The Numbers Game: New Jersey Devils Edition
By Ger Devine
Dec 2, 2011; St. Paul, MN, USA; New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur (30) attempts to make a save on Minnesota Wild forward Kyle Brodziak (21) during the first period at the Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
In a new feature that I’ll be running here on Gone Puck Wild throughout the season, before each game, I will be analysing the underlying numbers for both the Wild and their next opponent to see how they match-up. Tonight’s opponent is the New Jersey Devils.
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-Here are the underlying numbers for both teams so far this year at 5v5 Close, along with some general statistics:
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WILD
DEVILS
LEAGUE POSITION
13th 26th
HOME RECORD
5-1-2 2-1-2
ROAD RECORD
2-3-1 1-5-2
PP%
24.1%3rd19.2%15th
PK%
75.0%28th84.2%9th
-5v5 CLOSE-
WILD
DEVILS
GF%
65.0%5th39.3%24th
CF%
55.4%3rd52.7%7th
FF%
56.9%3rd51.5%11th
SF%
58.3%2nd50.6%14th
Sh%
7.0%20th6.8%21st
Sv%
94.8%3rd89.2%28th
PDO
101.712th96.026th
(GF%=Goals For %, CF%=Corsi For %, FF%=Fenwick For %, SF%=Shots For Percentage, Sh%=
Shooting Percentage, Sv%=Save Percentage)
The Devils are a good puck possession team that is being let down by a severe shortage of goalscoring and goalkeeping talent. Brodeur is simply a bad goalie in this league and has been for a few years. Corey Schneider should be the starter from now on if they are to compete. The loss of Kovalchuk has dented their goalscoring ability, but they are definitely better than that 6.8% ES Sh%. They have fairly decent special teams and should move up the league when they’re percentages progress to the mean.
The Wild’s ES Sh%, which was 2% not so long ago, has improved to 7% (just like I said it would).
-Here are the Best 3 and Worst 3 players for each team in various statistical categories. This only counts players who have played 50% of their team’s games so far:
| 5v5 CLOSE | PLAYER #1 |
PLAYER #2
PLAYER #3
Wild CF% Top 3
KOIVU (62.6%)
BALLARD (62.4%)
MITCHELL (62.2%)
Wild CF% Worst 3
BRODZIAK (48.9%)
BRODIN (50.0%)
FONTAINE (50.0%)
Habs CF% Top 3
ELIAS (59.7%)
HENRIQUE (58.8%)
ZAJAC (58.2%)
Habs CF% Worst 3
GIONTA (43.9%)
BRUNNER (46.4%)
LARSSON (46.7%)
Wild FF% Top 3
BALLARD (65.5%)
MITCHELL (64.5%)
STONER (64.3%)
Wild FF% Worst 3
HEATLEY (47.7%)
GRANLUND (48.3%)
BRODIN (49.6%)
Habs FF% Top 3
ZAJAC (58.8%)
OLESZ (58.6%)
FAYNE (58.1%)
Habs FF% Worst 3
GIONTA (42.4%)
LARSSON (45.9%)
LOKIONTOV (46.2%)
Wild PDO Top 3
BALLARD (114.8)
COOKE (112.5)
FONTAINE (110.2)
Wild PDO Worst 3
VEILLEUX (84.6)
NIEDERREITER (94.6)
MITCHELL (93.3)
Habs PDO Top 3
JAGR (109.8)
ZUBRUS (104.2)
HENRIQUE (103.7)
Habs PDO Worst 3
CARTER (75.0)
BERNIER (81.3)
GIONTA (82.9)
Koivu has been a beast for the Wild in terms of driving puck possession. The Devils strongest performers have been Elias, Zajac, Henrique, and, suprisingly, Olesz and Fayne. Adam Larsson, Stephen Gionta and Damien Brunner seem to be weak links.
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-Here are the Player Usage Charts for both teams to illustrate which players are getting tough minutes and which players are being sheltered:
Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
(Click To Enlarge) (Bubble Size=Corsi On Rating. Blue Bubble=Postive. Red Bubble=Negative)
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Okay, that’s all from me. Make sure you check-out Scott’s official Gone Puck Wild Game Preview before puck-drop where you’ll get his insight along with all the information you need about the game.
Follow me on Twitter for more hockey views/analysis.
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*Numbers in this article courtesy of: