Defensive woes resurfaced
24 hours after the Canucks played their best defensive game of the season, the team followed it up with their usual — that is to say, awful — two-way efforts.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s takeaways article, Vancouver only allowed five high danger scoring chances against (HDCA) and an expected goals against (xGA) of 1.9 at five on five, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Well, they reverted back to their old ways last night, giving up 10 HDCA and 2.73 xGA in the game. What’s perhaps more worrying is that the Canucks did this while also being sub-par on offence, generating only 1.52 expected goals for at five on five.
It seems like the team isn’t capable of playing a solid offensive and defensive game at the same time, but ticking off one box is still better than none.
Vancouver’s main problem continues to be the abundance of odd-man rushes that they give up, which was evident on Mason Appleton’s goal that opened the scoring for Winnipeg.
Jets open the scoring after Holtby makes the initial save off Lowry but Appleton drives the net and is able to chip the puck in on the rebound. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/z2E4xMo2Eh
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) March 3, 2021
It’s a difficult problem to solve because the Canucks’ aggressive forecheck is naturally susceptible to these odd-man rushes, but the team will struggle to score if they undergo a drastic stylistic change.
I’m not sure what the solution to this is, and it seems like the coaching staff doesn’t either.
Other notes
- Vancouver is now 0-13 when conceding the first goal. It’s safe to say that the team needs to have more pushback when trailing, which is difficult when this trend has gone on for so long. Travis Green also needs to be able to find different ways to motivate his players to get the most out of them.
- Travis Hamonic played perhaps his best game in a Canucks uniform on Monday night, but made a mistake that led to Appleton’s opening goal last game. Personally, I’d still like to see Quinn Hughes paired with Jordie Benn instead of Hamonic, as Vancouver was at their best defensively this season when those two were alongside one another.
- Elias Petterson now has goals in five straight games after scoring the same amount in the first 21 matches of the season. I fully expect him to end the year at a higher than a point-per-game pace and has shown that his early struggles were just a blip on the radar.
The Canucks are right back at it on Thursday as they return home to host the Maple Leafs. Puck drops at 7 PM Pacific Time, and they’ll need to be at their best if they hope to slow down a red-hot Toronto squad.