Statistics say Bruins' line was best in the NHL

Fans of sports still don't trust the stats or like to use them, but in a specific capacity, they are the best judge of how good or bad teams and athletes really are. Unfortunately, advanced stats can be a lot to take in and comprehend.

Sure, the eye test is a good judge (and should still be considered), but how much energy and money that's been put into advanced stats should prove how valuable they are. Analytics was first introduced in hockey back in 2014, and ever since then has made leaps and bounds of improvement in the NHL. Teams now dedicate a whole department to analytics and pay the data scientists big money to help their team.

Expected Goals For Percentage or xGF% is a stat that uses shot quality to determine which team is expected to score more goals when a particular player is on the ice by looking at the difference between expected goals for (xGF) and expected goals against (xGA).

Judging by xGF%, the Bruins' line of Jake Debrusk, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand ranks first (with a minimum of 200 minutes played together). To put it the easiest way, it basically makes them the top line in the entire NHL at generating scoring chances.

Boston's old line, Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak, known as "The Perfection Line," still ranks third, and even better, four different Bruins' line combos rank in the top-20. Trent Frederic - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith ranks 15th, while Taylor Hall - Erik Haula - David Pastrnak ranks 20th.

Credit to moneypuck.com
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