RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes were just trying to survive Friday night. The snow on the way home probably gave them more problems than the Vancouver Canucks.
Playing for the fifth time in seven nights and second time in 24 hours, the Hurricanes scored late in the first period and early in the second, clogged the middle of their zone and held the Canucks to just 15 shots in a 2-0 Vancouver loss.
With general manager Patrik Allvin exploring trade options on both Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller – and the team clinging to a National Hockey League wild-card playoff spot – the Canucks are supposed to be desperate. But the visiting weather had more urgency than the visiting team, as the Raleigh-Durham area was hit by its first snowfall in nearly three years.
The Canucks were scrambling to fly out to Toronto post-game for Saturday night’s contest against the Maple Leafs, who lost 6-3 to the Hurricanes on Thursday. But the Canucks will need a lot more urgency and determination to get pucks and bodies to the net to have a chance to win and survive this difficult five-game road trip.
Against reclamation-project goalie Dustin Tokarski, the Canucks had only five shots on net in the first period and four in the second. Vancouver’s six shots in the third period included two in the final two minutes as they skated six-on-five.
Although they generated few quality chances, the Canucks had 29 shots blocked and missed the target on another 21. And at times, like on a shorthanded three-on-one in the third period and a two-on-one in the second, they passed the puck to nobody rather than test Tokarski.
“You’ve got to hit the net,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet told reporters. “I mean, that’s the frustrating part. We had a lot of O-zone time, but we’re just missing opportunities. You guys look at the shot clock, I look at missed opportunities. Two-on-one, we try to pass (and) miss. These are crucial things. You’ve got to throw pucks at the net, hit the net with people going. I’m a little frustrated with the overpassing or missing the net.”
Unlike the winter storm, the Canucks’ low shot total was not a phenomenon.
Since Dec. 5, the Canucks average of 23.3 shots per game is easily the lowest in the NHL. To be fair, they’ve allowed only 26.6 shots during this time, so the low-event hockey is going both ways.
The Hurricanes finished with just 20 shots on Friday. But leading 2-0 for the final 38 minutes, they didn’t need a lot of shots.
The Canucks rested Thursday and played one of their best games of the season Wednesday in Washington, where they outshot the powerful Capitals 31-18 in a 2-1 overtime loss. Their lack through two periods Friday of a sustained forecheck and shot generation (on target) and second-chance shots, was mystifying.
A team that has been searching for its identity since the season began, didn’t get any closer to it in Carolina.
“Whether they played the night or before or not, we want to come out a certain way,” Canuck defenceman Tyler Myers said. “We did some good things. Some things to clean up and some ways to get some more pucks to the net, some more bodies to the net, I think would help our group. But you know what? You’ve got to stay positive. We’ve got a chance tomorrow night to come back and win a hockey game, and we’ve just got to come together and come out ready to play tomorrow.”
“They protected the net front well,” Canuck centre Teddy Blueger said. “I mean, we tried to get some traffic in there, but a lot of shots were getting blocked. But, yeah, 15 shots is obviously very low for a game.”
“Execute better probably — breakouts, neutral zone,” Blueger said. “If you can get into the offensive zone with possession, that helps a lot. So executing those elements (and) winning more puck battles on the walls when we do dump it in. Forechecking. Try to exploit the middle of the ice. Possessing it on the perimeter is one thing, but, you know, getting it to the net, getting bodies there, getting guys in the slot with shooting opportunities, is kind of the next level. That’s probably something we can do better.”
Jordan Staal opened scoring for Carolina at 14:41, whacking a shot through traffic and Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko when the puck bounced directly to him in the high slot after Dimitry Orlov’s point shot hit Canuck defenceman Noah Juulsen.
Andrei Svechnikov doubled the lead 1:37 into the second period when he easily beat defenceman Carson Soucy off the side boards, took the puck to the net and shot far side on Demko before Juulsen or J.T. Miller could head him off.
Canuck centre Elias Pettersson returned to the lineup after missing six games with an upper-body injury and drew a couple of third-period penalties. But he did not register a shot on net and missed the target from a prime location on a late power play.
The Canucks got good games from several of their depth forwards, including Blueger, Danton Heinen, Phil DiGiuseppe and Kiefer Sherwood. But at the top of the lineup, Pettersson and Miller lost their matchups five-on-five against the Hurricanes’ best players.
“I felt good,” Pettersson said. “I’ve been working hard to get back and, yeah, (it’s) fun to be back.
“We knew they played the night before and what type of a game it was going to be. It’s hard to forecheck them because their quick (defencemen) rim it around and their forwards support. We had some looks to score, but yeah, couldn’t get the puck in.”
The Canucks are 2-4-5 in their last 11 games, and have managed one or no goals in four of their last six.
“You’ve got to stick with it,” Tocchet said. “You’ve got to work on your game. Confidence, you can’t buy at a store. You’ve got to continue to work at it. You’ve got to put pucks on net. The power play’s got to come up with a goal for us. Bottom line.”
Yes, that’s how professional sports are: bottom line.
