Tocchet frustrated by Vancouver Canucks power play: "You've got to make a play"
Scoring goals has been a challenge for the Vancouver Canucks this season, and Sunday’s crucial game against the Utah Hockey Club was yet another example.
With the game having massive implications for both teams, the Canucks managed just a single goal, predictably scored by Quinn Hughes, and generated just 19 total shots.
It continued a concerning trend of this team being unable to generate scoring chances, especially in big moments. In last year’s playoffs, the Canucks offence dried up completely and it seems to be happening again.
The penultimate moment of the contest came in the third period. Down a goal, the Canucks earned six minutes of power play time, including a four-minute double-minor. They generated just four shots, none of them being dangerous.
The struggles on that double minor power play left head coach Rick Tocchet and his staff frustrated.
“We just looked at it, me and [assistant coach Yogi Švejkovský], the coaches, we’re a little frustrated. There are a lot of plays there to be made, we just didn’t make them. It was a little bit slow. We needed somebody to take charge of it,” said Tocchet about the opportunity.
“I don’t know if we’re tired or our thinking process [is off], but we didn’t get much.”
The Canucks power play has been up and down since they traded J.T. Miller at the end of January. While Miller’s game had faults, he was great with the man-advantage, and the Canucks have struggled to replace his impact.
Since the trade, the Canucks rank 24th in shots-per-60-minutes of power play time, 19th in goals-per-60-minutes, 22nd in expected goals-per-60-minutes, and 19th in power play conversion percentage.
The Canucks lost all three games to Utah this season and all were decided by a single goal. Their lack of scoring ended up being their fatal flaw in this season’s Utah series, and it might sink their playoff chances as well.
However, Tocchet sees a solution to some of the scoring issues, especially on the power play. He says that plays are there to be made, the Canucks are just missing them at the moment.
“Go down low and we’ll have a three-on-two or three-on-one, it’s plain as day. It’s been told to [them]. I will say we’re a little frustrated, the coaching staff, because when you go hard up high, the puck has to go low, you’ve got to make a play. It’s there. I think we’re a little bummed out about that.”
Hear from Head Coach Rick Tocchet following tonight's game against Utah.#Canucks | @theprovince pic.twitter.com/QctKav2CvQ
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 17, 2025
“I definitely have some ideas off the cusp here,” said captain Quinn Hughes about how to fix the power play. “Just keep that to myself and work on it as a unit of five or 10 and get better.”
The Canucks can’t afford many more losses this season. With 15 games left on the schedule, they likely need to win nine or 10 to make the postseason. They’ll need to figure out things quickly or their season will be over soon.