Canucks: Three takeaways from disappointing 3-2 loss to Minnesota Wild

The Vancouver Canucks were finally playing a game without tarps and fake crowd noises that sounded like the screams from the pits of hell.

For the first time since March 10, 2020, their were fans in the stands at Rogers Arena cheering on the boys in blue and green.

It is the first of a seven game homestand for the Canucks after spending the first six games of the season on the road.

The Canucks honoured essential and frontline workers before the game and rightfully so.  It has been a tough 19 months for them and they have been giving their all for us during the pandemic. If you are a frontline or essential worker reading this, we salute you.  It would be a lot harder to go through these rough times without you.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry was also there to crank the siren before the game.

The Canucks also put out an epic intro video for fans in the stands. It wasn’t shown on the broadcast but here it is below.

Big props goes to the people who made this video. J.T. Miller as a lumberjack?! Quinn Hughes taking his jersey of a backpack like Peter Parker?! Elias Pettersson as a Jedi?! What’s there not to like!

Unfortunately, the game wasn’t as exciting as the intro video.

The Wild were playing their third road game and in four nights but it was the Canucks who look like they were out of gas. They didn’t have much to begin with, to be honest.

Alex Chiasson got the Canucks on the board which came on the power play in the second period. Bo Horvat managed to get the Canucks within a goal with a great solo effort late in the third.

Mats Zuccarello, Jonas Brodin and Matt Dumba got the goals for the Wild.

” We didn’t converge,” said head coach Travis Green after the game. “We didn’t create enough. We have to find a way to create more chances. I think we’re defending a lot better, but we still have to create.”

The Canucks did have the puck a lot but they weren’t creating much scoring chances. They were playing with no energy and no urgency especially in the third period. It was like they were on autopilot all game.

It also felt like the team wasn’t clicking together and it makes you question what their system even is.

Overall, it was a disappointing and poor effort from the home team.

Alright, here are three takeaways from the Canucks 3-2 home loss to the Wild.

Defence was giving the Wild easy chances

The Canucks defence did not look good on paper before the season started. Seven games into the season, the defence hasn’t looked good at all.

Vancouver gave the puck away six times in the game. (Though it seems like it was more.)

On the first goal, Tucker Poolman and Hughes left Zuccarello all alone.

Poolman by the way, left the game in the second period and did not return. According to Thomas Drance of The Athletic, it is an upper body injury.

There was an unacceptable turnover from Jack Rathbone in the second which lead to Brodin’s goal.

There were a lot of turnovers and odd man rushes. The Canucks defence looked so careless coming out of their own zone and made a bunch of ill-advised passes.

The Wild went through the Canucks defence like they were a turnstile at a Skytrain station except they didn’t need a Compass Card to go through.

It isn’t going to be fun watching this defence as the season goes on.

Elias Pettersson invisible again

Yes, he assisted on Chiasson’s goal. It was a nice pass.

Other than that, Pettersson didn’t look like himself again.

Per NaturalStatTrick, Pettersson had a 50% Corsi For percentage but analytics don’t tell the whole story.

He looked like he was overthinking on the power play. Pettersson was hesitating to shoot and kept passing instead.

At five-on five, Pettersson looked invisible. He was missing like Luke Skywalker in The Force Awakens.

Like the rest of the team, he wasn’t taking shots on goal, (he had two the entire game and was barely shooting.) or creating plays like he usually does. Pettersson looked slower out there and it has been a rough start to the season for the 2017 fifth overall pick.

“I thought his game was average tonight,” said Green on Pettersson.

The Canucks need their best players to perform. It’s obvious at this point. Pettersson is the best player on the Canucks, and he needs to get going.

Yes, he hasn’t played a lot of hockey over the last calendar year. Yes, he has missed training camp due to contract negotiations but he has to figure it out soon.

It’s natural to be worried about Pettersson’s start, and I’m sure he will figure it out at some point and this homestand is a perfect opportunity.

It just can’t come soon enough.