PWHL New York is an exciting team to watch, but they've struggled at times early on. One component of that is puck possession as New York trails their opponents significantly in controlled zone entries.
PWHL New York is an exciting team to watch, but they've struggled at times early on. One component of that is puck possession as New York trails their opponents significantly in controlled zone entries.
If there's a trend with PWHL New York that could spell trouble as the season progresses, it's possession. While many analytical aspects of the game can't accurately be tracked without the data the PWHL is collecting in house, but not sharing publicly (eg. Time on Ice), there are many things that can be collected and analyzed. Earlier this week, we looked at where every goal scored on the PWHL's six starting goalies originated from, and where those shots beat them.
To continue looking at trends this season, we wanted to look into why PWHL New York is struggling. Puck possession is always a component of analytics, as it lends to believe that increased time with the puck should relate to increased scoring opportunities. Coaches often preach about possession in particular areas of the ice, one being how pucks are held and transported at the offensive and defensive zone bluelines.
For this statistical dive, we looked at PWHL New York's offensive zone entries compared to their opponents. Specifically, we looked at how many of those entries were "controlled" versus their opponents. A controlled entry is when an attacking player successfully carries the puck across the offensive zone blueline, or makes a short pass across the blueline successfully to a teammate who gains control.
This season, New York has only out-performed their opponent once in six games in terms of controlled zone entries, 44-37 in a 2-1 overtime loss to Minnesota. We did not calculate overtime zone entries as teams almost never dump the puck in during 3-on-3 overtime action.
Throughout the season, New York trails their opponents in controlled entries by a total of 228-168.
In other words, their opponents are gaining the offensive zone on average 10 additional times per game, with control, compared to New York. In New York's most recent loss, a 2-0 decision against Toronto, PWHL Toronto dominated controlled zone entries 40-22, which includes a carry from Natalie Spooner for Toronto's first goal of the game.
For New York, Alex Carpenter has led the way this season with 29 controlled zone entries, followed by Abby Roque with 20, Chloe Aurard with 15, Jessie Eldridge with 15, and Elizabeth Giguere with 14. From the blueline, Ella Shelton had seven, while Jaime Bourbonnais had six. Jade Downie-Landry had 10 entries, while Kayla Vespa and Emma Woods each had nine. Roque's totals are slightly misleading as 50% of her season total came in a 3-2 loss to Toronto where she produced a game and season-high 10 controlled entries for New York.
New York has actually proven proficient in defending these rushes after they cross the blueline with only three controlled entries against resulting in goals this season. What's unfortunate for New York however, is how much offense they have generated from their own controlled entries compared to their opponents. Eight of New York's 13 goals this season have occurred directly from controlled entries, with Alex Carpenter accounting for four controlled entries resulting in a goal. Emma Woods, Savannah Norcross, Jade Downie-Landry, and Abby Roque also had controlled entries resulting in goals for New York. Given 61.5% of New York's goals this season have come off a controlled entry, dump and chase is not working for the team.
Another interesting aspect of New York's possession statistics compared to their opponents' when it comes to controlled entries, is that more players from the opposition successfully completed a controlled entry in every New York game. The biggest differential came in New York's recent 2-0 loss to Toronto where 15 Toronto players recorded a controlled entry compared to 10 players from New York's roster. Across the six games, New York averaged 11.33 players achieving a controlled entry compared to 13.66 players per game for their opponents. This suggests that at least off the rush, New York's offense is less varied than other teams at the moment.
Dump and chase hockey is a thing of the past, as possession analytics have proven. For New York to improve upon their first quarter results, it's time for them to hold the puck more often.