Stansson and the Power Play: By the Numbers

[ahockeyguy 110]

            Wolf Stansson loves to be on the power play unit of the Miami Marauders. You can see it on his face. But more than that, you can deduce it from analyzing the numbers.  In 54 games, the defenseman has scored 26 goals and has 33 assists for a total of 59 points. While he has served 56 minutes in the box himself, he’s done his fair share of playing on the man-advantage.

 

            While playing 251 minutes on the power play, he has scored 12 goals on 96 shots, while dishing for 14 assists. It is fascinating to compare this to his overall season numbers. Stansson has 26 goals on 168 shots in 1626 minutes, while recording 33 assists. This is an expected goal every 62 ½ minutes, roughly, or a shooting percentage of 15.48%.

 

            To compare, on the power play, Stansson has an expected goal every 20.92 minutes, roughly, or a shooting percentage of 12.5%. What this suggests is that Stansson puts a lot of pucks on net on the power play. These shots are naturally going to be saved, perhaps even at a higher clip, since opposing netminders know more shots are coming when their team is a man down. However, one should also note the ferocious clip at which Stansson is producing shots, and thus goals. The best strategy, therefore, is taking away the shooting lane, forcing Stansson to pass down low or across to Kramerev (which is a different nightmare unto itself) to reduce the number of shots he takes. Perhaps when playing against Miami and putting them on the power play, the old expression “pick your poison” comes into play.