5v5 Scoring in the playoffs
Obviously a big theme in us losing to Colorado was the lack of scoring 5v5. There's been a lot said about whether or not guys like Gaudreau or Monahan can produce in the playoffs and other things of that nature. So I thought I'd do a little digging to see how far away we really are.
For some context, here's what cup winners have been able to put up over the last few years as far as points / 60 minutes at 5v5:
2018:
Kuznetsov: 2.84
Ovechkin: 2.43
Wilson: 2.42
Niskanen: 1.08
Orlov: 0.97
2017:
Crosby: 2.78
Guenzel: 2.45
Malkin: 2.09
Cole: 1.36
Maatta: 0.99
2016:
Hagelin: 2.81
Bonino: 2.52
Rust: 2.12
Maatta: 1.23
Letang: 0.94
2015:
Kane: 2.36
Terevainen: 2.12
Sharp: 1.99
Keith: 1.6
Seabrook: 1.08
The theme seems pretty clear: you need some forwards over 2 points / 60, and some D around or slightly over 1 point / 60. So using that as a reference, what has our core produced in the playoffs?
2015:
Bennett: 1.78
Gaudreau: 1.11
Brodie: 1.01
Monahan: 0.78
Backlund: 0.38
2017:
Bennett: 1.23
Backlund: 1.08
Brodie: 0.91
Giordano: 0
Gaudreau: 0
Monahan: 0
Tkachuk: 0
2019:
Bennett: 2.27
Tkachuk: 0.86
Monahan: 0.85
Gaudreau: 0.79
Brodie: 0.71
Giordano: 0
Backlund: 0
Lindholm: 0
It's a pretty sad picture. Using the above benchmarks (and only looking at players on our current roster), only Bennett and Brodie have ever produced at a good enough level within a single playoffs. Obviously, this is a really small sample - a bit of bad luck can tank your numbers in a single series. But I want to make it abundantly clear: 5v5, our top players have never produced enough in the playoffs. Sure, Monahan pounded home 4 goals in 4 games 2 years - but they were all on the powerplay. Gaudreau had 9 points in 11 games four years ago - but 5 of them were on the powerplay. Giordano has never scored a 5v5 point in the playoffs. The powerplay is valuable, there's no question. But this is a real and serious problem with our roster that has to be addressed.
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