Well, last night did not go the way we wanted it to.
To say that many of the fans and probably the players themselves are disappointed after last night’s performance would be an understatement. But is it time to panic? I really don’t think it is. Sure, you can look at the score and say “wow we got smoked yesterday”, however it isn’t that simple. Don’t get me wrong, having 18 shots on goal in 3 periods of hockey, going 0-4 on the power play (0-6 in the series), and having the starting goalie be out with an injury isn’t a great look for the team. When the team you’re playing against blocks THIRTY shots, there really isn’t much more you can do. The Canucks attempted 84 shots compared to the Predators 36… it all came down to individual mistakes, and Nashville throwing their bodies in front of every single shot.
The game started off terribly, with Nashville scoring 1:14 into the first period, and it kind of just went downhill from there. No matter the amount of time the Canucks had the puck, they couldn’t buy a goal if their life depended on it. Everyone looked scared to shoot, or wanted the perfect shot, and the amount of times they straight up missed the net was appalling. 33 times they missed the net completely, and it seemed about half of those were wide open attempts. Petterson was his biggest critic, saying that the simple errors he made throughout the game can’t continue to happen.
“I put us in a bad spot with my mistake on their third goal. That can’t happen…If I score in the first period, it’s a 1-1 game, and maybe it’s a different outlook…I’m always my biggest critic and I take a lot of blame for this one.” Elias Petterson, Forward, Vancouver Canucks
The game continued the same the whole time, except instead of being 1-0 down, the Canucks fell to 3-0 down after 8 minutes in the second period. There was a glimmer of light after Nikita Zadorov blasted a goal into the top left corner just over 15 minutes into the second, but that’s all the ‘Nucks could muster up for the game. The third period came and the Canucks finally started taking more shots, something the fans had wanted them to be doing more of all game, and completely dominated the possession for the rest of the game. However, this is also where a majority of the blocks and misses came, as they ended the game with only 18 shots on goal.
“We didn’t capitalize…We got a lot of rubber around [the net]. Got to keep doing that. I think the game plan’s there, just got to start executing.”
🗣 Head Coach Rick Tocchet discusses tonight's game and provides updates on Myers and Demko.@theprovince | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/CjHfZHUPIf
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 24, 2024
The Canucks are back in action on Friday at 4:30pm PST in Nashville, where they look to take a 2-1 series lead. Be sure to head to Rogers Arena, where you can join the viewing party hosted there for only $15!