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BoC finds room for improvement: 5-on-5 hockey

It's still very early in the season, but one thing that seems to be common among all the slow-starting BoC teams is that for all three teams, 5-on-5 results have plenty of room for improvement. If we look purely at 5-on-5 results (no 4-on-4 or pulled goalie situations), here's how the teams are producing thus far:
  • The San Jose Sharks in 8 games have scored 10 goals-for and allowed 12 goals-against. That is, they are allowing 1.2 goals for every one they are scoring.
  • The Anaheim Ducks in 10 games have scored 8 goals-for and allowed 13 goals-against. They are allowing 1.6 goals for every one they are scoring.
  • The Los Angeles Kings in 9 games have scored 11 goals-for and allowed 23 goals-against. They are allowing 2.1 goals for every one they are scoring.
  • All three teams together in 27 games have scored 29 goals-for and allowed 48 goals-against. They are allowing 1.7 goals for every one that they are scoring.
Of course there's plenty of reasons and excuses available ("It's early" is still a valid explanation), but it is worth noting that 5-on-5 hockey is a big reason why none of the three clubs has seemed to meet early expectations. If you neglect the 5-on-5 issues above, the teams in non-5-on-5 situations all have positive goal differentials (SJ is a +3 while ANA and LA are +2).

Outscoring opponents at even-strength isn't a real necessity to make the playoffs; certainly a lot can be made up with special teams. But come postseason, generally the level of opposition goes up and often special teams production decreases. The Ducks last spring, for example, primarily killed in the playoffs not because of their power play, but rather because they dominated 5-on-5 hockey. For all three teams, this looks so far to be one key area to work on; an effective 5-on-5 game makes success look easy.

Just for fun, here's the top 15 and the bottom 15 BoC performers at even-strength-goal-differential-per-60-minutes. Unlike the above discussion, these tables include more than just 5-on-5 production, but rather anything labeled as "even-strength". That means that in terms of ice time and results, these include 4-on-4 and empty-net situations (basically, any time icing can be called on both teams). Note that quality of opposition is not considered here; that may help explain why some players fall on either list.

The top 15:
Player Team Pos GP

ES Min.

G–A–Pts Plus–Minus–Diff Diff/hr.
Petteri Wirtanen

ANA

C

1

2.87

1 – 0 – 1

+1-0+1

+20.93

Douglas Murray

SJS

D

6

57.00

0 – 2 – 2

+4-1+3

+3.16

Scott Thornton

LAK

W

6

46.00

1 – 0 – 1

+2-0+2

+2.61

Brad May

ANA

W

8

49.50

0 – 0 – 0

+2-0+2

+2.42

George Parros

ANA

W

9

33.88

0 – 1 – 1

+1-0+1

+1.77

Joe Thornton

SJS

C

8

106.30

2 – 4 – 6

+7-4+3

+1.69

Kent Huskins

ANA

D

10

152.50

1 – 3 – 4

+7-3+4

+1.57

Jaroslav Modry

LAK

D

9

126.82

0 – 0 – 0

+7-4+3

+1.42

Joe Dipenta

ANA

D

9

86.10

0 – 3 – 3

+3-1+2

+1.39

Corey Perry

ANA

W

10

132.88

3 – 1 – 4

+7-4+3

+1.35

Ryane Clowe

SJS

W

8

89.22

1 – 2 – 3

+4-2+2

+1.35

Milan Michalek

SJS

W

8

92.05

2 – 1 – 3

+4-2+2

+1.30

Ladislav Nagy

LAK

W

7

60.72

0 – 2 – 2

+2-1+1

+0.99

Ryan Getzlaf

ANA

C

10

133.53

2 – 5 – 7

+8-6+2

+0.90

Jonathan Cheechoo

SJS

W

8

94.13

2 – 1 – 3

+5-4+1

+0.64



The bottom 15:
Player Team Pos GP ES Min. G–A–Pts Plus–Minus–Diff Diff/hr.
Raitis Ivanans

LAK

W

8

52.33

0 – 1 – 1

+1-3-2

-2.29

Rob Davison

SJS

D

3

22.03

0 – 0 – 0

+0-1-1

-2.72

Brady Murray

LAK

W

4

39.48

1 – 0 – 1

+1-3-2

-3.04

Andrew Miller

ANA

W

4

39.42

1 – 0 – 1

+1-3-2

-3.04

Rob Blake

LAK

D

9

116.02

0 – 0 – 0

+4-10-6

-3.10

Patrick Rissmiller

SJS

W

7

57.85

0 – 0 – 0

+0-3-3

-3.11

Lubomir Visnovsky

LAK

D

9

152.50

0 – 1 – 1

+6-13-7

-3.11

Patrick O’Sullivan

LAK

W

9

91.33

1 – 1 – 2

+4-9-5

-3.28

Michal Handzus

LAK

C

9

97.90

0 – 1 – 1

+4-10-6

-3.68

Brad Stuart

LAK

D

9

122.45

0 – 0 – 0

+1-9-8

-3.92

Marcel Goc

SJS

C

7

56.67

0 – 0 – 0

+0-4-4

-4.24

John Zeiler

LAK

W

7

56.17

0 – 0 – 0

+0-4-4

-4.27

Curtis Brown

SJS

C

3

20.57

0 – 0 – 0

+0-2-2

-5.83

Maxim Kondratiev

ANA

D

2

9.42

0 – 0 – 0

+0-1-1

-6.37

Jason King

ANA

W

2

21.38

0 – 0 – 0

+0-3-3

-8.42