A trip to Disneyland usually ends up going well.
The Vancouver Canucks took down the Anaheim Ducks handily by a 5-1 scoreline. It was a much more convincing result than against the Sharks against an arguably better opponent, with the team able to translate their statistical advantages into tangible results. Now granted, the quality of team they faced probably has a lot to do with what the numbers generated, but it was still nice to see the Canucks beat a team that they were supposed to beat.
Here’s the win, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.

Game Flow

The first period looked a little dicey to start. With Anaheim getting on the board first, Vancouver was trying to get back into the game and establish themselves territorially. While the raw chances weren’t stacking up yet, the Canucks still held a handy share with 62.50 CF% and 73.54 xGF%. The second was where Vancouver really put things together though, racking up 1.49 xGF to Anaheim’s 0.18 and a 5-1 edge in high-danger chances. That to go along with a 76.47 CF% meant that the Canucks were able to take the momentum and help add to their lead as well as closing out the game in the third. Vancouver didn’t give up much of anything, controlling a 78.69 xGF% in the final frame.

Heat Map

The heat map reflects the effort that Vancouver put forth at both ends of the ice. They held a 32-11 scoring chance lead with a big 15-2 edge in high-danger chances across all situations, showing the disparity between the two teams last night. The Canucks further had a 23-7 scoring chance lead and a 10-1 advantage in high-danger chances at 5v5. That much is reflected in the visual too, with Vancouver having a deep blue concentration in front of the Ducks’ net, while Anaheim couldn’t manage a single hot spot against.

Individual Advanced Stats

Corsi Champ: Quinn Hughes is showing why he is one of the best hockey players in the NHL. Against the Ducks, the defenceman paced Vancouver with an 82.76 CF%, the Canucks outshooting Anaheim 10-2 while he was on the ice. Again, it might not have been the best opponent that they had, but the consistent trend throughout the season is the Hughes is Vancouver’s best player and game changer – that much was apparent last night.
Corsi Chump: Some things never change. Tyler Myers brought up the rear in the Corsi department with a 56.00, which makes sense given how badly the Canucks outpossessed the Ducks. Still, that put the defenceman at a -17.68 CF% rel to team average, facing down the third-most xGA at 0.28. Against the likes of Leo Carlsson, Robby Fabbri, and Troy Terry, the raw numbers aren’t bad – but relative to the team, the Soucy-Myers pairing continues to be a problem.
xGF: No surprises here either as Quinn Hughes led the Canucks with a 92.07 xGF%. Being on ice for an 11-2 advantage in scoring chances and 4-0 lead in high-danger chances will generally do that for you, and with how key to the engine Hughes has been for this Canucks team. Even his slapshot has become a veritable weapon after coming into the league with questions surrounding it. Leading the way in raw xGF was none other than Teddy Blueger, who posted a 1.36 xGF on the night.
GSAx: Kevin Lankinen continues to be a stabilizing force between the pipes. Bouncing back after a relatively subpar performance against the Sharks, the Finn turned away 21 of 22 shots, going from a 1.32 xGF to a 0.32 GSAx. The only chance that got past him last night was a low-danger chance, so likely one that he would want to have back. But other than that, Lankinen was more than the Canucks needed him to be, and that’s been a blessing with how inconsistent Silovs has been to start the year.

Statistical Musings

Third line putting in work: Kiefer Sherwood – Teddy Blueger – Danton Heinen looked like they were buzzing last night, as they usually always are. If they aren’t finding the scoreboard, they’re at least chipping in physically and making life difficult for the opposing team. Against the Ducks, they did make their impact felt with two goals on the board. They actually led all Canuck forward lines in xGF with 0.91, despite playing the least amount of ice time at 5v5 of any line. Sherwood-Blueger-Heinen made the most of their time too, with a team-high 7 scoring chances and 3 high-danger chances during their TOI. It’s a bottom 6 performance to dream of from this trio, and one that’s become almost a norm for them recently.
Slowly finding a rhythm: Despite finishing last amongst forward lines in xGF% with 73.28, the Suter-Pettersson-Garland line seems to be figuring out how to play together. Perhaps it’s what Elias Pettersson needs to finally get things going at 5v5, but that line was put out there the most of any unit last night, recording the best CF% numbers along with the second-best xGF behind the aforementioned Sherwood-Blueger-Heinen unit. The advanced stats may be inflated a little thanks to the quality of team that Anaheim was, but the dam feels like it needs to break at a certain point for the Swede.
Räty’s Reintroduction: With Pius Suter finding himself in the top 6 again, and with Nils Aman being sent down to Abbotsford, it meant that Vancouver had a center-sized hole to fill in the bottom 6. That meant Aatu Räty getting called up once more, centering a line between Daniel Sprong and Nils Höglander. He did well for himself, that line playing low-event hockey to give up the least xGA of any unit with 0.02. Primarily iced against Anaheim’s middle 6, there was not a lot of offence, but definitely not a lot of chances given up by this line as well. Räty also led the team in hits (5) and faceoff percentage (77.78%), doing the little things to chip in where he could.

As a team

CF% – 63.72% HDCF% – 88.24% xGF% – 74.99%
The game was as lopsided as the advanced stats indicated that it should be – and that’s what Vancouver really needed after a bit of a cardiac episode against the Sharks. They played their style of hockey and ran over a lesser Ducks team, doing what they needed to do and putting the puck in the back of the net. It was a banner night against for Quinn Hughes, while the depth forwards continued to step up their game and contribute to victories. It’ll be important for this to continue as they play stronger teams, but getting wins against teams they should beat is always a welcome occurrence.
Vancouver closes out their California road trip tomorrow in Los Angeles as they take on the Kings.
Stats provided by naturalstattrick.com
Sponsored by bet365