After scoring early, the Canucks could not find the back of the net, falling 2-1 to the Capitals.
The Vancouver Canucks (42-18-8) had their five-game point streak snapped Saturday as they fell 2-1 to the Washington Capitals (32-25-9). Brock Boeser scored the lone goal while Casey DeSmith made 22 saves on the night. With the loss, Vancouver's record drops to 21-7-4 at Rogers Arena. The Canucks also suffer just their sixth regulation loss when leading after the first period, with their record now sitting at 23-6-3 on the season.
One of the main reasons behind Vancouver's loss was their inability to hit the night. 48 shots either missed the net or were blocked, with Charlie Lindgren only having to face 22 shots all night. Overall, it was not a good night for the offence, as the Canucks were unable to generate high-danger scoring chances or establish any momentum in the third.
Quotes
J.T. Miller on the Canucks fighting through adversity:
"Well, that's what we're trying to get better at. It's not going good for us, how are you gonna play? We've played with a lot of leads this year without having to trail going into the third very often. It's just something we need to be better at. When we're getting pushed by the other team, how are we going to respond? That takes a level of maturity and discipline. Starts with the leaders on the team to make sure that the team goes in the right direction."
Rick Tocchet on the team's lack of energy:
"If I gotta manufacture it right now, this time, we're in trouble. We've had some battle drills and manufacture in practice, so you got to do it for the game. And we got to get inside. We were just way too much on the outside. Way too much on the outside tonight."
Rick Tocchet on his team's urgency:
"It's my job to help some of these guys. They gotta understand that it's gonna get harder and harder. It's that seal. They gotta get past that seal. It's my job to get them to break that seal. There's more in the tank and we got to break through it and find it."
Rick Tocchet on the Canucks difficulty clearing and dumping pucks in deep:
"Yeah, 100%. even our forwards, like trying to dump it in early, they were knocking them down. That's the thing we're talking about; you have to strive to get on. If you have the puck and you stride out, and I chip it to myself and get it in deep, but we're on our heels. So we're just like, on our backhand, they're going to be in our heels flipping it; we should be on your toes. That's what I saw. I saw the exact same thing.
Facts and Stats
- Quinn Hughes sets a new franchise record for points by a defenceman in a season with 77
- Canucks record 30+ hits for the 16th time this season
- Vancouver is held to one goal or fewer for the tenth time this season
- Canucks drop to 3-11-1 when trailing after two periods
Scoring Summary
1st Period
VAN: 1:11- Brock Boeser (36th) from Quinn Hughes and Ilya Mikheyev
2nd Period
WSH: 6:01- Tom Wilson (16th) from Ivan Miroshnichenko and John Carlson
WSH: 7:54- Alex Ovechkin (19th) from Connor McMichael and Alexander Alexeyev
3rd Period
No Scoring
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