By The Numbers
Jake Evans’ injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Canadiens.
Not only was he in the midst of his most productive stretch of the season, but he also produced some of the best underlying numbers on the team since the new year.
Evans led all Canadiens players in shot control (53.1 CF%), high-danger shot control (67.9 HDCF%) and expected goals (58 xGF%), an encouraging sign seeing as he had struggled in the first half of the season.
Joining Evans as one of the team’s best players according to a few critical statistical categories is none other than Evgenii Dadonov.
Beyond the eye test, which revealed a player who was playing with a newfound sense of urgency, Dadonov was the only other player except for Evans that was on the ice for more than 50% of his team’s shots.
Unfortunately for Dadonov, the uptick in underlying numbers did not lead to an increase in production but don’t be surprised if the veteran winger hits the scoresheet with a little more regularity shortly.
On the flip side of the data analysis coin, Mike Hoffman’s underlying numbers cratered in January. He was one of the few players that had produced reasonably healthy numbers in the first half of the season but quickly plunged to the bottom of the list since Jan.1.
By The Other Numbers
Josh Anderson has a tendency to run hot and cold, but with seven points at 5v5 in January, he was the team’s best player from an offensive standpoint.
And on a very encouraging note, Anderson’s underlying numbers have gone through a significant resurgence since Kirby Dach, Martin St-Louis’ problem solver, was returned to the second line.
MUST READ: Josh Anderson’s resurgence is perfect timing for the Canadiens
Following Anderson is Rafael Harvey-Pinard, who has five points at 5v5 in just seven games, resulting in an impressive 3.5 points per 60 minutes of ice time. It’s worth pointing out that Jonathan Drouin also earned 3.5 points per 60 at 5v5 before his injury.
As for Canadiens players who struggled to produce, there are several strong candidates, starting with Christian Dvorak, who failed to register a goal in 14 games. A quick look at his shot rate reveals the cause. Dvorak took as many shots in 14 games as Harvey-Pinard did in half as many games.
If we continue to focus on 5v5 production, we can add Hoffman’s name to the list of underwhelming forwards.
He only managed to score a single goal in 10 games, mostly due to the fact that he struggled to find open ice, generating just three individual high-danger scoring chances all month.
All Statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via NaturalStatTrick
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