The Vancouver Canucks quite possibly might have recorded their worst loss of the season on Tuesday night.
The team, who was coming off a convincing 3-1 victory against Winnipeg just 24 hours prior, was looking to sweep their two-game mini series at Bell MTS Place.
It did not go as planned. Not even in the slightest.
The Canucks were absolutely thumped in the second half of their back-to-back, falling to the Jets by a score of 5-0. It was tough hockey to watch for much of the 60 minutes, but understandably so at this point in the season.
This was the team’s first contest since officially being mathematically eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, and it was clear that their motivation and overall desire to play had completely dissipated.
Factor in their unforgiving and seemingly-never-ending schedule over the past three weeks, as well as numerous nagging injuries and ongoing battles with COVID-19 recovery, and you can see why fans are suffering through the worst stretch of Canucks hockey in the past decade (and will probably continue to suffer through for the remaining five games of the year).
With that being said, here are three takeaways from last night’s loss:
Canucks can’t score against Winnipeg
Maybe it’s fatigue from having played nine games in 14 nights. Or maybe it’s a combination of frustration and burn-out from having to rely solely on three or four players to put up the points. Heck, it could even just be, by sheer luck, that you don’t have the better goalie on your side that night.
Whatever it is, the Canucks were once again unable to score goals against the Jets.
The team recorded a measly 24 shots on goal, and were outshot and out-chanced at the end of each period. There were a few instances of offensive pressure and intensity throughout the contest, but, overall, the Canucks made it way too easy for their opponents.
Connor Hellebuyck recorded his fourth career shutout against the Canucks, the most against any other team that he’s played in the league.
This also marked Winnipeg’s third shutout victory against the Canucks this season alone. The first came at the hands of backup netminder Laurent Brossoit in mid-February, and the second happened in Vancouver on March 22nd, a few days before the team’s COVID-19 outbreak.
Yes, the team is still without one of their main goal-scorers and point-producers in Elias Pettersson, who has been dealing with a wrist injury for the past several months. But that excuse has long since dried up.
The Canucks don’t need to be looking for wins at this junction of their campaign, but it’s about time that the secondary scorers step up to the plate and at least attempt to salvage their point totals before the offseason.