Well.

The Vancouver Canucks dropped a 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. This game was never close; the Canucks never threatened the Red Wings. Sure, the stats weren’t the worst thing in the entire world, but Vancouver simply couldn’t handle one surge from Detroit, and then could not find enough bite to get back into this game. There was no response, no comeback, pretty much no juice in anything that they did.

Here’s the loss, by the numbers.

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

The first and third periods weren’t terrible for the Canucks. In terms of puck possession, Vancouver was holding a 58.06 CF% in the first and a 59.09 CF% in the third. That didn’t translate too much to the expected goals, but the Canucks were ever so slightly favoured above 50.00 xGF%. The second was where things flipped to Detroit’s side though, as though Vancouver still had a 55.17 CF%, it was the Red Wings that posted a 64.29 xGF%. That was enough for them to get that 3-1 lead too, because after that, with score effects accounted for, the Canucks just didn’t have an answer at all.

It was a pretty low-event game all things considered. At 5v5, the scoring chances stood at 27-22 for the Canucks and a further 8-5 advantage in high-danger chances for them. That much is shown through the heat map, with the relatively denser spot in the slot area for Vancouver. Still, given the numbers, it wasn’t as if either team was doing much of anything, and the Canucks weren’t able to deliver on the slim advantage that they had regardless.

Corsi Champ: Filip Hronek continues his strong play, posting the team’s best CF% at 68.57 while paired up with Zeev Buium, who looked good in the first but was a little shaky through the second and third. He ate up his minutes against the Wings’ top 6, holding a 12-7 scoring chance advantage and 3-1 high-danger chance lead. Hronek didn’t give up a single 5v5 goal against to put the cherry on top of his performance, as he is rapidly becoming the backbone for this entire blueline to lean on.

Corsi Chump: On the flip side, Elias Pettersson brought up the rear in the Corsi department with a 45.16 CF%. It’s far cry from the performances he had been turning in (and a possible reason for it we’ll get to later), with the numbers and results not being good across the board. Pettersson had the third-worst xGF% at 29.65 with a team-worst 1.24 xGA, on ice for two goals against to boot. It simply just isn’t good enough from the team’s 1C, but in his defence, it wasn’t as if he was put into a position to succeed.

xGF: Liam Öhgren posted the team’s best xGF% with a 70.92 to his name. It’s been a good stretch for the young Swede as well, who’s been showing signs of growth with a bigger role in the Canucks lineup. Öhgren was on ice for an 8-3 scoring chance advantage and 3-1 high-danger chance lead, putting together a very solid performance while matching up against the Red Wings’ bottom 6. His 0.59 xGF was the 4th-best mark on the team, with Filip Hronek’s 0.7 xGF pacing this roster.

GSAx: Not a banner night from Kevin Lankinen. The Finn faced 3.04 xGF from Detroit and ended up giving up 4 goals, meaning that his GSAx sat at -0.96 on the night. Of the four goals against, three of them were middle-danger goals, with the remaining goal coming from a high-danger chance. It definitely wasn’t the best performance from Lankinen, but granted, it wasn’t as if the team in front of him was able to get much run support regardless.

Why are we messing with things that work: Remember how the DeBrusk – Pettersson – Karlsson line was putting up some unreal underlying stats? Adam Foote saw that and decided that it was due time to change things up, slotting Pettersson between Evander Kane and Brock Boeser. Suffice it to say, that line was not good. Together, the trio combined for the worst CF% (33.33), second-worst xGF (0.12), and worst xGF% (30.73) of any Canuck forward line at 5v5 action. They were also the only forward line to finish without a single high-danger chance for as well. Probably the biggest indictment on this line combination was seeing the numbers instantly get better when Nils Hoglander was swapped with Evander Kane on that line, with a 56.25 CF%, 0.36 xGF, and 42.72 xGF%. They even managed to generate 2 high-danger chances together too, which begs the question – why would we even try Kane – Pettersson – Boeser together?

Willander’s solid night: Despite being on ice for a goal against, Tom Willander had a pretty decent night by the numbers. The Swede managed to post the second-best xGF on the team with a 0.66, with the 5th-best xGF% on the team at 60.24. Willander managed to be on ice for a 3-1 high-danger chance split as well, playing in a top 4 role with Marcus Pettersson. It isn’t bad at all, and seeing Willander progress since the preseason has been one of the only bright spots this campaign.

The Canucks were not great – but then again, have they truly been a great team at any point this season? Sure, they were fine in the first, but when they got themselves on the back foot, there was simply no answer, not enough of anything to get back into this one. Being fine is not good enough to win games, and it was evident throughout the contest that this Canucks group just didn’t have the gas to pull out a result in this one.

Vancouver heads into Toronto to face the Maple Leafs tomorrow night.