J.T. Miller wants to see a more expletive-inspired attitude from his Vancouver Canucks after the New Jersey Devils throttled them 6-0 on Wednesday night.
"We make it way too easy on the other team," the Vancouver forward told reporters postgame. "I think (there's) not enough 'F you' in our game."
Miller praised teammate Conor Garland for a spirited bout with Devils center Erik Haula midway through the second period, but he was surprised it didn't motivate the Canucks to change the momentum while down by three goals.
"(Garland) does an unbelievable job in that scrap, that was a hell of a fight," Miller said. "You'd think maybe we'd play a little better after that ... That sucks. A guy gets punched in the head for you, and you think maybe that would light (a fire under) the team."
The Canucks are 4-2-3 to start the season, which put them in third place in the Pacific Division entering Thursday's action. However, they have a minus-4 goal differential while sitting in the bottom half of the NHL in goals per game, goals against per contest, shots on goal, and power play percentage.
"We haven't played 60 minutes to our identity yet this year," Miller said.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet called on his players to step up before acknowledging he has room to improve as well.
"We need to buckle down, we need to get some leadership here to make sure that we're ready to play," he said. "And myself, it's on me, too."
Vancouver's underlying numbers have been a bit more encouraging. The club came into the evening's seven-game slate ranked ninth at five-on-five in expected goals for percentage and 12th in scoring chances for percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Canucks will now embark on a three-game California road trip that begins Saturday against the San Jose Sharks. Vancouver will face the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday and then the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday before returning for a six-game homestand.