Canucks: Three takeaways from demoralizing 4-2 loss to Avalanche

1. There was some effort but not enough

At least they didn’t give up seven goals, right? The bar has been set quite low.

After being outshot 9-1 in the first, the Canucks decided to turn on the gas and evened up the shots at 12 apiece when the period ended. In the second, they outshot 15-7.

The Canucks did get some good zone time. They were quick to move the puck up the ice and played with energy.

Conor Garland got the Canucks on the board with a nice effort to drive to the net. He didn’t get a point (and unfortunately the Canucks Twitter account cut it out in the clip below) but the play started with a good forecheck from Vasily Podkolzin.

Jason Dickinson somehow made the pass to Garland in the scrum.

Garland was definitely the best Canuck forward on the night. He led all Canucks with five shots on goal and had a respectable 61.29% Corsi for at five on five per NaturalStatTrick.

Nils Höglander also looked like one of the better Canucks out there.

The effort was there but they couldn’t keep it for a full sixty minutes and top players like Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser looked invisible.

“I thought we played really good in the second there,” said Quinn Hughes. “It was disappointing for sure.”

After the Canucks took a 2-1 lead the self-sabotage began in the third.

2. Undisciplined penalties from J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes

Hughes and J.T. Miller were frustrated and they let them be known.

First with the Canucks on the penalty kill, (more on that in the next takeaway) Nazem Kadri scored on the rebound and Miller made an unnecessary and dangerous hit. The tempers flared on both teams and both Miller and Mikko Rantanen were assessed minor roughing penalties.

After Hughes got hit by Samuel Girard in the Avalanche zone, he cross-checked Girard soon after. It kind of feels out of character for Hughes as he usually doesn’t retaliate after hits and is a quiet guy.

“I got hit and I don’t think I was planning on doing anything and then he showed up and I saw him and I just cross-checked him,” said Hughes. “Not a good penalty for me to take there at that time, I can’t do anything about that now.”

I get the frustration from both Hughes and Miller but both were unnecessary and undisciplined. Yes, Hughes needs to stand up for himself but that was a clear cross-check. For Miller, he was lucky to get only two minutes as that was a dangerous and gutless hit. The puck was in the net already and regardless of what you think of Kadri, you never want to see any player’s head hit the post like that. It was a late and vicious hit that was futile.

#3 The league’s worst penalty kill continues to get worse

Another Canucks game, another game where they give up at least one power play goal, and another game where we have to talk about how bad the penalty kill is.

It is unfathomable that the penalty kill is this bad. It is still the worst in the NHL. The PK has plummeted to 60.3 percent.

It is also making headlines for the wrong reasons.

The Canucks have given up 19 power play goals in their last ten games. In those ten games, the penalty kill is at 52.9%. Yikes.

The Avalanche scored on three of their five power plays. Rantanen, Kadri and Cale Makar got the goals.

Once again, the Canucks were stuck puck watching and weren’t doing enough to attack the puck carriers. Colorado moved the puck with ease and Thatcher Demko couldn’t do it all by himself. Miller and Tyler Myers defended without their sticks at times.

The penalty kill surrendered four high danger chances in the game.

At this rate, a pee-wee hockey team could score a goal against the Canucks penalty kill. It is very frustrating to watch the PK continue to give up goals and you could feel a power play goal from the Avalanche coming every time the Canucks took a penalty.

Other notes

• Demko once again looked good in goal stopping 26 out of 29 shots
• Tucker Poolman got his first goal as a Canuck in the third and it looked like Darcy Kuemper put it in his own net. It was his first regular season goal since March 9, 2020 when he scored against the Arizona Coyotes. Who was in net that night? Kuemper.
• The Canucks fall to 5-10-2 with 12 points on the season. They are second last in the Pacific Division with three points above the Seattle Kraken.

The Canucks homestand continues when the Winnipeg Jets come to town on Friday. Puck drop is at 7:00 PM.