Canucks Recap: 3 stars of the past week (Jan 29th – Feb 4th)

The Vancouver Canucks are living through a nightmarish version of Groundhog Day.

They’ve seen their ugly, disappointing shadows, game after game, and are currently spiralling deeper and deeper into an abyss of catastrophic defensive breakdowns, plummeting expectations and dangerously low levels of effort.

If the Canucks are not able to snap out of this funk quickly, they’ll soon realize that they’ll be facing (at least) six more weeks of relentless, unforgiving defeat from their Scotia North Divisional foes.

How did they get here, you ask?

After collecting six points from the lowly Ottawa Senators during the week, the Canucks entered Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg on Saturday night, brimming with confidence and hoping to continue their winning ways against the Jets. They showcased their most complete game of the year, competing hard in every facet of their game for the full 60 minutes. They were able to come away with a convincing 4-1 victory, and were beginning to look like their old, dominant selves that we all gushed over during the bubble playoffs.

The euphoria didn’t last long at all.

The Canucks exchanged their four-game winning streak for an embarrassing three-game losing streak, first falling twice to Tyler Toffoli and the Montreal Canadiens on back-to-back nights before putting up their worst performance of the year against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. The team was outscored by an aggregate of 18-8, and were outshot 110-87 over those three contests.

Ouch, indeed.

Games played:

• Vancouver Canucks (4) @ Winnipeg Jets (1)
• Vancouver Canucks (2) @ Montreal Canadiens (6)
• Vancouver Canucks (3) @ Montreal Canadiens (5)
• Vancouver Canucks (3) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (7)

Canucks record: (6-8-0) 5th in Scotia North division

There’s no doubt that the Canucks have been disastrous on a multitude of levels, and their inconsistencies have been glaringly evident on both ends of the ice. The team is a far cry from where fans and owners expect them to be, and the boys in blue and green will need to bounce back ASAP if they want to even attempt to control the pure chaos and panic that is consuming the province.

Despite the cringe-worthy, 2015-esque style of Canuck hockey, the team did have a few bright, albeit dimly lit, spots throughout the week.

Let’s take a look at The Canuck Way’s three stars of the week:

1. Nils Höglander

Our saving grace, ladies and gentlemen.

The Canucks are officially a quarter of the way through the shortened regular season, and Nils Höglander has without a doubt been their most consistent and exciting player on the roster. He continues to cement his rightful place in the top-six forward group, and his work effort, speed and overall desire to succeed has been a breath of fresh air in this city.

On the scoresheet, Höglander has quietly had a very respectable start to his inaugural NHL campaign. He has registered three goals, four assists, 23 shots and a minus-one rating over 14 contests, and currently sits tied for third in rookie scoring league-wide. Yes, he hasn’t been lighting up the scoresheet, but it’s important to consider how he has produced given his current role with the team.

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Höglander will continue to be a regular on a secondary powerplay unit that averages less than 30 seconds of ice time per man advantage attempt, which means that, unlike his predecessors, he’s faced with the challenge of finding other means to land on the scoresheet.

Check.

All of Höglander’s points this season have come at 5-on-5, and he continues to develop solid chemistry with Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson on the second line. He should continue to contribute offensively at even strength as a result, and we’re all hoping that his production will help his team get back into the win column.

More importantly, Höglander has demonstrated how dominant he can be without the puck.

Despite his small stature, he still battles hard against the boards to retrieve the puck. He plays with grittiness and edge, no matter the experience or size of his opponent, and is amongst the league leaders in dump puck recoveries as a result. His brilliant vision, smooth puck control and creative playmaking abilities have led to numerous scoring chances in the offensive zone, and the team appears more offensively threatening when he is on the ice.

Over the past few months, Höglander has gone from “not ready to compete in the NHL” to “dark horse candidate for opening night”, and has now landed himself the title of “the next Canuck Calder candidate”. The sky’s the limit for this kid, and we all can’t wait to watch how the rest of his promising rookie performance unfolds.