Canucks hold players-only meeting after dropping to 0-3

The Vancouver Canucks held a players-only meeting after dropping to 0-3-0 with their 6-4 loss Monday night to the Washington Capitals.

The Canucks held a 4-2 lead entering the third period on Monday but allowed four unanswered goals while being outshot 10-4 in the final frame.

"I thought we had a great second period, and I think the game plan for the third period was fine," Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau said after the loss, per NHL.com. "But it did look like we started to collapse and were afraid to win. They came at us pretty good, and we just didn't handle it very well."

"I think right now mentally weak would be a good assessment," Boudreau added. "When you're on a roll, you're waiting for good things to happen. When you're in something like this, you're waiting for something bad to happen."

The Canucks, who will face the Columbus Blue Jackets in the fourth of five road games to start the season, have been outscored 14-9 to start the year. The team has blown a multi-goal lead in each of their three losses to begin the season, becoming the first team in NHL history to do so.

"That's three games in a row now that we've had leads and outplayed teams and it's just unacceptable by us, it's unacceptable by myself and my leadership," Canucks captain Bo Horvat said. "I hold myself accountable, I've got to be better. Luckily, we play [Tuesday] night, so we've got to have a short-term memory and go out there and do it."

The Canucks also got off to a slow start last season, going 3-5-1 in the first month of the season under Travis Green, who was later replaced by Boudreau. Vancouver has missed the postseason in six of the past seven seasons.