“So it’s a big game. It would be a great way to end the trip. We wouldn’t even remember the first three games. We’ll look forward to it on Tuesday.”, Canucks Coach Bruce Boudreau

A marathon-relay road trip ends Tuesday night for the Canucks, where a group of Vancouver hockey players will be engaged in making it two straight wins to salvage their current five game road trip played against some of the best teams in the NHL.

They played Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday; Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday; Washington Capitals on Sunday; and finally finish against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, January 18.

The team will need to draw on that tested endurance, stamina and competitive spirit for one more game. They have faced adversity, pain, doubt, cramps, negativity, distractions, as they compete against some of the Stanley Cup contenders.

Canucks Coach Bruce Boudreau was proud of his team against the Washington Capitals.

“I thought we played a 60 minute game… Everybody did their job…And when they do their job and the power play is working, you’re going to have some success.”

Even though the power play finally had success on the road trip, the penalty kill surrendered two Capital power play goals, and Boudreau feels the special teams are critical to the team’s success and a barometer of how competitive they are.

“We got to shore up the penalty kill because I’m a big believer that if your special team’s, if you can have your special team’s in the top ten in both categories , you’re usually a playoff team, and you’re usually a tough team to beat.”

Coach Bruce Boudreau

As for picking up another win in Nashville and heading home to Vancouver and playing home games infront of the fans, Boudreau replied:

“We can’t wait to get back infront of our fans.

This nine games in a row, it’s not an easy stretch. To stay at .500 or hopefully be above .500 and that, it keeps our nose above water.

And there’s going to be stretches during the last half of the year that we’ll be at home for awhile and maybe we can make up alot of ground like we did when I first started gettin’ here and we had those home games.”

Elias Pettersson

Coach Boudreau went into the road trip looking for it “to be an interesting litmus test to see what our guys are made of” and I think after it is all done, there will definitely be much to consider and debate, at the management and coaching level.

One road trip, like one game, does not make a season, or indicate how the players will fair from game to game; trip to trip. Especially with COVID still interfering with lineups, rosters and taxi squads from a few hours to minutes before a game.

So, we will all have thoughts as to what the Vancouver Canucks are made of by the end of the road trip.

And, we will all have our own opinion on what color the litmus test indicates, and then we’ll all watch how the rest of the season unfolds.

I can’t wait. Bring it on.