Add StudioX as a preferred source on GoogleThe Vancouver Canucks lost 4-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, but head coach Manny Malhotra says his team is making progress despite a rough stretch of results, according to a Canadian Press report published by Global News Toronto.
Vancouver has one win in its last 13 games (1-11-1) and sits at 3-12-1 on the season.
How the game unfolded
The Canucks played well in the first period. Brock Boeser scored on a breakaway to tie the game 1-1, his fifth goal of the year.
Toronto controlled most of the second period, with Auston Matthews and Zack MacEwen scoring. Early in the third, Max Sasson pulled Vancouver within a goal by scoring off the rebound of a Brendan Gallagher shot.
Teddy Blueger added an empty-net goal for the Leafs. Goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 26 shots and earned an assist on that goal. Leevi Merilainen made 24 saves for Vancouver.
Matthews scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season as Toronto ended a two-game losing streak. William Nylander and Blueger each had a goal and an assist. The Leafs (8-6-2) finished a four-game road trip with a 2-2-0 record.
Malhotra points to improvement
Malhotra, in his first year as an NHL head coach, said the team is not yet where it needs to be, but he sees improvement in different areas of its play. He acknowledged it is frustrating when those gains do not show up in the win column.
He liked Vancouver’s forecheck in the first period and the way the team sustained pressure in the offensive zone. He also praised Merilainen, pointing to a stop on first-overall pick Gavin McKenna on a first-period power play. Malhotra said the goaltender has given the team a chance to win every game he has played this year.
The coach said his staff tries to highlight the positives rather than focus only on mistakes on video, praising and celebrating good moments in the hope of seeing more of them.
Closer games lately
The Canucks have tightened up defensively. Earlier in the season they lost games by five, three and four goals, but six of their last eight losses have been by two goals or less.
Boeser said the team has played better hockey lately and is generating more shots. He said the defensive game is improving and that the group has to “stick with the process.”
Sasson said staying positive in the dressing room is not always easy, but he believes the group has players who want to win. He said the team needs to keep playing in tight games and limit opponents’ scoring chances to turn things around.
The Canucks missed the playoffs in each of the last two years and finished last overall last season. The report says the team knew it faced a rebuild this campaign.
Source: Global News Toronto
Harnaik Singh Rathor is the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of StudioX News Canada, Canada's multilingual digital news network serving multilingual diaspora communities across Canada. With a background in media production, public relations, and multicultural communications, he founded StudioX Film and TV Corporation to bridge the gap between mainstream Canadian media and the country's diverse immigrant communities. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), RTDNA Canada, CPRS Vancouver, NEPMCC, and the Canadian Freelance Union (Unifor). Based in Surrey, British Columbia. | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harnaiksinghrathor/ | Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com/harnaiksinghrathor | Email: editor@studioxnews.ca
