Comments / New

First Round Playoff Penalty Rates

I know it looks like referees like to swallow their whistles in the playoffs, but the numbers don't look much different through the end of the first round relative to the regular season:

 

% of TOI 5v5 5v4 4v4
1st Round 78.3 9.4 2.1
Regular Season 78.0 9.2 2.8

 

Clearly the lack of 4-on-4 overtime reduces the amount of time spend at that strength. And the time spent at 5-on-4 relative to that spent at 5-on-5 is actually 2% higher.  Not that this is particularly surprising – I looked at playoff penalty rates back to 1987 last season and didn't find general evidence of reduced penalty counts.

Looking for an easy way to support Arctic Ice Hockey?
Use our Affiliate Link when shopping hockey merch this holiday season!

Talking Points