VANCOUVER - After six games the Vancouver Canucks are in a much happier place this NHL season than they were at the same time last year.
The Canucks opened their schedule with a convincing 8-1 home win over the Edmonton Oilers, then won three times on a five-game road trip. A 4-2-0 record leaves Vancouver second in the Pacific Division and fourth in the Western Conference heading into Thursday night鈥檚 games.
Last year, with Bruce Boudreau as head coach, the Canucks lost their first seven games. The team didn鈥檛 earn a point until an overtime loss in the fourth game and their first win didn鈥檛 come until Oct. 27.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a little happier this time around,鈥 centre J.T. Miller said after practice Thursday at Rogers Arena. 鈥淲e just feel more confident.
鈥淲e鈥檙e also not on top of the clouds right now either.鈥
Defenceman Quinn Hughes, who was named Vancouver's captain in the off-season, said the way the team played on the road was as important as the results.
鈥淚t does take off a little bit of pressure,鈥 said Hughes. 鈥淛ust playing the right way and knowing we鈥檙e going to be consistent.
鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 wins where we were giving up chances or we had to score seven goals. That鈥檚 where the confidence comes in.鈥
The Canucks play their first back-to-back games of the season at home on Friday against the St. Louis Blues followed by the New York Rangers on Saturday. The homestand continues Halloween night against the Nashville Predators, who lost 3-2 to Vancouver on Tuesday night.
Fans and pundits were not sure what to expect from the Canucks this season.
The Canucks missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season last year but were 20-12-4 after Rick Tocchet replaced Boudreau as head coach. That stretch run showed the team鈥檚 potential, but the Canucks also had a late-season bounce under Boudreau only to see the excitement fade after the horrible start.
The Canucks are playing a more structured game this season. They have scored 23 goals and allowed just 15. Their power play is ranked third in the league at 35.5 per cent.
Vancouver still has defensive lapses. The team has been badly outshot some nights and the penalty kill is also ranked 17th in the league at 78.3 per cent.
One big difference is the team looks comfortable on the ice.
鈥淲hen you win, your confidence and your energy is a little bit different,鈥 said goaltender Thatcher Demko, who has a 2-2 record, 2.42 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. 鈥淚t鈥檚 early in the year and we have a lot of work to do.鈥
Right winger Brock Boeser, who plays on a line with Miller and Phil Di Giuseppe, leads the Canucks with six goals, four of them in the opening night win over Edmonton.
鈥淚 think (our line was) a little rusty at the beginning of the season,鈥 said Boeser, who would like to top the 27 goals he scored back in 2017-18, his first full season in Vancouver. 鈥淲e started really playing the way we did last year, just working hard, creating more turnovers, outworking the line we play against.
鈥淭hat is kind of our motto. If we do that, I think we鈥檒l get our chances.鈥
Miller said the improvement in Boeser鈥檚 game goes beyond scoring.
鈥淭he way he鈥檚 playing the game, he鈥檚 at another level than he鈥檚 ever been,鈥 said Miller. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so many little things in the sense of being a harder-to-play against type of guy that he鈥檚 really worked on. He鈥檚 getting rewarded on the scoresheet.鈥
Entering Thursday's games, centre Elias Pettersson was sixth in the league in scoring with 10 points (two goals, eight assists) and Hughes鈥 plus-8 was tied for best in the NHL.
Tocchet has been impressed by Vancouver鈥檚 resilience. After being badly outplayed in a 2-0 loss to Philadelphia, where they were outshot 42-26, the Canucks rebounded to win two of their next three games.
鈥淎 couple guys didn鈥檛 have a good game,鈥 said Tocchet. 鈥淚 thought they played better the next game.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I like. We鈥檙e all going to have bad games, whether it鈥檚 physically or mentally, but can you correct it. It鈥檚 the guys that go three, four or five games making the same mistakes and they鈥檙e not into it. I didn鈥檛 see that. I saw guys that corrected it right away. That鈥檚 a good sign.鈥
Vancouver has also taken advantage of playing in a division with several struggling teams. Calgary, Anaheim, Edmonton and Seattle all have losing records.
The Blues took a 2-2-1 record into their game Thursday against Calgary (2-4-1) and they've allowed four more goals than they've scored.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a hard-working team,鈥 said Tocchet. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e like us, they鈥檙e trying to find their way, their team identity.
鈥淭hey work hard and they鈥檝e got some guys who can put the puck in the net.鈥
The Rangers (4-2-0) lead the Metropolitan Division and are third in the Eastern Conference. They play in Edmonton on Friday night.
Boeser said the back-to-back games will be another early season test.
鈥淏ack-to-back can be hard,鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got two solid teams coming here. We鈥檝e just got to be ready, have a good first game and build off that game.鈥
This report by 好色tvwas first published Oct. 26, 2023.
