Alex Tuch is tied with Vladimir Tarasenko in what key scoring stat? Shea Theodore shares what achievement with just two other NHL defenseman this year?
Yesterday,
I spotlighted some striking half-season Vegas team stats. Today, I'm going to reveal a host of eye-catching individual stats.
Forwards
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
• 56.3 Even Strength Faceoff Winning % (leads team)
• +5.59 5v5 Relative to Team Corsi For %
• 3.64 5v5 Blocks/60 (leads Vegas forwards)
• 38.08 5v5 Defensive Zone Start % (toughest among Vegas forwards)
• 2:12 Short-handed Time on Ice (leads Vegas forwards)
Quietly, Bellemare is putting together a very solid campaign. He draws the team's toughest zone starts, but has managed, with his +5.59 RelT CF%, to post the best Vegas relative to team possession figure this side of the Jonathan Marchessault line.
Cody Eakin
• 576 Total Faceoffs (leads team)
• 53.3 Overall Faceoff Winning % (leads team)
• 1.92 5v5 Points/60 (6th on team)
Gerard Gallant's go-to faceoff guy, Eakin also centers one of the more productive third lines in hockey. In fact, only the Rangers and Jets have a comparably productive group of forwards at 5v5, 1 through 9.
This is expressed by Erik Haula's 1.72 5v5 Points/60, which is good for ninth among Golden Knights forwards (Marchessault is first with 2.81). Only the Rangers (Mats Zuccarello's 1.7 to Pavel Buchnevich's 2.18) and Jets (Patrick Laine's 1.72 to Matt Hendricks's 2.47) have flashed a similar range of production.
The Marchessault line has received all the publicity, while the James Neal line remains ever-dangerous, but the productivity of Alex Tuch (1.94 5v5 Points/60)-Eakin-Brendan Leipsic (1.84) really speaks to this team's depth.
Erik Haula
• 17.4 Overall Shooting % (career 11.0 before)
• 17:20 Average Time on Ice (13:49 last year)
William Karlsson is being showered with all the praise right now, but Haula has emerged in much the same way.
William Karlsson
• 25.88 Overall Shooting % (2nd of 410 NHL skaters, 500+ minutes)
• 18:13 Average Time on Ice (leads Vegas forwards)
• 2 PIM
• 59.44 5v5 Expected Goals For % (6th of 391 NHL forwards, 200+ minutes)
• +14.12 5v5 Relative to Team Expected Goals For % (2nd of 391 NHL forwards, 200+ minutes)
All the talk about Karlsson centers around his scoring exploits, but his two-way game deserves just as much attention.
It's remarkable that a player as active in all three zones as Karlsson is has just two PIM.
It's also interesting to note that Karlsson's 18:13 ATOI is the lowest team leader in the league. That speaks to the balance in the Golden Knights line-up.
Brendan Leipsic
• 37.13 5v5 Offensive Zone Start % (softest among Vegas forwards)
To Gallant's credit, he deploys his charges where they can make the most impact. Leipsic is an example of this, as his game is certainly more offensive than defensive.
Jonathan Marchessault
• 2.81 5v5 Points/60 (8th of 391 NHL forwards, 200+ minutes)
• 19.45 5v5 Individual Corsi For/60 (7th of 391 NHL forwards, 200+ minutes)
• 11.44 5v5 Individual Scoring Chances/60 (6th of 157 NHL forwards, 500+ minutes)
• +8.53 5v5 Relative to Team Corsi For % (9th of 391 NHL forwards, 200+ minutes)
• 3 Empty Net Goals (tied for 3rd in NHL)
The beat keeps going for Marchessault. In terms of individual scoring chances, this is some fine company:
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James Neal
• +9 Individual Penalty Differential (leads team)
Next closest in this department is Karlsson's +4.
Tomas Nosek
• 11.5 5v5 Individual Scoring Chances/60 (leads team)
• 22.2 Overall Average Shot on Goal Length Feet (closest on team)
• 64.24 Penalty Killing Fenwick Against/60 (8th of 135 NHL forwards, 50+ minutes)
Nosek, who was recently promoted up to kill penalties with Bellemare, looks to be making the most of his opportunity. Since this promotion 16 games ago, the rookie has been on the ice for just a single power goal against.
David Perron
• 7.75 5v5 Individual Corsi For/60 (trails all Vegas forwards)
• 33.5 Overall Average Shot on Goal Length Feet
• 16 Minor Penalties Taken (worst on team)
Perron's decline in shooting attempts -- his 7.75 5v5 iCF/60 is his lowest since his rookie campaign -- might be explained by his average shot distance. 33.5 ASL is the furthest out of his career; compare to last year's 27.3.
Perron has already acknowledged that he's playing differently because of the presence of a sniper like Neal on his line. Is he also setting himself up in a different place on the ice than usual?
Reilly Smith
• 5 Crossbars/Posts Hit (leads team)
• 64.96 Penalty Killing Fenwick Against/60 (9th of 135 NHL forwards, 50+ minutes)
Alex Tuch
• Has scored first goal of the game 6 times (tied for 2nd in NHL)
• 3.6 5v5 Blocks/60 (2nd among Vegas forwards)
Six of Tuch's nine goals have given the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead in a game. He trails only Craig Smith, who has seven such tallies, and is tied with Vladimir Tarasenko and Brendan Gallagher in this curious department.
"Couldn't tell you [why] honestly," said a surprised Tuch, when asked about his first blood frenzy. "I just try to score. It's probably just a random stat."
Defensemen
Deryk Engelland
• 21 Short-handed Blocks (leads Vegas defensemen)
Brayden McNabb
• 3.0 Hits/Game (5th of 183 defensemen, 25+ Games Played)
• 2.5 Blocks/Game (8th of 183 defensemen, 25+ Games Played)
• 63.76 Penalty Killing Fenwick Against/60 (7th of 129 NHL defensemen, 50+ minutes)
• 15.15 Penalty Killing High-Danger Corsi Against/60 (5th of 129 NHL defensemen, 50+ minutes)
McNabb is solidifying himself as a much-needed physical force down low for a smaller Knights defense.
Jon Merrill
• 58.04 5v5 Expected Goals For % (leads Vegas defensemen)
• 1.06 Minors/60 (worst among Vegas defensemen)
A little high & low over the course of just 14 games played.
Colin Miller
• 42.48 Power Play Individual Corsi For/60 (1st of 80 NHL defensemen, 50+ minutes)
• 17.89 Power Play Individual Shots/60 (4th of 80 NHL defensemen, 50+ minutes)
• +7.7 5v5 Relative to Team Expected Goals For % (leads Vegas defensemen)
• 41.31 5v5 Offensive Zone Start % (easiest among Vegas defensemen)
It's bombs away for Miller, who at 42.48 PP iCF/60 is still more than doubling the previous year's shot attempt rates -- it was just 18.48 last season.
Luca Sbisa
• 35.64 5v5 Defensive Zone Start % (toughest among Vegas defensemen)
Nate Schmidt
• 22:38 Average Time on Ice (leads team)
• 55.74 High Danger Corsi For % (leads Vegas defensemen)
• 1.64 5v5 Hits/60
McNabb is the only other Vegas blueliner who averages more than 20 minutes a game (20:13).
What was striking about Schmidt's 1.64 5v5 Hits/60 is how low it was compared to last year's 3.48. The squad's de facto number-one defenseman offered some sound insight about this:
It's a conscious decision because of how fast this league is. Especially against a top line, if you run out of the way to hit somebody, and you give another guy some extra space, they're going to make plays.
Also, just talking to [Ryan McGill] about how he wants us to play. One of our things is, if you have a good stick, good feet, don't worry about it. If you can poke it out, we're [attacking]. We're keeping our momentum.
Some times, hits can take away your speed. We leave [the hitting] to Nabber, Sbisa. Let them bang around. Guys like Theo and myself and Millsy and Huntsy, let those guys move up the ice and continue our momentum. Let our speed and skating dictate the way that we want to play.
Shea Theodore
• 0 PIM
Theodore is one of only three defenders (400+ 5v5 mins) around the league who has yet to take a minor penalty, joining Thomas Hickey and Samuel Girard.
"I realized that a couple games back," laughed Theodore.
"It has to do with how well you're playing and the confidence that I'm playing with. I'm more comfortable this year. But I've been pretty lucky this year."
Interestingly, in just 34 games with Anaheim last season, he racked up 28 PIM.
The 22-year-old added, echoing Schmidt, "[Ryan McGill] is more focused on attacking the puck, rather than trying to go for the hit and the pin. A lot of times, that translates to offense because if you could knock that puck off loose a lot faster in the d-zone, you're quicker on the rush, and you're already in the offensive zone, as opposed to containing and playing d-zone."
Goaltending
Marc-Andre Fleury
• 93.94 5v5 Sv% (4th of 51 goalies, 500 minutes)
Fleury has hit this lofty perch in his best campaigns -- 93.2 in 2015-16 and 93.9 in 2007-08. Will he do it again?
***
Stats as of 1/11/18, courtesy of Corsica, Hockey Reference, Natural Stat Trick, NHL.com, and Sporting Charts.
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