Feels like it’s that time again. Let’s get nerdy!
.969/.929
These are the Hawks’ even-strength save-percentage at home and then on the road. Let’s be clear, the road mark is more more than acceptable. It’s why the Hawks are one of the few teams in the West to be above .500 on the road. Still, it’s a tad weird.
You can understand why skaters would have differing home-road splits. Get better matchups at home, maybe more beneficial zone starts. Goalies are susceptible to the same differences in the colors and the whites, i.e. familiar surroundings, routines, whatever else. But they face the same matchups no matter what.
You’d think with the difference in matchups going your way at home and not at home that the Hawks might be a more defensively leaky team on the road. But it doesn’t appear so. They give up just about the same amount of attempts per 60 between the two, 53.7 off of Madison St. vs. 53.6 on it. Scoring chances? 9.7 on the road per 60 vs. 9.0 at home. xGA60? 2.7 on the road and 2.4 at home.
It doesn’t seem to be a huge split between the two goalies individually as well. Crawford is a simply unconscious .975 at evens at home, while Darling is a not-that-much-more-conscious .961. On the road Crow is at .932 while Darling is .923.
It’s just one of those things, apparently.
1st/1st/1st/1st/1st
That’s where Michal Kempny ranks among Hawks d-men in Corsi-agaist per 60, Corsi-percentage, shots-against per 60, xGA per 60, and scoring chances against per 60. You wanna keep telling me about his defensive problems?
Ok, well, maybe he’s been sheltered. WELL ACTUALLY…
Kempny has started the second largest percentage of his shifts in the defensive zone.
Ok well, maybe he’s been facing easier competition. WELL ACTUALLY…
Kempny has faced the toughest competition among the Hawks blue line in terms of Corsi of Competition, though third easiest in terms of TOI of the competition (behind the Great Wall Of China in defense Rozsival and THE HILL).
Ok, so maybe the games before his stretch of scratches were tough, and that’s actually something of an argument. Kempny played less than 10 minutes at evens against Winnipeg, and yet was out there for five scoring chances against. Forsling played six more minutes and was only on the ice for six. The day before in Philadelphia Kempny was on the ice for 10 scoring chances against, a team high. The ones before were up and down, but that’s also when he started being jerked in and out of the lineup. Against the Oilers, a game where the Hawks were shelled at times, he was on the ice for only three scoring chances against, and then he sat for the next two games in San Jose and Anaheim. The game against the Kings wasn’t pretty, in a game that really wasn’t all that pretty for the whole team, and then he sat again for five days. He got the next three, fell into what was a team-wide malaise, and then didn’t play for another 11 days until last night which also didn’t go well.
Geez, it’s almost like fucking with a first-year-in-the-NHL player’s confidence and rhythm leads them to have a wonky game or two? I don’t know guys.
So either let’s just accept that this is Q playing his Teflon Hunch once again (who was on the ice for 10 scoring chances against last night his own damn self) or that the Hawks do not in anyway give a flying fuck about looking at analytics that they love to tell the media they do and they lap it up. Either way, I DON’T GIVE A DAMN WHAT YOU THINK YOU’RE ENTITLED TO!!!
Sorry, that got away from me there.
58.3%
That’s Teuvo’s adjusted Corsi-percentage. It’s fourth best in the league among forwards. He’s first among forwards who either aren’t or don’t play with Patrice Bergeron (maybe Hawks fans should start arguing that Toews is better than Bergeron instead of Crosby, and that would probably still be wrong).
We miss you, our Special Boy .
61.1%
That’s Brandon Saad’s xGF%, best mark in the league among forwards. For those new to expected-goals, and I am as well, essentially when you weigh the chances that Saad is on the ice for, both for and against, the Jackets should be scoring over 60% of the goals while Saad is out there.
We miss you, General.
