In an interesting scheduling quirk, the Vancouver Canucks faced the exact same opponent for their 10th game as they did last season. In addition, the game was again in San Jose, as they took on the Sharks.
Last season, the Canucks thoroughly dominated the Sharks as they won 10-1, in a game which was highlighted by Quinn Hughes tying a franchise record with five points by a defenceman. This time around however, it took until just 26 seconds remained in the third period, for Pius Suter to fire home his second goal of the night and clinch a nervy 3-2 win.
In many ways, these two scorelines highlight the respective narratives for the Canucks' starts to these two regular seasons. More specifically, that while the 2023-24 campaign saw them humming along nicely, this season has been a struggle to find consistency.
In this respect, consider that after 10 games last season, the Canucks had scored 46 and allowed 22, for a goal difference of +24. By comparison, in 2024-25 through 10 games, the team has scored 30 and allowed 33, for a goal difference of -3.
Stylistic differences but similar results
Here's the thing though, as per the saying that perception is reality, there's more than one way to look at this situation. As much as the Canucks have so far struggled to recapture the form they displayed last season, the bottom line is that they're still getting the job done.
For the ultimate proof of this, look no further than the Canucks' record for last season and this, at the 10-game mark. In 2023-24 they were 7-2-1 and had 15 points, whereas this season they are 5-2-3 and have 13 points - in other words, just two points worse off and still sitting in a playoff spot following Saturday's slate of action.
If anything, the fact the Canucks are still managing to get points despite not playing particularly well, is something which should worry the rest of the NHL. For now though, they'll continue to find ways to win games, with them only failing to secure any points in two contests to date.
Tocchet praises his players ... but not too much
The number one positive about the Canucks right now, is how hard they're continuing to battle, no matter the adversity. Speaking to the media postgame, head coach Rick Tocchet said:
""I thought we played well. The Sharks played really well too. It was a good up and down hockey game. ... It was nice. We didn't crack after they tied the game (with 1:17 remaining in the third), so I've got to give the guys a lot of credit.""
One of Tocchet's key strengths is his attention to detail, making sure to work hard and focus on areas of the game which need it. He said:
"I thought we did some good things. Our forechecks were probably one of our best forechecking (games) of the year. We had a video on that yesterday, because I don't think we were forechecking properly. There's too many odd man rushes, still, (so) that's something we’ve got to really be accountable for.""
Some Canucks need to step up
What will help the team moving forward, is for the likes of Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk to find their respective games. For DeBrusk specifically, he was relieved to finally score his first goal of the season for the Canucks.
DeBrusk will of course hope this is the first of many goals this season, as he looks to justify the seven-year, $38.5 million deal he signed with the Canucks. Also speaking to the media postgame, he said:
""You try to stay with it, they've had confidence in me, the guys have had my back. It's one of those things where you just want to produce more, and to do that in the game at that point, was getting us the lead and is kind of what I do. It was nice to see it go in that's for sure.""
Overall, at some point the Canucks are going to find their form and get back to last season's level of play. Add in the pending returns of Thatcher Demko and Dakota Joshua, and this will be a dangerous team to contend with.