Canucks: 3 takeaways from frustrating 7-4 loss to Vegas

The Vancouver Canucks might officially be in crisis mode.

The team made their way to Vegas on Saturday night, hoping to turn their three-game road trip around after a humiliating 7-1 loss at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night. The Canucks hadn’t necessarily been playing poorly in their first 13 games of the season, with their 5-on-5 play slowly improving each night, while also showing that they had the ability to claw back from behind to make each contest interesting, but the alarm bells definitely started to ring after their trip to Denver.

Unfortunately, the team once again underperformed on Saturday night, surrendering a touchdown of goals for the second consecutive game.

Yes, there were some bright moments from the line-up at T-Mobile Arena, particularly when compared to how the players “performed” on Thursday but, at the end of the day, this is simply unacceptable hockey from an organization who claims to be all-in when it comes to their playoff aspirations.

No matter what you think the problem is – identity, coaching staff, front office, player confidence – something needs to desperately change for this team before the matter spirals out of control in this city.

Without further ado, here are three takeaways from Saturday’s 7-4 loss to Vegas:

Strong first period (for once)

Believe it or not, there was a moment where Canucks fans thought their team might actually win this game.

The team came out ready in the opening frame, seemingly having already put Thursday’s night beatdown behind them. As expected, head coach Travis Green rolled out brand new line combinations, hoping that the adjustment wouldn’t lead to another embarrassment on the road.

In particular, Green decided it was time to steer away from the Lotto Line.

The bench boss did keep Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser together, but ultimately moved J.T. Miller back to the centre position. As a result, Jason Dickinson was slotted onto the wing for the first time this season, while Miller found himself with Tanner Pearson and Nils Höglander, another duo that had found good success in the early goings of the season.

Fortunately, it seemed to pay off right away.

On just their second shift of the game, Pearson, Höglander and Miller continued to showcase their strong, physical style of play, pressuring Vegas’s players as they tried to enter the offensive zone. The Golden Knights were able to move the puck away from the blueline to the side boards but, like we’ve seen all season, were immediately met by Höglander. The young Swede was able to gather the loose puck before sending Miller on a partial breakaway for the opening goal of the contest, a feat that Vancouver has only been able to achieve three times this season.

The first period turnaround continued on afterwards, thanks to Pearson’s second tally of the season off of a nifty cross-ice pass from Conor Garland. Unfortunately, the goal was just seconds away from being chalked up as a successful powerplay opportunity, another department that the team has been mightily struggling in, but it helped pad the lead nonetheless.

The team continued to play hard for the remainder of the opening frame, frequently getting pucks on net while also throwing their weight around to wear out the already-injured Golden Knights. Vancouver did give up a goal with just 14 seconds left in the frame, but they were still able to head into the second intermission with a well-deserved confidence boost, as well as slow progress towards their overall character redemption.

The final 40 minutes ultimately shattered those opening frame highlights, but it was a small step in the right direction for this team.

It’s moral victory season, folks.