Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
3 years later, still talking scoring chances.
WHAT ABOUT GOALS AND POINTS
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If we're going to focus on goals over chances, you have to also give Bennett credit for massively improving the Tkachuk line's shutdown ability. Tkachuk away from Bennett has 3.07 GF/60 and 3.07 GA/60, while with Bennett he's at 2.22 GF/60 and 2.22 GA/60. With Backlund at C they're at 2.59 GF/60 and 1.56 GA/60. For comparison, Tkachuk-Backlund-Neal comes in with a horrific 1.21 GF/60 and 3.62 GA/60, and Tkachuk-Backlund-Czarnik is decent enough at 2.58 GF/60 and 2.58 GA/60.
So although Bennett does suppress Tkachuk's point totals, he's also been a big part of improving that line's defensive ability. If we're going to continue to use Tkachuk in a shutdown role with Backlund, looking strictly at point totals misses an important part of the picture.