Devils 6, Canucks 0: Offensive crisis or goalie crisis?

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Monday, Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet called his team lackadaisical — and that was after a game they grabbed a point following a spirited third-period comeback.

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Wednesday, his team was much worse than lackadaisical: they were utterly listless.

The Canucks went down early to the visiting New Jersey Devils and never found a counterpunch.

It was a brutal performance, almost from the start. In the end the score was pretty fair: a 6-0 loss, the kind of loss that hasn’t been thought about in a few seasons.

Tocchet called it the worst defensive performance he’s seen by his team since he arrived in Vancouver almost two seasons ago.

“Our odd-man rush coverage was probably the worst I’ve ever seen since I’ve been here. It reminded me of when I took over the team. That’s how bad it was tonight,” Tocchet said.

Conor Garland, one of the few Canucks to show any energy, like getting into a fight to try to pump up his team, sees a team that has lost its defensive sense.

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“Our chemistry is fine. We’re just not playing the way we should. When we’re at our best, we’re a hard defending team, and they lit up six tonight, so obviously we’re not doing that right now,” he said.

And so we’re left thinking a lot of questions:

What happened to the rush?

All the talk in pre-season was how the Canucks were going to find ways to score off the rush.

Generously that remains a work in progress.

In this game, it was non-existent.

Sure, the Devils have a solid defence corps — but they’ve been a team so far that has traded chances.

The Canucks didn’t generate much off the rush in this one.

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What happened to stopping shots off the left wing?

Three of the first goals on Arturs Silovs came from essentially the same spot: the left wing, or goalie’s right, if you prefer.

Two were off the rush.

It was a terrible night for the backup. He struggled at times, but he got no help in front of him at all.

“Right from the first 10 seconds, you know, we give up a two on one. It’s not probably the greatest thing to do, to give a guy that hasn’t played in two weeks,” Tocchet said.

Tyler Myers, who was on the ice for three of the first four goals, said it seemed like his team was giving up odd-man rushes all night.

“It wasn’t Arty’s fault. We hung Arty out to dry tonight. He doesn’t need to worry about it,” the veteran said.

What happened to creating chances in tight?

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The Canucks took half the game to generate a chance on top of the Devils’ crease.

The Devils haven’t exactly been defensive dynamos this season. They’ve given up lots of high-danger chances this season.

And yet Vancouver couldn’t even take advantage of that.

“We haven’t played 60 minutes to our identity yet this year so we just need to play harder,” J.T. Miller said. “Play like you want to win the game, not hope we win the game.”

What happened to shooting at all?

The Canucks came into the third with just 14 shots on goal.

It was already 4-0 at that point, but have some pride.

What happened to defending the crease?

The last two goals, one on a Devils power play, came on top of the crease.

No one made life difficult for the Devils around there.

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“We make it way too easy on the other team. There’s not enough eff-you in our game,” Miller said.

Oh that power play

When you’re down early and you get handed a four-minute PP, that’s a moment where your elite group steps up.

Unfortunately, despite its talent this Canucks power play still isn’t elite.

There was an early flurry, then they generated little.

And a late second-period power play saw Miller removed from the power play altogether, with his and Garland’s spot being taken by Jake DeBrusk and Daniel Sprong.

Tocchet said the power play is passing when they should be shooting and shooting when they’re passing.

“We’re so caught in between, we’re slowing the power play down,” he said.

“It’s a frustrating thing right now for us. It’s a mental aspect right now. We’re going to have to get working, with the mind more than the physical.”

Devilish club

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This is also the third time Markstrom has shut out the Canucks: the first time he faced them after signing with the Flames, a 3-0 win at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Jan 16, 2021.

The second time was a 1-0 shutout Jan 29, 2022. 

But this was the first shutout in Vancouver itself.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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