Five games ago, I posted a profile of some Avalanche team statistics and how they compared to the rest of the NHL. Five games ago, their record was 7-8-0. It's now 9-11-0. Now that they're worse in the standings, are they worse across other statistical categories?
You get one guess.
Let's run through the various categories, the stats in bold, their league ranking in parentheses and the change in ranking over the last five games in italics.
Point Percentage: .450 (27th) -5
Goals Per Game: 2.30 (28th) -6
This is down from 2.60 goals per game just five games ago. And that's including the three goal onslaught against the Kings.
Goals Against Per Game: 3.00 (20th) -1
This is actually an improvement. The Avs had allowed an average of 3.07 goals against per game, and have dropped that number just a bit. Unfortunately, so have other teams in the league, so the Avs have dropped a bit in the rankings, too.
Five-on-Five Goals For/Against Ratio: 0.71 (29th) -1
When you were previously ranked 28th in the league, it's tough to lose ground, but somehow the Avs have managed to do just that.
Power Play Percentage: 15.8 (21st) +2
Seriously, the Avs have improved the power play just a tiny bit over the past five games, but it was enough to jump two spots in the league rankings. It's really amazing how big the gap is between the best and the worst power plays in the NHL. The Red Wings score 33% of the time with the man advantage. Seriously. The Columbus Blue Jackets score only 11.7% of the time. Also seriously.
Penalty Kill Percentage: 80.5 (20th) +1
Another tiny improvement for the Avs, but not much of a move rankings-wise. Minnesota continues to have the best kill in the league, closely followed by the Rangers and, believe it or not, the Blues.
Shots Per Game: 28.2 (21st) -3
Shots Against Per Game: 28.6 (8th) -5
Fewer shots for, more shots against. Not tough to figure out. The Avs are still pretty good at limiting opponents' shots on goal, but it's still not translating into regulation wins.
Winning Percentage When Scoring First: .667(14th) -9
Winning Percentage When Trailing First: .357 (15th) no change
Winning Percentage When Leading After The First Period: .600 (22nd) -5
Winning Percentage When Leading After The Second Period: 1.000 (T1st) no change
The Avs are still winning games in which they have late leads, but this stat doesn't reveal the fact that the Avs aren't winning in regulation, which still cedes points to opposing teams even if Colorado manages to get the victory.
Winning Percentage When Outshooting Opponents: .250 (29th) no change
No change in the rankings, but down .036 from five games ago. Not good.
Winning Percentage When Being Outshot By Opponents: .583 (7th) no change
Face Off Win Percentage: 49.4 (21st) -14
I figured the Avs' previous face off win percentage of 52.3 was an anomaly, and I was right. They're now falling back to Quenneville-era numbers, losing more than winning. The fact that they were seventh in the league just five games ago is still tough to believe.
So, with the exception of tiny improvements in the special teams, the Colorado Avalanche have either dropped in ranking or are treading water across multiple statistical categories compared to the league as a whole. The team needed a serious change of strategy five games ago. That didn't happen, obviously.