Brisebois, Hoglander in Canucks lineup vs. Leafs
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Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet announced that Guillaume Brisebois and Nils Höglander will draw in for tonight's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs Leafs. Max Sasson and Vincent Desharnais will be scratches while Kevin Lankinen will get the start in goal.
Due to the snowfall in Raleigh, N.C., the Canucks were unable to fly to Toronto as planned on Friday night and were forced to travel this morning.
"It's just weird," Tocchet said. "You get up at 9 today and you don't get into Toronto until 2. It's only like an hour flight, but it's a lot of de-icing. It took a while to get in from [the airport]. We had a police escort but it wasn't fast today. I don't know, it was wild.
"These things happen to a lot different teams," he said. "You just gotta deal with it. It's not even in our mind right now. It really isn't."
The Canucks managed just 14 shots in their 2-0 loss to the Hurricanes on Friday and told reporters he is noticing a lack of confidence in his team.
"There's a lot of reads there we’re not finding," Tocchet said. "On a climb [by a player up the ice in the offensive zone], the weak-side D, Hughes will, but some other guys are hesitant to go down. You have to go down to those spots to create offence and I think we’re hesitant. We’re more staying on the blue line or, even when the guys climbs, there’s times to take it to the interior and ... you get into awareness mode, right. You don’t move your feet, all the sudden you’re looking, ‘Who do I pass to?’ instead of just take it to the hole and make that play on the weak side. The D’s there, hopefully he’s there, and you make that play. It’s OK to play a little risky if people move their feet."
The Canucks have lost four straight (0-2-2) and six of seven (1-3-3) since the holiday break. They haven't won consecutive games since Nov. 29 and Dec. 1.
"Adversity hits teams," Tocchet said. "I don't care how many years you play in the league, you gotta accept it and you gotta stand up to it. You can't hide."