There was one NHL playoff game last night. The Sharks crushed the Blues in a low-Corsi affair. Martin Jones secured the shutout as the Sharks won 3-0. The Blues looked slower and the Sharks have a certain confidence to their countenances.

Hertl was excellent in this one, more than carrying his weight as part of the Sharks’ very dangerous top line.

Absolute bomb from Hertl pic.twitter.com/YBcpJvHLNS — Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 20, 2016

Though this series is starting to look like it’s already wrapped up, the Sharks aren’t there yet.

Before the game chart, the usual on how to read it:

A couple of notes on reading the charts:

the Corsi differential is based on 5v5 play and is score-adjusted, as per war-on-ice.

players at the top (with bars extending to the right) posted positive differentials (good)

players at the bottom (and to the left) posted negative differentials (bad)

the colour of each bar represents the player’s time on ice (see legend at the bottom)

each players individual Corsi For attempts are included in parentheses a player with a strong C +/- but a (0) for iCF didn’t directly contribute to his strong showing. a player with a weak C +/- but a strong iCF score (i.e. greater than 5) may have been hindered by linemates. Maybe.

like any reasonable person, I don’t believe that Corsi is everything. But it’s a very important part of the everything.

On to the game chart…

Paul Martin led the way as he and Burns were dominant. Parayko enjoyed a strong game for the Blues and a number of unusual names slid up to the top for St. Louis (Jaskin, Paajarvi, Gunnarsson, et al.) Pavelski, Thornton, and Hertl finished in their usual positive spots.

Bouwmeester and Pietrangelo logged the heaviest minutes , resulting in a lot of reddish colour bars for other skaters.

Hertl tied for the game-high with 6 iCF. Pietrangelo had 6 as well but finished as a negative in Corsi differential.

Dillon and Polak were beat up in this match. Polak’s result is particularly troubling as he managed 4 iCF and still sunk to the bottom. Tarasenko posted the next most negative Corsi differential but he was only ~-5, which isn’t remarkably bad.

It’s been a great ride for St. Louis but this series is starting to feel like it’s all wrapped up.

Sharks lead series 2-1.

Read more…

NHL Playoffs Game Charts – Wednesday, May 18

NHL Playoffs Game Charts – Tuesday, May 17

NHL Playoffs – Pens and Sharks Look Good in Conference Finals