Skill issue.
The Vancouver Canucks dominated the Chicago Blackhawks, beating them 6-2 at home. Numbers-wise, it wasn’t the best of performances, with Chicago getting a good amount of the flow in their favour throughout the night. However, what was also clear was that the Blackhawks were just less cohesive, less talented of a group than the Canucks, which is crazy to say. There’s a reason why Chicago is still floundering in the basement while the Canucks (albeit unconvincingly) are sitting on the bubble.
Here’s the win, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.

Game Flow

Aside from a little surge in the second period, the game flow was pretty firmly in favour of the Blackhawks the majority of the night. The only period where the Canucks held a positive CF% share was the first period, and they didn’t manage to break 40.00 xGF% until the third period’s 43.65 xGF%. Suffice it to say that despite the score, Vancouver wasn’t handily dominating their opposition. But that was alright, given that they scored against the flow of the game and capitalized on the opportunities that they got. For all the numbers they put up, the Blackhawks weren’t able to deliver on much of them at all.

Heat Map

Vancouver did not have a great night when it came to chance generation. Chicago held a 19-16 edge in overall scoring chances at 5v5 play, while the high-danger chances were split 6-6 between the two teams. From the heat map though, it was clear that the Canucks did a much better job in converting those high-danger chances than the Hawks did, making a world of difference on the scoresheet. Again, while the raw numbers aren’t the best, Vancouver buried on the ones that they got which is what matters in the end.

Individual Advanced Stats

Corsi Champ: Filip Hronek topped the Corsi charts with his 65.38 CF%, managing to contribute an assist on the scoresheet while helping the Canucks maintain a 8-2 scoring chance edge during his time on ice. While Hronek was caddying Quinn Hughes, Vancouver managed a 3-0 high-danger chance differential, to no one’s surprise. Again, the Czech defender has probably been the best player Hughes has had as a pairing partner, and Hronek continues his good run with the many injuries to the Canucks’ captain.
Corsi Chump: Derek Forbort brought up the rear in the Corsi department, posting a 27.59 CF% in 15:21 of ice time last night. It wasn’t the best of nights for the defenceman, who posted the second-worst xGF% of 26.12, 4th-worst xGA of 0.66, and coming in with a 1-10 scoring chance deficit. Forbort was not deployed as a matchup defenceman either, making it just an off night for the Canucks’ third pairing.
xGF: Conor Garland continues a good run with a team-best 70.94 xGF% to his name. Iced against Connor Bedard last night, the winger chipped in with a team-best 0.12 xGA and 3-0 high-danger chance edge, making sure that the Blackhawks couldn’t get a sniff of anything during his TOI. With a well-earned goal and assist to his name, Garland made a big impact in translating good numbers to tangible production. Leading the way in raw xGF was none other than Tyler Myers, whose 0.60 xGF on the night just goes to show the struggle the Canucks were going through to create statistical dominance.
GSAx: A weird Arty Party. Arturs Silovs was good enough against the Blackhawks, who only managed to generate 1.79 xGF all of last night. While that also meant that Silovs would finish with a -0.21 GSAx, it also was a byproduct of the fact that Chicago were inept when it came to generating expected goals. Some cause for concern might come from the fact that both goals against came off of low-danger chances, but other than that, Silovs’ negative GSAx was more of a result of margins than poor play. Still, someone should talk to the Latvian about point shots.

Statistical Musings

Boeser’s poor showing: In a game where the Canucks put up six goals, Brock Boeser didn’t really seem to be present in any of them. The winger was not having a good night by the numbers, coming in with a team-low 15.94 xGF%, the only player to be at -30.00 xGF% rel to team average. Boeser put up a team-low 0.11 xGF while being on ice for 0 high-danger chances for and 3 high-danger chances against. It’s not really a surprise that he was invisible at best – and perhaps this adds further justification for teams not offering a first round pick for him.
Maybe Höglander was the top 6 winger Petey needed: Elias Pettersson continued to perform like the EP40 that inked the $11.6 million contract, potting in an electric goal while adding in an assist against the Blackhawks. What should be noted is that with Nils Höglander and Jake DeBrusk flanking him, Pettersson has been at his best. The trio put up strong CF% and xGF% numbers together, coming in as the second-best line in both categories. It’s been nice to see that the two Swedes have been putting things together lately, especially considering the rough start both of them had this season.
Quinn Hughes: The backbone of the Canucks’ backend, Quinn Hughes’ impact cannot be understated. Even in a game where his share metrics weren’t leading the charts, and where he didn’t accumulate the most expected goals, Hughes made a difference. He was on ice for three Canucks goals at 5v5, an 8-3 scoring chance lead and 3-1 high-danger chance advantage. There really isn’t much more a single player can do for a team, and Hughes continues to show why he is the best defenceman in the league whenever he’s in Vancouver’s lineup.

As a team

CF% – 46.15% HDCF% – 50.00% xGF% – 38.19%
While the Canucks weren’t as convincing statistically as they were on the scoreboard, one thing does matter – the fact that they took their limited opportunities and converted upon them. There should be no doubt as to which team was better from how the game played out, and just how effective the Canucks were at burying pucks. Seeing some players bouncing back into form has been encouraging, while others have proven a little bit more concerning as the playoff race really picks up for this team.
Vancouver is right back in action tonight hosting the Utah Hockey Club.
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