It was a light night in NHL action, highlighted by a blowout score in Anaheim and a thunderous hit in Winnipeg. Copp, Beagle, and McGinn were the unlikely trio of game leaders last night and GhostBear struggled heavily.

Before we get to the charts, here’s how they work:

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 with the games…

Mark Stone was pulverized by Dustin Byfuglien. The Senators’ star was corralling a puck with his head down as he neared the blue line and Byfuglien didn’t miss. Stone was kept in Winnipeg over night, though play-by-play announcers suggested this was due to a chest issues (i.e. not a concussion).

In terms of puck possession, Copp, Petan, and Pageau were the game’s best. It was a nice showing for Petan who’s campaigning for a full-time spot with the Jets next season.

Scheifele, Ehlers, and Wheeler struggled most. That’s rare and isn’t likely to be repeated.

Beagle, Oshie, and Chimera led this one. Chimera managed a game-high 7 iCF, tying with Jakub Voracek for the game-high.

Richards struggled and has a certain Scott Gomez feel to his game right now. GhostBear and MacDonald were the game’s worst, both posting ~-15 in Corsi differential.

McGinn led all in this blowout win for the Anaheim Ducks. He posted 7 iCF as well. Jakub Nakladal led skaters in iCF with 8, a good showing for the Flames defender.

Korbinian Holzer was the game’s worst.

Most interestingly, Mark Giordano finished with 8 iCF (tie for game-high) and finished at about -8 in Corsi +/-. That indicates the high-event play he was involved in all night. Gio has survived the mess in Calgary this year and should be expected to return to the pluses next time out.

Read more…

NHL Game Charts – Tuesday, March 29

NHL Game Charts – Monday, March 28