One of the big flaws in plus/minus is that a goal on an empty net gets counted as a plus, while a goal against with the net empty counts as a minus. With the Edmonton Oilers scoring five empty-net goals and allowing 12, are their players who have seen their overall statistics impacted in a major way by the empty net?
There are.
Oilers Statistics With An Empty Net
The following list shows the statistics of every player with the Oilers’ net empty this season:
| Player | G | A | PTS | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ladislav Smid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Ryan Jones | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Tom Gilbert | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Nick Schultz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Linus Omark | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Lennart Petrell | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
Sam Gagner | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
Eric Belanger | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
Corey Potter | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
Jeff Petry | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
Ryan Whitney | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
Ryan Smyth | 1 | 3 | 4 | -5 |
Shawn Horcoff | 0 | 3 | 3 | -5 |
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 1 | 0 | 1 | -5 |
Jordan Eberle | 0 | 1 | 1 | -6 |
Ales Hemsky | 0 | 1 | 1 | -6 |
Taylor Hall | 0 | 0 | 0 | -7 |
Some comments:
- The Smyth/Horcoff/Jones trio have picked up a fair number of points by putting the puck into an empty net. In Jones’ case, one in seven of his goals this season have come with an empty net. However, in all cases we’re dealing with less than 10% of each player’s total point production.
- The six forwards most impacted in a negative way by this are exactly the guys one would expect: the kids, plus Smyth/Horcoff/Hemsky. Including empty net goals in plus/minus really acts as a tax on top offensive players – since they’re the guys out there to try and tie the game. All of the kids are plus players when empty net goals are taken out of the equation.
- Discounting empty-net goals, Jordan Eberle would have the best plus/minus on the team, at plus-9.
