In yesterday’s Game of the Day, the Boston Bruins defended home ice by beating the Florida Panthers 3-1.
First Star of the Game Ryan Spooner accounted for the first tally of the game at the 11:35 mark of the opening period. He was assisted by Torey Krug, his 14th helper of the season.
Spooner was also responsible for the eventual game-winning goal, which came on a power play at the 8:00 mark of the second. Third Star Patrice Bergeron notched his first of two assists on the afternoon, as well as David Krejci.
Florida began to mount a comeback with a goal at the 13:56 mark of the final period, compliments of ex-Bruin Reilly Smith, assisted by Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Pirri. As they could not earn another opportunity, the Panthers pulled their goalie in the final minutes, which led to the final Bruin tally via Brad Marchand, assisted by Bergeron.
Second Star Tuukka Rask (11-7-3) saved 27 of 28 (96.4%) to earn his 11th victory of the season, while Roberto Luongo (10-11-3) saved 22 of 24 (91.7%) in the loss.
The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 22-9-5, favoring the home side by 19 points.
Per usual, this Sunday’s load is one of the lightest of the week. A total of three games are being played today, with the action getting started at 5 p.m. eastern when New Jersey visits the New York Islanders. An hour later, the puck drops in the Scottrade Center when Colorado visits St. Louis. The evening’s nightcap gets an early start, as Vancouver and Chicago (NHLN/TVAS/SN) get started at 7 p.m. eastern in the United Center.
Two of today’s games are divisional rivalries (New Jersey at New York and Colorado at St. Louis) and two are between current playoff qualifiers (New Jersey at New York and Vancouver at Chicago). The one that qualifies for both is today’s Game of the Day:
This is New Jersey‘s second appearance in the DtFR Game of the Day series. Their only other appearance was a 2-1 overtime victory over the Blueshirts on Oct. 18. Due to the hiatus I was forced into, this is New York‘s first appearance in the Game of the Day series.
15-10-4 Jersey enters today’s game after beating Detroit 3-2 in overtime Friday night. They are a defensive-minded team, a strategy that is currently earning them the second wild card position in the eastern conference.
So far this season, 13-7-4 Cory Schneider and the Devils have only allowed 68 goals, a total that is well below the league average of 77. Although Schneider and co. have played well this season, their strength has been found by only allowing 824 shots to reach him, thanks to Adam Larsson’s team-leading 56 blocks. Even when a man-down, the Devils have still done well in preventing the opposition from scoring. Jersey has only allowed 18 goals on 100 attempts this season, giving them a 82% kill rate that exceeds the league average by 1.15%.
Offensively, things have gone a little slower for the Devils so far this season, as they’ve only notched 72 tallies before today, led by 13-a-piece from Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri. This is only a symptom of their real problem, though, which is shots. They have only 748 attempts to their credit (led by Mike Cammalleri’s 84), well below the league average of 853.
The component of their offense that has kept Jersey relevant this season has been their power play. 22 of their 72 goals have come with a man-advantage (led by Palmieri’s five), even if it did take 103 attempts (10 more than the league average).
17-8-5 New York is currently riding a two-game win streak, with their most recent being a 3-2 victory in Columbus yesterday. Although the Isles have been strong on both ends of the ice, their strong suit has been their defensive efforts, which is currently earning them the third division spot in the Metropolitan Division.
So far this season, 15-8-4 Jaroslav Halak and New York has given up only 68 goals. Especially significant about this effort compared to New Jersey‘s comparable 68 is that Halak and co. have faced 852 shots – 28 more than Schneider and the Devils. Pair strong goalkeeping with a team-leading 78 blocks from Calvin de Haan, and you find a strong defensive side. New York‘s penalty kill has also been very strong, as they’ve killed 85.39% of all man-advantages, allowing only 13 goals.
Offensively, the Isles have scored 79 goals so far this season (led by John Tavares’ 12 tallies). Just as Jersey‘s low goal total is an indicator of not many shots, the Isles‘ higher goal total is a symptom of more shots on goal – 854, to be exact (led by Frans Nielsen’s 80).
An intriguing facet of New York‘s game is their power play. They have found great success so far this season, scoring 16 times (led by three-a-piece from Josh Bailey and Tavares), but on only 76 opportunities. I must admit, I have not watched much of New York this season, so I do not know if teams are purposefully avoiding the box as much as possible when playing the Isles, or if the Islanders aren’t doing enough to draw penalties. Regardless, New York needs to find a way to get on the man-advantage more often since it is such a strength of theirs.
Some players to watch in this afternoon’s game include New Jersey‘s Cammalleri (30 points [tied for eighth in the league] and +12 [tenth in the league]) and Schneider (13 wins [tied for fifth in the league], 2.09 GAA [eighth in the league] and .926 save percentage [10th in the league]), and New York‘s Thomas Greiss (.928 save percentage [seventh in the league]).
I believe the Isles will defend home ice for the victory this afternoon, mostly because I think New York‘s defense can handle New Jersey‘s offense, but the Devils will not have an answer for the Isles‘ offensive efforts.