Following the Vancouver Canucks‘ 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars , Rick Tocchet expressed his frustration in his postgame media availability with a trio of his star forwards with their performance on the night:
“You’ve gotta earn your ice time. You gotta earn your ice time right here. That’s how you win. So you guys can stir it up all you want, you have to earn your ice time. I don’t care how long you’ve been here; you’ve gotta earn your ice time. That’s the way it works. That’s how you win Stanley Cups.”
The three players Tocchet were asked about were Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk.
Pettersson played the third most minutes (16:05) and the sixth most minutes at 5-on-5 (12:36) among Canucks forwards. The Swedish centreman finished with zero points, zero shots, three shot attempts and a minus-3 rating. Pettersson has one goal and one assist in eight games since the 4 Nations break.
Boeser played the fifth most minutes (15:49) and the third most minutes at 5-on-5 (13:04) among Canucks forwards. The American sniper finished with zero points, one shot on one shot attempt with a minus-2 rating. Boeser has zero goals and three assists in eight games since the 4 Nations break.
DeBrusk played the fourth fewest minutes (12:45) and the single fewest at 5-on-5 (10:01) among Canucks forwards. The Canadian winger finished with zero points, two shots on two shot attempts, with a minus-2 rating. DeBrusk has three goals and zero assists in eight games since the 4 Nations break.
The game was well within reach, trailing only by one until the midway point of the third period. Instead of playing his top players to try and claw back into the game, the Canucks coach chose to roll all four lines.
Rick Tocchet has long spoken this season about finding moments and how the Canucks haven’t had players step up and grab that moment.
“There’s sometimes, you know, we’re in the thick of the race, we need some desperation, like to grab a puck and do something.”
Those three players will have a chance to redeem themselves on Tuesday and Wednesday when they battle two Canadian teams, the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames – who they’re fighting for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
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