Canucks vs. Rangers: 3 things you need to know
Return of the Chuckler
More like "3 things you need to Vig-know."
Alain Vigneault is the best coach in Vancouver Canucks history, or at least the most successful. Though, he'll most likely be remembered in Vancouver for that time Vernon Fiddler's spot-on Kevin Bieksa impression sent him into a fit of hysterics:
On Saturday night, the chuckler will return to Vancouver for the second time since he was fired in May of 2013.
Since that day Vigneault has had the last laugh, guiding his new club - the New York Rangers - to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final while the Canucks have missed the playoffs in their first post-Vigneault season.
Can the Canucks take the smile off their former bench boss' face Saturday night? They might, but they'll need to make their special teams advantage count ...
Special Teams Mistmatch
Speaking of which, the Rangers and the Canucks are pretty evenly matched in terms of the quality of their 5-on-5 play.
The Rangers have been rather more fortunate at even strength than the Canucks have been, which largely explains why the Rangers have outscored opponents by six when playing five-a-side, while the Canucks have been outscored by six. In terms of shot attempt differential though, there isn't much separating the two clubs.
By raw shot attempt differential the Canucks are controlling 50.3 percent of shot attempts, while the Rangers are controlling 49.4 percent. Adjusted for game state, the Rangers rank 18th in the NHL by shot attempt differential, while the Canucks rank 17th.
Related - How good are the Vancouver Canucks?
While the underlying numbers suggest that there isn't much separating the Canucks and Rangers at even strength, Vancouver is the superior club on special teams, and the gap is notable.
The Rangers' power play is generating shots at a top-10 rate, but are converting on a woeful 15.1 percent of opportunities. Vancouver isn't generating quite as much in terms of shot volume, but their well calibrated first power-play unit has proved efficient and has managed to convert on 18.3 percent of chances.
Meanwhile the Rangers' short-handed unit is killing only 81 percent of penalties, though that's partly the result of poor luck. New York is a top-five team at preventing short-handed shots against, and will surely see their penalty-kill convert at a higher rate once Henrik Lundqvist's form rebounds over the balance of the year - as it does annually.
Vancouver, though, might be the league's single best penalty-killing club. The Canucks are the second best team in hockey when it comes to suppressing shots short handed, and boast a top-five kill rate in short-handed situations.
In sum, the Rangers have been luckier than the Canucks at even-strength. Though, they've been unluckier than Vancouver on special teams. Luck aside, the Canucks will likely have an edge in special teams quality Saturday night.
They'll have to make it count.
Finding Their Footing
The Rangers dealt with myriad injuries in the first two months of the season, and have been forced to tread water for large swaths of time without key contributors like Derek Stepan, Dan Boyle and Ryan McDonagh in the lineup.
The Rangers have, as Vigneault teams habitually do, gotten off to something of a slow start, but they have the talent to climb the Eastern Conference table in a hurry over the next couple of months. Saturday would be a good time for the club to find their footing.
The Canucks, on the other hand, have been hot to start the season. Still, they're returning home from a seven-game road trip which concluded with three straight losses. The Canucks will kick off an extended homestand Saturday night, and it would behoove the club to get that homestand off on the right ... well... foot.