"Deserved better": Canucks coach Tocchet proud of team despite loss
Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet is proud of his team.
Despite losing 4-3 in overtime to the New York Rangers on Saturday night, Tocchet had only nice things to say about how the Canucks played.
“I thought we deserved better tonight,” said Tocchet after the game. “We gave [the Rangers] nothing other than the two five-on-three [power plays].”
Hear from Head Coach Rick Tocchet's post-game media availability.@theprovince | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/LD0ssRQxg0
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 29, 2023
The special teams battle is where Vancouver lost the game. The Rangers were able to score the first goal of the game in the first period on a five-on-three after a careless puck-over-glass penalty by Canucks defenceman Filip Hronek. They then scored on another five-on-three in the third period on a too-many-men call against Vancouver.
With the team being on the tail end of a back-to-back, Tocchet mentioned that fatigue could have played a factor in some of these penalties.
“Those things happen, obviously you don’t wanna see a lot of it, I haven’t seen a lot of that,” said Tocchet. “When you’re tired that’s when you really have to dig into those plays, but yeah, they happen so we are okay with that.”
The game ended in controversial fashion as many Canuck fans wanted a penalty called against Rangers forward Chris Kreider prior to K’andre Miller’s game-winner.
The @NYRangers net the @Energizer OT winner in Vancouver to go a perfect 3-for-3 on their Western Canada road swing. š pic.twitter.com/3t0Cumk6rE
— NHL (@NHL) October 29, 2023
Though frustrating for both the Canucks and their fans, Tocchet didn’t take aim at the refs. Instead, he commended the officials for their work.
“It’s a tough one… I can’t ref in this league, it’s a hard job,” said Tocchet. “It’s tough out there, it’s bang-bang plays, these [refs] are working their asses off.”
“They are going to make mistakes like I make mistakes and the players.”
It seems like the players also share Tocchet’s positive outlook. Defenceman Tyler Myers, who scored a shorthanded goal in the third period, likes how the Canucks played.
“I thought we played a really solid game tonight,” Myers told reporters following the game. “I thought it was one of our most complete games this year.
“We’re not worried about our record, whether we are doing well, winning a game, losing a game, we come in and we try to get better at the things we need to get better at and try to get more consistent with it.”
The Canucks shouldn’t be worried about their record. The team has had a fantastic start to the 2023/24 season with a 5-2-1 record, which is good enough for second in the Pacific Division and third in the Western Conference.
The team will now take a few days off before they welcome the Nashville Predators to Rogers Arena on Tuesday night.
Follow Channels and Categories