Canucks Allow Four-Straight Goals, Fall 4-2 To The Lightning

The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their six-game road trip with a 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Linus Karlsson scored his second of the season while Elias Pettersson found the back of the net on the power play. As for Kevin Lankinen, he was busy on Saturday, stopping 31 of the 35 shots he faced. 

Vancouver looked exhausted after the first period. The Lightning outshot the Canucks 24 to seven during the final two frames and were able to erase a 2-0 deficit. While it is understandable that Vancouver would be tired at the end of this long road trip, the Canucks looked like they had zero energy for the majority of the game. 

"The execution of details in our game," said Manny Malhotra post-game when asked about the loss. "Things that we've continuously talked about that are just non-negotiables. We need to have them to be able to be successful. Getting in shot lanes, tougher around our net, faceoff details. We continue to learn the lesson the hard way when you don't do those things; pucks end up in the back of your net."  

As for the penalty kill, it was another night where Vancouver allowed a goal. To the Canucks credit, they were only shorthanded once, but their inability to block passing lanes and clear loose pucks led to yet another goal against. Vancouver has now allowed a league-high 13 goals against while on the penalty kill and has been scored on in seven of 10 games so far this season. 

There was one positive from the night, and that was the play of Lankinen. While he will want a few of the goals back, the 31-year-old kept the Canucks in this game. It has been a tough year for Lankinen, but it is fair to say that he can't be blamed for this loss. 

"I was really impressed with his response to, obviously, his frustration with his last couple of outings," said Malhotra about Lankinen. "But the way he stepped up today, obviously, he gave us a real chance to be in it right until the third period. A couple of ten-bell saves. We're happy for him with the response that he did."

Ultimately, there is not much that can be said about Saturday's loss. Vancouver struggled to generate any form of offence over the final half of the game and could not contain Tampa Bay's top players. In the end, the Canucks finished this six-game road trip 0-5-1 and will now head home on a seven-game losing streak. 

1st Period:

15:32- VAN: Linus Karlsson (2) from Paul Cotter and Filip Chytil

2nd Period:

4:35- VAN: Elias Pettersson (3) from Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Brock Boeser (PPG)

6:30- TBL: Nikita Kucherov (2) from Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel

11:23- TBL: Nikita Kucherov (3) from Brayden Point

3rd Period:

2:04- TBL: Jake Guentzel (4) from Charle-Edouard D'Astous and Brayden Point

15:57- TBL: Pontus Holmberg (2)

Up Next:

October 20 vs Carolina Hurricanes, 7:00 pm PT

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