MAR 29, 2012; St. Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Dany Heatley (15) and Florida Panthers forward Stephen Weiss (9) reach for a loose puck in the first period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-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 Florida Panters, in Florida..
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-Here are the underlying numbers for both teams so far this year at 5v5 and 5v5 Close, along with some general statistics:
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LEAGUE POSITION
20th 26th
HOME RECORD
2-0-2 1-2-0
ROAD RECORD
1-3-0 1-4-0
PP%
27.3%4th10.3%25th
PK%
71.9%27th80.8%18th
-5v5-
WILD
PANTHERS
GF%
61.5%6th36.1%26th
CF%
59.1%1st43.6%30th
FF%
59.9%2nd45.4%27th
SF%
62.2%1st44.8%27th
Sh%
4.5%28th7.7%12th
Sv%
95.4%4th88.9%20th
PDO
99.916th99.626th
-5v5 CLOSE-
WILD
PANTHERS
GF%
55.6%12th28.6%28th
CF%
60.5%1st41.6%29th
FF%
60.9%2nd43.5%27th
SF%
61.8%2nd42.6%27th
Sh%
4.9%27th6.7%22nd
Sv%
93.7%8th87.5%29th
PDO
98.619th94.229th
(GF%=Goals For %, CF%=Corsi For %, FF%=Fenwick For %, SF%=Shots For Percentage, Sh%=
Shooting Percentage, Sv%=Save Percentage)
As you can see, the Wild still own at puck possession but are shooting at an insanely low percentage but getting solid goaltending for the most part. This goes without saying at this point.
The Panthers are awful in every respect. Not good at special teams or puck possession, and not even lucky.
-Here are the Best 3 and Worst 3 players for each team in various statistical categories. This only counts players who have played 25% of their team’s games so far:
| 5v5 CLOSE | PLAYER #1 |
PLAYER #2
PLAYER #3
Wild CF% Top 3
STONER (71.2%)
MITCHELL (71.2%)
BALLARD (67.7%)
Wild CF% Worst 3
GRANLUND (51.7%)
FONTAINE (52.2%)
SCANDELLA (53.7%)
Panthers CF% Top 3
WINCHESTER (67.2%)
CAMPBELL (63.6%)
KOPECKY (62.5%)
Panthers CF% Worst 3
WHITNEY (40.0%)
FLEISCHMANN (41.6%)
BJUGSTAD (43.2%)
Wild FF% Top 3
BALLARD (73.3%)
MITCHELL (71.1%)
STONER (70.6%)
Wild FF% Worst 3
GRANLUND (50.0%)
DUMBA (50.6%)
BRODIN (52.4%)
Panthers FF% Top 3
KOPECKY (62.5%)
WINCHESTER (61.9%)
MATTHIAS (60.5%)
Panthers FF% Worst 3
FLEISCHMANN (34.5%)
WHITNEY (36.4%)
KULIKOV (37.2%)
Wild PDO Top 3
FONTAINE (1130)
COOKE (1128)
BRODZIAK (1116)
Wild PDO Worst 3
VEILLEUX (667)
COYLE (857)
KONOPKA (875)
Panthers PDO Top 3
SHORE (118.2)
MATHHIAS (115.8)
GILBERT (112.5)
Panthers PDO Worst 3
GILROY (92.3)
GUDBRANSON (96.6)
BARKOV (100)
Stoner, Mitchell and Ballard continue to be dominant at puck possession. Every Wild player is above 50%. Winchester and Kopecky seem to be the dominant players for the Panthers. Only two Florida players have a positve regular 5v5 Corsi, and they are Jesse Winchester and Tom Gilbert, as shown in the chart below.
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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
Florida Panthers
(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: