With Mats Sundin signed and ready to play, and captain Roberto Luongo back in net, some idiot wrote on FanHouse that the Canucks were rounding into form as a Western Conference contender. After all, they had a bunch of home games, they had weathered the storm while Luongo was out, and Sundin was going to give them a pivot for their second line.It all made sense on paper. But, as we learn all the time, hockey is a game best played on ice, not paper. The Canucks have gained exactly two points in their last seven games, and along the way, they've found some creative ways to lose games. Wednesday night, it was the penalty kill's turn.
It's one thing to struggle with the kill against a good power play. When your kill gets shredded by one of the NHL's worst power plays, you have problems. Nashville is near the bottom of the NHL in power play, but they scored three power-play goals over less than six minutes of the second and third periods to rally and win 5-3 over the Canucks. The tying goal, scored by Nashville's Jason Arnott in the final seconds of the second period, was scored with Sundin in the box.
After similarly blowing a game against Columbus last week (but getting a point out of the deal by getting to a shootout), the Canucks are getting frustrated.
"When you are up 3-1 with five minutes to go in the second period, there's no way that you should go into the locker-room tied," said frustrated goalie Roberto Luongo. "That's the second time that has happened here in the last couple of weeks."Coach Alain Vigneault and general manager Mike Gillis met after the game, and it's pretty obvious that Gillis is tired of this refrain. The Canucks have lost eight in a row on home ice, seven straight overall, and have fallen out of the top eight in the West since Sundin showed up and Luongo returned. It's the exact opposite to what virtually everyone expected, and it may be a matter of time before someone (Vigneault) pays for this with his job.
In case you're wondering, Vancouver gets Minnesota, Carolina, and Chicago to finish off this current homestand, and then they're on the road for seven of their remaining nine games in February. With these three games coming over a large nine-day span, common sense dictates a coaching change probably happens in the next week ... if it's to happen at all.
