Down the Frozen River

Author: Connor Keith

  • December 16 – Day 65 – Gargantuan goalies

    Happy Friday. Kick back with some hockey tonight, starting with two games at 7 p.m. (the New York Islanders at Buffalo and Los Angeles at Pittsburgh [NBCSN/SN/TVAS]) and another pair half an hour (San Jose at Montréal [RDS] and Washington at Carolina). 9 p.m. marks the puck drop of two more contests (Florida at Colorado and Columbus at Calgary), with tonight’s nightcap – Tampa Bay at Vancouver – waiting an hour before starting. All times eastern.

    Two division leaders meet up in the Bell Centre this evening, so even though both clubs have already been featured once this week, we have to make the trip to The City of a Hundred Steeples.

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    The Sharks make their yearly visit to the Bell Centre with an 18-11-1 record, and winners of their last three contests. They’ve been able to attain that Pacific Division lead with an impressive defense and goaltending, which has only allowed 66 goals so far this season – the fifth-fewest in the NHL.

    Martin Jones has made 26 starts for the Sharks this year, and has made good use of his time. To earn his 15-10-1 record, he’s earned a .92 save percentage and 2.1 GAA, the 14th and ninth-best effort in comparison to his 40 peers with 13 or more appearances.

    A lower save percentage in comparison to a good GAA is always indicative of a solid defense, and the Sharks are no different. Led by Brent Burns‘ 56 blocks, San Jose has allowed only 26.6 shots per night to reach Jones’ crease, the second-best rate in the league.

    Hosting that impressive defense are the 19-6-4 Canadiens, the leaders of the Atlantic Division. Although the have an impressive offense, they have also been led by a dominant netminder this season, who has led his team to allowing only 63 goals – the fourth-best total in the league.

    16-3-2 Carey Price has been having a career season , as his .94 save percentage and 1.8 GAA are both third-best in the NHL among goalies with 11 or more appearances.

    Price’s play has been necessary, as his defense has allowed 30.7 shots per game to reach his crease, the 13th-highest average in the NHL. Shea Weber has done all he can, as his 61 blocks lead the team, but him, Alexei Emelin and Jeff Petry are the only three skaters with more than 40 shot blocks to their credit. If others do not improve their effort, Canadiens fans could have concern Price is overworked as the playoffs roll around.

    Montréal has already played made their dive into The Tank for the season, but like most teams that visit Northern California, they could not escape with even a point two weeks ago. The Sharks won 2-1, with Joe Pavelski taking credit for the winning goal in the first period.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Montréal‘s Price (16 wins [second-most in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league], on a .94 save percentage and a 1.8 GAA [both third-best in the NHL]) and Weber (+18 [tied for second-best in the league]) & San Jose‘s Jones (15 wins [tied for third-most in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league], on a 2.1 GAA [ninth-best in the NHL]).

    Just like their first meeting, this game will most certainly star Jones and Price. Since Montréal has the more explosive offense to go with their home-ice advantage, I like the Habs to take tonight’s victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Eric Belanger (1977-) – Drafted by Los Angeles in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, this center played exactly 820 games over his 12 seasons in the greatest hockey league in the world. By the time he played his final contest in the NHL, he’d notched 358 points, including 220 assists.

    A second goal in the second period was the deciding factor in the Ducks‘ victory over Boston in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Continuing the theme of the number two, Zdeno Chara (Second Star of the Game David Backes and Brad Marchand) scored his second goal of the season with 7:53 remaining in the first period to give the Bruins the lead, followed only 13 seconds later by an Austin Czarnik (Ryan Spooner and Riley Nash) snapper to double it to 2-0. Only 24 seconds after Czarnik’s tally, Andrew Cogliano buried an unassisted wrister to pull Anaheim back within one. Scoring subsided until 2:10 remained in the period, when Kevin Bieksa (Ryan Getzlaf) leveled the game at two-all with a wrister. That score lasted into the first intermission.

    Anaheim took their first lead of the game 55 seconds after returning to the ice when Josh Manson (Jakob Silfverberg and First Star Rickard Rakell) buried his first goal of the season. That lead lasted only 71 seconds though, as David Krejci (Backes and Torey Krug) scored a power play wrister to level the game at three-all. The Ducks earned the game-winning score at the 5:02 mark when Rakell (Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler) potted a wrister that proved to be the final tally of the night.

    Jonathan Bernier earned the victory after saving 31-of-34 shots faced (91.2%), leaving the loss to Anton Khudobin, saving 23-of-27 (85.2%).

    The fourth-straight win by the teams in white sets the DtFR Game of the Day record at 36-21-10, but the series still favors the hosts by nine points.

  • December 15 – Day 64 – Goals on Gold on Goals

    Thursdays are usually good days for hockey, and today is no different. The first of eight games drop the puck at 7 p.m. (Anaheim at Boston and Chicago at the New York Islanders), followed half an hour later by two more (Arizona at Toronto and Los Angeles at Detroit). 8 p.m. marks the beginning of a trio of contests (New Jersey at St. Louis, Minnesota at Nashville and Florida at Winnipeg), with the New York Rangers at Dallas, this evening’s nightcap, waiting 30 minutes before getting underway.

    I know we just featured the Bruins Monday, but I like this little West vs. East thing we’ve been doing the last couple days. Let’s keep it going in the TD Garden.

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    The 15-10-5 Ducks make their yearly trip to Beantown in second place in the Pacific Division. They’ve earned that position with an offense that has already scored 82 goals this season, the eighth-most in the NHL and second-most in the division.

    Much of that success can be attributed to Corey Perry, who has a team-leading 26 points to his credit. However, most of those have been assists, which has left the door open for Ryan Kesler to lead the club with 12 goals.

    The Ducks have truly been a juggernaut when they have a man advantage. In that situation, Anaheim has found the back of the net 23.5% of the time, the third-best rate in the NHL. Kesler and Perry both have a dozen power play points to their credit to lead the club, but Kesler’s have been more impressive as he’s potted seven man-advantage tallies – the most in Anaheim.

    The Ducks still struggle on the penalty kill, as their 80.6% neutralization rate is tied for eighth-worst in the league. If it weren’t for Sami Vatanen and his squad-leading 12 shorthanded blocks, nobody in Anaheim would have more than nine shot blocks in that situation. That is indicative of the effort the Ducks have put into their kill, and is also what will hold them back from making a deep playoff run if they leave it unresolved.

    Playing host tonight are the 16-12-3 Bruins, the third-best club in the Atlantic Division. They provide a good matchup for the Ducks tonight, as their strength has been on the defensive end where they’ve only allowed 74 goals, which ties for the ninth-fewest in the NHL.

    15-5-3 Tuukka Rask has been in net for all but one of Boston‘s point-earning games. While that might be cause for concern for his stamina going forward, it certainly makes his success so far this season even more impressive. His .93 save percentage and 1.9 GAA are ninth and fifth best among the 41 netminders with 12 or more appearances.

    I know I say it every time we feature the Bruins, but the main reason Rask has bounced back from such a poor season last year is due to the defense playing in front of him that has allowed only 27.5 shots-per-game, the fourth fewest in the league. Rookie Brandon Carlo deserves much of the credit, as his 52 blocks lead the Bruins.

    That success has bled into the penalty kill, where Boston‘s 86.4% kill rate is third-best in the NHL. The rookie continues his impressive debut campaign in this department as well, as his 16 shorthanded blocks lead the Bruins.

    Boston‘s power play also ranks third in the league, but unfortunately it’s third-worst. They’ve found the back of the net on only 13.2% of opportunities, even though they’re led by three players (David Krejci, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak) with five man-advantage points apiece. Pastrnak has been the most impressive with the extra man, as he’s scored four power play goals.

    Some players to keep an eye tonight include Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf (22 assists [second-most in the NHL]) & Boston‘s Pastrnak (19 goals [second-most in the league] for a +17 [tied for third-best in the NHL]) and Rask (three shutouts [tied for second-most in the league] among 15 wins [tied for third-most in the NHL] on a 1.9 GAA [fifth-best in the league] and a .93 save percentage [ninth-best in the NHL]).

    I’ve never bet on sports, much less a spread or line, but if I understand correctly the Bruins opened a -127 favorite, but Vegas has since pulled the contest off the board. I like the Ducks to earn the road victory for no other reason than Boston played an overtime game in Pittsburgh yesterday.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Mario Marois (1957-) – Although he was originally drafted by the Rangers in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft, this defenseman spent much of his career in his hometown with the Nordiques. After 955 games over 15 seasons, he retired with a career +10 on 433 points.

    For every punch in yesterday’s Game of the Day, the opposition had a counter-punch. That forced a shootout, where the Sharks were able to steal a 4-3 victory in Ottawa.

    Only 5:57 into the game, Joe Pavelski (Logan Couture and Joe Thornton) buried a snap shot to give San Jose an early lead, but Bobby Ryan (Ryan Dzingel and Second Star Dion Phaneuf) and the Senators were able to answer 64 seconds later with a wrister to tie the game at one-all.

    The Sharks took the lead once again with 8:30 remaining in the second period with a wrist shot from First Star Brent Burns (Brenden Dillon), but Ottawa was able to answer 5:57 later when Kyle Turris (Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman) buried a snap shot to tie the game a second time.

    Phaneuf (Erik Karlsson and Stone) gave the Senators their first lead of the night when he scored a power play snapper with 3:46 remaining in regulation, but San Jose stole a page out of their book when Chris Tierney (Burns and David Schlemko) netted a wrister 1:18 later, knotting the game a third time. Neither club was able to manage another goal in regulation or three-on-three overtime, which forced a shootout.

    The Sens took the first attempt…

    1. …but Turris’ shot was saved by Martin Jones.
    2. Mikkel Boedker failed to take advantage, and his miss did not even test Mike Condon.
    3. Ryan met the same fate as his teammate, once again leaving the door open for the Sharks.
    4. Pavelski failed to take advantage though, as Condon was able to make the save.
    5. Karlsson was up next, and Jones gobbled up his third-straight shot.
    6. San Jose‘s Burns couldn’t end the shootout, but he probably would have had a better chance if he’d put his attempt on frame.
    7. Jones seems to have a hobby of saving Senators‘ shootout shots, as Chris Neil met the same fate as the three previous Sens.
    8. Third Star Kevin Labanc earned that distinction for a reason: he earned the bonus point for the Sharks by scoring the lone shootout goal.

    Jones earns the victory after saving 28-of-31 (90.3%) shots faced, leaving the shootout loss to Condon, saving 26-of-29 (89.7%).

    The third-straight victory by the visiting team in the DtFR Game of the Day series as pulled the roadies within 11 points of the hosts, who still have a 36-20-10 record.

  • December 14 – Day 63 – Keeping up with the Jones

    There’s only four games on the schedule today, but most of them are very good. Like it usually does, the action starts at 7 p.m. when San Jose visits Ottawa (SN/TVAS), trailed half an hour later by Boston at Pittsburgh (NBCSN). Tampa Bay at Calgary (SN/SN360) drops the puck at 9:30 p.m., leading tonight’s nightcap – Philadelphia at Colorado (NBCSN) – by 30 minutes. All times eastern.

    The most competitive contest of the evening is where we try to turn our attention to, and I think that will occur tonight in the Canadian Tire Centre.

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    The most recent winners of the Campbell Bowl are currently the proud owners of a 17-11-1, the best mark in the Pacific Division and winners of their past two games. They’ve reached that distinction riding an impressive defense and goaltending that has allowed only 63 scores this season, a total that is second-fewest in the Western Conference.

    As has been the case since last season, Martin Jones mans the Sharks’ crease, and does a pretty good job of it. Although he only has a 14-10-1 record, his .921 save percentage and 2.07 GAA are 13th and ninth-best, respectively, among the 38 goalies in the league with 13 or more appearances. With numbers like that, his record is more representative of an offense that has managed only the ninth-fewest goals.

    Part of the reason Jones has been so good has been due to the blueline in front of him. Led by Brent Burns‘ 55 blocks, Jones faces an average of only 26.4 shots per night, the second-fewest in the entire NHL.

    Hosting that impressive Sharks defense are the 16-11-2 Senators, losers of their last two games. Although I’m not really impressed by either aspect of Ottawa‘s game, their defense and goaltending has certainly overshadowed their offensive efforts. They’ve allowed 78 goals so far this season, the 11th-fewest in the NHL.

    Even though 12-6-1 Craig Anderson has been the main man in net for the Senators, Dean Brown says it will by 4-3-1 Mike Condon in net this evening.

    Condon is the proud owner of a .923 save percentage and 2.28 GAA, the 19th and 17th-best effort, respectively, among all 60 goaltenders with four or more appearances.

    Regardless of who is in net for Ottawa on a given night, they certainly earn their paycheck. The Senators‘ defense allows 31.2 shots-per-game to reach the crease, the eighth-most in the league. What’s disheartening is Erik Karlsson (79 blocks), Cody Ceci (64) and Dion Phaneuf (63) have been putting their bodies on the line for their goaltenders, but they are the only ones with more than 40 blocks to their names. If the Sens want to hold onto their current playoff spot, more blueliners need to get involved in performing their primary job description.

    A good spot to start would be on the penalty kill, where Ottawa ranks eighth-worst in the league on a 80.2% kill rate. Phaneuf has been especially active when down a man, as he leads his club with 21 shorthanded blocks, but he’s the only skater with more than 13.

    These squads just met up last Wednesday in The Tank, where Condon and the Senators were able to pull off the 4-2 victory.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Ottawa‘s Karlsson (20 assists [tied for sixth-most in the league]) and San Jose‘s Jones (14 wins [tied for fourth-most in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league], on a 2.07 GAA [10th-best in the NHL]).

    All bets are off in Vegas in this game, but I feel pretty confident in picking the Sharks to come away with the victory for no other reason than the Senators are struggling right now. Ottawa‘s penalty kill is not very good, and their defense has not been gelling of late. Add that to San Jose wanting revenge for losing on home ice, and you have a Sharks winner.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Patrik Sundstrom (1961-) – A 10-year NHL veteran, this Swedish center was selected by Vancouver in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. Sundstrom played 679 games over his career, and very near evenly split them between the Canucks and New Jersey.
    • Bill Ranford (1966-) – Boston selected this Canadian goaltender in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, but he spent most of his 15-year career in Edmonton, where he won his only Stanley Cup in 1990. He also won the Smythe Trophy that season.

    Only three goals were struck in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day series – and all in the same period – but it was Chicago who avenged their home loss to the Rangers to steal the 2-1 victory in Madison Square Garden.

    Trevor van Riemsdyk (Artemi Panarin and Second Star of the Game Artem Anisimov) took credit for the Blackhawks‘ first goal of the night, only 25:18 after the initial puck drop. That lead lasted only 2:57 before Jesper Fast (Oscar Lindberg) tipped-in his third goal of the season to level the game for the Blueshirts. Anisimov (Brian Campbell and Panarin) takes credit for the Hawks‘ game-winner on a snap shot with 69 seconds remaining in the second period, and that 2-1 score held until the final horn.

    First Star Scott Darling earns the victory after saving 33-of-34 shots faced (97.1%), while Third Star Antti Raanta takes the loss, saving 24-of-26 (92.3%).

    The road teams’ second-straight victory pulls them back within a dozen points of the home sides, but the hosts still host a 36-20-9 record in the DtFR Game of the Day series.

  • December 13 – Day 62 – Darling division leaders

    Welcome to Tuesday night hockey. As usual, it’s a busy night, and the action gets started at 7 p.m. with four contests (Los Angeles at Buffalo, Washington at the New York Islanders, Chicago at the New York Rangers [NBCSN/SN/TVAS] and Vancouver at Carolina). Two more games drop the puck half an hour later (San Jose at Toronto and Arizona at Detroit), while another pair waits until the top of the hour (St. Louis at Nashville and Florida at Minnesota). Anaheim at Dallas finds its start at 8:30 p.m., and this evening’s nightcap – Columbus at Edmonton – gets green-lit at 9 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Washington at New York: A Metropolitan Division rivalry that began in the 1980s.
    • Chicago at New York: An “Original Six” matchup, and the only time this regular season that the Hawks visit Manhattan.

    Chicago at New York would be a phenomenal game even if it weren’t an old-school rivalry. The history between both franchises only adds to this contest.

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    I don’t know how they keep slipping through the cracks, but the Blackhawks haven’t been featured in the DtFR Game of the Day series since their 2-1 shootout victory over Florida on November 29.

    Their play has been far from the reason for their absence, as their 18-8-4 record is best in the Western Conference. Although Chicago is home to a long list of excellent goalscorers, they’ve found much of their success by keeping opponents off the scoreboard. The Hawks have yielded only 69 goals this season, tying for seventh-fewest in the league.

    While Corey Crawford is still the lead netminder in the Windy City, an emergency appendectomy on December 3 has forced him to the Blackhawks‘ injured reserve list. Enter 6-2-2 backup Scott Darling, whose .929 save percentage and 2.12 GAA is 11th and 12th-best effort, respectively, among the 58 goalies with five or more appearances.

    For those wondering, I wouldn’t bet on Lars Johansson making his first-ever NHL start, even though Darling has played every second of Chicago‘s last five games (Darling is 2-2-1 in those games). We’ll break down New York‘s offense in a minute, but a quick summary: they’re one of the best in the league. Not the best way to introduce him to the NHL family.

    Crawford, and now Darling, deserve much of the success for Chicago‘s defensive prowess, as the blueline playing in front of them has been nothing to write home about. The Hawks‘ goalies face an average of 30.8 shots-per-game, tying for the 11th-most in the NHL. That being said, that critique does not apply to Niklas Hjalmarsson, whose 64 blocks not only lead the squad, but ties for sixth-most in the entire league.

    Due in large part to the overall effort of the defense, Chicago‘s penalty kill has struggled mightily this year. The Hawks allow opposing power plays to score 27.3% of the time, the absolute worst in the NHL. Other than Hjalmarsson’s 16 shorthanded blocks, no other defenseman has more than 10 to his name.

    Hosting the Hawks this evening are the 20-9-1 Rangers, who currently occupy second place in the Metropolitan Division, arguably the toughest division in hockey. As mentioned before, they’ve played the best offense in hockey, scoring 105 goals in 30 games.

    That 3.5 goals-per-game average is led by J.T. Miller and his 22 points. Although that effort is only good enough to tie him for 33rd-best in the league, it’s the fact that four skaters for the Rangers have 20 or more points to their credit. Adding to that depth has been Michael Grabner, who – although he only has 17 points – has buried 13 goals already this season, the most on the team.

    Like I said, Johansson wants no part of this game, and Darling probably doesn’t either!

    As would be expected, New York‘s power play has been very successful as well. Converting 22.6% of their opportunities, the Blueshirts rank fifth-best in the league. Again, what makes this man-advantage so frightening is that goaltenders have no idea where the pressure is coming from. A whopping six skaters have six power play points to their credit, including Rick Nash, Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Vesey, each of whom have four extra-man tallies.

    The winning ways don’t stop when down a man. Madison Square Garden also houses the fourth-best penalty kill, as the Rangers refuse to allow the opposition to score on 85.9% of power play opportunities. Kevin Klein takes much of the credit in that department, as his 13 shorthanded blocks are most on the club.

    The Rangers have already made their yearly trip to the United Center, where they won 1-0 game last Friday thanks to a Nick Holden overtime winner. Darling was in net for Chicago in that game, so perhaps he knows the secret that has eluded so many other teams to slowing down an offense that has so far been better than last year’s Stars and Capitals.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Chicago‘s Darling (.929 save percentage [10th-best in the NHL]), Marian Hossa (15 goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]) and Patrick Kane (20 assists [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) & New York‘s Kevin Hayes (+16 [tied for third-best in the league]), Grabner (+19 [best in the NHL]) and, should he play, Antti Raanta (1.65 GAA [second-best in the league] on a .943 save percentage [third-best in the NHL]).

    The Rangers are marked -145 favorites to win tonight’s game, and I think you’d be crazy to bet against them. In addition to simply being  an incredible team overall (potentially the best team in hockey), they have an impressive 11-4-1 record at home and are riding a three-game winning streak. Although it won’t be an easy win, I am confident in a Blueshirt victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Doug Mohns (1933-2014) – This seven-time All-Star played an impressive 22 seasons, most of which with the Boston Bruins. By the time his career was over, he’d notched 710 points, including 462 assists.
    • Bob Gainey (1953-) – The eighth-overall pick in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft, he played his entire NHL career with the club that drafted him: the Habs. By the time his playing days were through, he was a five-time Stanley Cup winner, four-time Selke winner, and the recipient of the 1979 Smythe Trophy. As you might expect with a resume like that, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992 and his number 23 was retired in 2008.
    • Sergei Fedorov (1969-) – Another Hall-of-Famer (Class of 2015), this center was drafted 74th-overall by Detroit in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. After 18 seasons, he’d won three Stanley Cups, two Selke Trophies, and the 1994 Hart and Pearson Trophies.
    • Bates Battaglia (1975-) – This left wing may have been drafted by Anaheim in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, but he never played for the Mighty Ducks. Instead, he spent most of his days in Carolina, where he notched 150 of his career 198 points.
    • Dan Hamhuis (1982-) – The 12th-overall pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft is currently in his first season with Dallas. Most of his playing days have been spent with the Central Division rival Predators, where he played 483 games.

    They may have needed overtime, but Boston finally earned their first win of the season against the bitter rival Canadiens, winning 2-1 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Sixty-five seconds remained in the second period before the first goal was struck. Austin Czarnik (Adam McQuaid and Third Star of the Game Ryan Spooner) takes credit with only the third goal of his career. His wrister gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation.

    Desperation time was on the horizon in Montréal, but the Habs avoided making the decision to pull their netminder when Paul Byron (Torrey Mitchell and Andrei Markov) netted a backhander with 3:12 remaining on the clock. As neither team could break the knotted game, they settled to play three-on-three overtime.

    Spooner (Torey Krug and Czarnik) apparently had enough of overtime, or he simply doesn’t like shootouts. Either way, he scored a wrister with 100 seconds remaining in overtime to earn the Bruins the extra point.

    First Star Tuukka Rask earned the victory after saving 30-of-31 shots faced (96.8%), leaving the overtime loss to Second Star Carey Price, saving 27-of-29 (93.1%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series still favors the hosts, as their 36-19-9 record is 14 points better than the roadies’ efforts.

  • December 12 – Day 61 – Not just a rivalry these days

    Bad news: You had to go back to work today.

    Good news: There’s hockey on tonight!

    Don’t get too excited though, there’s only two games. The action starts at 7 p.m. when Arizona visits Pittsburgh (TVAS), followed half an hour later by Boston at Montréal (NHLN/RDS/SN). Both times eastern.

    As sexy as the Coyotes–Penguins matchup is, I think we all know we have to turn our attention to The Metropolis.

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    The 15-12-2 Bruins come to Montréal in command of third place in the Atlantic Division. They’ve been able to find that success by allowing only 69 goals so far this season, tying for the seventh-fewest in the NHL.

    Every good defense starts with a good goalie, and the Bruins are no different. 14-5-2 Tuukka Rask has earned his impressive record on a .93 save percentage and 1.85 GAA, the eighth and fifth-best rates in the league, respectively, among goaltenders with 11 or more appearances.

    Although his numbers have been impressive, Rask doesn’t get all the credit. He faces only 27 shots-per-game, the fourth-lowest rate in the league. Rookie Brandon Carlo and Captain Zdeno Chara have headed that charge with their 46 and 44 blocks, respectively. Last season, the Bruins allowed 30.4 shots per game to tie for 11th-most, and Rask did not play to the standard we’ve come to expect.

    In other words, goalies: be thankful for your bluelines!

    Not surprisingly, Boston‘s penalty kill has also been very strong, refusing 87.2% of opposing power plays. The rookie has been just as important when a man down as he is at even-strength, notching a club-high 15 shorthanded blocks.

    Where the Bruins need to improve is on their own power play, where they find the back of the net only 13.9% of the time. David Krejci, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak are the three man-advantage kings, each with five power play points on their season resume, but Pastrnak has been the most impressive. He has four extra man goals.

    Third in the division is good, but first is better – especially when it coincides with first in the league. That’s the position the 19-6-3 Canadiens find themselves in, and you won’t find any complainers in that dressing room. Just like Boston, the Habs have found much of their success by keeping the opposition off the board.

    The man between the pipes more often than not for the Canadiens has been 16-3-1 Carey Price, who’s .94 save percentage and 1.79 GAA are both the fourth-best efforts in the NHL among goalies with 10 or more appearances.

    So both teams keep their opponents from scoring? What makes them different? We’ve already determined that Boston uses an excellent combination of goalie and defense. On the other hand, Montréal prefers to lean hard on Price.

    The Habs defense has allowed 30.7 shots to reach Price per night, the 13th-most in the NHL. What’s alarming is to think if they’d not made the trade with Nashville for Shea Weber, who leads his new club with 60 blocked shots.

    In conclusion: Price>Rask this season, but Boston‘s defense>Montréal‘s.

    Fortunately for Montréal, their offense – specifically the power play – is able to cover up for the lack of defense. Even with Weber’s 10 power play points – including a club-leading seven power play goals – the Canadiens have converted 21.6% of their man-advantages, the eighth-best effort in the league.

    These teams last met a little under a month ago on this surface, and the Habs won 3-2. That victory improved Montréal‘s record to 2-0 against the Bruins on the season.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Boston‘s Pastrnak (18 goals [second-most in the NHL] for a +15 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) and Rask (three shutouts [tied for second-most in the NHL] among 14 wins [tied for third-most in the league] on a 1.85 GAA [fifth-best in the NHL] and a .93 save percentage [ninth-best in the league]) & Montréal‘s Nathan Beaulieu (+13 [10th-best in the NHL]), Price (16 wins [tied for most in the league] on a 1.79 GAA and a .94 save percentage [both fourth-best in the NHL], plus two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league]) and Weber (+18 [second-best in the NHL]).

    The consensus in Vegas is that Montréal is a -150 favorite to win tonight’s game. They’re hard to pick against, given that they’ve already won the first two meetings with their most hated rivals and they have home ice. I like the Habs to win tonight, but it should be a well-contested contest.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Billy Smith (1950-) – Who knew goaltenders could be strikers? OK, maybe that’s a slight over-exaggeration, but this longtime Islander was the first netminder to bury a goal. Oh yeah, he also won four Stanley Cups.
    • Colin White (1977-) – Another multi-Cup winner, this defenseman was the 49th-overall selection in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey. He played 743 games over 11 seasons with the Devils, plus a 54-game stint in San Jose.

    With two goals in the third period, Edmonton was able to defend home ice against the visiting Jets in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, winning 3-2.

    The lone tally of the first period belonged to the Jets. With 5:10 remaining in the opening frame, Third Star of the Game Mathieu Perreault (Bryan Little and Jacob Trouba) buried a wrister to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead.

    Second Star Oscar Klefbom (Tyler Pitlick and Patrick Maroon) and the Oilers struck back only 1:53 after returning to the ice with a snap shot, but the tied game lasted only 10:07 before Chris Thorburn (Marko Dano) scored a snapper of his own to reclaim a 2-1 lead for Winnipeg.

    Edmonton once again returned from intermission with a vengeance, as First Star Mark Letestu (Connor McDavid and Milan Lucic) buried a power play snap shot to once again tie the game at two-all. But this time, Winnipeg did not have an answer. They could not muster another tally. Instead, it was Letestu who scored the winning goal, earning Edmonton second place in the Pacific Division for the next couple days.

    Cam Talbot earns the come-from-behind victory after saving 29-of-31 shots faced (93.5%), while Connor Hellebuyck takes the loss, saving 27-of-30 (90%).

    The home teams did it! They won all of this week’s DtFR Game of the Days. That streak improves their record to 36-19-8, which is 15 points better than the roadies.

  • December 11 – Day 60 – Round Three for Me

    Like U2 said, it’s basically just another Sunday in the NHL. The league has scheduled eight games for us to watch, starting with Ottawa at Anaheim (TVAS) at 4 p.m. Two more games drop the puck at 5 p.m. (Philadelphia at Detroit and Vancouver at Washington), followed an hour later by St. Louis at Minnesota to complete the afternoon matinees. Three contests get green-lit at the usual 7 p.m. starting time (Dallas at Chicago, Colorado at Toronto [SN] and New Jersey at the New York Rangers), with Winnipeg at Edmonton, this evening’s nightcap, waiting until 9:30 p.m. to get underway. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • New Jersey at New York: The Battle of the Hudson River finally gets underway in the 2016-17 season.
    • Winnipeg at Edmonton: Similarly, this rivalry makes it’s first visit to Rogers Place.

    I expect the late game to one of the better games of the day, so we’re off to The Big E.

    Unknown-4Unknown-5

     

    It’s the second of Winnipeg‘s two-game, two-day weekend road trip. Looking to avoid their third-straight loss, the Jets will try to overcome goaltending that has allowed 92 goals, which ties for second-most in the league.

    Connor Hellebuyck has been the man between the pipes for the Jets more often than not this season, and has earned a 10-9-1 record in those 20 starts. To claim that record, he’s set a .908 save percentage and 2.73 GAA, both numbers the 30th-best effort among the 44 netminders with 10 or more appearances so far this season.

    Disappointingly, much of that responsibility rests on his shoulders. Although the Jets don’t have an exceptional defense, they allow only 29.9 shots to reach the net each game, the 13th-fewest among all clubs. That effort has been headlined by defensive extraordinaire Dustin Byfuglien, who has already prevented 54 shots from reaching Hellebuyck’s cage.

    Not surprisingly, Winnipeg‘s penalty kill has also suffered so far this year. Negating only 77.9% of their infractions, the Jets‘ penalty kill ranks fifth-worst in the league. Don’t tell Toby Enstrom though, as he has an impressive 15 shorthanded blocks to his credit to not only lead the team, but tie for 10th-most in the entire NHL.

    The power play has also been fairly unimpressive. Even with rookie Patrik Laine‘s nine power play points (seven of which are goals, which also leads the club), the Jets have found success on only 15.4% of opportunities to rank seventh-worst in the league.

    Hosting Winnipeg this evening are the 14-11-5 Oilers, a team sitting in third place in the Pacific Division. Much of the reason they’ve been able to find such success this season has been due to their explosive offense, which ranks fifth-best in the NHL after scoring 89 goals.

    He was the number one pick in last season’s draft, and every game proves that Peter Chiarelli made the right decision (not that it was in any doubt). Connor McDavid is the king of River City, already notching 38 points this season. While his dozen goals are impressive, it’s been Leon Draisaitl with the scoring lead, burying 13 goals so far this year.

    To continue the onslaught, Edmonton is home to the fifth-best power play in the game, converting 22.1% of their opportunities. The usual suspects have both led the man-advantage with 11 points apiece, but it has been Draisaitl with seven power play goals.

    The penalty kill has also been very impressive for the Oil. They’ve refused to yield a power play goal in 84.4% of situations, the ninth-best rate in the league. Heading the shorthanded goal-stopping effort has been not-so-new-anymore addition Kris Russell, who has 15 undermanned blocks to his credit.

    This matchup has already been played twice this season, with Edmonton winning both games by a combined 9-3, in Manitoba no less.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Edmonton‘s Draisaitl (13 goals [tied for seventh-most in the league]), McDavid (38 points, including 26 assists [both lead the NHL]) and Cam Talbot (three shutouts [tied for second-most in the league] among 13 wins [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]) & Winnipeg‘s Nikolaj Ehlers (19 assists [tied for seventh-most in the league]), Laine (17 goals [third-most in the NHL]) and Mark Scheifele (14 goals [tied for fifth-most in the league] for 28 points [10th-most in the NHL]).

    A quick search did not yield a line for this game, so it looks like the know-it-alls in the desert are calling this one too close to call. I like the Oilers to win. Not only does Winnipeg have a losing skid hanging over them, but their special teams pale in the face of Edmonton‘s.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Moose Vasko (1935-1998) – This defenseman’s given name might have been Elmer, but his nickname Moose was more descriptive of his efforts over his 13 seasons. Most of that time was spent in Chicago, where he hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1961.
    • J.P. Parise (1941-2015) – He may have never hoisted the Stanley Cup, but this left wing was twice an All-Star. Most of his 594-point career was spent in Minnesota with the North Stars.
    • Daniel Alfredsson (1972-) – The greatest scorer in Senators history, this right wing was drafted by the club in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. By the time his 17 seasons in Ottawa were complete, he’d notched 1108 points. His number 11 will be retired on December 29.
    • Mark Streit (1977-) – A Montréal draft pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, this defenseman is in his fourth season in Philadelphia.

    By scoring in each period, the Panthers were able to defend home ice against Vancouver 4-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Florida didn’t wait too long to get the scoring started. Their lone goal of the first period was struck only 2:22 into the match by First Star of the Game Aleksander Barkov (Third Star Seth Griffith) with an impressive wrist shot.

    With 25 seconds remaining until the midway point of regulation, Derek MacKenzie (Paul Thompson and Colton Sceviour) lit the lamp with a tip-in goal to set the score at 2-0, which held into the second intermission.

    Aaron Ekblad (Jaromir Jagr and Barkov) buried what proved to be the winning goal only 1:05 into the final frame with a backhanded shot. The Canucks finally got on the board at the 8:06 mark with a Jack Skille (Michael Chaput) wrister to pull within two, followed 3:39 later by a power play tally from Daniel Sedin (Troy Stecher and Henrik Sedin), but the comeback met its end with 48 seconds remaining in regulation when Vincent Trocheck (MacKenzie and Mark Pysyk) scored on an empty net.

    Second Star Roberto Luongo earned the victory after saving 37-of-39 shots faced (94.9%), while Jacob Markstrom takes the loss, saving 38-of-41 (92.7%).

    With a win today from Edmonton, the home teams will complete their week-streak over the roadies in the DtFR Game of the Day series. This success has given the hosts a 35-19-8 record, with favors them by 13 points over the visitors.

  • December 10 – Day 59 – Gudbranson is Badbranson when he’s playing against your team

    Welcome to the weekend. It’s been waiting for you.

    I know you have big plans for these 48 hours, but make sure to make some room for hockey. There’s quite a selection of games today, starting with Dallas at Philadelphia (SN1) at 1 p.m., followed three hours later by Ottawa at Los Angeles (RDS). Five games start at the usual 7 p.m. time (Toronto at Boston [CBC/NHLN], Colorado at Montréal [CITY/SN360/TVAS], Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, Vancouver at Florida [SN] and the New York Islanders at Columbus), trailed an hour later by Nashville at Arizona. The West Coast gets involved at 10 p.m. with Winnipeg at Calgary (CBC/SN) and tonight’s nightcap – Carolina at San Jose – drops the puck half an hour after. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Toronto at Boston: Everybody loves an Original Six matchup!
    • Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay: Last season, it took seven games for the Penguins to best the Bolts in the Eastern Finals.
    • Vancouver at Florida: The first five seasons of Erik Gudbranson‘s career was spent in Florida, but since this offseason he’s called British Columbia home.
    • Winnipeg at Calgary: Tonight’s contest is the first meeting of the season between these rivals.

    Since Gudbranson will only make one trip to the Sunshine State this season – barring an improbable Canucks–Panthers Stanley Cup Finals – we’ll follow Vancouver to the BB&T Center.

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    Welcome home Gudbranson. The defenseman was the third-overall selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, and he made his NHL debut only a season later. It was a quick introduction to the senior club, as skipping an introductory stop in San Antonio, Florida‘s AHL side.

    Gudbranson made an immediate impact on the club, always playing 64 or more games for the Panthers (barring, of course, the 2012-’13 lockout). Over the course of his tenure in Florida, Gubdranson was known as a violent player – the most physical in the dressing room. He threw an impressive 754 hits while playing for the Panthers (the 11th-most among the 484 eligible over that time-span), including a hit season in 2014-15 where he landed 2.8 hits per game.

    He also performed his primary duties well, blocking 344 shots before catching a plane to Canada, the third-most for the franchise during his tenure.

    He found his way to Vancouver this summer in a trade that included a total of three 2016 draft picks (evenctually becoming Jonathan Ang and Adam Mascherin for Florida and Cole Candella for Vancouver) and Jared McCann joining the Panthers.

    He joins a 12-13-2 Canucks club that currently occupies sixth place in the Pacific Division. Much of the reason his team hasn’t found success is not his fault, as it is the offense that has not been producing. Vancouver has notched only 62 goals so far this season, the fourth-fewest in the NHL.

    As usual, the Sedins are doing all they can to keep the Canucks alive. Daniel Sedin leads the squad with 18 points, but brother Henrik Sedin is right behind with 17. Bo Horvat joins D. Sedin for the scoring lead, as they both have lit the lamp eight times.

    Unfortunately for Vancouver, neither 18 points nor eight goals breaks the top-50 in scoring this season – yet those are the numbers leading their team. That’s not a good sign for the other forwards expected to produce scoring.

    Much of those struggles can be attributed to a lackluster power play. Vancouver ties for the fifth-worst power play in the league, converting only 14.1% of opportunities. Once again, who else to lead the Canucks but the Sedins? They both have six man-advantage points for top in the clubhouse, but D. Sedin probably deserves more credit as he has three power play goals.

    Impressively, Vancouver has certainly buckled down on their own end when facing the man-advantage. Their 84.9% ties for seventh-best in the NHL, and was led by Alexander Edler and his 10 shorthanded blocks before he broke a finger. The man of the hour is right behind, notching nine for second-most, and has been expected to assume the role Edler left behind.

    Playing host this evening are the 12-12-4 Florida Panthers, currently the sixth-best team in the Atlantic Division. Similarly to Vancouver, it has been their offensive struggles that have held them back from greater success. The Panthers have notched only 64 goals this year, tying for fifth-fewest in the game.

    Jon Marchessault has been the man in charge of that offense, as he’s notched 19 points this season and 10 goals – already the best mark of his NHL career after only 25 games – to lead the squad. Unfortunately for the Panthers, he has been sidelined for the past week, and his status is unknown for tonight’s game. In his stead, Florida turns to Aleksander Barkov, who has 18 points on his campaign, and the three goalscorers (Aaron Ekblad, Jaromir Jagr and Vincent Trocheck) that tie for second-most goals on the team with six apiece.

    If the Canucks‘ power play is bad, the Panthers‘ is much, much worse. They tie for worst in the league, successful on only 13.5% of their attempts. Once again, that was Marchessault’s responsibility before he got hurt, as his seven points and three power play goals both led the team. Florida is left with Barkov (five power play points), Jagr (three goals among five points) and Keith Yandle (five power play points )to pick up the slack while their breakout star is healing his lower-body injury.

    Fortunately, the penalty kill has been outstanding, negating 85% of their infractions for the sixth-best mark in the league. Michael Matheson has headed that department with seven shorthanded blocks to his name.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Florida‘s Barkov (13 assists [leads the team]) and Trocheck (72 hits [leads the team]) & Vancouver‘s Gudbranson (61 hits [leads the team]) and D. Sedin (18 points [leads the team]).

    Vegas has marked Florida a -205 favorite this evening, but I think that’s a little strong given both teams play a similar style. If Marchessault can go, I think the Panthers can win, but without him I think the Canucks can pull off the road victory.

    Hockey Birthday:

    • Rob Blake (1969-) – Los Angeles drafted this defenseman in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, and he played 805 games over 14 seasons for the Kings. He was a member of the 2000-’01 Colorado club that hoisted the Stanley Cup, as well as on the coaching staff for the 2013-’14 champion Kings. His number 4 hangs in the Staples Center rafters for being a seven-time All-Star and winner of the 1998 Norris Trophy.
    • T.J. Hensick (1985-) – A 2005 NHL Entry Draft selection by Colorado, he’s appeared in 112 senior-level games. His longest stint in the NHL was in 2008-’09, when he played 61 games for the Avs.

    When your first goal of the season is a game-winner, you’re going to have a good night. Ask the Ducks, who beat San Jose 3-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Anaheim got the scoring started relatively quickly, as Rickard Rakell‘s (Third Star of the Game Shea Theodore and Corey Perry) wrist shot found the back of the net only 4:44 after beginning play. With 4:54 remaining in the frame, the Ducks doubled their score with a wrister from Second Star Antoine Vermette (Theodore and Nick Ritchie), but Brent Burns (Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski) and San Jose reeled them back in with six ticks remaining in the frame, setting the score at 2-1 going into the first intermission.

    The Sharks knotted the score at two-all 8:40 into the second period with a Kevin Labanc (Logan Couture and Joel Ward) snapper, only his third tally of the season. That score held to the end of the frame, setting up an exciting third and final period.

    With 5:38 remaining in regulation, First Star Hampus Lindholm (Ritchie and Ryan Kesler) buried his first goal of the season to break the tie and earn the Ducks first place in the Pacific Division.

    Jonathan Bernier earned the victory after saving 22-of-24 shots faced (91.7%), while Martin Jones takes the loss, saving 29-of-32 (90.6%).

    This entire business week has been dominated by the home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, as their fifth-straight victory gives them an 11-point advantage over the roadies for a 34-19-8 record.

  • December 9 – Day 58 – The Tank empties into The Pond

    You made it through another week of work, so you deserve to watch some hockey. Washington at Buffalo gets things started at 7 p.m., followed half an hour later by a pair of contests (Columbus at Detroit and St. Louis at New Jersey). 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of Edmonton at Minnesota, with the New York Rangers visiting Chicago (NHLN) 30 minutes later. San Jose at Anaheim (SN) acts as this evening’s nightcap, getting underway at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list

    • New York at Chicago: It’s an Original Six matchup between two of the top teams in the league.
    • San Jose at Anaheim: This rivalry may not have existed 25 years ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching.

    It’s been a long time since we’ve checked in on the Ducks, so let’s head out to the Honda Center!

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    The reigning Western Conference Champion San Jose Sharks are well on their way to making their second-straight playoff appearance, as their 15-10-1 is third-best in the Pacific Division. They’ve gotten to that position by playing some good goaltending and even better defense, yielding only 55 goals so far this season – the third-fewest in the NHL.

    Martin Jones has only had three days off, but that hasn’t affected him much. He has a 13-9-1 record with a .92 save percentage and 2.04 GAA to rank (t)14th and seventh-best among the 36 netminders with 12 or more appearances.

    An impressive GAA paired with a less-impressive save percentage is almost always due to an impressive defense. San Jose is definitely one of those cases. Led by Justin Braun and Brent Burns‘ co-leading 48 blocks, the Sharks‘ blueline has allowed only 25.8 shots to reach Jones’ crease per game, the best rate in the league.

    Hosting that strong defense this evening are the 13-9-5 Ducks, the club sitting in fourth place in the Pacific Division. Anaheim is a well-rounded team, but I’m more impressed by their offense that has scored 72 goals this season, a total that ties them for 14th in scoring.

    Ryan Kesler has been the man in charge of the Ducks offense so far this season, leading the club with his 23 points as well as his 12 goals. But, it hasn’t been just him. Captain Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry join Kesler in the 20+ point club.

    One of the main reasons for this success has been the Ducks‘ opportunistic play. Kesler’s 11 power play points has led Anaheim to converting 22.1% of their man-advantages, the sixth-best rate in the league. The incredible center has completed a lot of those attacks, taking credit for seven of the 19 extra-man tallies.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Anaheim‘s Getzlaf (20 assists [tied for second-most in the league]) and San Jose‘s Jones (13 wins [tied for fourth-most in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league], on a 2.04 GAA [ninth-best in the NHL]).

    Vegas has marked Anaheim a -112 favorite, but I like the underdog in tonight’s contest. San Jose has a superior defense going against a slightly above-average offense. Unfortunately, I’ve been wrong in my last few picks, so we’ll have to see if it’s the Ducks or Sharks that are grateful I’ve sided with NorCal.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Germain Gagnon (1942-2014) – This left wing may have only played five seasons, but he played for four different clubs in that relatively short amount of time. Although he appeared on three Chicago teams, he played most of his 259 games for the Islanders.
    • Pit Martin (1943-2008) – 1101 games were played over 17 NHL seasons by this center, most of which with the Blackhawks. Although he never won a Stanley Cup, he did claim the 1970 Masterton Trophy.
    • Dana Murzyn (1966-) – Hartford selected this defenseman fifth-overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, but he spent most of his days in Vancouver. After playing his amateur days in Calgary, he joined the Flames in 1988 and played on the 1989 Stanley Cup winning team.
    • Petr Nedved (1971-) – Nearly half of this center’s career was spent playing with the Rangers, but he was drafted second-overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by Vancouver. By the time his NHL days came to a close, he’d played for seven teams.

    For the second time in four days, and coincidentally the same statecommonwealth, goaltending took the night off in the DtFR Game of the Day in favor for a barn-burner as Philadelphia beat Edmonton 6-5.

    Only one goal was struck in the first period, and it belonged to the visiting Oilers. Third Star of the Game Leon Draisaitl (Jesse Puljujarvi and Kris Russell) scored a snap shot 4:39 into the game to give Edmonton an early lead.

    That lead doubled 4:35 into the second period when Connor McDavid (Draisaitl and Milan Lucic) buried a power play snap shot, but Philly reeled them in when Mark Streit (Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov) buried a slap shot 7:56 later to set the score at 2-1. The Flyers leveled the score with 6:36 remaining in the frame when Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Andrew MacDonald and Chris VandeVelde) scored his first goal of the season with a snapper. Philadelphia scored again 19 seconds later to take their first lead, courtesy of a flying First Star Claude Giroux (Second Star Jakub Voracek) slap shot. The Oilers didn’t like that very much, so Andrej Sekera (Mark Letestu and McDavid) buried a shorthanded slap shot to tie the game at three-all going into an exciting final period.

    As crazy as the second period was, the third was even more wild. With goals from Benoit Pouliot (Draisaitl and Sekera) and Oscar Klefbom (Jordan Eberle and Drake Caggiula) at the 3:07 and 5:12 marks respectively (Klefbom’s was on the power play), the Oilers had a strong 5-3 lead. But it would end up not even yielding a point. A Voracek (Shayne Gostisbehere and Giroux) power play snap shot pulled the Flyers back within a goal at the 6:31 mark, followed 5:40 later by a Giroux (Radko Gudas and Voracek) snap shot to tie the game. The game stayed tied until 89 remained – that’s when Michael Raffl (Voracek and Streit) buried his game-winning snap shot.

    Steve Mason took the victory after saving 28-of-33 shots faced (84.8%), leaving the loss to Jonas Gustavsson, saving 25-of-31 (80.6%).

    Philadelphia‘s home victory is the fourth-straight in the DtFR Game of the Day series. They join with previous home teams to set the hosts’ record at 33-19-8 in that series, leading the visitors by nine points.

  • December 8 – Day 57 – Orange you glad I picked two orange teams?

    It’s Thirsty Thursday at a hockey rink near you!

    *Disclaimer: I do not actually know if it is Thirsty Thursday at your local arena. Please do not assume I know your club’s Thursday promotions.*

    The action starts at 7 p.m. with three contests (Colorado at Boston, St. Louis at the New York Islanders and Edmonton at Philadelphia), followed half an hour later by three more (New Jersey at Montréal [RDS/SN360], Vancouver at Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh at Florida). The New York Rangers at Winnipeg drops the puck at the top of the hour, and Nashville at Dallas trails at 8:30 p.m. 9 p.m. marks the beginning of Calgary at Arizona, which precedes tonight’s nightcap – Carolina at Los Angeles – by 90 minutes.

    Riding a six-game winning streak, the Flyers are currently playing must-watch hockey. Tonight, they host a good Oilers team, so we’re off to the Wells Fargo Center.

    Unknown-5Philadelphia Flyers Logo

     

    Edmonton enters tonight’s game on a streak of their own, but it’s as far from Philly‘s as it can be without being a losing skid – they’ve suffered two-straight overtime losses. The Oilers are 14-10-4 for first place in the Pacific Division, and they’ve gotten to that position by playing an incredible offense that has already notched 82 goals, the most in the Western Conference.

    Second-year pro and first-year captain Connor McDavid has headlined that scoring effort this season, notching 36 points in 28 games – the highest point total in the league, much less the Oilers. He’s joined by Leon Draisaitl to co-lead the club with 11 goals apiece.

    Much of the success is due to Edmonton taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves in the form of opposing penalties. The Oil‘s 20.4% success rate is 10th-best in the league, co-led by Draisaitl and McDavid’s 10 man-advantage points. Draisaitl’s effort with the extra-man has been especially impressive, as his seven power play goals ties for second-most in the NHL.

    Hosting them this evening are the 15-10-3 Flyers – a club who has earned 40% of their wins in the past 12 days to move into fifth place in the Metropolitan Division. The reason they’ve been able to pull off this streak is due totally to their offense, which has notched 87 goals so far this year.

    Who else to lead Philly‘s scoring effort than Wayne Simmonds? His 26 points are just another line item in the long list of things he does for this club. 15 of those points are goals which – you guessed it – is also the best on the squad.

    Edmonton‘s power play is good, but Philadelphia‘s is way, way better. Led by Claude Giroux‘ 14 power play points, the Flyers have connected on 23.8% of their man-advantages, the second-best rate in the league. Eight of Simmonds’ goals have been on the power play, double the tally of Giroux to top the squad.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Edmonton‘s McDavid (36 points on 25 assists [both lead the NHL]) and Cam Talbot (three shutouts [tied for second-most in the league] among 13 wins [tied for fourth-most in the NHL]) & Philadelphia‘s Giroux (18 assists [tied for fifth-most in the league]) and Simmonds (15 goals [fourth-most in the NHL] among 26 points [tied for ninth-most in the league]).

    Philly is marked the favorite by Vegas with a -130 line, but I like Edmonton to take the victory. My pick is dependent on Cam Talbot having a good game, as he either plays well… or he doesn’t. That being said, the Oil do have the additional advantage of the superior penalty kill in their back pocket, which could still be enough to get them out of Philly with the victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Red Berenson (1939-) – This center was a longtime Blue, playing 519 of his 987 games in the Gateway to the West. He notched 658 points over his 17 career, but nowadays he’s the head man at the University of Michigan.
    • Ted Irvine (1944-) – A left wing with 11 seasons of NHL experience, he spent most of his days playing in Madison Square Garden. He notched 331 points in his career.
    • Drew Doughty (1989-) – This defenseman has never played for anyone but the Kings, the club that drafted him second-overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Recipient of last season’s Norris Trophy, he notched 51 points and 105 blocks.

    It took 61:36, but the Washington Capitals were able to hold off the Boston Bruins with a 4-3 overtime victory in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    It took only 23 seconds for the Caps to earn their first lead of the game, courtesy of Second Star of the Game Justin Williams (Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin). They doubled that lead to 2-0 7:34 later when Williams (Kuznetsov) buried his second of the night with a wrister.

    Washington‘s final goal of regulation was struck 5:51 into the second period off a Daniel Winnik (Jay Beagle) wrister. The Bruins waited until 3:25 remained in the frame to begin their impressive comeback with a Dominic Moore (Anton Blidh) wrister. David Pastrnak pulled Boston within a tally with a minute remaining in the second period to set up an exciting third frame.

    Only one goal was struck in the remaining 20 minutes, of course belonging to the Bruins. It was Colin Miller (Austin Czarnik and Brad Marchand) who took credit for the game-tying tally with a power play slap shot that eventually forced three-on-three overtime.

    Although all momentum was on Boston‘s side, it was First Star Nicklas Backstom (Nate Schmidt and Marcus Johansson) who finished the contest for the Capitals with a game-winning wrister.

    Braden Holtby earns the victory after saving 31-of-34 (91.2%), leaving the overtime loss to Tuukka Rask, saving 16-of-20 (80%).

    Washington‘s win improves the home sides’ record to 32-19-8 in the DtFR Game of the Day series, a seven-point advantage over the visitors.

  • December 7 -Day 56 – If bears could vote…

    There’s only four games occurring tonight, but they all look to be good ones. The action starts at 7:30 p.m. with Minnesota at Toronto (SN), followed half an hour later by Boston at Washington (NBCSN/TVAS). Later, the co-nightcaps drop the puck at 10:30 p.m. (Carolina at Anaheim and Ottawa at San Jose [RDS]). All times eastern.

    I know we’ve been in the Eastern Conference for the last four days, but the game I’m most interested in is going down in the Verizon Center. Off to the capital we go!

    Unknown-7Washington Capitals Logo

     

    Jumping right in, 15-10-1 Boston – currently riding a three-game winning streak – is the third-best team in the Atlantic Division, thanks in most part to a defense and goaltending that has allowed only 57 goals so far this season, the fifth-fewest in the league. That stat is made only more impressive by the fact that the Bruins allowed 228 goals a season ago, the tying for 11th-most.

    Much of that improvement can be attributed to the 14-4-1 Tuukka Rask, whose .939 save percentage and 1.68 GAA – which rank fourth and second-best in the league, respectively, among goalies with 10 or more appearances – are vastly better than his efforts a season ago (.915 and 2.56) that rank among the worst campaigns of his 10-season career.

    Rask doesn’t get to take all the credit though. Last season, his defense allowed 30.4 shots-per-game to reach his crease, the 13th-most in the league. Nowadays, that number is down to 27.7, the fifth-best. Taking responsibility for that change is rookie Brandon Carlo, who’s 45 blocks is a greater total than even the likes of Captain Zdeno Chara (43), Adam McQuaid (37) and John-Michael Liles (28).

    That success has followed the Bruins to the penalty kill, where their 86.4% kill rate is the third-best in the league. Carlo has led that charge as well, with 15 shorthanded blocks on his young NHL resume.

    Boston‘s Achilles heel continues to be their power play, which ranks fourth-worst at 13.8%. Two of the Davids (David Krejci and David Pastrnak, to be exact) have five power play points to co-lead the team, but I’d argue Pastrnak has been the most vital with four extra-man goals.

    *Seriously, count up how many Davids are on the Bruins‘ roster. Last I checked, there’s three active right now.*

    Hosting Boston this evening are the 14-7-3 Capitals, who currently occupy fifth place in the Metropolitan Division. Just like the Bruins, Washington has found most of their success by being a strong defensive team, allowing only 53 goals – the fourth-fewest in the NHL.

    Last year’s Vezina Trophy-winning Braden Holtby currently has an 11-6-2 record on a .923 save percentage and 2.14 GAA – the 16th and 10th-best efforts among netminders with 10 or more appearances.

    Much of the reason Holtby has been able to maintain his stellar play from a season ago has been due to the impressive defense playing in front of him that has allowed only 28.2 shots-per-game to reach his crease – effectively identical to last season’s Presidents’ Trophy-clinching effort.  Brooks Orpik has led the blueline with 39 blocks, but four total defensemen (Karl Alzner, John Carlson, Matt Niskanen and Orpik) already have more than 30 shot blocks on the year.

    Surprisingly, the power play has let Washington down thus far into the season. Even with Nicklas Backstrom‘s nine power play points and Alex Ovechkin‘s four power play goals, the Caps‘ 15.2% success rate is ninth-worst in the NHL. Part of the reason for that decline might be due to T.J. Oshie being sidelined since November 19 with an upper body-injury, one would expect a potent Capitals offense to overcome that setback.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Boston‘s Pastrnak (+15 on 15 goals [both tied for third-most in the league]) and Rask (14 wins [tied for most in the NHL], including three shutouts [tied for second-most in the league], on a 1.68 GAA [second-best in the NHL] and a .939 save percentage [fourth-best in the league]) & Washington‘s Holtby (2.14 GAA [10th-best in the NHL]) and Ovechkin (12 goals [10th-most in the league]).

    Vegas thinks Washington is the favorite tonight, marking them with a -145. Since the Capitals are on home ice, I also like Washington to pull out the victory in what should be a good game.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Gerry Cheevers (1940-) – How funny we’d feature the Bruins on 12-year Bostonian goaltender Cheevers’ birthday! Up until the 2011 championship, this netminder had been responsible for the Bruins‘ previous two Stanley Cup titles.
    • Garry Unger (1947-) –  A long-time Blue, this center was an seven-time All-Star and notched 804 points over his 16-season career.
    • Peter Laviolette (1964-) – Currently the head coach in Nashville, this skipper’s crowning achievement of his 15-season coaching career is still the Stanley Cup he won in 2006 with Carolina.
    • Georges Laraque (1976-) – The 31st-overall selection in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, this right wing spent most of his time with Edmonton, the club that drafted him. Twice he made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, but both times his club failed to hoist the Cup.
    • Milan Michalek (1984) – This left wing was the sixth-overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by San Jose, but he played most of his days in Ottawa.

    It’s the games I’m most confident in that are getting the best of me. I assumed the Rangers would have no problem beating the Islanders, but once again a good rivalry game turned the tables as the home Isles bested the Blueshirts 4-2.

    The first goal of the night was a special one for the Islanders. Struck 7:03 into the game, Third Star of the Game Scott Mayfield‘s (Cal Clutterbuck and Anders Lee) slap shot was his first goal of the season, and only the second of his 14-game NHL career. Jason Chimera (Brock Nelson) backed that tally up with one of his own with 2:36 remaining in the frame to give the Islanders a two-goal lead going into the first intermission.

    The Rangers‘ incredible offense finally got on the board 56 seconds into the second period with a Jimmy Vesey (Rick Nash) wrister, but Andrew Ladd (Shane Prince) notched the eventual game-winner only 1:22 later with a snap shot. The Rangers fought back within a goal at the 8:54 mark via a Marc Staal (J.T. Miller and Chris Kreider) wrister, but it was the last tally they could manage, both in the second period and regulation.

    Second Star John Tavares (Josh Bailey and Nick Leddy) scored an insurance goal with 8:47 remaining in the game to seal the Islanders’ victory in the Battle of New York.

    First Star Jaroslav Halak earns the victory after saving 36-of-38 shots faced (94.7%), forcing Henrik Lundqvist to take the loss, saving 28-of-32 (87.5%).

    The second straight win by the home team in the DtFR Game of the Day series has improved their record to 31-19-8 and expended their lead over the roadies to six points.