It’s been a tale of two teams for the Vancouver Canucks.
The club played four games this week, but each contest was wildly different. After a convincing, shutout effort on Monday night against the Winnipeg Jets, the Canucks returned to Bell MTS Place exactly 24 hours later, hoping to lock their second only back-to-back win of the season.
It didn’t go exactly as planned.
The team put up yet another unconvincing performance, filled with last-second goals, minimal bottom-six scoring, costly turnovers, and glaring defensive issues. The fanbase started to prepare for the absolute worst shortly after the loss, impatiently waiting for Auston Matthews and co. to steamroll into town and swiftly take care of business, much like they did to the Edmonton Oilers.
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Again, that didn’t go exactly as planned either.
The Canucks were able to come away with two back-to-back victories in convincing fashion, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished this season since the Ottawa Senators came to town, and they even kept Matthews and other Toronto superstar Mitch Marner away from the scoresheet.
Games played:
- Vancouver Canucks (4) @ Winnipeg Jets (0)
- Vancouver Canucks (2) @ Winnipeg Jets (5)
- Toronto Maple Leafs (1) @ Vancouver Canucks (3)
- Toronto Maple Leafs (2) @ Vancouver Canucks (4)
And don’t forget to add on the Friday morning video press conference from general manager Jim Benning, which might go down as the most frustrating, trivial address in recent Canucks history, depending on how the rest of the season unfolds.
Like we said, it’s a confusing time to be a Vancouver Canucks fan right now.
Nonetheless, the team was able to secure six out of a possible eight points this past week, and are taking the right steps to stay close with the Calgary Flames and to keep their distance from the lowly Senators. And, as a result, we’ve had a higher-than-usual amount of players to choose from for this weekly segment.
Let’s take a look at The Canuck Way’s three stars of the week.