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The Statsies: Brock Boeser has his best game of the year in Canucks’ loss to Islanders

Photo credit: © Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

By Michael Liu

Oct 14, 2026, 12:27 EDTUpdated: Oct 14, 2026, 12:46 EDT

Comments

Almost had em.

Lachlan Irvine

@LachInTheCrease

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Oh that was PAINFULLY close to a tying goal. Like the effort at least. #Canucks

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2:24 AM · Oct 14, 2026

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The Vancouver Canucks were just a second too late as they dropped a 3-2 decision to the New York Islanders. So far on the road trip, this was the game where they probably showed the most fight, battling through the ebbs and flows of the contest with plenty of grit. By no means was this team perfect, but you can’t fault them for the effort that they turned in, and being just a beat late from sending this game to overtime was all you could’ve really asked out of them.

Here’s the loss, by the numbers.

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

Game Flow

It was a pretty interesting game to check out the stats for, to say the least. The first period was pretty neck and neck, and honestly the Canucks probably didn’t deserve to be in the 2-0 hole they found themselves in after one. While the Isles had a 54.17 CF% share, the Canucks edged them out with a 56.62 xGF% and a 4-4 split in high-danger chances. Vancouver managed to build on that for the second period, stacking shifts together to finish with a 70.83 CF% and 92.51 xGF%, blanking New York in terms of scoring chances. A fine effort to even up the game in well-deserved fashion.

Now, that’s when the wheels sort of fell off for the Canucks as the Islanders took over the third period by a big margin. The numbers weren’t kind to Vancouver, who finished with a 27.27 CF% and 17.18 xGF%, giving up a 17-3 hole in scoring chances and an 8-1 deficit in high-danger chances. It’s a bit of a surprise they only gave up one goal against given these numbers, especially with New York accumulating 1.62 xGF of their 2.48 xGF at 5v5 in the third alone.

Heat Map

The heat map wasn’t terrible last night either. Despite the 26-17 margin in overall scoring chances for the Islanders, the Canucks managed to hold it to just a 12-8 lead in high-danger chances. While New York’s hot spot in the slot area is just ever so slightly denser and with a bit more spread, it wasn’t by a massive gap. Vancouver probably could’ve made this look a little better too if the wheels didn’t statistically fall off in the third, as the high-danger chances were 7-4 in the Canucks’ favour.

Individual Advanced Stats

Corsi Champ: Brock Boeser hasn’t had the best start to the 2026-27 season, so it’s nice to see him put together a strong performance in this one. Last night, the winger led all Canuck skaters with a 63.16 CF%, doing pretty well and probably deserving a better fate than being on ice for two goals against. This, as Boeser was put up against Bo Horvat’s line in a matchup against an old teammate and friend.

Corsi Chump: It’s been a struggle for Jamie Oleksiak in the early going, but this might’ve been his best performance to date. His 31.03 CF% was a team low, and he mostly played against the Islanders’ top 6, managing to split being on ice for a goal for and a goal against. Oleksiak’s 25.97 xGF% was the fourth-worst on the team with a 5-11 hole in scoring chances and 1-4 margin in high-danger chances, but given that he didn’t see a single shift start in the offensive zone, that sort of thing happens. Again, being a defensive defenceman primarily, that’s not the end of the world for Oleksiak as he tries to find his feet in Vancouver.

NHL Goals

@nhl_goal_bot

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Vancouver goal! Scored by Max Sasson with 12:08 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Arshdeep Bains and Jamie Oleksiak. NYI: 2 | VAN: 1 #VANvsNYI #Isles #Canucks

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1:14 AM · Oct 14, 2026

Statistical Musings

D-Petey continues to rock: Watching Elias Pettersson cement himself as one of the best Canuck defenders this season has been fun to watch. Last night against the Islanders, he continued to produce some great numbers, being the best Canuck defenceman in CF% (52.17) and xGF% (53.62). Pettersson kept his minutes tidy and neat, holding a 4-3 high-danger chance advantage and making sure that the Canucks’ defensive zone was as clean as it could be. It’ll be interesting to see if he’ll be continue to play a bigger role, as right now, Pettersson is dominating his matchups as a 4-5 defenceman.

Hamalytics

@Hamalytics

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Elias Pettersson (D) at 5v5 through 8 GP: Goals: 5-2 (71.4%) Shots: 52-43 (54.7%) xGF: 5.46-4.04 (57.5%) 20 DZone Starts (1st among Canucks D) #Canucks without him on ice: Goals: 11-21 (34.4%) Shots: 85-153 (35.7%) xGF: 7.96-16.17 (33.0%)

2:41 AM · Oct 14, 2026

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As a team

CF% – 47.79% HDCF% – 44.00% xGF% – 46.52%

The Canucks didn’t do poorly at all. They fought hard, made it a game, and while they ran out of juice in the third, they still hung around and were a shot away from sending it to overtime. That’s all that could’ve been asked out of them, and a strong effort like this one on the road to respond to the losing streak that they’ve been on is good for morale. Hopefully, they can steal a point or get a result before the trip is over.

Vancouver heads south to Florida, taking on the Panthers tomorrow night for their next matchup.

Stats provided by naturalstattrick.com