LightningStrikes
Champa Bay Lightning
- Nov 24, 2009
- 26,176
- 9,993
A lot of things are going well so far this season. We sit atop the Eastern Conference and are tied-1st in points league-wide. We're currently the 2nd best team in the league in total goals scored and GF/GP, 4th in goals against and GA/GP, we have the best PP in the league and rank 8th on the PK.
Stamkos and Kucherov are still leading all players in points, Kucherov is tied 1st in goals scored, Vasi is tied-6th in GAA and leads the league in wins.
We came down to Earth a bit in the last couple of days but 6-4-0 in the last 10 is far from terrible.
That said, there's one thing we truly suck at: Winning faceoffs.
The Lightning are the 4th worst team league-wide at 46.7 FO%.
None of our centers are getting the job done right now. Johnson is the best we have at 49.2, followed by Point at 48.7.
It feels like Point gets tossed every 2nd faceoff though. Which could be one of the reasons why our team FO% has plummeted further (winger has to take the draw and loses).
We currently rank 4th worst in the NHL at faceoffs. Only New Jersey, Columbus and Colorado are worse. It shows that FO% is not everything (except Colorado all four teams at the bottom of the league are currently well on course for the playoffs).
Especially in the playoffs it feels like faceoffs are becoming more and more important. You play the same team several times and the same players meet in the circle. Having to fight for possession after losing more than half the faceoffs on a regular basis is draining and puts you at an disadvantage. It might work for 10-20 games but over the course of 82+ games I don't think it's sustainable and possibly one of the reasons for our recent slumps.
It's been a weakness of this team for years. And while we look greatly improved in most other facets of our game, the lack of faceoff prowess is arguably the biggest hole right now and the one thing we didn't improve at all.
Stamkos and Kucherov are still leading all players in points, Kucherov is tied 1st in goals scored, Vasi is tied-6th in GAA and leads the league in wins.
We came down to Earth a bit in the last couple of days but 6-4-0 in the last 10 is far from terrible.
That said, there's one thing we truly suck at: Winning faceoffs.
The Lightning are the 4th worst team league-wide at 46.7 FO%.
None of our centers are getting the job done right now. Johnson is the best we have at 49.2, followed by Point at 48.7.
It feels like Point gets tossed every 2nd faceoff though. Which could be one of the reasons why our team FO% has plummeted further (winger has to take the draw and loses).
We currently rank 4th worst in the NHL at faceoffs. Only New Jersey, Columbus and Colorado are worse. It shows that FO% is not everything (except Colorado all four teams at the bottom of the league are currently well on course for the playoffs).
Especially in the playoffs it feels like faceoffs are becoming more and more important. You play the same team several times and the same players meet in the circle. Having to fight for possession after losing more than half the faceoffs on a regular basis is draining and puts you at an disadvantage. It might work for 10-20 games but over the course of 82+ games I don't think it's sustainable and possibly one of the reasons for our recent slumps.
It's been a weakness of this team for years. And while we look greatly improved in most other facets of our game, the lack of faceoff prowess is arguably the biggest hole right now and the one thing we didn't improve at all.