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Teams are getting into formation against Vancouver and shooting quite a bit. And as we know from the work of Arik Parnass, now with the Colorado Avalanche, getting into formation bodes well for a team’s power play efficiency. The reason that power play team may not fire off a shot as quickly, though, is that winning the draw gives them more time to get in formation and then start shooting. At face value, that could give the idea that losing a d-zone draw isn’t as daunting for a shorthanded team. Research tells us it can take a few more seconds for a team on the power play to generate a shot post-offensive zone draw versus a group at even strength. But special teams face-offs can have a different meaning. While face-offs matter in men’s hockey, that value can be over-emphasized at even strength in particular. Vancouver’s shorthanded weaknesses start at the face-off dot, as they’ve only won about 42 per cent of their draws (and 43 per cent in their own zone, which keeps them in the bottom half of the league). Unfortunately, their play has only trended in the wrong direction this season. So, there was clearly room for this team to build up and provide their goaltender, Thatcher Demko, more support than last year while shorthanded. Expected goals can also be used as a proxy for shot quality and by that metric, the Canucks were third to last with a high rate of 8.24 expected goals against. While they limited some shots, they struggled to limit quality chances against, shifting to the bottom-10 in slot shots against. That’s why it helps to measure the team’s play in front of their goaltender to really assess how well or poorly a team is killing penalties before it reaches the last line of defence in net.Īllowing a rate of 101.5 shot attempts against per 60 minutes, Vancouver's penalty kill ranked in the middle of the league in the shot volume allowed last season. That percentage is more reflective of goaltending than anything else a netminder can hide a team’s faults, or in some cases, make a situation look far worse than it actually is. They finished 17th in the league last year with a 79.8 per cent efficiency. The Canucks weren’t coming into the 2021-22 season with a strong penalty kill by any means. A closer look shows just how dire their situation has become. Except the Canucks’ awful penalty kill percentage accurately points to what’s going wrong in Vancouver. Small samples can obviously amplify fewer results. The worst in the past decade came last season with the New Jersey Devils’ 71 per cent penalty kill generally, most poor shorthanded units have landed somewhere in the mid-70’s range. No team in the past 10 years has finished a season with a penalty kill percentage as low as the Canucks’ current rate. That’s a five-plus per cent drop from the second-to-worst in the league, their opponent Friday night, the Winnipeg Jets. The Vancouver Canucks’ penalty kill sits at the bottom of the league standings, operating at just 60.3 per cent.