The Vancouver Canucks are at a make-or-break point of their season.
They’ve lost six of their last seven games and haven’t won a game in regulation since the Christmas holiday break. Their offence has been shut out or scored just one goal in three of their last four games. The cushion they had on a playoff spot has completely evaporated, with the Calgary Flames sitting just one point back and with one game in hand of the final wild-card spot, which the Canucks currently hold.
Oh, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier with the Canucks playing the Leafs, Jets, Kings and Oilers coming up.
Vancouver’s performance against the Hurricanes on Friday night was completely listless. The Canucks managed just 14 shots on goal against the Canes, who were playing the second leg of a back-to-back and trotting out an unproven journeyman goaltender in net.
The panic level is rising in this market, though it’s worth pointing out that the Canucks’ competition for a playoff spot is mediocre.
Calgary is a nice underdog story but is quite reliant on goaltending and doesn’t have the type of roster that scares you. The Blues are better under Jim Montgomery but they’re still an average side, not to mention that they’ve played two extra games and are still two points back, which is a notable deficit. Utah had some promise — their five-on-five play controlling metrics are legitimately good — but they’ve been on a skid lately and lost Dylan Guenther to injury.
All of this is to say that while the Canucks are sliding dangerously, they’re still in control of their playoff fate. However, they need to escape this difficult two-week stretch of their schedule without completely imploding.
Here are three takeaways from the Canucks’ 2-0 loss.
Canucks’ concerning trend of slow offensive starts continues
It’s been challenging for the Canucks to generate shots and Grade-A chances in all phases, but it seems to be especially plaguing them at the start of games.
Vancouver mustered four shots in the first period against Montreal to kick off the road trip, three shots in the first period against Washington on Wednesday night and only five shots in the first period against Carolina. The Canucks surrendered the first goal in all three of those games.
These slow starts aren’t just a short-term blip, either. In seven of its last nine games, Vancouver’s created less than seven shots in the opening period. They’ve given up the opening goal 24 times out of 41 this season (58 percent), compared to just 29 times during the entire 2023-24 campaign (35 percent).
For a while, it looked like Friday night’s start might actually be different. The Canucks were quick, engaged and disruptive at puck drop. Quinn Hughes went to work setting up a dangerous Canucks offensive zone shift less than three minutes in. Elias Pettersson had a flurry of chances; one off a give-and-go with Conor Garland, where he got a point-blank look and a backhander in the slot. They were stingy defensively, collapsing in the slot to disrupt passing lanes and negate scoring chances.
The positive momentum was halted when J.T. Miller was called for a questionable cross-checking penalty, which Andrei Svechnikov appeared to sell. Vancouver killed the penalty off successfully but afterward, they created almost nothing offensively and conceded the first goal to Jordan Staal. The Canucks were spotted a power-play opportunity late in the period, but completely fumbled it, unable to even get set up.
To make matters worse, the Canucks generated just two shots through the first 15 minutes of the second period. That’s unacceptable given their opportunity to shoot on Dustin Tokarski, an unproven journeyman goaltender with just five NHL appearances over the last three seasons, and playing against a Canes team on the second leg of a back-to-back.
Breaking down Elias Pettersson’s return
Pettersson returned to the lineup on Friday after getting hurt on December 23 against the Sharks. Vancouver’s star Swede came out of the gate with purpose, pace, and determination. He moved his feet well, broke up plays defensively, and looked engaged in the opening period. Pettersson created a couple of scoring chances early, too.
It provided hope that he might be an instant difference-maker against the Canes, but it didn’t materialize. Pettersson’s line, much like the rest of the team, couldn’t penetrate Carolina’s airtight defensive structure as the game progressed. He drew a couple of penalties in the third period and had a glorious chance in the third period, set up by a cross-seam Brock Boeser pass, but couldn’t hit the net.
Pettersson’s underlying numbers weren’t pretty in the game — the Canes had a 5-1 edge in high-danger chances during his five-on-five shifts and he didn’t have a shot on goal. He’ll need to reach a higher gear very soon, though he deserves some slack given how bad the team around him looked and the fact that it was his first game back.
What happened to Carson Soucy’s game?
Last year, Soucy was an authoritative shutdown presence who could capably handle tough matchups. How much of Vancouver’s blue-line woes would be mitigated if he returned to that level?
Against Montreal, Soucy made a couple of terrible reads that directly led to Grade-A chances. His failed clearance gave the Canadiens a chance to hem the Canucks in the second period, leading to Kaiden Guhle’s goal. He played just 14:31 against the Canadiens and was deployed for just three shifts in the third period.
Soucy was better against the Capitals but it was another rough outing for him against the Hurricanes. Svechnikov spun off Soucy along the boards in a one-on-one sequence and drove the slot to score Carolina’s second goal.
Andrei Svechnikov puts the Hurricanes up 2-0
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL#Canucks #RaiseUp pic.twitter.com/w6MYp0PL2Y
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) January 11, 2025
The stakes of that second goal can’t be overstated. Down 1-0, the Canucks still had a realistic chance of coming back, especially in the third period once the Canes would be feeling the effects of playing the previous night. But overcoming a two-goal deficit? That can feel nearly impossible against a Carolina team that has an elite defensive gear it can always fall back to when leading. And that’s exactly what they did — the Canes’ defensive coverage was immaculate, their neutral zone defense was suffocating and they turned the game into a complete slog.
Going back to Soucy, it’s disappointing that his game is regressing again because he was actually trending in a promising direction for a stretch. There was a 10-game period in early December where Soucy controlled a blue-line best 53.3 percent of expected goals and had a 5-1 goal differential during his five-on-five shifts.
It doesn’t help that Soucy’s had to manage Noah Juulsen, whose even-strength play has been very concerning in its own right, but I don’t think the Canucks aren’t going to find the defensive fastball they had last season unless Soucy can be the player he was in 2023-24. That’s worrying because they need elite team defence right now given how inept they look offensively.
(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
