New Jersey Devils: New Jersey Resolutions
New Jersey Devils right wing
(23) celebrates his goal on Carolina Hurricanes goalie
(30). Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Score First, and Second
I noticed an interesting stat after the Devils 3-0 win over the Senators Wednesday. The Devils are 11-0-3 when scoring first this season. With the makeup of the 2015-16 roster, and many Devils rosters before that was defense and goaltending first. The “New Heart. Same Soul.” slogan easily describes the the mindset of the current Devils roster vs. rosters of years past.
Just taking Wednesday’s game as an example, the Devils were able to out-shoot the Senators 10-8 in the first period. With Mike Cammalleri giving the Devils a 2-0 lead through the first period, after the break the Devils were able to do what they do best; pack the defensive zone and ride Cory Schneider to a W. After the first period, the Devils were out-shot 28-11, but they were playing THEIR game.
During the 2014-15 season, every NHL team but Arizona had a winning record when scoring first.
A second but lesser known fact, is that regardless of who scores the first goal, the team that scores the second goal of the game has nearly as high a probability of winning the game as the team that scores first. The data may be a few years old, and the mathematical formula way beyond my comprehension, but don’t just take my word for it. People actually mathed…and figured this stuff out here.
Next: Consistency