Penguins by the Numbers

To me, the ultimate aim of any hockey player is simple. You want to contribute to your team scoring goals while at the same time preventing it from being scored upon.

Of course, it isn’t all that cut and dried. A player’s role and usage may greatly influence his goals both for and against. For example, you’d expect Sidney Crosby to have favorable stats compared to, say, Matt Nieto, who by the very nature of his job is cast in a more defensive role.

Without further ado, here are the Penguins’ goals-for and goals-against numbers 5v5, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick. The players are ranked by goals for percentage (GF%). I’ve also included expected goals for percentage (xGF%) as well as offensive zone starts percentage (oZS%).

FORWARDS
Player	GF	GA	GF%	xGF%	Diff.	oZS%
Nieto	8	4	66.67	40.91	25.76	16.42
Rust	26	16	61.90	57.75	4.15	73.00
Acciari	8	5	61.54	41.71	19.83	10.91
Crosby	31	24	56.36	56.25	0.11	70.86
Guentzel	31	25	55.36	56.18	(0.82)	71.53
Smith	16	15	51.61	51.20	0.41	79.44
Malkin	17	16	51.52	52.25	(0.73)	77.27
Puustinen	3	3	50.00	45.96	4.04	86.67
Nylander	1	1	50.00	51.13	(1.13)	75.00
Eller	9	9	50.00	52.29	(2.29)	26.09
Rakell	11	11	50.00	54.79	(4.79)	90.77
Zohorna	7	7	50.00	55.22	(5.22)	29.51
O’Connor	12	13	48.00	50.88	(2.88)	46.79
Hinostroza	3	4	42.86	43.54	(0.68)	19.23
Carter	3	5	37.50	44.03	(6.53)	16.25
Johnstone	0	1	0.00	0.00	–	0.00
Gruden	0	2	0.00	29.39	(29.39)	25.80
Harkins	0	3	0.00	48.87	(48.87)	31.43
Koppanen	0	0	–	29.20	(29.20)	0.00
DEFENSE
Player	GF	GA	GF%	xGF%	Diff.	oZS%
Pettersson	33	20	62.26	49.88	12.83	45.59
Karlsson	32	20	61.54	55.49	6.05	57.50
Graves	17	15	53.13	49.37	3.76	42.98
Letang	27	25	51.92	51.76	0.16	54.91
Shea	7	9	43.75	44.69	(0.94)	31.71
Ruhwedel	3	7	30.00	51.70	(21.70)	38.46
Ludvig	3	9	25.00	50.26	(25.26)	33.33
Joseph	2	6	25.00	57.88	(32.88)	43.75

 

Takeaways

It’s no surprise first-liners Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust are high on the list in terms of GF%. However, the fact that Nieto and fourth-line sidekick Noel Acciari are as well comes as a bit of a shocker, especially given their paltry offensive zone starts.

Small wonder the Pens initially stumbled in their absence.

Marcus Pettersson has done outstanding work, especially given his comparatively low oZS%. To my surprise, Erik Karlsson has a strong GF% as well.

Other numbers that pop? The remarkably favorable deployment given to Evgeni Malkin’s line…and the comparative lack of production. On the flip side, Geno and his cohorts are doing a better job at goal prevention than I thought.

Credit Mike Sullivan and his staff for giving his scoring lines a liberal dose of offensive zone starts.

The issues with the third defensive pairing stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. Recently demoted Ryan Shea did a passable job. However, veteran Chad Ruhwedel, rookie John Ludvig and enigmatic Pierre-Olivier Joseph all have ridden the struggle bus. It makes perfect sense that POHO/GM Kyle Dubas is rumored to be shopping for defensive help.

I wonder if we might see one-time hot commodity Will Butcher in the near future. He’s got a goal and five points in seven games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Poulin for Sam

Speaking of the Baby Pens, forward Sam Poulin’s been on a tear since coming off IR. In three games since his return he’s potted three goals and an assist.

Given our bottom-six scoring woes, I’d think it’s just a matter of time before we see the husky 6’1” 208-pounder in a Pens jersey.

Speedy forward Colin White has tallied a pair goals (in six games) since returning from injury.

At Wheeling, rangy left wing Dillon Hamaliuk paces the Nailers in scoring with 11 goals and 26 points in 23 games. I confess, I’m intrigued by the former second-round pick of the Sharks, who stands 6’3” and tips the scales at 200 pounds.

A long shot, I know. But perhaps a potential power forward for down the road.