Hughes: Canucks win game vs. Rangers '9 times out of 10'
Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes thinks his team deserved a lot better from Saturday's 5-3 defeat to the New York Rangers.
"I thought we kinda shot ourselves in the foot at the end, which is too bad because we probably played one of our better games we've played all year," Hughes said postgame. "... It's hockey, sometimes you're gonna lose some that you probably feel like you should win, but we've been on the other side of that this year as well."
The star defenseman added, "Nine times out of 10 I think we walk away with that one, but in this instance, we don't."
Vancouver and New York were tied 3-3 after winger Brock Boeser scored with just under 5 minutes remaining in regulation, but the game swiftly unraveled for the Pacific Division squad. Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski scored the go-ahead goal 37 seconds later, and former Canucks star J.T. Miller added insult to injury by icing the contest with an empty-netter.
New York scored four goals on six shots in the third period and mustered just 12 shots all game. The Canucks tested netminder Igor Shesterkin with 39 shots and controlled 75.6% of the expected goals while holding a 12-3 edge in high-danger chances at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.
"Kind of similar third period we had last game," Hughes said, referring to Vancouver's 4-3 overtime loss Thursday to the St. Louis Blues. "No excuse why (this) one didn't get to overtime."
Saturday's defeat was costly in more ways than one because forwards Elias Pettersson and Nils Hoglander left the contest with injuries.
"Can't really complain too much about how we played," Hughes said. "I thought we competed hard especially with two forwards going down. ... We're playing gutsy right now."
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet revealed that goaltender Kevin Lankinen was also playing through something. He surrendered four goals on 11 shots and has started 13 of Vancouver's 15 games since Thatcher Demko went down with another injury.
"Some guys were banged up," Tocchet said. "I thought we played a hell of a game. (Lankinen) was, we almost pulled him. He wasn't feeling great himself. Proud of the guys. We deserve a lot better."
The Canucks didn't get any help from their Western Conference foes on Saturday, either. The Blues and Calgary Flames won their games, and both teams are ahead of Vancouver in the wild-card race.
Tocchet's club will focus on rebounding at 7:30 p.m. ET Monday against the New Jersey Devils.
"It's adversity," the bench boss said. "You gotta learn from this stuff. It makes you better in the long run. Whether it's bad luck or whatever, it's something that you can learn from."