The Vancouver Canucks face an uphill battle to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs and unfortunately, they took a step in the wrong direction on Wednesday night.

The Canucks were hammered 5-0 by the Seattle Kraken and now sit eight points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Following the stiff defeat, head coach Rick Tocchet admitted his team looked “nervous”.

Via The Score:

“I think that early on, saw a lot of nervousness,” Tocchet said. “We had a couple power plays. You need some poise there. I didn't think we had some poise, then they got a couple of quick goals on us. You could see guys were getting nervous, chasing the game.

“I think we had some guys that really gave some effort, but I didn't think they had a lot of poise tonight.”

Tocchet voiced he wants to see the Canucks more relaxed:

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“I know it's the same old thing coaches say, but you gotta keep getting at it, working at it. … We just gotta relax in certain situations. Intensity, but relaxed,” Tocchet continued. ” There's plays there that I just think we're not finding.”

Vancouver had a plethora of opportunities. They outshot the Kraken 24-19 and had three power plays but failed to capitalize, which frustrated their coach:

“Twice, there's a low play wide-open. We pass to the flank, or he shoots and gets blocked. … I just saw nervous, a lot of nervous guys on that power play.”

With seven games left in the regular season, the Canucks essentially have to play perfect hockey to have any remote chance at clinching a playoff berth. They also have to hope the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues stop winning — the two top teams in the Wild Card race. Vancouver has several difficult opponents to close out the campaign as well, including the Wild, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and the Vegas Golden Knights twice.

It will be a grind.