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)