Who steps up in the playoffs?
To determine who steps up their goal scoring in the playoffs, I compared the regular season goals/game to playoffs goals/game for all skaters in the current post-season. There appears to be a significant drop off in goals per game attributable to the tighter play, fewer power plays and better competition, slightly offset by the greater amount of ice time due to overtime. There are less than 20 playoff veterans who step up their scoring in the post season. Everyone else trails off in crunch time.
Best improvements playoff vs. regular season: (min 30 playoff games)
Tomas Holstrom .08 .32
Brian Rafalski .08 .17
Martin St. Louis .30 .67 (only 15 games but wow!)
Bran Leetch .21 .33 (boosted by missing playoffs for 6 seasons)
Richard Zednick .28 .38
Patrick Marleau .27 .36
Peter Forsberg .37 .44
Joe Sakic .47 .51
Chris Drury .27 .33 (not in playoffs)
Nicklas Lidstrom .17 .20
Dramatic Fall Offs in the Playoffs:
Michal Handzus .23 .05 (2 goals in 41 playoff games)
Justin Williams .19 .06
Keith Primeau .29 .10
Magnus Arvedson .23 .06
Alexi Yashin .41 .26
Michael Peca .24 .13
Joe Thornton .31 .18
Alexander Mogilny .48 .32
Pavol Demitra .39 .26
Keith Tkachuk .50 .34
John LeClaire .44 .29
Marian Hossa .40 .27
Milan Hejduk .42 .30
Steve Yzerman .47 .36
Bill Guerin .36 .27
Patrick Elias .37 .28
Gary Roberts .36 .26
Dave Andreychuck .40 .29
Glen Murray .33 .23
By team, players whose playoff goals per game is greater than their regular season. (If the player is not on the least it means their goal scoring declines in the playoffs or they have played less than 20 playoff games.)
Avs: Sakic, Forsberg
Wings: Holmstrom, Lidstrom
Stars Claude Lemieux, Zubov, Scott Young
Blues: Doug Weight
Canucks: no one
Sharks: Marleau, Thortnon
Flames: not enough playoff games
Oilers: not enough playoff games
Devils: Rafalski, Larionov, Langenbrunner
Leafs: Leetch
Flyers: Desjardins (injured)
Bruins: Gonchar
Isles: no one
Habs: Koivu, Kovalev, Zednick
Senators: Alfredsson
Lightning: not enough playoff games
All time leaders:
Lemieux .77 .71
Bossy .76 .66
Gretzky .60 .59
Brett Hull .59 .52
