VANCOUVER -- With the Vancouver Canucks on their longest losing streak of the season, one might think a visit from the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins with first place in the NHL standings on the line is the last thing they need.
Canucks forward Elias Lindholm doesn’t see it that way.
“I'd rather take this stretch right now where we are struggling a little bit rather than do it later,” Lindholm said Friday. “It's some adversity, every team goes through it every year, so it's tough, but it's a good thing we're playing a good team [on Saturday]. It's a good test for us to play the best team in the east.”
The Western Conference-leading Canucks (37-16-6) have lost four straight games, all in regulation, heading into their game against the Bruins (34-12-2) on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CITY, SNP, NESN). Vancouver is 4-5-1 since the NHL All-Star break, including a 4-0 loss at Boston on Feb. 8, so any talk of this game being a possible Stanley Cup Final preview is on hold for a Canucks team that is focused on rediscovering the form that put it in that conversation in the first place.
Lindholm, acquired in a trade with the Calgary Flames on Jan. 31, only knows what that Vancouver team looks like from playing against it.
“There's not a lot of room out there,” Lindholm said of seeing his new team when it was in better form. “The team worked really hard, and it felt like every time you had the puck there was people coming your way and you didn't have time to make plays. Right now, we're a little bit slow.”
Coach Rick Tocchet was highly critical of the Canucks’ effort and execution after their 5-2 loss at the Seattle Kraken on Thursday but changed practice Friday to optional, with most of the top players not taking part. The hope is that it will help their energy levels after a stretch of 10 games in 17 days, including eight on the road.
Despite the losing streak, Vancouver remains tied with Boston atop the NHL with 80 points, on pace to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four seasons and second time in nine. But their special-teams play has slipped since the All-Star break, and now the depth scoring has dried up, with the third and fourth lines failing to generate a shot on goal in Seattle.
“You've got to be hard to play against. It's an identity and it's got to be everybody,” Tocchet said. “We knew this was going to be a tough part. If we can win [Saturday] we’d be .500 in this tough stretch. It's not that bad, but we can't keep saying ‘Well, we're still in first place.’ We’ve got to make a little bit of a stand.”
Improved special teams would help. Vancouver’s power play is 1-for-28 in the past nine games despite regularly featuring five skaters who were in the 2024 Honda (U.S.)/Rogers (Canada) NHL All-Star Game and is struggling to generate scoring chances or momentum. The Canucks have given up three short-handed goals while scoring three on the power play over the past 10 games.
“We have difference-makers, but right now we're deferring the puck a lot,” Tocchet said. “And quite frankly, an 8-foot pass isn't an automatic 8-foot pass anymore. We're really having a tough time, and I think that's pressure and that's something you have to deal with. You’ve got to deal with the pressure.”
The penalty kill hasn’t been much better in the past 10 games, allowing 10 goals on 36 chances (72.2 percent), including four goals, three of which came on 5-on-3 power plays, during a 10-7 loss at the Minnesota Wild on Monday. Vancouver is fourth in the NHL in short-handed time on ice per game since the All-Star break (6:07).
“Too many stick penalties,” Tocchet said. “It's a lot of reaching, high-sticking. You’ve got to stop with stick penalties, and it's just not one guy. There are about six or seven guys that have done it reoccurring and it kills momentum. Guys sit on the bench, and you can't get a flow going, so we’ve got to be more disciplined.”
