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. Today, we identify the most compelling advanced metrics surrounding the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game between Canada and the United States at TD Garden on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, Disney+, SN, TVAS).
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1. Shot speed
The United States has twice as many 80-plus mile per hour shot attempts (18) compared to Canada (nine) in the 4 Nations Face-Off. U.S. forward J.T. Miller has the top shot speed of the entire tournament (98.51 mph) so far; Canada’s shot speed leader is defenseman Josh Morrissey (89.73 mph). The U.S. has three 90-plus mph shots (Miller; Zach Werenski's 91.62; Dylan Larkin's 91.24) in the tournament, while Canada has none.
2. Save percentage by shot location
Canada goalie Jordan Binnington, who has played all three games for the country, has a slightly better high-danger save percentage (.963; 26 saves on 27 shots faced) than United States goalie Connor Hellebuyck (.941 in two games; 16 saves on 17 shots faced). In their first matchup of the tournament, Canada had 11 high-danger shots on goal, compared to the United States’ seven; Binnington stopped all seven shots faced, while Hellebuyck saved 10 of 11.
But Hellebuyck has been perfect on the midrange attempts he’s seen in the tournament, stopping all eight midrange shots faced (1.000 midrange save percentage). Binnington has struggled on those attempts, allowing four goals on 13 midrange shots faced (.692 midrange save percentage).