Canucks off to best six-game start in four years
The Vancouver Canucks saved their best for last on their first road trip of the season.
At the end of a five-game road trip that saw the team travel all the way from Northern Alberta down to South Florida, the Canucks could have been excused if they weren’t at their best on Tuesday night.
Instead, the Canucks led most of the game, allowed just 17 shots against, and beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 a Bridgestone Arena. Nils Hƶglander, Phil Di Giuseppe, and Ilya Mikheyev all scored their first goals of the season in the victory.
“Tonight, we put it all together” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters after the game. “It’s a really good road trip after winning this game. If we lose, it’s just an okay road trip, but it’s good for the players’ psyche to win this game.”
“You talk about a professional game…I thought there were a lot of professionals today.”
TIPPED IN BY HĆGS š pic.twitter.com/O0KhwsqwDT
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 25, 2023
With the win, the Canucks now have a 4-2-0 record to start the season. It’s their best start after six games since 2019-20, which is the last time where Vancouver made the playoffs.
Last season, they lost their first seven games in a row, and didn’t pick up their fourth win of the season until Game 13.
The season prior, the Canucks were 3-5-1 on November 1 and sat in the basement of the Pacific Division.
It was clear from day one of training camp that this team needed to start strong.
Well, mission accomplished.
Canucks road trip was a roller coaster
The Canucks’ play throughout their road trip was, quite frankly, all over the place.
When they kicked off their season-opening roadie a week and a half ago, it looked like the Edmonton Oilers were going to run the Canucks right out of Rogers Place.
However, Vancouver overcame a slow start, and managed to capitalize on enough chances to win 4-3, despite being outshot 40-16.
It was a game that the Canucks probably would have lost in prior seasons, but the win against Edmonton gave fans the feeling that maybe, this year could be different.
All of those good feelings went out the window with a putrid performance against the Philadelphia Flyers, where no one on the Canucks showed up except for goaltender Thatcher Demko.
Since then, the Canucks have been trending upwards.
They played better, albeit not great, in a 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay. Then against the Florida Panthers, they outplayed the defending Eastern Conference championships through two periods en route to a victory.
The team finally put it all together against the Predators on Tuesday night with the victory.
Unlike the Philly game where no one looked good, against Nashville, almost everyone contributed.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Vancouver Canucks on 2023-10-24:#Canucks pic.twitter.com/cTqY9pNlhl
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) October 25, 2023
What a night for the #Canucks forwards. All four lines were absolutely rolling. pic.twitter.com/62JdY4AT0w
— Trent Leith š³ļøāš (@trentl14) October 25, 2023
Not only will the Canucks head back to Vancouver feeling good about their game, but their one of the only teams in the Pacific Division in that boat.
They kick off a three-game homestand against the St. Louis Blues on Friday night.
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