In the NHL, stats people, coaches, and front office executives may tell fans not to put too much stock into the final outcomes of games in the preseason.
Maybe that’s because most teams rarely, if ever, play with their full strength until the regular season starts as they try to make it through without injuries to key players. Maybe it’s because these contests offer teams the chance to evaluate young talent alongside NHL players and help them make roster and player development decisions. Maybe it’s the small sample size that doesn’t allow for any statistical analysis of worth to be used to project how a team could do in the regular season.