Third Period Costs Canucks Again In 6-3 Loss To The Hurricanes

The Vancouver Canucks fell 6-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena. Linus Karlsson, Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Max Sasson found the back of the net while Leevi Meriläinen stopped 37 of the 42 shots he faced. With the loss, Vancouver's losing streak is now pushed to eight, with only one of those losses coming in overtime.

A multi-goal third period against was once again made the difference for the Canucks. After heading into the final frame tied 3-3, Vancouver allowed three goals over the final 20 minutes which cost them the win. The Canucks have now allowed multiple goals in the third on five occasions, which includes each of the last three games.  

"It's a really good lesson for our group in that when your game lacks details in the third, or when you open up the door against teams that we've been playing, they make you pay," said Manny Malhotra post-game. "To be in the games, obviously, a lot of good things to be able to claw and scratch our way to stay in these games, but, it's a valuable lesson to us that 40s not good enough, 45s not good enough, 50s not good enough in this league. We have to stay with the process."

The shot difference in this game was also staggering. While the Hurricanes constantly outshot the opposition, Vancouver managed only 17 shots compared to 43 against. Even though the Canucks were able to score three times, Tuesday was not a successful outing from an offensive perspective. 

Shifting over to positives, Meriläinen had yet another impressive performance in net. The Finnish goaltender kept Vancouver in the game and came up huge in the second period as he stopped Sebastian Aho on a penalty shot. If not for the play of Meriläinen, this game could have been a blowout early. 

The penalty kill also deserves some credit for the way they performed. The Canucks went five-for-five on the kill and allowed just eight shots against. Vancouver's power play also went one-for-two, making the night an overall success from a special teams perspective.

Tuesday's loss was another reminder of how far the Canucks still need to go in their rebuild. While they had their moments, Carolina dominated play and showed why they are once again Stanley Cup contenders. Overall, Vancouver fought hard but couldn't find a way to pick up a win at Rogers Arena. 

1st Period:

4:44- CAR: Logan Stankoven (5) from Jackson Blake and Juuso Välimäki

10:09- VAN: Linus Karlsson (3) from Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk

12:09- CAR: Nikolaj Ehlers (2) from Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven

19:58- VAN: Jonathan Lekkerimäki (3) from Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser (PPG)

2nd Period:

2:26- CAR: Nicolas Deslauriers (1) from Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jalen Chatfield

13:07- VAN: Max Sasson (3) from Zeev Buium and Brendan Gallagher

3rd Period:

4:07- CAR: Nicolas Deslauriers (2) from Bradly Nadeau and K'Andre Miller

10:21- CAR: Nikolaj Ehlers (3)

17:57- CAR: Logan Stankoven (6) from Nikolaj Ehlers and Jackson Blake (ENG)

Vancouver Canucks vs Detroit Red Wings, October 22, 7:00 pm PT

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