JoeSchmoe

Why? He makes a lot more money than you or I to be a lot worse at his job.

Anyone see that nightmare of a defensive play?

Sabres are doing really good for high danger chances against and low danger chances against. They are doing really poorly for medium chances against. I'm expert, but I'll put high danger chances against on the defense. Medium danger... I put that on the team playing okay defense, but not maintaining zone possession.

Novice house league hockey. Team down 2-0 in the quarter final of our 24 team league. Season on the line. Something clicked in me on the bench that if we didn't score 3 goals, the season was over. I remember grunting on the bench between shifts... I was so determined to win. I scored the hatty to get us the 3-2 win. Won player of the game which included a free burger at the pub down the street from the arena. We went on to lose the semis by a goal. In the last couple minutes of the game we had zone pressure. The puck came back to our d-man who after an entire season still didn't understand what offside was... all despite me trying to coach him about it before each game. Anyhow, he had been standing just on the wrong side of the blue line as per his usual. When the puck came to him, he immediately shot it in the zone and the ref blew it offside. There I knew it was my last shift of the season. Me, being the class act 9 year old I was... went up to him on the ice....and in front of a packed arena, gave that teammate the hardest shin slash a 9 year old could muster. My coaches never said a word. Almost 40 years later I'm still that a-hole... I just mask it better.

Last night he tripled his points in one game! Could the absence of Girgensons be part of the equation?

The team that played the last two games are making the playoffs with league average goaltending. Add Thompson and Quinn in the mix and we're capable of making a run. Sadly, our only hope at league average goaltending would be Levi finding his game. UPL showed some hope, but league average goaltending doesn't lay the egg he laid tonight, even on their worst days

Get over. Won't save it 100% of the time, but I'm guessing someone like Binnington might get it 50% of the time.

Advanced stats say 2.1 exGA. UPL let in 6.

We're winning with league average goaltending.

Why was UPL on his goal line.

Don't know.

5 shots

So much for UPL being the answer. Greenway is also back to bring the player I wished we never acquired.

This is pretty much the universal definition I know even outside the medical world. It's anything you have to pay for yourself.

Sounds like me playing hockey. I really enjoy the game, but it hurts to play way more than it should thanks to my extra 60lbs and that I'm closing in on 50. Mentally, I still think I'm in my early 20s and under 10% body fat so I go as hard as I can. More shifts than not I'm thinking it's defibrillator time when I get back to the bench. I was nursing a knee injury last year and didn't sign up. This year, I missed the sign up deadline, but at the same time I don't miss that feeling where my heart and lungs were maxed out.

Now what? Corey Perry is available. His veteran presence will help this young squad. Just keep him away from Levi's mom.

I think the thing that has most people scratching their heads is that Quinn was likely the top guy out of the group you mentioned (or at worst 2nd) until he got hurt.

He's certainly looked like the best of a bad bunch so far.

That's my definition of playing not to lose. He's so worried about giving up the big play, that he exposes his defense to giving up small high percentage plays. If they're going to beat you, make them beat you.

I'll try to keep it positive. There are scenarios where goals will go in or chances are generated that aren't a players fault. However, with a large enough sample size, those instances equal out. In the scenario you describe though, if its 5 on 5, a truly elite defender will break up the cycling around the perimeter, gain possession, and limit scoring more often than a weak defender (4 on 5, they'd be happy to keep it on the perimeter... no defender will challenge). You're absolutely right that you have to watch the games, because there's a lot of reasons to take the advanced stats with a grain of salt. As I mentioned before, if a player has elite shooting talent, they will no doubt be better at winning games that someone with no shooting talent but a better expected goal %. Maybe someone with a better grasp on the stats than me can justify why EJ sits so low expected goals % wise. The best I can come up with is that he's been paired with Clifton a lot, who is also a trainwreck... But Clifton has actually been marginally better. Possible this is sample size. I still think whatever help his "experience" has brought, doesn't seem to outweigh him giving up as so many chances compared to what he creates... and I'll chalk this up as a major KA fail.

He loves to play not to lose.

Nice explanation. Though I'm not as far down the rabbit hole as some others here, I find that the stat doesn't necessarily account for how elite scoring forwards like Thompson and Matthews consistently put pucks in nets above what's expected. Someone also mentioned it doesn't account for zone starts. I can't think of any stat though that would justify Johnson's low numbers. We're just very likely to be outscored by the opposition when he's likely on the ice.

Maybe they're too hard for you to interpret. As Brawndo said, the top teams know how to use them.