Disgusting Defending & Lack of Energy: The Main Contributor in Canucks’ Atrocious Loss

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I would not call any game against the Buffalo Sabres a cakewalk necessarily… but they should never stomp your team if you key in the most minimal amount of effort. And, unfortunately for the Canucks, it was as if not a single ‘you know what’ was given.

The Canucks entered Tuesday’s game without key quarterback defencemen, Quinn Hughes, but were welcoming back winger Brock Boeser from a day-to-day injury. Brad Hunt was brought up to take Hughes’ job for the evening.

The game started off without a hitch, six-minutes in, off of a second effort by Tanner Pearson, coveted captain Bo Horvat was able to find the scoresheet for his first of the season off of an accurate shot between the hashmarks.

The Canucks would exit the first leading 2-1 after trading goals with the Sabres halfway through the frame. Entering the second, a stalemate would ensue, eventually being broken by Latvian centre, Zemgus Girgensons, tipping it home around Thatcher Demko’s glove off a Kyle Okposo shot.

As the third rolled around, the Sabres just kept digging a deeper and deeper hole for the Canucks. Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson would score mere seconds after eachother, 23 to be exact, thus doubling their lead while doubling the Canucks’ dread.

After a full court empty netter from Rasmus Asplund, the Canucks were foiled in a 5-2 pouding from their sister franchise. No team likes dropping one to the infamous Sabres, but getting taken out to dinner by them is a whole other story. Who’s to blame for this mess of a contest? I’d start off by saying the passive defence.

Prime example on Buffalo’s second goal, I realize a powerplay had just concluded for the Sabres, but I thoroughly believe that man should be tied up or at the very least acknowledged in some fashion. Girgensons may as well have whipped out the lawn chair and had a cigar if Tyler Myers was gonna gift him that much room.

Following the game, Canucks’ Head Coach, Travis Green even stated his team failed to realize the circumstances and point out their lackluster performance on each end of the ice.

“We had nine forwards that didn’t block a shot, eight forwards that didn’t get a hit. We didn’t pay a big enough price.”

  • Travis Green / via Sportsnet 650

Especially entering the second and third, the Canucks just lacked energy, motivation, and pride. You can be Mr. Fancy Pants all you want but it is not going to win you contests. Boeser touched on this after the game regarding their zone entries and breakouts.

I feel this game was a definite wake-up-call in the grand scheme of things for this freshly knit Canucks’ roster. They sit now 1-2-1 on the season with two games left on their road trip versus the Chicago Blackhawks and Seattle Kraken. The Canucks will also be greeted to a full stadium come their Tuesday home opener next week after capacity guidelines shifted earlier this afternoon. 18,000 roaring fans watching their team play in the regular season live for the first time in nearly two years…

Might just be what they doctor ordered for this team to get a move on.

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