Statistical Review: Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 0

Last night, the Detroit Red Wings buried the Columbus Blue Jackets by a 4-0 final to improve their record to 2-1-0.  After a back-and-forth start, Detroit seized control of the game and utterly dominated its final 40 minutes.  Here's a look at some of the underlying numbers that defined the game.

The Big Picture

-Whether by boxcar stats or the advanced numbers, Monday night was an overwhelming Red Wing victory.  4-0 on the scoreboard, 28-23 on the shot chart, 67% at the face-off dot.

-By expected goals, Detroit took a 3.76-1.85 decision, according to MoneyPuck.com.  As you can see in the chart below, it was during the second period that the Red Wings seized unrelenting control of the game. 

Detroit scored thrice, while yielding hardly anything to Columbus in the other direction.  No lead is truly safe in the modern NHL, but with the overwhelming effort in the second, the Red Wings made the final period all but academic.

The game's 5-on-5 heat map (shown below, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick) reflects a high volume of premium Red Wing chances, while Columbus managed decent shot quality but struggled to generate any volume of note.

-Per Natural Stat Trick, Detroit was fortunate to escape the first with a lead, having posted a woeful 25.56% shot share at even strength in the period.  However, thanks to the individual efforts of Shayne Gostisbehere and Joe Veleno to create a goal, along with a sterling James Reimer presence in net, the Red Wings led 1-0 after 20 minutes.

In the second, Natural Stat Trick had that xG share jumping all the way to a dominant 78.31%, before climbing again to a ridiculous 83.71% in the game's final period.

-A key part of that second period success was the Red Wing power play nabbing the game's third and fourth goals in quick succession, elevating the Detroit lead to a seemingly insurmountable four-goal margin.

As the below power play heat map from Natural Stat Trick shows, it was a productive evening on the man advantage for the Red Wings.  They drove offense to the highest danger area of the rink in the inner slot, and once they got there, they converted.

The Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp PPGs didn't look the same—the former coming on a partial breakaway, the latter a rebound chance off an in-zone sequence—but they both came from point blank range, hardly beyond the crease.  

When you generate chances from great areas, they tend to go in, and Monday night proved no exception as the Detroit power play (currently operating at a 40% clip, trailing only the Vancouver Canucks, who have played one fewer game, league-wide) stayed hot.

Individual Impacts

-The below individual xG contribution chart shows that University of Michigan teammates Copp and Larkin led the way offensively for Detroit.  Copp's number is boosted in part by his third period penalty shot, but it was an excellent evening for him in terms of chance creation, and Larkin was close on his tail.  Meanwhile, no individual Blue Jacket mustered anything of serious consequence.

-Monday's game was the first time on the young season that the Red Wings' top pair of Jake Walman and Moritz Seider did not lead the way among Detroit D pairs in 5-on-5 ice time.  That distinction went to Ben Chiarot and Justin Holl (13:57), with Gostisbehere and Olli Maatta (12:15) also ahead of Walman-Seider (11:47).  However, because of his special teams responsibility, Seider's overall workload (22:25) did lead Red Wing skaters.

-With Copp and J.T. Compher joining forces on the Red Wings' second line, Joe Veleno slid into the 3C vacancy, and he delivered on the added responsibility.  With Daniel Sprong and David Perron on his wings, the Veleno line led the way for Detroit in 5-on-5 ice time at 9:36, created the game's opening goal, didn't concede all evening, and played to a robust 64.5% xG share.

Veleno has been brimming with confidence as a puck carrier and creator throughout the early stages of the season, earning plaudits from his coach for his performances.  Sprong provided the line with his fearsome shot but also assisted with playmaking duties and on entries.  Perron brought his familiar relentlessness along the boards.  When you put it all together, it looked like a trio that could have staying power for the Red Wings.

The second line (Copp, Compher, and Rasmussen) was not quite so productive at even strength (though it did contribute a goal), so it will be interesting to see whether Derek Lalonde elects to keep Copp and Compher together.  On merit, you'd be hard pressed to say that Veleno, Sprong, and Perron didn't earn the right to stick together a bit longer.

-With Austin Czarnik making his season debut, Detroit's fourth line took on a new character as well.  Klim Kostin and Christian Fischer remained on the wings, but it was Czarnik rather than Veleno through the middle.

Though they played just 6:40 together at five-on-five, the trio delivered an exemplary 71.26% xG share.  While they didn't score, it's hard to ask for more from a fourth line.  Their role is to—in limited minutes—force play to the opposition third and make life as difficult for the opponent as possible.  Kostin, Fischer, and Czarnik did just that throughout the night in Columbus.

There was a minor blemish when Czarnik was assessed a holding penalty against Emil Bemstrom (a major no-no for a fourth liner), but it was a harsh call (though that was the standard all night).

Still, when you combine their ability to drive play to the offensive zone with Kostin's rousing third period fight with Erik Gudbranson, it was awfully close to the platonic ideal of a fourth line performance—the only thing missing a greasy goal.

-Finally, in net, James Reimer exceeded expectations in his Detroit debut.  Columbus' 1.851 xG for the game (all of it turned aside by Reimer) undersells just how important the back-up backstop was in keeping the game under control in the first period.

Before Gostisbehere opened the scoring, the Blue Jackets found plenty of joy in transition and managed to create more than their fair share of chaos around Reimer's crease.  Through it all, Reimer had every answer, eventually becoming Red Wing goaltender to record a shutout in his team debut.

There's no talk of a goaltending controversy just yet, but if Reimer's strong form continues, there might be before too long.