Hits
Derek Dorsett was busy last week with a goal, 17 penalty minutes, and a league-leading 19 hits in four games. He got 102 hits in 51 games in 2013-14 with the Rangers, but he’s been far more prolific in Vancouver with 70 hits in 26 contests. Most of his penalty minutes last week were the result of a heated sparring match Dorsett had with Chris Neil on Sunday. Neil won that fight, but finished just shy of Dorsett in the hits category last week with 18 in four games. He still has an edge overall though with 100 hits in 27 games this season. Leafs defenseman Cody Franson was credited with eight hits in Saturday’s 5-2 victory over Vancouver. He had 14 in three games last week, giving him 66 in 24 games overall. Martin Hanzal has recorded at least three hits in his last five games, bringing him up to 47 in 21 contests this season. That’s not bad, but it is still a significant step down from his 200 hits in 65 games in 2013-14.
Blocks
St. Louis Blues defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk were two of the most prolific shot blockers last season with 12 each in three games. That’s not surprising for Pietrangelo as he’s been sacrificing himself all season with 71 blocks in 27 contests. That’s good for fourth place in that category. Shattenkirk hasn’t been nearly as prolific though with 42 blocks in 27 games this season. He had five blocks on Thursday and six in Saturday’s contest, but before that he hadn’t recorded more than two blocked shots in a single game since Nov. 18. Vancouver’s Christopher Tanev led the pack with 15 blocks in four contests last week. He now has 69 in 28 contests in 2014-15. Mark Stuart got in front of an incredible eight shots during Winnipeg’s 6-2 win against Colorado on Friday. Stuart is tied for ninth place with 61 blocks in 28 contests.
Draws
Antoine Vermette won 53 of 87 faceoffs in four games last week. Despite his recent success, he’s actually taken a step back this season with a 53.8% success rate on the draw compared to 55.8% over his career and 56.4% in 2013-14. Tyler Bozak was successful on 39 of his 63 draws in three contests last week. He only won 48.7% of his faceoffs in 2013-14, but he’s done a complete turnaround this season with a 57.5% success rate. Among qualified players, only five have higher faceoff percentages than Bozak so far this season. One of them is Hanzal, who won 39 of 69 faceoffs last week. We mentioned him above for his work with his body, but Hanzal’s best work has been on the draw this season as he’s won an incredible 59.8% of the time. Rookies tend to be pretty bad when it comes to taking faceoffs, but Bo Horvat is the rare exception. He has only played in 15 games this season and consequently hasn’t participated in enough draws to qualify for the faceoff leaderboard. However, in the 152 faceoffs he has taken, he’s won 88 of them (57.9%). Among rookies that have participated in at least 100 draws, no one else comes close.
