Add another one to the ethical tank losses.

The Vancouver Canucks fell just short last night, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 3-2 scoreline. It really was a good effort: the Canucks put in a third period that saw them nearly come all the way back. They played a good, solid game overall and managed to find legs that weren’t quite there to start the first. And in the end, they still lost in regulation.

Here’s the loss, by the numbers.

As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.

It didn’t start out all that promising for the Canucks. While their xGF% was above 50.00, their CF% sat at 45.45, with the Penguins able to drive plenty of momentum through the opening frame as a result. That was also enough for them to carry it into the second period, as Pittsburgh struck thrice after tallying 57.14 CF% and 59.89 xGF% in the middle frame alone. However, the Canucks managed to wake up a little bit into the third, finishing the period with a 61.76 CF% and 63.73 xGF%, racking up 10 high-danger chances and a total of 1.59 xGF in the frame alone. It was an exciting end to a game where they could’ve just turtled and called it a day.

The heat map looks pretty solid from a Canucks perspective. Sure, they gave up a good chunk of chances from right in the low slot area, but they were able to get plenty of their own as well. Vancouver had the narrow lead in overall scoring chances at 31-29, but were able to stretch a pretty nice gap of 20-14 high-danger chances at 5v5 play. They weren’t able to convert on too many of them, but to see them being able to consistently generate these looks is already a big step in the right direction, especially compared to some other contests.

Corsi Champ: Nils Höglander was able to lead the Canucks with a 57.89 CF%, but he and his linemates, Max Sasson and Linus Karlsson, weren’t quite able to recapture the magic that had made them such a good line the last time out. On ice for a goal against, Höglander also recorded just a 47.05 xGF%, which was a slight -6.38 xGF% rel to team average. Again, not the worst thing in the world, and certainly from a bottom-six line, it’s not going to have the biggest of negative impacts. But again, one would hope there are bigger things in store for Höglander.

Corsi Chump: Pierre-Olivier Joseph brought up the rear in the Corsi department, generating a mere 36.00 CF% while never having a set defensive partner all night. It was definitely not a banner performance from him by any stretch of the imagination, as Joseph was on ice for two goals against with a team-worst 28.67 xGF%. Simply put, it wasn’t good enough — but then again, he is the seventh defenceman on this team for a reason.

xGF: Filip Hronek continues to throw this team on his back. Not only did he put up a team-best 68.94 xGF%, but his 2.30 xGF was a team-best as well, leading the roster by a wide margin as the next-best mark was D-Petey’s 1.79 xGF. Hronek’s contribution was immense, on ice for a 19-11 scoring chance lead and 13-7 high-danger chance edge. There’s not much more a single player can do, and he’s consistently been a rock for this inexperienced Canucks back end. Hopefully, his leadership can provide plenty more than just numbers on the stat sheet and points.

GSAx: Kevin Lankinen did his part last night. While he wasn’t stealing the game for the Canucks, the Finn put in a very solid performance between the pipes as he faced down 3.24 xGF against the Pens. With three goals against split evenly from all three danger zones, that meant that Lankinen finished with a 0.24 GSAx, a marginal positive that showed that he upheld his end of the bargain. Vancouver probably deserved better given the amount of expected goals they generated, but Lankinen certainly wasn’t dragging this team down with his performances.

Tale of two lines: It’s probably surprising to see this, but the Kane – Pettersson – DeBrusk line actually did pretty well for themselves. Their 52.17 CF%, 1.14 xGF, and 59.61 xGF% were all team-bests, with an even 5-5 high-danger chance split at 5v5 action. This was also playing right up against the Sidney Crosby line, which is not exactly weak opposition. Considering their immense struggles together, it’s seriously nice to see a performance like this at both ends of the ice, and one can hope it isn’t an anomaly in their performances together.

On the flip side of this equation, though, O’Connor – Chytil – Boeser were markedly less effective than they were against the Capitals. Together, their 46.88 CF% was the second-lowest, while they were on ice for a team-worst 1.01 xGA and posting a second-worst 38.42 xGF%. Considering that they played the most minutes out of any line the Canucks had, it wasn’t the best look for them — but at the very least, they didn’t give up a goal against.

The Canucks probably did deserve to win this one. They did a lot of the right things, and despite a rockier second, were able to turn it on in the third and make it a close contest. Unfortunately, they fell short, but for the long-term gain of the team, this result was nice. It also showed just where the Canucks were lacking compared to the Pens, how good teams were able to close out games and capitalize when they could, and how the Canucks weren’t just there yet. Hopefully, with the right rebuild, they can get there.

Vancouver welcomes Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks to town tomorrow night.