Canucks lose valuable point in 4-3 shootout loss to Senators

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.

The playoff odds don’t look good for the Canucks.

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.

Thoughts on the game

The Canucks had plenty of chances to blow the game wide open.

There were instances where they were buzzing. There was a ton of pressure from the likes of J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland. There was even a really good offensive zone shift from Nic Petan, Brad Richardson and Sheldon Dries in the second period. The Canucks moved the puck well but they kept missing the net.

There were some great chances very close to the net but the shots kept going over the net and not in it. The Canucks spent a lot of time with the puck in the Senators’ zone in the second and third periods but only managed to score one goal in that timespan. That was Travis Dermott’s first goal as a Canuck on a nice setup by Boeser.

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The Canucks did get off to a good start, however. Both Miller and Boeser gave the home team a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Miller joined Bo Horvat in the 30-goal club and this is the first time the two Canucks scored 30 in a season since 2010-11. Both Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler had 41 that year.

Miller was also second on the Canucks in Corsi for behind Garland with 80% according to NaturalStatTrick.

Vancouver also played kind of casual against the Senators as they had 12 giveaways on the night. They also were letting the Senators get a bunch of high danger scoring chances by letting them skate into the offensive zone. Alex Formenton got two of Ottawa’s goals Tuesday night and his speed was tough for the Canucks to handle for example.

Formenton blew by Luke Schenn for the go-ahead goal.

Jaroslav Halak looked pretty good in net but unfortunately, he looked like he hurt his right hand and Thatcher Demko came in for the start of the second period. So much for a night off. Demko didn’t make any spectacular saves but he looked good in net.

In overtime, the Canucks had the bulk of the possession. But there was too much passing and a lot less shooting. They had open ice for shots but instead passed it too much. In overtime, you just got to shoot the bloody thing.

Vasily Podkolzin continued to improve. He was great on the forecheck and displayed good hustle. However, Bruce Boudreau did not give him an overtime shift. Instead Dries got a look in the extra frame. That was a questionable decision.

Podkolzin did not get a shot in the shootout but Nic Petan did instead. The rookie was third in Corsi for with 79.17%.

Miller found a way to beat Filip Gustavsson in the shootout and Pettersson had a chance to win it but was foiled by the Sens goalie. Brady Tkachuk kept the shootout going and former Canuck Adam Gaudette got the winner for Ottawa.

Gaudette laying out a big blow to the Canucks playoff hopes is just cruel from the scriptwriters. That is some Attack on Titan level of cruel writing. But it is the most Canucks thing that can happen.

So the Canucks have to be kicking themselves after this one. Against a team they should beat in a must-win game, they had trouble hitting the net and fell asleep defensively.