VANCOUVER - Head coach Adam Foote liked what he saw from his Vancouver Canucks on Thursday 鈥 even if the team came out on the wrong end of the score line.
Vancouver's rough stretch continued with a 4-2 loss to the visiting Dallas Stars, yet Foote praised his group afterward.
鈥淚t was probably our best game of the year," he said. "We frustrated them. The second period, we pretty much dominated that period. You could see it in their game. It was good.鈥
The Canucks (9-11-2) are now 1-3-2 in their last six outings, and still have five players 鈥 including all-star goalie Thatcher Demko 鈥 on injured reserve.聽
Vancouver managed to contain Dallas for long stretches on Thursday, though, and outshot the visitors 36-24.聽
Despite coming in with the worst penalty kill in the league (67.1 per cent), the Canucks also weathered a pair of infractions against the Stars' potent power play, ranked second in the NHL at 31.9 per cent.聽
鈥淭hat was good. We talked about being more aggressive and not let them get too many, get too much time with the puck," said centre Elias Pettersson. "That was definitely better today. And improvements there.鈥
Now the group needs to build on those improvements in order to climb back up the standings.聽
That progress will require consistency, Foote said.聽
"We鈥檙e going to show them what we asked them to do and they did it, they bought in and the success we had with that," he said.聽
"They鈥檙e pros. They want to do this again. And it鈥檚 nice to see what they did. Because I really do believe Dallas was not comfortable in the game. And we鈥檒l show them why they weren鈥檛. We bring that game more than not, we鈥檒l have good results.鈥澛
Finding time and ice to go over systems and structure has been difficult in a season condensed by February's Olympic break. Vancouver had just one practice in 16 days early in the season, Foote noted.聽
"Not ideal, especially with the injuries we鈥檝e got," he said. "But that鈥檚 behind us. It鈥檚 nice to get that time to build on what we did tonight.鈥
The Canucks practised Wednesday and are set to be back on the ice together Saturday before hosting the Calgary Flames on Sunday.聽
Getting practice time is "so, so valuable," said centre Aatu Raty.聽
"Obviously, we always watch film even on the road, where there's not a lot of practice times when you鈥檝e got back to backs or whatever," he said.聽
Combining film sessions with practice, though, helps the lessons sink in, Raty added.聽
"Even though we're watching film, it's really good to go over it on the ice to kind of display against the other lines. And you can always just stop it when we're doing the wrong things or whatever," he said. "So, it's good to watch film, but when you watch film and then you practice those things, I feel like it 鈥 聽at least for me 鈥 聽makes it a lot more simple and kind of really gets into my brain.鈥
ROBERTSON RULES
Jason Robertson ripped a shot over Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen from the middle of the faceoff circle midway through the first period to extend his scoring streak to five straight games.聽
The Stars' winger has points in his last six appearances, with nine goals and four assists across the stretch.聽
Robertson is "feeling himself," said Dallas centre Colin Blackwell and it's up to his teammates to let him "kind of do his thing."
"He's been super confident, super great with the puck, and to see him continue that hot streak and just continue to do his thing, get to the right areas and score," Blackwell said.聽
"He's got a gift that a lot of people don't have, but he's also working extremely hard out there to make the right plays and put himself in good situation, so we're glad he's on our side.鈥
ROAD WARRIORS
Dallas is now 7-1-2 on the road this season, marking its second-best road start in franchise history. The Stars chalked up an 8-1-1 road record at the start of the 2023-24 campaign.聽
Vancouver, too, has had most of its success on the dusty trail this year, going 6-5-1 so far. The Canucks have struggled at Rogers Arena, posting a 3-6-1 record over their first 10 home games.
This report by 好色tvwas first published Nov. 21, 2025.
