- Vancouver controlled territory for large stretches of even-strength play in this one but just weren’t able to convert that into meaningful offense from the scoring area. Perhaps even worse than the fact that they generated just five scoring chances at evens in Game 1 is that only three of those attempts were on net. Antti Niemi made some key stops but the Canucks need to force him to have a busier night than that if they’re hoping to come back in this series.
- Credit the Sharks’ defense for much of that as well; even the dreaded Hannan/Stuart pairing were able to keep the bleeding to an absolute minimum despite logging heavy minutes against Ryan Kesler’s line.
- Of course, the most impressive feat the Sharks as a whole accomplished in this game was holding the Canucks to zero scoring chances in the third period of a tied playoff game. San Jose themselves only generated two shots from the scoring area in that frame but both of them went in. Something about having to be good to be lucky, etc./
Head-to-head scoring chances
(Click to enlarge)
- The matchup that isn’t displayed on this chart but that the Sharks won handily in Game 1 was Todd McLellan versus Alain Vigneault. Somehow, in a playoff road game, McLellan was able to get Marc-Edouard Vlasic on the ice for 13 of the Sedins’ 16 even-strength minutes, with the Logan Couture line in front of him for nine of those minutes. That’s the matchup McLellan will use on home ice and he got it in Vancouver. As you can see from the chart, they did what they were supposed to and neutralized the twins.
- Raymond/Roy/Hansen were easily the Canucks’ strongest line offensively, although they made most of their hay (including the goal Hansen Bieksa was credited for) in limited minutes against the Couture line. Both the Thornton and Pavelski lines got the better of that matchup, which is significant because one of those centers is going to be seeing a lot of Roy throughout this series.
- One of the undeniable matchup advantages for the Sharks is their fourth line against the Canucks’. That didn’t really materialize as much of an edge in Game 1 but it’s a good bet that it will over the remainder of the series, especially if Scott Gomez draws into the lineup soon./
For more information on what these numbers mean, head here for an in-depth explanation of Corsi and here for more details on scoring chances.
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