As the National Hockey League rolls wraps up its second month of play for the 2016-17 season, Hockey Reference reports that scoring is down just a tick from last year—from 2.71 goals per team per game to 2.70.
The stats show that power-play opportunities have increased slightly, but penalty killing has also improved. On balance, the end result is basically the same—teams are scoring an average of 0.58 power-play goals per game this season.
Though the overall special teams numbers are similar, there has been a bit of a changing of the guard. The Carolina Hurricanes are leading the league with a 92 percent penalty-killing rate and have surrendered just six goals with the man advantage, while previously strong penalty-killing teams like the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings are languishing in the bottom half of the league stats—and the Chicago Blackhawks are dead last!
So you won't be seeing Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty or perennial Selke Trophy candidates like Ryan Kesler and Jonathan Toews on the list of the league's best penalty-killers this time around. Most of the best penalty-killing teams in the league this year ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Carol Schram
Ranking the NHL’s 10 Best Penalty-Killers in the 2016-17 Season
December 10th, 2016 by Carol Schram Leave a reply »
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