Losing should never be acceptable. But if they can lose the way they did Wednesday, 6-4 against the elite Carolina Hurricanes, the Canucks will earn respect and patience from their fans during what is going to be a loyalty-testing rebuild. Which ones aren\u2019t?<\/p>\n
Uncompetitive and unredeemable in their last two losses, and challenged Wednesday morning by general manager Patrik Allvin to show \u201cmore fight,\u201d the Canucks dug in and competed against the soaring Hurricanes, who needed an empty-net goal from Nikolaj Ehlers to complete a hat trick that secured his team\u2019s 15th\u00a0win in 20 games.<\/p>\n
Even after Carolina reeled off four straight goals in 10 minutes in the second period to pull away 5-2, the Canucks didn\u2019t disintegrate as they have in so many games since the New Year when they\u2019ve surrendered goals in bunches.<\/p>\n
Canuck Brock Boeser scored during a five-on-three power play late in the second period, and Nils Hoglander blistered a one-timer from Elias Pettersson\u2019s nice pass to make it 5-4 at 6:45 of the third.<\/p>\n
And even shorthanded, but skating five-against-five with their goalie pulled, the Canucks made it uncomfortable for the Hurricanes in the final minute before Ehlers scored with 14 seconds to go.<\/p>\n
Disappointed, but not embarrassed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, it’s tough when you’re in a spiral like this,\u201d centre Teddy Blueger said. \u201cWe go down like we did last game against Dallas (6-1 loss on Monday) and you can just feel the energy kind of drain out. It’s tough to pick yourself back up; that’s maybe a bit of human nature. But we\u2019ve got to fight that. I think the least we can do is compete and fight in every game, no matter the score.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, we\u2019d probably like to have a couple of those goals back (in the second period) with the breakdowns and stuff. But I think in terms of competing and fighting back and not getting deflated like we have been, I thought that was pretty good tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defenceman Filip Hronek<\/a> said: \u201cThe effort was there today. I\u2019m pretty happy about that. But we have to be consistent with that, and we have to have that effort for 60 (minutes) and not 35 or whatever minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n As a group, the Canucks top players were far more noticeable than they\u2019ve been in most games since the team collapsed into 2026 on a freefall that is now 2-17-4 since Dec. 29.<\/p>\n Certainly not known for his physicality, Boeser recorded a career-high seven hits as Vancouver out-hit Carolina 30-13. Specifically challenged by Allvin during the GM\u2019s morning press conference after the Tyler Myers<\/a> trade, Pettersson played with a little more spark and had his second two-point game since Nov. 17. And Hronek, the last defenceman standing from the Canucks\u2019 National Hockey League playoff run less than two years ago, may have been the best player on either team, finishing with a goal and two assists and a plus-two rating in the loss.<\/p>\n The last-overall Canucks just need a lot more of this, no matter what else happens before Friday\u2019s trade deadline.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels a whole lot better when the guys are trying like that,\u201d rookie defenceman Tom Willander said. \u201cYou know, some of these teams are very good and they’re tough, and you’re not going to win all of them. But you always have to compete. I don’t feel like it’s just about playing well; I feel like if you compete, you’re just going to get a lot better. Even practices are better.\u201d<\/p>\n