{"id":5561,"date":"2014-03-30T19:56:28","date_gmt":"2014-03-30T11:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=5561"},"modified":"2025-01-18T07:58:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T12:58:50","slug":"canucks-fading-playoff-hopes-take-another-big-hit-with-loss-to-ducks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/03\/30\/canucks-fading-playoff-hopes-take-another-big-hit-with-loss-to-ducks\/","title":{"rendered":"Canucks\u2019 fading playoff hopes take another big hit with loss to Ducks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"vancanucks\"<\/a><\/p>\n

VANCOUVER\u2014Ryan Kesler says the Vancouver Canucks will learn a lot about themselves over the final six games of the regular season.<\/p>\n

Pride is realistically all they have to play for at this point.<\/p>\n

Vancouver\u2019s already slim playoff hopes faded to a mere mathematical possibility on Saturday after a demoralizing 5-1 loss on home ice to the Anaheim Ducks.<\/p>\n

The Canucks had a chance to climb to within three points of the second wild-card berth in the Western Conference, but instead suffered a crushing defeat that all but sealed their post-season fate.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously our backs are against the wall and I guess we\u2019re going to see what we\u2019re made out of,\u201d Kesler said with barely a whisper in the Canucks\u2019 locker-room. \u201cAre we going to sit back and cower or are we going to give everything and try to give ourselves a chance here?\u201d<\/p>\n

That chance at a playoff spot dipped to just 0.5 per cent with Saturday\u2019s loss, according to the website sportsclubstats.com. The Canucks have been used to competing for division titles, but the spring of 2014 at Rogers Arena will in all likelihood be a lot quieter than it has been the last five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely frustrating right now.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s no ifs ands or buts about it,\u201d said Canucks forward Zack Kassian. \u201cWe\u2019re frustrated. We know we\u2019re on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said 100 times in the past week: we\u2019re competitors and we want to play for each other and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corey Perry and Saku Koivu each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who got 31 saves from rookie goalie Frederik Andersen.<\/p>\n

The Minnesota Wild left the door open for the Canucks to move within three points of the West\u2019s final playoff spot after a 3-1 road victory over the eighth-place Phoenix Coyotes, but Vancouver was unable to capitalize on the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough one. I thought we played well enough to be in this game but we made a few mistakes and that cost us,\u201d said Canucks forward Daniel Sedin. \u201cEvery loss now is tough. We need wins, we need points. We\u2019ve got to stay positive and keep going. That\u2019s all we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luca Sbisa, Matt Beleskey and Mathieu Perreault also scored for Anaheim (48-18-8), while Andrew Cogliano and Daniel Winnik added two assists apiece as the Ducks moved into first place in the Pacific Division.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to look for some help but I don\u2019t know if we really deserve it to be honest,\u201d said Brad Richardson, who scored Vancouver\u2019s only goal. \u201cIt sucks to be in the position where you have to rely on other teams to lose and we\u2019re not really winning all our games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canucks goalie Eddie Lack finished with just 16 saves on a night where the Ducks seemed to capitalize on every chance they got.<\/p>\n

Anaheim led 2-1 after the first period and increased its lead at 11:02 of the second when Winnik chipped a pass from the side of the net into the slot to Koivu, who buried his 10th of the season.<\/p>\n

Vancouver (34-31-11) had a number of opportunities to make things interesting, including three power plays in the second alone that yielded a lot of possession, but not many clear-cut chances for the league\u2019s 27th-ranked unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s inexcusable to have a power play like we have,\u201d said Kesler. \u201cTo lose 5-1 in a must-win game, it\u2019s embarrassing.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Koivu gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead, Andersen made consecutive saves off Vancouver forwards Chris Higgins and Jordan Schroeder from in tight before shooting out a pad to stone Kassian moments later.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe not only want to get first place, we want to play as good as we can heading into the playoffs,\u201d said Andersen, who started in place of No. 1 goalie Jonas Hiller. \u201cEvery time you go on the ice you want to prove you can play.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to have two good goalies that can support each other if something happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry put the game out of reach by banging home his 38th of the season at 6:45 of the third to make it 4-1 and Perreault added insult to injury with his 18th on a power play at 14:03.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we worked hard,\u201d said Kassian. \u201cWe obviously didn\u2019t get much production in the offensive zone and some goals when we needed them but I thought we had a good first and great second.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game kind of got out of hand in the third.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anaheim has thoroughly dominated the first four meetings of its five-game season series with Vancouver, outscoring the Canucks 21-6 and surrendering just one point to its division rivals. The teams meet for the final time April 7 at Rogers Arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have struggled within our division and the top teams, and that\u2019s something as we move forward, we\u2019ve got to find how to play against them,\u201d said Canucks head coach John Tortorella. \u201cI thought for a number of minutes tonight through the second period we were right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ducks grabbed a 1-0 at 7:36 of the opening period on Sbisa\u2019s first of the season before Beleskey made it 2-0 just 1:11 later as Anaheim scored on two of its first five shots.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to analyze our goaltender,\u201d said Tortorella.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou lose 5-1, a lot of things happened, not just your goalie. We need to lick our wounds here and try to get right back in the win column.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canucks made it 2-1 at 11:12 of the first when Richardson scored on a rebound for his 10th of the season but it would be Vancouver\u2019s only highlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re certainly on the outside looking in and it\u2019s not a spot that we want to be in. I\u2019ve never been in this spot before in my career,\u201d said Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis. \u201cWe\u2019re not mathematically out of it, even though our chances are slim.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to keep playing hard and give ourselves that chance and make those teams earn it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ducks forward Teemu Selanne sat out after playing Friday night in Edmonton against the Oilers. The 43-year-old has not played back-to-back games this season, but said after the morning skate that he will play against the Canucks in Vancouver on April 7. … Kassian picked up an assist on Richardson\u2019s goal. The big forward now has two goals and five assists during his four-game point streak. … Perreault has six goals in his last eight games. … The Canucks host former head coach Alain Vigneault and the New York Rangers on Tuesday. Anaheim is home to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VANCOUVER\u2014Ryan Kesler says the Vancouver Canucks will learn a lot about themselves over the final six games of the regular …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":5562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","mauthors-joshua-clipperton","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285335,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5561\/revisions\/285335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}