Before each round of the NHL Playoffs, Scott Cullen crunches a few numbers and comes up with an expected goals for and against for each team, based on shot differentials and save percentages. In the first round, the team with the higher expected goals, using these calculations, won seven of the eight series, with the Los Angeles Kings win over the St. Louis Blues upsetting the bid for perfection. Round Two brought middle of the road results, 2-2, with two goaltenders providing dramatically different results than their previous play. The Kings Jonathan Quick had the worst save percentage among starting goaltenders going into the playoffs (.902) and Ottawas Craig Anderson had the leagues best save percentage (.941) during the regular season. so, naturally, Quick had a .951 save percentage against San Jose in Round Two and the Kings needed every one of the saves he provided. Anderson was overpowered by Pittsburghs high-powered offence in the second round, posting an .884 save percentage. Since Im the first one to emphasize that overall statistics (or standings) are not necessarily representative of the current value for a team, especially with respect to injuries, these statistics merely provide a baseline for the series, perhaps providing an idea what a team needs to do in order to emerge victorious. In some cases, teams will simply need to keep doing what theyve been doing throughout the regular season; in others, they might need better goaltending, or fewer shots against, or more shots for -- just something -- to provide better expected results in a seven-game series. The calculations below are simple and the expected goals for each team in the series are determined by taking each teams shots for and against over the course of the season and splitting the difference. So, Chicago has 31.8 shots on goal per game through the regular season and second round of the playoffs and Los Angeles has allowed 25.9 shots on goal per game; the average of those two numbers is 28.8 shots, so thats the number that is then multiplied by (1 - the opposing goaltenders save percentage) to determine an expected goals per game. Finally, the number is multiplied by seven to indicate an expected goal total for a seven-game series. Theres no guarantee that scoring more goals in a series will result in winning four games first, but the odds certainly favour the team that scores more. Team SF SA Goaltender SV% Expected GF/Series Chicago 31.8 26.7 Corey Crawford 0.929 16.96 Los Angeles 28.7 25.9 Jonathan Quick 0.916 13.77 Verdict: If Quick is going to keep playing in the unconscious manner that he has through the first two rounds, its going to be awfully tough for the Blackhawks to score enough to win the series. Corey Crawford has played well in goal for Chicago, and the Blackhawks have a positive shot differential (+5.1) that, if it holds up, gives them a chance. Team SF SA Goaltender SV% Expected GF/Series Pittsburgh 30.6 30.0 Tomas Vokoun 0.921 14.91 Boston 33.6 29.4 Tuukka Rask 0.929 17.59 Verdict: Just as Jonathan Quick has upset the apple cart for this model, so too have the Pittsburgh Penguins, in part because of their playoff-leading power play that has counted for 13 goals in 11 games this postseason. With marginal shot differentials this season, the Penguins have needed to fare better on the percentages and lighting up the power play sure helps in that regard so, if we make the assumption that Boston can win the shots on goal battle, they will still need to find a way to slow down the Penguins power play. Bostons penalty killing during the regular season was great (87.1%), ranking fourth in the league, but Ottawas penalty killing was the best in the league (88.0%) during the regular season and the Penguins still went 6-for-25 (24.0%). Since the Penguins are also getting very good goaltending now that Tomas Vokoun has taken over in net, that means Tuukka Rask has to be nothing short of excellent for the Bruins. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy Sports on Facebook. Cheap Adidas China Wholesale . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Cheap Adidas Shoes Clearance . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. http://www.clearanceadidas.com/ . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. Cheap Wholesale Adidas Shoes . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. Cheap Adidas Shoes Online China . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. A day after denying Karnataka a replacement for Manish Pandey, Maharashtra had a change of heart as David Mathias was allowed to bat on the second day of the Group B clash at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.Pandey was pulled out of Karnatakas squad after he was called up to replace the injured Ajinkya Rahane in Indias Test squad in Mumbai. Following the late change, Karnataka had approached match referee Pranab Roy for a replacement only for their request to be turned down by Maharashtra captain Swapnil Gugale.Mathias came out at No. 7, after the fall of Pavan Deshpande with Karnataka on 251 for 5. Mathias hung around for just 23 balls and scored 6 before being trapped lbw by medium-pacer Nikit Dhumal. But by then, Karnataka were already well ahead, leeading Maharashtra by 101 runs in the first innings.ddddddddddddKarnataka had begun the day on 67 for 1 in response to Maharashtras 163, faced with the prospect of playing with 10 batsmen. 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