It was at that time that Quinn joined his disciples for a game against the Canucks. His disciples loved scoring on an entirely too high percentage of their shots. And so it was that they shot pucks past Luongo at an alarming rate so that he needed to be - once again - taken off the ice. When the men who loved statistics saw this, they said to him, "Look at this! Your disciples may win a few games now, but the percentages are completely unsustainable!"
So Quinn answered, "Haven't you read about what Gretzky did in the 1980s, when he and his companions needed to outscore their opposition? He entered this sacred and hallowed rink and he and his teammates waited on good scoring chances before shooting the puck - this is against our law of treating shots equally and judging men by Corsi numbers. Or haven't you read in the Law that PDO numbers are destined to regress to 100 and that Corsi numbers correlate with winning? Well, let me tell you this: one greater than PDO numbers and Corsi numbers is among you. If you had know what these words mean, 'I desire fandom, not boredom' you would not condemn those with a positive goal differential but questionable underliers, for the Son of Man is lord even of the percentages."
Vancouver Canucks (3-4-0) @ Edmonton Oilers (4-2-1)
Rexall Place, 7:00 PM MDT
Television: Sportsnet West
More analysis after the jump...
Visiting Team Scouting Report: The Vancouver Canucks have had a difficult start to the season as far as wins and injuries. Already the Canucks have lost Sami Salo, Daniel Sedin, Pavol Demitra, Jannik Hansen and Mathieu Schneider for at least a few weeks. In addition, they've only been able to win three out of their first seven regular season games after looking dominant in the pre-season. However, there are reasons to be optimistic in this early season for Canuck fans. First and foremost, there's virtually no chance that Roberto Luongo finishes with an .870 save percentage (currently 29th among goalies with at least four games played). He's an excellent goalie and that number is bound to improve. And if it does, the Canucks have been handily out-shooting teams this year. The team has had a better Corsi number than their opponents in six out of seven games (record in those games: 2-4) and have accumulated a total Corsi of +126. That said, in a couple of these games their overall shot advantage has not turned into a scoring chance advantage at EV. Against Colorado the Cancuks managed a Corsi of +18 but were -1 on scoring chances at EV. In their second game against Calgary the Cancuks had a Corsi of +8 but were again -1 in terms of scoring chances. So far this season the Oilers have been outshot in their wins as well as their losses. Instead of outshooting, the Oilers have generated more chances per opportunity and have cashed in on a higher percentage of their chances. For example, against Minnesota the Oilers were outshot 31-19 (team Corsi was -6) but they had two more scroing chances than their opponents at EV. Against Nashville, the Oilers were outshot 41-20 (team Corsi was -7) but the chances were even at EV. It's an interesting contrast and one that gives this Oiler fan hope in the face of the huge outshooting advantage the Canucks enjoy at EV.
Expected Lineups:
Vancouver Canucks (3-4-0)
Burrows - Sedin - Samuelsson
Raymond - Kesler - Grabner
Johnson - Wellwood - Bernier
Hordichuk - Rypien - Glass
Bieksa - Mitchell
O'Brien - Ehrhoff
Rome - Edler
Luongo
Edmonton Oilers (4-2-1):
Comrie - Horcoff - Nilsson
Penner - Gagner - O'Sullivan
Jacques - Brule - Stone
Moreau - Cogliano - Stortini
Visnovsky - Strudwick
Grebeshkov - Gilbert
Smid - Chorney
Khabibulin
Behind The Numbers:
- Ladislav Smid has yet to register a shot on net through seven games as his streak continues
- Gilbert Brule has accounted for 17 hits thus far.
- Nikolai Khabibulin has faced an average of 31 shots per game, 8th most in the league, but far behind Tomas Vokoun's 37 per game. Roberto Luongo has faced 23 shots per game, 28th in the league.
- Shawn Horcoff leads the league in faceoffs per game at 21.7, one per game more than Sidney Crosby. Horcoff has taken 40% of Edmonton's faceoffs, the largest percentage of anyone in the league.
- Chad Wiseman scored a goal in his debut with the Springfield Falcons and the Linglet - Wiseman - Minard line combined for four of the Falcon's seven goals over the weekend.