The Vancouver Canucks will attempt to end a seven-game losing streak when they open a three-game road trip against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night in Las Vegas.
The Canucks, who began the season with two wins in their first three games, including a 6-5 overtime victory at the Pacific Division-leading Edmonton Oilers to open the season, have won just once in 18 games since. That came on Oct. 27 when they rallied from a 5-2 deficit midway through the third period to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 6-5 on a Filip Hronek power-play goal with 11 seconds remaining in overtime.
That victory ended a 10-game losing streak for first-year coach Manny Malhotra’s squad. Vancouver showed signs of life in the opening period Friday, taking a 1-0 lead against the New York Rangers before surrendering a late equalizer in the frame.
New York tied the score late in the first period on a Gabe Perreault goal before breaking the game open with four goals in less than eight minutes in the second en route to a 5-1 romp.
The Canucks, last in the NHL in goals allowed per game (4.52) and points (seven), have now allowed five or more goals in 10 of their 21 games.
“Our first period was probably the best we’ve looked in a long time, just in terms of everything structurally — created a lot of chances, scored a great O-zone sequence goal, didn’t spend a ton of time in D-zone,” Malhotra said. “In the second period, it was just a string of turnover after turnover after turnover that feeds transition and doesn’t allow us to do the things that make us competitive.”
One bright spot in the loss was winger Brock Boeser reaching 500 career points in his 650th game with an assist on Elias Pettersson’s opening goal. Boeser became the eighth player in franchise history to reach the milestone and extended his point streak to six games.
“It’s not about hitting a milestone, it’s about putting together a game as a group,” Boeser said. “We show up and work hard in practice and you want to see results.”
Pettersson agreed.
“There’s been too much losing,” he said. “Hard to see the positives with another loss.”
Vegas comes in off a 3-2 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators on Friday, snapping a four-game win streak, and has earned a point in six straight games (4-0-2).
The Golden Knights dominated the first two periods, outshooting the Predators, 34-20, but led just 2-1 on a Rasmus Andersson 4-on-4 goal midway through the second period.
Nashville rallied to tie it, 2-2, on Ryan O’Reilly’s second goal of the game midway through the third period, and then went on to win it on captain Roman Josi’s goal in the fourth round of the shootout.
“I thought we lost our game a little bit in the third,” Andersson said. “They were the better team in the third period and it cost us a point tonight.”
“I didn’t think we managed pucks the way we did in the first two periods,” Vegas coach Ryan Craig said. “We threw some pucks away, didn’t move our feet, didn’t use our support like we did in the first two periods to get us up and out of trouble and tilt the ice with territory.”
Vegas won the first of four meetings between the Pacific Division rivals, defeating Vancouver 3-2 on Oct. 4 behind 18 saves from Adin Hill and Marc Gatcomb’s go-ahead goal in the second period. That loss started the Canucks’ 10-game skid.
–Field Level Media
