A look at some of the analytics from the Canucks 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
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 Detroit Red Wings.
From an analytics perspective, this was a close game, with the quality of goaltending being the biggest difference. At even strength, the Red Wings had the advantage in scoring chances at 22-21 and high-danger chances at nine to seven, yet were outscored 4-1. This was all thanks to Thatcher Demko, who was once again superb in net for Vancouver.
The heatmap shows just how good Demko was on the ret. Detroit was able to create chances from the center of the ice and around his crease, yet only finished with one goal. Stopping ten of 11 high-danger shots on the net, he was arguably the Canucks best player on the night.
Heatmap by Natural Stat Trick, VAN vs DET, Feb 15, 2024As for Vancouver, they also did a great job in the offensive zone, making life difficult for Alex Lyon. They generated chances all night and took advantage of a struggling goaltender. In the end, the Canucks did what they had to do to win and walked away from the game with two points.
On the blue line, one player who stood out was Noah Juulsen. He finished the night with three blocks and was a crucial part of Vancouver's perfect penalty kill. The Canucks also had an analytical advantage at even-strength with him on the ice as they held an 11-4 scoring chances advantage during his 12:10 of even-strength ice time. He remains a valuable depth piece for this team, both at even strength and on the penalty kill.
Lastly, the all-Swede line of Elias Pettersson, Elias Lindholm and Nils Höglander was fantastic. They contributed three goals and finished the night with a 7-3 scoring chances advantage in 8:04 of ice time together. It is clear these three have chemistry together, as in 16:53 of total time together over the past few games, they have produced four goals and have outshot the opposition 15-7
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