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.

Höglander leads the way; Myers, Ekman-Larsson strong on the backend

Höglander’s shoulders are probably pretty sore from carrying the team on his back at T-Mobile Arena.

The young Swede easily played his best game of the year on Saturday night, once again proving why he’s one of Vancouver’s best forwards in the line-up.

For most of the season, Höglander found his success alongside Pearson and Bo Horvat, but was able to adapt with Miller down the middle instead, contributing the primary assist on the team’s opening goal.

Like we’ve seen all year, Höglander continued to put his energy and speed on full display every time he hit the ice, battling hard against the boards and going up against much-larger opponents for the remainder of the night.

It wasn’t a perfect game for Höglander, whose poor clearing attempt ultimately led to Vegas’s third goal of the contest, but give credit to the kid for bouncing back.

Höglander finished the night with two goals and one assist, marking the first three-point performance of his young career. In particular, fans were able to witness different sides of Hoglander’s game on each of his goals.

The former 2019 second round selection showcased his never-ending tenacity on his first goal, never giving up on the play after the puck squeaked through the pads of Robin Lehner. Höglander also gave us a glimpse of his sick mitts, kicking the puck from skate to stick before burying the rebound in the yawning cage.

Given the final results, we wouldn’t be surprised if Green once again puts his lines in a blender before Sunday’s contest in Anaheim. Fortunately for fans, it appears that Höglander will continue to produce no matter who he plays with.

There were also some shining moments on the blueline, thanks to Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Tyler Myers.

Let’s start with OEL.

The former Arizona Coyote has performed well since moving from the desert, giving Vancouver a formidable one-two punch on the left side of the blueline with Quinn Hughes.

No, Ekman-Larsson hasn’t exactly lit up the scoresheet in his first 15 games with Vancouver, only registering one goal and two assists so far, but the 30-year-old continues to lead in other ways, which was once again evident on Saturday night.

Ekman-Larsson didn’t hesitate to jump into the fight in the first period after Vegas blueliner Brayden McNabb took a run at Russian rookie Vasily Podkolzin, something we haven’t seen from this team for much of the season, especially on Thursday. Unfortunately, Ekman-Larsson was on the wrong end of the outcome, receiving his second double minor in as many games, but it’s heartening to see your veteran players stand up for the young guns.

Ekman-Larsson finished the evening with one SOG, one hits and two blocked shots in just under 20 minutes of ice time, including 2:13 on the powerplay and 2:47 shorthanded.

Now onto Myers.

Like we’ve seen all year, and for majority of his time in Vancouver, Myers did have some glaring faults on Saturday, particularly on Vegas’s third and seventh goals of the contest, but the former Winnipeg Jet still deserves some praise.

Myers has been carrying the defensive load on the right side of the blueline for much of the season, and it didn’t get much easier on Saturday night. With both Travis Hamonic and Tucker Poolman unavailable in Vegas, the coaching staff had to roll with Kyle Burroughs and Madison Bowey on the bottom-two pairings, ultimately adding more responsibility onto Myers’ plate.

As a result, the 31-year-old logged big minutes on Saturday, finishing just behind Hughes for the second-highest TOI with 23:30. He also led the way with 5:46 on the penalty kill.

Say what you want about Myers and his chaotic play with the puck, but the big man definitely hasn’t been Vancouver’s biggest problem to start the season.