Sunday’s win was nice, but it’s time to temper our Canucks expectations

After going through a few hellish weeks due to a COVID outbreak, the Vancouver Canucks returned to the ice on Sunday and shocked the hockey world by winning against the Maple Leafs.

Many fans, myself included, were obviously elated after the game, and it’s natural to wonder if this team could go on a run following the win. After all, if they could emerge victorious after such a long layoff, isn’t it possible that they could string together some solid performances and make up some ground in the North Division?

Not so fast.

While Sunday’s win was one for the ages, Vancouver was still outshot 39-24 and outplayed for most of the night. Braden Holtby had to give his best performance as a Canuck to even keep his team in the game, so it’s unrealistic to expect him to keep that up.

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Moreover, it’s likely that the team was getting a huge adrenaline boost that won’t carry over into future games. They’re still far from being in hockey shape and might experience a huge drop in stamina due to the condensed schedule, so it’s more probable that Vancouver will struggle for the remainder of the season than use Sunday’s win as a jumping-off point for a playoff push.

The goal, then, should still be to get through this year healthy so that the players can have a full offseason to recover and train. Remember, this team went 6-10 to begin the season when they played 16 games over the span of 27 days, which is comparable to the 19 in 32 that they’re embarking on right now.

If Vancouver struggled that much with a similar schedule and a healthy lineup, how could we expect them to perform a lot better after fighting off a deadly virus that attacks respiratory systems?

The answer is, we can’t. Again, the goal should be getting through the rest of the season without any injuries, and any wins would be a cherry on top. So please don’t overreact to Sunday’s victory; it wasn’t a sign of things to come.

But what do you think, Canucks fans? Am I being too harsh on the team? Let us know in the comments below!