‘We should be ashamed’: Tocchet, Myers and Miller react to Canucks’ shutout loss

Well, the Vancouver Canucks’ 6-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils was something we hadn’t seen since 2006. You can’t just brush off a hit of that caliber on home ice. It’s important to move on and focus on the next game, but Rick Tocchet and the players need to look at the tape and go back to the drawing board.

“It’s clear that everything went wrong from the start,” Tocchet said of the defeat. “Some guys had a hard time and that’s how it rolls out. You get games like that in an 82-game schedule. We should just flush it down the toilet.

“(We have to) credit them. They shot the puck really well. We started to fall apart a little bit, got frustrated and, you know, everyone started going a little rogue, and that’s what happens. You have to stick together. Like I said, you have to let this thing go, learn from it and move on.

The power play has been a focus in practice all week for this Canucks team. There were rumors that they were going to switch units, but in the end they all switched who carried the puck onto the ice. The boys simply struggle to shoot the puck on the power play, registering just three shots on goal on their four power play opportunities while allowing two. Tocchet addressed this issue after the match.

“We don’t shoot when we should shoot, and we shoot when we (don’t) shoot – we’re so in between. We’re slowing down the power play. It’s a frustrating thing for us at the moment. It is a mental aspect for us at the moment. We will have to continue to work with the mind, more than with the physical.”

The club gets the day off today but is back at practice on Friday before redeeming themselves as they hit the road for a three-game road trip starting in San Jose. Here is Tocchet’s review of his players and what he saw tonight and so far this season.

“If you think you’re playing well, I don’t think anyone in there – I hope not – thinks we’re playing well. But there are some things we liked about our game. But it is clear that we cannot yet play a (full) 60-minute match. We’ve got to buckle down and get some leadership here to make sure we’re ready to play – and myself, that’s my responsibility too. I have to get these guys ready to play.

“You have to look at your game. What am I doing wrong? Some guys do good things, don’t get me wrong. I think some guys are just trying to get to AZ without going through the progression. Your job in the pre-check is that you don’t have to kill him, but go through a man. Our coverage of the odd one out was probably the worst I’ve seen since I’ve been here. It reminded me of when I took over the team. That’s how bad it was tonight. We weren’t okay tonight.”

This was Arturs Silovs’ first start since opening night, where he allowed six goals in an overtime loss to the Calgary Flames. A tough performance from the 23-year-old, but Tocchet didn’t lay the blame solely on him after such a long period between starts.

“You want to play a solid game. From the first 10 seconds we give up a two-on-one. That’s probably not the best thing you can give to someone who hasn’t played in two weeks.”

Tyler Myers also commented on Silovs.

“It wasn’t Arty’s fault. We hung Arty out to dry tonight. He doesn’t have to worry about it.”

Here’s what Myers had to say when thinking about the game as a whole.

“It was embarrassing. We should be ashamed. Despite some wins in recent weeks, there are some things in our game right now that we need to clean up. We have to find our identity. We are not there yet and we know that. As tough as tonight was, we just have to keep working and come out the next game ready to respond.”

On the Devils’ first goal of the game just a minute into the game, Myers squeezed in, setting up Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer for a two-on-one.

“As for the first one, I would have liked to continue with that. It seems like we had two-on-ones and three-on-twos all night – things we need to clean up.

It is important not to dwell on the loss and look forward to the next match, which will require you to practice hard.

“It’s a wake-up call for us,” Myers said. “It’s a lot easier to watch now with nights like that. Whether we lose 6-0 or 1-0, we just have to keep working on our team play and reach the level we need to be consistent in this competition. It starts in practice. It was discussed after the match.

“We have to realize what we do within our system, and what we don’t do. And then it just comes down to work. We have to get back to work. We are not working hard at the moment.”

To leave the team down 3-0, the Canucks’ 5’10” forward Conor Garland tried to spark the team as he battled Erik Haula. Assistant Captain JT Miller commented on Garland’s hard efforts.

“That was quite a struggle. You’d think we might play a little better after that. That sucks. The man gets hit on the head for you.

“We make it way too easy for the other team. There’s not enough F-you in our game.

Listen to Rick Tocchet’s full availability here.