In today’s Number’s Game, I analyze the statistics for each team in games they win compared to when they lose. Specifically, I looked at goals for, goals against, shots on goal and shooting %.
Click on image to enlarge:
Last year, teams scored, on average, 1.9 more goals in games they won compared to goals scored in losses (3.83 goals in wins vs. 1.93 goals in losses). The Hurricanes, for instance, scored 2.51 more goals in wins, while the Blackhawks only scored 0.23 more goals. Interestingly, over 2/3 of the goals scored in the NHL last year was scored by the winning team. Teams also allowed, on average, 1.94 more goals against in games they lost.
The analysis also confirmed previous findings that shots on goal have no bearing on the success of a team. Teams had only 0.16 more shots in games they won compared to when they lost (29.69 vs. 29.53 shots). This was a 0.1% difference in shots compared to shots fired in losses.
The analysis also confirms that a higher shooting percentage generally leads to more wins. Teams, on average, had a shooting percentage that was 6.3% higher in wins compared to losses (12.91% vs. 6.56%).
For Illegal Curve, I am Adam Gutkin.
