The Vancouver Canucks have already given their fans enough reasons to sigh, but the early-season skid has also put a few useful things under the microscope. When a team is winning, it can be hard to tell who is actually emerging. When it’s struggling, the picture gets clearer.
That was on display in the loss to the New York Islanders. Vancouver spent long stretches chasing the play, yet Leevi Meriläinen kept them alive with save after save.
It wasn’t a case of stealing one random game. It looked more like a goalie giving his team a real chance when the rest of the night wasn’t going their way.
Brock Boeser and Manny Malhotra both noted how important that was.
Five games is nowhere near enough to crown Meriläinen as the answer in net, and nobody should pretend otherwise. Goalies can run hot, and the league has a way of putting those streaks to the test fast.
But there’s a difference between a brief bounce and a stretch of play that consistently buys a team time. Meriläinen has at least shown the latter.
If that keeps up, the Canucks will have a tough call on their hands with Lankinen. The team needs dependable goaltending, and reputation can’t be the deciding factor.
If Meriläinen continues to earn it, he deserves more starts. Lankinen may be the one sitting more often until he gets back on track.
That isn’t a final judgment on either goalie. It’s just competition.
The same game also offered a look at what Vancouver might have in some of its younger players. Elias Pettersson, known as D-Petey, has been skating alongside Filip Hronek, and that kind of top-pairing assignment is no small thing for a young defenceman.
Holding his own there matters. It also invites a comparison with his time under Adam Foote last season, when the path wasn’t quite as clean.
Development doesn’t always move in a straight line. Sometimes the right role makes everything look different.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki got a chance, too, moving onto the first power-play unit in place of Marco Rossi. He came close to making the most of it right away, as Elias Pettersson set him up with a cross-ice pass and Lekkerimäki rang one off the crossbar.
It didn’t go in, but the play still told you something. His shot is a weapon, and the power play is a place where that can matter quickly.
The Canucks need to learn which young players can turn these openings into real NHL roles.
There was also a reminder that youth comes with mistakes. Zeev Buium, who is only 20, turned the puck over against the Islanders, and that kind of play is part of the learning curve. The Canucks have to let young players grow without excusing every error, which is a tricky balance for any team trying to build.
So while the loss itself will sting, the more useful takeaway might be what the night revealed. Meriläinen has given Vancouver something to think about in goal.
D-Petey is getting a more demanding test on defence. Lekkerimäki is getting a real look with better power-play usage.
For a team trying to figure itself out, those are the kinds of details that can matter just as much as the result.
In Other News...
Canucks Loss Still Put A Few Young Players In Focus
Even in a 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders, there were a few reasons the Canucks could come away with a clearer picture of some of the younger names in the lineup. The game leaned more toward a performance review than a simple final score recap, with several players drawing attention for the way they handled bigger minutes and more pressure than usual.
Leevi Merilinen kept Vancouver afloat with a series of important stops, while Max Sasson supplied the early offense and Liam hgren helped swing momentum by drawing a penalty that eventually led to the tying goal. For a team looking for signs of progress in the depth chart, nights like this can matter almost as much as the result, even if the finish still leaves something to be desired. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Loss Showed The Same Problem Fans Are Already Tired Of
Vancouver went into UBS Arena looking to steady itself, but instead saw the same kind of game slip away in a 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders. The Canucks had the edge early, then watched the Islanders keep pressing behind Kyle Palmieri and Matias Maccelli, with Palmieri finding the net twice and Maccelli scoring his first goal since joining the club. It was the kind of result that leaves Vancouver trying to sort out what went wrong before the frustration starts to feel familiar.
The Islanders, now 3-3-0, got a needed lift from a night in which Palmieri ended his scoring drought and provided the kind of finishing touch they have been chasing. Vancouver, meanwhile, leaves with another reminder that a lead alone does not always tell the full story. The Canucks will want a faster answer the next time they are in position to control a game, because these are the moments that can linger in October and shape how a fan base sees the team early. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Start Is Fueling A Draft Debate Fans Never Wanted
By Oct. 13, the Canucks sluggish start has them sitting with the fifth-worst record in the NHL, and the numbers around it help explain why. Among the leagues bottom-seven clubs, Vancouver has been dragged down by a low goal total, leaky play in its own end, and underwhelming special teams that have left little room for early optimism.
What makes the situation uncomfortable is where it leaves the organization in the draft picture. A poor season can bring a major payoff in a talent-rich class, but every small push upward in the standings risks nudging Vancouver out of the best lottery range and deeper into the pack, where the path to landing a true difference-maker gets a lot less straightforward. [Read more 🡒]