Canucks lose to the Panthers with resiliency, not by relinquishing

The Vancouver Canucks have officially been dealt their first big loss in the Bruce Boudreau era.

After another lengthy hockey hiatus, in which the team went nine days without playing an NHL contest, the Canucks finally made their way down to Florida to kick off their five-game road trip against the number-one ranked Panthers at FLA Live Arena.

The Canucks were red-hot themselves heading into the New Year, rattling off eight wins and collecting 17 out of a possible 18 points since December 6th. However, Vancouver was set to endure its most difficult and physically-gruelling stretch of road games starting Tuesday night, and it would undoubtedly be the start of the team’s biggest test this season.

With Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson and Jason Dickinson all returning from COVID-19 protocol, Boudreau was able to shuffle his line combinations heading into the morning skate and warm-up, hoping that his top-nine would be able to carry over their offensive firepower from December.

As expected, Boudreau made sure to roll all four lines as often as he could in the opening frame, hoping that his players were able to rediscover their legs after participating in just practice drills and scrimmages over the last five days.

However, the Panthers quickly showcased why they’re the cream of the crop in the NHL right now, once again finding the scoresheet before their opponent thanks to Aaron Ekblad’s tenth goal of the year. The 25-year-old walked the blueline in the Canucks’ offensive zone, dragging Pettersson along for the ride, who ended up just contributing to the already-growing screen in front of Thatcher Demko.

The Panthers didn’t wait long before striking again, with Sam Reinhart also hitting double digits in the goal department just 66 seconds later. The real excitement came after the puck crossed the line, however, as J.T. Miller immediately dropped the gloves with big-bodied defenceman Radko Gudas.

It was a spirited scrap between the two combatants, but even Miller’s toothless snarl and flying punches couldn’t help energize his teammates for the remainder of the period. The Canucks essentially just chased the puck for the final 13+ minutes, much like all of Florida’s road opponents have done this year but, unlike what we were so accustomed to witnessing with Travis Green behind the bench, it’s not like Vancouver lagged behind for a lack of trying.

The team showcased their newfound resilient mentality while down a pair of goals, eventually outshooting the Panthers by a margin of 11-7 after 20 minutes as a result. Vancouver even found a way to cut Florida’s lead in half, thanks to yet another nifty Conor Garland pass that landed on the stick of Dickinson for his third goal of the season.

Of course, we can’t always have nice things, especially when you’re trying to play with the kings of the jungle.

The Panthers made sure rediscover their scoreboard stranglehold halfway through the middle frame, once again potting goals in quick, cat-like attacks just 26 seconds apart.

The Canucks were on the wrong end of a soft interference call prior to Florida’s third goal of the evening, with expert penalty killer Tyler Motte ultimately sentenced to the sin bin.

Unlike the first 25 games of the season, Canucks fans and players alike no longer had to shudder and cringe after being dinged with an infraction, given the club was boasting the fifth-best penalty kill success rate between December 6th and January 10th.

However, it’s still not wise to be shorthanded against the likes of Reinhart, Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, which Vancouver learned halfway through the powerplay.

Huberdeau recorded the primary assist on the goal, which not only marked his 15th point in his last eight games, but also brought him to top-five in points tallied amongst all NHL players.

Huberdeau is just one of many Panthers who are firing on all cylinders at FLA Live Arena this season, all of whom are contributing to their impressive 19-3-0 home record. Only Miller, who had his nine-game point streak snapped on Tuesday, would be close to joining this elite offensive conversation, but you can’t rely on him to carry the goal-scoring load forever.

The special teams woes also reared its ugly head in the final minute of the second period. Despite applying consistent pressure against Sergei Bobrovsky and his teammates in their own zone, Vancouver wasn’t able to beat the Russian netminder to cut down the lead.

Instead, Florida made sure to pad theirs, with Barkov zooming past Oliver Ekman-Larsson and wristing the puck past Demko who, to be fair, didn’t have a chance against any of the previous deflections or screens in front of him, but who also didn’t put up his usual god-like, team-carrying performances that we’ve selfishly grown so accustomed to seeing.

Much like the opening frame, Vancouver still made sure to come out clawing and swinging in the final frame, vastly outshooting and outhitting the Panthers despite the lop-sided score, which was highlighted by Tanner Pearson’s second fight in as many games.

Even former Florida fourth liner Juho Lammikko “exacted revenge” in his old stomping grounds, unknowingly guiding the puck off of his skate and past Bobrovosky for Vancouver’s second goal, but it wasn’t enough to spark the comeback past Florida’s impenetrable neutral zone coverage.

On paper, to the average hockey fan, Tuesday’s contest likely would’ve appeared as a classic, all-too-familiar Florida beatdown to help them stay atop the NHL standings. However, upon deeper inspection, this game could also be labelled as a helpful stepping stone for the club.

Yes, this idea of the stepping stone could be aimlessly linked to the notion of a moral victory, especially to those that aren’t sold on Vancouver’s recent turnaround.

And no, the team didn’t secure two points on a night where a division rival in San Jose did, propelling them into the second wild card position in the Western Conference.

But at the end of the day, Vancouver kept their heads in the game for the full 60 minutes against a team that they should realistically be trying to imitate (or at least works towards imitation) in the coming years.

With the loss, the Canucks remained seventh in the Pacific Division with 35 points, six points back of the fourth place Sharks. The team will be looking to get to .500 on this road trip on Thursday night, facing off against Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Puck drop is set for 4:00pm PST.

What are your thoughts from Tuesday’s loss against Florida? Make sure to drop a comment below!