Add another nail.
For forty minutes last night, the Vancouver Canucks hung in there in a critical game against the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights. Despite a performance that, overall, wasn’t bad, the Canucks’ playoff hopes dwindled further when Victor Oloffson made it 3-2 with five minutes left in the game.
The game and third period were emblematic of the team’s entire season. The club got knocked back onto their heels the further the game went along. When the chips were down, the undermanned Canucks team simply got outclassed when it mattered the most. Again, the overall performance wasn’t bad from the entire team. For the 22nd time this season, they lacked the ability to get the result they needed at home.
Here’s the loss, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.

Game Flow

The Canucks came out of the gates hot. Managing a modest 56.67 CF% share, they generated 1.19 xGF total in the first period while controlling expected goals handily, 66.26 xGF%. But that was pretty much the high point of the game for Vancouver. After that, Vegas dominated by CF% and xGF% for the rest of the game, none more so than the third, where the Golden Knights racked up an 80.08 xGF%. Based on the pressure generated by Vegas, the late tiebreaker felt overdue. In a 2-2 hockey game, the Canucks had zero answer.

Heat Map

The heat map honestly doesn’t look that bad for the Canucks despite the result. Overall, Vegas held a 26-21 edge in scoring chances with a narrow 10-8 lead in high-danger chances. It’s reflected as such in both teams’ hot spots, with Vegas’ just being a little bit bigger. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but if you’re a Canucks fan, the distribution of high-danger chances is a little concerning. Vancouver had a 4-3 lead after the first period but dropped to a 5-4 deficit by the end of the second. And, in the third, they were in a 2-0 hole.

Individual Advanced Stats

Corsi Champ: Brock Boeser led the Canucks with a 56.25 CF% against the Golden Knights. It was a good showing from the winger, who posted the third-best xGF (1.14) en route to the team’s second-best xGF% of 61.51. Boeser managed to produce these numbers while primarily playing against the likes of Jack Eichel and Vegas’ top line. That isn’t bad competition at all, and to be on ice for an 11-7 lead in scoring chances while recording an assist is a solid result for Boeser.
Corsi Chump: On the other end of the spectrum, Linus Karlsson posted the team’s worst CF% (22.22%). It was a far cry from the game against Anaheim for Vancouver’s fourth line, who didn’t spend much time with the puck, generating next to nothing for offence. But the xGF% wasn’t all bad. Karlsson finished with a 48.83 xGF%, good enough for a very slight 4.72 xGF% relative to the team average. Being on ice for one of the Knights’ two tiebreaker goals wasn’t great.
xGF: Filip Hronek posted the team’s best xGF% and second-best xGF with 61.98 and 1.57, respectively. It was just that kind of effort from the Czech defenceman, who was all over the ice making plays. He was on the ice for a 14-10 difference in scoring chances and a 5-4 lead in high-danger chances, all without a single shift start in the offensive zone and a mere 14.29% faceoff starts in the attacking end. Hronek was absolutely eating up his minutes against Vegas’ best players, and we’ll get to his effort with Marcus Pettersson in just a bit.
GSAx: Kevin Lankinen did his best in this one. With Vegas generating a total of 3.11 xGF, the Finn netminder finished with a 0.11 GSAx, doing enough to hold the balance for the Canucks for as long as he could. Two goals came off high-danger chances, while one was a low-danger chance. While Lankinen didn’t steal this game, he was definitely one of the few players who gave the Canucks a chance to win.

Statistical Musings

Pettersson-Hronek: Tocchet iced this pairing as the primary shutdown unit against Vegas’ top line at 5v5 play. What he probably didn’t expect was that Pettersson-Hronek would turn their minutes into some offence generation as well. The pairing finished with a 55.26 CF% but, more notably, a 67.44 xGF%. Their 1.54 xGF came off the backs of a 13-8 scoring chance lead and a 5-3 high-danger chance edge. It’s a massive contribution against the best quality competition the opponents had to offer, especially with players like Quinn Hughes operating at less than 100% and minute-munching Veteran Tyler Myers out of action.
The return of the Hög: Nils Höglander drew back into the lineup after an injury layoff and picked up right where he left off, drawing in alongside the hottest Canuck of late in Pius Suter, with Boeser on his opposite flank. The trio put together quite the stat line against the Golden Knights. No other forward line finished above 50 CF%, posting a 55.17, and they also led the team with the best control of expected goals (63.39 xGF%). Their 0.82 xGF was a team high by a full 0.30 xGF, and they were the only line that recorded more than five scoring chances to the tune of nine total at 5v5. Suffice it to say that they were buzzing right from the get-go.

As a team

CF% – 41.18% HDCF% – 47.37% xGF% – 45.36%
The Canucks simply got outplayed down the stretch. It’s hard to justify this team deserving anything when their third period was as tilted in favour of the visitors as it was against Vegas. Quietly inside this game were some great performances, and there are encouraging aspects of the team’s play that can carry forward into their next contests and the offseason. Loudly, realistically, however, they were not close to touching the Golden Knights even after tying the game at two, especially not when they kicked it up a notch. It encompassed everything that has defined this 2024-25 Canucks season. So close, yet so so far.
Vancouver heads into Dallas as they take on Tom Gaglardi’s Stars tomorrow night.
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