Tocchet vexed by missed chances vs. Hurricanes: 'You gotta hit the net'

Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet was annoyed by the missed chances that plagued the Canucks during their 2-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.

"I think we had 25 missed shots. ... You gotta hit the net," he lamented postgame. "That's the frustrating part, we had a lot of O-zone time, but we're just missing opportunities. You guys look at the shot clock, I look at missed opportunities. Two-on-one, we try to pass.

"These are crucial things. You gotta throw pucks at the net, hit the net with people going. Little frustrated with the overpassing, or missing the net."

The Canucks had 65 shot attempts at all strengths compared with the Hurricanes' 51, per Natural Stat Trick. However, Vancouver fired just 14 shots at netminder Dustin Tokarski, who was playing his fifth game of the season after not seeing any NHL action in 2023-24. Only six Canucks attempts were considered high-danger chances, and they went 0-for-3 on the man advantage.

Elias Pettersson acknowledged he could have done a better job of producing offense.

"I think we had many looks that we didn't hit the net," he said. "Brock (Boeser) made a great pass to me on the power play and I tried to pick the corner instead of making sure I hit the net. Maybe I don't score but maybe create a rebound. Yeah, small details."

He added, "They're a good team, made it hard for us. We're a good team too. Whatever we're going through now, we'll figure it out."

The Canucks now rank 31st in the league in shots per game (25.4) and 20th in goals per contest (2.93). They've lost four in a row and six of their past seven matchups while getting outscored 23-13. Vancouver's 2-1 overtime defeat to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday was its first time eclipsing 30 shots in a single game since the beginning of December.

"You gotta stick with it," Tocchet said. "You've gotta work on your game. You gotta keep with it. Confidence, you can't buy at a store. You gotta continue to work at it, you gotta put pucks on net, power play's gotta come up with a goal for us. Bottom line."

Pettersson and goaltender Thatcher Demko returned from injury absences against Carolina. The former didn't record a shot in 20:27 of ice time, while the latter allowed two goals on 20 shots.

It's a quick turnaround on the road for the Canucks, who will face the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 p.m. ET Saturday.