New York. The shock continues in Vancouver.
The Canucks suffered their seventh straight defeat last night and were once again booed by their frustrated fans.
“All the players are afraid that they are the ones making the mistake. We lose the game and we go and wait,” says coach Bruce Boudreaux.
The start of the season at the Canucks is starting to look like a nightmare. They’ve played seven games and lost all of them – thus the only team in the league that hasn’t achieved a win after two weeks.
In tonight’s home game against Carolina, things looked promising for a long time. Canes led 1-0 in the powerhouse match early in the first half, but just a few minutes later the table giants secured their numerical advantage and then leveled JT Miller, with a pass from Elias Peterson.
I was booed
The score was then 1-1 for two spells, but at the start of the third inning came the slap. Sebastian Aho made it 2-1 after 50 seconds and after 37 seconds, Swede Jesper Fast, without making a mistake, scored 3-1 with a single sled.
GT Miller managed to cut the score with ten minutes remaining, this time with the help of Oliver Eckmann-Larson, but overall the hosts only managed three shots in the last period and never really came close to equalizing.
So when the final whistle blew, boos reverberated at Rogers Arena.
Of course it’s frustrating to still have a zero in the winning column, Miller says afterwards.
– But we had a good opponent tonight. It is very difficult to play against them. Instead of being negative, I want to say that we don’t give up in this dressing room.
The coach is worried
But coach Bruce Boudreaux – who may be hanging loosely by now – is concerned about the situation.
– We didn’t get a payment in the third period and that’s because we are afraid to pay. Nobody wants to be the one to make the mistake we lose the match and go and wait, he says.
– In their first goal in the third half we had players just waiting and in the second goal we stood and watched. I was very disappointed.
The Kanucks family has their next chance to stop the bleeding in Seattle Friday night.