Canucks Losing Streak Reaches Seven

The Canucks losing streak reaches seven after a recent 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The seven-game skid follows a promising start, with Vancouver winning two of its first three games.

Good Start, Bad Finish 

In their last game, the Canucks lost 4-2 on the road to the Lightning, led 2-0 in the second period, then gave up four unanswered goals. Linus Karlsson and Elias Pettersson each lit the lamp in the losing effort, and Kevin Lankinen gave up four goals on 34 shots.

The Canucks only mustered 14 shots in the loss while giving up 35, and they had 13 giveaways.

Home Cooking, Finally 

Vancouver has had a road-heavy early season schedule, and the Lightning game was the last of a six-game road trip. Their chances of snapping their seven-game skid aren't great, as their first home game will be against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes, who throttled them 7-2 on the recent road trip.

Little Improvement but a Long Way to Go 

The main reason for the Canucks’ struggles has been a second-to-last ranked defense, giving up an average of 4.50 goals per game. The only silver lining is that they played close in the two games before the last one losing 3-2 in each.

Merilainen May Be Seeing More Ice Time 

Backup G Leevi Merilainen (1-1-1, 2.51 GAA, .925 save percentage) may be seeing more ice time between the pipes as Lankinen struggles. He has an inflated GAA of 6.40, a save percentage of only .807, and has given up at least five goals in four of seven starts. On the other side of the coin, Merilainen has given up seven goals total in his three starts.