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"We weren't ready": Canucks still winless after loss to Lightning

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Oct 16 2024, 1:39 am
"We weren't ready": Canucks still winless after loss to Lightning
Kim Klement Neitzel/Imagn Images

For the first time in over a decade, the Vancouver Canucks entered the season as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

So, naturally, they’re still winless to start the season.

Rick Tocchet made tweaks to his top two lines with hopes of kickstarting some offence. Unfortunately, his tinkering didn’t pay off, and the Canucks dropped their first road game of the season, losing 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“We weren’t ready to play in the first period,” Tocchet told reporters. “I didn’t think we won a battle. In the second and third, we had some chances but didn’t bury them, and you can’t give a team like that a two-goal lead.”

“We just need some guys to pick it up.”

Conor Garland scored the Canucks’ lone goal in the loss.

The Canucks cranked up their intensity in the latter half of the contest, but they were unable to beat goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy more than once. The Russian netminder looks rejuvenated to begin the season after posting mediocre numbers in 2023-24. He has won both his starts this season, allowing just two goals on 48 shots.

Frustration mounting with Pettersson?

For the last six years, Elias Pettersson has pretty much been on the ice every time the Canucks are trailing late with the goalie pulled.

That wasn’t the case in this contest.

With the Canucks trailing by two goals late, Tocchet sent out six players, but none of them were Pettersson.

Garland, Jake DeBrusk, Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes were the six Canucks players on the ice. They didn’t accomplish anything without Pettersson, as Brandon Hagel buried an empty-net goal with 1:46 to go in the game.

Regardless, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to suggest that the Canucks not having Pettersson on the ice with the goalie pulled could be a subtle shot at the superstar for underperforming thus far.

While the fanbase has been vocal about Pettersson’s lack of offence to start the season, Tocchet has largely been subdued in his responses when asked about the 25-year-old’s performance.

After the loss to the Flyers, Pettersson’s line finished with the lowest 5-on-5 ice time among all Canucks forwards. Tocchet did admit that Pettersson’s line was outplayed by the Teddy Blueger line in that contest. However, he also used the rationale wanting to dial back his ice time after playing 23:34 in the opener.

After tonight’s loss and the Pettersson quasi-benching, it’s safe to say that the noise surrounding his performance isn’t dissipating anytime soon.

Garland continues to thrive for Canucks

Most of the Canucks don’t seem close to their A-game right now, aside from Garland.

For the second game in a row, Tocchet rewarded Garland for this tenacious forechecking and his puck possession wizardry as he led the team in even-strength ice time.

He also scored the only Vancouver goal of this contest, burying a Miller shot that trickled through the pads of Vasilevskiy thanks to a deflection by Boeser.

Garland replaced Pettersson on the power play prior to scoring the goal, while the rest of the first unit stayed out.

It was also the second game in a row where Garland played with Pettersson in the third period, as Tocchet shuffled his lines in the final frame for the third game in a row.

Surely, the Canucks head coach would like to have some lineup continuity moving forward, but he’ll need something closer to a full 60-minute effort before that happens.

“We didn’t come out on time,” Garland said post-game. “That’s unacceptable for our first game of the road trip.”

“We need to tighten some things up, and we’ll be fine.”

Vancouver will attempt to get their first win of the season against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Thursday.

 

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