Calgary Canucks look to rebound after first loss at Centennial Cup

In what was probably a good wake-up call, the Calgary Canucks suffered their first loss at the Centennial Cup on Sunday night.

The Calgary Canucks dropped to 2-1 at the Centennial Cup after a 7-2 loss to the Rockland Nationals out of Ontario on Sunday night.

The Canucks have fallen behind early in every game. The first two they were able to dig themselves out, but Sunday night was a different story against Rockland.

Forward Gavin Schmidt, who has a goal and three assists in the tournament, says they need to be ready from the opening faceoff.

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“I think our preparation just needs to be better,” he said.

“We can’t take teams lightly and we’ve got to play every game like it’s our last.

Wake-up call

The Canucks aren’t going to panic, but they do say this is a bit of a wake-up call. They need to clean up parts of their game moving forward.

Defenceman Nathan Maloney, who had two goals and four assists in the three games, says perhaps a loss in the group stage isn’t such a bad thing.

“I think it’s important for every team to face adversity because it goes to show in a tournament like this, you’re not going to run the show,” he said.

“There’s always going to be challenges and bumps in the road and I think we know how we need to respond tomorrow.”

Big game

The Canucks will look to respond against the Edmundston Blizzard on Tuesday night.

Captain Bowden Singleton says their destiny is in their hands: win and they’re in the playoffs.

“It’s a must-win, and even if we win tomorrow and Rockland loses, we can still finish first (in Group B),” he said.

“There’s still an opportunity to do that, and I feel like we need to pounce on this opportunity. We had that opportunity yesterday and I feel like with round two we’ll get it done.”

Pressure game

Both the Canucks and the Blizzard enter Tuesday night’s game with 2-1 records. Head coach Brad Moran says he likes how his team has responded to pressure all year long and he expects the same thing against the Blizzard.

“That’s the mentality; I think it’s good to have some urgency,” he said.

“It’s essentially a Game 7 for probably both teams and you’ve got to win to get in. I like that our guys, I think they need that adversity and that little bit of pressure. It’s fun to play those types of games.”

Puck drop for Tuesday’s game between the Canucks and the Blizzard is scheduled for a little after 7:30 p.m.