Canucks: 3 takeaways from disheartening 5-1 loss to Anaheim

Nils Höglander, Jaroslav Halak deliver once again

Apparently Nils Höglander and Jaroslav Halak were the only two players who wanted to round out the road trip with a win.

For what seems like the millionth time this season, the Canucks were unable to string together a full team effort, once again relying on the efforts of a few players to carry them through three periods.

And on Sunday night, the onus fell on Höglander and Halak.

Let’s start with Höglander.

The young Swede easily had his best game of the year on Saturday, notching two goals and one assist in just over 10 minutes of ice time, and didn’t take his foot off the pedal heading into Sunday.

As expected, Höglander assumed his regular position in top-six forward rotation, skating alongside Miller and Tanner Pearson for the second consecutive game, and it appeared to pay off.

After receiving a pass from blueliner Quinn Hughes in their own end, Höglander took off with speed, maneuvering his way through multiple Anaheim players before snapping the puck past John Gibson to open the scoring.

This was only the fourth time this year that Vancouver notched the first goal of the game, and it was the second straight opening marker that Höglander was part of. The former 2019 second round selection continued to play at an elite level for the remainder of the game, putting his tenacity, energy and determination on full display.

Even though the other three lines desperately need to be fixed, it was great to see Höglander flourish with his new linemates. With Miller consistently winning faceoffs and with Pearson able to dig out pucks from the corners, this combination could really bode well for Höglander, who finished the road trip with four goals and one assist.

The goaltending was also a bright spot for Vancouver on Sunday.

As expected, head coach Travis Green went with Halak between the pipes after Thatcher Demko was hung out to dry for 13 goals in the previous two outings, including seven against Vegas just 22 hours prior.

The 36-year-old stood tall from the beginning, much like he had done in his first three contests with his new club. Similar to Demko, unfortunately, Halak once again had zero run support from his teammates in front of him, and was consistently peppered with pucks throughout the game.

Vancouver was outshot at the end of each period, highlighted by 13 shots in the first period alone. In the end, Halak stopped 33 of 37 shots faced, bringing his record to 0-3-1 with a .903 SV% and 2.80 GAA.

But hey – at least the Canucks are giving equal treatment to both of their goalies, right?