If they were going to pull out a win against any team, this was the right team to do it against.

The Vancouver Canucks hung onto their first period lead, taking down the Edmonton Oilers by a 3-2 scoreline. With trade rumours swirling around this team prior to puck drop, the contest was emotionally charged, showing up in the many dust-ups that the Canucks had with the Oilers. But, unlike recently, Vancouver came out of the gates hot, ready to prove a point, and for the first time in a while, they out-chanced and shut down their opposition. The only question now is if this will be the group that we’ll see going forward.

Here’s the win, by the numbers.

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

There’s a clear change in the trendline where the Canucks decided to play their brand of hockey in the first period. It’s impressive to see the numbers that they posted in the opening frame – a 55.26 CF% share, 1.77 xGF, 74.69 xGF% share, 7-1 high-danger chances, and 10-6 scoring chances. Heck, the rest of the way, the Canucks managed to keep Edmonton to just 0.46 xGF, going along with the Oilers’0.6 xGF in the first period. It was an absolute clinic when it came to chance and risk management at 5v5 play and much more akin to the style that the 2023-24 Canucks featured. They played with an edge that’s been missing for the past couple of contests, and perhaps that made all of the difference.

The heat map is an inverse of the last couple of contests as well. Vancouver actually managed to get a high-danger hot spot and, at the same time, didn’t give up one in their defensive end. The Canucks only had a slight 18-14 scoring chance edge at 5v5 play, but they got a good chunk of them as high-danger. An 8-2 lead in high-quality opportunities is something that might not seem like a lot, but fitting contextually within the game’s overall stats showed that Vancouver was relatively more efficient in creating good looks. As well, limiting the Oilers to just two high-danger chances at 5v5 is a very impressive feat.

Corsi Champ: Of all people, Vincent Desharnais led the Canucks in Corsi last night, racking up a 78.95 CF% share while dominating the bottom six opposition that he was put up against. Alongside Derek Forbort, Desharnais was tasked with playing against the likes of a fossilized Corey Perry and Connor Brown, much more appropriate opposition for a player like him. Apparently, he knew them pretty darn well from his time as an Oiler, as there wasn’t a hint of momentum generated by that line against the Canucks.

Corsi Chump: Tyler Myers brought up the rear of the Corsi department with his 43.75 CF%. But the thing is, that’s such a great result for him. Reason being is that he, alongside Carson Soucy, spent all of last night playing against Connor McDavid. That’s right; the Soucy-Myers pairing was used in a matchup role against the best player in the world and a top-10 winger by his side. The fact that Myers xGF% was not only above 50, sitting at 58.23, but his high-danger chances against was only two is kind of crazy to think about. But considering that McDavid generated the only 2 high-danger chances that the Oilers got all of last night at 5v5 means that Myers more than did his job.

xGF: As mentioned in the title, Desharnais also led the Canucks in xGF%, putting up a huge 94.85 on the night. The defenceman was on the ice for an 8-0 scoring chance lead with a 4-0 edge in high-danger chances. Edmonton barely sniffed an offensive chance against Desharnais, though that might be due to the quality of players they were throwing out there. On top of a team-best 0.05 xGA, Desharnais also put up a fourth-best 0.92 xGF. Pretty impressive stuff, to say the least. In terms of raw xGF, it was… Max Sasson leading the way with a 1.53. Wait, Max Sasson?

GSAx: Thatcher Demko was not busy last night, and that impacted his numbers. In total, Edmonton only managed 1.49 xGF on the night, which is also a huge testament to the Canucks’ defensive play in front of their netminder. That also meant that Demko conceded a -0.51 GSAx on the night, giving up two low-danger chances against turning into goals. It was not the greatest of performances from him, but given the limited sample size of what he was facing, there really wasn’t going to be much difference in an outcome here.

How about them apples: For a player who looked to be halfway traded just yesterday afternoon, JT Miller turned in one of the best defensive performances of his season. Put on a line with noted two-way forward Pius Suter and the ever-present Conor Garland; the trio were tasked with shutting down McDavid and company. To their credit, even though their numbers didn’t look like a lot of fun, they did their task well. Miller helped hold McDavid to just 57.14 CF% and 76.87 xGF%, which sounds like a lot until one considers that McDavid only managed 0.37 xGF total at 5v5. Simply put, that’s a very good number to be at when it comes to limiting the best player in the world, and Miller only faced a single high-danger chance against. Coupling in that with his offensive contributions, it’s hard to think that Miller could’ve had any bigger of an impact on the game last night. This is what he’s capable of – which is why the last stretch has been so frustrating to watch.

This was closer to the Canucks group that we were expecting to see this year. A performance where they were able to put up the goals in the first, then defend strongly at 5v5 to make sure they saw the win come through. It was a great effort from top to bottom, where the matchup duties took care of the opposition’s biggest threats and the depth put together shift after shift after shift to get the momentum going. It was a great win to watch and one that shows what this group is capable of. But again, it is frustrating as well because the inconsistency this team has shown, along with the turmoil they are reportedly in, just surrounds the Canucks with so much uncertainty. What team will show up in the next contest?

Vancouver gets a bit of a break before they host their expansion brothers, the Buffalo Sabres, on Tuesday.