Tocchet admits Canucks 'nervous' in costly shutout loss to Kraken

Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet believes a lack of composure cost his team in Wednesday's critical 5-0 loss to the Seattle Kraken.

"I think that early on, saw a lot of nervousness," Tocchet said. "We had a couple power plays. You need some poise there. I didn't think we had some poise, then they got a couple of quick goals on us. You could see guys were getting nervous, chasing the game.

"I think we had some guys that really gave some effort, but I didn't think they had a lot of poise tonight."

The Canucks are now eight points back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with seven games to play.

"I know it's the same old thing coaches say, but you gotta keep getting at it, working at it. ... We just gotta relax in certain situations. Intensity, but relaxed," Tocchet added. " There's plays there that I just think we're not finding."

Tocchet was disappointed in the Canucks' power play and the chances they could've generated but missed.

"Twice, there's a low play wide-open. We pass to the flank, or he shoots and gets blocked. ... I just saw nervous, a lot of nervous guys on that power play."

Captain Quinn Hughes acknowledged the Canucks' uphill battle but noted he still has belief in his team.

"It's not tough to believe, just 'cause we're in it, and it's the reality," Hughes said. "Everyone's looking at the standings daily and knows what the percentages are and whatnot. We know where we're at."

Defenseman Marcus Pettersson understands the Canucks have to focus moving forward with little margin for error.

"It's deflating," Pettersson said. "We've gotta pick ourselves back up and get back into the fight."

Pettersson added, "It is (challenging), but we have to. We're gonna fight right until the end. There's a lot of fight in this room. We're gonna make sure we come back strong this week."