Canucks suffer worst home-ice shutout loss since 2006
The Vancouver Canucks came out flat and never found their game in a 6-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.
It was their worst shutout loss on home ice since 2006 when they lost by the same score against the Anaheim Ducks.
Fans at Rogers Arena booed as time expired, letting the home team know their feelings about the performance.
“It was embarrassing,” said veteran Tyler Myers about the Canucks performance. “We should be embarrassed. Even through some wins the last couple weeks, there’s some things within our game right now that we’ve got to clean up. We need to find our identity.”
“Everything went wrong right from the beginning,” said head coach Rick Tocchet to media after the final buzzer. “Obviously some guys are struggling and it just rolls like that. You’re going to have games like this in an 82 game schedule.”
This was only the seventh time the Canucks have suffered a home-ice shutout defeat by at least six goals across their entire franchise history. It’s also only the second time in this century.
#Canucks suffer their worst shutout loss on home ice since Nov. 9, 2006 vs Anaheim.
It's just the 7th time in team history that they've had a shutout loss by 6-0 or worse at home.
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) October 31, 2024
The Canucks put forward an embarrassing performance in a game that received a lot of national attention due to the three Hughes brothers competing against each other.
Jack finished with two points while Luke and Quinn were held off the scoresheet.
“We make it way too easy on the other team,” said J.T. Miller postgame. “Not enough F-U in our game.”
The Devils scored 53 seconds into the game after an ill-advised pinch from Myers and controlled the flow from then-on.
Capās feeling hot, hot, hot. pic.twitter.com/ZRXtPCbbv9
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 31, 2024
It was a frustrating night for the Canucks who couldn’t solve their old friend Jacob Markstrom. They also made their fair share of mental mistakes, including a drop-pass to no one from Miller which resulted in a short-handed goal-against.
Miller was taken off the top power play unit later in the game after this mistake.
Hey shorty, how ya doin? pic.twitter.com/1aSGNH9uot
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 31, 2024
The Devils scored three goals in the second period as the game got ugly for the Canucks in the middle frame.
“Maybe it’s a good wake up call for us,” said Myers. “It’s a lot easier to look at now with nights like that.”
The only Canucks highlight was heart-and-soul winger Conor Garland dropping the mitts with Erik Haula. Garland, who is listed as one of the lightest players in the league, held his own in the tilt.
“Gars does an unbelievable job in that scrap, that was a hell of a fight,” said Miller about the fight. “You’d think maybe we’d play a little better after that? That sucks. The guy gets punched in the head for you and you’d think maybe that would light the team.”
The only fun moment of the night for the #Canucks
— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) October 31, 2024
The Devils dominated the first 40 minutes of this game on their way to a 4-0 lead. They had 18 five-on-five scoring chances to the Canucks eight over the first two periods and looked like the much better team. That trend continued in the third as the visitors extended their advantage to six goals.
This was Arturs Silovs first start since October 15 and it didn’t go smoothly. While none of the goals were explicitly his fault, he wasn’t giving the team saves. He allowed six goals on 22 shots, making just 16 stops. This was his third start of the season and he’s yet to finish one with a .900% save percentage or better.
“It wasn’t Arty’s fault,” said Myers. “We hung Arty out to dry tonight. He doesn’t need to worry about it.”
“Right from the first 10 seconds we give up a two-on-one,” said Tocchet. “It’s not the greatest thing to give a guy that hasn’t played in two weeks.”
The Canucks power play struggled mightily again. They finished zero-for-four tonight and haven’t looked sharp this season.
“We’re not shooting when we’re supposed to shoot and we’re shooting when we don’t,” said Tocchet about his team’s play with the man-advantage. “It’s a frustrating thing for us right now, it’s a mental aspect. We’re going to have to work with the mind more than the physical.”
The Canucks didn’t get much from anyone but their top forwards were especially quiet. Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, and Miller combined for one total shot on net. Elias Pettersson managed two but didn’t look overly impressive and finished -2.
The Canucks have a few days off before their back in action. Their next game is against the San Jose Sharks on the road on Saturday night.
“We haven’t played 60 minutes to our identity yet this year so we just need to play harder,” said Miller. “Play like you want to win the game, not hope we win the game.”