VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Vancouver Canucks should have had the upper hand on the New York Islanders.
Bo Horvat’s team won just six of 16 games this season before stepping onto Rogers Arena ice Thursday night. They’re a banged-up group, with their best forward, Mathew Barzal, and an additional top-six forward, Anthony Duclair, out of the lineup with injuries. On the back end, the Isles’ left-side defence — Adam Pelech, Alex Romanov and Mike Reilly — is also out of commission.
To top it off, the Canucks caught an extra break as Ilya Sorokin got the night off, with backup Semyon Varlamov, who was sporting an .887 save percentage before Thursday’s game, getting the nod.
Vancouver responded by turning in arguably its worst performance of the season. Sure, the 5-2 final score wasn’t as lopsided as the 6-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils, but the effort and process were abysmal. Vancouver was outshot 24-6 heading into the second intermission. And unlike the Devils loss, this wasn’t a juggernaut, contender-quality team overpowering the Canucks. This was simply a brutal showing against a mediocre Islanders roster that didn’t even come close to icing its best, most healthy lineup.
Here are three takeaways from the dismal performance.
Lekkerimäki scores first career NHL goal
As the goal horn went off to mark Jonathan Lekkerimäki’s first career tally, the JumboTron panned to his parents, Peter and Ellinor, in attendance. Lekkerimäki’s father had his phone out and was recording the crowd’s electric reaction to his son’s goal. He and his wife grinned and waved to show appreciation for the fans’ support. It was a priceless moment the family won’t forget.
The goal itself, less than three minutes into the first period, was scored with a wicked, signature shot off the rush. It started with J.T. Miller driving the puck through the middle of the neutral zone and Lekkerimäki slashing across to find open ice on the left wing. As Miller gained the offensive zone, he teed up his rookie linemate, who cranked an off-balance one-timer while in motion. The shot was perfectly placed just above Varlamov’s pad on the blocker side.
🚨CANUCKS GOAL🚨
Jonathan Lekkerimäki scores his first NHL goal!!
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— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 15, 2024
Lekkerimäki’s goal salvaged what was otherwise a lethargic opening 20 minutes for the home side. The Canucks lacked flow and rhythm to their passing, especially in transition. They had no pace and urgency on the forecheck. Vancouver mustered just three shots on goal in the first period, and one was a Filip Hronek slap shot from the neutral zone that was intended to serve as a dump-in.
The Islanders spent most of the period in Vancouver’s zone, racking up four high-danger chances at even strength while surrendering none against defensively.
Canucks’ shocking defensive-zone coverage gets exposed
One of the core identities of the Canucks under Rick Tocchet has been a commitment to playing hard, stingy defence in the slot and around the net. Their big, tree-trunk defencemen are supposed to clog dangerous passing lanes and box out in front of the net. Between the two defenders and the centre down low, the goal is to win battles down low and break up the cycle as quickly as possible.
None of that was happening against the Islanders; the Canucks were way too permissive in the slot and net-front area defensively.
The first egregious breakdown was on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s tying goal on the power play. Hronek couldn’t block a pass down low to Anders Lee, who was parked at the top of the blue paint. From there it was a mini two-on-one down low — Tyler Myers had his stick down on the ice and was fully committed to denying the backdoor passing lane, but Lee still sent the pass through for the easy tap-in goal.
The Islanders tie the game on the power play.
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— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 15, 2024
The Islanders’ second goal was mostly an unlucky bounce. Vancouver botched a defensive-zone retrieval in the leadup to it, but Scott Mayfield’s goal took an unfortunate redirection off Miller. New York’s third goal, less than two minutes later, however, featured more lackadaisical defensive play. The Canucks lacked urgency in applying pressure on Oliver Wahlstrom, who started the play by skating downhill. They then failed to deny Wahlstrom’s pass into the slot. After the initial chance, Carson Soucy failed to properly box out Pierre Engvall, who buried the rebound.
3-1 Islanders.
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— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 15, 2024
What was Hronek doing on the Islanders’ fourth goal?
4-1 Islanders.
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— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 15, 2024
And this doesn’t even include the train wreck, circus-like sequence on another goal that was disallowed because of an offside.
4-1 Islanders. But the Canucks challenge the play for a missed offside.
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— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 15, 2024
Vancouver was outworked, losing battles and missing assignments all over the defensive zone.
Soucy-Myers pair caved again, Canucks briefly experiment with new top-four pairs
It’s no secret that the Soucy-Myers second pair has struggled mightily this season.
Before the Islanders game, they were outshot 81-45 and outscored 9-3 at five-on-five. Soucy’s gaffes have stood out the most, but together they’ve had challenges not only moving the puck but also defending responsibly.
Through two periods, the Canucks were out-chanced 6-0 with that pair on the ice. Soucy also took the tripping penalty that Pageau scored on near the end of the first period.
Halfway through the game, the coaching staff experimented with scrambling the top-four pairs. Soucy saw some shifts with Hronek, and Myers bumped up to play with Quinn Hughes. Soucy was even parked on the bench for the Islanders’ third power-play opportunity — perhaps as punishment for his missed assignment on the Islanders’ third goal — with Hughes taking a turn in that spot instead. Soucy eventually returned to the penalty kill on New York’s fourth five-on-four opportunity, but his initial absence was still noteworthy.
With the club needing a big offensive push in the third period, it reverted to its conventional top-four configurations for the final 20 minutes. But how much longer can the Canucks live with the Soucy-Myers pair operating at this level before they’re split up?
(Photo: Bob Frid / Imagn Images)
