Guentzel has most high-danger shots; Svechnikov excels in offensive zone time
© Jake Guentzel #59 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates against the Florida Panthers of Game Two of the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on April 24, 2025 in Tampa, Florida.
NHL.com’s fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Throughout the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, we identify the leaders in key advanced metrics.
The Edmonton Oilers center has the top skating speed of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs so far, reaching 23.92 miles per hour on an end-to-end rush early in the third period of their Game 2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. McDavid, who had the top speed burst of the 2024 postseason (23.85 mph in Game 3 of Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars), also ranks highly in 20-plus mph speed bursts (21 in three games; tied for third) and 22-plus mph bursts (four; third) this postseason. McDavid has seven points (two goals, five assists) in the series and has 49 points (10 goals, 39 assists) in 28 playoff games since the start of the 2024 postseason, the most in the NHL during that span.
The Winnipeg Jets defenseman, along with three others at his position, surpassed the top shot speed mark of the postseason Thursday, which previously was held by Evan Bouchard of the Oilers (97.10 mph): Miller now leads the League at 99.74 mph, followed by Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning (99.20 mph), Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues (97.61 mph) and Alex Pietrangelo of the Vegas Golden Knights (97.30 mph).
There have been 51 shot attempts of at least 90 mph in the NHL this postseason, with 41 coming from defensemen; Parayko, Hedman and Bouchard all share the League lead in that category (five each). Miller ranked fourth in the NHL in top shot speed during the regular season (103.08 mph) behind forward Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres (106.00), defensemen Gustav Forsling of the Florida Panthers (105.05 mph) and Michael Kesselring of the Utah Hockey Club (103.77 mph).
The Lightning wing (three games played) leads the 2025 playoffs with eight high-danger shots on goal, including both of his goals this postseason. Guentzel and teammate Brayden Point(six; tied for sixth) have combined for 14 of the Lightning’s 21 high-danger shots on goal in their series against the Florida Panthers with Guentzel (two) accounting for half of the team’s goals (four) from that area of the ice.
Guentzel ranked third in high-danger SOG during the regular season (111 in 80 games), trailing only Anders Lee of the New York Islanders (131) and Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers (125). Points (28) and Guentzel (26) also finished first and second, respectively, in high-danger goals during the regular season. The Lightning (147) ranked second as a team in that cateogry trailing only the Dallas Stars (150). Each of the top five teams in high-danger goals during the regular season reached the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Avalanche starter leads the NHL in high-danger shots faced (33 through four games) and high-danger saves (30) this postseason. Blackwood’s high-danger save percentage (.909) ranks second in the NHL trailing only New Jersey Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom (.962 in three games) in that category.
Blackwood was acquired in a trade from the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 9; from his Avalanche debut Dec. 14 to the end of the regular season, Colorado ranked among the NHL leaders in goals allowed per game (2.39; second fewest), shots allowed per game (25.7; third fewest) and penalty kill percentage (83.3 percent; third best) with the tandem of Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood.
The Hurricanes forward leads the NHL in offensive zone time percentage at 53.2 percent this postseason. Svechnikov’s teammate and power play linemate defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere ranks first among at his position and third overall in offensive zone time percentage (51.7) in the postseason. Meanwhile, Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog, who scored his first goal in nearly three years in Saturday’s Game 4 win against the Dallas Stars to even their First Round series, ranks second overall in the category at 53.1 percent. The Hurricanes (43.9; fourth) and Avalanche (43.8; fifth) have nearly identical offensive zone time percentages at all strengths this postseason.
Svechnikov was one of five players on the Hurricanes who ranked in the top 10 in offensive zone time percentage during the regular season:
Gostisbehere (51.3; first)
Sebastian Aho (50.2; second)
Jackson Blake (49.6; third)
Svechnikov (49.2; fifth)
Seth Jarvis (49.1; seventh)
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