"Egregious Plays" Cost Canucks In 5-1 Loss To The Kings
The Vancouver Canucks fell 5-1 to the L.A. Kings on Thursday night.
It was another tough night at Rogers Arena as the Vancouver Canucks fell 5-1 to the L.A. Kings. Quinn Hughes scored the only goal for Vancouver, while Thatcher Demko stopped 16 of the 21 shots he faced. With the loss, the Canucks move to 19-15-10 on the season and have just three wins in their last 14 games.
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Thursday's game was disappointing for many reasons. Just like against the Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver was down 3-0 before the end of the first period, and the team looked disjointed for most of the night. From giving up multiple odd-man rushes to continually losing board battles, fans let the team know how they felt about the Canucks effort, as a large portion left before the final buzzer.
"We're all sick of losing," said Phil Di Giuseppe post-game. "We gotta get through this, and one way through is together. We got two days, and we got to figure it out."
As for Rick Tocchet, he was once again frustrated with his team's performance. During his post-game media, Tocchet said, "Obviously a couple of bad reads. I actually thought we're gonna start well. I mean, I thought we had some guys skating but we just made some egregious, egregious plays. Pinching, wrong decision at the wrong time. You can't do that. Some guys are just making some really bad reads right now."
One of the biggest storylines to come out of this game was another low night in ice time for J.T. Miller. Miller played 14:34 of ice time, while his 9:25 at even strength was the lowest on the team. This is now the third straight game Miller has played under 15 minutes and the fifth straight he has played under 13:30 at even strength.
When asked about Miller's recent player, Tocchet was blunt, saying, "He's struggling. He's caught in between. Seems like every time he's on the ice, something bad happens. I think he's got some bad luck, but he's also got some reads; he's gotta look at himself right now and focus on some of these reads. I mean, you can't dive in on the four-on-four, things like that. I think that he's trying sometimes, but I think the focus level has to get a little higher.
In the end, it is hard to pinpoint positives from this game. The power play struggled once again, going zero for five and almost every goal that L.A. scored was a result of a missed assignment. With a tough schedule ahead of them before the 4 Nations Face-Off, Vancouver will need to find a way to focus and regroup; otherwise, they could find themselves out of the playoff race before the trade deadline.
Facts and Stats:
- Rick Tocchet coaches in his 600th career NHL game
- Quinn Hughes hits double-digit goals for the second straight season
- Phil Di Giuseppe led the team with four hits
- Quinn Hughes records 29+ minutes for the fourth time this season
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
00:51- LAK: Alex Turcotte (6)
from Adrian Kempe
9:18- LAK: Alex Turcotte (7)
from Kevin Fiala and Mikey Anderson
9:42- LAK: Adrian Kempe (21)
from Alex Turcotte
Second Period:
14:52- VAN: Quinn Hughes (10) from Conor Garland and Filip Hronek
15:58- LAK: Kevin Fiala (15)
from Trevor Moore and Joel Edmundson (PPG)
Third Period:
11:36- LAK: Warren Foegele (12) from Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke
Up Next:
The Canucks will look to regroup before they take on the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. The last time these two teams met at Rogers Arena, Edmonton handed Vancouver a 7-3 loss. Game time is set for 7:00 pm PT.
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