Can Canucks beat good teams? Here's how they've fared so far
The Vancouver Canucks are in the midst of their first significant losing streak of the season. The team fell 3-1 to the Colorado Avalanche last night to drop three consecutive games for the first time this year.
The Canucks recent slump has made some fans question the first-place team’s ability to beat other top contenders. The loss to the Avalanche, a brutal defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins, and a tough showing against the Winnipeg Jets at home means the Canucks have struggled against some of the NHL’s top teams in recent weeks.
not convinced they'll get far in the playoffs with this group until they start beating top teams decisively.
#canucks— BuckFoston (@BuckFoston_) February 21, 2024
However, these isolated losses stand out partially because they’ve been so few and far between for the Canucks this season.
Here are the nine squads that currently sit alongside the Canucks as the top-10 NHL teams by points percentage. The Canucks record against each team is displayed next to their name.
- Florida Panthers: 2-0
- New York Rangers: 1-0-1
- Boston Bruins: 0-1
- Winnipeg Jets: 0-1
- Dallas Stars: 1-0-1
- Colorado Avalanche: 0-2
- Carolina Hurricanes: 2-0
- Edmonton Oilers: 3-0
- Toronto Maple Leafs: 1-1
This means the Canucks have a total record of 10-5-2 against the current top-10 teams in the NHL. That results in a points percentage of .647, a mark that only seven teams, including the Canucks, have bested so far this year.
This isn’t a perfect science, as the Canucks did benefit from playing the Oilers early in the year when the Alberta-based team was not at their best.
However, even if you take away the three wins over the Oilers, the Canucks still have a .571 points percentage against the other eight clubs listed above, a solid mark that would put them on the playoff bubble despite only playing the best teams.
The Canucks have 25 games left on their schedule. Six of those 25 games are against the nine teams mentioned above.
Another six are against either the Vegas Golden Knights or Los Angeles Kings, Pacific Division rivals who are 11th and 12th across the NHL by points percentage.
This means that 12 of the team’s remaining 25 games, or roughly half, will be against top-12 teams, including seven against strong divisional foes in the Oilers, Kings, and Golden Knights.
The Canucks have a 10-point lead for the division title but they’ve also played the most games. If they falter in these big matchups over the remaining part of the season, they could find themselves with a much tougher opponent in the first round of the playoffs.
So far this year, they’ve managed to take care of business against these top teams. While they struggled last week by losing to the Jets and Avalanche, the team’s play against top teams over the full season doesn’t indicate any reason for worry.