Penguins 4, Canucks 1: Another hit against the playoff dream

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On Wednesday, as has been the case too often this season, the Vancouver Canucks simply didn’t create enough scoring opportunities to win and seemed slow overall compared to a faster opponent. They are also losing the defensive cohesion they once had, especially early in games.

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And that meant they lost 4-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. It was another blow against their wild preseason dream of being a playoff team. Most projections had them sitting somewhere about seven points away from the playoff bar. At this point, it can be difficult to even get there.

“I wish I had answers for you,” Canucks captain Bo Horvat told reporters after Wednesday’s debacle.

They are 6-12-2. They are a quarter of the season. And they are on track to score 57 points this season, a total not seen since the 1998-99 season and not seen regularly since the mid-1980s, when general manager Jim Benning was a defender for the Canucks.

They had never scored these few goals at this point in the season. They have released the second worst record to date in their history. Only the 1986-87 team started worse.

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NEXT GAME

Friday

Vancouver Canucks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

4 pm, National Arena. TV: Sportsnet Pacific. Radio: AM 650

It seems difficult to imagine that the team will continue at such a terrible pace, but they have struggled so often to generate chances this season, or kill penalties, that it is also difficult to imagine their pace increasing much more than what is currently shown. .

Two seasons ago, the Canucks were considered a “fast” team. For the most part, they looked away from it this season.

“I don’t think we’ve done it enough, that’s for sure,” Canucks head coach Travis Green agreed after the game.

“I don’t think we’ve seen him in our entire lineup yet this year. I think we have some guys who probably haven’t been to the top of their game yet. And when they are, our game looks very different. “

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After being overpowered in the first period by the suddenly emerging penguins, the Canucks actually controlled much of the game in the second. But the Pens got three goals in the center of the frame from Bryan Rust, Evan Rodrigues and Zach Aston-Reese to take firm control.

Bo Horvat broke an eight-game scoring drought with a beautiful backhand move late in the third period, but it wasn’t enough.

Brock McGinn closed the scoring by jumping the puck into Canucks’ empty net with one minute to play.

This is what we learned …

I need earlier

After his team was dominated in the first period (the Penguins generated a lot of opportunities, especially early, against a pittance from the Canucks), JT Miller told Sportsnet after the first that his club couldn’t play like this and expect success.

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“They’re playing faster, they’re reading faster,” he said.

It was almost prophetic: 49 seconds into the second period, Rust finally opened the scoring. On the power play, no less. Now, the Canucks penalty is the worst in the NHL, so it wasn’t necessarily a huge surprise, but because of the fact that the Penguins’ power play is also the worst in the league.

It was another penalty shootout from the duo of Tucker Poolman and Tyler Myers, but this pair was not about an inability to defend a cross pass. This was an inability to deal with the rush.

Poolman was unable to control Rust at the entrance of the zone, which dragged Myers from where he should be, creating room for Kris Letang overhead, and the crafty defender made a quick pass to Rust, who seized his opportunity.

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Green seems at a loss to explain why his team keeps getting off to a slow start.

“We prepare our players so they are ready to play the game. I thought it seemed like we were only half a step behind… the first 10 minutes of the game, ”he said.

When asked after the game if he thought his teammates were still playing hard for each other, Miller was honest.

“I don’t know,” he said.

I just can’t afford mistakes

It’s a bad sign when you can’t weather any mistakes.

The Rodrigues’ goal came just after a terrible fumble from Quinn Hughes, who thought he was throwing a cross-zone pass to ease the pressure on Myers, but the great defender had retreated behind his own goal.

Instead, the puck found Rodrigues on the far boards, who took a moment to assess the situation before firing a shot past goalkeeper Thatcher Demko, who did her best to cross her crease and face the Pittsburgh forward. .

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What are you doing?

Poolman seems like a decent guy. A hardworking guy. But he is not a defender whose game is in tune with rushing the puck. And too often, such efforts backfire.

Pittsburgh’s third goal was the worst of those cases – he led the race but turned the puck right after winning the Pittsburgh zone, leading to a 3v1 the other way around. Aston-Reese wasn’t wrong, the Penguins’ third forward managed to find a gap around Demko as the goalkeeper slipped down his line.

Whats Next?

The Canucks property is apparently considering its next move, surprised that things have gone so bad. Postmedia News understands that President Francesco Aquilini and Vice President Roberto Aquilini disagree on the direction of the team.

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The past trend in property has been to have a succession plan before making any management changes. Before Mike Gillis was fired in 2014, he was prevented from firing coach John Tortorella (the passionate mentor was not Gillis’ choice to hire in the first place) for ownership.

There are many reasons to think that this is why Benning has not at least tried to change his coach, Travis Green, something that is generally understood as the last maneuver of a general manager before facing his own dismissal.

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