouver Canucks are to get back in this series against the Vegas Golden Knights, they’ll need more from the star players.
The Vancouver Canucks have learned just how quickly things can change in 48 hours.
On Friday, the team was celebrating a first round upset over the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. For young stars such as Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Quinn Hughes, this was undoubtedly the highlight of their professional careers thus far.
Two days later, the Canucks opened up the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights. But it didn’t take long to realize that this wouldn’t be Vancouver’s night.
The faster, deeper, tougher, more skilled and experienced Golden Knights dominated the Canucks in every single aspect, skating away with an easy 5-0 victory in Game 1.
Vancouver isn’t a slow team by any means, but they simply couldn’t keep up with the speed of the Golden Knights. Ryan Reaves shined in the the enforcer role, and now the Canucks have to find a way to get past him.
Dealing with Reaves is only part of the puzzle. If Vancouver’s young stars don’t turn it around, and quickly, this series will be over in short time.
Captain Horvat has now been held pointless in each of his last five games; his last point was the Game 2 overtime winner against the Blues. Vegas limited him to just two shots on goal in 16:41 time on ice.
Hughes was often a target of the Golden Knights’ physical play on Sunday, and they caused him to commit several uncharacteristic turnovers.
Obviously, the Canucks need the likes of Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle to get in there and provide assistance for Hughes. But somehow, and someway, the Canucks need their top blueliner to regain that All-Star form.
Boeser has been limited to one goal over his last five outings. Both he and Pettersson were held to zero shots in the Game 1 loss. If the Golden Knights find a way to eliminate the production of the top line, Vancouver won’t stand much of a chance.
A lot is going to have to go right if Vancouver is to climb back in this series. But any potential turnaround starts with better production from its top players — namely Horvat, Boeser, Hughes and Pettersson.
Otherwise, if the Canucks aren’t getting the most out of their star core, the thrilling and promising 2019-20 season will end sooner rather than later.