By the numbers: Game 43 vs. New York

Scoring Chances

San Jose

New York

Period-by-Period Summary

While obviously not as bad as their numbers against St. Louis, these scoring chance numbers are ugly for the Sharks. Judging straight from the rosters these two teams boast, I don't think it would be crazy to assume that the Sharks would have the upper hand in this matchup, but that upper hand certainly didn't materialize in last night's game. Thornton's return was simply not enough to help out the Sharks' offense, especially given that Jumbo was on for eight scoring chances against, and only four for. On the bright side, the Sharks' second powerplay unit had a pretty strong game, producing three scoring chances in just over a minute of ice time. Actual All Star defenseman Brent Burns had a good game, and Should-Be-An-All-Star-Even-Though-He-Doesn't-Rack-Up-the-Points defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic had a good game too.

Although Kevin Hayes and Lee Stempniak finished their nights with negative scoring chance differentials, they're basically the only Rangers who come out of these numbers looking bad. The Rangers' top two lines especially killed it, as both managed to produce a lot of scoring chances. Their second D-pairing also did quite well, as Boyle and his D partner Staal more than made up for McDonagh and Girardi not putting up spectacular numbers.

Zone Entries

San Jose

New York

Although the Sharks were basically outdone by New York in the neutral zone (New York posted better numbers in all categories but the total number of entries attempted, and number of failed entries), there were a few individuals who managed some pretty good numbers. The Sharks' fourth line managed quite a few shots off of Tye McGinn's entries, even though he didn't carry the puck in with regularity, while Marleau and Thornton both carried the puck in on the majority of their entries, as Jumbo showed that Patty isn't the only thirty-something player on the Sharks who does good work in the neutral zone.

The Rangers have very good shot attempts per entry numbers here, and a big reason why is the play of Kevin Klein. He posted numbers that would be good for anyone, but they're made all the more impressive by the fact he's a defenseman usually regarded as a defense-first kind of player. Not to be outdone, Ryan McDonagh also posted some awesome zone entry numbers, carrying the puck in three times on four entry attempts. Nash and Hagelin also put up respectable numbers, though I definitely expected those two to carry the puck in more than they did.

Entry Targeting

San Jose

New York

Last night marked another game where the Pickelsnake pairing had a carry-in against percentage above 50, as did Brenden Dillon. Braun did relatively well defending against New York's entry attempts, as did Scott Hannan, but overall, not a great showing by the Sharks' defense. Team wide, the forwards did a pretty good job when they were called upon to defend against New York's neutral zone efforts, as the work of Desi and Thornton helped contribute to the team denying almost a tenth of New York's non odd-man rush entry attempts.

Especially compared to the results he had on scoring chances, Boyle did not do very well defending against zone entries, as both he and McDonagh allowed the Sharks to carry the puck in five times out of the eight entries attempted against them. Staal and Klein however, did fantastic, as those two combined to only allow three carry-ins on sixteen Shark entry attempts. Good job by J.T. Miller as well, managing a sub-20 carry-in against percentage when he was relied upon to defend his blue line.

Zone Exits

San Jose

New York

Quite a few Shark forwards had good nights on exits last night, as Thornton, Wingels, Goodrow and Pavs put up pretty great numbers, but the rest of the team didn't come close to matching their numbers. The defense especially didn't do great, as they only managed six successful breakouts, with two-thirds of those coming off of Burns' stick. Justin Braun took Matt Tennyson's place last night for "defenseman who turned the puck over way too much," as he turned the puck over on 60% of his touches. Hannan managed a similar percentage, as did Dillon, with those three defensemen contributing a lot to San Jose's 36% turnover rate on zone exits.

What stands out to me most when comparing New York's numbers to San Jose's is just how often some of New York's forwards were handling the puck in the defensive zone. Not all of them posted great numbers while doing so (I'm looking at you, Karl Hagelin), but a few did, as Nash, Stempniak, and Kreider really did great at exiting the zone. Pretty good game for Jesper Fast too, as he managed three carry-outs on three touches in the defensive end.

Notes:

-San Jose was outchanced again, with only Burns and Vlasic managing good-looking differentials

-New York's top two lines managed fantastic scoring chance differentials, as did their second pairing

-Thornton, Marleau and McGinn posted very good zone entry numbers, with Marleau and Thornton both managing 71% carry-in rates

-The Rangers as a whole posted good entry numbers, with two of their defensemen--Klein and McDonagh--oddly leading the way for them

-Sharks' D didn't do great defending against New York's entry attempts, but the forwards did a good job when they were called upon to do so

-Boyle and McDonagh posted below-average numbers, while Klein and Staal posted great ones when defending their blue line

-Hannan, Braun and Dillon turned the puck over quite a bit while attempting zone exits, a big reason for San Jose's 36% turnover rate

-New York's defense also didn't do great exiting the zone, but forwards like Nash, Stempniak and Kreider helped pick up the slack for them