Schenn's absence apparent as defensive breakdowns cost Canucks vs. Predators

NASHVILLE – Luke Schenn hasn’t even been traded and already the Vancouver Canucks miss him.

On the night the National Hockey League team allowed Schenn to go home to Vancouver to await a likely trade, the Canucks’ defensive breakdowns and weakness in front of their net cost them in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators.

The Canucks did a lot of things right, outshooting the Predators 39-26, generally outworking them and pushing back with goals in the final 67 seconds of regulation time by Conor Garland and Andrei Kuzmenko to force extra time and earn Vancouver a surprising point.

But the way Vancouver surrendered goals, falling behind 2-0 and 4-2, clearly had coach Rick Tocchet frustrated. 

He offered short, confirmative post-game answers about his team’s defending, especially on Nino Niederreiter’s go-ahead goal for Nashville with 10 seconds remaining in the second period – 11.5 seconds after the teams faced off at centre ice following Sheldon Dries’ tying goal for Vancouver.

“We got back in and you can't let your foot off a wounded snake,” Tocchet said. “A couple of bad reads by the D there. Yeah, it was a tough one.”

The Canucks defence pairing was Tyler Myers and Riley Stillman, who finished minus-3 and minus-2, respectively. Myers, easily Vancouver’s most experienced defenceman with Schenn and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ankle injury) out, was on for all four Nashville goals. The Canucks were outshot 15-6 at five-on-five with Myers on the ice.

“Yeah, they had a tough night,” Tocchet said of Myers-Stillman.

Does his team need to be more robust in front of its net?

“Yeah,” Tocchet said. “Yep.”

He also said the Canucks deserved better, which they did. 

The Predators’ first goal, a third-chance rebound by Cole Smith after Vancouver goalie Collin Delia made two point-blank saves, looked offside. Still-frames from the replay showed Tanner Jeannot’s skate clearly inside the blue line ahead of the puck, although linesmen Travis Gawryletz and David Brisebois, with the backing of the NHL war room in Toronto, somehow confirmed a good goal and Tocchet was penalized for his coach’s challenge.

“Wow,” he could be seen saying at the bench.

But the Canucks outplayed the Predators the rest of the way. They forced overtime when Garland tipped in Quinn Hughes' point shot at 18:53 of the third period, 52 seconds before Kuzmenko redirected J.T. Miller’s pass past Nashville goalie Jusse Soros after skating the puck out of traffic and most of the way up the ice.

But ... but ...

“Once you have a little mistake or not pay attention to detail just for one second in this league, guys are too good and it goes into the back of your net,” Canuck defenceman Ethan Bear said. “It has always been that way and I've seen it all year. 

“But we're building towards being a good team, playing a good system. Toc and our coaches are preaching the right things. I wouldn't understand it unless I’d played in Carolina (last season). Seeing the way they operate, we're going in that same direction and it's good to see. It gives you hope.”

Hope is what the trade of Schenn should bring if general manager Patrik Allvin finalizes a deal for his noble, depth defenceman before the March 3 deadline.

Trade discussions heated up Monday night -- after the team arrived in Nashville – to the point that management made the decision to protect their asset by removing Schenn from the lineup.

With his wife, Jessica, expecting the couple’s third child on trade deadline day, and not knowing if his status will change before Thursday’s game in St. Louis, Schenn asked the Canucks if he could go home to be with his family and await a potential trade there. He travelled back to Vancouver Tuesday evening.

The 33-year-old has said several times that he wants to stay with the Canucks and finish his career in Vancouver, close to his Kelowna home and for the organization he credits for helping save his NHL career when it acquired him in 2019 and rescued him from the minors with a late-season callup.

But Schenn is also keenly aware that hockey is a business and the Canucks, at their current nadir, must look at any trade that helps build a better future. His concern about a trade has always been about its timing and the affect on his family, about how he can support his wife and baby while moving to another city.

“You know, we're humans, right?” Miller, his teammate, said. “He's a big part of this room and big part of the team. Everything that's said about the guy is true: he's a good family man, he's a good teammate. It sucks to see this stuff happen, but at the same time, it's part of the business and we need to be able to put the game face on. I thought we did a good job of battling through that. We've got a lot of guys out right now. We've got some new faces (and) it's going to get different. We understand we're in that sticky time of the year right now, so you've just got to battle and be professional. It's part of our jobs.”

Hughes, who logged 30:11 of ice time Tuesday and finished with two assists, seems likely to lose another mentor and frequent defence partner in Schenn.

“He's a guy I care about because he's a great teammate, a great person, and he's a winner,” Hughes said. “And I don't just say that because he won (two Cups with Tampa), I say that because of the way he carries himself day in and day out. He's a good person, he's a good teammate and he sticks up for people in here. 

“The closest thing I can compare it to is Chris Tanev (leaving the Canucks in free agency). I've seen it before and it sucks ... but it's going to shake out how it shakes out and none of us know how it's going to happen.”

Schenn had no indication Tuesday which team or teams have pushed close to acquiring him. That he has become a coveted depth piece for good teams is indicative of how far he has climbed and re-established himself at the NHL level after the Anaheim Ducks handed him a one-way ticket to the American Hockey League four years ago.

“This is the world we live in right now in the trade-deadline world,” Tocchet lamented. “I talked to Luke today. The guy is a great, great pro.”