Below you will find a compendium of interesting stats. Take from them what you will. Or, if you're feeling particularly sluggish this morning, take from them what I have taken from them. Whatever.
14 - Wins for the Canucks as they head into the Christmas break. It's an ugly number -- no team in the Western Conference has fewer. But don't get too down about it, since there are two reasons things aren't so bad: first, despite the low win total, the Canucks remain, improbably, in a playoff spot. That's what happens when your division sucks and you're collecting loser points like Digimon cards. And second, there is one team in the NHL with fewer wins, at 13: the Toronto Maple Leafs. All is right with the world.
93 - The Canucks aren't the worst team offensively, either. They're definitely among them, mind you. Vancouver's 93 goals for is the second-lowest mark in the Western Conference. But, incredibly, they're still 26 goals ahead of the Anaheim Ducks, who have scored just 67 times in their first 35 games.
45.4% - Here's a category where the Canucks truly are the worst team in the NHL: faceoffs. And it's not close. Vancouver is a full 1.5 percentage points below the New Jersey Devils. Now, I don't want to point fingers, but this is pretty much Jared McCann's fault. The rookie centre is at 32.3% in the circle, which is a shame, since he's fourth among rookies in faceoffs taken (mostly due to Vancouver's injury troubles). Although McCann's not the only problem. At 38.7%, Adam Cracknell's not much better.
40 - The number of goals the Canucks have surrendered in third periods this season. It's their worst period by far. The Canucks have been beaten 31 times in first periods, and 29 times in second periods. In thirds, however, it's a real struggle to keep the puck out of their net. Only five times get scored on more in the final frame.
5 - This probably serves to explain why the Canucks top the NHL in overtime losses when leading after two periods. They've done that five times.
0 - The Canucks are also one of just four teams that has yet to win a game when trailing after two. Potential New Year's resolution: finish stronger?
137 - Radim Vrbata continues to shoot out the lights for the Canucks. His 137 shots on goal put him seventh in the NHL this season. And at 135, Daniel Sedin is eighth. The Canucks are the only club with two shooters in the top 10.
-17 - The NHL's worst plus/minus player right now: Bo Horvat. (And two other guys.) Now, admittedly, plus/minus is a flawed statistic, but when you're the league's best or the league's worst at it, that usually says something. I'm not sure what, but something. In Horvat's case, this number will probably begin to turn around if he can start scoring some damn goals. Or if Brandon Sutter returns and alleviates some of his defensive responsibility. Because when you're not scoring, and you're going up against the best centres in the world, yeah, your plus/minus probably isn't gonna look so good.
80 - Further to poor Bo Horvat's plight: he leads the league in shorthanded faceoffs lost, and by a pretty wide margin. The next two: Detroit's Luke Glendening and Winnipeg's Bryan Little, with 74. That's what happens when you're pretty well your team's only option for that role, meaning you have to take a lot of draws on your bad side as well, and you're 20.
51.04% - Among Canucks that have played 30 games or more, there are five that have posted a corsi rating above 50%: Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Radim Vrbata, Chris Tanev, and Sven Baertschi, whose 51.04% rating is second only to Vrbata. Provided that Baertschi's recent injury doesn't slow him down, keep an eye on him for a strong second half.
