An amazing statistic reveals why the Canadiens are surprising everyone this season
It's clear that the Habs' start to the season is not at all what we expected. After a mediocre pre-season schedule where the club didn't get a single win in eight games, it seemed pretty clear that the new campaign was going to be another tough one for the Canadiens.
Well no, the Montreal club is performing beyond our expectations and they currently have a record above .500 and the young players of the team are playing very good hockey, despite five rookies in the lineup.
A statistic revealed by MoneyPuck, which specializes in advanced statistics, expresses very clearly why the Habs are having more success than expected this early in the season.
According to the table, the Habs are fourth in the NHL with an expected goal differential of 6.33.
Basically, to better understand this differential, the Habs have scored 2.9 more goals than expected by the advanced statistics. This means that Martin St-Louis' team is very opportunistic and they are scoring goals even on low quality chances.
On the other hand, the tandem of Jake Allen and Samuel Montembeault saved 3.43 goals anticipated by the advanced stats. This means that the club's goaltenders have literally stolen assured goals with their performance in front of the net.
This ranking illustrates the situation of the Habs extremely well. In short, we score more goals than expected and we stop more goals than expected.
It's a recipe that is sure to work, if the club is able to maintain such a pace throughout the season.
| POLL | ||
Are you surprised by the Habs' start to the season? | ||
| Yes | 57 | 54.8 % |
| No | 47 | 45.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
