Oct 19, 2013; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers center Tomas Kopecky (82) shields Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding (37) for a goal by Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (not pictured) in the third period at BB
In a feature that I’ll be running here on Gone Puck Wild throughout the season, before each game, I will analyse the underlying numbers for both the Wild and their next opponent to see how they match-up. Tonight’s opponent is the Florida Panthers.
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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
PANTHERS
LEAGUE POSITION
8th 28th
HOME RECORD
8-1-2 3-4-3
ROAD RECORD
3-3-2 1-7-1
PP%
22.2%5th9.1%29th
PK%
77.8%26th79.0%24th
-5v5 CLOSE-
WILD
PANTHERS
CF%
55.6%4th48.8%19th
FF%
56.3%3rd48.5%19th
SF%
57.9%2nd47.8%20th
Sh%
7.0%21st4.9%30th
Sv%
94.9%1st87.3%30th
PDO
101.910th92.230th
(GF%=Goals For %, CF%=Corsi For %, FF%=Fenwick For %, SF%=Shots For Percentage, Sh%=
Shooting Percentage, Sv%=Save Percentage)
- The Panthers actually aren’t as bad as one might think. Their puck possession numbers are decent, but they’re suffering from ridiculously low percentages. There’s no way that Sh% and that Sv% are sustainable. This team might actually win a few games before the end of the year and surprise some people.
- Their special teams are woeful though.
- The Wild are still getting it done in terms of puck possession.
-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
MIN CF% Top 3
KOIVU (61.2%)
STONER (60.6%)
NIEDERREITER (60.6%)
MIN CF% Worst 3
BRODZIAK (48.9%)
FONTAINE (50.5%)
BRODIN (51.3%)
FLA CF% Top 3
BJUGSTAD (55.1%)
GILROY (53.7%)
WINCHESTER (53.1%)
FLA CF% Worst 3
GOMEZ (44.1%)
KULIKOV (46.1%) UPSHALL (46.2%)
MIN FF% Top 3
STONER (64.1%)
NIEDERREITER (61.8%)
KONOPKA (61.8%)
MIN FF% Worst 3
HEATLEY (50.0%)
BRODIN (50.5%)
GRANLUND (50.5%)
FLA FF% Top 3
GILROY (55.1%)
BJUGSTAD (53.5%)
WINCHESTER (52.6%)
FLA FF% Worst 3
GOMEZ (33.3%)
KULIKOV (34.5%)
FLEISCHMANN (45.2%)
MIN PDO Top 3
POMINVILLE (109.8)
COOKE (108.6)
FONTAINE (107.3)
MIN PDO Worst 3
VEILLEUX (84.6)
KONOPKA (93.8)
MITCHELL (95.8)
FLA PDO Top 3
GOMEZ (99.7)
WINCHESTER (97.2)
GILBERT (96.2)
FLA PDO Worst 3
VERSTEEG (86.2)
GUDBRANSON (87.9)
GILROY (88.3)
- Check out Nino Niederreiter. He has skyrocketed up the Corsi and Fenwick charts. That trade looks better all the time…
- Nick Bjustad is putting-up great numbers in his rookie year.
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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
- Scandella, Brodziak and Cooke still have the toughest minute and are doing very well.
- The 4th line is taking on soft compeition and doing okay.
Florida Panthers
(Click To Enlarge) (Bubble Size=Corsi On Rating. Blue Bubble=Postive. Red Bubble=Negative)
- You can see that Bjustad’s great numbers are a product of playing sheltered minutes.
- Tom Gilbert and Brian Campbell are putting-up very good puck possession numbers on a bad team. The top-pairing defencemen should have no trouble securing a move elsewhere before the trade deadline.
- Shawn Matthias stands-out too as a nice target for a team looking to add some depth via trade.
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.
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*Numbers in this article courtesy of: