By Andrew Chernoff

January 1, 2017

The Canucks came into 2017 with a 17-18-3 record in 38 games, good for 6th in the Pacific division, with 37 points.

Canucks are 3 points behind Los Angeles for the last wild card playoff position in the Western conference, and 5 points behind Calgary, who hold down the first wild card position.

Vancouver is projected to finish the season with 83 points, and out of the playoffs, as they approach the last 44 games of the season.

The Canucks need to start winning back-to-back games in regulation play, and stay healthy, with a number of players needing to have strong finishes to the season, if Vancouver hopes to realistically be in a playoff hunt in the last 10 games.

Vancouver finished December with a 7-7-1 record, after previous monthly records of 6-7-1 in November; and, a 4-4-1 record in October.

Sandwiched in the first three months of the season was a 9-game losing streak between Oct 23-Nov 7. Vancouver also lost 4 of 5 games from Dec 6-Dec 13, the only win coming in Tampa Bay on Dec 8.

Future Games: 

• Jan 2, 2017: Colorado at Vancouver @7:00 p.m. PST
• Jan 4, 2017: Arizona at Canucks @7:00 p.m. PST
• Jan 6, 2017: Calgary at Rogers Arena @7:00 p.m. PST
• Jan 7, 2017: Vancouver at Calgary @7:00 p.m. PST

Record By Five Game Segment:

Game       1-5       6-10     11-15     16-20   21-25   26-30  31-35   36-38
Record    4-0-1     0-5-0     1-4-0      3-1-1      3-2-0     1-4-0    2-2-1     3-0-0
GF Ave      2.6        0.8         2.2          3.4          2.2        3.00      2.60       2.33
GA Ave     2.0        3.4         3.4          3.6          2.6        3.80      3.00       1.66
PP%         13.0       0.0         7.7         23.1        23.1        11.8       13.3        16.7
PK%        86.7       77.8      95.0        75.0        91.7        71.4      64.7        87.5

Vancouver’s goaltender tandem of Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom are 24th in the NHL, with a 2.92 GAA and a .905 SV%:

• Jacob Markstrom is 8-8-2, with a 2.60 GAA (18th), and a .913 Sv%       (18th)*  * At least 20 GP
• Ryan Miller is 9-10-1, with a 2.81 GAA (24th), and a .909 Sv% (t-19th)*

Leading scorers:

• Bo Horvat (10-15=25 pts)
• Henrik Sedin (9-15=24 pts)
• Daniel Sedin (10-12=22 pts)
• Sven Baertschi (8-12=20)
• Brandon Sutter (9-9=18 pts)
• Loui Eriksson (8-10=18 pts)

Canucks injured:

• Derek Dorsett; 19 games missed
• Philip Larsen; 11 games missed
• Erik Gudbranson; 7 games missed
• Jannik Hansen; 3 games missed

Total Man Games Lost: 164

Vancouver special teams are:

• 16 for 116: 13.8 percent on the power play overall (28th in the NHL)
• 21 for 107: 80.4 percent on the penalty kill overall (21st best in NHL)

Canucks have allowed 113 goals against (t-25th in NHL), and have scored 90 goals for (t-23rd in NHL).

Records:
Vancouver: 17-18-3 (Road: 5-12-1; Home: 12-6-2)

Team      SF      SA       PP       PK     PIM   HITS   GF   GA
Van          1061   1170   16-116  21-107   362      703      90    113

Team         CF               CA            SCF             SCA     CF60%   CA60%   CF%
Van      1909(1501)  2023(1599)  1013(770)  1136(869)    50.1          53.3        48.4

Note: 5v5 stats in parenthesis for CF & CA, SCF & SCA ,
CF60%, CA60% & CF% are 5v5
SCF=scoring chances for; SCA=scoring chances against.

Face-offs:

• Total: 1202-2310: 52 percent
  • offensive zone: 432-789: 54.8%
  • defensive zone: 388-767: 50.6%
  • neutral zone: 382-754: 50.7%
• Even Strength: 966-1878: 51.4%
• Power Play: 135-223: 60.5%
• Shorthanded: 101-209: 48.3%

Stats from naturalstattrick.com, hockeystats.ca, corsica.hockey and nhl