We’re crossing the halfway mark this week, which means we can officially and mercifully put “it’s too early” to bed. There’s still plenty of time for twists and turns, and history tells us that we’ll see at least a few teams collapse or surge. But we’ve seen enough that we can start digging through the numbers without the constant disclaimers about how none of it actually matters.
For example: Let’s look at some records by division and conference.
We don’t tend to spend a lot of time digging into those numbers. And rightly so: We’re dealing with small samples, so there’s definitely a ton of noise, and it’s easy to overreact. But there can still be some interesting stuff in there, so let’s use this week’s bonus top five to see what we can find.
Top five division/conference record oddities that may or may not mean something
5. Golden Knights – They’ve been great against the Central and Atlantic, at a combined 18-4-0. They’re an OK 4-3-0 against the Metro. But against their own division, they’re a losing team – just 5-6-2 in the Pacific.
If it holds up: Maybe we shouldn’t be so sure that this is the Knights’ division to run away with.
4. Penguins – At first glance, their 20-13-6 record looks solid enough. But they’re a combined 13-13-6 against the Metro, Atlantic and Pacific, and a perfect 7-0-0 against the Central. Three of those wins have come against the tanking Hawks and Coyotes, although they’ve also beaten the Stars, Wild and Jets.
If it holds up: They’ll be rooting for the Central in the Western Conference final, because they’re only 3-6-0 against the Pacific.
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