Canucks Takeaways: Hughes still dazzles as tired squad suffers tough loss

Apparently, beating the San Jose Sharks does get old for the Vancouver Canucks.

The Canucks’ 11-game winning streak against the Sharks ended Saturday in San Jose with a 4-3 loss, 23 days after Vancouver embarrassed the same opponent 10-1 at SAP Center. It was the Canucks’ first loss against their Pacific Division rivals in nearly four years, but Vancouver’s fourth loss in six games against all competition.

It was also the Canucks’ seventh game in 11 nights, and came after a 5-1 win Friday night in Seattle. The National Hockey League schedule maker, who has always seemed a little fuzzy on geography west of Chicago, had the Canucks arriving at their San Jose hotel just after 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

The Canucks climbed within a goal at 16:49 of the third period when Brock Boeser scored on a rebound with his team skating six-on-five, and had a couple of sparkling looks to tie it. J.T. Miller sent a point-blank rebound over the net with 20 seconds to go in a third period that saw Vancouver outshoot San Jose 15-7. Shot attempts in the game were 78-47 for the Canucks.

But the Sharks, now 4-5-1 since their nine-goal humiliation on Nov. 2, managed to win the game in the first two minutes of the final period. Mikael Granlund skated largely unimpeded end-to-end and beat Canuck defenceman Filip Hronek and goalie Casey DeSmith to break a 2-2 tie just 22 seconds into the frame.

And after Vancouver defenceman Tyler Myers took a careless high-sticking penalty on the ensuing faceoff at centre, San Jose scored on the four-on-three power play at 1:48 as Mike Hoffman converted his own rebound after DeSmith made a strong save on the Shark’s goalmouth redirect.

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It wasn’t a game the Canucks “should” lose, but was always one they “could,” based on schedule, travel and the Sharks’ improving form. But that didn’t make it any easier for Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet to accept.

“They deserved the game,” Tocchet told reporters in San Jose. “You wasted a great effort against Seattle. San Jose has been playing good and they worked hard tonight. And we tried at the end to come back (but) you’ve got to respect your opponents. This is a learning lesson. You know, playoff teams don’t do this sort of stuff.”

KUZIE DOOZY

For the second straight game, Tocchet healthy-scratched struggling first-line winger Andrei Kuzmenko, who scored 39 times last season but has gone nine without a goal this month. 

After Friday’s gritty win in Seattle, where the depth forwards (also known as candidates to be scratched) stepped up and drove the Canucks, there was no easy choice for Tocchet to get Kuzmenko back in.

Fair enough. But with the Canucks about to play seven of their next eight games at home, the winger needs to be back in the lineup on Tuesday when the Anaheim Ducks visit Vancouver.

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MIGHTIEST QUINN

Even in defeat, Quinn Hughes is incredible. The guy who has played more than any other Canuck was also the liveliest at the end of the team’s 11-day enduro. The defenceman’s 29:49 of ice time included 11:54 in the third period, and Hughes was dancing past defenders until the end. The Canuck captain launched 16 shots at Sharks’ goalie Kaapo Kahkonen. Although half his shots were blocked, Hughes’ 16 attempts were more than a third of San Jose’s team total.

Hughes’ assist on blue-line partner Filip Hronek’s power-play goal in the first period was his 22^nd point in November, making Hughes’ month the most productive by a Vancouver defenceman in franchise history. It also extended Hughes’ points streak to 11 games, and left him tied with teammate Miller for second in the NHL scoring race, two points behind Nikita Kucherov’s 35 for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Miller assisted on all three goals Saturday as the Canucks scored twice on the power play and once six-against-five.

PETTERSSON RE-APPEARS

Until the third period, it was another perplexing night for Canucks star Elias Pettersson, who had gone three games without a point and in Seattle logged a season-low 16:07 of ice time. Before the Kraken game, Tocchet dismissed conjecture that Pettersson is playing hurt, re-iterating that the centre needs to start playing with more pace and just be better overall.

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In the third period, he looked fast and dangerous again, and not only because he ran over San Jose defenceman Calen Addison on the forecheck. The heavy, clean check – and the retaliatory cross-check it drew from Matt Benning – sparked a 10-player melee at 5:40. Sam Lafferty, the forward who replaced Kuzmenko on Pettersson’s line, rushed to his linemate’s aid and bowled over Benning, and Addison eventually got around to challenging Pettersson.

Pettersson is not a fighter, but he sure is a marvelous hockey player and looked it again as the Canucks pressed from two goals down. Pettersson finished with 24:09 of ice time, six shot attempts and a team-leading 72.7 per cent share of shots at five-on-five.

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