'We're in the race': Vancouver Canucks search for answers after ugly road trip

Vancouver Canucks right wing Conor Garland (8) moves the puck against Seattle Kraken centre Chandler Stephenson (9) during third period NHL hockey action, in Seattle, Saturday, March 1, 2025. Rio Giancarlo

VANCOUVER — Even after an ugly road swing, there’s good news for the Vancouver Canucks — for now, the team is still in the playoff picture.

The Canucks (27-22-11) are in a close battle with three other teams for the Western Conference wild-card spot. But Vancouver’s opportunities to climb the standings are beginning to dwindle.

After going 1-4-0 on a road swing, the team needs to look simply at what’s in front of them instead of the overall picture, said head coach Rick Tocchet.

“You can’t worry about what’s in the past, what you’ve dealt with, what’s going on,” he said Sunday. “I think you just look from moment to moment. Right now, we’re in the race.”

Vancouver slipped below the playoff bar Sunday night when the Calgary Flames claimed a point in a 2-1 overtime loss to the host Carolina Hurricanes.

The Canucks and Flames are tied with 65 points apiece, but Calgary moved into the second wild-card spot because it has the edge in wins (28).

The Canucks haven’t looked like a playoff team in recent contests.

The squad gave up multi-goal leads in each of its last three games, and players know they need to perform for three straight periods going forward, said defenceman Filip Hronek.

“I think that’s our biggest problem right now, that we can’t put 60 minutes together,” he said. ”We started really good. I think in the first, we were really good. And then something happens. And it just goes away. So we need to just keep concentrating belief and just play the same way.”

The Canucks also need goals after getting outscored 18-10 across their five-game road trip.

Jake DeBrusk leads Vancouver in goals with 21. Sniper Brock Boeser has 18 on the season, while Conor Garland and Pius Suter have 16 apiece.

Star centre Elias Pettersson is stuck at 11 goals and has not scored since Jan. 21.

Tocchet, an assistant coach for Canada at last month’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, wants to see more attack from his players.

“We’ve got to deliver pucks to the net,” he said. ”You’ve got to be willing to get there and you’ve got to be willing to rip pucks and have all the details to be able to do that.”

There are some guys on the team who simply need to go to the net more and blast more shots on goal, he said.

“That’s how you get out of slumps,” said Tocchet, who played 1,144 regular-season NHL games. ”It’s my experience, from my career, you’re not going to get a pretty goal to get out of a slump. It’s usually off of your skate, it’s a three-foot rebound goal. But you’ve got to get there. And you’ve got to have the courage and you’ve got to be willing to have the courage to shoot those pucks.”

Feeling good is crucial to turning the season around and the coach has been talking to his players about how confidence is “a 24-hour thing.”

“You can get your confidence with a good practice or a good game. You can’t think long term with confidence,' he said. ”And I think the way I look at it, we’re in the race. And you’ve just got to use every day to get better mentally and physically.”

The next phase of Vancouver’s race for a playoff spot will take part on home ice. The Canucks play seven of their next eight games at Rogers Arena, starting Wednesday when they host the Anaheim Ducks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2025.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press