The Vancouver Canucks pushed their losing streak to three games as they fell 5-2 to the Calgary Flames. Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes scored for Vancouver while Kevin Lankinen stopped 16 of the 21 shots he faced. With the loss, the Canucks drop to 9-12-2 on the season and 3-7-1 at Rogers Arena.
Sunday's game was yet another in a long list of frustrating performances by Vancouver. After playing a decent first period, Calgary was able to take over in the second before holding down the fort during the final 20 minutes. The Canucks energy level during the final 40 minutes was disappointing to say the least, as they were playing a Flames team that went to a shootout on Saturday night.
A good way to gauge how this game went is to focus on the Rogers Arena crowd. At times, the crowd was silent, with only the players on the ice making noise. As many pointed out on social media, it feels as though apathy is starting to set in, as fans could not even be bothered to cheer or boo at the final whistle.
"I know they were up to one after the first, but I thought our first period was pretty good, said Tyler Myers post-game. "Had a lot of Grade A's and we lost it. Kind of got away from getting pucks behind them, getting on our forecheck. Then we came out in the third and we're chasing the game. So it's tough to do that, being down three. Just got to regroup, find ways to be more consistent, to be harder on the puck and, you know, come out ready."
As for Head Coach Adam Foote, he also gave his thoughts on why Vancouver fell on Sunday. He said, "Well, we did have a good start. You guys saw it. We could have capitalized on a couple more chances. They capitalize on theirs at are net. They got some pucks to the net, and they beat us to some rebounds You know, that's their game. They're gonna throw pucks when they get down and try to beat you that area the blue paint. And they got a couple on us."
The question moving forward is how many more performances like this are fans going to tolerate? Fans are constantly voicing their frustrations on social media, and for good reason, as the Canucks now find themselves 30th in the NHL in point percentage. If something doesn't change soon, Rogers Arena may turn into a ghost town later on this season.
Stats and Facts:
- Kevin Lankinen becomes the 179th goaltender in NHL history to record at least six regular-season assists.
- With his 95th point, Filip Hronek surpasses Christian Ehrhoff for the 28th most points by a defenceman in franchise history.
- Quinn Hughes led all skaters with six shots on goal
- Aatu Räty finished the night nine for 11 in the faceoff dot
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
1:05- VAN: Filip Hronek (2) from Jake DeBrusk
7:33- CGY: Morgan Frost (5) Rasmus Andersson from Matt Coronato
8:08- CGY: Connor Zary (2) from Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman
2nd Period:
10:37- CGY: Kevin Bahl (3) from Nazem Kadri and Rasmus Andersson
16:31- CGY: Yegor Sharangovich (3) from Rasmus Andersson and Nazem Kadri
3rd Period:
7:59- CGY: Blake Coleman (8) from Mikael Backlund (SHG)
8:16- VAN: Quinn Hughes (2) from Kevin Lankinen (PPG)
Up Next:
The Canucks head to California, starting with a matchup against the Anaheim Ducks. Last season, Vancouver won the season series in impressive fashion, taking three of the four games. Puck drop is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:00 pm PT.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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