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Take a good long look at the NHL standings.
God is in the math. The math doesn’t lie.
The winning teams boast of great goaltending, excess goal scoring and keeping the puck out of their own net.
The winning teams are the ones that have balanced offense.
What is this “balance” of which I speak?
Activate. Throw darts at forwards while they are at top speed. Pinch. Jump down the walls. Join the rush. Shoot. Gobble up rebounds. Score.
The defense is held accountable to manufacturer and produce goal scoring to augment their forward brethren.
Show me a team with a mobile, active, physical, active, proficient, scoring D battalion, and I will show you a great team.
The 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins got 32 regular season goals from their defensemen. They got another 10 goals from their backend on the road to winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.
The Nashville Predators stunned the NHL when the made the Stanley Cup Finals as a 16th seed. How did they do it? Phil Housley’s defensemen scored an NHL-high 45 goals during the regular season. Housley’s added another 14 goals (6 by Roman Josi, 5 from Ryan Ellis) in 22 playoff games.
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In Housley’s world, the defensemen are not solely tasked with being shot-blocking, crease-clearing statues who play on 50% of the ice surface.
In Nashville, Housley opened the barn door and urged his ponies to roam about the 200 by 85 pastures. Boy, did they ever! Houlsey’s D supported Peter Laviolette’s forwards with speed and skill. Three forwards and two D, flowing north, taking chances, shooting from all angles on the ice. Housley implores his D to stretch it out, flush the walls, win pucks, release from the wall and corners to provide numbers in the attack and imbalance in the offensive zone.
The NHL always has been and always will be a copycat league. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Just mimic the teams that played in the most Stanley Cup Finals. The risk is that you better have the thoroughbreds and the plow horses to emulate the best of the best otherwise, it’s an act of futility.
Scanning the NHL standings on Sunday, one notices a trend developing. The teams at the top of the league standings are the ones that took their summer seriously by assembling the needed speed, skill, and play making abilities to run the high-risk, high reward flow five-man flow show.
Goodbye to the old slow, plodding paradigm. Hello high octane attack.
Tampa (32 points), St. Louis (31), Toronto (28), Winnipeg (27), Los Angeles (26), New Jersey (25), Columbus (25), Pittsburgh (25), NY Islanders (23), Nashville (24), and Las Vegas (23) are embracing the high pace, five-man-in-the-attack strategy. And at the U.S. Thanksgiving mile marker, they are all winning and turning heads.
In their first 20 games, the Bolts have gotten 14 goals and 25 assists from their defense corps. Rookie Mikhail Sergachev has already scored 5 goals and 9 assists.
In their first 21 games played, the Blues have already gotten 21 goals and 27 assists from their D corps. Norris-candidate Alex Pietrangelo already has scored 7 goals and 12 assists.
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In 21 games played, the Leafs have gotten 10 goals and 43 assists from their D corps.
In 19 games played, the Jets have gotten 4 goals and 31 assists from their rear guards. Tyler Myers has 2 goals and 5 assists while Dustin Byfuglien has 10 assists.
The Kings defense have scored 11 goals and 30 assists. Drew Doughty has 4 goals and 9 helpers.
In their first 19 games, Devils have gotten 6 goals and 33 assists from their D corps. Rookie Will Butcher already has a goal and 15 assists.
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In their first 22 games, the Penguins have gotten 9 goals and 30 assists from their D corps. Kris Letang has a goal and 14 helpers.
In 19 games, the Islanders defense has produced 9 goals and 36 assists. Nick Leddy has 4 goals and 10 assists.
The Predators are not missing Phil Houlsey because in 19 games, they have already gotten 17 goals and 34 assists from their D corps. Roman Josi has 5 goals and 7 assists.
In 18 games played, the upstart Golden Knights have gotten 4 goals and 42assists from their D corps. Good on Colin Miller for leading the D with 2 goals and 8 assists.
In 2017-18, the head coaches of the winningest NHL teams demand and receive frequent scoring from their forwards and D. The teams that get nightly contributions from their forwards and their blue liners are the ones at the top of the food chain today. It’s not a luxury item or a novelty. It’s an expectation on 82 nights of the regular season for the defense to protect the house AND get oneself on the score sheet.
A few years back, the paradigm shifted. Today, teams that rely on one or two uber-forward lines to pull their wagons have been left in the dust.
Five of the six teams locked in the NHL dungeon have gotten impressive production from their defensemen. Six and a half weeks into the 2017-18 regular season, only the Buffalo Sabres have a bagel (no cream cheese) in the “Goals-For By Defensemen” column on the stats sheet.
In 22 games played in Arizona (11 points), the Desert Dogs are also an exception. Their D have already scored 7 goals and 36 assists in 20 games played. Rick Tocchet’s issue is that his forwards cannot find the back of the net any consistency and his goaltending in AHL-quality.
In 20 games played, the Buffalo Sabres (14 points) defense corps have yet to score a goal. As a result of serious injuries to key defenders, ten different defensemen have dressed and played for the Sabres this season. The next man up has been the invisible man. Phil Housley cannot be thrilled with the fact that his D corps have combined for only 18 assists. Zero goals from rookie coach Chris Hajt's D. Goose egg. Last season, Dan Bylsma’s defensemen scored 17 goals (6 goals by Rasmus Ristolainen).
In 20 games played in Edmonton (16 points), the Oilers D is the exception to their rule. Their D have already scored 7 goals and 19 assists. Goaltending and secondary scoring has been the fatal flaws with the Oilers.
The Florida Panthers (16 points) D corps have scored 11 goals and 18 assists in 19 games played. Their forwards continue to struggle to find the back of the next with regularity. Heir goaltending has been sketchy.
The Montreal Canadiens (18 points) have gotten 9 goals and 25 assists from their D in 21 games played. Injuries to Carey Price and Charlie Lindgren have undermined efforts in Montreal.
The Anaheim Ducks (19 points) D have scored 11 goals and 22 assists in 18 games played. Cam Fowler has missed 11 games and counting due to injury.
The teams that are embracing the balanced goal scoring motif are enjoying their sustained success at the top of the NHL food chain.
Those teams that have failed to get their D involved in the offense are d-pressed at their lot in life.
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Since joining the Buffalo Sabres, Evander Kane now has scored 59 goals. What's remarkable is that 49 of Kane's goals in a Sabres sweater have come at even strength.
Kane's goal against Carolina now gives him six points (4G, 2A) in his last six games.
Kane’s 11th goal of the season tied him for sixth-most in the NHL.
Over the last 2 seasons, Kane is tied for 9th in the NHL with 32 even strength goals
Evander Kane has scored 11 goals in his first 20 games played this season. It's Kane’s quickest start of his career, topping his mark of 10 goals in his first 22 games in 2011-12.
Since scoring his first goal of the 2016-17 season on December 3, 2016, Kane has scored 39 goals in his last 77 games.
Far and away, Kane is Buffalo's most prolific scorer since returning on November 9, 2016 from having four broken ribs. In his past 90 games played (70 last season, 20 this season), Kane leads the Sabres with 39 goals (32 5v5), 3 SHG, 5 GWG, 353 shots on goal, 133 PIMs.
Kane is a pending unrestricted free agent.
Will Jason Botterill trade Kane now for a first pair D-man and a top D prospect?
Or, will the Sabres GM open up contract discussions with Kane's agent at Newport Sports?
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