The Numbers Game: Washington Capitals Edition
By Ger Devine
March 25, 2012; Washington, DC, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Clayton Stoner (4) checks Washington Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner (27) in front of Wild goalie Matt Hackett (31) in the second period at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-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 Washington Capitals.
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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
CAPITALS
LEAGUE POSITION
8th 17th
HOME RECORD
7-1-2 5-3-0
ROAD RECORD
2-3-1 3-4-0
PP%
25.0%2nd27.9%1st
PK%
77.8%25th91.5%1st
-5v5 CLOSE-
WILD
CAPITALS
CF%
55.0%3rd46.9%26th
FF%
55.8%4th46.0%26th
SF%
57.3%2nd45.2%22nd
Sh%
7.7%18th10.1%6th
Sv%
94.8%3rd90.4%26th
PDO
102.58th100.418th
(GF%=Goals For %, CF%=Corsi For %, FF%=Fenwick For %, SF%=Shots For Percentage, Sh%=
Shooting Percentage, Sv%=Save Percentage)
Wow, look at those special teams numbers for the Caps. 1st in both shorthanded and powerplay percentage?! That’s ludicrous. The Wild better stay out of the box tonight. Aside from great special teams, the Caps are a pretty shoddy puck possession team who have had below-average goaltending so far this year and above average shooting. They will always be slightly better than average in terms of shooting percentage purely because of Alexander Ovechkin, who is one of the few players in the league who can score at an unnaturally high rate.
The Wild continue to be solid in puck possession, and their Sh% is progressing to the mean, while their Sv% is regressing.
-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
KOIVU (62.7%)
BALLARD (61.1%)
PARISE (61.0%)
Wild CF% Worst 3
BRODZIAK (46.8%)
BRODIN (48.6%)
FONTAINE (49.1%)
Caps CF% Top 3
LATTA (60.7%)
VOLPATTI (56.8%)
SCHMIDT (56.3%)
Caps CF% Worst 3
BROUWER (40.0%)
ALZNER (40.0%)
CARLSON (40.2%)
Wild FF% Top 3
BALLARD (64.0%)
STONER (63.4%)
MITCHELL (62.9%)
Wild FF% Worst 3
BRODIN (47.0%)
GRANLUND (47.8%)
HEATLEY (48.6%)
Caps FF% Top 3
LATTA (60.0%)
VOLPATTI (60.0%)
SCHMIDT (56.8%)
Caps FF% Worst 3
LAICH (38.2%)
BROUWER (38.7%)
ALZNER (39.7%)
Wild PDO Top 3
COOKE (112.3)
FONTAINE (110.1)
POMINVILLE (110.0)
Wild PDO Worst 3
VEILLEUX (84.6)
KONOPKA (92.7)
MITCHELL (94.6)
Caps PDO Top 3
GRABOVSKI (109.9)
VOLPATTI (105.6)
BACKSTROM (105.2)
Caps PDO Worst 3
BEAGLE (85.7)
FEHR (86.6)
LATTA (86.9)
Gophers fans will be glad to know Nate Schmidt is putting up some nice numbers so far. Very impressive work by the young man. Troy Brouwer and Karl Alzner are getting eaten alive for the Caps.
As for the Wild, Mikko Koivu is a beast, nuff said.
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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
Marco Scandella is notably out on his own on this graph. He has played the toughest minutes of all Wild players so far this season and has a very healthy Corsi On number. Impressive stuff from the, sometimes shaky, young defenceman. Matt Cooke and Jared Spurgeon are also notable for their good numbers in tough minutes. Koivu, Parise, Niederreiter and Pominville are all playing above-board competition, but with a high percentage of offensive zone starts and are all doing extremely well.
Washington Capitals
(Click To Enlarge) (Bubble Size=Corsi On Rating. Blue Bubble=Postive. Red Bubble=Negative)
Gotta like those numbers from Michael Latta and John Erskine for the Caps. Nate Schmidt isn’t exactly playing the toughest minutes, but he’s not being sheltered either. Brouwer, Grabovski, Laich, Carlson and Alzner are playing pretty tough minutes and getting heavily out-possessed.
Okay, that’s all from me. Make sure you check-out the official Gone Puck Wild Game Preview before puck-drop where you’ll get some useful 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: