Back around January 12 three four things happened to the Thrashers team. They have basically played .500 hockey from that point forward.
- Kovalchuk named Captain
- Jason Williams Traded Away
- Rich Peverley acquired via waivers
- Lehtonen returns and starts almost every game.
I'm still busy with my move, but I did find the time to do some quick and dirty comparison of the BEFORE (first 43 games of the season) and AFTER (most recent 24 games).
| CATEGORY | BEFORE | AFTER |
| Goals For Average | 2.84 | 3.13 |
| Goals Against Average | 3.65 | 2.88 |
| Goal Differential (per game) | -0.81 | +0.25 |
| Shots For | 27.4 | 28.9 |
| Shots Against | 32.6 | 33.3 |
| Shot Differential | -5.26 | -4.42 |
| Power Play % | 21.1 | 16.7 |
| Penalty Kill % | 73.9 | 79.4 |
| Team Save % | 88.8 | 91.4 |
| Team Shot % | 10.4 | 10.8 |
Comments: A huge gain in the goal differential category, but not as much improvement in the shot differential. The has made some modest improvement in the shot differential, but it is better execution that has fueled this streak. They are converting their opportunities at a slight higher clip and doing much better at stopping shots (credit Lehtonen here).
Next post I'll compare individual players before and after numbers.
Loading comments...