Tocchet's frustrations with Canucks' Kuzmenko result in another benching
Andrei Kuzmenko’s struggles continued as the Vancouver Canucks lost 6-5 to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. The Canucks stormed from down 5-2 to tie the game in the third period, a monster effort that the Russian forward barely took part in.
Kuzmenko played just three shifts in the third period as the Canucks mounted a three goal comeback. He finished with just 9:28 of five-on-five ice-time, the third fewest minutes of any Canucks forward.
After the game, head coach Rick Tocchet was visibly frustrated when asked about the winger’s play.
“I’m tired of answering questions about him,” the coach commented. “We came back, it worked out. Kuzy’s got to, he’s got to forecheck. Let’s start with that.”
The Russian winger has already sat out two games as a healthy scratch this season in late November. When he has suited up, he has four goals and 15 points in 23 games. That pace is far off the 39 goals he managed last season.
Hear from Head Coach Rick Tocchet after tonight's game against New Jersey.@theprovince | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/TOcbC49gHU
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 6, 2023
It wasn’t just Kuzmenko’s performance that caught the negative attention of the head coach. The entire team’s commitment to their system was mentioned after the game.
“The first period we give them four goals that shouldn’t go,” Tocchet started. “There’s some systems plays that, you know little disappointed guys, just you’re supposed to be in spots they weren’t in.”
After a record-setting start to the season, the Canucks have now won just four of their last 10 games. They’ve started to slip down the standings and have some tough matchups soon with the Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Florida Panthers coming to town. They’ll need to get back to what made them successful earlier in the season to get through that stretch.
“That’s not our system and we’ve been slacking a little bit on that,” said Tocchet about the mistakes tonight. “It’s on us. It’s on my ass, I’ve got to get these guys to do it more often.”
The Canucks did have their moments against the Devils. Quinn Hughes scored two points and both of his brothers recorded at least one as they became the ninth trio of siblings to all appear in the same NHL game.
While they did almost pull off an impressive comeback, the Canucks will have nothing to show for it in the standings as Jesper Bratt won the game with 33 seconds remaining. The Devils forward easily tapped home a rebound as he was left unaccounted for in front of the net.
“You could blame all five guys on the ice for that,” said Tocchet when discussing the game-winning goal. “I still don’t understand where guys were going on that play. We had time. That’s details. Details and details, that’s what we keep hammering with these guys.”
The Canucks play their next game on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. The puck drops at 7 pm PT as they play their second contest in a five-game home stretch.
After another benching tonight, Kuzmenko’s spot in the top-six could be in danger for that one. It will be an interesting development to follow as we advance throughout this week.
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