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The Canucks finished their brutal 14-game Road Trip From Hell™ earlier this week, and they did so in style. Despite being worn down from <a href="http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Canucks+drop+shootout+loss+Coyotes+game+road+trip/2668456/story.html">the longest road trip in league history</a> [<b>Ben Kuzma</b>, <i>The Province</i>] and starting backup <b>Andrew Raycroft</b>, Vancouver gave a very solid Phoenix Coyotes team all they could handle Wednesday, eventually falling 4-3 in the sixth round of the shootout at the hands of former Canuck <b>Adrian Aucoin</b>. They finished the road trip with an amazing 8-5-1 record, which has to be considered a huge victory, especially after they were 4-4 in the games before the Olympic break and barely pulled out those wins against some of the league's worst teams</a>.

By and large, the Canucks involved in the Olympics <a href="http://canuckpuck.com/2010/02/24/grading-the-olympic-canucks/">played well</a>, though, and that provided some optimism coming out of the break. Particularly encouraging was the resurgence of <b>Pavol Demitra</b>; as I wrote last week, Demitra <a href="http://canuckpuck.com/2010/03/06/flyingundertheradar/">had been quite effective as a defensive player</a> in his limited appearances this year, but hadn't done much to find the net. He seemed to rediscover that offensive touch during the Olympics, leading the tournament in points, and he brought that back to the Canucks. The other Olympians have played pretty well, and the rest of the team has also stepped up, leading to a 4-1-1 stretch since the break that brought back memories of the team's <a href="http://canuckpuck.com/2010/02/04/its-a-long-way-to-the-top/">most recent hot streak</a>.

This road stretch has been even more impressive when you factor in that the Canucks haven't been very good away from home this year. They've put up a dominating 23-7-1 mark at GM Place, but even after this recent spate of success, still sit at just 18-16-2 on the road, a .500 winning percentage. They were .571 on this last trip, an incredible mark considering the brutal travel schedule involved. That bodes well for the future, but they'll have to keep it up.

The Canucks have now played 67 games, or 81.7 per cent of their regular-season schedule. They have a 41-23-3 record, good enough for 85 points (first in the Northwest Division, tied for fourth in the Western Conference, tied for fifth in the entire NHL). What's even more impressive is their goal differential, though; they've scored 220 goals while allowing only 174, a difference of +46, which is the fourth-best mark in the league. Vancouver fans are used to seeing the team pick up their wins in close games, but that hasn't been the case this year, and that's a very positive development; sure, blowouts aren't worth any more points than close wins, but that kind of goal differential suggests your team is prevailing on skill, not luck.

On that note, it's interesting to look at the <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm#?navid=nav-stn-main">league-wide goal differentials</a> and the potential parity gap they present. Washington is first, with a ridiculous +75 mark. After the Capitals come Chicago (+57), San Jose (+52), and Vancouver (+46). Below the Canucks, there's a huge drop to the fifth-place L.A. Kings (+24), and there are only six more teams (Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Colorado and Buffalo) even above par. That's right, 19 of the league's 30 teams have allowed more goals than they have scored.

That doesn't necessarily mean that the Canucks and the others in their goal-differential class are head-and-shoulders above everyone else; goal differential has its limitations. However, it certainly bodes well for their success down the stretch and in the playoffs. Their road success is also encouraging, given how that appeared to be one of their weaknesses early on. At the moment, they're looking like killing machines.