Saturday, March 9, 2013

Shots at this point in the season

I was bored last night, so I tried my hand at running the numbers. I think most of these are correct. Note that these are shots, just goals and SOG. Realized only after finishing that I'd forgotten to include misses and blocks.

It may not be the best division in hockey--remember to check the scales on these graphs--but it looks mighty competitive, again. Philadelphia, the Rangers, and New Jersey have come on strong lately (although for NJ that may be a function of trailing so much recently, given its cold streak). I still think Pittsburgh has this.

Two-horse race for both last and first by this metric. Chicago's line is especially impressive considering that the Hawks have been leading so much. An ESPN writer wrote a couple of days ago though picking the Blues to win the Cup, and that isn't crazy at all.

Edmonton is bad, as usual. Vancouver actually is barely positive in SOG differential. Not quite sure what's gone wrong with Colorado--Landeskog's injury?--but getting O'Reilly back will definitely help a lot.

Boston, since their Cup, has arguably improved each year. This season the Bruins are probably the best team in the East (given the strong possession game and huge netminding advantage over Pittsburgh). Montreal, a year after being near the bottom of the league, is near the top, again. I don't think it's all thanks to Markov, Gallagher, and Galchenyuk. At the other end, the battle between Buffalo and Toronto is hilarious.

Worst division in hockey. Score effects likely explain part of the story for Washington and Florida.

Anaheim is higher by SOG than by Corsi, and the opposite is true for Dallas. As usual, Phoenix, LA, and SJ are strong possession teams. The King have come on strong as of late, especially. That down slope for Phoenix might be of concern.

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