The Series So Far - Shot Charts by Period

Game One

1st

• a bad period; Kings nervous, Sharks dominant.

2nd

• Kings wake up, outplay Sharks.

3rd

• Sharks rebound, I would give the edge to San Jose in this period, but not by much.

OT

• Even. Could have gone either way, as Brad Richardson will tell you.

Game Two

1st

• Kings scored twice here, but shot location suggests that San Jose was not being crushed.

2nd

• Kings get the only goal, but again, San Jose is getting more shots from the middle of the ice. This has been true for the entire series, more or less.

3rd

• The Kings get the only goal, but otherwise shot location suggests the period was pretty even defensively.

Game Three

1st

• I previously said the Kings were lucky to be up by 3-0 after one period. That's true, but they must have been doing a lot of things right, because San Jose's shot quality is terrible.

2nd

• Otherwise known as the worst period of Kings hockey in anyone's memory.
• Pattern looks most similar to Game One - Period One.
• The dot for Ryan Smyth's goal is way off.

3rd

• Kings are out-shot, but location goes back to that of a tight, defensive game.

OT

• Two shots from the slot for San Jose. No shots for the Kings.

Thoughts

• Shot quality doesn't tell the whole story, and these charts are made by humans and therefore are flawed (e.g. the wandering Ryan Smyth dot).
• The Kings' best periods, in terms of shot quality for/against, were the 2nd period of Game One and the 1st period of Game Three.
• The Kings' worst periods were (duh) the 2nd period of Game Three and the 1st period of Game One.
• The rest were more or less even.
• Despite the "blow out" nature of Game Two, these charts suggest a closer game.
• The first periods I selected as "best" were always immediately followed by a "worst" in the second periods, and vice versa. This applies (as it would have to) to both teams.
• In the third periods of all three games, high quality scoring chances have been hard to come by.
• Only one goal has been scored in the third period. Kings, in game two.
• Strangely, the pattern for both OT games was terrible period - great period - even (or great period - terrible period - even, depending on your point-of-view); whereas the pattern for the "blow-out" game (game two) was even - even - even.