Canucks Live: Getting an F for effort, power failures

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After a 2-6 homestand at Rogers Arena the Canucks head to Calgary as they stagger to season’s end

Published Mar 27, 2026 • Last updated 48 minutes ago • 8 minute read

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Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen, Aatu Raty , Marcus Pettersson and Los Angeles Kings’ Adrian Kempe during the second period at Rogers Arena on Thursday night. The Kings won 4-0. Photo by ETHAN CAIRNS /THE CANADIAN PRESSArticle content

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This is the song that never ends, it goes on and on, my friends. Another game, another loss on home ice, another shutout. The Canucks capped off their 8-game homestand at Rogers Arena with a 4-0 loss to the Kings, 2-6 through that stand, shutout twice, only scored more than three goals twice in that stretch and gave up at least four goals in six of the eight games. They’re really justifying that ticket price increase for next season, huh?

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Our expectations are low, but my goodness they keep finding ways to send folks home unsatisfied. Unless you’re one of the legions of fans of the various visiting teams who get cheap resale tickets and descend on Rogers Arena like ants at a picnic.

At least it’s Friday.

Patrick Johnston was at the game on Thursday night and the former teacher wasn’t that impressed on doling out his report card marks.

The Canucks have said they want to be spoilers against teams like the Kings, but to do so they need to get more from their experienced players. Zeev Buium was fired up at the end of the game and got in a fight, but can’t the old guard find that kind of spark earlier in the game? Couldn’t someone get into an old-school tussle early in the game, even just to get their own juices flowing? Hits are mostly not a very useful stat, but the Kings had the puck so much tonight and yet they out-hit the Canucks badly, 23-14. The team without the puck is supposed to get more hits.

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As for the actual grades? If I’d been given this feedback from one of my teachers, I’d be hiding the report card from my parents by burying it in the back yard.

Elias Pettersson (D)

Remember when people were all juiced about him being back? No energy, no drive to the slot. Massacred on faceoffs. Was head-to-head versus Kopitar line and got massacred. Obviously the challenge here is different, but in a tough game the young players should know their best forwards, true NHLers, should have more.

Evander Kane (D)

Another game where we can confirm he was on the ice. Drew a penalty. Two shot attempts.

Marco Rossi (C)

Somehow in the midst of this dull as dishwater game.

Liam Ohgren (C)

See his centre.

Zeev Buium (C+)

Defensively a mess. But at least he put his fighting training to work late in the game. The kid does care, despite everything.

Tom Willander (D)

Totally lost at sea. Would have been better off going back to the AHL midseason to give himself a chance to build up a pattern of success.

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The venerable Iain Macintyre at Sportsnet concurs. He’s been on the beat for a long time and has seen so many different iterations of this franchise and it sounds like even he’s had enough.

This is not the darkest or most vulnerable time in franchise history, but it is one of the most discouraging periods in the last 35 years.

The Canucks’ 4-0 loss Thursday against the middle-of-the-pack Los Angeles Kings, who were outshooting the home team 32-12 early in the third period, was Vancouver’s fourth straight in regulation and left it with a 2-6-0 record during March’s reality check. One of the two wins was in a shootout.

Their aggregate deficit over the final four contests was 18-6. The Canucks were shut out twice and generated 22 or fewer shots in five of the eight games.

Again, everyone understands the harsh reality of a rebuild, but the Canucks are failing at their baseline goal to be competitive.

Elliotte Freidman’s 32 Thoughts podcast likes to touch on every team, and he’s understandably scraping the bottom of the Canucks barrel. I mean, highlighting a player who, um, put in an effort? I suppose that is news for today’s version of this team.

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A few Canucks said Filip Hronek is quietly trying to exert more influence in a positive way. As the Canucks chart a new path, Hronek’s discussed everything from practice habits and how workouts are done, to punctuality to attire in an attempt to sharpen things. Lots of talk he’ll be the new captain. Whether or not that’s true, he’s definitely acting as one.

The Athletic’s excellent Harman Dayal has a look at the most disappointing players in the NHL this season. And while shockingly there’s no Canucks listed (are the expectations for Elias Pettersson so low he doesn’t even rate as one of the NHL’s biggest disappointments?), there is Canucks-adjacent content.

J.T. Miller, New York Rangers
Last year, the Rangers made a controversial, high-risk swing on J.T. Miller to extend their competitive window. New York was already outside of a wild-card spot at the time and had an aging, expensive core, but GM Chris Drury believed Miller would revitalize the top-six attack as their new No. 1 centre.

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Miller averaged 89 points per 82 games between 2021 and 2025, but there was a significant risk that his best days were behind him — he was well into his 30s and in the middle of a down year in Vancouver, where he looked more like a declining point producer with defensive issues rather than an elite player to build around. The Rangers also slapped the “C” on Miller’s jersey ahead of this season, which was a strange decision to say the least.

I covered Miller closely for six years in Vancouver, and while I have a ton of respect for his game and understand the value of having a fiery, throwback locker room personality, it seemed reckless for New York to give the captaincy to a polarizing personality who had such an ugly feud with co-star Elias Pettersson that it necessitated a trade.

Miller’s second tour of duty in Manhattan has been rocky. The 33-year-old has scored 42 points in 58 games (59 points per 82 games pace) in a year where he’s been labouring through injuries. Miller’s skating has looked sluggish, and the inconsistency of his aggressive, physical play is a clear sign that he isn’t right physically.

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To make matters worse, Miller has been on the ice for 3.18 goals against per 60 at five-on-five, which is by far the worst rate among all Rangers forwards. He isn’t driving play with any level of authority. His motor and urgency to move his feet without the puck are inconsistent, which has frustrated Rangers fans. He’s looked visibly defeated and out of answers in multiple post-game media scrums that have gone viral, as New York has plummeted to the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

Miller has four years left after this season at an $8 million cap hit. However, I’d argue Drury deserves more blame than Miller does, because the signs were evident at the time of the trade that this move was likely to age poorly.

Is it worth even touching on the power rankings? Yes, Canucks are last but what’s the connection?

ESPN has the Canucks in last, of course, but their accompanying blurb highlights each franchise’s all time leading playoff scorer.

32. Vancouver Canucks
Previous ranking: 32
Points percentage: 35.2 per cent

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Trevor Linden: 95. Legendary player and a heartbeat in Vancouver, despite parting ways with the Canucks in 2018. But do you remember when he also had brief stints with the Canadiens, Capitals and Islanders?

Next seven days: @ CGY (March 28), @ VGK (March 30), @ COL (April 1), @ MIN

The Athletic highlights what we’ve all been looking for, progress for the kids.

32. Vancouver Canucks, 21-42-8
Last week: 32
Sean: 32
Dom: 32

We’re going to echo what Thomas Drance said about the Canucks earlier this week: if a lost season offers anything, it’s low-stakes opportunities for players to test their ceilings. Zeev Buium and Tom Willander, Vancouver’s best young defencemen, should be in that mode for the rest of the schedule — and the results, thus far, have been mixed.

CBS takes a postive approach, looking at silver linings.

32. Vancouver
If I had to say something nice about the Canucks, it would be that Filip Hronek has been very good, at least relative to his teammates. He’s second on the team with 41 points, and he is one of two Canucks with a positive goal differential at five-on-five.

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OK, this isn’t Canucks related, but honestly, it’s fun to laugh at the Leafs and it this shows why the national sports networks inspire so much comedy for the rest of the country outside of Toronto. The actual headline on a TSN story, “How Blue Jays Buzz Helped the Leafs Win Back To Back Games”

Blue Jays players Ernie Clement and George Springer helped pump up the Leafs in the dressing room before Wednesday’s game against the New York Rangers.

“It was unreal,” said centre John Tavares, who scored the game-winning goal in Toronto’s 4-3 victory. “It was a little different type of preparation, but cool to have them in before and certainly (after) to celebrate a win.”

The Leafs are playing out the stretch in a disappointing season while the defending American League champion Jays are preparing for Friday’s season opener.

“Regardless of the circumstances for us, I think it’s great, the support for each other,” said Tavares, who was in attendance for a few Jays playoff games last fall. “We love supporting them and it was unreal taking in their run. I know the excitement and probably the determination for them to go back out again and finish the job … really cool to share the admiration for one another.”

The group of Jays in attendance on Wednesday welcomed the Leafs back into the dressing room following the win.

Expecting a three part series soon: “How Vladimir Guerrero wearing a Leafs jersey will inspire Auston Matthews to win the Hart Trophy next season.”

Beyond parody.

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Check back for more Canucks news throughout the day.

Canucks Player Grades: No energy, no drive in dispiriting 4-0 loss to Kings

Canucks’ Wild boys finding their way, leading into the future

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Canucks Live: Getting an F for effort, power failures

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