The Vancouver Canucks actually performed pretty decently against the Dallas Stars.
They were stingy defensively and limited the Stars’ high-quality looks. Vancouver kept Dallas’ potent power play off the scoreboard with excellent penalty killing. The Canucks had a decisive edge controlling five-on-five shots, chances and expected goals. Young defenders Elias Pettersson and Victor Mancini were poised and sharp with the puck on breakouts and reliable defensively.
Time and time again, however, this team has lacked sufficient jump and spark offensively and we witnessed that again on Sunday evening. Vancouver’s top nine doesn’t have much chemistry, with Rick Tocchet forced to continually hit the line blender. It was another game where the Canucks, without Quinn Hughes, imposed a dull, low-event flavour to the game try and grind out a low scoring victory.
The Stars, playing on the second leg of a back-to-back after a contest with the Oilers on Saturday night, beat the Canucks at their own low-event game. Here are three takeaways from the Canucks’ 4-1 loss.
Pettersson’s impressive game undone by a bad break and one mistake
Marcus Pettersson has been a wonderful, stabilizing addition to the Canucks’ top four. His game isn’t flashy or exciting, but his defensive reach, IQ and mobility make him a calming minute-muncher. That defensive prowess has also translated to the penalty kill. Vancouver’s PK has been clicking at over 92 percent since Pettersson was acquired, which is the best mark in the NHL.
In the first period, it looked like Pettersson was on his way to piecing together another subtle defensive masterclass of a game.
For example, in the clip below, the Stars cycle the puck down low for Mikko Rantanen, who is nearly impossible to defend against below the hashmarks. Pettersson leverages his massive wingspan to lift Rantanen’s stick and get the first touch on the puck. It turns into a 50-50 puck battle and Pettersson’s able to jar it free for the Canucks. From there, Dakota Joshua makes a good play along the wall and springs Elias Pettersson for a two-on-on rush with EP40’s shot ringing off the post.
That scoring chance doesn’t happen without Marcus Pettersson breaking up the cycle against an elite forward first. Here’s another stout defensive play by Pettersson from the first period, this time short-handed.
Unfortunately, as the game went on, things started turning against Pettersson. It started in the middle frame with a point shot from Thomas Harley which hit Pettersson through traffic and trickled in past Kevin Lankinen.
Thomas Harley’s point shot finds it’s way to the back of the net. 1-0 Dallas.
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— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 10, 2025
That tough bounce wasn’t really his fault, but on Jason Robertson’s huge 3-1 insurance tally in the third period, there was more he could have done.
The breakdown started when Dakota Joshua got stripped of the puck on the rush, which sparked an odd-man break for Dallas the other way. It turned into a mini two-on-one with Pettersson as the lone defender back glued to Robertson. Pettersson wasn’t hard enough on Robertson’s stick, however, so when Matt Duchene made the pass across, the Stars connected on the tap-in.
Jason Robertson puts the Stars up by two.
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— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 10, 2025
Pettersson’s overall performance was strong against the Stars — the Canucks handily controlled play during his shifts — but one unlucky bounce and one mistake cruelly undid all of those good defensive moments earlier and made the difference on the scoreboard.
Lankinen’s costly rebound
Lankinen has been excellent all season and was the biggest reason the Canucks won on Friday against the Wild despite surrendering 38 shots. However, without Quinn Hughes, this team is so limited offensively that they need to defend at an elite level and get top-notch goaltending every game to have a chance to win.
Through two periods, there wasn’t much happening in the way of Grade-A chances for either team. There wasn’t much speed off the rush for either side. Both teams were generally solid defending the cycle. Neither club was sloppy with the types of turnovers that gift the opposition freebies. This was a low-event, grind-it-out-affair. And honestly, that was in the Canucks’ best interest given how many elite offensive weapons the Stars have compared to the Canucks.
However, when you’re committing to a style that’s this low-event, the margin for error is practically nonexistent. Every breakdown and mistake is magnified. Late in the second period, the Canucks had a couple of big mistakes leading to the Stars’ go-ahead goal.
First, Vancouver seemed to get its wires crossed after losing the defensive zone face-off with 31 seconds left. Tyler Myers and Derek Forbort doubled up on Rantanen in front of the net, leaving Mikael Granlund wide open on the weak side.
Secondly, Lankinen punched a horrible rebound off Ilya Lyubushkin’s harmless point shot directly onto Granlund’s stick.
Mikael Granlund restores the Dallas lead. It’s 2-1 Stars
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— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 10, 2025
Canucks’ top forwards disappear again
The Canucks’ lack of drivers up front was an issue yet again.
Vancouver’s third line, with Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk and Pius Suter, has talent on paper, but the problem is all of them are used to being complementary players. Boeser was awfully quiet again, registering just one shot. DeBrusk played just 12:45 against the Stars, which ranked 11th among team forwards, ahead of only Joshua.
Elias Pettersson, who showed encouraging signs of life in his last two games, didn’t build on any of that positive momentum. He was held without a shot, the Canucks were outshot 5-1 during his five-on-five shifts and he was on the ice for two even-strength goals against.
Vancouver’s power play failed to generate good looks or momentum.
Overall, the Canucks’ top forwards were outplayed by the opposition’s top forwards, which has been a theme all season long. That needs to change for Vancouver to break through in this playoff race.
(Photo of Filip Chytil: Bob Frid / Imagn Images)
