Canucks captain Quinn Hughes spoke on the team's recent struggles after dropping their past three games.
The Vancouver Canucks are currently riding a three-game skid that saw them lose to the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, and Colorado Avalanche. During this stretch of three games, Vancouver have lost two of their games by a one-goal difference and have only managed to score four of their own.
These losses are in the past; Canucks captain Quinn Hughes insists on focusing more on the future.
“Just gotta do what we can and control what we can control,” Hughes told the media after Thursday’s practice. “We’ll start with tomorrow Utah, and enjoy being at home with our families and whatnot. Like I said, it’s a long road trip. Obviously, we know that these are crucial games.”
To give Vancouver credit, despite the four goals scored over the course of three games, they have also limited their opposition to less than three goals against. In the face of adversity, Hughes is choosing to reflect on the team’s performances with optimism. He noted the team’s defence in particular has been a standout.
“We're playing really hard. We're really well coached. Our D-zone system is pretty good. We've also had a lot of new faces over the course of those 20 games, where it’s not as easy for everyone to just learn the system on the spot. I think that we're defending hard, and the coaches have been doing a great job with us.”
A big talking point throughout this stretch of losses has been Hughes’ demeanour, which many are concerned about in terms of what it means for his future with the team. The defenceman has been with the team through lots of situations — the main point that always sticks is that the organization wants to win.
“I feel like I’ve seen pretty much everything under the sun here, good and bad, and you want to win and losing sucks. I know everyone in here feels that way and the coaching staff. No one's probably more competitive than Adam Foote.
“I don't really equate it to anything else. I'm not like, ‘Oh, this 15 games reminds me of 15 games in 2019’. I just try to take it one day at a time. Obviously, with some of the injuries that have happened, it's tough to see where we are in standings. But I said, all we can do is try to move on and have a good game tomorrow.”
As mentioned, injuries are a big part of the Canucks’ struggles as of late. The team did get a big boost, however, as Nils Höglander and Conor Garland rejoined the team in regular practice jerseys on Thursday, while it appears Thatcher Demko could be back as soon as next week. Were it not for injuries, who knows what the Canucks’ season could have looked like instead?
“You're seeing a lot of injuries around the league just because of the condensed schedule. That's tough right now. I just think losing is obviously the hardest part.”
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