Canucks: 3 takeaways from 4-3 overtime loss to Minnesota

Vancouver Canucks, meet rock bottom.

The team finally concluded their five-game, season-opening road trip on Thursday night, squaring off against Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.

It had been a week to forget for the Canucks, who had dropped all four of their previous contests in embarrassing fashion, including a 4-3 overtime loss to Columbus on Tuesday night.

As expected, head coach Bruce Boudreau made some tweaks to his line-up ahead of Thursday night, hoping that any change would resurrect his players from their slump.

With Ilya Mikheyev back in the line-up, Boudreau once again had to send a forward to the press box, this time opting for Swedish sophomore Nils Höglander to take the night off.

The team also welcomed back Kyle Burroughs on the third pairing. Burroughs, who was a healthy scratch on Tuesday, replaced the injured Tucker Poolman, who did not participate in the morning skate. Poolman was injured during Saturday’s matinee match-up in Philadelphia, forcing him to also miss Monday’s game in Washington.

Personnel changes aside, the Canucks still had every opportunity to secure their first win of the season on Thursday, facing off against a Minnesota club that was bleeding goals at the bottom of the standings with a record of 0-3-0.

Of course, it wouldn’t be rock bottom without more disappointment.

Vancouver was once again unable to get the job done, falling to their opponent in overtime for the second consecutive night. With the loss, the Canucks are now the only club in the league looking for their first victory of the season, to go along with their second-last position in the league (thanks, San Jose).

Here are the three takeaways from Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss in Minnesota:

An overtime to forget

Well, that was tough to watch.

For the second consecutive contest, the Canucks were able to secure one point, which would be a huge plus for the half glass-full crowd.

However, for the half glass-empty bandwagon, which many fans have likely jumped onto this past week, there was a handful of glaring issues that need to be addressed.

Let’s start with the coaching decisions.

Despite having a handful of speedy forwards at his disposal, Boudreau opted for the duo of Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller.

Don’t get us wrong, both players, particularly Miller, have had hero moments for the Canucks in the past, so some could see why Boudreau rolled with that one-two punch.

And at the end of the day, the responsibility does need to fall on the players, which brings us to issue number two.

Unfortunately, both Miller and Boeser underperformed in sudden death, with both players being burned by Minnesota’s quickness and physicality on multiple occasions in the extra frame.

There was a chance for the two players to get back to the bench to a break, but Miller was once again the culprit of a poor defensive play. The 29-year-old forward, who recently inked a seven-year extension in the summer, failed to clear the puck out of the zone, leading to a delayed penalty from a very fatigued Tyler Myers.

Of course, Myers never actually made his trip to the penalty box, thanks to a very patient Kaprizov who buried the puck past Thatcher Demko for the game-winning goal.

At this point in the season, the Canucks will take an overtime loss with open arms, but let’s hope they can eventually learn how to secure that extra point.

Joshua, Åman deliver

Sometimes it’s the people that you least expect to save the day, and that’s exactly what happened with the Canucks and their fourth line.

With Höglander in the press box, Boudreau rolled with Curtis Lazar, Dakota Joshua and Nils Åman to fill out his forward group, and they made sure to make the most of their limited ice time.

Joshua and Åman first hit the scoresheet near the end of the first period when the score was tied at 1-1. After receiving a stretch pass from Quinn Hughes, Joshua patiently guarded the puck from the Minnesota defender before sending a nifty backhand pass to a streaking Åman.

The former Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick was able to control the puck with ease before making moves on Marc-Andre Fleury for his first-career NHL goal.

The duo was back at it again in the second period, this time with Joshua finding the back of the net. After parking himself in the blue paint, the 6’3″, 206-pound forward was able to show off his persistence and surprisingly slick hands before shovelling the puck past Fleury to re-establish his team’s one-goal lead.

Alhough they didn’t see much more ice time in the third period, Joshua and Åman still finished the evening with two goals, two assists and a combined plus four rating. And even though Lazar was the only member of the trio held pointless, he still found ways to help out his team defensively, including two key blocked shots towards the end of the third period.

Of course, Canucks fans shouldn’t expect this kind of production to continue from the fourth line moving forward. But when the team is struggling as much as they are right now, they’ll take positives from anyone.

Other notes:

• Riley Stillman left Thursday’s contest and did not return. The former Chicago Blackhawk was injured after taking a high hit from Joel Eriksson Ek. Stillman finished the game with nine shifts and 5 PIM in just over six minutes of ice time, which was highlighted by a questionable decision in the corner on Minnesota’s opening goal.

The Canucks will return to Rogers Arena on Saturday night, facing off against the Buffalo Sabres for their home opener. Puck drop is set for 7:00pm PST.

What are your thoughts from Thursday’s overtime loss in Minnesota? Let us know in the comments!