Postgame Instant Analysis Explained

NOTE: This explainer applies to Post-Game Instant Analysis articles from the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. To see the explainer for the 2023-24 season click here.

This season, we're going to try to get you that answer!

Just go into the Kraken + Climate Pledge Arena app, and after every game, you'll be able to find our post-game data-driven "Post-Game Breakdown" scorecard which gives you a quick look at key aspects of each team's play.

Of course, we want to be sure you know what you're looking at, so here's a quick primer on what you'll see in each Breakdown.

Let's dig in.

EVALUATING THE OVERALL GAME

This section gives you the final score, plus some overall stats that represent all the hockey that was played in the game. The bigger the number, the better and the team with the higher of the two increases its chances of winning the game!

EVALUATING FIVE-ON-FIVE OFFENSIVE PLAY

This majority of a game is played with five skaters on the ice for each team and we want to isolate that play from times when one team may have more skaters than the other so we are comparing apples to apples. First, let's look at numbers focused on offensive production. Once again, you want to see your team have the advantage over the opponent in each measure.

EVALUATING FIVE-ON-FIVE DEFENSIVE PLAY

Defense is just as important as offense - you want to keep the other team from scoring! Here are some measures that evaluate how effective a team was in keeping an opponent from getting into its offensive zone; breaking up offensive plays; and getting the puck out of the defensive zone and going towards your own offensive zone instead. Having the advantage in any, or all, of these numbers is a positive sign.

EVALUATING SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY

When a team gets called for a penalty, they play down a skater (penalty kill), while the other team gets to play with a skater up (power play). Having one more skater than your opponent certainly creates an advantage when it comes to generating offense and trying to score goals. These numbers look at those situations. A bigger number in each category can be a good thing for your power play and also, potentially help us understand how effective a team's penalty kill was in a game.

EVALUATING GOALTENDING

Goaltenders play an important - but different - role for their team, so we want to look at measures that look at how they contribute. You want to see your goaltender stopping as many pucks as possible; but even if they don't, preventing more goals than expected is an indicator of a strong performance in net - as are indicators of a "Quality Start" and / or a "Steal."

There's always more to explore, of course. These numbers just scratch the surface of what a team did in a game, and what our eyes see is equally important to what the numbers tell us. But, each Breakdown gives us a great initial understanding of what happened on the ice any given day.