San Jose’s game-changing defenceman, Plekanec, Dubinsky, fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking.

With a goal and an assist in a 5-2 win against Florida, Sharks D Brent Burns has seven points (3 G, 4 A) in the past six games. Burns is something of a freak when it comes to generating shot attempts and shots on goal. The former winger has generated shots this season at a rate far beyond what he's done previously in his career.

Here are the defence leaders in shots on goal per game this season:



Then the shot attempts per 60 leaders:



And the shots on goal per 60 leaders:

Some interesting names there, all well behind Burns.

When it comes to shot attempts, rookies are getting involved in the play. Blues defenceman Colton Parayko, Blackhawks defenceman Viktor Svedberg and Bruins defenceman Colin Miller are all among the leaders.

It’s fair to question whether Burns is more effective as a power forward – he was really good on Joe Thornton’s wing in 2013-2014 – but there is substantial value to be realized in a 25-minute-per-game defenceman, who generates shots like an elite forward.

HEROES

Tomas Plekanec – The Canadiens pivot had a goal and an assist, along with strong possession numbers (11 for, 2 against, 84.6 SAT%) despite starting 27% of his shifts in the offensive zone during Montreal’s 4-1 win over the Islanders.

Brandon Dubinsky – The Blue Jackets centre had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win at Los Angeles, and has seven points (3 G, 4 A) in the past seven games.

Both Dubinsky and Plekanec have been really reliable two-way centres this season, putting up positive relative possession stats while starting fewer than 50% of shifts in the offensive zone and facing quality competition.

ZEROES

Jaromir Jagr, Alex Petrovic – Petrovic was on the ice for all five Sharks goals in Florida’s 5-2 loss at San Jose. Jaromir Jagr was on for four goals against, but also had team-worst possession stats (10 for, 18 against, 35.7 SAT%) in the loss.

Dennis Wideman – The Calgary blueliner was on the wrong end of the possession game (6 for, 23 against, 20.7 SAT%) in a 2-1 OT win against Philadelphia.

Nikita Zadorov – It was a rough night for the Avalanche defenceman, posting subpar possession (8 for, 14 against, 36.4 SAT%) and on the ice for three Coyotes goals in a 4-2 loss.

Linus Ullmark – The Sabres rookie goaltender was pulled after allowing three goals on 11 shots in the first period against Tampa Bay.

VITAL SIGNS

John Tavares – Returned to the Islanders lineup after missing three games with a mysterious illness. Maybe it wasn’t mysterious, but the Islanders certainly handled it that way.

Zach Parise – Suffered a lower-body injury when hit by Predators winger James Neal. The Wild star will have an MRI Friday to determine severity.

Nathan MacKinnon – Injured his right hand/thumb late in a 4-2 loss to Arizona. Head coach Patrick Roy thinks, “He’ll be fine.”

SHORT SHIFTS

Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win at Buffalo, giving him six points (3 G, 3 A) in the past four games…Capitals D John Carlson put up a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win vs. Boston, and has 12 points (3 G, 9 A) in 12 games…Coyotes LW Mikkel Boedker had a pair of assists in a 4-2 win over Colorado, giving him eight points (3 G, 5 A) in the past five games…Coyotes C Martin Hanzal returned to the lineup with two assists, and has five assists in his past five games…Sabres D Mark Pysyk had outstanding possession stats (26 for, 3 against, 89.7 SAT%) in a 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay…Kings C Nick Shore had a strong possession game (11 for, 1 against, 91.7 SAT%) in a 3-2 loss to Columbus.

Lightning G Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 of 31 shots in a 4-1 win at Buffalo; he has a .939 save percentage in two starts since returning to action…Capitals G Braden Holtby had 28 saves on 29 shots in a 4-1 win over Boston, lifting his save percentage to .916 in 10 starts…Senators G Craig Anderson turned aside 38 of 40 shots in a 3-2 shootout win vs. Winnipeg, upping his save percentage to .917 in 10 starts…Flames G Karri Ramo stopped 26 of 27 in a 2-1 overtime win against Philadelphia; his .885 save percentage leads Calgary’s goaltending mess…Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 31 of 33 shots in a 3-2 win at Los Angeles, raising his save percentage to .884 in a dozen games.

FANTASY FOCUS

Some players with low on-ice shooting percentages (all situations), that should expect better results moving forward, so buy low:

Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux – This pair is easy. Two elite offensive players have been stuck with an all-situations on-ice shooting percentage of 3.9% thus far. Voracek is getting more than four shots on goal per game, but has yet to find the net. They will start coming, in bunches, and Giroux will pick up the assists.

Patric Hornqvist – The percentages haven’t been working for Hornqvist either, as he has only four points in 12 games, but three of those points have come in the past three games and he’s skating on Sidney Crosby’s wing now, so both are probably due for better.

Marian Hossa – He’s nursing a lower-body injury right now, but the two-way Blackhawks winger has managed just one goal and four points in 11 games. He’s still generating shots at a high level, and regularly plays with Jonathan Toews, so the goals and assists will come – he’s scored at least 60 points in each of the past three full seasons.

Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.hockey-reference and www.naturalstattrick.com

Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca