Canucks Offence Stalls In 3-1 Loss To The Vegas Golden Knights

The Vancouver Canucks ended their brief two-game road trip with a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Teddy Blueger scored the only goal, while Kevin Lankinen made 19 saves for his first regulation road loss of the season. With the defeat, the Canucks drop to 16-10-6 on the season and have now gone 0-1-2 in their last three road games.

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A Key Pius Of The Canucks’ Puzzle

One of the main reasons Vancouver lost tonight is that their top players were unable to generate any offence. Elias Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser each finished with one shot, while J.T. Miller failed to get a single puck on the net. Unfortunately, this trend is not a new one, as the Canucks top forwards have struggled to score over the last few weeks.

While the top six was disappointing, Vancouver’s fourth line wasn’t as Blueger, Kiefer Sherwood, and Danton Heinen had a strong game. Blueger scored the Canucks only game and was tied for the team lead in shots with four, while Sherwood and Heinen both created scoring chances while shorthanded. In the end, the fourth line was easily Vancouver’s best of the game from start to finish.

As for Lankinen, he put forth another strong performance but will want Vegas’ first goal back. While every shot has a chance of going in, you rarely see unscreened point shots get past goaltenders. Despite the questionable goal against, this was yet another in a long line of impressive performances as Lankinen kept the score close until the final buzzer.

Arguably, the biggest story from this game was Rick Tocchet’s decision to keep Miller and Pettersson on separate power play units for the third straight game. While it worked against the Utah Hockey Club the other night, it didn’t tonight, as the power play went 0/2 while generating two shots on goal. Whatever the reason for splitting up these two, it is negatively impacting the power play and needs to be sorted out sooner rather than later.

While the Canucks did have a strong first period, they looked tired in the second and third, which ended up costing them against the Golden Knights. They were strong in the defensive zone, but their inability to generate any offensive chances, especially late in the game, is the reason they depart Vegas with a loss. With two more games before the holiday break, the hope is Vancouver can bounce back in a big way on Saturday night at Rogers Arena.

Facts and Stats:

– Phil Di Giuseppe skates in his first game of the season

– Vancouver fails to record at least 25 shots for the 12th time this season

– Kiefer Sherwood has recorded at least three hits in all 32 games this season

– Conor Garland records over 20 minutes of ice time for the 15th time this season

Scoring Summary

1st Period:

8:15- VAN: Teddy Blueger (5th) from Kiefer Sherwood and Danton Heinen

2nd Period:

17:35- VGK: Alex Pietrangelo (3) from Shea Theodore and Mark Stone

3rd Period:

3:44- VGK: William Karlsson (6) from Brett Howden 
19:10- VGK: Brett Howden (12) from Noah Hanifin (ENG)

Up Next:

The Canucks return home for a matchup with the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. Vancouver is 1-0 against Ottawa this season, defeating the Senators 4-3 back in November. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm T from Rogers Arena.