In front of their home crowd, matched up against arguably their most hated opponent over the years, the Canucks came out of the gates flat, and fell straight on their face getting shutout 4-0 by the Boston Bruins.
The Canucks (9-11-8) continue their downward trend in the western conference and currently sit at 10th place, sixteen points behind the leading Dallas Stars.
For the second game in a row the Canucks had trouble getting shots on net with only a mere seventeen shots on Tuukka Rask who got his second shutout of the year. Within 10 minutes into the game, the Canucks saw themselves fall behind 2-0.
Notorious pest Brad Marchand who was infamous in Vancouver for turning the Sedin twins into his personal punching bags during the finals series scored 2:54 into the first on a wrist shot for his thirteenth goal on the year.
Less than five minutes later, Torey Krug doubled up the lead when he got a slap shot past Jacob Markstrom at the 7:03 mark for his third of the year.
Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom started ahead of veteran Ryan Miller but allowed three goals on the glove side on the first seven shots before finishing with 18 saves.
Coming into the game the Canucks lost 12 of their last 15 games and Willie Desjardin called the game a “must win” but ultimately the Canucks did not deliver.
Landon Ferraro made it 3-0 with a long wrist shot off the rush that Markstrom missed with his glove eight minutes into the second period. He would later add an assist on Tyler Randall’s fourth goal of the season at 11:32 into the third period.
The Canucks finally showed a little emotion in the end but by then it was too late. Brandon Prust was given a 10-minute misconduct after spearing Marchand with 1:53 left, dropping the Bruins forward to his knees for several minutes.
At this point the Canucks management, and coaching staff must decide what to do moving forward.
Are we a playoff contender? Should we rebuild? Do we cash in on our veteran players? These are some of the questions that will be addressed within the upcoming weeks.
Up next: The Canucks face off against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night where the West Coast Express line will be reunited at Rogers Arena as part of Rogers Arena #20in20 celebration.
Image via: Vancouver Canucks
