You just watched the game. Odds are you thought a certain player had a great night, and you're wondering if the numbers back up what your eyes told you. Even if that's completely false, "Battery Mates" is here to help.
We'll pick our own three stars based on Game Score, a comprehensive individual performance metric developed in the hockey analytics community. For more on how Game Score works, read this.
These are 1st Ohio Battery's three stars from Sunday's 3-2 loss at Nationwide Arena:
BRANDON SAAD [GAME SCORE: 1.88]
Once again, we saw an active and energized edition of Brandon Saad zipping around the rink tonight. It's a pattern that has followed him around in his career: when he's on the ice, his line is taking its share of shot attempts at 5-on-5 and they have a tendency to carry play. That's what we saw tonight, especially in the third period (yes, yes...score effects) when the Blue Jackets were putting on a furious charge. Saad played on a new-look line with Alexander Wennberg and Sam Gagner (more on them below) and finished the game +13 in 5-on-5 shot attempts (~79% Corsi).
SAM GAGNER [GAME SCORE: 1.68]
John Tortorella has tried Gagner in a variety of roles in the last few games, trying to jump-start a fledgling offense and power play. Could it be just "that time of year" when the team has already clinched, they know what's ahead, and just don't have the same investment they had in the first 70 games? Totally possible. Likely, even. But that doesn't mean the Blue Jackets have nothing to play for; they're looking at being the road team for a first-round series against Pittsburgh, and they need more offense if they're going to jump into the No. 2 spot. Gagner's line was good tonight, and he was all over the place, ending the night +7 in 5-on-5 shot attempts (65% Corsi).
ALEXANDER WENNBERG [GAME SCORE: 1.43]
Centering a new line tonight (with one familiar face in Saad), Wennberg seemed to have more jump than in recent games. He nearly birthed a miracle in the dying seconds, unleashing a one-timer from the center point that Braden Holtby had to fight off to preserve the final outcome. He, Saad and Gagner were the offensive leaders for the Blue Jackets tonight and Wennberg's line was impressive: +16 in all-situations shot attempts in over 18 minutes of ice time.
