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Sharks dominated special teams differential in 2013-14

Brent Burns, Dan Boyle, Joe Pavelski, Thornton, Patrick Marleau

San Jose Sharks’ Brent Burns (88) Dan Boyle (22), Joe Pavelski (8), Joe Thornton (19) and Patrick Marleau (12) celebrate a goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Edmonton, Alberta. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jason Franson)

AP

The San Jose Sharks don’t own a Stanley Cup, but it appears that they’re the best team in the NHL at drawing more penalties than they take. Honestly, the numbers are pretty stunning.

San Jose drew 291 power-plays opportunities and were only shorthanded 219 times during the 2013-14 season, making for a differential of 72 power plays. That’s almost an extra power play per game.

To give you an idea of how much better they’ve been than any other NHL team in that area, consider this: they match the second-best (Carolina Hurricanes, +40 chances) and third-best (New York Rangers +32 chances) combined.

Here’s the full chart of how the 30 NHL teams fared whistle-wise in 2013-14 (TS stands for times shorthanded, hopefully other abbreviations are self-explanatory):

TeamTotal diff 2013-14Home PP OppRoad PP Opp13-14 PP OppHome diffRoad diff13-14 home TS13-14 Road TS13-14 total TS
SJS72162129291403212297219
CAR4015412728141-1113128241
NYR32132132264275105127232
DAL2715813229033-6125138263
PIT2413614227825-1111143254
CGY14121128249140107128235
NYI1114513127627-16118147265
PHX1014513728221-11124148272
CHI914311425732-23111137248
FLA7127142269-29129133262
WSH714814329152143141284
ANA515212327517-12135135270
COL313112125213-10118131249
MIN212912325216-14113137250
NSH11211182396-5115123238
CBJ0142138280-11143137280
TBL01401302706-6134136270
EDM-914812327113-22135145280
MTL-101401392791-11139150289
STL-1015712628312-22145148293
LAK-1215413028414-26140156296
DET-131491332825-18144151295
TOR-161191332526-22113155268
VAN-171311262578-25123151274
BUF-18129127256-3-15132142274
PHI-221591352946-28153163316
NJD-23123118241-11-12134130264
WPG-321511082591-33150141291
BOS-33112118230-26-7138125263
OTT-49135136271-15-34150170320

A few interesting takeaways from that:


  • The crowd in Carolina clearly steers things in the Hurricanes’ direction. They had the highest home differential at +41, one more than San Jose. The ‘Canes were -1 on the road, so it’s not like it was just a matter of an aggressive style.
  • The Boston Bruins easily had the worst home differential at -26. Odd, huh?
  • Could fewer penalties in the postseason be a big reason why San Jose seems to struggle in the playoffs? It’s at least a theory.

In case you’re wondering if this is just a one-time thing, the Sharks really tower over the pack when you count the last three seasons:

Teamdiff last 3 seasonsTotal diff 2013-14diff 12-13diff 11-12
SJS139722245
CAR8640442
CHI629944
NYR5732520
CBJ5401143
PIT4624319
FLA457-947
DET32-132124
NYI3211147
TOR18-16925
PHX121002
CGY10144-8
NSH8116
MTL6-1030-14
TBL-708-15
NJD-8-2378
MIN-9216-27
LAK-11-125-4
WSH-1371-21
PHI-19-22-1316
VAN-19-17-42
STL-23-10-1-12
BUF-32-18-151
ANA-345-27-12
DAL-4027-8-59
EDM-49-9-6-34
WPG-66-327-41
BOS-84-33-41-10
COL-943-43-54
OTT-99-49-10-40

Let’s consider a few other points:


  • Just in case you missed it, the Sharks finished at +139 while no other team cracked +90.
  • Again, Carolina seems to get a nice amount of PP chances. If Bill Peters can make a difference in that unit, he could see some huge gains even if the rest of the team stays in neutral.
  • One would be wise to consider the 2011-12 season the least since a 48-game slate can be misleading. Quite a few of the “middle” campaigns above indeed seem to make for breaks in patterns.

It should be interesting to see if teams can break these cycles or keep up these positive advantages going in 2014-15. The Sharks certainly hope so and the Ottawa Senators would absolutely prefer not.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins