Canucks Game Day: Need a diversion? Quinn Hughes vs. Cale ...

Colorado Avalanche vs. Vancouver Canucks 

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When/where: Monday, 7:30 p.m., Rogers Arena TV: SN Pacific. Radio: Sportsnet 650

The buzz: Hands up. Who needs a good diversion tonight? Everybody? Thought so.

We know the latest Canucks’ demolition on home ice in a stunning 5-1 crash into the competitive ditch against the Boston Bruins on Saturday is a setback that’s hard to dismiss. The Canucks were outshot 16-4 in the first period and were never really in it.

They had too many passengers and not enough culture carriers.

And by trending in the wrong direction with a horrific 5-7-4 home record, they’re sitting in the second wild-card spot instead of pushing for the Pacific Division lead. Then again, they’re 15-9-5 and 10-2-1 on the road, but have lost ground to front-running Vegas Golden Knights .

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The Canucks remain consistently inconsistent and the approaching holiday roster freeze from Thursday to Dec.27 has lit speculative fires about a desire for change.

It’s why bench boss Rick Tocchet is pissed off and the level of commitment from some of his players and why president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford talked of the need to acquire two players.

Tocchet brought out the Mixmaster on Sunday and promoted Conor Garland to the left side with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, and bumped Max Sasson to right wing on the second line with Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson.

Amid all the strife for the Canucks to get their total game in order in short order, another marquee matchup between Norris Trophy favourites Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar is marquee material.

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Hughes continues to excel with a mashed-up mug from taking a high stick on Dec. 8 that did gum damage and has made talking and eating an adventure. And playing with a full face shield had its own challenges.

Canucks captain Quinn Hughes wears a face shield after taking a high stick to the face against the Lightning on Dec. 8 at Rogers Arena. Photo by Derek Cain /Getty Images

Makar has 37 points (9-28) after 32 games to lead all NHL blueliners, but Hughes is just three points shy with 34 (7-27) in three less games.

“Quinn has the puck a lot and that’s a big part of his defence,” Tocchet said Sunday. “He creates a lot for us, just like Makar does for them. They’re both terrific players.”

Bobby Orr changed the game because defencemen rarely ventured out of their zone to lead a rush. Hughes changed the dynamic that you don’t have to be big to make a big impact. You can grow by improving defending, shooting, deception and an offensive-zone presence.

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“It doesn’t seem real,” Hughes once told Postmedia of being linked to the game’s greats. “When I hear or see those things, I don’t really associate myself with that.

“It just doesn’t feel like that’s a thing. But for me, it’s never been about that, or that I’m looking at guys just 30, 40 years ago. It’s more about trying to drive the game every night. I’m trying to make a difference every night.”

On Monday morning, Hughes expanded on what makes Makar tick and how much he looks forward to matching skill and will tonight.

“It’s really fun competing against him,” said the Canucks captain. “It’s the way he drives his game each night and I’ve never really seen where he’s not driving or creating. That just stems from his passion and skill. He tries to be great every night.

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“We have to focus on things that make us successful and do that for the entire game and not just spurts. They (Avalanche) have so many elite guys who can skate and apply pressure. They’re always really hard to play against and will be tonight.”

Cale Makar #8 of the Colorado Avalanche looks for an opening against Alexander Kerfoot #15 of the Utah Hockey Club in the first period at Ball Arena on December 12, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. Photo by Matthew Stockman /Getty Images

The buzz 2.0: Tocchet has always told his players to do whatever they need to be ready at puck drop.

That coaching philosophy is being tested. Slow starts are a sure sign of not heeding the directive and it also falls on the staff with difficulties on home ice.

Not being engaged from the outset is not an option. And it had been addressed.

“They know now,” Tocchet stressed after Sunday practice. “And that’s what you’re hoping. When guys go home and it’s like? ‘Hey, man. I had a tough night and I’m going to do something about it.’

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“We have no problem talking to players. We know they’re not always going to have their ‘A’ game, but we don’t have the team to have three, four or five passengers. We just don’t have it.

“We need everybody. We need the leadership group to help out and I have to make them accountable with ice time and whether you play or not. You don’t want to be a coach that keeps yelling and screaming and being a hard-ass all the time.

“It has to be a partnership. We show video and have 1-on-1 talks and being stern sometimes.”

On Monday morning, Tocchet expected his players to embrace a tough challenge tonight.

“You’ve got to take away the neutral zone and not let them free-wheel,” he cautioned. “You play great players, you’ve got to make sure you pay attention to details. When (Nathan) MacKinnon gets the puck, he’s moving and options open. Rarely see him coast. And when he comes out of the corner with that strength, he’s one of the best in the league.”

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The history: First meeting of the season. The Canucks went 0-2-1 last season. On Nov. 22 in Denver, Makar put the game away with an unassisted effort in a 5-2 triumph. On Feb. 20 in Denver, Ryan Johansen struck twice in a 3-1 win, while on March 13 at Rogers Arena, Valeri Nichushkin scored on the power play in overtime in a 4-3 decision.

The hope: Undrafted Sasson makes most of his promotion. He has outpaced Arshdeep Bains, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Aatu Raty during their recalls. Sasson has five points (1-4) in 10 games.

The fear: The flu bug doesn’t become bigger problem. Kevin Lankinen and Derek Forbort had symptoms and stayed away Saturday. Lankinen was still sidelined Sunday while Forbort returned. Tocchet said four or five players are affected. Lankinen took the game-day skate Monday, but is experiencing more symptoms. Same for Forbort. Arturs Silovs will back up against Avs.

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The top guns: Hughes has 15 points (3-12) in his last 10 games, while Jake DeBrusk has 11 goals in his last 11.

The wounded: Canucks: Filip Hronek (upper body, lower body, LTIR), Kevin Lankinen (flu, day-to-day), Derek Forbort (flu, day-to-day). Avalanche: Gabriel Landeskog (knee, IR), Jonathan Drouin (upper body, IR), Josh Manson (upper body, IR), Miles Wood (upper body, IR), Tucker Poolman (head, IR), Oliver Kylington (upper body, day-to-day).

The quote: “Looking for some spark and we only won 40 per cent of our battles last night” — Rick Tocchet on mixing up his lines after Saturday setback.

The lineup: 

Garland-Miller-Boeser

DeBrusk-Pettersson-Sasson

Heinen-Suter-Sherwood

Joshua-Blueger-Hoglander

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Hughes-Juulsen

Soucy-Myers

Brannstrom-Desharnais

Demko

The prediction: The Canucks heed the call to start on time. Club reverts to Thursday form against Panthers and prevails 4-3.

(FAN FORUM: Do you have a specific question for a player? Pass it along to @provincesports and we’ll get it in a future edition.)

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