Advanced Stats For VGK Dummies: 5 On 5 Close

It’s time for article six of Advanced Stats for VGK Dummies. Today we are taking on a situational stat category called “5 on 5 Close.”

Unlike the last five articles, this one is not actually a stat, instead, it’s a qualifier for other stats. Normal qualifiers for stats are “even strength,” “power play,” or “penalty kill,” and understandably players stats differ based on each situation.

5 on 5 Close is a qualifier to show how guys play when the game is on the line, disregarding stats when a team is well ahead or well behind in any particular game. So what exactly makes a game “close?”

Within 1 goal (1st and 2nd periods) or tied (3rd period or overtime)

Example time! Let’s take a look at James Neal’s 2016-17 season with the Nashville Predators. Neal scored 22 goals, had a CF% of 58.3%, and a PDO of 99.9 last year. But when we drill it down to 5 on 5 Close, Neal’s numbers drop off a bit. 7 goals, CF% of 50.9% and a PDO of 98.6.

This is usually the part where we put Golden Knights stats and who is good at the stat and who is not. But, that makes absolutely no sense for this one, especially since none of these players have ever played together… so no soup for you.

Where this does become interesting will be when the Golden Knights finally start playing. Vegas is probably going to get beat a lot this year, and they’ll probably be out of 5 on 5 Close range quite often. But when they are in close games, we will be tracking time on ice, CF%, PDO, and many other stats which will translate in the future, when the Golden Knights are good.

5 on 5 Close, a stat that matters, a lot, but not for us yet.