Canucks at 60: the numbers behind the record

Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin – USA TODAY Sports

The Vancouver Canucks have played 60 games. Some have been better than others, but there haven’t been nearly enough good ones, which goes a long way towards explaining why they’re four points below the playoff bar in the Western Conference as the roll into their league-mandated week off.

While the players take their break, the 60 games the Canucks have played is a natural time to pause and crunch some numbers. This is not a deep dive on why the Canucks are where they are in the standings. We’ve already written much to that effect in this space, and much more will undoubtedly be devoted to the many issues plaguing this hockey club.

The following are numbers that jump off the page at me when examining the Canucks season to this point. Some of this is trivial, others item are a little more telling. You may know some of these facts and figures already, while you may discover a few new things along the way.

Consider this week off for the Canucks a reading break of sorts. With that in mind, here’s a little reading material for you. This stuff clogs up my brain, and I need to let it out. These are 30 stats about the Canucks through 60 games:

1)      16: the number of regulation wins for the Canucks through 60 games this season. Another six of their wins have come in overtime and the other four in a shootout

2)      the Canucks have six regulation wins against teams currently above the playoff bar

3)      the Canucks have just three regulation wins against teams currently in a divisional playoff spot (MIN, FLA & CBJ). 14 of their remaining games are against teams currently holding down divisional berths

4)      20 of 30 visitors to Rogers Arena this season have left with at least a point

5)      Canucks are 18-9-3 at home this season (39 points in 30 games). Visitors are 12-10-8 (32 points in 30 games) at Rogers Arena

6)      Overall, opponents are 34-16-10 against the Canucks (78 points in 60 games). That’s .650 hockey

7)      Canucks have given up the first goal in 38 of 60 games. They have fallen behind 2-0 in 22 of those 38 games

8)      Canucks have 14+73=87 from defensemen this season. That’s two points fewer than they had at the same mark a year ago (17+72=89). Troy Stecher leads all Canucks defensemen with 2+16=18 in the 51 games he’s played. Ben Hutton leads the blue line with four goals in his 49 games

9)      Ryan Miller has made 37 starts for the Canucks this season. Jakob Markstrom has started 23 times. Miller has started 16 of 22 in 2017

10)   Bo Horvat has 3+3=6 in his past five games and 8+11=19 in the past 24 at a time when so many others are struggling to pick up points. He’s continued to produce despite playing the past seven games without his usual linemate Sven Baertschi

11)   Ben Hutton has 0+4=4 in eight games back after missing a month with a hand injury

12)   Brandon Sutter has gone 11 games without an assist and has just one helper in his past 15 games

13)   Daniel Sedin has one goal in his past 16 games

14)   Henrik Sedin has one goal in his past 13 games

15)   Loui Eriksson has one point (a power play goal in Columbus) in his last 14 games

16)   the Canucks have finished the night with two goals in 17 of their 60 games. That is the most-frequent goal total for the team this season. They have scored three goals in 13 games and been held to one goal 11 times

17)   Six goals in an 8-6 loss in Carolina is the team’s highest goal output of the season. They have scored five goals on four occasions

18)   the Canucks have been shutout seven times and have blanked their opponents on three occasions

19)   2017 record: since January 1st, the Canucks are 9-10-3 with 48 goals for & 57 goals against

20)   2017 goal leaders: Horvat & Granlund 8 apiece. Sutter has 6, Baertschi has 5

21)   30 games without a fight dating back to a December 13th scrap between Luca Sbisa and Ron Hainsey in Carolina

22)   despite being limited to just 14 games, Derek Dorsett leads the Canucks with three fighting majors this season. Eric Gudbranson and Luca Sbisa each have two

23)   After Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia, the Canucks have a 5-8 record in second half of back to back games this season with 25 goals scored

24)   the Canucks are 26-28-6 (58 points) at the 60 game mark. Last season, they were 24-24-12 (60 pts)

25)   Daniel Sedin led the club with 22+30=52 through 60 games a year ago. Bo Horvat leads the team this season with 18+22=40

26)   the Sedins had combined for 98 points through 60 games last season. This season, they have 70 points combined

27)   despite playing only ten games in the American Hockey League this season, Michael Chaput remains a top-10 scorer for the Utica Comets. Chaput is T-10 with 2+11=13

28)   Chris Tanev was the fifth Canuck to score an overtime winner this season when he settled Saturday night’s game against Calgary. Henrik Sedin has scored a pair (vs. Buffalo and Anaheim). Brandon Sutter, Markus Granlund and Ben Hutton (on a November 17th penalty shot against Arizona) have the others. The Canucks are 6-4 in games settled in overtime this season

29)   Canucks shooters are 5/17 in shootouts this season, and Canucks goalies have stopped 16 of 19 opposition attempts. As a whole, the team is 4-2 in the skills competition. The Canucks last shootout was in Philadelphia on January 12th and prior to that on New Year’s Eve in Edmonton. The Canucks went to a shootout in four of their first 25 games this season, but just two in the past 35

30)   there are 22 games to go. Bring on the trade deadline, draft lottery, the expansion draft and the NHL draft.