
Stats


#Canucks five best players by shot-attempt share via @HockeyStatsCa pic.twitter.com/JnOYrYw886
— J.D. Burke (@JDylanBurke) December 29, 2016
#Canucks five worst players by shot-attempt share via @HockeyStatsCa pic.twitter.com/hp9VNTpGqM
— J.D. Burke (@JDylanBurke) December 29, 2016
Quick Hits
- I know it’s only December 28th, but if the Canucks lost this game, they lost whatever small shred of belief in a playoff chase they might’ve left the Christmas break with. Tonight’s game puts the Canucks five points back of the Kings, who hold down the final playoff spot in the West. Had they lost tonight, they’d be nine down. Their odds aren’t great as is, but that’s just about the final nail in the coffin. You just can’t understate how important this game was for the Canucks.
Kings still on pace for 91 pts so the Canucks ONLY need to go 28-15-4 rest of the way to match the 8th place team’s pace #stillnothappening https://t.co/pITRPo2m3p
— Satiar Shah (@SatiarShah) December 28, 2016
- Edler takes a lot of grief in this market, almost all of it undeserved. I wrote today about the possibility of Troy Stecher as the Canucks best defenceman. The only player that gave me moment for pause was Edler. He was at his best tonight. Edler was physical, contributed offensively and held his own in the defensive end. He was also the only Canuck to leave tonight in the black by shot attempt share. Not bad for his first game back from a broken finger, right?
- Luca Sbisa’s been playing well this season. Right now he’s on the Canucks second pair alongside Chris Tanev, which makes a tonne of sense. I’m not sure if he’s playing well enough to warrant a team-leading 22:36 in ice-time, though. He didn’t necessarily look bad at any point, but it’s hard to succeed as a team when Sbisa is your lead horse. That’s something the Canucks would be wise to monitor, and maybe adjust going into their next game.
- The Canucks second unit power play looked great tonight. Loui Eriksson was its featured member, scoring the opening goal and almost potting another shortly thereafter. That unit is fairly shooter heavy, so it makes sense that they’d be relatively successful in the Canucks current power play configuration. Hopefully that’s a developing trend and not a flash in the pan.
Kings player 1: “I thought you were covering Eriksson…”
Kings player 2: “I thought YOU were covering Eriksson…” pic.twitter.com/ghU08Pi9SZ
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 29, 2016
- Miller was the star of the game. The Canucks had a ten-minute span in the first period without a single shot attempt. They followed that up in the third with a 15-minute span without an even strength shot attempt. Their forwards didn’t win this game. If you want proof, look at the HockeyStats shot plot posted under the stats tab.
#Canucks WD on Miller: ‘he’s a good goalie. I think he’s one of the best in the league.’
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) December 29, 2016