The Vancouver Canucks surrendered five unanswered goals on Thursday night, losing 5–2 to the Anaheim Ducks. Tyler Myers and Pius Suter scored for the Canucks, while Frank Vatrano, Cutter Gauthier, Ryan Strome, Jackson LaCombe, and Troy Terry scored for the Ducks. As this was the second game of the team’s second back-to-back of this road trip, Artūrs Šilovs earned the start for Vancouver. He made 20 saves on 24 shots against. Despite tonight’s outcome, Vancouver remains in a playoff spot with one point separating the Canucks and the Calgary Flames.
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For the second game in a row, Vancouver surrendered a 2–0 lead. They gave up two goals in the third period against the Kings, and let in three unanswered Ducks goals in the second period tonight (plus another two during the third period). While they did play the night before, and previously took part in another back-to-back on the weekend, Vancouver looked tired throughout the game. They were unable to collect the puck and bring it into Anaheim’s zone for a good chunk of the third period.
Tyler Myers, who took a puck to the neck/collarbone area in the prior night’s game against the L.A. Kings, suited up for his team tonight. True to the Canucks’ recent pattern of taking first-period penalties, Myers was called for a delay of game penalty after shooting the puck over the glass only a little over a minute into the game. This ultimately came in his favour, as he ended up scoring the game’s opening goal off a rocket of a shot while exiting the penalty box. He also collected an assist in the first frame and finished the game with 17:52 minutes played.
Vancouver has found penalty kill success as of late, with a big part of this being due to the play of Marcus Pettersson. The team has yet to surrender a goal on the penalty kill during his 16:34 minutes on it since joining the Canucks. In particular, he broke up a pass during the team’s second penalty kill of the game, resulting in Anaheim coming out of Vancouver’s zone and being unable to set up for nearly a minute. As a whole, the team have only surrendered a single power play goal since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break, clicking at a penalty killing percentage of .960.
Šilovs, whose last start was on Sunday against Utah Hockey Club, had a steady performance. He made a crop of great saves in the first period, stopping a particularly tricky one at the side of the net after making a quick glove save on Leo Carlsson. In the third period, he made a good rebound stop against Jansen Harkins to keep it a one-goal game.
As per usual, Quinn Hughes made his impact felt on the ice. Despite this only being his second game back in action, with seven defensemen dressed to limit his minutes, Hughes still played 22:58 of the game and nearly scored. He also drew a penalty by curling around the Ducks’ net, forcing Brett Leason to hook him.
While some players had decent individual games, as a team, tonight's effort was disappointing.
"We need some guys to rise to the occasion," Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. "Little disappointed in the grit part of our game."
Stats and Facts
- Vancouver snaps an eight-game winning streak against the Ducks
- Conor Garland extends his point streak against Anaheim to four games
- Pius Suter matches his career-high of 15 goals in one season
- Canucks lose in California for the first time this season
Scoring Summary
1st Period:
3:17 - VAN: Tyler Myers (4) from Drew O’Connor and Conor Garland
16:50 - VAN: Pius Suter (15) from Tyler Myers and Brock Boeser
2nd Period:
5:27 - ANA: Frank Vatrano (18) from Ryan Strome and Troy Terry
9:09 - ANA: Cutter Gauthier (12) from Isac Lundestrom
18:41 - ANA: Ryan Strome (9) from Mason McTavish and Troy Terry
3rd Period:
15:46 - ANA: Jackson LaCombe (10) from Mason McTavish
17:54 - ANA: Troy Terry (17) from Ryan Strome and Isac Lundestrom (ENG)
Up Next:
Vancouver embarks on the last game of their five-game road trip, taking on the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, March 1. Most recently, the Kraken suffered a 7–2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. They’ll face off against the Canucks at 7:00 pm PT.
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