All things considered, it could’ve been a lot worse.

The Vancouver Canucks suffered a 3-1 loss to the red-hot Colorado Avalanche. Given how dominant their opposition has been all season, this was definitely not a horrible loss by any means. It does, however, feel like a common theme for the Canucks this year, and perhaps the last decade – close, but not close enough. They did well to make it a game, but once more, they definitely didn’t do enough to spur themselves onto a win.

Here’s the loss, by the numbers.

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

It should track pretty well that the period where the game hung most in the balance was the one where Vancouver and Colorado were tied 1-1. The Avs would finish the frame with slight edges in both share metrics, but the first period also saw the Canucks generate their best xGF in a single period this contest at 0.56. That isn’t the most impressive number in the whole world, but they still managed to find the scoresheet which was all that mattered. However, the second period saw Colorado seize the initiative, holding massive 68.42 CF% and 70.81 xGF% shares, a 1.12 xGF to their name as they scored twice to push the game to 3-1. That was how it finished, as the Canucks simply did not have the juice to overcome that second period surge.

The heat map actually doesn’t look as bad as one might think. While the Avs did win handily, they really only had one period where they were clearly the better team. The overall scoring chances did stand at 27-19 for Colorado, with an 11-4 edge in high-danger chances. They had a light dusting of red right in the slot area to reflect that, but it wasn’t as dominant as one might’ve thought it would be. Relatively speaking the Canucks did a good job of limiting the chances against – the problem was that they didn’t get many chances of their own.

Corsi Champ: It was another solid game from Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who led the Canucks with 57.14 CF% last night while featuring on the first line with Evander Kane and Elias Pettersson. His xGF% hovered just above team average, and the young Swede was actually on ice for the third-least xGA on the team with 0.32. That’s not a bad performance by any stretch of the imagination, and especially in the role Lekkerimäki was given. Hopefully, with the season all but a wash, he and some of the younger Canucks will be given more runway to play.

Corsi Chump: Arshdeep Bains brought up the rear of the pack when it came to his Corsi, recording a 25.00 CF% against the Avs. The winger was on ice for a 1-7 shots hole, only posting a 20.15 xGF% as the worst Canuck in that category as well. It wasn’t his finest game against Colorado’s bottom 6, but hey, he did pick up an assist on the only Canuck goal of the game.

xGF: Evander Kane led the Canucks in xGF% again, as he recorded a 65.44 off the team’s best xGA at 0.19. It was a relatively uneventful game for Kane, as he was on ice for a 0-0 high-danger chance tilt. That’s right, while he was on the ice, the Canucks and Avs simply did not generate any true grade-A chances. That’s acceptable, especially considering the quality of the opposition they were facing. As for raw xGF, Quinn Hughes led the team with 0.99, managing to split an 8-8 battle in scoring chances and 1-1 high-danger chance difference. Other than his body language, it wasn’t the worst outing by the Canucks captain – it could’ve been better though.

GSAx: Kevin Lankinen had a decent enough performance against the Avalanche. Colorado didn’t generate as many expected goals as one might expect, only managing 2.48 all of last night. That meant with 3 goals getting past the Finn, Lankinen finished with a -0.52 GSAx. That’s not the best performance that he could’ve given, but at the same time, he also only got 1 goal as run support in front of him. The Canucks needed to generate a lot more offence to win this contest, as Lankinen certainly wasn’t the issue here. He let 2 high-danger chances past him, with the remaining goal coming from middle-danger.

Right into the deep end: Tom Willander once more was put up against some of the best that Vancouver’s opposition had to offer. That didn’t mean that he was up against Nathan MacKinnon, but Willander was entrusted to play up against Ross Colton and Gabriel Landeskog. He held his own pretty darn well alongside Marcus Pettersson, managing to hover right around team-average when it came to xGF% while only facing 2 high-danger chances against. It’s not the worst outcome by any means, and against a team like the Avs, it’s definitely an accomplishment to be holding your own.

Pumping up the trade value: With trade interest surrounding plenty of Canucks as they look to become younger, Kiefer Sherwood continues to look mighty impressive according to the analytics. Last night, Sherwood posted the team’s third-best xGF% at 53.16, the 4th-best xGF at 0.55 while playing in heavy top-6 minutes. The production has definitely dropped off a little, with the winger going pointless in the last 5 contests, but his underlying numbers continue to be strong. Hopefully, Sherwood can find the scoresheet a little more to drive up his price.

Dominating the matchup: One of the things that flew under the radar was Elias Pettersson matching up directly against Nathan MacKinnon. Now, it might be crazy to say that Pettersson was handling business well, especially considering that MacKinnon still racked up 2 goals on the night. However, none of those goals came while Pettersson was sharing the ice with him, and that was for very good reason. The Swede absolutely locked up one of the best forwards in the league this year, controlling a 77.78 CF% and 83.00 xGF% share against him. Pettersson managed to keep a 4-1 scoring chance advantage with a 0-0 high-danger chance split. That’s excellent work to keep MacKinnon tied down, and it’s a shame that the rest of the roster simply isn’t good enough to make the most of a defensive performance like this one.

The Canucks could’ve lost by more, and maybe should’ve given the disparity in the two teams’ run of fortune thus far in the season. But, they kept it close, and were right there with one of the league’s best for the large majority of the game. Unfortunately, they’ve done this multiple times this year, where they’re close but never close enough. It’s been a big separator for the Canucks, that differentiates them from the teams that are actually competitive.

Vancouver gets a bit of a break before they host the Utah Mammoth on Friday.