The Canucks have many problems but falling behind in the special teams race may be the killer blow.
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For all the good stuff the Vancouver Canucks managed at five on five Friday afternoon in San Jose, it was all undone by a woeful penalty kill and a pop-gun power play.
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Special teams, as we noted a few weeks ago, has been a losing race for the Canucks so far this season and in the end it shows no signs of getting better.
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The math, just as the Canucks’ playoff math, remains unavoidable: at 21.6 per cent, the power play is scoring just about once every five opportunities, while the penalty kill, dead last in the NHL at 70.5 per cent, is giving up a goal almost every third opportunity.
And given the Canucks are, like most teams, drawing roughly as many penalties as they’re taking, that’s just putting themselves behind the eight ball nearly every night.
They’re giving up a goal every game to the opposing power play: they’ve given up 26 power play goals against in 25 games this season. Compare that to their own power play, which has scored 19 times in those 25 games, that means effectively six times they’ve started the game behind 1-0.
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And before you say “but hey, they’ve got six comeback wins this season,” let me remind you that the average NHL team has five comeback wins. Everyone comes back at some point or another.
As we’ve said time and again this season: that’s just no way to live.
The Sherwood list
According to RG.org, the Bruins, Islanders, Red Wings and Sabres are all interested in Kiefer Sherwood.
Hard to imagine it not getting longer. Sherwood does so much as we know.
The Hughes question
Nick Kypreos doesn’t think Quinn Hughes is staying. I think it’s hard to imagine him staying.
Four coaches in five years. The team being nowhere near as good as it was two years ago. The serious downgrade at head coach.
Listen, I like Adam Foote. He seems like a decent guy. But the pure truth is he’s not Rick Tocchet. And Hughes really liked playing for Tocchet.
The fact Tocchet left should be so telling: he had a chance to keep working with one of the best defencemen in the game and he still left.
So did he think Hughes would be sticking around? Answer that for yourself.
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