Canucks Can't Beat Dustin Tokarski, Fall 2-0 To The Hurricanes

The Vancouver Canucks fell once again, this time losing 2-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes. Thatcher Demko stopped 18 of the 20 shots he faced, while Hurricanes Dustin Tokarski made 14 saves for his first NHL shutout since the 2021-22 season. With the loss, Vancouver falls to 18-13-10 on the season, while their road record drops to 11-5-4.

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The best way to describe Friday's game was disappointing. While the Hurricanes are an elite team, they had played the night before and were supposed to be the tired team. Instead, it was the Canucks who came out flat and, despite three power plays, were only able to record 14 shots on net.

Speaking of the power play, it was a disaster. Vancouver was unable to set up in the offensive zone and finished with two shots over the six minutes. In comparison, Carolina had two shorthanded shots and even created more high-danger chances despite being on the penalty kill.

Another big issue from tonight's game was that the Canucks bottom six generated next to nothing offensively. Max Sasson and Danton Heinen were the only two bottom-six players who recorded shots on goal, combining for three on the night. While the bottom six were able to create some offensive chances, the inability to hit the next was a major factor in this game.

As for the top six, J.T. Miller was the only player to record more than two shots on the entire team. Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk finished with two each, while Conor Garland and Elias Pettersson recorded zero. Just like with the bottom six, it's great that the top two lines were able to hold the puck in the offensive zone, but in the end, it doesn't matter if they can't get the puck on the net.

Lastly, some questionable coaching decisions were made, especially late in the game. With under two minutes left and Vancouver pushing to try and at least get a goal, Rick Tocchet elected to play Sasson over Pettersson. While Pettersson was part of the penalty kill, there was over a minute between when his shift ended and Sasson's began. While Sasson has played well of late, leaving Pettersson on the bench with the extra attacker is one of those questionable decisions that needs to be critiqued.

In the end, this is another in a long list of frustrating performances by the Canucks. There is very little consistency on a night-to-night basis, which is arguably the most frustrating part of this recent slump. With a game against a tough Toronto team tomorrow, hopefully, Vancouver's offence will wake up and find a way to generate shots and scoring chances at Scotiabank Arena.

Facts and Stats

- Canucks record 14 or fewer shots for the 27th time in franchise history

- Vancouver is shut out for the third time this season

- Canucks finished the game with 29 shots that were blocked

- Vancouver wins 55% or more of the faceoffs for the tenth time this season

Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

14:31- CAR: Jordan Staal (9) from Dmitry Orlov

2nd Period:

1:37- CAR: Andrei Svechnikov (14) from Jordan Staal

3rd Period:

No Scoring

Up Next: 

The Canucks finish their back-to-back tomorrow when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs. This will be the first of two meetings between these Canadian rivals, with the second matchup coming in early February. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 pm PT.

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