While Alexei Ponikarovsky has only been a Devil for a few games, he has been one of the more effective players for the Devils over the last few games. In his first game as a Devil, he scored the team's only goal. He's been one of the stronger performers over the last few games, with a goal and 4 assists in his last 3 games. For the price that the Devils payed for him, they're getting a pretty good deal so far. Right now, I'm going to take a look at how he's performed in his first few games. I also want to look at how he's been deployed as well.
Corsi, Fenwick and Zone Start data via timeonice.com
|
Game |
OZone Start% |
Corsi |
Fenwick |
Points |
|
1/21/12 vs PHI |
50% (3/6) |
6 |
2 |
1 (1 G) |
|
1/24/12 vs BUF |
40% (2/5) |
3 |
2 |
0 |
|
1/31/12 vs NYR |
83% (5/6) |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
2/2/12 vs MON |
40% (4/10) |
-1 |
-1 |
2 (2 A) |
|
2/4/12 vs PHI |
60% (3/5) |
6 |
6 |
2 (1 G, 1 A) |
|
2/5/12 vs PIT |
27% (3/11) |
1 |
-1 |
1 (1 A) |
|
Totals/Averages |
46% (20/43) |
3 |
1.5 |
2 G, 4 A |
When looking at his offensive zone starts, he's started 46% of them in the Devils defensive zone. His total this year is around 49% according to Behind the Net (combined stats between the Devils and Hurricanes), so he's been used in a similar fashion to how he was used in Carolina. Likewise, he's also carrying over a good trait from Carolina- his ability to drive play forward, evidenced by his solid corsi and fenwick. Considering the bottom 6 hasn't been great this season, having someone who can drive play forward definitely helps out, and the 3rd line has been significantly better with Ponikarovsky in the lineup.
As for his point totals, I'd like to mention his shooting percentage- with Carolina he's had pretty bad luck when it comes to shooting (7 goals on 98 shots for a 7.1 shooting percentage). With the Devils, he's taken less shots, but he's managed to score on those few shots he took (2 goals on 8 shots, 25% shooting). I'd also like to point out that he's scored all 6 points at even strength.
While it's only been 6 games so far, I don't think that Ponikarovsky won't be a point-per game player for the rest of the season. He'll probably finish with around 30-40 points. What won't regress is going to be his possession numbers, which have been solid so far this season.