This post will focus on how much "time" each Montreal Canadiens player has spent defending in the defensive-zone. Percentage of events spent defending is calculated by dividing the number of events each player engages-in while attempting to remove puck-possession from the opposition in the defensive-zone (blocked shots, blocked passes, stick-checks, body-checks) by the total amount of puck-possession events (offensive and defensive / all 3 zones).
A higher-percentage indicates that the player has spent more time defending in the defensive-zone. Expressed differently, the higher the percentage, the more time the opposition has spent with possession in the Habs' zone. The BLUE line represents the player's percentage during the FIRST ROUND of the playoffs, while the BLACK line shows their numbers during game 1 against the Boston Bruins.
As at team, the Habs spent substantially more time defending in game 1 against the Bruins than they did during the Tampa Bay series.
Mike Weaver engaged in the highest percentage of defensive-events in the d-zone among defensemen, with Alexei Emelin engaging in the second-most. PK Subban and Josh Gorges engaged in the lowest percentage of defensive-events. Not surprisingly Subban and Gorges also produced the lowest defensive-zone turnover-rates; meaning they were more successful than any other Habs d-men at successfully moving the puck out of the defensive-zone. As a group, Montreal defensemen only spent marginally more time defending in the d-zone against the Bruins than they did versus the Lightning.
All Montreal centremen spent more "time" defending against Boston than they did against Tampa Bay. Tomas Plekanec engaged in the highest percentage of defensive-events in the d-zone among centres.
Among Wingers, only Brian Gionta and Dale Weise spent less "time" defending against Boston than they did versus Tampa Bay. Montreal wingers were forced to spend 15% of their total events defending in the d-zone against the Bruins; compared to 8% versus the Lightning. Not surprisingly, this was a product of the wingers problems successfully moving the puck out of the defensive-zone. Habs wingers turned the puck over 42.3% of the time they had possession of the puck in the defensive-zone against the Bruins, while their turnover-rate was only 24.9% versus the Lightning. As I mentioned in a post prior to the series' opener; the defensive-zone half-wall will be nothing short of a war-zone during this series. The onus will remain on the wingers to minimize the time Montreal spends in their own zone.
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