The Canuck Way
Fansided

Despite Thursday’s win, the Canucks are still not a playoff team

By Zaahid Lalani

Dec 16, 2021; San Jose, California, USA; San Jose Sharks goaltender Adin Hill (33) makes a save against Vancouver Canucks center Jason Dickinson (18) during the third period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 16, 2021; San Jose, California, USA; San Jose Sharks goaltender Adin Hill (33) makes a save against Vancouver Canucks center Jason Dickinson (18) during the third period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next

Second period collapse

It’s been a long time since the Canucks have played a full 60-minute contest, and Thursday was no exception.

Despite what we witnessed earlier in February, the team looked impressive in the first period, playing with tons of energy and grit on the road. As a result, the Canucks were able to outshoot the Sharks by a wide margin of 15-4, with Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes finding the back of the net on two of those opportunities.

Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there.

Vancouver allowed San Jose to claw its way back into the game at the beginning of the middle frame, giving up the first three shots of the period while also failing to clear their own zone on multiple occasions.

The Canucks did get some puck luck after Logan Couture managed to cut the lead down to one, thanks to a nifty deflection from Juho Lammikko to help restore the two-goal lead, but it didn’t swing the momentum back in Vancouver’s favour as expected.

In the end, San Jose managed to register 31 shot attempts against Thatcher Demko in the second period, including six SOG on the powerplay, all of which essentially set the stage for a comeback third period from the home team.

Home/Analysis