Yahoo Sports The Stats Behind Game #17: Predators 5, Canucks 3
Welcome to this edition of the Vancouver Canucks post-game analytics report. This recurring deep dive breaks down the analytics behind each Canucks game as recorded by Natural Stat Trick. In this article, we look back on Vancouver's most recent 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators.
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While the Canucks won the even-strength analytics battle, they still came out on the losing end of this game. In the end, Vancouver held a 22-16 even-strength scoring chances advantage, with the Canucks also winning the even-strength high-danger battle 13-4. A telling reason why Vancouver lost, however, was their inability to generate chances in the third period. Despite being down by two goals, the Canucks finished with three scoring chances and two high-danger scoring chances in 18 minutes of even-strength play. As mentioned, while Vancouver may have had a stronger performance from an analytics perspective, they were unable to generate chances when it mattered the most.
The best way to describe the heatmap is inefficient. Despite creating scoring opportunities close to the net, the Canucks could not capitalize on their chances. Ultimately, it was a frustrating performance, and despite some strong work in high-danger areas, Vancouver was unable to beat Juuse Saros more than three times.
To wrap things up, one defence pair that stood out was the duo of Erik Brännström and Noah Juulsen. During their 12:13 of even-strength ice time, the Canucks outshot Nashville 6-4 while also holding a 6-1 scoring chances advantage. Brännström and Juulsen also had an xGF% of 77.36% and were the two of three players that were not on the ice for a goal against. One of the better pairs during the back-to-back, it looks as though Brännström and Juulsen are developing some chemistry on Vancouver's third line.
