3 reasons the Vancouver Canucks should be Stanley Cup favorites

1. The Canucks find ways to win

Not every game will go in your favor, and the Vancouver Canucks know this, but through 42 games, it often hasn’t been relevant as they have found ways to win quite a few close ones. At 5-on-5, Vancouver’s numbers haven’t been the best, with their Corsi For Percentage (CF%) sitting at just 49.9 percent. This implies that they’re only controlling the puck slightly less than half the time, and therefore making the most of their scoring opportunities. 

While they are better than the league average in advanced stats like shooting percentage, save percentage, expected goals for, actual goals for, and actual goals allowed, they are ironically riding an xGA of 87.1 at 5-on-5, which is 3.9 above the league average. This means opponents are getting good looks on the Canucks, but their defensive play and goaltending are stepping up when they need to.

Vancouver has also allowed quite a few high-danger chances, and their high-danger scoring chances for sit at just 47.6 percent. They are giving up more chances than they are creating, but once again, it’s not relevant, as they have scored on 50 of their 309 chances while giving up just 29 goals on 340. 

The Canucks game at 5-on-5 isn’t as solid as their points total makes it out to be, but still, it also shows they are coming up big in pivotal moments. It’s a trend that, now that we’re halfway through the year, will likely continue from now until April.

(Statistics and data provided by Hockey-Reference)