15-16 Regular Season Recap
The defending champion
Blackhawks slide into the playoffs as a wild card but should give some serious trouble to the overachieving
Ducks who feasted on a weak Pacific division. The
Oilers squeaked into the third spot in the Pacific with just 84 points but will be hard pressed to overcome the red hot
Sharks who have come on after a slow start and look like the team they were predicted to be in the preseason after some savvy offseason moves positioned them for success. The
Preds won the West and will take on
Dallas in the first round, while the
Blues will play the
Avalanche in the most closely matched series in the conference, with only three regular season points separating them.
The President's Trophy winning Bruins are the toast of the town, boasting the league's top two scorers in
Marchand and
Pastrnak as well as the NHL's top scoring defenseman in
Torey Krug. They will face a
Lightning team that is primed and ready to establish themselves as a perennial contender with an elite young roster just entering its prime and led by young netminder
Andrei Vasilevskiy. The
Canadiens finished just one point back of their rivals in Boston but have been treated as something of an afterthought all year. With
Carey Price on his game they could go far this year but their first test will be against the battle hardened
Red Wings. The
Islanders just barely topped the weaker Metropolitan division and for their prize they draw the
Ottawa Senators who finished the year with just one less point than them. Meanwhile the
Flyers and
Capitals should be a battle as well, with
Philadelphia looking to ride playoff experienced netminder
Antti Niemi while
Washington has done everything they can to load up and make a serious run for
Ovi and
Backstrom. The Pittsburgh Penguins are a surprise to be on the outside looking in come playoff time, only a year removed from making it to game seven in the Finals. They look well set for next year though, with great rookie seasons from both
Jake Guentzel and
Ryan Hartman.
Team Stat Leaders:
GF/gm - Anaheim (3.23), Boston (3.12), Tampa Bay (3.04), Montreal, Nashville (2.94)
GA/gm - Montreal (2.06), NY Islanders (2.13), Boston (2.17), Detroit (2.18), Nashville (2.23)
PP - Boston (25.0%), Nashville (23.8%), Chicago (22.3%), Dallas (21.2%), Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Buffalo (20.1%)
PK - Montreal (89.9%), Nashville (87.4%), Detroit (87.2%), Tampa Bay (86.2%), Carolina (85.3%)
Goalie Leaders (min 25gp):
GAA - Price (MTL) 1.86, Halak (NYI) 1.98, Howard (DET) 2.10, Scrivens (EDM) 2.13, Rinne (NSH) 2.14
Sv Pct - Bobrovsky (CBJ), Price (MTL) .930, Allen (ARI), Markstrom (VAN) .929, Halak (NYI), Scrivens (EDM) .928
GSAA - Allen (ARI) 33.03, Bobrovsky (CBJ) 29.94, Price (MTL) 23.24, Halak (NYI) 22.27, Markstrom (VAN) 21.36
SO - Halak (NYI) 13, Price (MTL) 12, Schneider (NJD) 11, Bobrovsky (CBJ), Varlamov (COL) 10
Rookie Leaders:
Points - McDavid (BUF) 19-36-55, Duclair (NYR) 20-20-40, Schmaltz (CHI) 16-23-39, Theodore (ANA) 10-24-34, Pouliot (WPG) 12-20-32
Other Stat Leaders:
Takeaways - Weber (NSH) 72, Stone (OTT) 66, Brodie (CGY), Scheifele (WPG), Slavin (ANA) 63
Hits - L. Schenn (CGY) 446, Manning (PHI) 415, Melindy (ARI) 399, Bjugstad (FLA) 386, Tinordi (MTL) 382
Blocked Shots - Tanev (VAN) 271, Brodie (CGY) 267, Martinez (LAK) 257, Alzner (WSH), C. Murphy (ARI) 243
PIM - L. Schenn (CGY) 293, Tinordi (MTL) 250, Manning (PHI) 221, Melindy (ARI) 174, Borowiecki (SJS) 154
FO% - Engqvist (NJD) 58.7, Toews (CHI) 58.1, Vermette (PHI) 57.4, Glendening (DET) 57.3, Tavares (NYI) 57.2
+/- - Marchand (BOS), Pastrnak (BOS) +50, Bergeron (BOS) +49, Backstrom (WSH) +40, Lindholm (ANA), Weber (NSH) +35