The following stats were tracked manually during the game. The raw totals and the glossary are at the end. The full post-game recap was written by Kelin.
At some point I’ll write up a detailed description of each category and my specific rules for each. Once I do, I will provide a link to it in this summary. Feel free to leave any questions in the comments or on Twitter (@wheatnoil).
I’ve highlighted the best (blue) and worst (red) in each category based on request from some readers. Let me know if that makes it easier or harder to intepret. I’m also including a bit of commentary after each graph and a bit of commentary at the end.
Game: 9
Opponent: Ottawa
Score: 2-0 Bad Guys
Zone Exits
Klefbom had a solid puck moving game to bookend Larsson who struggled. A lot of missed passes and a case in point was prior to the 1-0 goal. Larsson was behind the net but his pass up the boards missed everyone, leading to an icing. The Oilers never made it out of the zone after that except to go to centre ice. Russell and Sekera were moving the puck out often, though I wish it was a tough more efficiently. Nurse’s number is buoyed here by carrying the puck out 4 times to only 1 zone exit pass. However, in fairness, he didn’t get much help from Gryba. Eric got credit for a pretty lame zone exit carry out as he walked over the line after a pass from Nurse. But for that, he would have been last in controlled exits / 60.
Zone Defence
What Larsson lost in puck-movement he made up in defence, cutting off plays from entering the Oiler zone with control. He and Klefbom were hard to get into the zone with control. Russell, meanwhile, doesn’t close the gap in the neutral zone, which is pretty consistent for him. Sekera showed his usual Sekera-self in this skill set.
Puck Retrievals
Defensive Zone Passing
Firstly, you’ll note Gryba touching the puck the least in the defensive zone. This is a fairly consistent problem. He’s not that great with the puck and he doesn’t get the puck often. That means Nurse has to do more and puck-movement is not exactly Nurse’s strong-suit either. sekera was highly efficient with the puck when he got it. I didn’t find a single defensive zone turnover, which may be a first. I’m certain I must have missed something! None-the-less, Sekera was pretty good with the puck this game, which is a welcome change after coughing up turnovers for the last 3 games. Almsot 50% of the time Sekera touched the puck, he got it out of the zone. Klefbom also managed the puck well. Larsson is usually one of the best on the team in the turnover category but just had an off game today. He should bounce back. As a team, that’s among the lower defenzive zone turnover rates in games I’ve tracked.
Summary:
Klefbom: Despite the worst corsi among defencemen in this game, I don’t think he was poor at all. In fact, I thought he had a solid game from a puck-movement and a defensive perspective. He was partially at fault in the game-winning goal, but there was blame to share there. In general, he had a solid game.
Larsson: Larsson struggled with puck-movement this game, turnover the puck over often and struggling to get it out of the zone with control. |He also was below 50% in retrieving pucks under pressure and getting it successfully to a teammate. He’s usually much better than this. He did defend the blue line well, which is one of his consistent strengths.
Russell: Russell is starting to fall into a bit of a pattern. He’s usually middle of the road with zone exits, not amazing but not bad. He regularly does very well in puck retrieval. He’s middle of the road in turnovers. However, he consistently struggles in closing the gap in the neutral zone and forcing dump-ins at the blue line. He carried the puck out of the zone fairly often this game, which is a skillset he hasn’t displayed too often so far this season. I thought he had a reasonable game.
Sekera: Excellent game for Sekera from the perspective of these stats I’m tracking. He could have been a bit more efficient on zone exits but he made few mistakes in the defensive zone.
Nurse: I think Nurse is carrying the 3rd pairing in many ways. Gryba defends well enough usually, but isn’t stellar with the puck, which puts a lot of pressure on Nurse. Nurse seems much improved to my eye this year and is playing well in 3rd pairing minutes. He led the D in corsi, but I think he’d benefit from a stronger partner. We wait for Davidson.
Gryba: Gryba didn’t necessarily have a bad game. He’s just very low event. He was fine last year when Davidson was his partner and he could play very simple game, defer to Davidson, and not have to do too much. Nurse isn’t at that point yet.
Raw Totals:
(click to enlarge)
Definitions:
Zone Exit
Controlled Zone Exit: Getting the puck out of the zone maintaining possession
Carry: Skating the puck out of the zone, the defenceman keeps possession himself
Pass: Passing the puck out of the zone, the team maintains possession
Uncontrolled Zone Exit: Getting the puck out of the zone but losing possession to the other team
Dump: No clear target when getting the puck out
Missed Pass: Appears to have a clear target but pass is not complete
Zone Defence
Times Targeted: Number of times a defenceman was specifically targeted by the opposing player on a zone entry against
Denied Entry: Defenceman prevents the opposing team from entering the zone, forcing them to regroup or causing them to lose possession in the neutral zone
Controlled Entry Against: Opposing team is able to enter the zone with possession of the puck (maintained for at least one second)
Dump In Against: Opposing team is gets the puck into the zone but without possession of the puck
Untargeted: Controlled and Uncontrolled Entries against where either a defenceman was not the primary player targeted on entry OR an odd man rush not directly caused by one of the defencemen
Defensive Zone Passing
Total Touches: Number of the times the defenceman clearly has the puck on his stick in the defensive zone
To D-Partner: Successful defensive zone pass to another defenceman within the defensive zone
To Forward: Successful defensive zone pass to a forward within the defensive zone
Turnover: Other team gains possession of the puck after the defenceman clearly had possession of it
Puck Retrieval
Total: Number of times the defenceman is the closest to the puck off of an uncontrolled entry to the zone
Successful: Defenceman retrieves the puck and successfully either gets it out of the zone or passes it a teammate, retaining possession
Failed: Defenceman either turns the puck over after retrieving it or the other team gets possession off the uncontrolled entry
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