Thursday December 3 - Dallas Stars 4 - Vancouver Canucks 2
On its own, it'd be OK to lose a close game to one of the best teams in the NHL—decided late in the third period and sealed with an empty-netter.
But the Vancouver Canucks aren't showing many signs that they can dig themselves out of the hole that they're in, which means things could get worse before they get better in Canuck-land.
Here are your highlights from Thursday's loss to Dallas:
It looked like the team might be turning things around when Alex Edler was able to thread a long shot through to beat Kari Lehtonen, in his first game back from injury, just 56 seconds into the game.
The Canucks also did manage a feistier effort. Ronalds Kenins led the team with six of its 25 hits, Derek Dorsett engaged with pesky Antoine Roussel in the first period, and Brandon Prust hung in pretty well when he tangled with 6'7" Jamie Oleksiak.
Until last night, the Canucks hadn't lost all season when Prust engaged in a first-period fight. I was hoping that record would hold up after Jannik Hansen tied the game against the flow of the play in the third period, but too many other issues have cropped up for this team to squeak out two points against an opponent as good as the Stars.
On Thursday, the biggest issue was the Canucks' inability to match Dallas' offensive depth. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin get all the attention for the Stars, but Benn was held off the scoresheet last night. Twenty-year-old Valeri Nichushkin—chosen one spot after Bo Horvat in the 2013 draft—was named first star for these two plays:
• a power move past "the aging Dan Hamhuis" to open the scoring
Patrick Sharp was named third star after he showed his big-game confidence as he danced down the ice for the game-winner. Hamhuis, Weber and Burrows were all back, yet none of them could make a play to counteract Sharp's neutral-zone speed.
Dangles for days as Patrick Sharp nets the game winner to propel the #Stars to their 20th victory! https://t.co/WgGeZrP3JC
I've felt like Hamhuis has taken more heat than he has deserved this season, but Thursday was not a good night for him.
Shorthanded as the Canucks are on defence, I wonder if he's struggling through some injury issues we don't know about. He's not on the ice for Friday's practice:
No Hamhuis/Sbisa/Prust at #Canucks skate + No Sutter/Virtanen who are injured #TSN1040
I wonder if that's the same hand that was bothering him after his fight in Winnipeg a couple of weeks ago?
The good news—sounds like Chris Higgins is close to returning. Not sure why Tanev's mentioned in this tweet. Though his status was questionable on Thursday, he played his usual 22:31 against the Stars.
Higgins/Tanev appearances at #Canucks practice. Early to call now, but jersey colours could set up some interesting line combos #TSN1040
That takes us back to Adam Cracknell, when he opened the scoring in Montreal on November 16—the game when the Canucks opened up a 3-0 lead before going on to lose in overtime.
In retrospect, that is pretty much when the team lost its mojo. Despite the Sedins' best efforts, the team is 2-4-2 in those eight games.
It's easy to clamour for a trade, but virtually impossible to make something happen in today's NHL.
Check out the NHL's official trade tracker here. Since the regular season began, the only deal that has been consummated was a minor goalie trade on November 12, where the Tampa Bay Lightning dealt Kevin Poulin to the Calgary Flames for future considerations.
We know there are other teams also interested in making deals, but between salary cap pressures and fear of getting fleeced, it doesn't seem like any GMs are in position to play ball.
The NHL board of governors will meet next week in Pebble Beach, where an estimated salary-cap number for the 2015-16 season will be one item on the agenda according to Pierre LeBrun at TSN.
It's not expected that we'll see a big increase in the cap ceiling, but a bit more clarity could help teams to move towards finalizing deals before the Christmas trade freeze kicks in on December 19—in just over two weeks' time.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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