The Canucks were a defensive mess, ruining an actually pretty good offensive night, and Nikita Tolopilo never stood a chance.<\/p>\n
Get the latest from Patrick Johnston straight to your inbox Sign Up <\/p>\n
Published Apr 04, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n The Utah Mammoth provide many lessons for the rebuilding Vancouver Canucks<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events.Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account.The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events.Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account.The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n They\u2019re a team that was a mess off the ice and struggled to assemble consistency on the ice: Now, they have stability off ice and they\u2019ve made sharp choices in their games.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n And that showed in Saturday\u2019s 7-4 loss for the Canucks.<\/p>\n Perhaps the finest point to all this was Dylan Guenther scoring his 38th goal of the season, a beautiful piece of work for the fourth Utah goal of the game.<\/p>\n He should have been a Canuck, everyone will remind you.<\/p>\n His goal was also one of many where the Canucks were a defensive mess, ruining an actually pretty good offensive night. The Canucks scored on the power play and also moved the puck well at five-on-five.<\/p>\n They just gave Utah too many chances and poor Nikita Tolopilo, forced into a start becaue of a sudden scratch<\/a> for Kevin Lankinen, never stood a chance.<\/p>\n A tough night all around.<\/p>\n There\u2019s little doubt Zeev Buium cares. His punch of Liam O\u2019Brien was good to see. He plays hard<\/a>.<\/p>\n You\u2019d like to see some more aggressive instincts from his teammates, too.<\/p>\n Canucks Report<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n O\u2019Brien is a known agitator. Why wouldn\u2019t Victor Mancini get in his face in the first period?<\/p>\n One of the worst ever<\/p>\n Here are the nine worst home seasons<\/a> in NHL history. The Canucks are in a class almost of their own. As Daily Hive\u2019s Rob Williams pointed out to me, all the other squads in here are what you\u2019d consider teams in their expansion phase. (Ottawa\u2019s 95-96 team should have been better, but was just year four back in the NHL.)<\/p>\n Pittsburgh was tanking for Mario Lemieux. What are the Canucks tanking for?<\/p>\n San Jose 1992-93 (.202) <\/p>\n Pittsburgh 1983-84 (.225) <\/p>\n Washington 1974-75 (.238) <\/p>\n Ottawa 1993-94 (.238) <\/p>\n Washington 1975-76 (.250) <\/p>\n Ottawa 1995-96 (.256) <\/p>\n Ottawa 1992-93 (.262) <\/p>\n Vancouver 2025-26 (.269)<\/p>\n Player grades<\/p>\n This time around, let\u2019s consider how these lines played as trios, rather than going player by player.<\/p>\n Evander Kane. Elias Pettersson<\/a>. Jake DeBrusk. C<\/p>\n Kane hit a post early on. Had a decent one-time from the top of the slot too. His game slowed from there though. Pettersson kept going to the net. DeBrusk never really found his way though, but\u00a0 did score a very nice power play goal.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Drew O\u2019Connor. Marco Rossi. Brock Boeser<\/a>. C-<\/p>\n Not great five on five. Three goals against. Nice power play goal by Boeser.<\/p>\n Max Sasson. Teddy Blueger<\/a>. Linus Karlsson. B-<\/p>\n In a game with little spark, Sasson got into it with Sean Durzi. And he\u2019s generally been effective as a winger. Karlsson meanwhile has a case for most exciting player<\/p>\n Liam \u00d6hgren. Ty Mueller. Aatu R\u00e4ty. C+<\/p>\n What a bizarre night for \u00d6hgren. He\u2019s been the most effective forward in the second half for the Canucks, offering stability to whichever line he\u2019s been on. But he got bumped down the lines for Evander Kane at the start, though he landed with the Pettersson line in the second period. Mueller did get a little chance in the first. He was fine. Not clear why he\u2019s playing over Hoglander other than the coach isn\u2019t a fan of Hoglander.<\/p>\n Defence<\/p>\n Zeev Buium. Filip Hronek<\/a>. C-<\/p>\n Brutal night for the duo. Second goal hit Buium before flying past Tolopilo. And got overwhelmed on the sixth goal against too.<\/p>\n Marcus Pettersson. Tom Willander. C<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Pettersson caught out on the fourth goal. His only real mistake of the game though. Willander was his usual self. Pretty aggressive on the puck, but defensive struggles too.<\/p>\n P-O Joseph. Victor Mancini. C-<\/p>\n The Canucks have really struggled this season taking sticks away from attackers in front and Kailer Yamamoto\u2019s first goal of the game was a great example: Joseph should have done something to the forward\u2019s stick as he came into the slot but he didn\u2019t. In the first period Liam O\u2019Brien was running around like the clown he is, slashed Mancini\u2019s stick away and you\u2019d like to have seen the big blueliner do something in response. The Canucks may be out of it but you want to know they\u2019re still alive.<\/p>\n Goalie<\/p>\n Nikita Tolopilo C+<\/p>\n You feel bad for the kid. He gave up four goals on the first 15 shots by Utah and none of them were his fault. There were two tips, one deflection off his own defenceman and one goal that was a complete collapse of the defenders in front of him, leaving Dylan Guenther wide open. (And that was the third time in about two minutes such a thing had happened, it\u2019s just that Utah hit the post and missed the net.<\/p>\n pjohnston@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Canucks player grades: Last place clinched in 5-2 loss vs. Wild<\/p>\n![\"Utah](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cp176094562_302432683.jpg\")
Utah Mammoth’s Dylan Guenther scores against Vancouver Canucks goalie Nikita Tolopilo on Saturday, April 4, 2026. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Darryl Dyck \/THE CANADIAN PRESSArticle content<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.9.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-vp.svg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n![\"Utah](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cp176094751_302433121.jpg\")
Utah Mammoth goalie Karel Vejmelka and Vancouver Canucks\u2019 Drew O\u2019Connor collide behind the net. Photo by DARRYL DYCK \/THE CANADIAN PRESSShowing some fight<\/p>\n![\"Canucks](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.9.1\/websites\/images\/newsletters\/icon-vs-canucksReport.svg\"\/){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n![\"Vancouver](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cp176094567_302432765.jpg\")
Vancouver Canucks\u2019 Linus Karlsson celebrates his second goal of the game on Saturday, April 4, 2026. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Darryl Dyck \/THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n![\"Vancouver](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775358805_126_cp176086548_302405925.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Vancouver](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775358805_423_soc-mls-vancouver-20260320_302187968.jpg\")
<\/p>\n