Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet called out Nils Hoglander and the team's powerplay following Monday's loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
It was a tough loss for the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night at Rogers Arena as they fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime, with Sebastian Aho scoring the game-winner.
After the game, Rick Tocchet spoke with reporters and wasn't too happy with how the Canucks started the game, saying that they weren't ready off the hop while Carolina was. The Hurricanes opened the scoring under six minutes in and led Vancouver 2-1 after 20 minutes.
Rick Tocchet calls out forward Nils Hoglander
Tocchet was asked about his his deployment of the lines and shuffling them around during the game. One of those that got split up as the night went on was the trio of Elias Pettersson, Conor Garland and Nils Hoglander and they weren't used much at 5-on-5 in the first two periods.
While it wasn't a good night for Nils Hoglander, he'll bounce back and there's no cause for concern with him. He's had a great start to the 2024-25 season and is potentially in the mix to play at the 4 Nations Faceoff with Sweden. In eight games this season, Hoglander has put up four points (two goals, two assists), four penalty minutes and has an even-rating.
Powerplay not good enough last night
Another area the Vancouver Canucks struggled with last night was on the powerplay. The team went 0-for-3 with the man advantage and Rick Tocchet admitted post-game that he's going to need to make some changes.
The Vancouver Canucks will be back in action tomorrow night against the New Jersey Devils in a battle of the Hughes brothers. Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm PT and can be viewed across the country on Sportsnet One.