3 Canucks to blame for embarrassing road loss to Flyers
#1. The Canucks might be replacing Noah Juulsen very shortly
On the same day the Canucks traded for right-shot defenseman Mark Friedman, Noah Juulsen compounded his previous struggles with another brutal performance away from home. Juulsen slashed Couturier on a breakaway which led to the penalty shot that gave the Flyers their second of two goals on the night, and never made up for it.
Just over five minutes into the final frame, the 26-year-old committed a roughing penalty against Marc Staal that burned another precious two minutes off the clock for the trailing Canucks. Then, Lafferty got booked for unsportsmanlike conduct and Cole hooked Bobby Brink not long after that. Juulsen provides almost zero offensively already, and his play tonight killed momentum at every turn.
This performance came just days after the former Montreal Canadien’s epic fail at clearing the puck on a crucial penalty kill allowed the Oilers to steal the puck, skate around Juulsen on the ground, drive the puck to the net, and eventually finish the play to tie the game at 2-2. Juulsen has now made multiple lazy, unforced errors at some of the most inopportune times possible, and it’s fair to wonder if the Canucks’ coaching staff is already considering sending him up to the press box, if not Abbotsford.
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Based on these performances so far, head coach Rick Tocchet and the Canucks can’t get Mark Friedman on the ice fast enough.