Hey, two points!

The Vancouver Canucks topped the San Jose Sharks by a 4-3 shootout scoreline. It was actually a good game, with the Canucks managing to find their feet after a relatively slow start, making it a contest and an enjoyable thing to watch. That, in and of itself, has been so hard to come by this season, which makes this win all the better. Plus, some of the performances from the younger members of this roster last night definitely lend confidence to their development trajectory.

Here’s the win, by the numbers.

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

It was a pretty back and forth affair for the large majority of the game. Sure, San Jose managed to build themselves a pretty chunky statistical advantage in the first period, thanks to a 1.09-0.50 xGF advantage and a 68.58 xGF% share. However, Vancouver didn’t let their opposition slip away, staying in a 5-3 high-danger chance deficit but remaining in touching distance. That was what allowed them to push back throughout the game, not letting the Sharks run away with anything, and actually swinging the momentum back into their favour whenever they looked to even things up. The Canucks never dominated a period, but they would always be hovering around the 50% share mark for both CF% and xGF%, which played a big role in getting them back into the thick of things to send this contest to overtime.

The heat map actually looked fairly solid as well. San Jose did definitely have a slight edge, with a 25-19 lead in scoring chances at 5v5. However, the high-danger chances narrowed that gap, as the Sharks had just a 12-10 advantage when it came to that category. That can be seen across the hot spots present in both ends of the ice, as the concentration was relatively similar, but the San Jose spot was just a little larger. Again, not bad at all, and certainly reflective of the neck-and-neck effort these teams turned in last night.

Corsi Champ: Victor Mancini paced the Canucks last night with a 70.83 CF%, taking full advantage of being up against the Sharks’ bottom 6 while paired up with Elias Pettersson. The duo had a pretty darn good game by the stats, making sure that the Sharks couldn’t get anything going up against them. Mancini was on ice for a 9-5 shot advantage and a second-best 70.04 xGF%, holding a 9-3 scoring chance edge and 5-1 high-danger chance lead. The defenceman even managed to pick up a wild primary assist on the Marco Rossi goal, just for an extra cherry on top of his performance.

Corsi Chump: It’s tough to see Elias Pettersson (the forward) back down here again. Bringing up the rear of the team with a 33.33 CF%, the Swede was definitely getting caved in by the Macklin Celebrini line at 5v5 play statistically. On ice for two goals against while giving up a 0-8 hole in scoring chances, 3 of which were high-danger, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Pettersson would record the second-worst xGF% on the team at 15.75. The only player below him was Brock Boeser, and the pair of them actually finished with identical xGF at 0.12. Suffice it to say, Pettersson did not move the needle positively for the Canucks, and the team as a whole luckily managed to absorb that impact.

xGF: Mancini’s partner, the defenceman Elias Pettersson, led the Canucks in both xGF and xGF% last night. The Swedish defenceman recorded a 1.02 xGF and 80.02 xGF% to pace the rest of the roster in those categories, on ice for team-highs in scoring chances (10) and high-danger chances (6). It’s really tidy work from the proverbial third pairing, and the kind of numbers that one loves to see from the younger defencemen in the lineup. They definitely provided a heavy contribution last night, eating up their minutes and making sure the Canucks wouldn’t be floundering with lesser personnel on the ice.

GSAx: Kevin Lankinen was pretty damn good last night even if the numbers aren’t fully reflecting it. The Sharks only managed a 2.78 xGF on the night, meaning that the Finn would finish with a -0.22 GSAx, a marginal thing at best. The goals were evenly distributed across all three danger zones, with the low-danger goal against probably dragging the large majority of Lankinen’s numbers down. However, that discounts how good he was throughout the entire game, and the shootout, where the Finn was lights out yet again.

It was an exciting contest for the Canucks, and that alone is a win. Getting the extra point in a shootout doesn’t hurt either, and with this team having clinched 32nd place in the NHL, it’s a nice little bonus to enjoy. Was it the most sustainable way of getting victories, probably not, but the Canucks showed fight and didn’t let the game get away from them early. That’s been rare to see and should definitely be taken as a positive. While their best players weren’t their best players for a large majority of the night, the Canucks got plenty of contribution up and down the lineup to secure this shootout victory.

Vancouver is right back in action tonight, taking on the Anaheim Ducks to round out their California swing.