Talk about getting shut down.

The Vancouver Canucks dropped a 4-2 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights. This loss was very much the inverse of the one against the Calgary Flames in terms of the numbers. Vancouver looked like they should’ve been blown out based on the underlying numbers, and were probably a little better than what the stats gave them credit for. Still, it continues to show just how far behind this team is compared to the rest of the league when it comes to their overall ability to compete.

Here’s the loss, by the numbers.

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

Most of the numbers at 5v5 were not kind to the Canucks. Relatively speaking, at 53.65 xGF%, their first period was when they kept it closest (and it’s probably no surprise that they actually managed to take a lead in this game). But then the Golden Knights kind of caved them in, with the Canucks giving up two leads that really sounded the death knell for this game. The stats weren’t good at all for Vancouver, who posted a 22.22 CF% and 16.81 xGF% while giving up a 3-19 hole in scoring chances. Suffice it to say, it put the Canucks in a hole that they couldn’t dig themselves out of, and while the third period was relatively better, it wasn’t anything to move the needle positively back into the Canucks’ favour.

For what the possession and expected goals were, the heat map could’ve been worse. At 5v5, the Golden Knights shelled the Canucks in chances to the tune of 34-14, but only had a 12-9 edge in high-danger chances. That honestly could’ve been worse, given the margin of scoring chances that Vancouver gave up, so at the very least, they were able to limit the sheer amount of damage that Vegas could generate. By the same token, while the Canucks didn’t have many scoring chances, a large chunk of them were high-danger, meaning that they were getting the best looks possible in their limited opportunities.

Corsi Champ: Zeev Buium led the Canucks with a 37.50 CF%. That really doesn’t sound great, but consider this – even with him this far below 50%, that number still puts him at an 11.18 CF% rel above team average. His 43.73 xGF% was also an 11.73 xGF% rel, as despite giving up a 5-13 hole in overall scoring chances, the high-danger chances stood at 3-2 for the Canucks when Buium was on the ice. Not terrible considering the entire mess Vancouver was in statistically.

Corsi Chump: Talk about a fall from heights. After a good stretch of numbers, Victor Mancini plummeted to the bottom of the Corsi charts, only managing a 5.88 CF% last night. On ice for two goals against while playing primarily against the Tomas Hertl line, the defenceman posted the second-worst xGF% at 2.67, giving up a 0-10 hole in scoring chances and a 0-5 deficit in high-danger chances. It wasn’t the best outing, and Mancini struggled at best when it came to the opposition that he was facing.

xGF: Tom Willander posted a 51.55 xGF% to lead the team in that category, one of only two Canucks to finish above the 50% mark. The young Swede saw a 9-9 split with a 6-4 edge in high-danger chances, with the third-best xGF of 0.76 to his name. It wasn’t like Willander was being sheltered either, as he was tossed out there against Jack Eichel’s line for the majority of his 5v5 action as well. Leading the Canucks in xGF was Marco Rossi, who just beat out Willander with a 0.84 against the Golden Knights. Pretty solid work given all the circumstances.

GSAx: The numbers didn’t paint the most friendly picture for Kevin Lankinen, but it wasn’t as if he had the team in front of him helping him out. Missed coverages in his own end definitely didn’t help as the Finn faced a 2.73 xGF from the Golden Knights across all situations. Two goals came from middle-danger, and one came from high-danger to give him a -0.27 GSAx on the night, which is marginal to say the least. Lankinen didn’t get any support from the Canucks in front of him and actually had more than a couple of strong saves to keep them within a fighting chance last night.

The Canucks didn’t have it last night. The underlying stats were perhaps a bit harsh, but they also showed that once this team blew two separate leads and let the Golden Knights get into the driver’s seat, they didn’t have the juice to come back. That’s alright, and that’s just the reality of this Canucks team in 25-26. They’re just not a good group, and everything pointed to this loss being well deserved.

Vancouver heads into Colorado to face off against the Avalanche on Wednesday night.