The Canucks were on the road against the Hurricanes; However, this team continues to prove themselves that they are not ready for a playoff push at all. A disappointing showcase on what was expected during the offseason.

This game started out exciting for Canucks fans, where Max Sasson started the game with a first period opening goal for the team, even though the goal was not a highlight reel, it was supposed to set the tone for the rest of the team. The Hurricanes answered back quickly, give back 2 goals in less than a minute in the game, Andrei Svechnikov, was everywhere, seeming to find spaces that the Canucks couldn’t see, it felt like the pace at that point of the game was too fast for anyone but him to takeover.

Luckily, to end off the period, Elias Pettersson jumped onto a loose puck during the penalty kill and hit a goal quickly. That goal seemed to wake everyone up but as the game lingers on, we noticed the issue of our defense that would crumble down faster than anyone who would think watching this game at that point. Conor Garland scored another goal on the power play thanks to the assist from Brock Boeser, a clean play that sparked the momentum back for the Canucks.

But the Hurricanes weren’t done, Taylor Hall managed to tie it later in the third, shifting all the energy back to their side. It was a tied game, in overtime, both teams were neck in neck throughout, Sebastian Aho for the Hurricanes struck out, with 31 seconds left in overtime scores the winning goal, giving another tough loss in the season for the Canucks.

What stings the most is that the Canucks prove that our offense can compete against the better teams, we always see flashes every game. But these flashes don’t win seasons, our defense needs to step up to the plate. Games like this just shows that how far the team still has to go before anyone can seriously talk about playoffs again. The Canucks will play another road game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, we’ll see how effective the games will be and what adjustment will the team have for the next game.

Ben Chan kchan467@my.bcit.ca