New Jersey Devils at Washington Capitals: Zone Exit and Passing Stats

The Devils had some bad bounces and less than stellar goaltending, but simply dominated at evens and earned a just reward in OT. The top line absolutely wrecked Washington and the team put up a new season high of SAG with 54. Read on and fall in love with Jaromir Jagr all over again.

Passing Stats

Forwards:

This section belongs to the top line of Jaromir Jagr, Dainius Zubrus, and Travis Zajac. Of the three, no one attempted fewer than 20 passes in the offensive zone, accounting for half of the forwards pass attempts overall. Jagr generated 9 shot attempts and 4 shots; Zubrus generated 4 attempts and 3 shots; and Zajac generated 5 attempts and 5 shots. A masterful performance.

Patrik Elias had a better game than I originally though, generating 8 shot attempts and 4 shots on 8 fewer pass attempts than Jagr. He was a bit inconsistent, but at least made his presence felt in the offensive zone as best he could. Mattias Tedenby went 8/10 overall with no SAG, but he was getting several pucks on net that Elias and Steve Bernier set up for him. Adam Henrique was also strong in the OZ, completing 12/15 passes and generating 8 shot attempts, but only 2 resulted in shots.

Defensemen:

The defensemen had over a hundred passes in their own zone, which isn’t good, but at least their percentage was very good overall (89.1%). The blue line only generated 9 SAG and 3 SG, but this was a night that belonged to the forwards. Some notable performances were Jon Merrill (18/22 in his own zone) and Mark Fayne (20/22 in the DZ; 5/5 in the OZ). Andy Greene was dominant as he missed only 2 passes out of his 29 attempts, including 7/7 in the offensive end. Greene and Fayne each generated 4 shot attempts and 3 combined shots. They looked like a true number 1 pairing tonight.

Passing Data Explained:

Pass: A reasonable and deliberate attempt to get the puck to a teammate which results in 1 of 3 outcomes: 1) Maintaining possession; 2) Allows for the recipient of the pass to make a “hockey move” (dump in, deflection, another pass etc.); 3) A shot attempt. When in doubt, common sense will prevail.

What you see above is a chart illustrating pass completions, pass attempts, and pass percentages for each player in all three zones. A pass that goes across a zone or two will be marked as occurring in the zone it originates from.

Each completed pass that results in a shot taken by a teammate counts as one “shot attempt generated” or “SAG” in the chart below. This is tracked to attempt to determine which teammates are better at generating opportunities to shoot. You’ll also see a “shot generated” or “SG” column to track the highest quality of shot attempts. The last column totals the percentage of shot attempts that result in shots on net.

Zone Exit Stats

Forwards:

Overall, they finished at 54.5 PE%, a solid night. Michael Ryder continues to look good by these numbers (75%). As does, Jagr (66.7 PE%) and Zubrus (66.7 PE%). Tim Sestitio, Cam Janssen, and Stephen Gionta really dragged the group down. The other forwards hovered around the 40 – 50% range.

Defensemen:

Eric Gelinas only had 1 turnover, but he seemed a bit smarter last night (as you saw in the passing chart, he completed all of his passes). Fayne led the team with a 71.4 PE%, while Greene’s only blemish on the night was his 33 PE%. Anton Volchenkov was perfect on his 8 attempts, with 4 keeping possession. Marek Zidlicky and Jon Merrill brought the team’s average down significantly. The group committed 5 turnovers, with Merrill responsible for 2 of them.

Zone Exits Explained: Any attempt made by a player to advance the puck from their defensive zone. These actions fall into the below categories (as illustrated on the below chart).

Possession Exits:

P) Pass: When a player passes the puck out of the zone and it successfully finds a teammate.

(C) Carry: When a player skates with the puck out of the zone, maintaining possession.

Successful Zone Exits without Possession:

(FP) Failed Pass: When a player passes the puck out of the zone, but it fails to find its target.

(FC) Failed Carry: When a player skates with the puck out of the zone, but loses possession shortly thereafter.

(CH) Chip: When the player lifts the puck out of the zone or throws it off the boards and out.

(X) Other: Any action that results in a successful zone exit not already covered.

Unsuccessful Zone Exit:

(PT) Pass Turnover: When a player fails to clear the zone with a pass and it results in a turnover to the opposition.

(CT) Carry Turnover: When a player fails to skate out of the zone with the puck and loses possession.

(I) Icing: An attempt to clear results in icing the puck.

(T) Turnover: Any action that results in a turnover not already covered.

What reaction do you have to these stats? How do they compare with your viewing of the game?