They managed to steal a point!

The Vancouver Canucks couldn’t manage to hang onto their first period lead, dropping a 3-2 loss on the road in overtime to the Florida Panthers. By no means were the Canucks in control of this contest from start to finish, but credit them for being gutsy and hanging on for as long as they did. It’s also nice to see them push the Panthers into overtime, considering how long they’ve been on the road and the results they’ve accumulated.

Here’s the loss, by the numbers.

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

At first glance, it’s pretty clear the game wasn’t played in Vancouver’s favour. However, looking at the numbers across the board, it was closer than one might’ve expected as well. Florida comfortably controlled the CF% for all three periods, surging especially in that first period with a 75.00 CF% to their name. However, where the Canucks managed to claw some stats back in their favour was the xGF%, specifically in the second period. Vancouver actually managed to slightly out-chance Florida by a 6-4 margin at even-strength action, with a 3-1 high-danger chance lead as well. That gave them a 53.34 xGF% to their name, which spilled over into the third period for the Canucks to finish with a 47.93 xGF%. Not world-beating stuff, but definitely a silver lining to take away from a game where they were territorially dominated.

The heat map doesn’t look that bad either for the possession advantage that the Canucks gave up last night. Sure, the Panthers controlled the puck for the majority of the game, but that still only yielded a 22-15 lead in scoring chances and a 13-7 edge in high-danger chances. It’s shown by the fact that Florida managed to establish some semblance of a hot spot in the slot area, while Vancouver didn’t, but considering what it should’ve been in context with the other numbers from the game, it’s pretty darn tidy for the Canucks to come away with this heat map.

Corsi Champ: Leading the way in CF% was Max Sasson, managing to hold a pretty solid 55.00 CF% in his 9:40 TOI. The large majority of his action was against the bottom 6 of the Panthers, so holding his own was definitely a welcome bonus for the Canucks as a whole. Sasson split an even 4-4 shot difference at even strength, and the only goal that he was on ice for was one of Brady Tkachuk’s hat-trick tallies, playing some crunch-time defence.

Corsi Chump: Filip Chytil made his return to the Canucks’ lineup last night after suffering a shoulder injury in preseason that’s kept him out until now. While it was nice to see him back, Vancouver’s lack of depth meant that the Czech forward was literally thrown into the deep end against Sam Reinhart’s line. The numbers weren’t too pretty – along with a team-worst 18.18 CF%, Chytil also managed a team-low 8.36 xGF%, being on ice for a 1-12 hole in shots and 3-10 deficit in overall scoring chances. His 1.49 xGA was the third-worst on the team, but hey – he still wasn’t on ice for a 5v5 goal against, which is definitely against the trend of the numbers. Hopefully, Chytil can stay healthy and improve on this statistical performance.

xGF: It was Sasson who found himself pacing the Canucks in xGF%, leading the way with a 77.23 off the third-best xGF (0.87) and best xGA (0.26) on the team. But, some focus should be on who came in second place, as Tom Willander found himself with the team’s best xGF of 1.05 and second-best xGF% at 75.65. The defenceman was on ice for a 7-3 lead in scoring chances and 4-2 edge in high-danger chances, all the while playing the third-most minutes amongst all skaters. Definitely a tidy performance from the Swede, who’s been getting better as the season’s gone on.

GSAx: How about that for a waiver pickup? Leevi Meriläinen was ever-present for the Canucks last night, facing down a total of 4.25 xGF from the Panthers to finish with a 1.25 GSAx. He was a key reason why Vancouver even stood a chance of winning the game, stonewalling Florida until the dam finally broke. Meriläinen’s only blemish was that two of the three goals he gave up were recorded as low-danger, the remaining one coming from a middle-danger shot. Still, it hasn’t been often this year that a Vancouver goalie has kept them in the game, and Meriläinen continues to impress and cement himself as the Canucks’ starter for the foreseeable future.

Where to reinsert Chytil?: With the return of Chytil into the Canucks’ lineup, the forward combinations were shifted around again last night. But, from the numbers, it was clear that the Czech wasn’t put into a great spot to succeed, not only with his matchup but from his linemates of Brock Boeser and Paul Cotter. Together, the trio were far and away the statistically worst line Vancouver had against Florida, generating just 15.79 CF% and 11.74 xGF%. That’ll happen when you’re outshot 1-11 during your TOI, and this was with the unit playing the most 5v5 minutes of any forward combination the Canucks had to offer last night. Perhaps this was Malhotra using them to counteract Reinhart’s line, but don’t be surprised if this line is separated in the next contest.

The Canucks battled hard in this one and actually stood a chance at winning. That’s really all you could’ve asked of them against a team like the Panthers and especially this deep into an eastern road trip, despite the end result. They showed grit with some good individual performances, with plenty of interesting trends to keep an eye on as the season goes on. What sort of growth will the young Canucks see?

Vancouver closes out their road trip tomorrow in Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning.

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