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Nugent-Hopkins Critical In Round 1 Defeat of the Sharks |
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The Oilers found a way to finish off the Sharks last night to win the first playoff series they’ve been a part of in 11 years. It was especially nerve-wracking in the 3rd period as illness kept Klefbom from stepping on the ice. It must have been something particularly nasty because Oscar Klefbom had a fabulous 71.4% CF through two periods. Edmonton could have used him, especially with San Jose kicking their game into overdrive.
After every game I’ve posted the 5v5 shot attempts for the defense. I’ve done it all season long. In one game it’s not predictive at all, it’s just a description of how the night went when the pairs were on the ice. Even after 6 games it’s not enough to take on its own and project forward with (we have a whole season’s data that would suffice), but it does give a better indication how these players fared over the course of the series. Here they are:
Klefbom: 6GP, 94:43, 58.3% CF
Benning: 5GP, 74:25, 55.6% CF
Larsson: 6GP, 112:52, 52.9% CF
Nurse: 6GP, 96:10, 51.4% CF
Sekera: 6GP, 96:42, 48.3% CF
Russell: 6GP, 99:46, 48.3% CF
Gryba: 1GP, 13:07, 42.1% CF
With the exception of Gryba who only appeared in one game, the order pretty much mirrored the way these men finished the regular season, but 6 games is too short a time for numbers to even out. Klefbom is developing into a real stud in front of our eyes. The only difference now is that the whole hockey world is going to be aware of it. And Benning who has been praised in Edmonton is also starting to turn heads nationally.
The series against the Sharks was very much an experiment in matchups. The Sharks and the Oilers have done two things consistently all year.
1) Vlasic has played the toughest minutes available against the best opposition in the NHL.
2) Nugent-Hopkins has played against the best forward line on the opposition.
DeBoer was significantly more extreme in adhering to his matchups all year compared to McLellan, but both maintained those trends in the postseason. In McLellan’s case he did a poor job in game one of executing, but from then on the game was on.
During his post-game presser McLellan made it clear that for the Oilers the focus was never on trying to get McDavid away from Vlasic. As an aside, based on the way 97 abused the Sharks all year it never should have concerned them much. The focus for Edmonton was to get the Nugent-Hopkins line against Pavelski/Thornton.
This matchup was one we identified at this blog before game 3 as key to Edmonton’s success. It turned out the coaching staff felt the same way and used them appropriately. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played more against Pavelski than anyone else on the Sharks (forward or defense). He logged a total 39:39 against Pavelski (more than half his 5v5 minutes) and was a buzz-saw at the knees of the Sharks star.
When Pavelski was on the ice with Nugent-Hopkins he was held to just a 39.8% CF. That’s to say Pavelski’s line produced just 33 shot attempts for and were on for 50 against. The best way to keep a star player from dominating games is to keep them in their own end and that’s exactly what the RNH line did. When Pavelski was on the ice WITHOUT Nuge, Pavelski’s CF% jumped up to 50.5% CF.
I think it goes without saying that Nugent-Hopkins has had a rough season offensively. Even in this series his luck has been poor. He actually lead the Oil in shots on net with 17, but just like the regular season he can’t seem to buy a goal. Happily, he’s a 200 foot player who has more dimension to his game than offense. Even without the goals, he found a way to be critically important to the Oil.
The next round isn’t going to be any easier as his most likely primary opponent will be Getzlaf. Round 2, here we come.
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