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

Another third period lead disappears

If only hockey games ended after 40 minutes for the Canucks.

For the fourth time in five games, the team entered the third period with a lead, just needing to lock it all down in the final 20 minutes to secure the two points.

But, for the fourth time in five games, the Canucks weren’t even able to do that.

The team looked rocky on one of the first shifts of the final frame, relying on Demko to bail them out after Myers coughed up the puck behind the net.

They were able to bounce back shortly after, matching the intensity of their opponent, but that was cut short near the 10-minute mark after Tanner Pearson was dinged for his second infraction of the contest.

You can probably imagine what happened next.

As expected, the Canucks were hemmed into their own zone for most of the man advantage. They were able to keep Minnesota to the perimeter for the early half of the powerplay, but were essentially down another man after Myers’ stick exploded in front of the net.

Minnesota didn’t waste any time capitalizing on the pseudo 5-on-3, with Mats Zuccarello deflecting his second tally of the game past Demko to tie the game up again.

Vancouver was essentially chasing the game from that point on, barely making their way into the extra frame.

Yes, they did manage to secure their second point of the year by getting to overtime but, as you hopefully read above, it wasn’t the prettiest ending to the contest. And that says a lot when you look back on how they got to their current 0-3-2 record.