PITTSBURGH — After 12 days on the road, five games, two periods — and with one weary foot already on the plane home — the Vancouver Canucks finally collapsed.
Their loss Saturday at the end of a six-game marathon through the chilly American Northeast was as predictable as the route to the 5-4 final score against the Pittsburgh Penguins was riotously unconventional.
It can be fairly argued that it wasn’t exhaustion that ultimately doomed the Canucks but bad luck and bad plays, as Vancouver looked the more energetic team for most of the contest before allowing four straight third-period goals to give away a game it led 3-1 with 13 minutes remaining.