A look at some of the analytics from the Canucks 4-1 victory over the Montréal Canadiens.
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 4-1 victory over the Montréal Canadiens.
To say Vancouver was the better team is an understatement. At even-strength, the Canucks won the scoring chances battle 24-8 while posting an 8-4 advantage in high-danger scoring chances. This included holding the Canadiens to one even-strength scoring chance in the third as Vancouver cruised to a three-goal win.
As for the heatmap, it illustrates Rick Tocchet's comments about forcing the play to the outside. Casey DeSmith faced two high-danger shots all night, with the Canucks doing an outstanding job of pushing play away from the center of the ice. As for their play in the offensive zone, while they only had four high-danger shots on Sam Montembeault, Vancouver was able to generate chances from distance, finishing the night with an average goal distance of 35 feet.
One defensive pair that had a strong game was the duo of Tyler Myers and Carson Soucy. In their 14:54 of even-strength ice time, the pair posted an xGF% of 83.76 and were on the ice for two of the Canucks goals. Vancouver also had a 6-0 scoring chances advantage when Myers and Soucy were out together and finished the night with a 3-0 high-danger chances advantage. Playing primarily against Montréal's top-six, they had an excellent night, according to the analytics.
Lastly, one forward who stood out was Vasily Podkolzin. In 10:16 of ice time, the Canucks winger had an assist while leading the team with six hits. He also had a strong night on the analytics side, posting an xGF% of 80.35 in just over eight minutes of action. A solid addition to the bottom six, Podkolzin is showing how valuable he can be come playoff time.
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