Canucks: 3 takeaways from a deflating 5-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens

How are we feeling now, Vancouver Canucks fans?

After rattling off four consecutive wins, the team has since dropped two straight games to the Canadiens by an aggregate score of 11-5. It’s been a miserable two nights for the Canucks, and the only silver lining to this is that the two clubs won’t meet again for another month. During that time, Vancouver better get its confidence back or else things will spiral out of control once again.

Here are three takeaways from last night’s deflating 5-3 loss to the Canadiens.

The power play broke through… kind of

Before the game, Vancouver was 0-21 on the man advantage on the road and was the only team in the league not to have scored on the power play away from home. Even worse is the fact that they actually had a negative one goal differential in said situations, which just shows how poor the power play has been this year on the road.

Fortunately, they finally broke through last night thanks to a gorgeous wrist shot from Elias Pettersson.

Even so, the Canucks still looked sloppy on the man advantage at times. Vancouver was gifted another power play opportunity only minutes after Petey’s goal, but the first unit failed to maintain zone time and was largely rendered useless by a Montreal penalty kill that kept the puck in the neutral zone.

It was nice to see the Canucks finally get a power play goal on the road, but the team still has a long way to go before we can start feeling confident about the special teams unit.

Demko continues to shine

I’ve been saying this for what seems like a lifetime now, but goaltending has not been the problem with the Canucks.

This is especially true with Thatcher Demko, who once again kept his team in the game even though the final boxscore looks ugly. The 25-year-old made a number of timely stops to keep the game within striking distance, especially in the first two periods.

He had one save in particular on Corey Perry that left the veteran Canadien in disbelief, and the two even appeared to exchange a few lighthearted words afterwards.

https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1356770744680775684

Moreover, Demko was just named NHL player of the week, and is inching closer and closer to becoming the team’s de facto number one goalie moving forward.

If there’s one positive you’d like to take away from last night’s game, it should be Demko’s performance.

Revenge of the Toffoli

Tyler Toffoli continues to break the hearts of Canucks fans.

The winger scored another pair of goals last night against his former team, and the manner in which he did was even more impressive. His second of the game will no doubt play on highlight reels for the rest of the week, and rightfully so.

Oh, and did I mention that he now leads the league in goals?

But wait, there’s more! Eight of his nine goals have come against Vancouver, and they were all notched in just five games.

Toffoli’s been so dominant that some Canucks players can’t even continue to ignore him, even if they’d like to.

At this point, the only thing we can do is hope that he doesn’t continue turning into Mario Lemieux every time the Canucks play Montreal.

Other notes

• Unlike the previous game, Vancouver didn’t lose last night due to a lack of energy. On the contrary, the team seemed to have found some life again, but it was their sloppy play that contributed to their demise this time around. There were many passes that were an inch or two off the mark, resulting in countless turnovers and scoring chances for the Canadiens.
• Antoine Roussel returned to the lineup following a brief absence and contributed with a goal. He celebrated by shooting an arrow to the sky, likely as a tribute to his long time agent and friend Christian Daigle, who recently passed away. It was a heartfelt moment but unfortunately couldn’t spark the team to make a comeback.
• Jake Virtanen was scratched once again to make room for Roussel, and you have to wonder just how useful he is to the team. With Calgary forward Sam Bennett also requesting a trade, many fans have already wondered whether a trade between the former first round picks is feasible. At this point, there hasn’t been any mention of a potential deal, but it’s something worth keeping your eye on.

The Canucks are right back at it tomorrow in their first meeting against the Maple Leafs this season. Toronto is currently second in the Canadian division, so Vancouver will need to have a fast turnaround if they want to come away with two points. Give us your predictions for the game in the comments below!