Canucks Recap: Three stars of the week (Mar 7th – 12th)
If the Vancouver Canucks had to choose a motto this season, it would be that “old habits die hard”.
The team was coming off of one of their best weeks of the COVID-19 hockey campaign, fending off both the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs, and posting a 3-1-0 record that catapulted them back into fifth place in the Scotia North division.
They were able to carry their success and puck luck into the first of back-to-back contests against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night, securing an all-important two points in the shootout thanks to third-round heroics from the captain himself. It wasn’t the prettiest statistical performance for the boys in blue and green, but they didn’t quit when it got tough, and they found a way to produce some much-needed offence in the 11th hour.
Of course, as many Canucks fans painfully know, all good things must come to an end.
The team was blown out on Wednesday night, putting up another lopsided loss against Tyler Toffoli and his new club. They were once again outshot, out-chanced and outplayed at all ends of the ice, and they provided the Twitter world with more clips, GIFs and interview quotes that reminded all of us of their dismal, underwhelming and truly forgettable performances during the month of February.
Games played:
We’re not sure what direction the Canucks are heading in for the remainder of the season, and, to be quite frank, they probably don’t know either.
Could they go on a miraculous, President Trophy-inspired winning streak until May to steal a playoff spot from a more deserving Canadian foe? Probably too little, too late.
Will they be able to bounce back on Saturday night and shut down the league’s best duo in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl? It’s not impossible, but don’t count on it.
Will they be forced to dress a taxi squad defenceman as a bottom-six forward? It appears to be heading that way, presumably much to the delight of the hockey gods.
One thing is for certain.
The Canucks will continue to keep us on our toes and to play with our emotions, and all we can do right now is to take everything “day-by-day”.
With that being said, let’s take a look at The Canuck Way’s three stars of the week: