After Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, one thing is clear about the 2024-25 Vancouver Canucks: they lack consistency.
Of course, it does not help that J.T. Miller is away from the team on an indefinite personal leave of absence, and key veteran defenders Filip Hronek and Derek Forbort are out due to injury. This is the nature of team sports, though. Great teams separate themselves from good, average, and bad squads by becoming greater than the sum of their parts. The Canucks are, for lack of a better term, an average team right now.
The Canucks have won three or more games in a row just twice this season, and the last such instance was over a month ago. A 4-2 Nov. 7 win over the Los Angeles Kings in the game Brock Boeser was concussed in gave the Canucks a three-game win streak and sat them nicely at a 7-2-3 overall record.
Canucks are a rollercoaster in key part of the season
Without Boeser, Vancouver was promptly battered 7-3 by the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 9, and it has been all peaks and valleys since then. A 4-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 16 was followed up by a 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators on Nov. 17. A 2-0 shutout of the Boston Bruins on Nov. 26 was followed up by a 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 27.
More recently, the Canucks won 5-2 against Columbus on Dec. 6 and flatlined against Tampa Bay on Sunday.
"Special teams won the game for them, and their best players," Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said of the Lightning after the loss. "Can't have that too many men, and then that's it. The Kucherov show and... there you go."
Lightning stars Jake Guentzel and Victor Hedman each tallied power play goals against the Canucks, with Nikita Kucherov earning the primary assist on both. Kucherov also answered Quinn Hughes's first-period goal to tie the game at 1-1, and the Canucks never held the lead against Tampa Bay again.
In fairness to the group, the Canucks are still the 14th-ranked penalty kill in the NHL, firing at 80%, but the lack of consistency on Sunday undoubtedly dropped them down a few pegs. There is hope that the impending return of Miller, as well as Thatcher Demko's comeback, will help spark the Canucks on a winter surge that sets them up nicely for a better spring performance.
At the time of this writing, only one point in the standings separates the Canucks from being out of playoff contention. That is not a good place to be when you consider the alternative options are the Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken, Utah Hockey Club, and St. Louis Blues. The Canucks are better than that, but a team is only as good as its record says it is.