By: Darryl Keeping / February 7, 2024 Wow, it’s been more than five years since I’ve posted anything Canucks related. I don’t know where you were five years ago – but that feels like a lifetime ago for me!
First of all, thanks for checking out my first post-game recap in a while – I hope you appreciate the amount of detail and information you’ll find exclusively with my work.
The All-Star Weekend is over – it was a decent show, but let’s be honest, we’re all happy to be back on that 82 grind with the Canucks!
It’s also Black History Month so we’re going to take a moment to acknowledge some Canucks, we’ve got
- First, one of the most feared players in NHL History, Donald Brashear. Donny scored 50 career goals for the Canucks. He also had a season in 97-98 when he accumulated 372 penalty minutes. Respect!
- Let’s move on to a smooth-skating, right-handed, transitionally dominant defender, Jalen Chatfield! I’m sure we’re all happy to see him killing it down in Carolina – among the leaders in many underlying statistics in the league. I think I may have written about him doing a lot of the heavy lifting for former Canucks prospect, Olli Juolevi in Utica? Anyways, nothing but love and praise for Jalen, keep up the good work and get paid this summer!
- How about the left-winger for the best third-line in the NHL, Dakota Joshua? He’s having a career year, driving possession while chipping in 12 goals in 48 games, and it’s only February 6th! He’s on pace to shatter career highs across the board. Joshua is also due for big money this summer!
The Canucks vs. The Hurricanes
Alright, now that we’ve taken some time to appreciate some former and current Canucks – I’m incredibly excited to dive into some manually tracked data from tonight’s game versus the Carolina Hurricanes! I’ve created some things you probably haven’t seen before, especially in the hockey realm. I’ll do my best to explain everything in terms that everyone can understand. Fear not, if you have any questions please contact me in my DM’s or a Tweet if you need further explanation.
Before we begin, I must state something. If you remember anything from these words, charts, and numbers, remember this! I believe games are won and lost in the neutral zone! I love and respect the neutral zone. The neutral zone is where you put in work – offensively and defensively – where you pay attention to detail – where you join formation with your squad, and where you scan and take efficient routes to attack and support the puck and your teammates. If you don’t do these things consistently, you’re hurting your team’s chances to win, it’s as simple as that.
Now that you love and respect the neutral zone too, we can move on.
Let’s take a look at how your first-place Canucks who are playing .724 hockey matched up against the 9th-place (.635), Carolina Hurricanes.
JT Miller with Playoff style effort to lead the #Canucks to a 3-2 Victory in Carolina.
It was a low-event start to the first period highlighted by the Hurricane’s penalty kill. The Canucks new first power-play unit consisting of Miller, Pettersson, Boeser, Lindholm and Hughes was struggling mightily to gain the offensive zone which ultimately led to Pettersson being stripped of the puck on the offensive blue line. Hurricanes forward, Justin Martinook won the race to the dumped puck and easily worked a give-and-go off the half boards with Teemu Taravainen – being left alone in front of Thatcher Demko for his eighth of the season to put the Canes up 1-0, four minutes into the game.
Although the first unit struggled early, they got another chance late in the first and looked much sharper. Sharp and simple as Quinn Hughes walked the blue line to the middle of the ice, snapping a shot from the point while the new guy, Elias Lindholm was left alone in front for his first as a Canuck and tenth of the season to tie the game at one.
With the game tied at one for much of the second period, the game was a skirmish along the boards and in the neutral zone. It was the kind of low-risk hockey that Tocchet and Brind’amour dream about.
It wasn’t until late in the second after a drawn penalty by Pettersson after Teravainen yanked EP down by the collar for the obvious call. The combination of Hughes throwing another puck at Lindholm in front of the net would strike again. Making it 2-1 for the Canucks.
Quickly after that, the Hurricanes would get another power play and tie the game at two when Sebastian Aho would snipe glove-side on Thatcher Demko for his 18th of the year.
While it’s easy to be swept away by the newcomer to the team, Elias Lindholm and his two-goal debut performance – this game was all about JT Miller being the best player on the ice in a game with a playoff-like atmosphere from start to finish.
Miller was one of few players who was gaining the offensive zone with any type of regularity in a game where the neutral zone was contested every inch of the way. He wasn’t only “just” gaining the zone, he was barging in with power, often fending off a checker draped on his back.
JT was driving his line all night flanked by Brock Boeser and the Swiss Army knife of the Canucks, Pius Suter. While the three were out there together, the Hurricanes only managed to gain the zone once with control – compared to having to dump and chase ten times. The trio were not only in formation, they were attacking defensively in the neutral zone, forcing the Hurricanes into submission. Controlling the game with over 80% of xG during the game.
Miller has stated multiple times throughout the season that he enjoys playing in a “shutdown” role, which he clearly did well tonight. However, what’s most impressive was he didn’t sacrifice his offensive side of the game one bit while doing it!
Miller led all Canucks forwards tonight with eight primary shot contributions, directing five pucks at the net while setting up another three. Most importantly, scoring his 22nd goal of the season on his backhand four minutes into the third period for the eventual game-winner!
There was a key shift late in the third period with the Canucks defending the 3-2 lead. It was Miller, Suter, Boeser, Cole, and Myers who were briefly pinned in the defensive zone – I believe it was Necas who had possession behind the goal line on Demko’s right side. The quintet of the Canucks defensive players were clogging passing lanes with their sticks, skates and gloves, pressuring the Hurricanes passer to force a pass to deflect off a stick heading harmlessly into the neutral zone.
Tonight was an absolute war in the neutral zone with the Canucks getting the best of the Hurricanes. There were a lot of moving parts coming into tonight’s game. The Canucks had six All-Stars returning from a weekend in Toronto paired with Elias Lindholm making his Canucks debut on the wing. All things considered, I’m willing to bet that was one of Rick Tocchet’s favourite road performances since his arrival in Vancouver last year.
Below is some RAW data on the Canucks On-Ice Zone Entries. It works the same as Corsi – if you’re on the ice for a zone entry (for or against) you get credit. I am making a chart but it’s a bit of a mess. I’m working on making it more digestible.
I’m a big fan of how much information you can gather from the data. I believe it adds context to how much impact a player has on the transition aspect of the game, both offensively and defensively. Over large samples, I think it starts to separate and distinguish which players are having a positive or negative impact on a team’s transition. Especially when you start comparing relatively. We’ll see more of that later when the database grows. Yay, what fun!
Some Quick Thoughts
- Not even including the two goals, Lindholm has a very strong debut for the team. He was winning pucks down low, breaking up plays defensively and seamlessly fitting in on some 5v5 defensive rotations. I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do with a few more games under his belt.
- Neither Pettersson nor Boeser took a shot in the game. It was a defensive struggle all game, but surely the Canucks will need more than that down the stretch. Not too worried about it, but worth noting.
- Thatcher Demko put up his franchise record, ninth straight win for the Canucks, passing Dan Cloutier. Demko wasn’t asked to do a lot but he was there when called upon. Neither goal was his fault, strong game!
- The third line got torn up a little bit in the neutral zone tonight. They gave up the most controlled entries by a far margin and were looking scattered at times. They had some offensive flair which softened the subpar game the trio had together a little bit. They’ve been so strong this year, it’s tough to be hard on them at all. I expect a rebound game from them in the next game.
- The Zadorov-Juulsen thing had some surprise spurts in transition but it wasn’t enough to overshadow some confusing gaffes. Both have been holding their own when called upon, however, I dearly hope this is not a paring that’s counted on in the future.
- Final rant on Miller – If he can play like he did tonight come playoff time, this Canucks team is going to be a handful. He showed some real emotional leadership tonight and knew when the team needed a spark. He channelled his emotion into maximum effort and was shining through all night. My first star of the game, no doubt about it!