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The Statsies: Linus Karlsson leads Canucks in CF% and xGF% in loss vs Kings
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Photo credit: © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Michael Liu
Nov 30, 2025, 14:30 ESTUpdated: Nov 30, 2025, 14:42 EST
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Not the Hollywood ending they wanted.
The Vancouver Canucks dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to the Los Angeles Kings last night. It was a game mired by video reviews, with plenty of time spent on calls to Toronto and on video monitors in the penalty boxes. Amidst this, there was in fact a game that was played, and while the Canucks didn’t play poorly, they also didn’t particularly impress. With how disjointed the momentum was, neither team really got much going for them, and the Canucks simply just didn’t do enough to win. It feels like a common recurrance to say that this season.
Here’s the loss, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.

Game Flow

The game looked like it was going to be a barn-burner when both teams struck twice, only to have their goals taken back after video review. It seemed like that drained all the juices from the building as both teams spent the rest of the game in the mushy middle. LA would have firm control over the expected goals in the first and third, posting 68.81 xGF% and 64.24 xGF% respectively. Vancouver would have a 79.02 xGF% to call their own in the second, but off just a 0.45-0.12 xGF battle. Neither team really managed to generate a whole lot of expected goals at 5v5 action to begin with, as the final total finished as a 1.46-1.13 tilt going the way of the Kings.

Heat Map

With how little expected goals both teams actually managed to generate, the heat map also looks pretty darn sparse. In total, there was a slight 16-15 edge in overall scoring chances for the Canucks, but the Kings had a 6-4 high-danger chance advantage. That’s definitely not a whole lot of action, and fits how much of this game went. Nothing was really noticeable in a good or bad way for either team, leading to a game that was pretty barren when it came to actual action.

Individual Advanced Stats

Corsi Champ: With the reunion of the Abbotsford Line, Linus Karlsson posted some of the best numbers of his season (see what happens when you don’t mess with something that’s working?). The Swede put up 78.57 CF% to lead the Canucks last night, managing to dominate the minutes against the Kings’ third line primarily. There wasn’t so much of a sniff of a chance that LA’s depth got when playing against Karlsson – but then again, neither team really managed to get much of anything going.
Corsi Chump: This title goes to David Kampf, after a couple of games where he and his line were absolutely rocking. Kampf recorded the team’s worst CF% at 42.86, which unfortunately bled through to his other stats. The forward held the team’s worst xGF% at 17.65, thanks to the third-worst xGF of 0.15 and third-worst xGA of 0.72. Kampf was on ice for a 3-6 hole in scoring chances, with 0 high-danger chances for and 3 high-danger chances against. Hopefully, this is an exception to the norm that he had been building positively for the last little while.
xGF: As the title gave away, Karlsson also led the Canucks in xGF%, coming in at a massive 93.46 last night. Obviously, the raw numbers weren’t the most impressive given that both teams weren’t at their bests last night, but to manage that sort of share metric in his minutes should always ben recognized. Karlsson was on ice for a big 5-1 scoring chance advantage, with 1 high-danger chance for. Leading the way in raw xGF was Filip Hronek, who posted a 0.70 against the Kings.
GSAx: Kevin Lankinen made his return to the lineup and more than held up his end of the bargain last night. Los Angeles tallied up 2.66 xGF against the Canucks last night, and with a high-danger chance and middle-danger chance getting past him, the Finn would post a 0.66 GSAx. While that isn’t him stealing the game by any means, it was a more than solid performance between the pipes. Lankinen wasn’t the reason why the Canucks lost this one as he battled hard all of last night.

Statistical Musings

Shutdown Rookie: Tom Willander continues to develop with every passing game. The young defenceman was iced in a shutdown role alongside Marcus Pettersson, taking on the Kings’ top 6 and doing a pretty darn good job for themselves. Willander recorded the second-best CF% on the team with 73.33, managing to finish a -12.18 xGF% rel to team average. Again, given the quality of opposition that he’s facing, that deficit is something that you’ll take. Willander managed to split a 3-3 high-danger chance battle, giving up 2 high-danger chances against. The damage was limited while he was on the ice, and that’s darn high praise for any defenceman in this league.
Where Evander Kane actually did something: It’s a tough proposition to be icing Evander Kane on that first line, given how slow he is. But, the winger is still good at generating plenty of expected goals, which hopefully means that he’ll start translating them into actual goals. Last night against the Kings, Kane tallied the second-best xGF% on the team with an 87.73, on ice for a 7-1 scoring chance lead and 3-0 high-danger chance advantage. That isn’t insignificant, and this time out he actually managed to bury on one. Hopefully, that isn’t an aberration.
Lekkerimäki’s return: A transaction the day of the game, Jonathan Lekkerimäki was brought back into the Canucks’ lineup after a stint in Abbotsford. He featured both on the first line alongside Kane and Elias Pettersson, as well as on the third line with Drew O’Connor and Aatu Raty. However, the results weren’t the most impressive as Lekkerimäki would finish with a 46.67 CF% (5th-worst on the team) and a 34.09 xGF% (4th-worst on the team). It’ll take some time for him to get back up to speed at the NHL level in all likelihood, and hopefully he can add some more offensive punch to this Canucks group.

As a team

CF% – 48.57% HDCF% – 42.86% xGF% – 41.72%
It was a low-event contest that saw the Canucks not take initiative whatsover. Granted, it’s hard to get back in rhythm given everything that happened in the opening couple of minutes, but Los Angeles was probably just as unsettled as they were. The Canucks just didn’t do enough to win this game, and in the end that cost them in overtime.
Vancouver heads into Colorado to face the red-hot Avalanche on Tuesday.
Stats provided by naturalstattrick.com
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