Plucky Vancouver Canucks refuse to quit on playoff chase in face of adversity
The Vancouver Canucks aren’t going to give up without a fight.
Despite a playoff chase that looks increasingly unlikely, with their odds dropping near 10% by some predictions, the Canucks are still fighting every night and getting results to go their way.
The Canucks pulled out another come-from-behind victory last night, beating the New York Islanders 5-2. The victory gives them a 5-2-1 record as they make a mad dash to earn a postseason spot.
“It’s a big win for us… I don’t think we were in love with our first two periods but I thought in the third, we played our best period, and sometimes that’s what you have to do,” said head coach Rick Tocchet.
The St. Louis Blues have seized a stranglehold on the race for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. They sit three points up on the Canucks, although the Blues have played an extra game.
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The Minnesota Wild, who currently sit in the top wild-card spot, have been struggling lately, and suddenly, even their playoff position has come into question. Nothing is set, and with each team having between nine and 12 games remaining, anything can happen.
The Canucks have shown an admirable level of resiliency. Before last night’s game, they played three straight contests where they tied the score with fewer than five minutes left in the third period. They’re fighting to the final whistle and it’s paying off for them as they’ve managed to stay in the race.
The Canucks have been doing all of this despite a huge number of injuries. Goalie Thatcher Demko has been back for just two games, but he’s performed very well despite not getting an ideal amount of practice time before coming back to play. Forwards Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander are also not on the current road trip, as they both were hurt against the New York Rangers.
It’s been the team’s depth that has delivered during this most recent stretch. Players like Pius Suter, Derek Forbort, Kiefer Sherwood, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki have each had moments when they came up huge.
“Depth scoring helps… at this time of year, especially with our team right now, we need depth scoring, so we need everyone to contribute,” added Tocchet.
The Canucks have just 10 games left on this season. While there have been tons of ups and downs, if they can keep up this effort in their play, they give themselves a shot at still making the postseason.