By the NHL All-Star break, one would think that any good or bad luck from the beginning of the season would have evened out. However, late-season runs to the postseason and second-half collapses tell us that not everything has been decided by the unofficial midpoint of the season.
So how can we figure out which teams might slide or make noise down the stretch? One way is to look at a team's PDO. PDO is determined by the combination of shooting percentage and save percentage at even strength. If PDO is extraordinarily high, there's a chance the team could slide back in the second half; if PDO is low, we could see a surge.
But, sometimes high or low PDO simply means a team is excellent -- or poor. Figuring out which direction a club will go takes further examination, including looking at whether they are controlling play and other factors.
Let's have a closer look at the top five highest and lowest PDO teams, and analyze whether their current level of play -- good or bad -- will continue.