‘There are moments when you need a guy to make a play. We need more consistency from a lot of guys to stay in the moment.’ — Rick Tocchet’s plea before big win Monday.
Vancouver Canucks vs. Utah Hockey Club
When/where: Wednesday, 7 p.m., Delta Center
TV: SN Pacific. Radio: Sportsnet 650
After days and weeks of lecturing players on how to embrace the hard stuff during a rollercoaster six-game homestand — even suggesting four of five weren’t pulling hard enough on the competitive rope — the Canucks head coach didn’t play that card Monday night.
An impressive 3-1 triumph over the high-octane Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Arena was the latest episode in the consistently inconsistent drama that has played out for too long on home ice where the Canucks are 6-7-4.
Blanking the Stanley Cup champions Thursday and then getting bullied by the Bruins on Saturday was hard for fans to stomach, and empty seats in the lower bowl are showing up on a more regular basis.
However, Monday was different. The pace, push, resiliency and ruggedness had that playoff feel.
Tocchet kept lauding players and a 4-for-4 penalty kill performance. He said he would take just take two questions “and be out of here”, which could mean many things.
The flu bug has hit the club. And everything that had to be said in advance of Monday night probably didn’t need to be repeated.
What Tocchet did say Monday morning had an immediate effect, and maybe that’s where he’s leaving the critiquing for now. After all, the Canucks are 10-2-1 on the road and a two-game trip to Salt Lake City and Las Vegas is easy to embrace.
“There are moments when you need a guy to make a play, whether it’s a blocked shot or making sure you stay with your guy, and the inconsistency comes with losing focus,” he said.
“You miss a guy twice and it (the puck) is in your net. We need more consistency from a lot of guys to stay in the moment. If you have a chance to go on a 3-on-1, take that moment and go do something about it.”
Guenther went ninth overall in that draft and leads Utah with 29 points (13-16) in 30 games, including five on the power play.
The hope: Jake DeBrusk has 14 goals and is third overall for road markers with 11. He had a string of eight goals in six away games, including a hat-trick, and his big presence down low is effective for screens, tips, deflections and pouncing on rebounds.
The fear: With the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights on the road radar, there’s always a danger. Even though Utah is banged up, the relocated club has won two straight and is on a 6-2-2 run. But they are also just 4-5-3 at home.
The top guns: Sherwood had a career-high 10 goals with the Predators last season. His first career NHL hat-trick Monday vaulted the gritty winger to 11 and his stats line told the story of his worth: Three goals, seven shots, three hits, blocked shot.
The possible lineup:
*Di Giuseppe-Miller-Boeser
DeBrusk-Pettersson-Garland
Heinen-Suter-Sherwood
Joshua-Blueger-Hoglander
Hughes-Myers
Soucy-Juulsen
Brannstrom-Desharnais
Demko
The prediction: The Canucks take advantage of a banged-up Utah to win the special-teams battle. They strike twice on the power play and prevail 4-2.