3) Lacking the finishing touch
Based on just the final score of 4-1 alone, you would think the Lightning dominated the Canucks. However, following the aforementioned first period, the visitors put on an extremely encouraging display and were arguably the better team.
This was backed up by quite a lot of the stats on the night -- and yes, we do appreciate the game is won on the ice rather than a piece of paper -- with the Canucks actually often getting the better of their hosts. This included leading the Lightning in face-off wins, hits, takeaways and fewest giveaways, while also holding them scoreless on five power play opportunities.
Where the Canucks struggled was in converting their chances, after only being outshot 28-27 on goal overall by the hosts. Of course it doesn't help when you're going up against two-time Stanley Cup champion Andrei Vasilevskiy in the opposing net, with him only beaten once by Garland's tap in, after being left stranded following a deflection.
The Canucks had their clearest advantage in chances during the second period, but just couldn't put any away as the Lightning instead extended their advantage to 2-0 through 40 minutes. As Garland said: "We should have had one late in the second and it's a different game. ... 2-1 is a big difference from 2-0."
It also doesn't help, when you're just not catching a break, with a prime example being the case of Quinn Hughes. As noted by Iain MacIntye of Sportsnet, the Canucks captain has had an astonishing 18 of his 25 overall shots blocked through three games.
Quote of the game:
Tocchet talking about the need for his players to battle more. He said:
""We need some guys to dig in a little bit. We're kind of in the corners on the ends of our sticks. It's been happening a couple games now, and we've got to make sure that we get a little bit grittier in the corners.""