overpass
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Doug Harvey's playoff scoring compared to his regular season scoring is consistent with a player who could play at a high level offensively, but only did so when his team needed it.
During the 1956-1960 Montreal dynasty, Doug Harvey scored at a notably higher level in the playoffs than in the regular season. He scored 8 goals and 40 points in 49 playoff games (0.82 P/GP), and in the same regular seasons he scored 30 goals and 182 points in 327 GP (0.56 P/GP).
Not only did Harvey score at a higher rate in the playoffs, he tended to score when the game was close, and not so much when his team had a multiple goal lead.
Here are the scoring totals for the 1956-1960 Habs in the playoffs in several game situations.
Trailing (27 team GF)
Tied (58 team GF)
Leading by 1 (42 team GF)
Leading by 2+ (55 team GF)
Doug Harvey scored at a comparable rate to Montreal's top five forwards while the team was trailing, tied, and leading by 1 goal. But when the team was leading by 2 goals, he basically stopped scoring.
Looking only at playoff goals while Montreal was trailing, tied, or leading by 1, Harvey scored 7 goals and 36 points on 127 team goals, meaning he had a point on 28% of team goals in this situation. 28% is comparable to overall playoff scoring numbers of several great post-expansion offensive defencemen.
Denis Potvin from 1976-1983: 44 goals and 129 points on 483 team goals (27%)
Ray Bourque from 1983-1994: 30 goals and 118 points on 425 team goals (28%)
Paul Coffey from 1984-1987: 24 goals and 80 points on 320 team goals (25%)
Nicklas Lidstrom from 1998-2007: 23 goals and 89 points on 313 team goals (28%)
Cale Makar from 2020-2024: 20 goals and 74 points on 245 team goals (30%)
Bobby Orr from 1968-1975: 26 goals and 92 points on 287 team goals (32%)
Brian Leetch from 1992-1997: 24 goals and 80 points on 233 team goals (34%)
Erik Karlsson from 2012-2019: 7 goals and 47 points on 161 team goals (29%)
There is reason to believe that Doug Harvey played at a high level offensively when his team needed him to do so, and played more conservatively in less important situations, such as the regular season and when his team was leading by 2 or more. Harvey's improved offensive performance may be an important reason why Montreal went 40-9 in the playoffs during these 5 seasons and outperformed their regular season records.
Edit: Corrected team GF totals when tied, I was missing 4 goals. Harvey had a point on 28% of team goals while trailing/tied/leading by 1, not 29%
During the 1956-1960 Montreal dynasty, Doug Harvey scored at a notably higher level in the playoffs than in the regular season. He scored 8 goals and 40 points in 49 playoff games (0.82 P/GP), and in the same regular seasons he scored 30 goals and 182 points in 327 GP (0.56 P/GP).
Not only did Harvey score at a higher rate in the playoffs, he tended to score when the game was close, and not so much when his team had a multiple goal lead.
Here are the scoring totals for the 1956-1960 Habs in the playoffs in several game situations.
Trailing (27 team GF)
Player | G | A | P | % |
Dickie Moore | 4 | 7 | 11 | 41% |
Jean Beliveau | 3 | 7 | 10 | 37% |
Bernie Geoffrion | 5 | 4 | 9 | 33% |
Maurice Richard | 4 | 3 | 7 | 26% |
Doug Harvey | 1 | 6 | 7 | 26% |
Henri Richard | 3 | 3 | 6 | 22% |
Tied (58 team GF)
Player | G | A | P | % |
Bernie Geoffrion | 5 | 17 | 22 | 38% |
Doug Harvey | 3 | 14 | 17 | 29% |
Dickie Moore | 6 | 10 | 16 | 28% |
Jean Beliveau | 10 | 6 | 16 | 28% |
Henri Richard | 3 | 11 | 14 | 24% |
Maurice Richard | 8 | 4 | 12 | 21% |
Leading by 1 (42 team GF)
Player | G | A | P | % |
Bernie Geoffrion | 9 | 9 | 18 | 43% |
Doug Harvey | 3 | 9 | 12 | 29% |
Dickie Moore | 5 | 6 | 11 | 26% |
Jean Beliveau | 4 | 6 | 10 | 24% |
Henri Richard | 3 | 7 | 10 | 24% |
Maurice Richard | 5 | 3 | 8 | 19% |
Leading by 2+ (55 team GF)
Player | G | A | P | % |
Jean Beliveau | 11 | 8 | 19 | 35% |
Dickie Moore | 6 | 13 | 19 | 35% |
Bernie Geoffrion | 10 | 8 | 18 | 33% |
Henri Richard | 4 | 14 | 18 | 33% |
Maurice Richard | 8 | 9 | 17 | 31% |
Doug Harvey | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7% |
Doug Harvey scored at a comparable rate to Montreal's top five forwards while the team was trailing, tied, and leading by 1 goal. But when the team was leading by 2 goals, he basically stopped scoring.
Looking only at playoff goals while Montreal was trailing, tied, or leading by 1, Harvey scored 7 goals and 36 points on 127 team goals, meaning he had a point on 28% of team goals in this situation. 28% is comparable to overall playoff scoring numbers of several great post-expansion offensive defencemen.
Denis Potvin from 1976-1983: 44 goals and 129 points on 483 team goals (27%)
Ray Bourque from 1983-1994: 30 goals and 118 points on 425 team goals (28%)
Paul Coffey from 1984-1987: 24 goals and 80 points on 320 team goals (25%)
Nicklas Lidstrom from 1998-2007: 23 goals and 89 points on 313 team goals (28%)
Cale Makar from 2020-2024: 20 goals and 74 points on 245 team goals (30%)
Bobby Orr from 1968-1975: 26 goals and 92 points on 287 team goals (32%)
Brian Leetch from 1992-1997: 24 goals and 80 points on 233 team goals (34%)
Erik Karlsson from 2012-2019: 7 goals and 47 points on 161 team goals (29%)
There is reason to believe that Doug Harvey played at a high level offensively when his team needed him to do so, and played more conservatively in less important situations, such as the regular season and when his team was leading by 2 or more. Harvey's improved offensive performance may be an important reason why Montreal went 40-9 in the playoffs during these 5 seasons and outperformed their regular season records.
Edit: Corrected team GF totals when tied, I was missing 4 goals. Harvey had a point on 28% of team goals while trailing/tied/leading by 1, not 29%
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