(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Christmas has come and gone and with it, we sit basically at the midway point of the season. 40 games down, 42 to go before the real season starts.

With every team off for the last three days, meaning the stat sites are all up to date with every game played, it’s a good time to dive into the numbers to take a look at exactly where Vegas stands in comparison to the rest of the league.

Starting with the most important number, the Golden Knights have accumulated 46 points, good for 8th most in the NHL. However, do to games in hand (no one has played more hockey than Vegas and Edmonton), the Golden Knights sit in 14th in points percentage at .575.

They rank 10th in goals for with 119, but 18th in goals per game with 2.94. As for goals against, Vegas comes in at 20th place with 118, or 13th with 2.91 per game.

For every other stat, I’ve broken it down by where the Golden Knights rank. We start with what the Golden Knights lead the league in, then where they are great, good, average, bad, and finally what they are worst at. Every stat is “per 60” which normalizes the numbers with teams having played different numbers of games.

Lead the League

Takeaways – 9.6 (1st)
Scoring chances (Natural Stat Trick) – 30.9 (1st)
Offensive zone faceoffs – 22.1 (1st)

Great (Top 5)

High-danger chances (Natural Stat Trick) – 12.2 (2nd)
Shot attempts – 60.8 (3rd)
Shots on goal – 33.6 (3rd)
Expected goals – 2.94 (3rd)
Hits – 26.4 (4th)
Icings against – 4.9 (4th)
Shorthanded goals – 0.15 (5th)

Good (Top 10)

Giveaways – 8.9 (8th)
Corsi for percentage – 51.9% (9th)
Penalty kill percentage – 82.6 (9th)
1st period goals – 0.975 (T-9th)

Read More

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Every NHL arena has a group of five people who sit in the press box collecting “advanced” stats. They’re tracking things like time-on-ice, shots on goal, missed shots, blocks, faceoff wins and losses, hits, takeaways, giveaways, penalties, among others.

At T-Mobile Arena, they sit in the booth press box and they are constantly yelling out things like “Block by 15!” or “Hit! 28 on 44,” as they enter the information into the NHL’s proprietary data tracking system.

Because these people are humans, there tend to be discrepancies in how certain stats are judged. Though the league has strict set standards, in practice there will be differences from rink to rink. What qualifies as a hit? Who won the stalemate faceoff? Was that shot actually blocked? There are humans making these decisions, and they are doing it in a split second while the action is going on.

One of those discrepancies has seemingly aided the Golden Knights to lead the league in a stat that is one of the few which allows us to quantify defense.

The stat is takeaways, and after 11 games the Golden Knights lead the league by 30. Vegas has 121 takeaways, while the next closest is Colorado with 91. Toronto has 88, and Calgary 87. Comparing it to the bottom of the league, Buffalo brings up the rear with 40, or a difference of seven takeaways per game from Vegas.

There’s no question the Golden Knights are proficient at stealing the puck from opponents. Mark Stone is arguably the best in the league at it. Reilly Smith, William Karlsson, Shea Theodore, and Brayden McNabb are all good at it too. But, the stat really comes into focus when you compare Vegas’ takeaways at home vs on the road.

Home
vs SJS 15
vs BOS 15
vs CGY 14
vs NSH 18
vs OTT 19

Away
at SJS 9
at ARI 4
at LAK 3
at PIT 8
at PHI 6
at CHI 10

The Golden Knights average 16.2 takeaways per game on home ice. They average just 6.7 on the road. That’s nearly 10 takeaways per game difference between home and road. Something is clearly amiss.

Read More