Segment review: Games 61 to 70
Not all d-man pairings work. Exhibit A right now is Edmonton’s third pairing of Spencer Statsney and Jake Walman.
Both Stastney and Walman have had successful pairings with other players, such as Stastney with Ty Emberson this year , and Walman with John Klingberg in the playoffs last year.
But in 138 even strength minutes this year with Walman and Stastney paired up, the Oilers have scored two goals and given up 10, a 17% Goals For Percentage (GF%).
Compare that to Darnell Nurse and Mattias Ekholm, seven goals four, four against, for a 64 GF%.
Or Ekhholm and Evan Bouchard, 71 goals for, 52 goals against, a 58 GF%.
Or Stastney and Emberson, eight goals for, six goals against, a 57 GF%.
Here is a list of the main Oil pairings of existing d-men on the team, ranked on their expected goals for percentage (a shot quality plus-minus metric).
pairings
In this segment of 10 games, the Oilers were pulled down in part due to iffy goaltending in about half the games, but also from shoddy defending in a number of matches, with Stastney and Walman leading the way.
Overall in this past segment, Games 61 to 70, Edmonton had five wins and five losses, with one loser point. They were out-scored as a team by six goals, 32 for, 38 against. But they had decent Grade A shot metrics, 17.5 for per game compared to 14 against per game. With better goaltending they would have had one more win, but not to be.
team
On an individual level, Matt Savoie and Mattias Ekholm played their best hockey of the year in this 10 game segment, crushing at even strength when it comes to Grade A shots plus-minus.
Struggling in this same category these past 10 games were Adam Henrique, Kasperi Kapanen, Emberson, Stastney and Walman.
Grade A
The same trends were seen when it comes to player grades, with Ekholm, Leon Draisaitl and Connor Ingram leading the way, and Walman, Emberson and Stastney taking up the rear.
Player grades 61 to 70
At the Cult of Hockey
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