We used to be able to joke about the existence of Canucks fans being in pain and misery. We’re now beyond that.
Those thoughts feel like they’re in another dimension, another reality at this point.
What else to say after yet another dispiriting loss. A dispiriting loss on home ice no less. Yes, the Canucks apparently were on the ice, but you’d be excused for barely noticing, such was the dismal effort on display against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night at Rogers Arena. The Canucks lost the game 5-1. They fell behind 3-0 in the opening 10 minutes, reducing the rest of the game to an exercise in formality.
We used to be able to joke about the Canucks fans being in pain and misery.
We’re now beyond that. There was a moment last spring when the Canucks offered their fans hope. Hope that finally, yes, finally, a decade of despair was behind them.
Instead it’s all back to square one it seems.
The team is lacking in speed. They’re lacking in decision making. Most crucially, you’re starting to wonder if they’re lacking heart.
You can’t blame the fans, who paid a lot of money to watch this one, for the boos that rained down despite the Canucks’ best efforts to play with the sounds of a chattering crowd over the P.A.
This is what goal scorers do
The Kings roared out to that 3-0 lead which pretty much meant the game was settled, but it wasn’t actually settled till Kevin Fiala’s snipe in the second period, L.A.’s fourth goal of the game.
But then Fiala got his chance on a 2-on-1 and he showed why he’s consistently been one of the NHL’s best on the rush the past half decade.
Find your man
And somehow Alex Turcotte was left unchecked to flip home the rebound.
Just abysmal.
0-fer.
Also abysmal? Going 0-for-5 on the power play and failing to register a shot on the first two opportunities, when there was a smidgen of hope.
You know things are bad when…
The loudest legit cheer was for a fan chugging a beer on the big screen in the third period.
NEXT GAME
Saturday
7 p.m., Rogers Arena, TV: ESPN Pacific, Radio: Sportsnet 650