Bo Horvat couldn’t put his frustration into words on Monday night.
Yet again, his Vancouver Canucks came close. Yet again they lost, this time dropping a 3-2 decision to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Vancouver (0-5-2) has now lost seven straight and is the only NHL team without a win this season.
“Night in and night out, losing, it takes a toll on you mentally, physically, trying to come from behind the last couple games,” said Horvat, the team’s captain.
“It’s frustrating right now, obviously, and you’ve got to stay optimistic. You can’t just keep beating yourself up or keep feeling sorry for yourself because it’s just gonna get worse if you do that.
“So we’ve just got to get ready for the next game.”
The Canucks went into the third period with the score tied 1-1.
Once again, a disastrous short stretch proved to be the team’s undoing, with the ’Canes (4-1-1) scoring twice in 37 seconds to take the lead.
Vancouver has been outscored 15-2 in the third across their first seven games of the season.
The group seems to be afraid to push in the final frame, said head coach Bruce Boudreau.
“I’m not a psychiatrist. I mean, sometimes coaches have to be. But I think maybe … they don’t want to make the mistake, to be the one that loses the game,” he said.
“But in effect when you’re doing that, that’s what you do. You become the player that makes the mistake because you don’t play forward, you’re playing waiting.”
Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Jesper Fast all found the back of the net for the Hurricanes, and Brent Burns contributed a pair of assists.
J.T. Miller scored both goals for the Canucks.
Frederik Andersen made 14 saves for Carolina and Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko stopped 36 shots.
Vancouver called a 30-second timeout with 2:20 left on the game clock, then pulled Demko in favour of the extra attacker but couldn’t score the equalizer.
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The Canucks cut the deficit to 3-2 midway through the third after a stray puck hit ’Canes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Miller picked it up, firing a quick one-timer past Andersen for his second goal of the game.
A pair of quick goals early in the third gave Carolina a commanding lead.
Fast registered his first of the season at the 1:27 mark when a pass from Jordan Staal caromed off his skate into Vancouver’s net to make it 3-1.
Thirty-seven seconds earlier, Seth Jarvis got a partial breakaway and fired a shot at Demko. The goalie made the stop but couldn’t corral the puck, leaving it unattended in the blue paint. Aho sprinted in and popped it into the yawning net to give the ’Canes a 2-1 lead 50 seconds into the final period.
The goal extended Aho’s point streak to five games. He has four goals and five assists across the stretch.
“He’s elite. He’s an elite player,” Jarvis said of Aho. “You expect nothing less from them and it’s nice to see him getting production and scoring a lot and that only helps our team win.
“So any time he’s having a good night, it usually results in wins.”
Carolina briefly appeared to take a 2-0 lead midway through the opening frame when Derek Stepan batted a puck in over Demko’s pad.
Officials quickly disallowed the goal, citing goalie interference by Paul Stastny, whose skate was in the blue paint. The Hurricanes challenged the call, but a video review upheld the ruling and Carolina was handed a delay-of-game penalty.
Vancouver capitalized with Elias Pettersson moving the puck behind the net and whipping it up to Horvat. The captain tapped it across the crease to Miller and he tapped it in to tie the score 1-1 at the 12:30 mark.
The Canucks were 1-for-2 on the power play on Monday while the Hurricanes went 1-for-3.
The visitors opened the scoring early in the first after Dakota Joshua was called for interference on Stastny.
It took the visitors just 11 seconds to score with the man advantage. Necas sent a cross-ice pass to Svechnikov and the Russian unleashed a one-timer that beat Demko 6:06 into the game.
Svechnikov’s goal tied him with Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos for the NHL lead at seven apiece.
“You’ve got to have your top guys contributing nightly or it’s gonna be hard,” said Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “They come to play every game this year. I’m real proud of the group, honestly.
“I know it’s early in the year, but we really come out hard in every game and tonight was tough sledding, I felt like we were in control, but it was a tight game and the guys just keep working and we got the two points.”
LOPSIDED SHOT CLOCK
The ’Canes outshot their hosts 39-16, including 15-3 over the third period alone.
INJURY WOES
The Canucks added star defenceman Quinn Hughes (lower-body) to the injured reserve list on Monday, while blue liner Tucker Poolman (undisclosed) was put on long-term injured reserve. Right-winger Brock Boeser and defenceman Riley Stillman both missed the game with injuries.
UP NEXT
The Canucks visit the Kraken in Seattle on Thursday. The Hurricanes will face the New York Islanders in Carolina on Friday.
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