Birds, Monarchs, and Fish

I have updated statistics here and thought I'd share some things relevant to the upcoming week's games against the Ducks, Kings, and Sharks. My predictions are that the stats will be pretty grim (I haven't looked yet). Luckily, stats don't predict anything.

Unfortunately, no player statistics.

The Red Wings look to improve upon their 19th ranked points average on the road.

Anaheim Ducks

Obviously the way to win is to score goals. The Red Wings have had some trouble in that regard and are currently ranked 23rd for scoring. Fortunately for the Wings, the Ducks have had some trouble keeping the puck out of their net, putting their team GAA at 24th, just worse than the Red Wings' 23rd ranked goals per game average.

At home, the Ducks are ranked 17th for points average at home. (Fortunately, the Ducks are far enough back that giving them an OT point won't hurt.)

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings' 9th best goals for per game against the Wings' 9th best goals against per game should be interesting. The Red Wings may have trouble finding the back of the net against the 16th best team GAA.

Interestingly enough, the Kings are worse at home than the Ducks, ranked 18th for points average there. One of the few teams ranked higher for points average on the road than at home. Another one is the…

San Jose Sharks

This one promises to be tricky. The Sharks have improved a bit since their last game against the Red Wings; hopefully the Red Wings will be better than they were, with a very stingy defense and largely the same roster: Drew Miller instead of Jason Williams and quite possibly Jimmy Howard instead of Chris Osgood (but Ozzy was definitely good that game).

The Sharks have the 2nd best goals per game average and 8th best team GAA, earning the 2nd ranked goal differential. This team has the fewest regulation losses (the only team still in single digits) in more games played than half the league. They currently have the best record in the last 10 and are sporting a win streak twice as long as the Wings' best this season (eight vs. four). Their last (and only second) regulation loss at home came in the first week of December; the last loss at home came over three weeks ago.

The Sharks' five overtime losses earns 7th best points average at home.