Welcome to this edition of the Vancouver Canucks post-game analytics report. This recurring deep dive breaks down the analytics behind each Canucks game as recorded by Natural Stat Trick. In this article, we look back on Vancouver's most recent 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

As for the Canucks as a whole, they need to be better during the first period. Yes, their goaltending put them in a hole, but they struggled to defend the crease and allowed the Penguins too much time and space to make plays. Overall, they looked like a tired team that only found their game in the third period.

Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Aatu Raty, and Pius Suter scored for the Canucks (11-7-3), who had won two in a row and eight straight on the road including 2-0 at the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Arturs Silovs made 18 saves.

Bryan Rust scored twice in a three-point performance and the host Pittsburgh Penguins rode a four-goal first period to a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Rust had two goals and an assist to help the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 on Wednesday night.