3 takeaways from the Canucks’ 3-1 victory against the Flames last night
After a deflating six-game losing streak, the Vancouver Canucks finally broke through last night with a 3-1 win against the Flames.
The team was due for a victory after performing well in their last two contests, so let’s hope that they can carry over their momentum into future games.
Here are three takeaways from last night’s victory against Calgary.
Struggling second power play unit
I apologize for beginning on a down note, but this is one part of the team that needs addressing. Vancouver’s second power play unit has yet to score on the man advantage this year, which has amplified the team’s overall special teams struggles.
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Last season, the second unit’s production was unsustainable, as Adam Gaudette and Jake Virtanen both had inflated shooting percentages on the power play. Many fans anticipated a regress in that regard, but so far, it feels like that change has been over-indexed.
As I have mentioned many times, the most important part of a power play is sustaining offensive zone time, which is something that the second unit has struggled with. They were thwarted on multiple occasions last night on the blue line when attempting to enter Calgary’s zone, so some change might need to be made in that regard.
The good news is that the second unit will inevitably experience some positive regression, especially with the addition of Nate Schmidt, who’s a superior quarterback when compared to both Tyler Myers and Alex Edler.
Myers’ big night
Last night’s game was arguably one of Myers’ best performances in a Vancouver uniform. The behemoth blueliner was stifling on defence and also scored the game-winning goal late in the third.
And that's Tyler Myers with the game winner for the @Canucks to close out @scotiabank #HockeyDay in Canada! pic.twitter.com/5rCeJKfWvv
— NHL (@NHL) February 14, 2021
Myers first prevented a potential scoring chance for Calgary by breaking up a play at centre ice before carrying the puck in himself and beating Jacob Markstrom with a deceptive shot.
Moreover, he controlled play at an elite rate, ending the game with a 78% corsi and 59% expected goals percentage at five on five according to Natural Stat Trick.
https://twitter.com/ChrisFaber39/status/1360827678140424193
Let’s hope the big man can keep up this level of play for the next while.
Lotto Line dominates once again
Yesterday, I released an article talking about the dominance of the Lotto Line over the past two games. Fortunately, they were on fire last night as well.
The trio of Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and J.T. Miller ended the match by controlling 75% of the shot attempts while owning a nice 72.69% expected goals percentage at five on five. They were actually relatively unlucky by being on the ice for the only goal against, which is a sign that better performance will come if they receive some fortuitous bounces.
That’s now three consecutive games in which the Lotto Line has looked like their old dominant selves, which means that the Canucks can now begin to lean more heavily on their top guns once again.
Other notes
- Vancouver’s second line of Bo Horvat, Tanner Pearson, and Nils Hoglander had a strong game as well. They had a 62.50% corsi and a 71.87% expected goals percentages, which is even better than the Lotto Line. Again, it seems like the Canucks can start leaning more on their top players now, much like they did last season.
- Zack MacEwen was a healthy scratch last night after only playing 3:24 minutes on Thursday, which is interesting considering the energy he brings to the team. It seems like the coaching staff is content with rotating him, Virtanen, and Gaudette in and out of the lineup depending on their performances and matchups.
- Thatcher Demko made his second consecutive start after Braden Holtby got the nod in the two previous games. Perhaps Travis Green is allowing each netminder to redeem themselves after a lacklustre performance, and it’s definitely a story to watch out for from now on.
Next. Canucks Recap: 3 stars of the past week (Feb 5th – 11th). dark
It’s only one win, but I’ll take it after such a messy start to the season. The good news is that Vancouver has played well for three consecutive matches now, so perhaps this is the start of a turnaround. Let’s see if they can keep this up on Monday and make it two in a row!