Can the New Jersey Devils overcome their 0-2 deficit in the Stanley Cup Finals?
Jonathan Willis
June 04 2012 04:16PM
The New Jersey Devils are in real trouble.
According to NHL.com, on 44 occasions a team has won both the first and second games of the Stanley Cup Finals. Forty-one times, the team with that 2-0 advantage in the Finals goes on to win the Stanley Cup – a 93.2 percent success rate.
Can they manage the comeback?
Cutting corners: don't spend money on goalies
Cam Charron
June 04 2012 08:33AM
The average playoff team this past season won 45.8 games and earned a team overall even strength save percentage of .921.
The average non-playoff team won just 35.5 games, probably because they only got .914 goaltending.
Obviously, goaltending is the absolute equalizer in hockey, and average teams ought to pay more for it to become "good" teams. Toronto, Columbus, Edmonton, Winnipeg, all ought to make finding the right goaltender a #1 priority this offseason and take a step forward?
Percentages vs. Timing
Jonathan Willis
June 03 2012 02:37PM
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; own work produced by Resolute.
One of the most frequent counterarguments to any percentage statistic – whether it be special teams’ effectiveness, save percentage, or something else – is the notion that overall percentage matters less than careful timing.
It’s an inane argument.
Stanley Cup Finals Game 2 Scoring Chances
Corey S.
June 03 2012 07:03AM
By Resolute, via Wikimedia Commons
Most people who watched this game will probably tell you that the Devils were the better team even though they lost in overtime. That statement was true for most of the game where the Devils had a 19-14 advantage in scoring chances....and then overtime happened. The Kings were a bit lackluster overall but they just took the game over during overtime and now have themselves a 2-0 series lead. This definitely wasn't LA's best performance and they did get lucky a few times tonight, but that's what generally happens in the playoffs. Sometimes you need to have a few bounces go your way and that includes a team as good as the Kings.
NHLNumbers Podcast: Talking with Zemgus Girgensons and Neil Greenberg
NHLnumbers Podcast
June 01 2012 05:05PM
In the latest NHLnumbers podcast, we talked to Latvian prospect Zemgus Girgensons who Pierre McGuire will tell us played for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL. For the second segment, we discussed the Capitals' playoff run and coaching situation and a whole lot of #fancystats with Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post and ESPN Insider.
