Devils, Panthers are NHL's best in New Year

by James Mirtle on Feb 19, 2009 2:27 PM CST in Statistics Comment 6 comments

NHL clubs have played an average of 20 games since New Year's Day, and so far, the red-hot Devils and Panthers have been the league's best teams over that span. New Jersey is 16-6-0 in their last 22 games, while Florida has gone 13-4-3 in 20 games.

Here's a look at how all 30 teams have fared over this time frame:

	Teams	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts/G	GF	GA	Gdif
1	New Jersey	22	16	6	0	1.45	3.18	2.32	0.86
2	Florida	20	13	4	3	1.45	3.55	2.55	1.00
3	Detroit	22	14	5	3	1.41	4.05	2.95	1.09
4	Washington	20	13	5	2	1.40	3.55	2.75	0.80
5	Boston	21	12	5	4	1.33	2.86	2.33	0.52
6	San Jose	18	10	4	4	1.33	3.56	2.78	0.78
7	Dallas	20	12	6	2	1.30	3.10	2.55	0.55
8	Buffalo	21	13	7	1	1.29	3.19	2.48	0.71
9	Columbus	21	12	7	2	1.24	3.00	2.76	0.24
10	Philadelphia	18	10	6	2	1.22	2.94	2.61	0.33
11	Los Angeles	19	10	6	3	1.21	2.89	3.05	-0.16
12	Calgary	20	11	7	2	1.20	3.30	2.95	0.35
13	St Louis	20	10	6	4	1.20	2.85	2.40	0.45
14	Chicago	21	12	8	1	1.19	3.00	2.48	0.52
15	Edmonton	21	12	8	1	1.19	2.86	3.05	-0.19
16	Minnesota	19	10	8	1	1.11	2.63	2.37	0.26
17	Vancouver	19	8	6	5	1.11	3.32	3.47	-0.16
18	Ottawa	21	9	8	4	1.05	2.67	2.76	-0.10
19	Carolina	20	10	10	0	1.00	2.35	2.90	-0.55
20	NY Rangers	20	8	9	3	0.95	2.00	2.80	-0.80
21	Nashville	22	10	12	0	0.91	2.27	2.68	-0.41
22	Anaheim	21	9	11	1	0.90	2.81	3.00	-0.19
23	Tampa Bay	21	9	11	1	0.90	2.86	3.38	-0.52
24	Atlanta	20	9	11	0	0.90	3.10	3.25	-0.15
25	Montreal	22	9	12	1	0.86	3.05	3.86	-0.82
26	Pittsburgh	21	8	11	2	0.86	2.62	3.24	-0.62
27	Toronto	20	6	10	4	0.80	2.85	3.85	-1.00
28	Colorado	21	8	13	0	0.76	2.67	3.48	-0.81
29	Phoenix	20	7	13	0	0.70	2.45	3.60	-1.15
30	NY Islanders	19	5	12	2	0.63	2.11	2.95	-0.84

It's no surprise the Islanders have been bad, but you can see how dire things have been for the Penguins, Canadiens, Avs and Ducks lately. Putting up 0.90 points per game or less may look like it's "close to .500," but for all intents and purposes, that's a horrible record with the way the standings currently work.

A playoff pace is 1.10, so teams at that mark are treading water (i.e. Minnesota, Vancouver) while anyone below that mark is losing ground.

Playing a few games over .500 every 20 games is the new .500.

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Comments

Stats are fascinating, aren't they?

Like 77% of FTR’s poll clickers say Mike Greene should be one of the top Norris Trophy candidates this season. The thing is though that Washington’s amazing turnaround last season and eventual squeaking into the playoffs on the last day is the huge exception.

by BJLB on Feb 19, 2009 3:30 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I know this is biased (or narrowly focused at least), but I have to say that

it’s pretty amazing Vancouver is at the 1.10 mark given the horrible January they had. The team had 2 wins out of 12 games, but thanks to the OTL point, the team still earned 9 points out of 24, or 0.75 ppg. Then things turned around in February. 6-1, so far, meaning 1.714 point per game.

by SJKel on Feb 19, 2009 6:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I think Bettman will eat a bullet if NJ meets FLA in the eastern conference finals. Not exactly a TV ratings dream matchup. He can only hope that more households than the 736 that joined their February 2007 matchup tune in this time around – http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E5DE123FF931A35751C0A9619C8B63

http://puckreport.blogspot.com

by puckreport on Feb 19, 2009 6:33 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

And then there’ll be a Columbus-Florida finals. Think of the ratings! ;-)

by James Mirtle on Feb 19, 2009 6:37 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The Oilers only having a -4 GD after 21 GP isn’t bad, considering they had two games of -8 and -5, respectively. Take them out, and you’ve got a +9 GD in the other 19 GP, which is much more consistent with the rest of the bubble teams.

Of course, last night’s loss to DAL was kind of a kick in the can.

by Doogie2K on Feb 20, 2009 9:16 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Blackhawks

Personally, I think it’s amazing that the Blackhawks are this low in these standings. I went to their game last saturday and they played great. If the Hawks continue to play the way they’re playing, they’ll be at the top of these standings.

by gosox15 on Feb 20, 2009 9:56 AM CST reply actions 0 recs