Aggressive defensive play sparks suddenly potent Canucks offence
It’s not a big surprise that a team getting good goaltending and makes noise in the offensive zone is having success.
So, yes, through nine games of the 2019-20 season, the Vancouver Canucks have been worth the price of admission. Their playing style hasn’t been perfect — and they’ve mostly faced middling opposition — but there are good numbers there.
Top of the list has been their share of overall shot attempts per game. After five seasons where opponents averaged more shot attempts than the Canucks, they have reversed that trend this year.
“It’s a combination of different things. We’ve definitely tweaked some of our system stuff, and it’s the players, as well. It goes hand in hand,” said head coach Travis Green.
“I think we’ve been pretty effective so far. I’ve liked how we’re spending less time in our own zone and more time in the other team’s end.”
They’re averaging 58.5 shot attempts per game, up about 4.5 attempts per game over last season, while giving up 55.8 against, a decline of about 2.5 attempts.
As a stat, shot attempts share — a.k.a. “Corsi” — becomes useful when you hit 10 games. In other words, after Friday’s home game against the Washington Capitals.
And while it’s true that not every shot is equally dangerous — and by shot-quality metrics, the Canucks’ shots have been more on the outside than you would like, while yielding a few too many shots from in front — the principle that getting off more shots than your opponents usually leads to success still matters.
It’s been proven over and over that the more time you spend in the offensive zone, the more shots you’re bound to get. And the teams that outshoot their opponents tend to win more often than not.
Chris Tanev, who’s now in his 10th season with the Canucks, said the story begins before they even have the puck. The Canucks are trying to be more aggressive in how they defend, he said.
“This year we’re playing more aggressively than we have in the past. We’re trying to get on top of guys,” said Tanev.
“In our neutral zone defending and how we’re playing in our D-zone, we’re trying to close (space) quicker, get on top of guys and force turnovers, so we don’t have to get back and break the puck out. So maybe we can force a turnover in the neutral zone and go right back at them.”
And then they’re moving the puck well. Adding a trio of quality passers in Tyler Myers, Quinn Hughes and the underrated Jordie Benn has had an effect.
“We’re playing pretty quick, we’re transitioning better. Breakouts are better ... a lot of the time we’ve played really good D-zone and we’ve transitioned the puck well. When we’re skating and executing the system properly, you can see how effective we are,”
Tanev said. Once they’re in the offensive zone, the forwards have been a big help in completing the equation.
“We’ve worked on getting pucks through and forwards showing sticks and trying to beat their D into open holes where we can find them for little tips and stuff like that.”
The Canucks’ top two lines — the bottom two lines are a topic for another day — have been especially dominant offensively.
The Pettersson line has about a 60 per cent shot attempt share, a staggering level of dominance, while Bo Horvat’s line is generating tons of shots as well. Horvat’s trio is still yielding more shots than perhaps they would like, but as far as where they’re spending their time on the ice, they’re still in the positive.
“It’s great to have really good defencemen, big or small,” Horvat said with a grin. “The ability to make plays this year, it’s huge. Our breakouts have been a lot cleaner. It’s made our life as forwards a lot easier.”
And once they get in the offensive zone, the Canucks are causing more havoc, he added.
“Our D are doing a great job of getting pucks through to the net. I think that’s our biggest thing this year, we’re crashing a little more, creating a little more havoc,” the Canucks captain said.
“I think our D are doing great work at moving and trying to get their wingers out of position. I think that’s opening up a lot more chances for us forwards. Any time a D gets to jump down the wall and take that winger with them, that gets teams lost in coverage.”