By: Brayden Fengler / October 25, 2024
The Canucks have three games left to finish out the month of October. They have played six games so far this season, and are currently on a three-game win streak, after starting on a three-game losing skid.
Their first loss was in overtime and their second in a shootout, all things considered, they are technically playing above .500 hockey, although just barely.
Considering some key personnel absences to start the season on top of a four-game Eastern Conference road trip that they have just wrapped up, can the Canucks consider their start to the year a good one?
Starting Behind the Eight-Ball
As has been well discussed at this point in the Canucks season, the team began this campaign without their starting goalie in Thatcher Demko, as well as a key forward, Dakota Joshua.
Demko still has no immediate timeline for return. “November” was the rough time frame thrown around at the start of the season, but as we reach the end of October, this time frame has yet to be refined.
However, Joshua is at least skating again, with his return seeming more imminent. On the plus side for the Canucks Joshua’s main linemate last season, Conor Garland has faired okay without him to start the season.
Garland currently sits tied for first in overall points production so far this year on the Canucks. That said Joshua’s return will no doubt be a welcomed sight, as his exact physical style of play has not been replicated on the Canucks in his absence.
Yet as much as Joshua will be a nice add back to the team’s forward depth, Demko’s absence combined with the team’s existing issues on defence make forward production the least of the their worries.
The depth they lack beyond Hughes and Hronek on the blueline combined with the for better or worse, AHL level goaltending they’ve been having to work with, has been the real one-two punch that has been a challenge for the club.
How It’s Been For the Canucks in October
As good as Silovs is, it was made clear early this season that he is not Demko. Silovs has only started in two of the six Canucks contents so far, and neither of them ended with a win.
Across two games the 23-year-old goalie has let in nine goals and sits with a .827 save percentage. A brief but cold start which is very much in contrast with the high hopes held for the goalie after last year’s playoffs.
The Canucks have instead relied on Kevin Lankinen to take the bulk of the starts so far this season. Lankinen has earned the Canucks their three wins, with a save percentage of .941 which is very respectable. Lankinen has thankfully stepped up big time for the Canucks so far this season, and if he hadn’t who knows where they would be right now.
Likely because of the depth that is lacking on the defensive side of things this year for the Canucks, the team has compensated for this by doing a great job limiting their giveaways.
Although it doesn’t always feel like it when watching Tyler Myers play, Vancouver on the whole has the second lowest giveaways per 60 minutes of play at 11.88. Yet despite the Canucks not outright gifting the opposing team the puck very often, Vancouver also has still allowed teams to control a lot of play during games.
The Canucks have a middling Corsi for percentage at 51.48%, which puts them in a respectable position, yet teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres and the new Utah Hockey Club are all one or more percentage points above them.
This of course translates to a host of teams that should be worse than the Canucks, dominating more play against opponents than the Canucks are managing to do.
The Edmonton Oilers who have started the season worse off than the Canucks with a 2-4-1 record have a significantly better Corsi percentage at 58.07.
Hardly above .500 hockey, the Canucks need to find a way to win more than half their games, and that in large part, this has to do with controlling more than just half of the play.
How to Feel Now
The Canucks have three more match-ups to end the month. They take on the Penguins, followed by the Hurricanes and then Devils. Vancouver needs at least two of the three games to go their way if they want to leave the month of October in the green.
The Penguins and Hurricanes should be achievable wins for the club, with Quinn’s brothers and the Devils being the toughest match-up on the calendar for the rest of this month.
If the Canucks continue their winning streak they will walk out of the first month with only one regulation loss and six out of nine possible wins. That result would not be bad at all. Last year the Canucks did essentially that, finishing their first nine games with six wins and one overtime loss with only two regulation losses on the books.
If the Canucks end their first month the same way they did last year, that has to be a win, especially without Demko. If they do, there is no need to panic. However, if Vancouver loses the rest of their games on the calendar this month, there is still no need to panic…yet.
But in that situation, the team will have gone through their first month of NHL action without a win at home. Comparing that to the high hopes that this fan base has for them this season, that result certainly wouldn’t give fans much to be excited about either.