4th Quarter 2014-2015
The Canucks dropped their last three games of the season to close out the 4th quarter with a 9-11-2 record. Overall, the team managed to decrease their total goal difference from -17 to -11, much of that was due to the play of rookie goalie John Gibson. The team seemed to play sound defensive hockey with Gibson in net. When the veteran Luongo played, the team scored goals in bunches and most of those games were wild, high scoring affairs.
A 4 week injury to James Neal opened the door for rookie Hunter Shinkurak to get top 6 minutes and the rookie played well. Another late season injury to John Tavares gave Brendan Gaunce a chance at top 6 minutes but this rookie was unable to seize the opportunity that was presented to him.
The Canucks finished 7th in their conference so they faced the 2nd seeded Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs. After the rookie Gibson looked shaky in a 5-3 loss in game one, Luongo managed to get the Canucks into game six, with a 3-2 lead in the series despite being badly outshot in four of the five games that he started. Game 6 was a 6-3 loss for the Canucks, and Anaheim scored two late goals in the third period of game seven to earn another 6-3 victory, to eliminate Vancouver from the playoffs.
The Colorado Avalanche beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games to win the Stanley Cup. Matt Duchene scored a whopping 18 goals in 25 games. James van Riemsdyk had 16 goals in 22 games while Phil Kessel scored 16 goals in only 18 games.
Looking back on the season, Vancouver finished:
- 2nd most goals scored in the league (271)
- 2nd most assists scored in the league (472)
- 5th in most takeaways
- 5th in short handed goals scored
- 6th in total hits
- 12th most shots in the league with 31.78 shots per game
- 18th in power play success rate
- 29th in giveaways
- 29th in man days lost to injuries
- 30th in goals against with 282 goals allowed
League Leaders
