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Tortorella calls meltdown ‘a kick in the teeth’

Eddie Lack, Joe Colborne, Dan Hamhuis

Vancouver Canucks head coach John Tortorella scratches his chin while standing on the bench as Zac Dalpe, from left to right, Nicklas Jensen, of Denmark, Dan Hamhuis and Ryan Kesler look on during second period NHL hockey action against the Calgary Flames in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Saturday March 8, 2014. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

AP

To little surprise, the Vancouver Canucks provided some interesting comments following their stunning meltdown against the New York Islanders on Monday. To even less of a surprise, head coach John Tortorella provided the best sound bytes.

There was one slight upset, at least to some: reporters considered him even keeled after his team saw a 3-0 third-period lead slip into a 7-4 loss against the Isles.

“This is a kick in the teeth,” Tortorella said. “We need to be men.”

Eddie Lack understandably took a lot of responsibility for allowing six of those even goals, not throwing a power-play unit that allowed three power-play goals under the bus. (Or at least lying under the bus with them.)

Meanwhile, Ryan Kesler merely expressed his bewilderment at the situation, though not in a Clerks kind of way.

Yet, to the dismay of Canucks fans and the sordid entertainment of other onlookers, it did happen. Now it’s just down to guessing what’s next.

(And no, Roberto Luongo hasn’t generated a snarky public comment about this ... yet.)

* - The last one was an empty-netter.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins