The Vancouver Canucks came out flat and never found their game in a 6-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.
It was their worst shutout loss on home ice since 2006 when they lost by the same score against the Anaheim Ducks.
Fans at Rogers Arena booed as time expired, letting the home team know their feelings about the performance.
This was only the seventh time the Canucks have suffered a home-ice shutout defeat by at least six goals across their entire franchise history. It’s also only the second time in this century.
#Canucks suffer their worst shutout loss on home ice since Nov. 9, 2006 vs Anaheim.
It’s just the 7th time in team history that they’ve had a shutout loss by 6-0 or worse at home.
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) October 31, 2024
The Canucks put forward an embarrassing performance in a game that received a lot of national attention due to the three Hughes brothers competing against each other.
Jack finished with two points while Luke and Quinn were held off the scoresheet.
The Devils scored 53 seconds into the game after an ill-advised pinch from Tyler Myers and controlled the flow from then-on.
Cap’s feeling hot, hot, hot. pic.twitter.com/ZRXtPCbbv9
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 31, 2024
It was a frustrating night for the Canucks who couldn’t solve their old friend Jacob Markstrom. They also made their fair share of mental mistakes, including a drop-pass to no one from J.T. Miller which resulted in a short-handed goal-against.
Miller was taken off the top power play unit later in the game after this mistake.
Hey shorty, how ya doin? pic.twitter.com/1aSGNH9uot
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 31, 2024
The Devils scored three goals in the second period as the game got ugly for the Canucks in the middle frame.
The only Canucks highlight was heart-and-soul winger Conor Garland dropping the mitts with Erik Haula. Garland, who is listed as one of the lightest players in the league, held his own in the tilt.
The only fun moment of the night for the #Canucks
— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) October 31, 2024
The Devils dominated the first 40 minutes of this game on their way to a 4-0 lead. They had 18 five-on-five scoring chances to the Canucks eight over the first two periods and looked like the much better team. That trend continued in the third as the visitors extended their advantage to six goals.
This was Arturs Silovs first start since October 15 and it didn’t go smoothly. While none of the goals were explicitly his fault, he wasn’t giving the team saves. He allowed six goals on 22 shots, making just 16 stops. This was his third start of the season and he’s yet to finish one with a .900% save percentage or better.
More to come…