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TAKEAWAYS

  1. My worst fear for the Vancouver Canucks heading into Toronto for the first of three straight against the Leafs was that discipline would be an issue, they’d serve up repeated chances to a Leafs power play that entered the game at  43% and get run out of the building. I figured if the Canucks had a chance to beat the Leafs they’d need to play as much of the game at even-strength as possible. Sometimes things don’t go according to form. The Leafs did manage to score one goal on the night with the man-advantage, but the Canucks undoing was at even-strength where they surrendered six goals in a 7-3 disaster. Toronto dismantled Vancouver at evens outshooting the Canucks 29-17, outchancing them 29-14 and holding a decisive 13-5 edge in high-danger opportunities. And those numbers told you all you needed to know about the way Thursday’s game unfolded. The Canucks were outshot in all three periods including a 14-5 advantage in the third period when you thought Toronto might slink quietly into the night content with its victory. But the Canucks did nothing to stop the onslaught and so the Leafs continued to pour on the offense.

 

  1. The seven goals the Canucks allowed matched the team’s season high in that department. The Canucks have now given up a shocking 55 goals in their first 14 games. Last season when the team had defensive deficiencies that were clear for all to see, the Canucks allowed 214 goals in 69 regular season games or an average of 3.10 per game. This season they’re giving up 3.93 per game. Pro-rated over the same number of games they played last season, the Canucks are on a pace that would see them on the hook for 271 goals in 69 games – an addition of a ghastly 57 goals. The biggest concern – beyond the defensive coverage itself – is what if this is simply who the Canucks are? They are now a quarter of the way through their 56-game schedule. This isn’t one or two games or a tough week or a bad match-up. This is a team that has been torched for five or more goals in eight of its 14 outings. The Canucks simply can not keep the puck out of their net and on Thursday it was an alarming display of uncontested Toronto rushes that ended up behind Thatcher Demko. You’ll see it often because it underscores the issue: in games against opponents other than Ottawa, the Canucks are now 3-8 on the season and have been outscored 52-31. Don’t get fooled by the 12 standings points that have the Canucks situated in the middle of the Canadian division. The Canucks are in 28th in the NHL in win percentage at .429 ahead of only San Jose, Detroit and Ottawa. That’s the real story of where they sit.

 

  1. Quinn Hughes is struggling defensively. Let’s call it the way it is. He was on the ice for the first three of the Leafs six even strength goals on Thursday. He not only leads the NHL in that department, but is in a league of his own when it comes to being on ice for even-strength goals against so far this season. He is supremely talented and a ton of fun to watch and this is in no way intended to place all of the blame for the Canucks woes at his feet. But knowing what he means to the hockey club and having watched him take the NHL by storm in his rookie season, we know what he looks like when he’s on his game. He’s clearly not there right now despite leading the club in scoring. The Canucks as a team have allowed 37 even strength goals in 14 games – and Hughes has been on for a league-high 23 of them which is six more than any other player in the NHL. That can’t continue certainly not at that pace. Hughes emerged as a trusted shutdown defender as a 20-year-old rookie because he spent so much time controlling the puck and leading the transition out of his own zone. It’s been a tough go for him in his second full season in the league and whatever offense he is generating is simply chipping away at the hole he’s digging for himself and his team in the defensive end of the ice. But it’s not all on Quinn Hughes. Brock Boeser is second in the league in that category (17 ESGA), while Tyler Myers, JT Miller and Elias Pettersson round out the top seven. Only Columbus Blue Jacket d-men Seth Jones and Zack Werenski – both at 16 -- break up the Canucks monopoly at the top of a very dubious list.

 

  1. A quarter of the way into the season, it’s hard to recall a night where the Canucks best players were the best players on the ice. From Connor McDavid to Tyler Toffoli to Jason Spezza (wait, what?), far too often players on the other side have outplayed and outproduced the Canucks best players. Thursday night in Toronto was merely the latest example of that. While Spezza turned back the clock and netted the hattrick, Matthews set the tone for the Leafs with two of Toronto’s first three goals, Mitch Marner had a goal and two helpers and William Nylander had three assists. The Canucks ‘best’ players continue to pick up points along the way, but they’re not leaving their marks on hockey games in any significant fashion. JT Miller downplayed his goal and assist in his postgame Zoom remarks suggesting those points came on his only two touches of the night in the offensive zone. It may be a bit of an exaggeration, but he may not be far off the truth. It’s probably possible to count on one hand the number of dominating shifts of offensive zone pressure offered up by the Canucks top-end players so far this season. Sure, there have been moments along the way, but next to nothing in the way of signature moments. The less the Canucks offensive drivers have the puck, the more the other team gets to play with it. And until that changes, it’s hard to see how anything else will for a hockey club that is reeling with three straight losses now and having been outscored 18-8 over that span.

 

  1. The Vancouver Canucks were good in the bubble last summer. They deserve full credit for what they achieved in a unique and homogenized setting in Edmonton. They made the most of the match-ups they drew and within the context of the play-in and playoff proved to be a stiff opponent for Minnesota, St. Louis and Las Vegas. However, if you go back a year to February 2nd and remember the struggles of the Canucks before COVID hit, many of the same issues that were present then have arisen again in terms of regular season games against a variety of opponents. The Canucks have won 12 of their last 31 regular season games (12-17-2) and a much bigger problem for them right now is that they have just three victories in their last 15 road games (3-11-1). The playoff bubble was a set of neutral site games. While this season has its own set of circumstances, the Canucks are still forced to visit various arenas and to make the playoffs will need to manufacture points on the road when they don’t have the benefit of last change. The Canucks are now 2-6 on the season away from home with two more games against the Leafs on this trip. At this rate, they’ll be fortunate to finish the season with 20 road points. If it’s going to take in the neighbourhood of 63 points to qualify for the post-season in the Canadian division, then the Canucks will need to make hay at home. A lot of hay. Right now, it looks like they would need approximately 35 points from their remaining 22 games at Rogers Arena. If they can’t figure things out on the road, does this look like a team that can go 13-games over .500 on home ice the rest of the way?

 

 

Jeff Paterson
Vancouver Canucks reporter
TSN 1040 Sports Radio
@patersonjeff