There were 9 games in the NHL last night as the season winds towards its regular season finish. Larkin was a star, Krug was dominant for Boston, Letang continued his run of excellence, and Jaromir Jagr dunked on James Mirtle.*

*true, not related to the game charts in any way at all. But I’ll embed the tweet anyway.

Before we look at the charts, a few words on reading the graphs:

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.

Now, on with the game charts.

Bergeron and Marchand did their usual thing against New Jersey, posting very strong Corsi differentials. Torey Krug had a very productive game, adding 8 iCF. Eriksson had an uncharacteristic negative Corsi differential night but he was quite near break-even.

For the Devils, a few skaters posted atrocious totals. Greene and Larsson are oft-noted for their defense-first deployment. Regardless of how you feel about that kind of stat, the pair of defenders was awful, posting ~-25 Corsi +/- each. Palmieri joined them at the bottom.

Ouch.

Okposo led this one and Leddy/Hamonic were strong for the Islanders. Tavares posted a game-high 7 iCF in a good overall showing by the team.

For Carolina, the offseason is in view. Rask, Skinner, and Terry struggled most and the team’s young legs seem to be tiring under the weight of a long season. The future is bright in Carolina but it’s time for this season to end.

The Penguins continue to build steam as they head into the playoffs. Letang posted 11 iCF and has been on an absolute tear of late. Hornqvist, Crosby, and Kunitz continued their superior work together. No Eastern Conference team can be excited against Pittsburgh as a playoff matchup right now.

On the other side of the graph, Gorges and Ristolainen did what they always do. Reinhart has generally been a positive Corsi differential player this season – an off-night for him. Much like the Hurricanes, the Sabres have their eyes on the future. The off-season can’t come soon enough.

Brian Campbell, Jussi Jokinen, and Jaromir Jagr were at the top of the chart in their losing effort. Hyman was great for the Leafs. But the play of the night goes to 100-year-old Jaromir Jagr, with his best “get off my lawn” line of the year:

@mirtle if you didn’t understand what I said don’t write about it thank you — Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr) March 30, 2016

Feeling a little misquoted, Jagr directed some of his post-game attention to a fairly ordinary (and certainly non-malicious) misquote by James Mirtle.

In case Jagr hadn’t done enough to entertain this season…

Laich, Marincin, and Rielly didn’t have great nights for the Leafs but that’s hardly the point for Toronto at this stage in the season.

Dylan Larkin was fantastic, leading all and posting 8 iCF in the process. Zetterberg joined him at the top of the chart. For the most part, Detroit dominated the positive side of the Corsi differential in this one.

Pacioretty led the Habs and mustered 6 iCF. He’s been incredibly solid all season long.

Mitchell and Glendening were the game’s worst. This is not a first for Glendening.

TVR has been very strong over the past couple of weeks, routinely appearing at the top of game charts for the Blackhawks. Ladd and Panarin joined him at the top of the Corsi +/- in this one. Christian Ehrhoff led all with 7 iCF.

The Wild have been chasing the puck for a while now. Haula, Scandella, and Parise were the worst in this one. A full-time head coach choice this off-season will be key for this team to take advantage of the talent throughout the roster.

Shattenkirk was the game’s best and posted a game-leading 6 iCF. As usual, Parayko and Edmundson posted good Corsi differentials playing a good share of 5v5 minutes. Steen was great in this one too and makes a big difference to the quality of this forward corps.

The Avs chased the puck. That’s nothing new. Barrie and Holden were the game’s worst – again, nothing new. Exposed to extended minutes, these two defensemen have compiled huge Corsi deficits this season.

James Neal is a beast. He led the way (not typical) and posted a game-leading 9 iCF (very typical). He’s a shot generation machine. Josi was also very strong (7 iCF) and Shea Weber continues his hot run of late.

Klingberg and Goligoski were the game’s worst. This isn’t their usual and probably isn’t anything to get too concerned about.

Brendan Gaunce was the Corsi differential leader (odd) and Hertl was next best (not odd). A number of Canucks survived this loss and posted positive puck possession totals.

Roman Polak was the game’s worst but was only ~-8 in Corsi +/-. Still, he and fellow deadline acquisition Nick Spaling haven’t offered much for the Sharks since their arrival.

Another slick move by the Leafs.

Read more…

NHL Game Charts – Monday, March 28

NHL Game Charts – Sunday, March 27

NHL Team Corsi Differentials – Atlantic Division