Franchise records are being broken!

The Vancouver Canucks lost 4-3 to the New York Islanders in a decent enough battle. They didn’t roll over and give up, actually managing to put up a fight. However, it’s also clear that this team isn’t actively trying to tank, which is a bit of a concern – if they’re trying to win and they’re still slumping this hard, there are deep things that need to be fixed. At the very least, the franchise seems to be embracing the rebuild with their moves.

Here’s the loss, by the numbers.

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

The Canucks actually started well. Holding a slight CF% share advantage, they were able to generate a good amount of expected goals to sit at 63.55 xGF% in the first, a 1.81 xGF being the best margin in a single period all game. It was looking good, with a 13-5 high-danger chance edge that they managed to strike twice using. The second tapered off slightly, but the overall numbers weren’t bad – Vancouver still had 1.27 xGF with a 56.85 xGF%, but it was clear that the Islanders had made adjustments to slim down that high-danger chance margin, with New York posting a 5-3 lead in that category. Then, the 5-on-3 to start the third period fizzled pretty much anything the Canucks were carrying into the frame, as they simply didn’t do much to move the needle in their favour.

At first glance, the heat map is pretty darn good. Vancouver had a dense hot spot from right in the low-slot area, with their area being larger than New York’s. That’s reflected in the numbers as well, as with a slight 28-23 scoring chance lead, the Canucks had a big 18-11 gap in high-danger chances. However, again, it’s important to contextualize these 5v5 numbers. Out of the 18 HDCF, 13 of them came in the first for Vancouver. That meant for the rest of the game, they only had 5 HDCF at 5v5 play. You’d rather them have a lot of chances, so the total number isn’t bad, but the way they were spread out through the game did not inspire too much confidence in the Canucks ability to surge later in contests.

Corsi Champ: Linus Karlsson led the Canucks with a 69.23 CF% last night, featuring on the fourth line with Max Sasson and Nils Hoglander. It was a pretty solid night from him, picking up an assist in an otherwise low-key but effective depth role. Karlsson had the second-best xGF% amongst all skaters with a 77.50, on ice for a 4-0 advantage in high-danger chances. Can’t ask much more than a positive impact like that from your depth pieces.

Corsi Chump: Tyler Myers was at the bottom of the Corsi charts, coming in with a 32.43 CF% against the Isles. Giving up a 6-14 shot difference, the defenceman also saw a team-low 31.37 xGF% and team-worst 1.66 xGA, on ice for a 5-9 hole in high-danger chances. Pairing him up with Zeev Buium did not work well, to say the least, as the pair of them were spinning their wheels against their opposition last night.

xGF: On the other side of the defensive spectrum, Tom Willander managed to lead the Canucks with an 86.61 xGF%, posting the third-best xGA of 0.19 and the 6th-best xGF of 1.24. Willander also managed to be on ice for a 4-0 lead in high-danger chances, doing his part on what otherwise was a pretty thin performance from the back end. Hopefully, the young Swede can continue to develop with good habits and progression despite the tirefire going on around him. Leading the way in raw xGF was Marcus Pettersson’s 1.5.

GSAx: Kevin Lankinen definitely didn’t turn in an outstanding performance last night. Some grace should definitely be given, considering that he was ill to the point that he missed his start against the Oilers, but against the 3.52 xGF that the Islanders picked up, Lankinen finished with a -0.48 GSAx. Again, not the worst, but considering that Vancouver only ended up losing by a single goal, a positive GSAx would’ve made a world of difference. Not that a victory would change much – honestly, the loss works out that much better for the tank efforts. Dragging Lankinen’s numbers down was the face that three of the four goals came from middle-danger chances, while the remaining goal was a high-danger goal against.

It’s a tough go of things to be a Canucks fan. Not many things are going right, and the product that is in front of fans is a tough sell. At least this game wasn’t horrendous, with Filip Hronek battling to the bitter end to try and get his team the victory. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t seem like the Canucks have enough gas for many more wins this season – which is ideal for the rebuild that awaits them. Ideally, they actually do it properly this time.

Vancouver welcomes the Washington Capitals to town tomorrow night.