The Maple Leafs have now played 12 games with Phil Kessel in the lineup and 12 games without him, which makes for an easy comparison as to how they've fared in both scenarios:
|
Stats |
Without Kessel |
With Kessel |
|
Record |
1-7-4 |
5-4-3 |
|
Goals for |
2.50 |
3.00 |
|
Goals against |
4.08 |
3.17 |
|
Shots for |
32.9 |
36.4 |
|
Shots against |
30.0 |
30.9 |
|
Shooting % |
7.6% |
8.2% |
|
Save % |
.864 |
.897 |
|
Power play |
14/50 (28%) |
8/46 (17%) |
|
Penalty kill |
34/46 (74%) |
36/45 (80%) |
Kessel obviously hasn't been the only factor in Toronto's improvement the past 12 games, as the goaltending has also been far better with rookie Jonas Gustavsson getting all but three decisions over that span.
Still, goals for are up by half a goal a game with Phil the Thrill, and he's got eight on his own - all at even strength (which was where the Leafs couldn't score in the early going). He's also been a big factor in terms of shots on goal, with 5.6 per game so far, way up from his normal average.