Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY SPORTS

Once again, the Vancouver Canucks, who swear up and down that they’re a hockey team that are capable of doing big things this year have lost a hockey game. Not just any game, either; one against the Anaheim Ducks, which is like being broken up with and getting mugged on the same ride home. Here’s what went down in tonight’s 5-2 loss.

The two sides had a relatively even first period. Both John Gibson and Ryan Miller were on their games, and while the Ducks outshot the Canucks, it was only by a single puck on net. The real fun started in the second period, when Rickard Rakell broke the ice a minute into the frame. With the Canucks focusing on covering the lanes of players already on the ice, Ryan Getzlaf hurried to the bench to allow Rakell to trail into the play, wiring a slapshot fed to him from Sami Vatanen past Ryan Miller.

Vatanen himself would double up Anaheims lead just a few minutes later. Seconds after Adam Cracknell went to the box for flipping the puck over the glass, the Finnish defenceman snuck past Jannik Hansen and had all the time to charge up a slapper. Vancouver’s troubles continued into the third after Getzlaf and Josh Manson added insult to injury, but the Canucks did their best to make a game out of things. Six minutes into the final period, Jannik Hansen made up for his placement on the Vatanen goal by potting his 17th of the season, and Sven Baertschi made the game seem vaguely close with his 12th of the year. Former Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieska added an empty-netter for the Ducks to close off the rough night. 

The Scandinavian line may have played some extremely sheltered minutes tonight, but they made the most of them with identical 68.18% Corsi-For percentage. Of the trio, though, Daniel Sedin was the only one to pick up multiple points, setting up Hansen on the first goal and sending Henrik the puck to feed Baertschi with on the second.

If you’re a believer in the Stealth Tank, a loss to a divisional opponent is aways nice. Anaheim now has a positive goal differential and jumps twelve points ahead of the Canucks in the standings, while Vancouver remain closer to the bottom of the west than to the final wild card spot. Just six points separate the Canucks and Oilers right now while Vancouver would need eight to equal the Avalanche or the Predators.

Vancouver jumps right back into the madness tomorrow, taking on the Calgary Flames. On one hand, the nosedive to the bottom could be greatly helped by a regulation loss; Calgary would come within a single point of the Canucks. On the other hand, it’s the Flames. Screw those guys. Puck drop is at 6:00 PM.