3 takeaways from the Canucks’ 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets last night
Well, the honeymoon period lasted a single day for the Vancouver Canucks. That’s still better than nothing, right?
After shutting out Winnipeg 4-0 on Monday night, the Canucks reverted back to their old ways by bleeding scoring chances against and staying winless when the opposition opens the scoring. At least I was able to say that the team was undefeated in March in yesterday’s post-game article.
Here are three takeaways from last night’s loss to the Jets.
The struggles of Holtby
At the beginning of the season, no one faulted either Braden Holtby or Thatcher Demko for posting ugly numbers since the team was giving away breakaways like candy on Halloween.
The Canucks are still conceding way too many chances, but they have cleaned up a lot of their previous defensive struggles. Unfortunately, Holtby has continued to let in soft goals, which has cost Vancouver the chance to win games.
Jets have only been worth 2.2 expected goals in this game, according to @NatStatTrick, or just a bit more than half of their actual haul.
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) March 3, 2021
Holtby’s form is a problem. #Canucks
Kyle Connor’s power-play goal, in particular, was one that Holtby would like back.
What a shot, Kyle Connor! 🚨 @KyleConnor18 pic.twitter.com/T44yGtpf0X
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) March 3, 2021
I understand the decision to roll with Holtby on the second night of a back-to-back, but Travis Green should seriously consider riding with Demko for the time being as long as he’s fresh.
It’s important to remember that Holtby is still getting acclimated with his new team after spending his entire career with the Capitals. It took Jacob Markstrom half a season under Ian Clark’s tutelage before he started playing like a top goalie, so we need to be patient with Holtby and give him more time.
A tale of two power plays
A the start of the season, many fans were concerned about the Canucks power play, which ranked top five in the league last season.
After the first few games, the team began to convert on the man advantage, but it has since cooled off again. Over the past month, it seems like Vancouver either scores right away on the power play or struggles to even enter the offensive zone, and we witnessed both of those things last night as well.
On the Canucks’ first power play, they spent most of the time cycling in the neutral zone and being turned back by Winnipeg whenever they tried to enter the offensive zone.
It was an entirely different story on their second man-advantage opportunity, as J.T. Miller wasted no time in blasting home a one-timer to cut the lead to one.
#Canucks on the PP and JT Miller beats Brossoit with a rocket one-timer with under 5 seconds left in the middle frame pic.twitter.com/NvtwA0VKTb
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) March 3, 2021
With the second power-play unit struggling mightily so far this year, Vancouver needs to lean heavily on its top group to generate chances, and the best way to do that is by maintaining consistent offensive zone time. Even if they don’t score, those chances will create momentum for the team and help with their confidence levels as well.
Defensive woes resurfaced
24 hours after the Canucks played their best defensive game of the season, the team followed it up with their usual — that is to say, awful — two-way efforts.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s takeaways article, Vancouver only allowed five high danger scoring chances against (HDCA) and an expected goals against (xGA) of 1.9 at five on five, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Well, they reverted back to their old ways last night, giving up 10 HDCA and 2.73 xGA in the game. What’s perhaps more worrying is that the Canucks did this while also being sub-par on offence, generating only 1.52 expected goals for at five on five.
It seems like the team isn’t capable of playing a solid offensive and defensive game at the same time, but ticking off one box is still better than none.
Vancouver’s main problem continues to be the abundance of odd-man rushes that they give up, which was evident on Mason Appleton’s goal that opened the scoring for Winnipeg.
Jets open the scoring after Holtby makes the initial save off Lowry but Appleton drives the net and is able to chip the puck in on the rebound. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/z2E4xMo2Eh
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) March 3, 2021
It’s a difficult problem to solve because the Canucks’ aggressive forecheck is naturally susceptible to these odd-man rushes, but the team will struggle to score if they undergo a drastic stylistic change.
I’m not sure what the solution to this is, and it seems like the coaching staff doesn’t either.
Other notes
- Vancouver is now 0-13 when conceding the first goal. It’s safe to say that the team needs to have more pushback when trailing, which is difficult when this trend has gone on for so long. Travis Green also needs to be able to find different ways to motivate his players to get the most out of them.
- Travis Hamonic played perhaps his best game in a Canucks uniform on Monday night, but made a mistake that led to Appleton’s opening goal last game. Personally, I’d still like to see Quinn Hughes paired with Jordie Benn instead of Hamonic, as Vancouver was at their best defensively this season when those two were alongside one another.
- Elias Petterson now has goals in five straight games after scoring the same amount in the first 21 matches of the season. I fully expect him to end the year at a higher than a point-per-game pace and has shown that his early struggles were just a blip on the radar.
Next. Canucks: Is Thatcher Demko’s first shutout a sign of what’s to come?. dark
The Canucks are right back at it on Thursday as they return home to host the Maple Leafs. Puck drops at 7 PM Pacific Time, and they’ll need to be at their best if they hope to slow down a red-hot Toronto squad.