The Canucks’ lone goal came from Derek Forbort to end an 82-game drought. The last time he scored was Feb. 16, 2023 in Nashville as member of the Bruins.
There is truth in advertising.
The Dallas Stars are third overall in NHL standings and touted as a Stanley Cup contender for good reason. They play fast and are hard on pucks. They pass with precision and their cycle game forces the opposition keep their heads on a swivel. It comes with owning the fourth-ranked offence.
Is that isn’t enough, the Stars added big, productive and highly-coveted winger Mikko Rantanen at the trade deadline on Friday.
“It didn’t get away from us,” said Tocchet. “It was a 2-1 game and we had a power play and some opportunities and hit the crossbar, but just didn’t have enough. There were a couple of rebounds where I wish we were hungrier, and with inside position, there could have been a tap-in.”
“You’ve got to earn your ice time, it’s how you win,” stressed Tocchet. “That’s the way it works. That’s how you earn a Stanley Cup.”
“We’re in the thick of the race and we need some desperation,” added Tocchet. “I liked the effort of a lot lof guys tonight and we were right there. You have go feel comfortable in tight games and good teams have a comfort level. But you need cushion, you need some goals.
“Our power play (0-for-2, three shots) needs to give us some oomph.”
Here’s what new learned as the Canucks got their lone goal from Derek Forbort, while Thomas Harley, Mikael Granlund, Jason Robertson and Rantanen into and empty net scored for the Stars:
Trying to win matchup game
The Canucks started their fourth line against the Stars’ first alignment of Wyatt Johnson between Jason Robertson and Rantanen with the obvious intent to bring energy. It worked.
It was an interesting strategy and so was deploying a number of lines to keep the Stars’ biggest threat from being a major factor. After all, Rantanen had the pedigree of being a gunslinger with 55- and 42-goal seasons and has 28 has this campaign through 64 games. Holding him to one shot was an accomplishment.
“He’s so good down low, one of the best hash-marks players in the league,” said Tocchet. “He can play a 200-foot game, but I feel when there are pucks in the corner or around the net, he’s a heavy guy. You have to be under his stick.
“You can’t be off him. You have to play him really tight. It’s a tough job because he’s a strong guy and you might have to quickly double-up on him.”
However, it was Rantanen’s new teammates who had the answers.
First it was a first-period point shot by Harley toward a crowded crease, and as Kevin Lankinen adjusted to make the save, the puck trickled past him to open scoring. In the second period, Granlund deposited a big blocker power play rebound before Robertson put the game away in the third.
He got to the net with speed to tip home a Duchene feed off the rush.
Forbort ends 82-game drought
The Canucks’ free-agent acquisition has been lauded as a solid blueliner, good on the penalty kill and good in the room. Goal scoring is rarely mentioned because he’s hasn’t scored in three seasons.
That ended in the second period Sunday.
Forbort now has 18 goals in 533 NHL regular-season games with five teams.
Chances, chances, chances
It wasn’t like the Canucks didn’t have opportunities to score more than once.
Drew O’Connor fed Filip Chytil for a Grade A chance in the second period and the big winger also bolted from the corner to get a shot away and pounce on the rebound for another chance. There was a Kiefer Sherwood drive down the left side to the net to get a backhander away.
Hughes works toward ‘heart-to-heart’
The Canucks want to ensure Hughes is fully recovered from a “tweak” sustained March 1 in Seattle, a trickle-down affect of a Jan. 31 oblique-muscle strain. It’s a case of one part of his body compensating for another and it can cause lower-back stiffness.
“A couple of good days for him and we’ll see where it goes,” said Tocchet. “He’ll skate tomorrow (Monday) and that’s a positive. I don’t want to get too optimistic. Just go along with how we’re going at it now. He obviously wants to get some endurance.
“He’ll ramp it up and that’s OK. He did that today. It’s usually the next day and the recovery after the ramp up. He’s going to have to practise before my eyes and Footy (Adam Foote) and then we have to have the heart-to-heart and go from there.”
The Canucks play three games in four days this week, are scheduled to be off Thursday and then play again Saturday, so Hughes won’t probably practise until next week.”
OVERTIME — The Stars were without first-line centre Roope Hintz. He took a puck in the face Saturday at Edmonton, was sent to hospital for observation, and has returned to Dallas for further evaluation.