The Vancouver Canucks offence is about as dangerous as a fly right now.
The team is struggling to generate quality looks. They had just 14 total shots against the Carolina Hurricanes, who were starting third-string goalie Dustin Tokarski, in Friday’s 2-0 loss.
The concerning number of shots is not an outlier result. The Canucks are one of the NHL’s worst teams when it comes to shots on net, ranking in the bottom-three. It’s a trend that dates back to last year’s playoffs were they set historic records for futility with their shot count.
The Canucks have won just five of their last 18 games as they try and figure out how to be more dangerous.
“I think we had 25 missed shots, we had attempts at the net, I think like total 50,” said Tocchet postgame. “You’ve got to hit the net, that’s the frustrating part. We had a lot of o-zone time but we’re just missing opportunities…you’ve got to throw pucks at the net, hit the net with people going.”
“Little frustrated with the overpassing or missing the net.”
“If there’s opportunities to hit the net, shoot. There’s no magic tic-tac-toe stuff…we’ve got to try and generate some stuff,” said Rick Tocchet.#Canucks pic.twitter.com/oTjDId8xMD
— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) January 11, 2025
It’s not just a few Canucks who aren’t generating chances at their normal rate. Pius Suter, Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson, and Kiefer Sherwood all finished without a shot against the Hurricanes.
“If there’s opportunities to hit the net, shoot. There’s no magic tic-tac-toe stuff…we’ve got to try and generate some stuff but we’ve got to move our feet too.”
The Canucks have started their road trip with an 0-1-2 record. They play the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow before facing off against the Winnipeg Jets before heading back to Vancouver. Those are two strong teams and without a much better effort, they could finish this trip without a win.
“Whatever we’re going through right now, we’ll figure it out,” said Pettersson.