image permission: Keith Jenny Davies)
BILLINGHAM, UK – With the Blackburn Hawks versus Nottingham Lions game outcome still up in the air until the EIHA make a decision, there are five games that have affected the statistics this week.
Sheffield Steeldogs and Nottingham had no games count towards their respective tallies, while Solihull Barons and Solway Sharks played two.
Sutton Sting’s surprise victory over Solway saw the Sharks drop in most statistical areas despite their win at Billingham Stars.
Special Teams
For the second week running there were seven goals scored with the man advantage. Telford Tigers and Whitley Warriors drew blanks at Hillheads, although there were only four powerplays in the game.
As for short-handed goals, there was one scored by Solway against Billingham and one by Solihull against Blackburn.
We also saw the first penalty shot goal of the league season as Lee Bonner scored Hull Pirates’ ninth goal against Solihull using the one-on-one format.
Overall on special team efficiency Hull, Telford and Sutton gained, while Solway dropped by a margin of 6.48%. Billingham, Blackburn, Solihull and Whitley also dropped minimal amounts.
| Powerplay % | Penalty Kill % | Special Teams | |||||
| Hull | 40.47% | Hull | 96.15% | Hull | 136.62 | ||
| Sheffield | 34.78% | Sheffield | 84.62% | Sheffield | 119.4 | ||
| Solway | 30.56% | Telford | 84.62% | Telford | 107.35 | ||
| Sutton | 23.68% | Blackburn | 81.08% | Solway | 105.56 | ||
| Solihull | 22.73% | Sutton | 81.08% | Sutton | 104.76 | ||
| Telford | 22.73% | Whitley | 78.38% | Blackburn | 101.08 | ||
| Billingham | 20.59% | Solway | 75.00% | Whitley | 94.29 | ||
| Blackburn | 20.00% | Billingham | 73.68% | Billingham | 94.27 | ||
| Whitley | 15.91% | Solihull | 69.44% | Solihull | 92.17 | ||
| Nottingham | 7.32% | Nottingham | 62.75% | Nottingham | 70.07 |
Shot Statistics
The biggest movers in the shooting department this week were Solihull. Unfortunately for the Barons this was the wrong way as they were outshot 121 to 50 over their two games.
Hawks peppered their net with 49 shots on Saturday, before Hull sent 72 shots at Sam Hewitt the following day. Overall this made a change of -10.55 on the Barons’ shot differential from last week.
Hull and Blackburn were the only teams to improve in this area. As for shooting percentage Telford stay top of the pile despite their percentage dropping by 1.48% and Sutton stay bottom despite gaining ground on Nottingham and improving their percentage by 1.29%.
| Shots For Per Game | Shots Against Per Game | Shot % | |||||
| Hull | 60.83 | Sheffield | 24.6 | Telford | 18.86% | ||
| Solway | 52.29 | Hull | 26.5 | Hull | 15.89% | ||
| Sheffield | 45.8 | Solway | 28.86 | Solihull | 14.44% | ||
| Telford | 45.6 | Telford | 35.6 | Sheffield | 13.10% | ||
| Solihull | 42.33 | Blackburn | 37.33 | Solway | 12.30% | ||
| Billingham | 39 | Billingham | 38.5 | Billingham | 11.97% | ||
| Sutton | 37.14 | Solihull | 41.11 | Blackburn | 9.26% | ||
| Blackburn | 36 | Sutton | 42.43 | Whitley | 9.15% | ||
| Whitley | 31.7 | Whitley | 44.1 | Nottingham | 9.00% | ||
| Nottingham | 22.22 | Nottingham | 64.56 | Sutton | 8.85% |
Even Strength
At even strength there wasn’t much movement. Hull stay on top, a position they hold in eight of ten statistical areas.
Telford sit second still and the bottom four spots stay the same with Blackburn, Sutton, Whitley and Nottingham in that order. In the middle Sheffield and Billingham move up one space each, while Solway and Solihull drop one.
| Even Strength For | Even Strength Against | Even Strength Diff | |||||
| Hull | 7.33 | Hull | 1 | Hull | 6.33 | ||
| Telford | 7 | Sheffield | 1 | Telford | 5 | ||
| Solihull | 4.56 | Telford | 2 | Sheffield | 2.6 | ||
| Solway | 4.43 | Billingham | 2.17 | Solway | 2.14 | ||
| Sheffield | 3.6 | Solway | 2.29 | Billingham | 1 | ||
| Billingham | 3.17 | Blackburn | 3.17 | Solihull | 0.67 | ||
| Blackburn | 2.17 | Sutton | 3.43 | Blackburn | -1 | ||
| Whitley | 2.1 | Solihull | 3.89 | Sutton | -1.57 | ||
| Sutton | 1.86 | Whitley | 5 | Whitley | -2.9 | ||
| Nottingham | 1.44 | Nottingham | 7.78 | Nottingham | -6.33 |
What does it mean for this weekend?
Five games spread between eight teams this weekend throws up some good clashes. On Saturday we see Solihull host Telford.
With Doug Clarkson back and straight into the swing of things it is tough to look past the Shropshire outfit picking up a win, especially against a Barons side that was out-shot heavily last weekend.
On Sunday the Tigers face last weekend’s surprise package in Sting. Again though, expect the former EPL boys to come out on top.
Speaking of Sutton they are the other team who play twice this weekend as they have a home game against Steeldogs. It is an odd one as Steeldogs will be playing an away game in their home arena.
The Dogs are not as high scoring and dominant in goalscoring terms as their fellow former EPL teams Hull and Telford, however they do possess a strong defence and are very stingy in the chances they give up.
Solway versus Billingham is possibly the most interesting match-up of the weekend with both sides having wins against each other across both league and cup this season. Billingham will no doubt be looking to avenge their loss last Sunday.
Finally we have Whitley travelling to Nottingham. The Warriors have showed signs of improvement since the infamous interviews with Richie Lawson and Jordan Barnes. Save for a short-bench Whitley, it looks like another tough weekend for the Lions.
