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NHL teams who depend most (and least) on home cooking

Cam Jasson, Matt Carkner

St. Louis Blues Cam Jasson (55) and Ottawa Senators’ Matt Carkner (39) fight during first-period NHL hockey game action in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Fred Chartrand)

AP

As we inch closer to the playoffs, full season stats begin to come into focus. Sometimes it’s too simple to just look at the numbers alone, but observations can certainly be made from 82 (or even about 70) games of hockey.

One of the things that I focus on in stretch run situations is how many home and road contests a team has left. Simply put, many people overlook the fact that there still is an advantage to playing at home. That doesn’t change the fact that some teams are oddballs, though. That can work in two (or more) ways: some teams are wildly dependent on home cooking while some are inexplicably better sleeping in unfamiliar beds.

On some level, these stats can tell the story of a team’s season without needing thousands of words to do so. Let’s take a look at some of the home/road records that really stand out.

The Elite home teams

  1. Washington: 27-4-4
  2. Chicago: 27-7-3
  3. Vancouver: 27-8-2
  4. Phoenix(!): 26-10-2
  5. New Jersey: 25-10-1

Considering all of Phoenix’s headaches, it’s refreshing to see them with one of the league’s best winning percentages at home.

The absolute worst road team

Is also the absolute worst team in the NHL. The Edmonton Oilers are the only team in the league that failed to reached the 10-win mark on the road so far. They are a pitiful 8-24-3 away from Edmonton this season.

Road record will give them an early vacation

Take a look at the home vs. road records of these 3 West teams expected to miss the playoffs.

  • Dallas: 20-10-7 at home; 12-17-7 on the road (8 less wins)
  • Anaheim: 23-11-3 at home; 11-20-5 on the road (12 less wins)
  • Minnesota: 24-10-3 at home; 11-22-3 on the road (13 less wins)
More interesting stats after the jump.

They better get home ice

The Ottawa Senators are in the playoff hunt despite a paltry 15-20-1 road record while the Flyers are a weak 16-18-3 and the Red Wings are 16-13-8.

No big deal either way

The Canadiens (18 wins), Rangers (16), Penguins (21), Kings (21), Sharks (22), Panthers (15) and Predators (21) have the same amount of wins (though not points earned) in road and home games. This makes them equally dangerous (or mediocre) wherever they go, it seems.

Broken home?

Finally, these teams are especially weird because their road records are better than their records at home. The Boston Bruins have won three more games and lost one less on the road.

Most odd of all is the St. Louis Blues, though. They’ve won 22 games on the road and only 12 games at home so far this year. How do you explain that?