Things did not go the Vancouver Canucks' way on Sunday (April 2), as they fell to the Los Angeles Kings by a 4-1 final score. With this win, the Kings officially clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Canucks, on the other hand, were officially eliminated from the playoff race due to the Calgary Flames' 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

With this news, this is the seventh time in eight seasons that Vancouver will not be playing postseason hockey. This was expected for quite some time, as they were among the NHL's worst teams for a significant portion of the season.

However, there is no denying that the Canucks have improved their play as this season has progressed. Before their current three-game losing streak, they won 13 out of their previous 18 games. This play should provide some optimism for next season, as it showed that they can be quite competitive while performing at their highest level. Now it is just a matter of finding consistency throughout an entire season.

The Canucks now have six games left and will try to end the year on a high note from here. Now that Vancouver is officially out of the playoff picture, it will be intriguing to see if they give some of their younger players bigger roles from here.

To conclude this piece, let's look at a few players who will be aiming to hit notable offensive achievements before the year is over.

Elias Pettersson is currently sitting at 36 goals and 96 points. The chances of him recording his first 40-goal season and 100-point season are certainly there.

J.T. Miller has 29 goals on the year and has a good shot of hitting the 30-goal plateau for the second time in his career. With that, he is four points away from 80 on the season.

Quinn Hughes has been simply excellent this season, and he is on the cusp of recording his first 70-assist season. For that to occur, he will need to record four assists over these final few games.

Lastly, Andrei Kuzmenko has lived up to the hype since his arrival, and the truth is in his stats. He needs only three more goals to hit 40 goals this season and one point to get to 70.

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