Despite losing in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche, the Canucks have shown that this late-season resurgence was not just taking advantage of weak teams like Buffalo and Florida. Rather, the Canucks have shown that they can still hold their own against playoff teams.
We have yet to see how the Canucks fare against the hard-to-play Californian teams but at the very least the Canucks are defeating the teams they should beat, and aren’t fodder for the other teams competing for the last two wild card spots. Heck, Colorado is well above the wildcard threshold, and the Canucks still got a point out of that game (and should have had two.)
With how the Canucks are currently playing, they are least as good as Dallas, Phoenix, and Minnesota, if not better. These Canucks would probably have beaten all three of those teams for a spot, for a seventh spot in the playoffs. Despite all the injuries, they have somehow found a new source of energy, at least in part thanks to the call up of rookie Nicklas Jensen.
Unfortunately, it’s a lot easier to lose ground in the playoff race than it is to gain it, and the Canucks gave up plenty in a horrendous January and February. Not to mention that Phoenix, currently the final Western playoff team, is up five points with a game in hand that gives them the possibility to go to seven up.
But the point is that they are winning, and for the most part winning games with scoring, not grinding out 1–0 victories (the 2 – 0 win againast Nashville an exception). The prospects appear to be making strides with Nicklas Jensen, Zack Kassian, and Shaun Matthias all hot right now. Even David Booth, whom I thought was adapting well to a third line role laying hits but seemed to have lost his scoring touch, has scored three goals in this stretch and looks confident with the puck again.
Even if this is a mirage, be it that they are winning because the pressure is off, or that inconsistent performers like Kassian and Booth will revert back to inconsistency, this is a lot better than tanking, as some fans suggest the Canucks do. They are fighting right until the end, providing something exciting hockey, and the younger prospects including Kassian are learning to persevere as a team rather than submit to defeat.
Who wants the Canucks to be known as the team who threw in the towel, anyways? I personally preferred when they were hated, apparently, by everyone outside of Vancouver because they were the best team in the league.
Besides, although it is unlikely, it is still possible for them to make the playoffs. Until they are eliminated, anything is possible.
