Wednesday night the Devils played game #38, the official halfway point of the 2012-13 season. Before we begin the second half of the season on Friday, how about assessing the team’s progress so far?
Record: 15-14-1-8, 39 points. 4th place in Northeast Division, tied for 12th in the Eastern Conference (with St. John’s), tied for 25th in the AHL (with St. John’s)
Home: 7-8-0-5
Away: 8-6-1-3
Team Leaders:
Goals: Bobby Butler, 15
Assists: Adam Larsson, 15; current roster leader: Steve Zalewski/Matt Anderson, 13
Points: Bobby Butler, 24
+/-: Joe Whitney, +11
Penalty Minutes: Tim Sestito, 55
Power Play Goals: Bobby Butler, 5
Power Play Assists: Matt Anderson, 7
Shorthanded Goals: Jacob Josefson, 2; current roster leader: 3 tied with 1
Shorthanded Assists: Jacob Josefson/Tim Sestito, 1
Game Winning Goals: Mattias Tedenby/Bobby Butler, 3
Shots on Goal: Bobby Butler, 99
Wins: Keith Kinkaid, 12
GAA: Keith Kinkaid, 2.43
Shutouts: Keith Kinkaid, 2
Save Percentage: Keith Kinkaid, .915
Team Stats (with league rankings):
Home Attendance: 3,752 (27th)
Penalty Minutes Average: 15.16 (21st)
Power Play: 12.2% (27th)
Penalty Kill: 84.5% (9th)
Goals For: 99, 2.61 (18th)
Goals Against: 105, 2.76 (12th)
Shots For: 31.13 (9th)
Shots Against: 28.66 (8th)
When I set up the list, I used the same format as last year…and ended up doing some comparisons. The biggest difference was definitely more on the defensive side of things. For example, last year at this time the penalty kill was near the bottom of the league (at the time 77.5%). This season it ranks in the top 10 (at one point, they were standing at #3 in the league). Goaltending has improved as well, as Kinkaid and Jeff Frazee have combined to lower the team GAA from 3.05 (also near the bottom of the league) to 2.76. Technically, if you were to take out the shootout loss goals, the real GAA is 2.55, which would have put the team in the league top 10. Slight improvement in goals for per game and shots per game, and a small decrease in penalty minutes (down a full minor penalty) average as well. And thanks to a front office initiative to sell more season tickets and the lockout, attendance has improved by almost 800 a game (yes the Atlantic City crowds count in that too).
Second half kicks off tomorrow up in the North Country, followed by what is shaping up to be a big day Saturday afternoon. Let’s hope the defense and goaltending keeps up what they’re doing…and maybe just a little more offense…
Thoughts Inside The Box 