Thursday March 26 - Colorado Avalanche 4 - Vancouver Canucks 1
Abstractly, I accepted the idea that the Canucks were not going to run the table from now till the end of the season—there were bound to be at least a couple of losses along the way.
In reality, it was tough to watch the team come out so flat in an utterly winnable game against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
Here are your highlights:
Now that Vancouver has become so adept at coming back from two-goal deficits, I joked that perhaps they decided to raise the degree of difficulty when they went down 3-0 to the Avs by the middle of the second period.
Yannick Weber offered a ray of hope when he scored in his third straight game just 15 seconds into the third and the Canucks' 18 shots in the final frame outpaced the 16 they'd manage to fire at Reto Berra through the first 40 minutes but on this night, there was no comeback to be had.
It really is amazing—for the last two months, the Canucks' losses have all come against non-playoff or bubble teams: Colorado, Columbus, L.A., Arizona, San Jose, Buffalo, New Jersey, Calgary—even Minnesota at the time.
Well I guess the Canucks are lucky there aren't any non-playoff teams in the playoffs
— Alex Wilke (@1Wilke) March 27, 2015The last time Vancouver dropped a game to a true playoff contender was January 27, against Anaheim.
After the game, Luca Sbisa was frank about the fact that the team got comfortable and didn't bring their best effort:
"Not showing up tonight is unacceptable. This wasn't the same team that played the last few games." - Sbisa #Canucks
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) March 27, 2015Or—maybe it is those Millionaires uniforms. The team's now 0-for-3 when they rock the maroon.
Morning Poll Q: what should the Canucks do with the Millionaires jerseys? A) Bury B) Burn C) Donate #TSN1040
— Satiar Shah (@SatiarShah) March 27, 2015Expect to see the classic '94 skate logo back in circulation as the retro jersey next season.
The Canucks didn't receive any favours from the out-of-town scoreboard on Thursday, either.
A late third-period goal from Anze Kopitar lifted the Kings to their third-straight road win as they beat the New York Islanders 3-2 and leapfrogged Calgary back into third place in the Pacific—now just two points behind the Canucks.
The Jets also beat Montreal, so just four points separate five teams in the West—the Wild, Canucks, Jets, Kings and Flames.
Sports Club Stats shows that Vancouver's playoff odds dropped by just four percent, to a 94 percent probability of reaching the postseason, but the tight race means we'll keep seeing meaningful games over the next two weeks—even as the Canucks host the red-hot Dallas Stars on Saturday before embarking on a tough four-game road trip through the Central Division.
The Stars have won their last four games—but remain a non-playoff team. Will the curse continue?
If there's any silver lining, it's that roster reinforcements could be on the way by Saturday. Linden Vey fed more fuel to his detractors when he allowed 36-year-old Jan Hejda to catch him and cut off a breakaway opportunity—it sure would be nice to see Brad Richardson slot back into that role.
We won't get any roster updates today, as the Canuck are taking the day off. Hopefully the rest will refresh them ahead of this tough stretch coming up.
'Nuff said about all that. I'll close today with an encouraging piece from Cam Tucker at Metro on 2012 first-rounder Brendan Gaunce, who's having an excellent first pro season down in Utica.
One thing Green says has helped Gaunce succeed so far is his maturity — accepting whatever role, even one he wouldn’t be accustomed to, and opportunity he’s been given, and that has included time on what would be considered Utica’s fourth line.“I think that’s helped when he’s gone through tough times,… said (coach Travis) Green, in his sophomore season as bench boss of the Comets. “He’s taken some nice strides.…
Tucker also notes that Travis Green was Sven Baertschi's junior coach back in Portland. Perhaps it's no coincidence that Baertschi has found his form again since arriving in Utica.