After winning 5-1 against Calgary last Wednesday, the Vancouver Canucks have now lost two in a row, both at the hands of the Jets.
Despite the disappointing outcomes, Vancouver’s underlying numbers suggest that the team deserved much better than the lone point they managed over the past two games, which is a positive considering the porous start that the Canucks had to this season.
In their first match against Winnipeg on Friday night, Vancouver controlled over 57% of the shot attempts according to Evolving-Hockey and was expected to score 3.8 goals. Instead, Laurent Brossoit decided to turn into Patrick Roy as he always does against the Canucks and posted a shutout.
The only negative from the game was the fact that Vancouver only had an expected goals percentage of 46.3%, but Thatcher Demko stood tall by saving over two goals above expected. In fact, Mark Scheifele’s breakaway tally was the only goal scored in the game outside of an empty netter, and that came on an unfortunate bounce that resulted in the puck hopping over Alex Edler’s stick.
Puck bounces over Edler's stick and Mark Scheifele gets a breakaway where he beats Thatcher Demko to open the scoring. #Canucks #GoJetsGo pic.twitter.com/HIKXL0F7d7
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) February 20, 2021
It’s not every day that Brossoit stands on his head and the game being decided on a goal coming off an unlucky break, so the Canucks played much better than the 2-0 score suggests.
Vancouver was even better on Monday night, controlling exactly 60% of all shot attempts. More importantly, they had an expected goals percentage of 55.8%, which means that the team was producing more high-quality chances than Winnipeg as well.
However, the thing that held the Canucks back during the second game was Braden Holtby. The veteran netminder saved 1.47 goals below expected, meaning that he let in more than he should have. If Holtby had played just an average game, Vancouver would have allowed a couple of fewer goals and probably won the game.
Of course, results are the most important thing and we could come up with hypothetical what-ifs and excuses for every game. With that said, these numbers are still a vast improvement on the Canucks’ early-season form, as the team was constantly being outshot and out-chanced by ghastly amounts and the goaltending wasn’t much better either.
Now, Vancouver has figured out a lot of their defensive issues and the top-end players are starting to perform once more. No, the Canucks won’t ever be a shutdown team, but they can at least be respectable in that regard, which has been the case for a few weeks now.
Simply put, the team started the year with their elite players struggling, their defence by far the worst in the league, and the goaltending was inconsistent at best. Now, the first two issues have been much improved, and even Demko has shown flashes of reliable play over his past couple starts. So even though the team has lost two in a row and their record is still bad, there’s no doubt that the Canucks are trending in the right direction.
What do you think, Canucks fans? Are you feeling optimistic about where the team is headed? Let us know in the comments below!