Of all the statistics produced through the Vancouver Canucks first six games, the one that matters most is four victories.

Wins early in the season mean just as much as those late in the schedule. And after dropping two of their first three games, the Canucks have found a way to grind out three straight promising results to open their five-game road trip.

The process has not been perfect, but spread scoring, signs of life from the power play and top-notch goaltending have helped the Canucks get their ship pointed in the right direction nearly two weeks into the new season.

Beyond the wins and losses, here are six statistics that stand out from the hockey club’s early outings.

Jake DeBrusk has already had 11 high-danger shots on goal through six games, according to NHL Edge. Only Jake Guentzel and Jason Robertson have had more across the National Hockey League. So DeBrusk is getting his chances – good ones, too.

He had a career-high 10 shots on goal on Friday in Chicago and is second on the team with 18 shots on the season. Of DeBrusk’s 18 shots on net so far, 11 have been considered from high danger spots on the ice (in the blue paint or in areas just outside of it). So that’s encouraging. However, DeBrusk has just one goal so far – a power play marker against the Blackhawks. On his own, the veteran winger has accounted for 11 of the team’s 46 high-danger shots (23.9%).

Now, he just needs to find a way to convert, and the numbers suggest a correction is coming. A career 12.9% shooter over 553 NHL games, DeBrusk’s early season shooting percentage is just 5.6%.

Conor Garland’s average ice time is nearly six minutes more than it was just two seasons ago. In the team’s 50-win/109-point season, the feisty forward averaged just 14:32 of ice time. He was very much limited to a third line role with almost no special teams time.

Fast forward to the early stages of this season, and Garland is doing everything for the Canucks. He leads the team in scoring and leads all forwards in average ice time per game. Two seasons ago, he averaged a single second of penalty killing time over the course of 82 games. Now, he’s logging 2:59 per game of shorthanded ice time.

He has earned more ice time and responsibility with his performance, and he seems to be thriving with the increased workload. Two seasons ago, Garland averaged 20.5 shifts per game. In the early going this season, that number has jumped to 24.3.

That is the team’s expected goal share with captain Quinn Hughes on the ice at 5-on-5 so far this season. That’s also a far cry from the 66.5% xGF share Hughes posted last season when he tilted the ice in the Canucks favour on almost every shift.

This isn’t to say Quinn Hughes has played poorly to open the new season. It’s more of a reflection that he has yet to find that top gear that sets him apart from just about everyone else in the league.

The Canucks have a narrow 6-5 edge in goals scored at 5-on-5 in 116 minutes with Hughes on the ice so far. So he’s still helping them produce more goals than they’re surrendering. But, like many of his teammates, Hughes has clearly benefited from terrific netminding when he’s been on the ice. There should be no worries about the state of Hughes’ game or that he’ll find ways to elevate in short order. And, in fact, that has to be an exciting prospect for a team that has won four of six.

They’ve done it with their best skater looking like a mere mortal instead of the superhuman hockey player he will certainly be once again before long.

Linus Karlsson leads all Canucks in early season Corsi For. The Canucks have controlled shot attempts at 5-on-5 to the tune of 28-19 with the Swedish forward on the ice. It’s a small sample size to be sure since Karlsson has only appeared in the team’s last three games. But across the board, his underlying numbers are strong.

The Canucks have outshot opponents 15-9 and outscored them 3-1 with Karlsson on the ice so far. The scoring chances favour the Canucks 11-10, and high dangers are 7-3. Add it all up, and the Canucks are controlling 58.6% of expected goals in his minutes.

Karlsson made all kinds of noise on Abbotsford’s run to the Calder Cup last spring. His play in the National Hockey League is far more subdued. However, he and his Abbotsford linemates Max Sasson and Arshdeep Bains have looked good together in their limited NHL action this season.

If they can continue to win their minutes and spend the majority of their shifts in the offensive zone, they will continue to earn opportunities from this coaching staff. And with injuries now throughout the forward ranks, those increased opportunities are likely to start tonight in Pittsburgh.

That is the combined number of shots from guys named Elias Pettersson so far. For the sake of this article, we’ll set the single shot from the defender (against Edmonton on October 11th) aside. That leaves just eight shots from the original Elias Pettersson.

It was great to see him open the scoring with his first of the season in Washington on Sunday. That came on one of his two shots on net against the Capitals. What the box score won’t show is that Pettersson’s hardest shot of the season also came in that game.

According to NHL Edge, a third period blast was clocked at 88.32 miles per hour. He had just four shots faster than that all of last season. So while there is still plenty of work to do to regain his offensive flair, Pettersson is showing some signs of life with the puck on his stick.

However, he needs to find ways to put more pucks on net. His shot totals have been in steady decline from a career high of 257 in 2022-23 to 207 the following season to just 109 (in 64 games) last season. And now with just eight shots on goal through six games, he’s on pace for 109 over an 82-game schedule.

Ping. That sound has been heard 11 times already from Vancouver Canucks shooters. That is the number of posts and crossbars the Canucks have hit through their first six games. Only the Minnesota Wild have hit more (12).

According to league statistics, the Canucks have clanked eight shots off posts and three others off crossbars so far this season. Jake DeBrusk and Quinn Hughes have both hit posts twice, while Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson (F), and Filip Hronek have fallen victim to vertical iron. Pettersson, Marcus Pettersson and Tyler Myers have all pinged shots off the crossbar.

Last season, the Canucks were 31st in the league – ahead of only Chicago – with a total of 82 shots striking iron. Right now, they are on pace for it to happen 150 times. Of course, those numbers will likely normalize as the season rolls along. For what it’s worth, Buffalo led the league with 128 shots off posts and crossbars last season. But as the Sabres can tell you, close doesn’t count for much.