Facts and Figures: Predators in better place

The Nashville Predators haven't let their six-game loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final bother them in the least. In fact, in most ways they're a significantly better team entering the second half of the season than they were a year ago.

The Predators return from a one-week break when they play the Vegas Golden Knights at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; SN, FS-TN, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV) at 25-11-6 (56 points), second in the Central Division and three points behind the Winnipeg Jets with four games in hand. After 42 games last season, they were 19-16-7 (45 points), one point out of a Stanley Cup Playoff berth in the Western Conference.
One big reason for the improvement has been Nashville's play within its own division. The Predators are 10-3-2 against the Central; at this point last season they were 9-8-1. They've also been far better on the road: Nashville is 12-7-4 this season; it was 7-11-2 a season ago.
Most of the improvement has been offensive. The Predators are averaging 3.05 goals per game, 10th in the NHL and up from 2.74 a year ago. They've scored three or more goals in 24 games, up from 19, and have five players who've reached double figures in goals, up from three at this point last season.

Twelve Predators have more points this season than they had at the same point in 2016-17. The biggest gainers have been defenseman P.K. Subban (32 points, up from 17) and forward Kevin Fiala (26 points, up from nine). Forward Craig Smith has scored 15 goals, three more than he had all last season.
One other positive for the Predators: Of their 40 remaining games, 22 are at home, where they are 13-4-2. At the same point last season, they had already played 22 home games (going 12-5-5).

Home cooking pays in shootouts

This is the 13th season the NHL has used shootouts to decide games that remained tied after the five-minute overtime. It's on track to be easily the best for home teams.
Through Saturday, 64 of the 677 games played this season have been decided in a shootout. Home teams have won 44, a .688 winning percentage that's by far the best since the shootout began in 2005. Before this season, the best home teams have done was .551 (59-48) in 2015-16.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets have been the best of the home teams; each is 4-0. Six teams are 2-0 and five more are 1-0. The one team that's struggled at home has been the Ottawa Senators, who've played three shootouts at Canadian Tire Centre and lost all three.

Two teams, the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders, are 2-0 on the road. They share the lead in road wins with the Boston Bruins (2-2) and Anaheim Ducks (2-5).

Rediscovering his touch

Detroit's Frans Nielsen excelled in the shootout with the Islanders before signing with the Red Wings as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2016. Nielsen was 42-for-82 (51.2 percent) with 17 game-deciding goals with the Islanders; the 42 goals were the most of any player and his shooting percentage was fifth among players with 30 or more attempts.
Nielsen had his worst shootout season in 2016-17, scoring twice in eight attempts (25.0 percent), even as the Red Wings set an NHL record by going 9-0 in the tiebreaker. But he's found his touch again this season, scoring on three of four attempts, with two game-deciding goals.

In all, shooters are scoring on 31.85 percent of attempts (150 of 471). That's up slightly from 31.42 percent last season, but well below the full-season best of 33.83 percent in 2011-12 (shooters were successful on 35.82 percent of attempts in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season).

Afternoon delight

Unfortunately for rookie center Mathew Barzal, the Islanders have one afternoon game remaining on their schedule (against the Minnesota Wild at Barclays Center on Feb. 19). Barzal leads NHL rookies in scoring but his numbers in afternoon games are off the charts.

Barzal became the first player in Islanders history to have five points in a game at Madison Square Garden, when he scored two goals and had three assists in a 7-2 victory against the New York Rangers on Saturday. He has 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) in 44 games, but 12 (six goals, six assists) have come in the Islanders' past four afternoon games (he was held without a point on Oct. 9).
Barzal also had a five-point game (all assists) against the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 5 and is the first player since Marian Stastny in 1981-82 to have two five-point games in his first NHL season.