Canucks: Analyzing their 5-on-5 play so far this season
Bo Horvat has found at least one consistent linemate this year in Tanner Pearson. Since joining the team at the trade deadline last year, he has been lights out with the captain.
This is his first full season with the Canucks, and both Pearson and Horvat are set to put up their best numbers. The right wing of Horvat has seen a lot of different teammates, with the two most common being Josh Leivo and Loui Eriksson.
While both have positive number, Eriksson has been the best on the right side. They have a Corsi For percentage of 51.68 percent, and they’ve outscored their opponents 9-7. The impressive part about this line is they have only started in the offensive zone 36.89 percent of the time.
This line is not only effective offensively, but is often used to match up against the opposition’s best line, and that’s why Eriksson fits well here. He may never be that 20-plus goal scorer we were hoping for, but he is very reliable defensively and is finally scoring more.
Adam Gaudette
The Canucks have worked extensively group to build a capable top-nine group. This summer, they added two veteran forwards — Miller via trade and Micheal Ferland in free agency. Even though we haven’t seen much of Ferland because of his concussion issues, I do believe that he will fit nicely on the third line.
The regulars for this line are Virtanen, Adam Gaudette and Antoine Roussel. Virtanen and Gaudette are both having career years, and they could both finish with around 40 points. This line hasn’t had the advantage in controlling the play, with a Corsi For percentage of 46.34, but they’ve outscored opponents 6-5.
As previously mentioned, Boeser recently traded spots with Virtanen, and they’ve both made their new lines better. With Boeser on this line, they have recorded a 54.41 Corsi For percentage, but they’ve been outscored 3-2.
They have had an equal amount of scoring chances, but the line just hasn’t had the same puck luck. I like Boeser on this line, because he doesn’t have the same shooting mentality he has had in previous seasons, and he’sreally rounded out his game to be a 200-foot player.