Trevor Linden played for the Vancouver Canucks for 16 years, and in his time he had some ups, and he also had some downs.
He remembers the bittersweet road to the 1994 NHL Stanley Cup Finals.
He also understands the tough spot the Canucks are in right now.
So Linden what’s your plan for the reason? Tank or play?
The Canucks played another awful, discouraging game at Rogers Arena Thursday night and fell to the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 in front of a shocked home crowd.
Sami Vatanen, Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell each had a goal and an assist to help the Anaheim Ducks to the victory.
Jannik Hansen and Sven Baertschi scored, while Ryan Miller made 28 saves for the Canucks (22-23-12), who have lost three straight, including six straight at home.
After a scoreless first period, Rakell opened the scoring 2:03 into the second period. He hopped over the boards as Getzlaf came off the ice with Anaheim controlling in the Vancouver end and skated right into a pass from Vatanen. Rakell beat a screened Miller over the glove from the top of the faceoff circle for his 15th of the year.
The Ducks doubled up on the power play when Vatanen took a cross-ice pass from Getzlaf and beat Miller over the glove from inside the top of the left faceoff circle.
At the end of the second period the Canucks had two power plays to try and get back into the game, but came up empty handed heading to the third down 2-0.
Right after John Gibson (19 saves) denied Hansen on a 2-on-1, Ryan Getzlaf scored the other way on a 3-on-1 at 4:14 of the third period for his 7th.
John Manson scored 27 seconds later to make it 4-0, tapping in his first goal in 25 games after Rakell’s sharp-angled shot trickled through Miller.
The Nucks were able to cut the lead then in half with goals by Hansen, and Baertschi respectfully at 6:18, and 11:58 of the third period.
However that is the closest they would get when former Canuck Kevin Bieksa potted his 3rd goal of the year on an empty net goal at 17:29.
With the loss the Canucks are now eight points out of the final wild card spot, and must start to wonder if this is yet another lost season?
Rebuild time? Why not? Canucks fans having been waiting forever (literally) so another 4 or 5 years won’t be too bad right?
Up next: The Canucks travel to Calgary for a matchup with the Flames Friday night.
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