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The Statsies: Linus Karlsson posts team-high xGF% in Canucks loss to Kraken
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Photo credit: © Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images
Michael Liu
Mar 1, 2026, 15:30 ESTUpdated: Mar 1, 2026, 15:15 EST
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For whom does the bell toll?
The Vancouver Canucks were shellacked last night, losing 5-1 on the road to the Seattle Kraken. While the stats suggested that this game probably deserved to be a little bit closer than what the scoreline ended up being, the final result highlights the cold reality that Vancouver has been staring down all year. This group simply is not good enough to make any sort of push, any semblance of contention. They might be able to get numbers going their way, but the lack of talent and the lack of “talent”-making plays is obvious to see. There’s not a whole lot of positives to take other than the fact that they’ll be staring down a high lottery pick this draft.
Here’s the loss, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.

Game Flow

Overall, the game flow didn’t look all that bad at first glance. There wasn’t a single period where the Canucks were heavily out-possessed or out-chanced, with the team actually finishing above 50.00 xGF% for every single period last night. That being said, it was also noticeable that after the surge towards the end of the first and start of the second, the Canucks weren’t really able to push the needle in any direction. Things stayed relatively stagnant as at 5v5 in the second and third, the high-danger chances stood at 4-4 for the teams.

Heat Map

The heat map paints a generous image of how the Canucks played last night as well. With the scoring chances knotted up at 24-24 at 5v5 play, Vancouver actually had the slight edge in high-danger chances at 10-7. That being said, six of them came in the first period, with the team unable to keep the momentum rolling despite that impressive opener. As well, it wasn’t as if they were doing a great job at capitalizing on their opportunities, while Seattle managed to bury two goals in tight against Kevin Lankinen.

Individual Advanced Stats

Corsi Champ: Marco Rossi led the Canucks with a 66.67 CF%, centring a second line that didn’t really make much of an impact aside from that Corsi number. While his 65.40 xGF% looks good on paper, that was just 8.38 xGF% rel to team average, showing an above but close to average performance in relation to the rest of the roster. Again, it’s nitpicking a little, and given how the entire game went, Rossi’s share metrics should be a relative highlight on this roster.
Corsi Chump: Filip Hronek brought up the rear with a 45.00 CF%, but given the impact he made elsewhere on the ice, this can probably be forgiven. The Czech defender was on ice for two goals against, yes, but he was also tasked with heavy 1D minutes with some nice share metrics to show for it. His 1.14 xGF was the second-best on the team, while a 64.89 xGF% ranked him as the sixth-best skater in that category, too. In his minutes, Hronek managed to hold a 4-1 advantage in high-danger chances, which isn’t easy given the quality of his competition.
xGF: When Linus Karlsson is leading the team in xGF%, things are probably not trending in the right direction. Not that it’s a slight against the Swede and his team-best 80.40 xGF%, but he shouldn’t be the offensive leader for any team looking to actually win hockey games. Karlsson posted the fourth-best 0.92 xGF, behind Marcus Pettersson’s team-high 1.26, as the forward was on ice for an 8-5 scoring chance advantage and 5-1 high-danger chance lead. Again, these are great numbers and not something to disparage Karlsson with. However, the fact that he’s the one leading this team and trying to get the likes of Elias Pettersson going is… rough.
GSAx: Kevin Lankinen didn’t get a lot of help in front of him, but it also wasn’t a banner night between the pipes for him either. Facing just 2.64 xGF, Lankinen gave up three high-danger goals and one low-danger goal for a -1.36 GSAx. While it could’ve been worse than that, it also could’ve been a lot better, as it’s still very much in the negatives when it comes to overall impact. Vancouver didn’t give him the run support to win this game by any means, but Lankinen definitely didn’t hold his end of the bargain as much as he probably should’ve.

As a team

CF% – 52.78% HDCF% – 52.00% xGF% – 45.69%
Should the score have been 5-1? Maybe not. But did the Canucks deserve to lose? Absolutely. There’s nothing good about this team, nothing that makes for a compelling product to watch each and every night. Their best players are mostly invisible, and this team looks hobbled to all hell and back even without the injuries in the lineup. In essence, this is what a roster banking on a bounce-back looks like when they just don’t bounce back. At least, the 2026 draft pick is looking better every single day.
Vancouver returns home to host the Dallas Stars tomorrow.
Stats provided by naturalstattrick.com
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