A look at some of the analytics from the Canucks 6-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Welcome to this edition of "The Stats Behind The Game." This recurring deep dive breaks down the analytics behind each Vancouver Canucks game as recorded by Natural Stat Trick. In this article, we look back on the Canucks most recent 6-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

This game was the perfect example of quality over quantity. At first glance, it looks like the Maple Leafs dominated because they had a 36-17 shot advantage at even strength, but the game was actually a closer from an analytics perspective. While Toronto still had the advantage in each category, the scoring chances finished at 18-17, while the high-danger chances total was 8-7 in favour of the Maple Leafs. This shows that while Vancouver was hemmed into their zone for large portions of the game, they did a great job clogging up the middle and ensuring that most shots Thatcher Demko had to face were from distance or low-danger areas. 

The heatmap better illustrates how a team that gets so heavily outshot can be close when it comes to scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances. As is presented below, the majority of the Leafs' shots came from along the side or beyond the faceoff dot with no real traffic in front of the net. While they did score twice from close range, they couldn't generate much in front of Demko at even strength; he only faced six high-danger shots compared to 23 that were registered as low-danger shots.

As for the Canucks, they did an excellent job of capitalizing on second-chance opportunities. While they only finished with three high-danger shots at even strength, they were created with four rebounds created, which led to Vancouver's first goal of the game. While they may not be creating a large number of chances, they are taking advantage of the opportunities they create, which, in this case, led to four even-strength goals and a victory. 

Lastly, arguably the Canucks best line against Toronto was the trio of Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger and Conor Garland. They were the only line that didn't get outshot and provided Vancouver with two goals. They also finished the game with an xGF% of 68.24 and played 8:18, which ranked second among the Canucks four lines. Once again, this trio stepped up for Vancouver as they continue to show why they are the best third line in the NHL.  

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