"A lot of no-shows": Tocchet not happy with Canucks' effort in Seattle
The Vancouver Canucks extended their season-long losing streak with a 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night. It was not a pretty performance from the road team, as Vancouver has now lost four straight games.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet was not pleased with his team’s performance in Seattle, and hasn’t been happy with the way they’ve been playing for a few games now.
“Not much compete from the guys, that’s on me. I’ve got to take the blame for that,” Tocchet told reporters after the game. “I didn’t get the guys to compete hard enough so I’ll take the heat on this one. It was a lot of no-shows tonight.”
J.T. Miller got the scoring started early in the first period but Vince Dunn would answer roughly nine minutes later for the Kraken. That was the only lead the Canucks would enjoy as they were playing from behind for much of the night.
Sam Lafferty scored the only other goal for the visiting team after he was the recipient of a lucky bounce. The Canucks had just 12 shots after 40 minutes.
Lafferty with a little bit of luck. š pic.twitter.com/tUYpFIxY33
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 23, 2024
In what’s become a worrisome trend, the Canucks again looked very rough with the man-advantage. They failed to score on all four of their power play opportunities. Tonight’s anemic performance means that they’re now below 10% in the month of February on the power play.
Tocchet and his staff experimented with a variety of power play setups throughout the game. Filip Hronek and Pius Suter both got looks with the top unit, although neither produced any encouraging results.
The Canucks had just four shots on net across their four power plays tonight.
“No one cares more than the guys that are on the ice,” said Quinn Hughes about the power play struggles. “Hopefully we will be able figure this out and get the job done and if we can’t, I’m sure they’ll find guys that can.”
The penalty kill has also been going through a rough patch as it’s clicking at just 56.3% during this losing streak. The Kraken scored once with the man advantage tonight.
It was the Canucks’ third game in four nights. They won’t get much rest as they’re back in action on Saturday against the Boston Bruins.
They’ll be hoping for a better result than the last matchup between these two teams when the Canucks suffered a brutal 4-0 shutout loss in Boston.
“You can’t give in to fatigue, you can’t. You’ve got to play smarter,” said the head coach when asked about the team’s schedule.
Tocchet tees off on Canucks’ effort
"Just play smarter and compete."
š£ Head Coach Rick Tocchet discusses tonight's game versus the Kraken.@theprovince | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/dLDvfPkEOD
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 23, 2024
Tocchet was about as angry as he’s been all season after this game. He didn’t call anyone out by name, but he didn’t sugarcoat anything either.
“We need some guys to buckle up, change a few things, maybe off the ice, get some rest. I mean this is not even close to playoff hockey… If these guys think playoff hockey isĀ that, then we’re in trouble. There’s been a couple games here where we need some guys to get going. I don’t care what our record is. It’s been a little bit disturbing, some of the efforts from some of the guys right now.”
The team’s power play woes come down to a lack of hard work and a willingness to shoot the puck, says that coach.
“Talent doesn’t do anything if you don’t work hard. You gotta work hard. The best power plays work hard. We’re not really working hard to be honest with you.”
His analysis of the penalty kill wasn’t glowing either.
“Our clears were awful tonight. We had three times to get puck down and we didn’t get it down.”
But perhaps the things that angered Tocchet the most are the “staples” that he talks so much about seem to have been forgotten.
āWe gotta start to pick it up hereā¦ when the puck comes on a rim, we have a technique to do it, and you have to have the B-A-L-L-S to get the puck out. You canāt just go in soft, and you canāt ice pucks on a rim… Some things in our staples are foreign to us right now.”
“Right now we’re in that rut, and I’ve got to find answers with this team.”