The Canuck Way
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Canucks: 10 things we learned from the first 10 games

By Joshua Rey

VANCOUVER, BC - NOVEMBER 2: Goalie Thatcher Demko #35 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates with teammate J.T. Miller #9 after defeating the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime on November 2, 2021 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC - NOVEMBER 2: Goalie Thatcher Demko #35 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates with teammate J.T. Miller #9 after defeating the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime on November 2, 2021 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images) /
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VANCOUVER, BC – NOVEMBER 2: Barclay Goodrow #21 of the New York Rangers tries to get around Quinn Hughes #43 of the Vancouver Canucks during the first period on November, 2, 2021 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC – NOVEMBER 2: Barclay Goodrow #21 of the New York Rangers tries to get around Quinn Hughes #43 of the Vancouver Canucks during the first period on November, 2, 2021 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images) /

5. The offence has had dry spells

The Canucks offence looks like it could score plenty of goals. However, there were times where they looked drier than the Sahara Desert.

While the goals did come on the six-game road trip, they were almost non-existent during the homestand.

The Canucks are 20th in goals for with 24 on the season. (At all strengths.) They are 25th in expected goals for with 14.03 and 27th in scoring chances with 175. They are also second-last in the NHL in High Danger Corsi for percentage of 42.11%.

The Canucks also need players like Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Miller to get on the scoresheet.

It’s simply not good enough for the offence and it needs to come back quickly. Fortunately, the Canucks managed to net three against the Rangers so that could be a sign.

6. Quinn Hughes looks better defensively

Quinn Hughes had a tough sophomore season which saw him be very bad defensively.

So far, he hasn’t looked as bad as he was last season.

It looks like we are getting the rookie version of Hughes back. His transitions up the ice were very good, he wasn’t getting walked easily by opponents and has made some good defensive plays.

One example is here against the Rangers where he made an excellent backcheck stopping a scoring chance from Kevin Rooney.

https://twitter.com/RobTheHockeyGuy/status/1455724763687493640

Hughes did not play the game in Buffalo due to injury and the defence was a total mess without him.

He is important to the back end for the Canucks and looks like a different player defensively from last season.

7.The power play is powerless

One thing that has been very frustrating in the first ten games is the power play.

Vancouver’s man advantage is 24th in the league at 15.8%.

The Canucks power play went zero for six Tuesday night against the Rangers. Yikes.

The power play has been passing too much and not taking a lot of shots. They have also looked stagnant, predictable, and not very creative.

Vancouver has been getting a lot of opportunities but has not been cashing in on them.

Head coach Travis Green has been mixing up the two units to get something going. Unfortunately, nothing has worked so far.

Watching the Canucks power play has been like watching a Hallmark movie. Boring, predictable and just makes you want to sigh out loud.

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