Canucks' Brock Boeser opens up on team's elimination from playoff race - "We've had the distractions this year"

Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser gave his take on the team’s elimination from the playoff race. The Minnesota Wild’s 7-6 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night left the Canucks with an insurmountable points-difference in the Wester Conference.

Speaking to the media, Boeser, who has played for the Canucks since 2017, said that elimination “hurts.”

“We were playing some good hockey when we had everyone in the lineup, and then we ran into more injury problems,” Boeser said. “We've had the distractions this year and injuries throughout the lineup all year. Yeah, it's been a rough year. But there's no excuses; we didn't win hockey games when we were supposed to.”

The Canucks have been plagued with injuries this season. Goalie Thatcher Demko, a Vezina Trophy finalist last season, missed 26 games due to a knee injury earlier this season. He also missed 15 more games after getting injured in a game on Feb. 8.

Captain Quinn Hughes struggled with injuries too. The reigning Norris Trophy winner has been the Canucks’ best player this season, but a series of injuries kept him off the ice at critical times for his team this season.

The biggest disruption for the Canucks involved the feud between their two star forwards J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, which led to the former being traded to the New York Rangers in January. Since then, Pettersson’s production and conditioning also dropped off sharply.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin has already begun preparing for next season.

“We have some really good building blocks here with the young players in the pipeline," the GM said via Sportsnet. "I'm pleased with our goalie situation and I'm pleased with our back end. Our focus here is to see if we can improve our forwards group by either trades or free agents.”

Canucks stage historic comeback against Dallas Stars

The Canucks kept their faint playoff hopes alive on Tuesday night with a thrilling come-from-behind win over the high-flying Dallas Stars. With less than a minute on the clock in regulation, the Canucks scored three goals to tie a 5-2 deficit, something that has never before happened in the NHL’s history.

They capped their comeback when left wing Kiefer Sherwood scored the game winner with 1:16 left in overtime.

“I’ve never been part of a team that has so many crazy comebacks, and so much roller coaster come-from-behinds,” Sherwood said via NHL.com.

The Canucks’ extraordinary display allowed them to stave off elimination for 24 hours. But the Wild's latest win will keep them out of contention for the Stanley Cup this season.