The visiting Vancouver Canucks and Tampa Bay Lightning enter Thursday night’s first meeting of the season following tough losses on Tuesday.
However, Vancouver is facing something worse than a 2-0 setback in Philadelphia, having stoked the ire of its head coach.
The Canucks failed to generate any offense in the road setback against the Flyers, which didn’t set well with Rick Tocchet, who spent 11 seasons over two stints in Philadelphia, while opening and closing his career there.
So much for making a solid impression in front of old friends.
“We’ve got some guys, they better pick it up,” said Tocchet, who coached the Lightning to a 53-69-26 record from 2008-10. “I don’t like the word soft, but I didn’t see guys competing at all. And that’s alarming. … But we’ve obviously got to go to the drawing board with some guys.”
The Canucks could not overcome Flyers goaltender Carter Hart, who stopped all 25 shots in handing the visitors their first loss in three games. Vancouver entered with 12 goals over its first two games, both victories over the Edmonton Oilers.
Tocchet, who became Vancouver’s head coach nine months ago, was critical about every aspect of his team’s performance. It was at odds with the rough and tumble style the right wing showed in his 18 seasons as a player.
“We were off all over,” Tocchet said. “We were off every single system part of it. And then the compete wasn’t there. They competed and we didn’t. Bottom line.”
The Lightning earned a point Tuesday, getting Brandon Hagel’s tying goal, his second of the game, with seven seconds left in regulation. However, they lost 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabres in overtime.
That handed Tampa Bay a third straight defeat and an 0-2-1 road stretch before starting a five-game homestand Thursday.
After three straight Stanley Cup Finals appearances, the Lightning’s run last season ended in an opening-round playoff loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games.
In the team’s season opener, Brayden Point took the ice for the 500th time in his career and centered a line with captain Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. But Stamkos has missed consecutive games with a lower-body injury.
Point has been impressed with the output of Nick Paul, who replaced Alex Killorn on the power play’s top unit as the forward in front of opposing goalies. He has shown the ability to create havoc and snag rebounds.
In the season opener last week, Paul scored twice on the power play, including the game-winning goal as the Lightning scored four times in the third period to defeat the Nashville Predators 5-3.
During a three-assist outing against the Predators, Point handed out helpers on both of Paul’s man-advantage scores.
“A big body,” Point said of Paul. “I thought all through training camp and exhibition he was great in that spot. He’s using his body, getting those rebounds and putting them in.”
Paul played 227 games over seven seasons in Ottawa, scoring 29 goals before being traded to Tampa Bay for Mathieu Joseph and a 2024 fourth-round pick before the 2022 trade deadline.
After scoring 51 goals last season, Point has not found the back of the net in four games, while Hagel tops the club with four tallies.
Tampa Bay is 19-17-3 with two ties all-time against Vancouver, including a home mark of 11-8-2.
–Field Level Media
