Talk about snipping and snapping.
After one of the worst losses of the season, the Vancouver Canucks put together a much better performance to down the Colorado Avalanche by a 3-1 scoreline. This go around, the team came out of the gates with a much better effort, putting pressure on the Avs early to help get them in front. Though a myriad of penalties bogged the game down, the Canucks did well especially on the penalty kill, holding Colorado at bay each and every time. It wasn’t the prettiest way to win this contest, especially at the end, but credit to Vancouver for managing to pull two points out at home.
Here’s the win, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.

Game Flow

The first period was an inverse of what happened to the Canucks against the Bruins. They put up a massive 90.14 xGF%, managing to record 1.18 xGF while only facing down 0.13 xGA. The goal they scored was deserved based on the back of their play, as the Canucks were able to ride that momentum to the first intermission. However, with the start of the second, the Avs were all over the Canucks the rest of the way. Colorado recorded over 65.00 CF% in the second and third periods while posting a 56.25 xGF% in the second and an 84.82 xGF% in the third. Vancouver was able to minimize the damage in the second by putting up 0.61 xGF to 0.079 xGA, but found themselves defending the lead more in the third which dropped their expected goals down to 0.14.

Heat Map

Despite the big swings in expected goals, the heat map shows that chances were few and far between for these two teams. At 5v5, the scoring chances were dead even at 19-19, with the Avs having a 10-7 edge in high-danger chances at even strength. Obviously, Colorado saw a big jump in their total scoring chance numbers thanks to the 4 powerplays they had, jumping to a 29-24 lead overall and 16-10 in just high-danger chances. But, the Canucks didn’t break even if they bent a little bit more, with the only goal coming in the dying minutes of the game. Thanks a lot, Dave Tomlinson.

Individual Advanced Stats

Corsi Champ: All this noise about Elias Pettersson being traded makes no sense at all, especially considering the return being discussed. Last night the Swede led all Canucks with a 63.16 CF%, managing to control his matchups against the Avs’ second line extremely well. Most notably, with Cale Makar being the defenceman who played the most against Pettersson, the Swede dominated the alleged Norris front-runner, putting up 75.00 CF% and 92.85 xGF% on his head. Yes, it didn’t come with a goal in this one, but Pettersson’s 56.37 xGF% was a healthy, respectable margin that contributed positively to this team’s victory.
Corsi Chump: Teddy Blueger brought up the rear for the Canucks in this one, which was interesting considering that there weren’t many matchup duties for him to be involved in. Posting a 26.09 CF%, the Latvian also finished with the second-worst xGF% of 16.97 while giving up a 1-10 deficit in scoring chances, along with a 0-5 margin of high-danger chances against. This was with Blueger centering a new look line between Nils Hoglander and Dakota Joshua – maybe some more time to mesh could be helpful for this trio.
xGF: These names probably weren’t in the front running to lead this category, but what a performance it was from them last night. Danton Heinen led the way for the Canucks in xGF%, posting an 86.37 with a team-best 0.13 xGA and 4th-best 0.84 xGF. While the winger wasn’t deployed extensively, Heinen did match up against the Avs’ second line while posting these numbers, showing that it wasn’t a result of sheltered minutes. Leading the way in raw xGF was Carson Soucy of all players, tacking on 1.6 xGF while being on ice for a team-best 15 scoring chances for. Soucy also saw plenty of action on the penalty kill too, featuring for a team-high 6 minutes.
GSAx: Okay Thatcher, pop off. Demko looked back into Vezina form last night for his first win of the season, posting a 2.23 GSAx off of the Avs 3.23 xGF they generated last night. He was so close to posting a shutout against Colorado with only a single high-danger chance squeaking past him in the dying moments of the game. Still, this performance is a resounding success, and while the Canucks did tighten up their defensive game in front of him, Demko still did some impressive heavy lifting to show why he’s one of the best netminders in the league.

Statistical Musings

Sherwood>Blackwood: Who would’ve thought that Kiefer Sherwood of all players would post a hat trick in the 2024-25 season? The winger has been a revelation for the Canucks and one that has been consistently bringing his energy throughout the season. Alongside Heinen and Pius Suter, the fourth line brought a massive 88.27 xGF% to the table, leading all Canuck forward lines in that category. Not to mention, they also led the team in raw xGF and xGA, tallying a 0.84 and 0.11 respectively. For the fourth line to be recording nearly an entire expected goal is a huge contribution – especially considering that the first and second line combined for 0.82 xGF.
Monster pairing: Somehow Soucy-Juulsen has emerged as a solid pairing, and that was on full display against the Avs. Together, the pair of them contributed 62.96 CF% and 73.27 xGF% with a 1.4 xGF, holding the likes of Mikko Rantanen and Nathan Mackinnon to just 2 high-danger chances. It’s quite something to see how the Avs best players’ numbers got dampened to sub 50% against Soucy-Juulsen, which isn’t something many would’ve thought to have been possible just a couple of weeks ago.
Neutralizing the big guns: Much of the role of taking on Rantanen and Mackinnon fell onto JT Miller’s shoulders, and while the share metrics still had things favouring the Avs’ best players, it wasn’t to the extent that they normally would be dominating their matchups. Miller did a good job of holding them to about 55% in both CF% and xGF%, only seeing 2 high-danger chances against at 5v5. That isn’t bad at all, considering how lethal the pair of them can be at any given moment.

As a team

CF% – 46.30% HDCF% – 36.46% xGF% – 50.95%
The Canucks showed a much better effort in this one against the Avs. Though the second and third periods decisively flowed against them, the home team jumped out of the gates and played a tighter, more defensively-sound performance and got the result that they wanted. The depth pieces stepped up in a big way while the high-end talent tied down the opposition – and that showed itself in the final result. Not bad to get contributions up and down the lineup.
Vancouver heads into Salt Lake City for their first ever regular season game against the Utah Hockey Club tomorrow.
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