VANCOUVER — When announcer John Shorthouse asked his Sportsnet audience Thursday if he'd just felt an earthquake at Rogers Arena, it seemed plausible that the Earth might just crack underground. Vancouver Canucks and swallow them.
The Canucks, already last in the National Hockey League, could sink even lower. But then they lost 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabers, the worst team in the Eastern Conference as it looked on Thursday.
The Canucks now trail Death Valley, with one win in eight games and two in 12, suddenly trailing the other 31 teams in daylight – three points behind the Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators.
It was the Sabers' first road win in regulation since last April.
This is a new low point for the Canucks. But check back later because they begin a five-game road trip against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
On Thursday, the Canucks finally scored a pair of goals to break their six-game power play drought. And it didn't matter. They have a star goalie Thatcher Demko returned from a month-long injury, and it did not change the outcome of the game. They still lost.
The Canucks outshot the Sabers 32-15, including 12-2 in the third period when dangerous scoring chances were 7-1, but were unable to get the third puck past goaltender Alex Lyon.
“Now or any other day, this is the NHL,” Canucks scorer Max Sasson said when asked about the Basement Bowl. “But obviously we know they are at the bottom of the table and we feel at home in front of our fans. We need to find a way to win.”
“It's really tough. I thought the last three losses, I mean, I know I'm tired of saying it, but we're (damn) dominating them. Especially tonight, it felt like we were in their zone the whole game and we had Grade A after Grade A (chance to score) and nothing was happening. So it's frustrating. You just have to think that if we keep playing like this, things will change and we'll rally together. A few wins.”
The Canucks haven't won two games since Oct. 19. They will soon mark the two-month anniversary of their last winning streak.
But Sasson is right: the Canucks have been outplaying the hell out of teams lately, but they continue to lose the hell out of them.
They had one win in four games on home soil, and their other losses included defeating the Detroit Red Wings 39-21 and the Utah Mammoth 33-18.
So, including the game against Buffalo, the Canucks had a 104-54 shot. And the score became 11-3 in favor of the opponents. And there were zero points in the Vancouver standings.
“It's kind of weird, just because I feel like we're playing… we're playing pretty well and we're creating a lot of looks, but it hasn't worked for us,” Canucks captain Quinn Hughes said. “You've got to stay positive knowing that we're playing some pretty good hockey. I think for the most part we're actually playing every game and getting quality looks. You just have to be confident in the direction our game is going, but obviously you want the best result.”
The Canucks are 2-8-1 at the bottom of the NHL since their last .500 peak, which is roughly the same as Demko's Nov. 11 groin injury. With the Canucks plagued by injuries, it was his absence that sank the team.
But any notions that the 2024 Vezina Trophy runner-up could suddenly manifest his superpowers and instantly turn the tide of the Canucks' season were shattered when Rasmus Dahlin's heavy, unscreened shot went over Demko to make it 1-0 in favor of the Sabers with 7:36 to play.
“Yeah, obviously I’m not very happy about it,” Demko told reporters afterward. “I felt a little late, maybe a little slow. Maybe just trying to acclimate back to game speed. I mean, yeah, that's what I think I can salvage.”
“I'm not going to make any excuses. I felt ready to play (but) definitely didn't feel great tonight. Definitely need to get better.”
Having collected the first point in nine games, Kiefer Sherwood put the puck through Lyon to tie the game on a power play in Vancouver with 14 seconds left in the first period.
And when Sasson used a quick burst to catch a pass from Jake DeBrusk and get past Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram, his shot between the Lyon pads gave the Canucks the lead 6:15 midway through the period.
The advantage lasted less than three minutes.
At 9:12, Buffalo's big sniper Tage Thompson had room in the top slot to move the puck and change his shot angle, then fired a wrist shot past Demko's blocker to make it 2-2.
And at 2:46 p.m.—following Filip Hronek's penalty for ripping Jack Quinn's helmet off in front of the Canuck goal—Saber Zach Benson scored his first goal of the season when Brock Boeser gave him too much room in the slot and a one-time pass from Josh Doan past Demko's catching glove.
Buffalo scored three goals on 13 shots in the first two periods, as high as Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen allowed in Monday's 4-0 loss to the Wings.
The third period included point-blank chances from Boeser and Drew O'Connor, a high-speed redirect from DeBrusk and a pair of six-on-five shots from Sherwood that were blocked.
“Yeah, it's frustrating,” Sherwood said. “That's kind of the way things are right now, but… we'll keep fighting until the end. Things will eventually go our way if we keep playing the right way, keep working and dominate these teams for long stretches.”
“I know it's tough right now… but the results can't dissuade you, right? Like, these things are out of our control sometimes. We're just trying to focus on the process and it'll all work out in the end. Obviously, we deserve (the win) tonight, but we continue to fight for each other and strive for our identity.”
“I mean, it’s not sugarcoated,” Demko said. “It's no fun when you're not winning games. Unfortunately, sometimes that's part of the job. You've got to show up and keep working hard, and you've got to do everything you can to do your job. That's the reality we're in right now. You know, the ship isn't going to turn around.”
• Asked after the game about coach Adam Foote's comments this week that there was “noise” in the locker room regarding Hughes' future, the Canucks captain said: “I think the guys are focused on themselves as well, trying to get their own games going, trying to be productive and play their best. I think at the end of the day when the guys lace up their skates, they're not necessarily thinking about me. They're probably thinking about other things.”
