This one hurts, like a kick in the nuts hurts. It’s very painful. The Vancouver Canucks were looking to extend their win streak to seven and keep their playoff hopes alive as the Ottawa Senators came to town. It looked like an easy game, right? After all, it is the Senators.
But there are no easy games in the NHL or any sport and once again, the Canucks lost to a team that they should beat. It is really funny how they can beat teams like the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs but lose to teams like the Senators, Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings. It just is.
The Canucks ended up with one point instead of two and that is a big blow to their playoff hopes. By the way, the Los Angeles Kings ended up beating the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in regulation and that is a double gut punch. Vancouver is five points behind LA and four points behind the Dallas Stars who hold the final wild-card spot.
Updated standings. #Canucks no longer control their own playoff destiny.
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) April 20, 2022
Tied with VGK, but Vegas owns the tiebreaker. They’re 5 back of LA with a game in hand, plus a head-to-head game. Trail DAL by 4, NSH by 6. pic.twitter.com/QNDREsU5cH
The playoff odds don’t look good for the Canucks.
Gaudette perhaps puts the dagger in #Canucks season - and may have set West’s eight playoff squads.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 20, 2022
Updated playoff probabilities, per @IneffectiveMath:#preds 97%#TexasHockey 89%#GoKingsGo 86%
——#VegasBorn 20%#Canucks 6%
This was a must-win game and it was a missed opportunity to make the playoff race tighter. In fact, there were so many opportunities in this game. This result was as disappointing as The Godfather Part III. Leaving the rink with one point instead of two is a very tough pill to swallow.