The Vancouver Canucks continued multiple streaks in their 4–1 loss to the Utah Mammoth tonight — they remain winless against Utah while also dropping their fourth-straight game. Arshdeep Bains scored Vancouver’s lone goal, while Kevin Lankinen stopped 14 of 17 shots faced. 

Vancouver started the game off well, getting a decent number of in-tight chances on Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka. Considering the Canucks’ history in games against the Mammoth, losing by only one goal in two of them, Vancouver’s insistence on hopping up into play and generating offence early was a strategy that felt almost mandatory. The most goals they’d scored against Utah was two in their first game. 

Last game, Linus Karlsson scored his fifth goal of the season and received a promotion to the first line alongside Elias Pettersson and Evander Kane as a result. Tonight, he remained in this position and was joined by Jake DeBrusk in Kane’s place. Karlsson didn’t look out of place alongside Pettersson and DeBrusk, as he made contributions on both sides of the puck while in the O-zone to help his team maintain possession. 

“He’s been looking good,” Pettersson said of his linemate. “He’s strong in the puck, protects it well, wins a lot of battles, which creates great scoring chances.” 

“He didn't seem to be bothered or fazed by what he was matched up against,” Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote said of Karlsson’s play tonight. “I’m not saying he’s ready for the top line, or maybe he is, but it’s nice to see him have some success.” 

This line as a whole, however, made an impression throughout tonight’s game. They created a total of 15 5-on-5 scoring chances for and logged a corsi-for of 69.57%. As well as being able to establish a sustainable offensive-zone presence, this group managed to lock things down defensively as well — something that carried over from their game against the Colorado Avalanche. Tonight, Pettersson, Karlsson, and DeBrusk limited Utah to two 5-on-5 scoring chances, while Pettersson registered a team-high of three blocked shots. 

In terms of the goals allowed, Vancouver’s biggest issue was permitting shots from a distance with traffic in front. Both of Utah’s first two goals were scored from around the blueline with at least two bodies in front of Lankinen. It wasn’t until Utah’s third goal that the Canucks began allowing more dangerous closer-range opportunities. 

Offensively, the Canucks put up a good effort in the O-zone, producing 32 shots and 43 scoring chances, though many of these chances didn’t make it into the back of the net simply due to cohesion. There were multiple occasions in which back-door passes were too hot for the receiver to handle, resulting in another cycle of play in Utah’s zone. Another aspect of this was that Vejmelka had a strong game for the Mammoth. 

“You might call me crazy. We should have that game 4, 5–1. It’s that simple,” Foote explained postgame. “We're pushing in our game where we have, again, to dig deeper, get a dirty goal. We can't get it from a shot. We’ve gotta go hack and whack and put the goalie in the net, that's maybe a little bit more of a dirty, aggressive mindset around the net, even if we get in some battles and start a war there, that's probably what's going to change the tide.” 

An important part in tonight’s game was after Quinn Hughes took a penalty with four minutes remaining in the game. While on the penalty kill, Vancouver managed to limit Utah’s high-danger chances by getting their sticks in the way of the Mammoth’s passes regardless of how close or far they were from the net. With that being said, Utah did score shortly after Vancouver killed the penalty off. 

Despite the loss, Foote insists on remaining optimistic about the team’s performance. While the scoresheet didn’t fall in their favour, they had a lot of good looks and were able to keep it to a 2–1 game until later in the third period. 

“We will get guys back. My belief is we’ll get guys back, we’ll be better for it, but we’re not too far behind either. That was a big, big game tonight. We wanted to get that one.” 

Stats and Facts: 

• Kiefer Sherwood registers 7+ hits for the 33rd time as a member of the Canucks 
• Canucks register 30+ shots in a loss for the eighth time this season 
• Vancouver has only scored five goals in four games against the Mammoth throughout franchise history 

Scoring Summary: 

1st Period: 

16:00 - UTA: Mikhail Sergachev (4) from Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther (PPG)  

2nd Period: 

14:05 - UTA: Nick Schmaltz (11) from Mikhail Sergachev and JJ Peterka 

3rd Period: 

4:17 - VAN: Arshdeep Bains (1) from Aatu Räty and Jonathan Lekkerimäki 

17:52 - UTA: Kevin Stenlund (2) from Kailer Yamamoto and Jack McBain

19:24 - UTA: John Marino (2) from Kevin Stenlund (ENG) 

Up Next: 

The Canucks are back in action tomorrow with the second-half of their back-to-back taking place against the Minnesota Wild. In their last matchup this season, Minnesota defeated Vancouver by a score of 5–2 with Drew O’Connor scoring the Canucks’ lone two goals. Puck drop for tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT. 

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