Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) celebrates his goal against the Dallas Stars with right teammate Nikita Kucherov (86) in the first period NHL Stanley Cup final action ( Jason Franson / CP)
Capitalizing on an overtime power play, Kevin Shattenkirk gave the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup final on Friday night Nothing’s over until it’s over, and the Dallas Stars have continually impressed when most viewed them as losses this postseason, but the Lightning has a chance at winning their second Stanley Cup. franchise story saturday night
If the Lightning closes the deal in the second half of a consecutive game, who will win the Conn Smythe Trophy? Let’s go through the top three candidates in no particular order
With 32 points, Kucherov leads the playoffs in scoring, and he did so despite scoring on just 82% of his shots on goal, compared to his career average which is closer to 15% Kucherov has he been unlucky despite his playoff lead?
To put it simply, the level at which the Lightning dominates the puck when Kucherov is on the ice is complete
His team’s absurdity being 18% better in interior shots at slots and over 16% better in passes to slots when their skates hit the ice is hard to put into words The Lightning’s leading line has been dirty throughout the playoffs, and it can be difficult to separate Kucherov’s impacts and point to ice differentials, but let’s look at specific areas where Kucherov has been excellent at making his case. in favor of Conn Smythe
In these playoffs, Kucherov registered the 11th most shots inside slot machines on the net of all players, the 47th most by 20 minutes of ice time at 5v5 Ce isn’t too impressive, but Kucherov is a middle distance shooter who thrives on single shots, so that’s not his area of dominance
From the lunge, his 301 machine-shot attempts every 20 minutes ranks seventh among players with at least 150 minutes played, and in total only teammate Ondrej Palat has shot more shots at the net since the slot machine than the 60 of Kucherov, with 61
Arguably Kucherov’s greatest strength is his time, and he leads all forwards in the playoffs with 24 of those 5v5, and is second to only David Pastrnak in a time every 20 minutes
Adding more elements of danger to his shots, Kucherov has the third-highest number of out-of-race scoring chances in the playoffs, the second-most out of the cycle, and is tied for third in failure before Obviously he’s the farthest thing from a single-turn pony, attacking the net in different ways
Kucherov also leads the league in assists this postseason, thanks to his playing versatility Kucherov ranks fourth in the playoffs for slots completed, fifth for scramble passes, second for the east-west and second passes for the passes that create unique passes
The ability to shoot and play with equal efficiency makes Kucherov one of the toughest players in the league to defend, and his driving game during these playoffs has been flawless. Even without his dominance of powerplay, he’s a clear contender to be Lightning’s MVP
Just two points behind Kucherov despite a few missed games and leading the playoffs with a whopping 13, Brayden Point also has several overtime winners on his CV, continuously scoring important goals for his team. Unlike Kucherov, Point was very lucky with 213 percent of his shots beating goalkeepers
Like his teammate in Kucherov, Point’s relative possession metrics are absurdly excellent.His team enjoys incredible success when on the ice, controlling 64% of inside shots and 65% of passes, as well as 60% of shots and attempted shots
However, if you take a closer look, his differentials aren’t as strong as Kucherov’s, so to compensate for Kucherov being the biggest impact player, even in strength overall, Point has to make noise by individual measurements
Having missed a few games, in raw totals Point is a bit behind Kucherov in a few areas, but he is second to Ondrej Palat in shots on goal from the inside lunge in the postseason, fourth in shot attempts of the lunge, and fourth of the lunge net hits For 20 minutes played, Point ranks fifth, 15th and ninth in these bars
Point is not at the same level as Kucherov for single players, placing 68th in the playoffs overall, but no one has managed more chances in the race than Point 20, although class behind Nathan MacKinnon and Brock Nelson in rushing chances every 20 minutes
While on the whole Point logged in on three fewer passes than Kucherov, he actually ranks ahead of him in slot machine passes completed every 20 minutes, and is also ahead of the peak passes
If there’s one argument to be made for Point over Kucherov in these playoffs, it boils down to accuracy versus volume Kucherov has been brilliant, but a lot of the plays he’s made haven’t did not work for him at 5 against 5 For example, Point made 50% of his attempts to pass at Kucherov’s 397 Out of the rush, Point completed 818% of his attempts
passes to Kucherov’s 654 percent On east-west passes, Kucherov only finished 714% of his attempts against Point9’s 90
The same goes with the shoot, where Point put 667% of his attempts to shoot from the slot machine on the net, Kucherov is at 417 percent Over time, the higher volume of these stats are probably worth more, but we’re not talking about a full regular season, just the playoffs At the end of the playoffs, the results are more relevant than the process, especially when the process is relatively similar overall anyway. >
It’s always a little difficult to compare the value of a defender to that of a striker, the roles they play are so different Hedman is the second-most scorched defenseman in the playoffs after Miro Heiskanen, and the Imposing defenseman has some sort of 10 goals under his belt, only three of which were on the power play
While acknowledging that they play very different roles on the Lightning, the gaps for Hedman are not as big as Point and Kucherov’s
Hedman is a bit offended by the excellence of the Lightning couple of Kevin Shattenkirk and Mikhail Sergachev, who have brilliant numbers while playing smoother minutes than him, but don’t get me wrong Hedman remains the best defenseman in Tampa
Playing just over 26 minutes per night, Hedman leads all defenders in offensive contributions 5v5, and is third in attack generating plays every 20 minutes behind Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore
Hedman leads all defensemen in the playoffs in controlled outs and is sixth in controlled outs in every 20 minutes played Hedman has just edged Heiskanen in transition plays, successfully returning the puck to the ice 497 times in those playoffs, leading all defenders Heiskanen managed to stay one step ahead of Hedman in the controlled entrances, by just two
While the goals are excellent, Hedman also leads all defenders in assists completed, with 50% more than the next closest defender to Quinn Hughes Assists, in general, have been a strength for Hedman, as he successfully dealt the puck to his teammates 596 times 5-on-5 in this playoff, more than any other defenseman.
Where Hedman hasn’t been so strong is his play without the puck, where he’s fifth in free puck recoveries on his own team, fourth in puck battle wins and fourth in reject rate controlled entry
Where Hedman was really great was in handling the puck He sometimes struggled to get the puck when his team didn’t have it, but once he got it a, he didn’t make a lot of mistakes Only Jeff Petry and Rasmus Andersson commit defensive zone rotations less often than Hedman, and he also has the eighth lowest turnover rate in the attacking zone.
Hedman is a brilliant player who eats big minutes, but overall I think he is behind Point and Kucherov in the competition for the playoff MVP If I had a vote, barring incredible performances in the remaining three possible matches, Point would be the player I would vote to get the Conn Smythe
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Tampa Bay Lightning, Conn Smythe Trophy, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Dallas Stars, Stanley Cup, Brayden Point, National Hockey League
World News – CA – Analysis of Lightning’s top contenders for Conn Smythe Trophy – SportsnetCalifornia
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
