Things were looking good for Canucks management in their club’s 5-3 loss to the Sabres on Tuesday night in Buffalo; short term and big picture. Losing improves the end-of-season NHL Draft odds for a club that has no chance of making the playoffs.
Lackadaisical play and disinterest only improves those odds as the season wears on. So was it disturbing or refreshing to see that a handful of Vancouver players appeared to be mailing it in through the first two periods.
Vancouver only generated decent chances on the power play. That said, it was a Buffalo shorthanded goal in the 1st period on a Kiefer Sherwood turnover at the point that gave the home team a 2-0 lead. The Canucks were dramatically outplayed at five-on-five as the Sabres built out a 3-nothing cushion through 40 minutes.
The scary part came in the third period. With Buffalo up 4-0 and seemingly in complete control, Vancouver erupted for three goals in a span of 5:38 from Jake DeBrusk, Elias Pettersson and Liam Ohgren to make it a one-goal game.
Josh Doan put it away with an empty-netter at 18:36.
Whew!
While the flurry of goals may have put a scare into the Sabres, it also put one into Canucks (mis)management, who must have thought for sure they had an easy zero points.
Sarcastic enough for you?
Guess who won’t be laughing? Canucks ownership, when trying to unload walk-up tickets the rest of the season.
Earlier Canucks:
— Simmer’s 9; Monstrous Canucks – Kraken New Year’s Edition
