G1 - Canucks/Penguins Scoring Chances

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A scoring chance is defined over at Copper n Blue as

"a clear play directed toward the opposing net from a dangerous scoring area - loosely defined as the top of the circle in and inside the faceoff dots (nicknamed the Home Plate), though sometimes slightly more generous than that depending on the amount of immediately-preceding puck movement or screens in front of the net. Blocked shots are generally not included but missed shots are. A player is awarded a scoring chance anytime he is on the ice and someone from either team has a chance to score. He is awarded a "chance for" if someone on his team has a chance to score and a "chance against" if the opposing team has a chance to score."

 

The app is not yet set up for the 2011/12 season, so I tallied these manually tonight.

First, the list of chances. We tally the period, the time left on the clock, the score, the team that took the chance, the game state (EV is 5-on-5, FF is 4-on-4), and the Canuck players on the ice (by number). Goals are bolded.

*Alexander Edler was also out on these two chances. Lapierre jumped out as an extra attacker.

What we do then is count up the number of chances for and against each player was out for. The even-strength number includes 4-on-4 play due to the overall small percentages of chances that appear 4-on-4.

The +/- numbers appear after the "for" and "against" numbers.

Now, let's discuss a little...

• The Sedins were awesome tonight. Daniel Sedin set up four chances and took six on his own and led the team. All throughout the game they were the best Canuck line on the ice.
• The third line of Malhotra, Hansen and Higgins were rolling as well, and while we don't yet have the numbers for zone starts, they definitely had a lot of defensive starts like last season, but managed to turn their night into positive chances at either end.
• Special teams was horrible. Aside from giving up the shorthanded goal and two on the powerplay, the Canucks failed to generate a single chance on the powerplay.
• Each team had a goal that didn't qualify as a scoring chance. Maxim Lapierre and James Neal both scored from behind the net.
• Meanwhile, I had an inner debate as whether or not to award a chance to Matt Cooke on his shorthanded goal. Kevin Bieksa kept him generally to the perimeter, but he didn't do much to prevent the shot coming off Cooke's stick and it went through his legs, qualifying the shot as a screen. Luongo didn't see the shot coming off the stick.
• The fourth line is brutal. Maxim Lapierre came out even because he jumped onto the ice for the Sedin goal, but wasn't really part of the play. I think that he was probably the best of that line, Dale Weise and Aaron Volpatti were hemmed in their own end. At one point they got a shift in the third period with the game tied and six minutes to go. If the company we had over were a little quieter, they may have heard me screaming at the TV.
• The turning point was 12:36 of the third period. Evgeni Malkin stepped into the middle and took a shot that went careening wide. The Penguins never recovered that shift and Burrows went for a skate that kept the Canucks pressuring for three chances and finally got one to count. That was the Daniel Sedin marker that tied the game. Malkin made up for that in the shootout.
• Keith Ballard passed the eyeball test tonight, and he certainly did well to prevent chances along with Chris Tanev against relatively easy competition. The Kevin Bieksa and Dan Hamhuis pairing had the benefit of seeing some time with the Sedins to boost their totals. Alex Edler and Sami Salo had a rough outing. Ballard looked very confident on the puck past centre tonight, something that was pretty rare last season.
• On a personal note, Chris Tanev, Cody Hodgson and Dale Weise starting in the lineup mark the first time that the Canucks started a player in the lineup younger than me. I feel wicked old.