This team hardly looked nervous.
The Vancouver Canucks defeated the St. Louis Blues by a 5-2 scoreline last night. They got themselves in front and never looked back, not surrendering the lead that they built with speed and efficiency. The defensive work was great, and Vancouver capitalized where they could. It was a textbook road win and one that has been sorely missing from the Canucks’ repertoire all year. Is this a sign of things to come, or is it just a flash in the pan?
Here’s the win, by the numbers.

Game Flow

The game started out innocuously enough, looking like it was going to be a back-and-forth tilt on the road. Not until the powerplay goal did the Canucks manage to seize the momentum in this contest, taking a 75.86 CF% and 74.88 xGF% share into the break. The raw numbers might not have been tremendously impressive, but the shares were indicative of where this game was headed. Vancouver secured a 50% CF% and 52.38 xGF% in a much more action-packed second, out-duelling St. Louis and getting firm control of the game with a 4-1 lead. That would be all the Canucks needed to see this out – though an empty net goal by Tyler Myers really put the cherry on top.

Heat Map

It wasn’t the most chance-heavy game last night at 5v5. But, amongst that context, the Canucks did well for themselves. Vancouver had a 20-14 scoring chance advantage and a 6-3 high-danger chance lead. The Blues didn’t get a single sniff when it came to a high-danger hot spot, and while the Canucks didn’t really dominate that either, the defensive performance should be commended. As well as accounting for the power play, Vancouver’s penalty kill unit did very well to limit St. Louis to a single high-danger chance, especially considering the double minor assessed in the middle of the period.

Individual Advanced Stats

Corsi Champ: It makes sense that Conor Garland would find himself atop the charts with his performance last night. Leading the Canucks with a 67.88 CF%, the diminutive winger was all over the shop for the team as Vancouver posted an 11-3 lead in shots for during his time on ice. This was all coming while playing against the likes of Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou, so it wasn’t as if he didn’t have good quality of opposition – but again, playing with Quinn Hughes does tend to help with matters as well.
Corsi Chump: Linus Karlsson found himself in the lineup and lining up alongside Elias Pettersson but still managed to post a team-low 38.10 CF% last night. However, it wasn’t all bad – the Swedish winger tallied a 58.01 xGF%, which put him in the top half of the entire team in that regard, while also being on ice for just one high-danger chance against. Obviously, it would be nice to see Karlsson retain the puck a little more, but the results honestly weren’t the worst, either.
xGF: Surprise, surprise. Conor Garland finds himself leading the Canucks in xGF% and raw xGF as well, tallying a 78.17 and 0.91, respectively, on the night. He was on ice for a 7-4 advantage in scoring chances, facing no high-danger chances against while having three high-danger chances directed toward the Blues net. It was great to see that out of him especially considering the lack of depth scoring as of late, and it seemed that energy was transmitted throughout the Canucks’ lineup all of last night.
GSAx: Kevin Lankinen definitely wasn’t the busiest man last night, but he more than held up his end of the bargain. The Finn faced down a 2.21 xGF from the Blues to come out with a 0.21 GSAx, with the only two goals coming from low-danger chances. Not the best of goals to be giving up, but at the same time, it wasn’t as if Lankinen was bleeding goals. He didn’t give up anything more than he was expected to, and for the Canucks, it was more than enough to get the win.

Statistical Musings

D-Petey putting on a show: It might only be his second NHL game, but Elias Pettersson is making a case to stay in the lineup for just that little bit longer. Paired up with Carson Soucy and given relatively easier opposition in the form of the Blues’ middle-six, Pettersson put up some convincing numbers. Holding a 55.17 CF%, the real story was the Swede’s 74.33 xGF%, which actually put him as the second-best Canuck in that category. His raw 0.77 xGF ranked him as the fifth-best Canuck, while his 0.27 xGA was the third-best amongst Canuck defencemen. Not bad company to be keeping with decently solid rates throughout this performance – and hopefully, we’ll be seeing more of D-Petey in the games to come.
Third line putting in work: Jake DeBrusk got moved off the top six last night, playing alongside Pius Suter and Conor Garland on the nominal third line. They ended up posting the best stats of any Canuck forward line while playing the most minutes at 5v5. Their 63.64 CF% was closely behind the Heinen-Miller-Boeser’s line 64.71 CF% while posting a team-best 0.71 xGF and being on ice for a team-high three high-danger chances with zero high-danger chances against. Now, the top six didn’t have the raw numbers to compare, but their rate metrics were comparable – however, having another line that could pick up the slack and keep the momentum going was a huge part of the win.

As a team

CF% – 51.76% HDCF% – 69.23% xGF% – 64.07%
The Canucks played well. For the first time in a while, they got themselves in front and never looked back, holding off their opposition in a convincing fashion while limiting the momentum they could get when it came to scoring effects. This was the type of win the 2023-24 Canucks were known for, so it was especially nice to see a return of this kind of style. Hopefully, it’s a sign of things to come, but that will remain to be seen given the consistency issues of this group.
Vancouver heads into Nashville to take on the Predators tomorrow.
Stats provided by naturalstattrick.com
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