VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks had a December to remember. Hydro Flask Clearance . Since the calendar flipped to 2014, its been a very unhappy new year. After compiling a 10-1-2 mark last month that put some distance between the teams chasing them in the Western Conference wildcard race, the Canucks have lost five in a row, including four straight to start January. The latest setback came Tuesday, when the Pittsburgh Penguins scored twice in the final 1:11 of regulation with their goalie pulled to tie the game before winning 5-4 in a shootout. All told, the Canucks have given up six goals in five games this season when opponents have their goalie on the bench for an extra attacker. "Late in games, I always talk about situational play," Canucks head coach John Tortorella said after Thursdays practice at Rogers Arena. "Situational play is a mindset and we have not totally grasped that. Thats a mental toughness, to me. I believe you can develop that type of mental toughness -- to play in the (hard) areas at certain times, at certain (moments) of games. "I think at times weve done it this year, and obviously of late here, we havent." Tortorella said the only way to deal with blown leads is to get back on the horse. "You hope youre leading again 3-2 in the third period ... and you find a way to get it done," he said. "You need to grasp something." Tortorella said that for him, the most fascinating part of coaching is the mind, adding that its his job to make sure players learn how to be tough mentally game in and game out. "I tell the players theyre screwed -- if I see it once, I know its there," said Tortorella. "When you show signs you can do it, then you need to demand yourself to do it more consistently. Thats a big part of our responsibility. Ive seen us play stiff enough to handle situations. "When youre developing an identity of a hockey club, it falls on the coach to demand it and keep it there. Im in it with them as far this little slump here." Vancouvers current losing streak includes road defeats to the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks. The Canucks currently sit in the first wildcard position, but they host the powerhouse St. Louis Blues on Friday before travelling back to Los Angeles and Anaheim as part of a three-game roadtrip. "The schedules not getting any easier," said Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa. "Weve got a lot teams that are ahead of us in the standings that were playing. These are the teams we have to beat if we want to catch them." Bieksa said the players arent dwelling on the late-game collapses, but are instead trying to learn from the mistakes. "Sometimes maybe we clench up a bit towards the end of the game with the lead because weve lost it so many times and its in the back of guys head," he said. "You still have to go out there and make a play. Its not just going back and just hammering pucks around the boards and shooting it out and then they come right back on you. "Somebodys got to make a play. Somebodys got to make a tape-to-tape pass. Somebodys got to hold onto a puck down low and kill some time. Someones got to beat a guy and get a shot on net. Its just a mindset of continuing to play the same way." Apart from blowing leads, the Canucks have also had a miserable time in the shootout this season. Vancouver has a meagre 2-6 record and is a combined 4-for-32 on shootout attempts. Tortorella had the Canucks practice the shootout for nearly 15 minutes at the end of practice on Thursday, with fourth-liner Zac Dalpe and defenceman Jason Garrison finding a measure of success. Tortorella downplayed the exercise, saying its impossible to mimic game shootout conditions in practice, before sharing what he thought of NHL games being decided by a skills competition. "It should be out of the league," he said. "That gimmick should be out of the league." Note: Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows and defenceman Alexander Edler were both full participants at Thursdays practice, but Tortorella said neither has been cleared to play. Burrows has been out with a broken jaw, while Edler has been sidelined by a knee injury. Wholesale Hydro Flask Online . - Connor McDavid scored twice and added two assists as the Erie Otters beat the Sarnia Sting 7-3 on Saturday night in Ontario Hockey League action. Wholesale Hydro Flask Cheap .com) - The New York Jets have named Mike Maccagnan their new general manager. http://www.wholesalehydroflask.com/ . Thats 14 consecutive losses to the two-time defending champs, and most of them were over before they even began. Result notwithstanding, Sundays game had a very different feel to it.Justin Wilson braced himself for what he expected to be a hard hit into the wall at Auto Club Speedway when he lost control of his car in the IndyCar season finale. Confusion set in when the British driver felt a searing pain before he ever reached it. Tristan Vautier, unable to see through the smoke of Wilsons spinning car, had driven directly into the side of Wilsons car. The impact left Wilson with a pelvic fracture and a bruised lung. "I was spinning around, I can see the wall and getting ready to hit the wall, and before I got there, theres this big, big hurt," Wilson said in a telephone interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I thought, I dont understand this. I dont quite get why this hurt so much. Just the initial impact was really painful and felt like the whole car crumpled up." It was only later that Wilson understood what had happened, why he had blood running down his hand from a small cut and what caused the damage to his Dale Coyne Racing Honda. "The whole side of the car, it broke," Wilson said. "The tub was broken, right where the steering wheel is, in line with where the steering wheel is, vertically, all the way down the tub and then the same behind the seat, so that whole section is caved in." Wilson wont be able to put any weight on his right leg for at least six weeks, but was thankful the three pelvic fractures wont require surgery. He was hoping for a Monday release from the California hospital where hes been since Saturday night so he can return home to Colorado, where his wife and two young daughters are awaiting his return. But Wilson, who cycled 100 miles the weekend before the IndyCar finale for fellow racer and actor Patrick Dempseys charitable cause, will have his work cut out for him upon his return. His 5-year-old and 3-year-old girls may have a hard time understanding why their usually active father is now sedentary. "Daddys climbing frame is going to be out of action for a while," the 6-foot-4 Wilson said. "Trying to get them to understand I cant pick them up and I cant really twist in my hips too much is going to be hard. Just the little things you dont even realize. Trying to sit up in bed is so hard; you naturally twist your hips when you dont even think about it. "Its going to be frustrating for about four weeks, and then the pain should be easing up and then I should be getting more and more mobile." Its the second serious accident in two years for Wilson, who broke a bone in his back in 20111. Wholesale Hydro Flask Water Bottle. He missed the final six races of the season and wore a back brace for more than two months as he was restricted from any physical activity. That back brace is very similar to the one Dario Franchitti was wearing in a photo his team released of the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner during his hospital stay after his Oct. 6 crash at Houston. Franchitti fractured two vertebrae and his right ankle and suffered a concussion when his car sailed into a fence on the last lap. Although the final two IndyCar races of the season resulted in two hospitalized drivers, credit has been given to Dallara DW12 that Franchitti and Wilson were not hurt more seriously. Wilson said replays of Franchittis accident reminded him of Jeff Krosnoffs fatal 1996 accident at Toronto. A track volunteer was also killed by debris from Krosnoffs crash; Franchittis wreck sent debris into the grandstands that injured 13 fans and one IndyCar official. "There are definitely things we can learn from this and we are going to be trying to work on and make it better and as safe as we can so we can walk away," Wilson said. "When I saw Darios crash, you naturally think the worst. I think back to Jeff Krosnoffs crash, when strange things like that happen, its just luck whether you go head first or the bottom of the car first. "Im sure Dario doesnt feel lucky, but were all thankful he went in with the bottom of the car first and it stood up pretty well." Wilson is also thankful the tubs where the driver sits in the DW12 were designed to be strong and absorb a hard hit. The new cars were introduced in 2012 and named after the late Dan Wheldon, who did much of the developmental testing for Dallara before his death in the 2011 IndyCar season finale. Although hes not sure the smaller sidepods on the DW12 in comparison to older cars would have made a difference in his injuries, Wilson thinks the series can study his accident. "Fortunately the tub is very strong, but I still think there are lessons we can learn from it," he said. "When another car hits you, that was always the point of the old cars, the big sidepods, on the Champ Cars, the old Indy car, the big sidepods that came past the cockpit, they would crumple. But on this car, we dont really have it. It hit right between. "It would be nice if we had big sidepods again. Im not saying it would have fixed that problem, but I think it would have helped. Im fortunate that the tub is so strong, it stood up to that hit." ' ' '