Let’s be real and talk everyone’s favourite topic: PDO benders.
The Vancouver Canucks’ four-game winning streak since trading Quinn Hughes is, indeed, wild fun. Winning when you’re not supposed to is great stuff.
But night after night, you can’t keep it up.
As I noted in Saturday night’s game story, they’ve been outshot in three of those four games, keeping with the overall trend of the season, especially on the road.
There is a positive in all this: They’re getting outshot at five-on-five, but they’re not getting crushed in shots against. They’re actually in the upper tier of the league in terms of shots against at five-on-five over the past week.
But their offence has cratered. They’ve managed the second-fewest shot attempts at five-on-five in the league over these games — only, hilariously, Rick Tocchet’s Flyers have fired fewer pucks towards the opposition goal this week.
Even their shot quality is tilted the wrong way: Based on Natural Stat Trick’s shooting model, the Canucks are being slightly out-chanced in their efforts. Over the long run, that will tilt against you.
Add it all up and the Canucks have put together an astound 1.074 PDO over the past week.
Fun times — but they will end. Sorry about that.
Liam Ohgren of the Vancouver Canucks scores the only goal in a seven-round shootout on Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Dec. 20, 2025 in Boston.
Liam Ohgren’s potential
This is the game where we saw what scouts hoped Liam Ohgren would be in the NHL before he was drafted.
He plays a very smart, direct game. He’s a strong skater. And he’s got a bullet of a shot.
At the 2022 draft, Elite Prospects’ Cam Robinson told me he really thought Ohgren had a bigger upside than Jonathan Lekkerimaki. But the Canucks weren’t the only team to let him slide; while Robinson had him rated in the top 10, he was picked 19th overall by Minnesota.
Today, I asked Robinson for a comparison point: He said Chris Higgins. A smart, skilled, middle-six winger. A guy who helps you win.
I put this to Higgins, who said he thinks Ohgren skates better than him. Then laughed.
“He’s gonna have to work on that hockey IQ,” he quipped.
Goaltender Kevin Lankinen of the Vancouver Canucks stops Elias Lindholm of the Boston Bruins in a shootout at TD Garden on Dec. 20, 2025 in Boston.
Kevin Lankinen’s shootout mastery
Kevin Lankinen has stopped 14 of 14 shots in the shootout this season.
He’s 46 of 51 all-time.
It’s a dumb skills competition but that’s still remarkable.