Vancouver Canucks — Stats, Schedule & Insights

Team Snapshot

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Key Insight

The Canucks finished dead last in the NHL with a -100 goal differential driven by historically bad defensive structure and goaltending, yet their 14th-ranked power play and recent 3-2-0 run expose a contradiction: special teams competence exists within a fundamentally broken 5v5 system. The second period collapse — allowing 117 goals against, 49 more than they scored — represents the single most catastrophic period-specific failure in the league and explains why a middling offense became statistically irrelevant.

Strengths

14th-ranked power play at 21.8% (51 goals on 234 opportunities) provided the only reliable scoring mechanism and prevented the goal differential from exceeding -120, though it could not compensate for 5v5 offensive failure

Road record of 16-22-3 outperformed the catastrophic home record of 9-27-5, suggesting the team competed marginally better away from home ice where crowd pressure and opponent rest advantages were neutralized

Third period scoring of 70 goals matched second period output despite trailing in most games, indicating the team maintained effort through 60 minutes even when outcomes were decided

Risks

Second period defensive collapse — allowing 117 goals against while scoring 68, a -49 differential — represents the single most catastrophic period-specific failure in the NHL and directly explains why the team finished last, as opponents exploited systemic breakdowns during the middle frame to build insurmountable leads

31st-ranked penalty kill at 71.5% (65 goals against on 228 opportunities) cost approximately 12-15 standings points by turning routine infractions into game-deciding goals, and this special teams incompetence combined with bottom-tier goaltending created compounding defensive failure

Kevin Lankinen's .875 save percentage and 3.70 GAA eliminated any margin for error and turned 2-1 deficits into 4-1 blowouts, as league-worst goaltending interacted with the 32nd-ranked goals-against rate to produce the NHL's only -100 goal differential

Home record of 9-27-5 across 41 games cost the team 20+ potential standings points and suggests fundamental issues with preparation, lineup deployment, or last-change advantage utilization that made the team statistically worse in its own building than on the road

Last 5 Record

3W–2L

Avg Scored (L5)

2.8↓1.0 vs prev 5

Avg Conceded (L5)

3.8

The last-5 record of 3-2-0 with 2.8 goals scored and 3.8 conceded per game represents statistical noise rather than meaningful improvement — the team still allowed nearly four goals per game while the -0.95 scoring trend confirms offense remained stagnant. This late-season win cluster occurred against weak opposition during a meaningless stretch and does not project forward as sustainable form, as the underlying defensive structure that produced 316 goals against over 82 games never changed.

Core Analytics

Core Performance

Offence

Ranking 30th at 2.63 goals per game, the Canucks generated minimal 5v5 offense throughout the season, but their 14th-ranked power play (21.8%, 51 goals on 234 opportunities) provided the only consistent scoring mechanism. The last-5 uptick to 2.8 goals per game combined with 3 wins suggests late-season improvement, but the -0.95 scoring trend indicates this is variance rather than sustainable offensive structure, and 216 goals across 82 games confirms the team never solved its even-strength creation problem.

2.63Avg 3.08

29th in NHL

Defence

Ranking 32nd at 3.85 goals against per game with 316 total goals conceded, the Canucks defense collapsed most catastrophically in the second period where they allowed 117 goals while scoring just 68 — a -49 differential that alone explains their bottom-of-league standing. The 31st-ranked penalty kill (71.5%, 65 goals against on 228 opportunities) compounded the structural breakdown, and the last-5 concession rate of 3.8 goals per game proves the defensive system remained unfixable even as the season ended.

3.85Avg 3.08

31st in NHL

Special Teams

Top Players

Elias Pettersson

Center · #

PTS

Filip Hronek

Defense · #

PTS

Goals Scored — Last 10 Games

Scoring has dropped noticeably over the last 5 games — a 1.0 goal/game decline vs the previous 5 aligns with the recent dip in results.

Goals For

Goals Against

1–6

EDM

Apr 16

4–3

LAK

Apr 14

4–3

ANA

Apr 12

Pattern: 2 of the last 5 losses have been by 3+ goals — suggesting difficulty recovering from early deficits rather than close, competitive games.