The Stats Behind Game #79: Canucks 4, Sharks 3 (SO)

Welcome to this edition of the Vancouver Canucks post-game analytics report. This recurring deep dive breaks down the analytics behind each Canucks game as recorded by Natural Stat Trick. In this article, we look back on Vancouver’s most recent 4–3 shootout win against the San Jose Sharks. 

For only the second time this season, Vancouver put more than 40 shots on goal throughout the game, though they did need to go past regulation in order to do so. When it came to scoring chances-for, the Canucks recorded only one less than San Jose, with the Sharks leading that battle 28–27. Notably, 25 of the Sharks’ scoring chances-for came at 5-on-5, while Vancouver only registered 19. Four of the Canucks’ chances-for came during overtime, while another four came during the power play. 

Vancouver managed to pepper Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov with a fair helping of chances, with the majority of their opportunities coming netfront or from the back-door. Where things don’t look fantastic for the Canucks is that San Jose also managed to pile a good chunk of opportunities from near Kevin Lankinen. To his credit, however, Lankinen played excellently to help his team secure the win. 

Teddy Blueger continues to produce sharp statistics alongside his linemates, though last night, he was paired with Nils Höglander and Jake DeBrusk rather than his recent regulars Max Sasson and Linus Karlsson. Höglander, Blueger, and DeBrusk registered the team-highs in CF% (61.90%), xGF% (68.05%), scoring chances-for (9), and high-danger scoring chances-for (6) through 8:37 minutes played with one-another. 

Last night showed a strong statistical effort from defenceman Elias Pettersson, who finished first on his team in overall CF% (70.83%) and xGF% (80.03%). He also produced Vancouver’s best scoring chance-for and chance-against differential by registering 10 for and two against. Pettersson also had six high-danger chances-for and only one against. Having said that, Pettersson also played the least minutes of all Canucks defencemen last night, logging a grand total of 13:48 tying him with Karlsson for the fourth-least. 

Vancouver will play in their final game of their current three-game road trip tomorrow at 5:00 pm PT when they take on the Anaheim Ducks. The Canucks currently lead their season series two games to one but lost the most recent matchup by a score of 5–3. 

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