That sucked, badly.

The Vancouver Canucks lost to the Calgary Flames by a 5-2 scoreline. Worse than the score was the way that they lost. This team just looked awful, with nothing going right for them in any aspect of the game. Vancouver struggled to generate chances, good looks, pretty much anything and everything – and that simply just shouldn’t be happening against a team like the Flames this year. It’s especially frustrating given the types of efforts they turned in on the road, and even against the Stars last time out. The inconsistency of what this team is has to be studied.

Here’s the loss, by the numbers.

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

Filip Hronek’s early opening tally looked like it was going to get the ball rolling for the Canucks. But instead of stepping on the gas, they literally played down to their competition and allowed them to surge in front with 2 quick tallies. The first period allegedly hung in the balance, but the Canucks weren’t generating any truly good looks to challenge the Flames. The second was even more embarrassing, as Calgary would dictate play at 5v5 to finish with a 75.49 xGF% in the period. Vancouver didn’t even manage to get a single high-danger chance for in that middle frame. By the time the third rolled around, the Flames were content to protect their lead, and the Canucks simply didn’t have the juice to get the ball rolling on a comeback.

The heat map shows the disparity between the two teams when it came to chance generation. At 5v5 action, it was a pretty meagre 19-18 edge for the Canucks, but it was the Flames who held a 10-6 lead in high-danger chances. That’s evidenced by the hot spot right in front of the crease for the visiting oppostion, which was definitely much more evident than the “hot spot” the Canucks had. Honestly, you’ll have to squint to see that Vancouver had a little bit of orange in the sea of green, right in the slot area. It just isn’t good enough, and against a team like the Flames, this result should be unacceptable.

Corsi Champ: Marcus Pettersson led the Canucks in CF% last night, totalling 73.68 while playing most of his minutes against the Flames’ top 6 as Vancouver’s best defensive defenceman. The numbers showed that he turned in a pretty solid performance. On ice for a goal for and a goal against, Pettersson finished with a 53.52 xGF%, having a slight 4-3 scoring chance advantage and splitting 1-1 in high-danger chances. It’s a low-key game for a low-key player, and given what Pettersson’s role on the back end is, those results should be taken quite well.

Corsi Chump: D-Petey has been going through a rough stretch, and the Flames game last night seemed to put the cheer on top of the struggle bus. Finishing bottom of the pack with a 38.46 CF%, the young defenceman was on ice for the 4th-worst xGA at 0.79, resulting in a team-low 14.58 xGF%. Pettersson was on ice for a further 1-6 hole in scoring chances and 0-4 deficit in high-danger chances. That’s also even more alarming when put into context with this deployment. EP25 only saw 5:49 of 5v5 ice time, which was also a team-low. So, to be on ice for his shares, and these numbers with such limited playing time, is not very good.

xGF: Of all players, Tyler Myers led the Canucks in xGF%, totalling 62.56 while mostly caddying Quinn Hughes. Myers actually posted the second-best xGF on the team with a 0.7, which definitely is great for him but also probably not what a winning team would want to see when it comes to the production up and down the lineup. He split a 7-7 scoring chance tilt with a 1-3 hole in high-danger chances during his TOI as well. As for the leader in xGF, Hughes was doing all he could to drag the Canucks to a result, posting a 1.28 xGF to lead this team.

GSAx: Kevin Lankinen looked brutal last night. While out chancing the Canucks, it wasn’t as if the Flames were setting the world alight with their chance generation or offensive pressure. In total, Calgary managed to record 2.35 xGF on the night, which meant that with 5 goals getting past Lankinen, his GSAx on the night was a -2.65. That’s simply unacceptable for an NHL netminder, and a bunch of the goals were particularly rough as well. Four snuck by from high-danger areas, but a bunch of them were not ones that Lankinen should be giving up. The remaining goal came from a low-danger chance. Suffice it to say that the whole team just did not look great, and Lankinen was yet another symptom of that.

What do you mean David Kampf isn’t a second line center: Vancouver’s center depth is a problem. That isn’t exactly news, but with how poorly the Conor Garland – David Kampf – Brock Boeser line played, it only magnified the topic. Yes, they had a 66.67 CF% as a line, but a 44.60 xGF% against a team like the Flames doesn’t make sense. Garland has been a play driver all year but looked more than a little nerfed last night, while Boeser was barely noticeable. That’s a big concern, given how the Canucks need both of them to produce in order to actually win games, and it’s also rapidly apparent that Kampf is not the answer to unlocking that offensive potential. It makes sense why management has checked in on other options, but one has to wonder just what needs to happen to get an actual top 6 calibre player.

This game sucked. There was no redeeming quality to this loss whatsoever. The Canucks just didn’t perform and failed to launch, which is especially frustrating when they’re playing a team that’s supposed to be a lot worse off than them. Vancouver is capped out, while the Flames are actively in a rebuild. And yet, it was hard to tell which team was which based on how they played last night. The best defenceman in team history has one foot out the door, and it seems like this team isn’t going to do much of anything to convince him to stay.

Vancouver rolls into Anaheim to take on the surging Ducks (who did an actual rebuild and are now top of the Pacific!) on Wednesday night.