Throwing this up real quick, before I start delving into other projects in the offseason. This isn’t as fancy or detailed as the other ones I did, mostly because of the volume of goals (check out that awesome orange blob of about six goals at the top stick-side corner of Niemi’s crease!), and because ESPN did some awesome work for me.
From that ESPN article:
Here's a look at how the Hawks scored in the 2010 Stanley Cup finals against the Philadelphia Flyers. Total PctStick Side 14 50.0<>50.0 pct for entire Stanley Cup Playoffs (39 of 78 goals)
Maybe the only thing we can take from the distribution of the goals is how unpredictable the series was — at least from an offensive POV. Defensively, it was nice that we didn’t give up any goals from the top of the circles (although a couple of point shots did get tipped in, most significantly Giroux’s OT winner in Game 3), but Niemi was guilty of poor rebound control at times, same as in the Vancouver series. The cluster of Philly goals scored from Niemi’s right side could speak to some systematic defensive breakdowns throughout the series, as well. How often did we see a Flyer getting open on that side of the ice? (Cough, Giroux’s goal in Game 4.)
But what the flipping heck can we make of the goals-for distribution!? It looks like a game of Minesweeper out there. And what about any possible correlation between where the puck is shot from and where it goes in on a netminder? Looking at the scattershot nature of the Hawks’ goalscoring in this series (15 different players scored, including 4 of 6 defensemen), it seems almost a matter of chance rather than conscious design.