The Canucks lost 3-1 to the Calgary Flames tonight at Rogers Arena. Merry Christmas, if you bought a ticket. The Vancouver Canucks just Grinched a hundred-plus dollars worth of roast beast out of your wallet.

I’m not one to fly off the handle following a single loss in the middle of a hot streak, but this game was awful. And hey, I’m not the only one who’s upset. Alain Vigneault was pissed in the post-game interview, and rightly so. His quote: “Does it sound like I liked anybody else but Roberto tonight?” Something tells me AV is trying to work out how to wrap a bag skate so he can put one under 23 different trees tomorrow night.

The Canucks got outworked and outhustled by a Calgary team that’s not currently in the playoff picture, and the Flames aren’t likely to be there come season’s end either. Like I said, I’m not one to berate the Canucks for a single loss. I can and do, however, reserve the right to chastise the team when they completely fail to show up for a game against divisional rivals. Credit has to be given to the Flames for playing a near-flawless game but let’s face it, when the Canucks come to play for 60 minutes there are only a handful of teams in the league that can hang with them. Calgary isn’t one of them. I know this because at one point tonight the Canucks’ makeshift 4th line of Ebbett, Weise and Lapierre and their 4th defense pairing of Sulzer and Alberts had a full 50 seconds of sustained offensive zone pressure. Even on an off-night the Canucks are capable of exerting their will on the likes of Calgary when they choose to. They didn’t choose to very often tonight.

It’s a damn shame because Roberto Luongo was stellar again tonight. Lu made 28 of 30 saves, many of the solid variety. Meanwhile some kid named… hang on a second… Leland Irving, apparently… made 29 saves at the other end in only his second NHL appearance. Now here’s an interesting stat: the Canucks fired six (6) shots on Irving in the first period. SIX! Dan Hamhuis could count the Canucks first-period shots on his  hideously deformed six-toed left foot!* The home side then followed that up with a seven-shot performance in the second period. May I reiterate that this was Irving’s second NHL start. In his career. Ever. How was the Canucks’ entire game plan not predicated on firing pucks on this rook from every conceivable spot on the ice?

Last time they played the Flames, they needed just 40 minutes to build an embarrassing lead – in fact, the last two meetings with Calgary have netted 5-1 Canuck wins. They played 35 solid minutes to shut out the Avalanche. But this night, Vancouver skaters contributed 10 minutes of decent hockey. It was reminiscent of their two losses on their recent road trip where they lost to Columbus and Carolina (the worst teams in the west and the east, respectively) on back to back nights. That’s just not good enough. Luongo was good, but he can’t skate up the ice and put a few goals in the back of the opposition net as well. There are rules against that sort of thing.

Let’s hope the Canucks have a great holiday. Let’s also hope someone pisses in their egg nog, so they come back with all kinds of second-half snarl to avoid this kind of performance.

* Toes packed by volume, not by weight.