January 9th, 2024
JC Clemas
I’m going to state the obvious: the Vancouver Canucks suck in overtime. We’ve all seen it, especially recently. In their past 10 games, they’ve lost 5 in overtime. While you can say “at least they got a point,” there are so many more extra points that they should be getting by winning these games. Here, I’ll rank every Canucks overtime loss in order from least painful to most painful (10 being least painful). I’ll also explain what went wrong in each specific overtime.
10. December 3rd vs Minnesota
This game was honestly a good one for the Canucks. At this point in the season, the Wild were the top team in the league, and the Canucks were on the end of their 6 game road trip. They played significantly better in this game than I expected, and this is one of the only times where I could tell myself “at least they got a point.” It also helps that this was over a month after their previous overtime loss, so it’s not like they were all stacking OTLs up in a row.
What Went Wrong:
They gave Kaprizov the ability to shoot the puck. I wasn’t upset at this loss. It was the end of a very successful road trip, and they competed all game. It’s just tough to stop Kaprizov. Combining the facts that they were winning games before this, ending a road trip, playing a good game, and facing off against a top team, they get a free pass for this loss.
9. October 28th vs Carolina
This wasn’t too bad of a game. The Canucks made a gutsy 3-1 comeback in the 3rd period, where they kept the Hurricanes on their heels. The game-tying goal came with 3 minutes left, and it felt like a 2023-24 Canucks game. Carolina is a good team, and securing a point from them isn’t something to be completely ashamed of. The WAY they lost was, though.
What Went Wrong:
JT Miller lost his assignment. Sebastian Aho slipped past every Canuck to find himself alone in front of the net, and if you leave Aho alone in front of the net, you’re probably about to lose. Shocker: they were about to lose. Still, collecting a point in this game was at least acceptable given that they had to overcome a multi-goal deficit to get to overtime.
8. December 10th vs St. Louis
This season has been so emotionally taxing so far that I forgot this game even happened. Like the Carolina game, they made a 3-1 comeback, scoring a game-tying goal late in the 3rd. Also like the Carolina game, they lost anyway. Again, this is the kind of gritty game that last year’s Canucks would win. This Canucks team just has no clue how to finish off their miracles, though.
What Went Wrong:
Carson Soucy does not know how to play defense. He allowed Dylan Holloway to walk right up to the net for literally no reason. Holloway, who’s been having a great year since breaking free of the shackles of Edmonton, accepted the gift that Soucy gave him and ended the game. Anytime I see Carson Soucy on the ice during overtime, I cry real tears. He is so slow and there is so much open ice. There is just no way for it to work out.
7. October 11th vs Philadelphia
The Canucks followed up a shambolic showing in their opener with a performance of a similar calibre in game 2. They had a 2-1 lead late in the 3rd, but Canucks legend Daniel Sprong’s inability to play defense led to the Flyers having a wide-open man, who tied the game. This game actually made it past the overtime period, which is pretty rare for the Canucks this season. The only other time was the recent shootout win against Seattle. This was not a win.
What Went Wrong:
The team went 1 for 5 in the shootout. This was really not a shootout team last season, failing to get a single win in the glorified skills competition, so it wasn’t exactly shocking that they would leave the door open for Morgan Frost to end it. They should have won this, but at least a shootout loss feels a little less demoralizing than an overtime loss. Shootouts are boring.
6. December 21st vs Ottawa
This is really the first on the list that actually angered me. The Canucks have been really good at meeting up with teams on hot streaks so far this season. Ottawa entered having won their last 5. Funny enough, following this game, they’ve now lost 5 of their past 6. Our timing is really unlucky. This was the best game Quinn Hughes has played all season, and it is truly unfortunate that it went to waste. The game showcased a defensive disaster-class from everybody else on the Canucks’ defense.
What Went Wrong:
JT Miller failed to match Jake Sanderson’s speed, allowing the defenseman to skate right up to the net and end the game in 14 seconds of overtime. Miller’s backcheck in overtime has been a real problem this season. A lot of the time, he fails to give a satisfactory effort. Against Washington last night, he actually played his best overtime of the season (besides the one where he scored). We need a lot more of that. This was not that. This was depressing.
5. January 8th vs Washington
This game started the current 6 game stretch where they play top 10 teams in the league. They actually put together a great effort. By overtime, they were more than doubling the Capitals in shots. It was a very rare 30-shot game by the team, which sadly resulted in just one goal because of how good Logan Thompson is. The reason this ranks at 5th is because the overtime losses have been piling up recently, with this being the 5th in their past 10 games. Really knocks the sails out of you.
What Went Wrong:
JT Miller lost his stick while trailing Aliaksei Protas, and for some reason, both Myers and DeBrusk decided to skate after the Capitals forward behind the goal line. He, of course, found a wide-open Pierre-Luc Dubois, who wasn’t going to miss because that’s how the Canucks’ season has been going. With all the practice they’ve had in the extra period so far, I have no idea how they can make a mistake like that.
4. October 9th vs Calgary
This game was the season-opener and probably served as a warning shot for what the season (or hopefully just the first half) would hold. The Canucks slowly blew a 4-1 lead, something that was a foreign concept to the team last season. The team made it a part of their identity to sit on 3rd-period leads, even if they were just 1 goal. They were fantastic at it, taking until February to lose one of those games. It took no time this season.
What Went Wrong:
Filip Hronek got absolutely walked by Connor Zary. Šilovs miserably failed a poke check attempt. Zary was able to slide it in. This was a game they had every opportunity to win, and they did everything in their power to lose it. That’s been a common theme. Being the season opener, it was at least easy to look past it and think “81 games left to go.” Not so easy now.
3. December 18th vs Utah
I viewed this game as a very important one for the Canucks. Utah was on fire leading up to this and was starting to catch up to the Canucks for the second wild card spot in the west. Winning this game would be important to start putting distance between the Canucks and teams that they should already be far away from. Dakota Joshua gave the Canucks a 2-0 lead early in the 3rd, which they of course went on to blow. Why wouldn’t they?
What Went Wrong:
They might just be cursed actually. Like, I actually think they were just destined to give other teams clips this season. The overtime was one of the best the NHL has had to offer this season, and the Canucks were on the wrong end of it. With just 12 seconds left, Sergachev capitalized on a 2-on-1 with his backhand, a shot that I would have loved to see not hit twine. But it did, because the universe hates the Vancouver Canucks. Giving up a 2-on-1 in overtime is normal, so I don’t think they specifically did anything wrong. This ranks at 3rd because of the point swing in the wild card race and what it took to get to overtime.
2. January 6th vs Montreal
This may be a biased ranking because I witnessed it in person. It was absolutely terrible. Yet another blown lead by the team, with the game going from 3-1 Canucks to 4-3 Montreal at a point. JT Miller got his 4th point of the game on a DeBrusk power play goal, and the Canucks managed to force it to overtime.
What Went Wrong:
Nils Höglander doomed the team by taking an undisciplined penalty with 30 seconds left in regulation. A terrible penalty to take at any point in the game, but taking it in that moment really makes it worse. Additionally, I was confused about why Tocchet sent out 2 forwards to kill the penalty in overtime. Suter and Blueger are elite penalty-killers, but when you only have 3 guys, you want some big bodies that can stop the puck from getting to the net. We have many of those on defense. It likely wouldn’t have made a difference, but it’s definitely something I’d like to see if the Canucks find themselves in that situation again.
1. December 28th vs Seattle
This game is maybe one of the worst I’ve watched from the Canucks in the past decade, given how good they’re supposed to be. They went into this game without their MVP, Quinn Hughes, and actually put up a good effort for 55 minutes. They had a 4-1 lead with 5 minutes remaining. The last 5 minutes were something nightmares are made of. After quickly blowing the lead, they were sent to overtime, where they still had a chance to deny Seattle the extra points. They did not.
What Went Wrong:
Tyler Myers should not be seeing the ice in overtime. Myers had a partial break, and when he realized he wasn’t getting to the net, he made the smart decision to look for either Miller or Boeser. Both players were alone in front of the net. The problem is, he missed both of them with the pass, sprung Vince Dunn for a breakaway, and made me shatter glass without how loud I shrieked. This game was really the Canucks’ magnum opus of overtime losses. Not only was their path to overtime brutal, but the way they lost was the most tragically comical way possible.
Looking through every overtime loss, it’s really intriguing how many different players have made inexcusable mistakes leading to the other team ending it. A lot of their losses in overtime can be chalked up to one specific mistake that killed them. Whether it’s JT Miller’s failure to backcheck, Tyler Myers’ inability to pass the puck tape-to-tape, Nils Höglander’s affinity for taking awful penalties, or many other factors, the Canucks have shown that they are satisfied with just getting 1 point out of games. So far, the Canucks have given up 10 extra points from overtime losses. They seem destined for a close race in the wild card, and those points they squandered may come back to bite them. It’s almost at the point where I just want them to lose in regulation so I don’t have to watch them play 3-on-3 (obviously not really, but it’s been painful). I think the team needs to dedicate an entire practice to overtime because they are not learning from their mistakes. They need to keep it man-on-man defense, know how to read what their teammates are doing and stop letting 1 bad play cause their downfall. The Canucks have actually lost more games than they’ve won (18-22), but are lucky that the loser point is a thing. They need to figure this out soon, because not only are they missing out on important points, but they’re also driving their fanbase insane.