The Vancouver Canucks thought their three-game road trip through California and Arizona got off to such a positive start, despite opening it with a loss in L.A.
But whatever moral victory - the popular phrase in Vancouver this week - the Canucks believed they earned in that physical confrontation with the Kings four days ago took a drastic turn in a negative direction. The road trip ended with a 1-0 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday night.
Hard to believe that a team lost twice by a score of 1-0 in a three-game span and still got outscored 11-1 overall. But it happened. Sandwiched in between was that embarrassing 9-1 loss to the red-hot Anaheim Ducks.
Over the last week, they’ve tried to be a more physical, aggressive team. A lot of fights and penalty minutes. But goals? Not so much, prompting the question: What’s going on with the Canucks?
Kesler on 0-3 road trip: "Horrendous. It was awful. I'm pissed off right now. I need to be better, we need to be better as a group."
— Ben Kuzma 🇺🇦 (@benkuzma) January 17, 2014
Torts: "This stuff. Lack of confidence and this and that. We're grown men here. It's a big part of our business to make the right plays."
— Ben Kuzma 🇺🇦 (@benkuzma) January 17, 2014
Now, they face the threat of injuries to some key forwards. Mike Santorelli left the game after getting tangled up with Martin Hanzal on a faceoff in the third period. Brad Ziemer of the Vancouver Sun reported after the game that Santorelli was spotted with his right arm in a sling.
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver’s captain, and David Booth were also injured in the third period. Booth was on the receiving end of a high stick from Hanzal that landed the Coyotes forward a double-minor with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
But the Canucks couldn’t capitalize on the four-minute power play. In fact, they didn’t even really get set up. The Canucks finished the night a dreadful 0-for-7 with the man-advantage.