Tocchet: Canucks showed 'nervousness' in costly blowout loss
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The Vancouver Canucks' playoff hopes took another blow Wednesday as the team suffered a 5-0 loss to the Seattle Kraken.
The Canucks spoke of the importance of getting points pre-game and head coach Rick Tocchet said post-game he believes his team lost their nerve after falling behind against the Kraken.
“I saw a lot of nervousness,” Tocchet said. “You need some poise. I didn't think we had poise. Then they got a couple of quick goals on us, so you could see guys were getting nervous, chasing the game.”
Vancouver now sits eight points back of the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues for the two Western Conference wild-card spots with one game in hand on both. This season has been a significant drop-off for the Canucks, who finished atop the Pacific Division last season in Tocchet's first full campaign with the team.
The 60-year-old head coach was hired 46 games into the 2022-23 campaign to replace Bruce Boudreau. He has guided the team to a 104-63-26 record since taking over, but his future has come under speculation amid a trying season. Tocchet is currently coaching on an expiring deal, though the Canucks have a team option for 2025-26.
Vancouver is on track to miss the playoffs for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
“Really frustrating,” defenceman Marcus Pettersson said of Wednesday's loss. “The looks they get, we kind of give them. We know they're good off the rush, and they got a lot of chances off the rush. It's deflating.
"We've got to pick ourselves back up and get back into the fight.”
The Canucks will host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, with the Pacific-leading Vegas Golden Knights visiting on Sunday.