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
2-0-2Â 1-2-0
ROAD RECORD
1-3-0Â 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. Â 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:
| Â 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:
–Extra Skater