PK Statistics; Random Thoughts Heading to POs

In light of today's concerning performance on the PK, it's time to look at who the real weak links are on the PK units, both forwards and defenseman. Sutter needs to make adjustments to the units for the POs. The PK is the biggest concern heading to the postseason.

Forwards
Player|GP|SHTOI/G|GA|SHGA/60|SHG|SHP|SHFO%
John Madden|76|3:12|32|7.85|1|3|46.2
Jay Pandolfo|61|2:33|20|7.71|1|1|14.3
Travis Zajac|82|2:00|26|9.50|1|4|46.8
Patrik Elias|77|1:52|8|3.33|2|5|31.6
Jamie Langenbrunner|81|1:47|21|8.69|3|3|44.4
Brendan Shanahan|34|1:28|4|4.81|0|0|62.5
Brian Gionta|81|0:59|11|8.16|3|4|39.3


Defensemen
Player|GP|SHTOI/G|GA|SHGA/60|SHG|SHP|On/OffRating
Paul Martin|73|3:29|26|6.12|0|1|1.42
Niclas Havelid|78|3:11|47|11.33|1|2|-1.14
Bryce Salvador|76|3:05|30|7.64|0|2|-1.03
Colin J. White|71|3:05|26|7.12|0|3|-1.19
D. Johnny Oduya|82|2:51|30|7.68|1|1|0.29


Conclusions
Well, first off the PK needs to be effective if we have hopes of having a long playoff run. And their performance today was again concerning.

First, Elias hopefully will be getting more than :28 of PK time like he did today. He's by far the best forward on the PK. Who is the worst? That's tough to say. Zajac and Langenbrunner have the worst GA numbers, but they also 4 SHG and 7 SHP between them. They are more aggressive than Madden and Pandolfo, who are not threats on the PK and play far too passive.

Gionta and Shanahan need more time IMO, Pandolfo needs less. He is simply not a big enough factor to warrant an average of 2:33 PK time per game. Shanahan has been great on the PK, and is willing to go down and block shots. Gionta is a threat to score on the PK with his speed.

Another problem with the PK is faceoffs. Ignore everbody's FO numbers except Madden and Zajac's their overall FO% are 51.6% and 53.1%. Their PK FO%s are significantly lower than their overall nubers, which is very concerning. Too often the Devils are losing possession off the draw - Madden takes more of the blame for this than Zajac because he's taken 173 more faceoffs than Zajac has.

As far as the defense, it's obvious that P-Mart is the best defenseman in all situations for this team. I would say that Colin White is our 2nd best PK defenseman. While his numbers don't stick out from Oduya and Salvador, his absence has been felt on the PK when he has been out.

I'd like to see these units in the POs
Madden - Elias (with Shanahan spelling Madden)
Zajac - Langenbrunner (tell them to be aggressive and create SH chances)
Shanahan - Gionta (give them more time, they've been effective)
Pandolfo (use when one forward is in the box only)

White - Martin (give them the bulk of the minutes)
Salvador - Oduya
Havelid (use when one defenseman is in the box only)

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All of this is moot if we can stay out of the box in the POs. This will be tough to do if the officials call everything in sight in the first round, but a few lineup decisions can be taken to help the cause.

In the end I think we'll see PL3 out. Doesn't provide enough and will take dumb penalties. Holik is a question mark too. Can he be impactful enough and not take dumb penalties? Can Rupp do the same?

I would consider using only 11 forwards and giving the last spot to either Rupp, Pando or Holik. If you want disciplined play, you take Pando. If you want FOs and an under-your-skin player, take Holik. If you want a physical presence, and a fighter, take Rupp. Give Elias, Zajac, Parise, and Langenbrunner, our best forwards, extra minutes. 7 defenseman would ensure our Dmen being more fresh for PK situations. Greene has been solid and could be considered as an option on the PK.

Hypothetical lineup (Pandolfo/Greene IN; Rupp/Holik/PL3 OUT)
Parise - Zajac - Langenbrunner
Elias - Zubrus - Gionta
Pandolfo - Madden - Shanahan
Rolston - Parise/Elias/Langs/Zajac - Clarkson

Oduya - Martin
White - Mottau
Salvador - Havelid
Greene.

That was long.

sooooo less pando and more patty got it. I said it in a lot fewer words too.

I think the PK will improve a bit in the playoffs as players are going to be more likely to risk injury to make a play than in the last 2 weeks.

That second Carolina goal today is a good example of players not wanting to risk injury this late into the season. Langenbrunner literally moved out of the way of the Babcock shot so it wouldn't hit and possibly cause an injury. I would think come playoff time Langs would be more likely to stand infront and block it.

But yes I would use Madden and Pandolfo less and they are the most passive of the bunch (although i was Zajac who blew the coverage on the first goal).

its kind of wierd that shanny and gionta have such opposite SHGA when they play together

the think that pisses me off is how easily the puck gets moved around in our zone. we dont pressure anyone ever. if a guy mishanldes the puck, he has time to recover because noone is pressureing. they rely too much on getting their stick on the shot and settle for giving up outside shots.

they allow so many damn cross ice passes. the opposite forward and defenseman need to pay attention to what is going on behind them too

this happened alot today......

on the pk, carolina was using an umbrella setup. we were using a box pk.

the defenseman were watching down low, which wasnt the problem, it was the forwards. (one particular time i remember it was zajac and langenbrunner).

lets say the point man at the top of the umbrella had the puck, our forward would stay in his way, and the other forward would cover one of carolinas other players playing the top of the umbrella but then the point man would pass it to the other high guy and he would have a chance to skate it in or get off a good shot. sometimes the defenseman would come out to pressure but he could go too far

what we should have done is use a diamond PK where the we have one forward at the top of the diamond, a defenseman in front of the net and a forward and defenseman on the outsides of the diamond, to counter their forwards near the half boards

it would also help with the cross ice passes