Garland's stats mask how important he's been to Canucks' success
Take a peek at Conor Garland’s stats, and you’ll likely come away unimpressed. The Vancouver Canucks winger has just two goals and seven assists through 27 games, not exactly eye-catching numbers.
However, goals and assists don’t always tell the full story. In Garland’s case, his effectiveness is not accurately represented through those numbers.
Throughout his time in Vancouver, Garland has always profiled as one of the team’s best play-drivers at five-on-five. That has not changed this season.
When Garland is on the ice five-on-five, the Canucks control 57.91% of the scoring chances and 58.61% of the expected goals, both the best mark of any Canucks player.
While the winger has struggled to score goals this season, he’s averaging 9.99 shots per 60 minutes at five-on-five, the second-best mark of his career. His shot isn’t a huge weapon, but it’s not as weak as his current 3.5% shooting percentage suggests. As that trends towards his career average of 10.1%, he should start to pick up a few more goals.
The winger is a key component of the Canucks’ third line that’s been very effective.Ā The trio earned some major praise from the head coach after a recent 2-0 win over the Minnesota Wild.
“I think it’s a chemistry line. Hashmark down; they’re really good. That’s where they get a lot of their chances, hashmark down. Very rarely in the last 10 games when we do those game reviews, very rarely that line’s in our D-zone making mistakes,” said the head coach. “They’re pretty mistake-free. That’s because they play the hashmark down game, which is important for our team.”
The Canucks have controlled 62.61% of the expected goals while that line is on the ice at five-on-five so far this season.
Garland started the season engrossed in trade rumours, yet that has not affected his play on the ice. The 5-foot-10 winger is playing a crucial role in the Canucks’ bottom-six, powering a line that has been a big reason for the team’s current position in the standings.