"Strip Hughes of captaincy" "Proud of this team": Fans divided after Vancouver Canucks' elimination from 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs (ct)

NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Edmonton Oilers at Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks’ ͏elimin͏a͏tion from the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs has left fans di͏vided after ͏a tense 3-2͏ loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7͏ of the Western͏ Co͏nfer͏ence Second ͏Round at Rogers͏ Arena ͏on Monday. Despite strong performanc͏es from Arturs Silovs and the late efforts͏ of Conor Garla͏nd and Filip Hronek͏, the Canucks fell ͏short in the end.

Ryan ͏Nugent-Hopkins led the Oilers with a g͏oal and an assist, Zach Hy͏man scored his NHL-leading 11th goal of the S͏tanley Cup playof͏fs and Leon Draisaitl͏ had an assist to extend his postseason-ope͏ning point streak to 12 ͏games for ͏Edm͏onto͏n. Stuart Skinner made 15 saves while Evan Bouchard had two assists.

Edmonton outshot Vancouver Canucks 13-2 in the first period but couldn’t solve Arthur Silovs. He went into full splits to make a blocker save on Brett Kulak’s rebound attempt at 1:30, stopped Zach Hyman on a partial breakaway at 4:58, and denied Connor Brown with a short-handed shot with 41 seconds left in the period. Draisaitl had the secondary assist which gave him 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) in 12 playoff games.

Canucks fans highlight the mixed emotions on X/Twitter following a promising season that ended in disappointment.

One fan commented:

“Strip Hughes of the captaincy and give it to Miller…”

Another fan made a contrasting comment, praising the team’s effort:

“Proud of this team no doubt. No one imagined we’d be this good this year. Here’s to next year boys.”

The debate among fans about what went wrong and how to improve for next season is continuing on social media:

“Turned it on too late,” one fan said.
“we could have easily won this game, the boys started battling with 15 minutes left in the game,” another fan said.
“This is why you have to play a full 60 minutes… Heartbreaking,” another fan reacted.
“Too little too late. No Boeser. Tough pill. Great season though,” one fan pointed out.
Some fans highlighted the officials in the game:

“I’m just here for all the “refs won the oilers the series” comments,” one fan said.
“Oilers can’t win without the refs,” another fan said.
Conor Garland and Filip Hronek scored in the third period, and Silovs made 26 saves for Vancouver, but couldn’t convert it to a win. Brock Boeser, who had 7 goals this postseason for Canucks, did not play due to an undisclosed injury. Vancouver failed to generate a shot on goal during a four-minute power play late in the first period that extended into the second for 14 seconds.

In the Western Conference finals, the Oilers will face the Dallas Stars, who eliminated the Colorado Avalanche in six games. Game 1 of the best-of-7 series will be in Dallas on Thursday.

Edmonton Oilers hold off Vancouver Canucks’ late surge to clinch Game 7
The Oilers seized an early lead when Cody Ceci rifled a shot from the right point at 1:16, catching Arturs Silovs off-guard for a 1-0 advantage. Building on the momentum, Zach Hyman doubled the Oilers’ lead at 5:50, deflecting Evan Bouchard’s shot past Silovs’ blocker to make it 2-0.

The Oilers’ dominance continued as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins capitalized on a power play opportunity at 15:22, extending the lead to 3-0 with a well-placed shot from the left circle.

Conor Garland ignited hope for the Vancouver Canucks at 11:27, capitalizing on a turnover to beat Stuart Skinner under the blocker, narrowing the margin to 3-1. Filip Hronek intensified the tension at 15:24, unleashing a blistering one-timer from just inside the blue line to bring the Canucks to 3-2 in the third period.