Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning: A Stats Breakdown
The Carolina Hurricanes triumphed at home for six wins in a row let’s see how the numbers break down compared to previous games
Not going to lie, tonight was a very good win. Not only did the Carolina Hurricanes return back to .500 hockey, but it was a good home win. Winning at home keeps the fans happy, and you could hear it even over the broadcast. The “Let’s Go Canes” chant after the Canes kill off the 5 on 3 in the third was something that hasn’t been heard with that ferocity in a very long time. But increased fan support narratives aside, how did the Canes actually perform? Well, let’s take a look at their performance stat by stat.
Shot and Corsi Events
— Matthew Barlowe (@matt_barlowe) December 5, 2016
In the shot department, it’s pretty even between the Canes and the Lightning until you factor out the special teams. 5v5 Carolina handily outshot Tampa Bay in the first two periods, but again the third period saw Tampa Bay start to turn the pressure on. But when you look at the Corsi events it’s not even close between the two teams either in all situations or 5v5. The Hurricanes finally played a good third period I guess they just need to be at home to do it
Corsi Differentials
— Matthew Barlowe (@matt_barlowe) December 5, 2016
Not a whole lot of Canes on the wrong side of this graph. Suprisingly Victor Rask and Matt Tennyson bring up the tail end. I guess we can just chalk it up to a bad game for both. Of course at the top of the graph are regular mainstays of Aho and Teravainen along with Slavin/Pesce on defense. The fourth line is keeping up their run of solid play as well.
— Matthew Barlowe (@matt_barlowe) December 5, 2016
Again with this graph and the differential, the most surprising thing is the location of the Carolina Hurricanes first line of Rask, Skinner, and PDG. This is the third game in a row that while the Rask/Skinner duo is on the ice that Carolina gives up a lot of shots. Maybe they are missing the presence of Elias Lindholm more than they thought they would. Still, PDG is a great driver of Corsi and maybe the line still needs time to gel.
Expected Goals
— Matthew Barlowe (@matt_barlowe) December 5, 2016
Yeah down in the good corner it’s a mess but it includes Faulk, Stalberg, McClement, Aho, and Teravainen. The interesting thing here is the complete lack of offense from the third line of Ryan, Nestrasil, and McGinn. This line’s performance is consistently underwhelming. I’m not sure what the solution is, but maybe once Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm return, Stempniak and PDG can move back down to the third line to increase the performance and help the Canes offense.
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