They’re going streaking.
The Vancouver Canucks dealt a knockout punch to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second period, scoring four goals in the middle frame en route to a 4-3 victory. The game didn’t start off too suspiciously as Vancouver found themselves down 2-0, but they found the gear that helped catapult them into the lead within 65 seconds. Not only did the production come from the best players this time, but the excellent play of the depth forwards helped spur this team to another good result.
Here’s the win, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.

Game Flow

The first period was a little flat by the Canucks standards, and it sort of made sense. They had some time off, and they were coming back from a road trip. Still, Vancouver was able to start turning up the heat about halfway through the opening frame, finishing the period with a 60.00 CF% and 73.58 xGF% share, racking up a raw total of 0.74 xGF during that span. However, it was during the second, after going down two goals, that things really took off. That burst of 3 goals came during an upswing in Vancouver’s play, going from good to dominant in that period. They finished the second with 61.90 CF% and 79.70 xGF%, doubling their xGF output to 1.44. The third saw Vancouver defend a little more, giving up the CF% share to Pittsburgh yet still controlling a 60.35 xGF% to close out the game safely.

Heat Map

Vancouver dominated the heat map here. In total, the scoring chances stood at 37-20 across all situations for the home team, and the Canucks were able to translate that to a 15-9 edge in high-danger chances. That much is reflected on the heat map, where Pittsburgh was unable to get much of anything going at all in the slot area, while a bunch of chances came from that spot for Vancouver. The encouraging part is that 13 of those 15 high-danger chances came from even strength, showing that the Canucks are playing well during the 5v5 span of the game. However, considering the power play advantage that they had, they probably should’ve been able to create more on the man advantage.

Individual Advanced Stats

Corsi Champ: Fresh off scoring his first two goals as a Vancouver Canuck, Danton Heinen led the team last night with a 70.00 CF%. He didn’t find the scoresheet in last night’s contest but did well in keeping his nose clean during his TOI. Heinen tied for the second-lowest xGA on the team with a 0.17, while producing a 75.42 xGF% share. Pittsburgh didn’t manage to get a single high-danger chance against the Canucks while Heinen was on the ice, which is impressive given that he was up against the Pens’ middle 6 and Sidney Crosby.
Corsi Chump: This is yet another game where Carson Soucy finishes as the team’s worst Corsi man, racking up 25.00 CF% in a game where Vancouver had a handy possession advantage. Deployed primarily against Evgeni Malkin’s line, Soucy was on ice for two goals against while managing a team-low 42.47 xGF%, a full 17 percent lower than second-last. His xGF of 0.2 was also a team-low. During his TOI, Soucy faced a 3-6 scoring chance differential, with a 1-3 deficit in high-danger chances.
xGF: I can guarantee that no one would’ve predicted this. Erik Brännström led the Canucks in not only xGF% but raw xGF. His 1.64 xGF and 87.63 xGF% paced the team, not facing a single high-danger chance against while being on ice for 8 high-danger chances for. That was off the back of a 14-4 scoring chance split, with Vincent Desharnais playing the perfect compliment to the Swede with a 1.44 xGF as the team’s second-best player in that category. It’s found money for a cap space trade, and it couldn’t be more welcome.
GSAx: It wasn’t Kevin Lankinen’s finest performance last night, but the team didn’t need him to be as stellar as he was on the road. The Finn faced only 1.57 xGF last night and thus finished a -1.43 GSAx against the Pens. Again, this is the point where Vancouver should probably be switching him out for Arturs Silovs to see if the time off gives the Latvian a chance to bounce back while resting Lankinen to get him back to his best. The goals that Lankinen gave up last night were all from high-danger chances, so it wasn’t as if he was giving up soft goals.

Statistical Musings

Where the bottom 6 ran the show: All four lines managed to capitalize on the scoresheet last night, but it was the bottom 6 that was putting up noteworthy numbers as the engine room of the team. Starting with Kiefer Sherwood – Teddy Bleuger – Danton Heinen, the trio led the Canucks’ forward lines in CF% with a 72.22, producing a 75.06 xGF% as a result to finish a team worst. Yes, a 75.06 xGF% was a team-low against the Pens. Once more, Sherwood was a wrecking ball, leading the Canucks in hits with 6. So which line led the Canucks in xGF%? That would be Arshdeep Bains – Pius Suter – Daniel Sprong, who finished the game with 84.97 xGF%, giving up a team-low 0.09 xGA. That’s a really good number for any line, and with a fourth line that’s producing these kinds of numbers, it’s not a surprise that Vancouver is winning the bottom 6 matchups against opposing teams. Plus, the former Delta hockey academy product picked up his very first for his hometown team.
Slowly but surely?: Elias Pettersson managed to get the monkey off of his back, potting in the first goal of his 2024-25 season. While the Swede finished with the second-worst CF% at 5v5 on the team with a 34.78, he was still able to perform decently in the expected goals areas. Posting a 65.80 xGF% individually, he along with the rest of his linemates recorded a 77.18 xGF% in the win. It’s definitely better than previous outings, and hopefully it’s a sign of a turn around in Pettersson’s form.

As a team

CF% – 55.86% HDCF% – 62.50% xGF% – 69.61%
It was clear that Vancouver needed some time to shake off the road trip legs, but once they did so, they heavily outplayed the Pens. That second period wasn’t just them picking it up out of the blue – it was building throughout, thanks to some excellent play all throughout the lineup. Getting the depth to step up in the way that they did is always good, and a welcome contribution for a team looking to be a contender.
Vancouver hosts Carolina at home on Monday night for their next matchup.
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