Down the Frozen River

Author: Connor Keith

  • November 16 – Day 35 – It’s just Pittsburgh-Washington. You know, nothing special…

    There’s two games being played in the NHL tonight. Two.

    I suppose we have no right to complain since there was only one contest Monday…

    But I’m still sour about it.

    Anyways, Pittsburgh at Washington (NBCSN/SN/TVAS) gets things started at 7:30 p.m., followed by Arizona at Calgary (SN/SN1) at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    You have a 50-50 shot of picking our Game of the Day. Hopefully you’re a good guesser.

    pittsburgh_penguins_logoWashington Capitals Logo

     

    Something tells me you guessed right. A rivalry to this magnitude cannot be missed, no matter how much you want to watch two of the bottom three teams in the Western Conference.

    Pittsburgh enters the Verizon Center with a 10-3-2 record. As we’ve come to expect from the Penguins, it has been a solid offense that has led the way to that success.

    They’ve been led so far by Evgeni Malkin, who has 15 points to his credit. That being said, Sidney Crosby has been far-and-away the most impressive player on the squad with 10 goals on his resume in only nine games played. I was concerned that his preseason concussion could be the symbolic straw that broke the camel’s back, but it seems to have awoken a Crosby that hearkens back to, if not succeeds, his 2010-’11 form before being sidelined for over a year.

    Western Pennsylvania is home to the third-strongest power play in the league, as the Pens are successful on 25.5% of their attempts. Phil Kessel has been the man in charge on the man-advantage, responsible for nine power play points, including six assists. Patric Hornqvist has been the one completing most of the plays, potting four power play goals.

    Hosting the Penguins this evening are the 9-4-2 Capitals. What has been most impressive about Washington‘s play so far has not been their offense, but actually their defense and goaltending, which has allowed only 35 goals against this season – the fourth-lowest total in hockey.

    Braden Holtby enters the night with a 7-3-1 record on a .922 save percentage and 2.16 GAA, ranking him ninth and eighth-best in the NHL, respectively, among goaltenders with at least 11 appearances.

    Holtby doesn’t get all the credit though, as the defense playing in front of him has been pretty spectacular as well. Thanks to Brooks Orpik‘s 26 blocks and the example he sets for his fellow blue-liners, Holtby faces only 27.9 shots per game, the third-lowest average in the game. An under-worked goaltender is usually a good goaltender, which is the case for the man between the pipes in the nation’s capital.

    Surprisingly, Washington has yet to find much success on the power play this season. Connecting on only 11.9% of their opportunities, the Caps are tied for sixth-worst in the league with the man-advantage. I’m not too concerned yet though, as the Caps ranked fifth-best a season ago after connecting on 21.9% of their attempts.

    This intense rivalry was made only deeper by the occurrences of last postseason. En route to their fourth Stanley Cup title, the Pens upset the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals four games to two in the Eastern Semifinals. The league further rubbed that fact in Washington‘s face by having the Caps be Pittsburgh‘s first home opponent, meaning they had to watch the Penguins hoist their Stanley Cup banner.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Pittsburgh‘s Crosby (10 goals [tied for second-most in the league]) and Washington‘s Marcus Johansson (12 points [leads the team]).

    Vegas doesn’t have a line listed for this game, which only affirms this as the tightly-contested matchup we’ve come to expect. I’m biased towards one of these clubs, but I’m leaning towards Washington taking the victory for no other reason than they have home ice. This should be an absolutely fantastic 60+ minutes of hockey.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Pierre Larouche (1955-) – Pittsburgh selected this center eighth overall in the 1974 NHL Entry Draft, but his longest tenure was with Montréal, the team with which he won two Stanley Cups.
    • Kari Lehtonen (1983-) – The second overall pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by Atlanta,  this goaltender is playing his seventh-consecutive season in Dallas.

    For the third time in the last four Games of the Day, we needed overtime to determine who walked out of the arena with two points. Last night, it was the visiting Devils who beat Dallas 2-1.

    All the regulation scoring action happened before 11 minutes ticked off the clock. New Jersey opened the scoring 7:40 after the opening puck drop when Third Star of the Game Damon Severson (P.A. Parenteau and Beau Bennett) buried a wrister to take a 1-0 lead. It lasted only 2:53 before Patrick Eaves (Antoine Roussel) leveled with a wrister of his own.

    After 49:27 of scoreless play, it’s almost ironic that Second Star Adam Henrique (Kyle Palmieri) buried his snap shot only 44 seconds into overtime to end the game for New Jersey.

    Cory Schneider earns the victory after saving 23-of-24 shots faced (95.8%), while First Star Antti Niemi takes the overtime loss, saving 31-of-33 (93.9%).

    New Jersey‘s victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 21-12-4, still favoring the home squads by eight points over the roadies.

  • November 15 – Day 34 – The Devils went down to Dallas

    As you might guess with only one game yesterday, there’s a ton going down tonight. It’s like your favorite bar – you know, the one that has all your favorite microbrews on tap? Perfect.

    Anyways, we get started with three games at 7 p.m. (Ottawa at Philadelphia [RDS2], San Jose at Carolina and Washington at Columbus), followed half an hour later by another trio (Nashville at Toronto [TVAS], Florida at Montréal [RDS] and Tampa Bay at Detroit [NBCSN]). 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of a third triplet of games (Buffalo at St. Louis, Calgary at Minnesota and Chicago at Winnipeg), followed 30 minutes later by New Jersey at Dallas. Los Angeles at Colorado gets underway at 9 p.m., and the co-nightcaps – the New York Rangers at Vancouver and Edmonton at Anaheim – are an hour later.

    Short list:

    • Tampa Bay at Detroit – Remember last year when the Lightning beat the Red Wings in the Eastern Quarterfinals in five games? Detroit does.
    • New Jersey at Dallas – Vernon Fiddler wore green for five seasons, but he’ll be wearing white tonight at the American Airlines Center.
    • Edmonton at Anaheim – It’s a similar situation for Patrick Maroon. In his fifth year of service with the Ducks, he was traded to the Oil for a prospect and a draft pick.

    Since he’ll only be making one visit to Big D this season, we’ll follow Fiddler back to his old stomping grounds.

    New Jersey Devils LogoUnknown-2

     

     

    The amount of restraint it requires me every time we feature the Devils to not post this song is almost unbearable, but given the subject material’s name, there was no way I could contain myself.

    After a couple seasons in Phoenix, Fiddler joined the Stars before the 2011-’12 season to begin his five-year tenure. While in town, the center played 366 games – the most he’s played with a single club, even though he had an extra season in Nashville‘s system – to score 112 points, 69 of which were assists.

    Fiddler certainly served his time with the club. Although they entered last season projected to find much success, times were not always so fun in Dallas. He and the Stars went 145-119-30 in his first four seasons in Dallas, qualifying for the postseason only once to be eliminated by Anaheim.

    Of course, last year made it all worth it. Well, at least the regular season. With a 50-23-9 record, the Stars took top regular season honors in the Western Conference, but were upset in the quarterfinals by St. Louis.

    This off-season, he joined New Jersey in free agency, and they’ve gone 8-3-3 so far for fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. While the offense has left much to be desired, the Devils have been able to find success by keeping their opposition off the board.

    Cory Schneider has started 11 games already this season for a 6-3-2 record on a .927 save percentage and 2.24 GAA, which ranks 11th and 14th-best, respectively, among goaltenders with six or more appearances.

    What makes Schneider’s efforts more impressive is that the defense playing in front of him is only average, if not slightly worse. He faces an average 30.86 shots per game, which is a touch over the league average. Captain Andy Greene takes the most credit for limiting his netminder’s workload with 28 blocks to his credit, but he is the only Devil with more than 23 blocks.

    That success has not translated well to the defensive special team. New Jersey ranks eighth-worst in the NHL on the penalty kill, negating only 79.5% of their infractions. To their credit, they have tried their hardest to limit trips to the penalty box this season, as Fiddler leads the club with only 13 minutes in the sin bin.

    Jersey‘s power play is indicative of their offensive struggles this season. Successful on only 14% of their attempts, the Devils rank ninth-worst in the league and are about as far from being a threat as Newark is from Dallas. Damon Severson has been most active on the man-advantage with five points to his credit in that situation.

    After a five game road trip throughout western Canada, the Stars return home with a 6-6-4 record on the season. While the offense has not performed like they did a season ago, the defense and goaltending is responsible for Dallas not being higher in the Western Conference table.

    Kari Lehtonen has started nine games this season for a 3-4-3 record on a .891 save percentage and 3.18 GAA, which ranks fifth and ninth-worst among goaltenders with five or more appearances.

    He may be the last line of defense, but Dallas‘ situation doesn’t lie directly on Lehtonen’s shoulders. Even with Johnny Oduya‘s 36 blocks, the Stars‘ netminders face 31.125 shots per game, which exceeds the league average by almost a full shot. It doesn’t sound like much, but it only takes one shot to become a goal and effect the outcome of a game, and even if it doesn’t trickle into the net, it is still another shot Lehtonen has to save.

    As you’d expect, the penalty kill hasn’t treated the Stars very nicely either. Dallas faces 3.75 man-advantages per game (almost half a penalty more than the league average), but have only defended 76.7% to rank fourth-worst in the NHL. Either the kill has to improve or Dallas needs to find a better way to impose their will, because this combination is not working.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Dallas‘ Tyler Seguin (20 points [leads the league] on 13 assists [tied for second-most in the NHL]) and New Jersey‘s Taylor Hall (12 points [leads the team]).

    It looks are bets are off in Vegas for this one, so hopefully that indicates a competitive game. Although I do believe that Dallas will be the better of these two teams come April, I think Jersey is able to get out of Dallas with the victory due to the Stars‘ poor netminding and their offense still searching for their identity.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Yannick Tremblay (1975-) – The defensman was the 145th-overall pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. Selected by Toronto, he only appeared in three seasons with the Leafs before five campaigns with Atlanta.

    The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 4-0 in the only game played yesterday – thereby our Game of the Day.

    J.T. Brown (Cedric Paquette and Braydon Coburn) takes credit for the first, and thus winning, score with 2:02 remaining in the opening period with a wrist shot. Ryan Callahan (Andrej Sustr and Victor Hedman) also scored in the remaining 20 seconds of the frame.

    Two more goals were scored in the second period by Nikita Kucherov (First Star of the Game Steven Stamkos) and Vladislav Namestnikov (Stamkos and Kucherov) to seal the victory.

    Second Star Andrei Vasilevskiy earns the shutout victory after saving all 34 shots he faced, while Jaroslav Halak takes the loss, saving 27-of-31 (87.1%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series stands at 21-12-3, favoring the home sides by nine points over the roadies.

  • November 14 – Day 33 – Selections are Slim

    Here’s the list of tonight’s games. Hopefully your team is playing.

    • Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Islanders – 7 p.m. eastern – TVAS
    • Dancing with the Stars -8 p.m. eastern – ABC
    • The Voice – 8 p.m. eastern – NBC
    • Cincinnati Bengals at New York Giants – 8:30 p.m. eastern – ESPN
    • Scorpion – 10 p.m. eastern – CBS

    So… yeah… there’s a not a whole lot of hockey action going on this evening…

    But hey, it makes my decision-making process much easier!

    Unknown-3New York Islanders Logo

     

    This will be Tampa Bay‘s first time being featured in the Game of the Day, while New York is making their fourth appearance.

    Tampa enters tonight’s game with a 8-6-1 record, good enough for fourth in the Atlantic Division. What impresses me about the Lightning so far this season is their offense, which has 45 goals to its credit.

    Who else to lead the Bolts than Steven Stamkos? He’s appeared in all 15 games played this season, and has 17 points to his credit to lead the team. Eight of those points have been goals, which also leads the club.

    Much of Tampa Bay‘s success has been found on the power play. Led by Nikita Kucherov and Stamkos’ seven power play points, their 25.4% success ranks fourth-best in the league.

    The counterpart to the power play has been equally as successful. Tampa‘s penalty kill ranks eight-best in the league, neutralizing 86% of their infractions for only six extra man-tallies against.

    The 5-7-3 Islanders wishes they were in the Bolts‘ position. They are the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference, due in most part to their lackluster defense and goaltending.

    Jaroslav Halak has started 10 games en route to a 3-4-3 record. So far this season he’s played to a .907 save percentage and three GAA, which ranks 21st and 24th among the 35 goaltenders with seven games played.

    While Halak and backup Thomas Greiss have left much to be desired after two-straight postseason appearances, they cannot shoulder all the blame. Together they’ve faced 475 shots (31.7 per game), 33 more than the average goaltender, or 2.2 per game. Although led by Johnny Boychuk‘s 2.8 blocks per game, no other Islanders have more than 40 blocks to their credit, leaving their netminders to get peppered.

    As would be expected from a team with issues at and behind the blue line, New York has struggled on the penalty kill. Their 78% kill rate is sixth-worst in the NHL.

    Offensively, the Isles have also struggled with their power play. Even with John Tavares‘ team-leading three power play points (perhaps that is the best indicator of their success), New York has scored on only 11.4% of their man-advantages.

    Tonight’s game is the completion of the three-game regular season series between these clubs, that only just began 13 days ago. Tampa Bay has won both the previous two games by a combined 10-2 score, including a 6-1 victory on this surface on the first day of the month.

    Of course, this year’s series is only a recap of their Eastern Semifinal showdown in May. If you’ll remember, the Lightning came out the winners in that series, with the Isles winning only Game 1 before Tampa Bay took the following four contests.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include New York‘s Dennis Seidenberg (+10 [leads the team]) and Tavares (five goals for 12 points [both lead the team]) & Tampa Bay‘s Stamkos (17 points [tied for fifth-most in the league] on eight goals [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]) and, should he play, Andrei Vasilevskiy (two GAA [seventh-best in the league] and .932 save percentage [10th-best in the NHL]).

    The home squad has a +125 next to their name, which is never a good sign for fans wearing blue and orange. I’m siding with Vegas in this one, as Tampa leads the Isles in almost all statistics in addition to having the recent success against this evening’s competition.

    Hockey Birthday:

    • Murray Oliver (1937-2014) – Oliver enjoyed an 18-year, 1127 regular season-game playing career. Most of that time was spent with the Boston Bruins (traded from Detroit during the 1960-’61 season), where he played center for seven seasons for 426 games. He also tried his hand at coaching, leading the Minnesota North Stars in 37 games during the 1982-’83 season.
    • Bobby Allen (1978-) – Allen made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers during the 2002-’03 season, but he would be more known for his two year stint in Boston, where he played defense in 50 regular season games.
    • Taylor Hall (1991-) – Up until this season, the left winger had spent all of his seven-year career with the Edmonton Oilers. The first pick of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft played in 381 regular season games with the Oil before being traded to New Jersey this off-season.

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day featured our second-straight overtime game, and once again it was the home team that scored the final tally as Vancouver beat Dallas 5-4.

    The Stars got on the board only 5:43 after the initial puck drop with Patrick Eaves (Dan Hamhuis and Second Star Tyler Seguin) burying a wrister. That lead lasted only 22 seconds before Bo Horvat (Alexandre Burrows and Sven Baertschi) scored a wrister of his own to level for the Canucks. Dallas reclaimed the lead once again only 20 seconds after Horvat’s goal when Lauri Korpikoski (Radek Faksa and Jamie Benn) buried his wrister to set the score at 2-1, which held into the first intermission.

    Only one goal was struck in the second frame, and it belonged to the Stars. Eaves (Seguin and Antoine Roussel) takes credit for the score with a deflection to give the Stars a 3-1 lead 4:56 before the second intermission.

    Willie Desjardins and Henrik Sedin must have given some speech going into the final frame, because the Canucks came back to the ice with a vengeance. 3:26 after resuming play, Loui Eriksson (Third Star Markus Granlund) buried a wrister to pull Vancouver back within a goal, followed 2:40 later by a power play wrister from Brandon Sutter (Daniel Sedin and H. Sedin) to level the score. Once again Dallas took the lead, this time with a Roussel (Seguin) backhander with 8:11 remaining in regulation. That score held until 100 seconds remained on the clock. First Star Troy Stecher (Burrows and Horvat) scored the first goal of his career with a slap shot to force overtime.

    Three-on-three play lasted only 1:27 before Granlund (Sutter) ended the game with a wrister, sealing the Canucks‘ come-from-behind victory.

    Ryan Miller earns the victory after saving 17-of-21 shots faced (81%), forcing Kari Lehtonen to take the overtime loss, saving 25-of-30 (83.3%).

    Vancouver‘s overtime victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 21-11-3, favoring the home squads by 11 points over the roadies.

  • November 13 – Day 32 – More than movie Stars in Hollywood North

    Time to close out the weekend. I know, it just started. The good times are so fleeting, aren’t they?

    Settle in for some hockey at 2 p.m. when Los Angeles visits Winnipeg, followed a couple hours later by Dallas at Vancouver. 5 p.m. brings with it the puck drop of Minnesota at Ottawa (TVAS), with two more games getting underway at 7 p.m. (Boston at Colorado and Montréal at Chicago [RDS/SN]). Finally, tonight’s nightcap starts at 9:30 p.m. with the New York Rangers visiting Edmonton (SN1).

    Short list:

    • Dallas at Vancouver: Dan Hamhuis makes his way home to British Columbia for the first time after spending six seasons with the Canucks.
    • Montréal at Chicago: In addition to being an Original Six rivalry, Andrew Shaw returns to the Windy City after playing their for five seasons.

    It’s been a week of Game of the Day debuts, so we’ll continue that trend by heading to Rogers Arena.

    Unknown-2Unknown

    Hamhuis’ days in a Canucks sweater began in the off-season preceding the 2010-’11 season. After six successful seasons in Nashville, he was so intent on returning to his home province to play that he turned down offers from other clubs that far exceeded Vancouver‘s.

    The defenseman made 389 appearances for his “hometown” team and notched at least 10 assists and 13 points per season. His first Vancouver campaign was the season the Canucks made the Stanley Cup Finals. He threw 43 hits to go with his six points that postseason, but suffered a sports hernia in Game 1 against Boston when hitting Milan Lucic, forcing him to miss the rest of the series.

    Hamhuis moved on to Dallas this off-season in free agency for a two-year, $7.5 million contract. He’s already notched four assists to bring his career total to 252 apples. That effort has helped the Stars to a 6-6-3 record, including victories in their last two contests against the  Alberta-based clubs.

    Just like a season ago, it has been the goaltending that has been the biggest issue for the Stars. Kari Lehtonen has started eight games this season for a 3-4-2 record on a .899 save percentage and 2.96 GAA, 12th and 14th-worst efforts, respectively, among goalies with five or more games played. He hasn’t gotten many favors from his defense, though. Lehtonen and Antti Niemi have had to face 31.2 shots per game, even with Johnny Oduya notching 2.27 blocks per game.

    As would be expected, Dallas‘ penalty kill has suffered this season. Their 82 penalties are the most in the NHL, and they haven’t been able to back up their physicality, stopping only 77.2% of opposing power plays for 13 goals against. While the netminding hasn’t been perfect, all Dallas should need to do is avoid the penalty box to see vast improvements.

    Vancouver enters the night with a 5-9-1 record, mostly due to their inability to score.

    The Canucks are tied for last with Colorado for fewest goals scored with 27. Led by Henrik Sedin‘s nine points, no other Canuck has more than eight points to his credit. Sedin and brother Daniel Sedin each have five goals apiece to take credit for 37% of Vancouver‘s scoring.

    In case you’re wondering, yes: more than two people need to get involved in the offense.

    Part of the reason for the offensive struggles has been the poor showing on the power play. Vancouver ranks second-worst in the NHL with a 8.7% success rate. Having had 46 opportunities, the Canucks have left a lot of points on the ice.

    Fortunately for Vancouver, the penalty kill has been close to exemplary by neutralizing 86.4% of their infractions to be sixth-best in the NHL.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Dallas‘ Tyler Seguin (17 points [tied for third-most in the league] on 10 assists [tied for ninth-most in the NHL] and seven goals [10th-most in the league]) and Vancouver‘s H. Sedin (nine points [leads the team]).

    Vancouver is marked as the +115 underdog this afternoon. Even though it’s not much, I feel like the betting line is a little extreme. The Canucks‘ forte is defense, something they’ll need against Dallas. I’m picking the Stars to earn two points, but I don’t know if it will be a comfortable victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Gilbert Perreault (1950-) – The first pick of the 1970 NHL Entry Draft, the center of The French Connection played his entire 17-year career with Buffalo. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1990, he was a six-time all-star and the recipient of the 1970-71 Calder and 1972-73 Lady Byng trophies. The Sabres also retired his number 11 in ’90.

    It took overtime, but Florida was able to make a winning debut in the DtFR Game of the Day series by beating the Islanders 3-2.

    With only 22 seconds remaining in the first period, Brock Nelson (Calvin de Haan and Jason Chimera) buried a wrister to give the Islanders a one-goal lead that held into the first intermission.

    Six seconds before the midway point of regulation, that lead doubled. Nick Leddy (John Tavares and Josh Bailey) takes credit for the power play tally on a slap shot, the lone score of the second period.

    The Panthers began their comeback 8:56 into the final frame. Third Star of the Game Kyle Rau (Michael Matheson and Derek MacKenzie) scored his first career NHL goal with a snap shot to pull Florida within a goal. With 14 seconds remaining, Second Star Jonathan Marchessault (Aleksander Barkov and Keith Yandle) scored a slap shot to force overtime.

    First Star Denis Malgin (Vincent Trocheck and Matheson) avoided the shootout by scoring with 46 seconds remaining in overtime, sealing the Panthers‘ victory.

    Roberto Luongo earns the victory after saving 19-of-21 shots faced (90.5%), leaving the overtime loss to Jaroslav Halak, who saved 40-of-43 (93%).

    Florida‘s win is the second-straight for the home team in the DtFR Game of the Day series to set the record at 20-11-3, leading the roadies by 10 points.

  • November 12 – Day 31 – Fixing Florida

    It’s Saturday, so you know what that means: lots of hockey!

    Exactly.

    Like always, we get glued to our televisions at 7 p.m. when eight pucks are dropped (Detroit at Montréal [SN/TVAS], San Jose at Tampa Bay, the New York Islanders at Florida, Buffalo at New Jersey, Minnesota at Philadelphia, Toronto at Pittsburgh [CBC/CITY/NHLN], Washington at Carolina and St. Louis at Columbus), followed an hour later by two more (Boston at Arizona and Anaheim at Nashville). Finally, the New York Rangers visit Calgary at 10 p.m. (CBC/SN1) to act as our nightcap. All times eastern.

    Short List:

    • New York at Florida: It’s a rematch of an Eastern Conference Quarterfinal a season ago between two teams still searching for their identity.
    • Detroit at Montréal: Original Six alert.
    • Anaheim at Nashville: Another 2015-’16 Quarterfinal rematch, but this one is in the Western Conference.
    • New York at Calgary: If Josh Jooris weren’t on injured reserve, this would be his first return to the Saddledome since leaving the Flames. Guess he’ll have to wait until next year.

    In a peculiar way, I’m drawn to the Eastern rematch from a season ago. Not only have we not featured the Panthers yet this season, but I want to get to the bottom of why they are not finding the success they were projected to have.

    New York Islanders LogoFlorida_Panthers_logo_2016

     

    Probably the best explanation of the 5-7-2 Islanders is that they’re 1-2-2 in their last five game played. While the offense has been only average in comparison to the rest of the league, it has been the defense and goaltending that has been the major pitfall.

    Jaroslav Halak has started nine games so far this season to earn a 3-4-2 record on a .903 save percentage and 3.03 GAA, which rank 25th and 26th-worst in the league, respectively, among all goaltenders to play this season. While these numbers are far from good, the skaters in front of him have not been providing him much help. Even thought Johnny Boychuk, Dennis Seidenberg, Calvin de Haan and Thomas Hickey all have 32+ blocks to their credit, the Islanders have allowed 432 shots against, well over the league average.

    One of the major reasons for the high shots against totals given the great efforts by those four blueliners is New York‘s inability to avoid the power play. Even though he hasn’t played since last Saturday due to a broken right thumb, Travis Hamonic leads a club that averages 10:55 in the box (tied for 10th-most in the NHL) with 23 penalty minutes. As would be expected by the taxed special team, the Isles have been burned by opposing power plays and allowed a goal on 24.1% of opposing attempts, the worst effort in the Eastern Conference.

    Brooklyn is also home to one of the worst power plays in the league, as the Isles are successful on only 10.5% of their attempts.

    Hosting them this evening are the 6-7-1 Florida Panthers, a team that has been only average this season. Unlike tonight’s opponent, what has probably been most impressive about them has been their defense and goaltending.

    Roberto Luongo has started nine games this season to earn a 4-5-0 record on a .917 save percentage and 2.36 GAA to rank 12th and 15th-best, respectively, among goaltenders with seven or more starts to their name.

    Part of the reason he and James Reimer have been able to find their success has been the blue line playing in front of them. Even though Michael Matheson leads the club with only 16 blocks, Florida has allowed only 401 shots to reach net, six fewer than the league average.

    As stated before, these squads met up last year in the opening round of the Atlantic Division’s playoff bracket. After the clubs split the first four games, the Islanders won two double-overtime games in a row to advance to the Eastern Semifinals. It truly was an upset seeing as the Panthers were not only the Atlantic champion, but they had won the regular season series against New York 2-1-0.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Florida‘s Jon Marchessault (seven goals [tied for eighth-most in the league]) and New York‘s John Tavares (11 points on five goals [both lead the team]).

    Florida is marked a -150 favorite by Vegas, and that’s a line I definitely agree with. Their offense should be more than capable of scoring on the Islanders‘ week defense.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Denis DeJordy (1938-) – This goaltender played 316 games over his 11 NHL seasons, 62.7% of which were with Chicago. He earned a 124-128-51 career record, and won the 1966-’67 Vezina trophy.
    • Mark Hunter (1962-) – This right wing was the seventh overall selection in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by Montréal, but he spent  34.7% of his playing days in St. Louis. He hoisted the Stanley Cup once in his career, with the 1988-’89 Calgary Flames. Nowadays, he’s an assistant with the Maple Leafs.
    • Bryan Little (1987-) – The 12th overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by AtlantaWinnipeg, this right wing has appeared in 614 games with the franchise. He scored a career-best 64 points in his 2013-’14 campaign.
    • Adam Larsson (1992-) – This defenseman was the fourth overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey. He was the Devil sent to Edmonton this off-season in the trade for Taylor Hall.

    I picked Philadelphia to beat Toronto in last night’s Game of the Day. I got embarrassed, as the Leafs won 6-3 on a four-goal third period.

    Toronto earned a 1-0 lead only 2:54 into the contest when Nazem Kadri (Star of the Game Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev) scored a wrister, but Philly pulled even 1:05 later when Wayne Simmonds (Claude Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere) capitalized on a power play opportunity. The Flyers pulled ahead only 26 seconds after drawing even when Travis Konecny‘s (Radko Gudas and Michael Del Zotto) backhand found the back of the net. The final goal of the period wasn’t registered until only 52 seconds remained in the frame. Rielly (Mitch Marner and James van Riemsdyk) takes credit for the power play score with his first goal of the season to set the score at 2-2.

    The Flyers returned to the ice intent on imposing their will, made evident by Mark Streit getting caught for tripping Zach Hyman and earning a seat in the sin bin two minutes into the frame. Philly responded well though, as Simmonds (Sean Couturier) scored a shorthanded snapper 53 seconds later to take a 3-2 lead. It was the lone score of the second period.

    4:03 into the third period, Martin Marincin (Rielly and Kadri) scored his first goal of the season with a slap shot to pull the Leafs into a 3-3 tie. Another first goal of the season proved to be the eventual game-winner, as Hyman (Auston Matthews and Connor Carrick) scored a snap shot 4:31 later to take the lead. The Leafs didn’t look back, as they scored two insurance goals, courtesy of Leo Komarov and Marner (Rielly and Tyler Bozak), to secure the victory.

    Frederik Andersen earned the victory after saving 30-of-33 shots faced (90.9%), while Steve Mason saved 17-of-23 in the loss (73.9%).

    Toronto‘s victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 19-11-3, favoring the home squads by nine points over the roadies.

  • November 11 – Day 30 – Flyers bring the air to Air Canada Centre

    For the first time in a while, we have a busy Friday schedule – something I think we can all enjoy. Per usual, the action gets started at 7 p.m. (New Jersey at Buffalo and Philadelphia at Toronto [TVAS]) with Los Angeles at Ottawa (RDS) trailing half an hour later. 8:30 p.m. marks the puck drop of Washington at Chicago and tonight’s co-nightcaps, Winnipeg at Colorado and Dallas at Edmonton, get underway at 9 p.m. All times eastern.

    Lauri Korpikoski might be making his first return to Edmonton, the city he represented a season ago, but I’m more interested in the Flyers–Leafs game.

    Philadelphia Flyers LogoUnknown

     

    6-6-2 Philly enters the contest on a two-game win-less skid, most recently falling 3-2 in a shootout to Detroit. The Flyers are a strong offensive team, but almost out of necessity as they’ve given up the second-most tallies in the league.

    The fault lies nowhere along the blue line. The Flyers‘ defense allows only 27.5 shots to make it to the cage per game, led by Radko Gudas‘ 22-block efforts.

    No, the goals against rest solely on the goaltending. Be it Steve Mason or Michal Neuvirth (they’ve both started seven games apiece) in net, they’ve combined for a measly .875 save percentage and 3.39 GAA.

    As expected, the goaltending struggles have extended into the penalty kill. Only 79.1% of opposing extra-man opportunities have been nullified by the Flyers, which ranks ninth-worst.

    To put things bluntly, it is these two players holding this squad back. Many fans thought Neuvirth, who turned 28 in March, could continue to improve and potentially take over the starting job, but it appears last season was simply a break from his usual performance. It will be interesting to see if they try to work the trade market to bolster the back-end of a strong skating team.

    The best way to accent how good Philadelphia has been on offense is their power play. They’ve been successful on 28.3% of attempts, the second-best rate in the league. Claude Giroux has led the way on the extra-man opportunities, notching nine points with six assists. Completing the plays has been Wayne Simmonds, who has buried four power play goals.

    Hosting them this evening are the 5-5-3 Toronto Maple Leafs. They’re another team that has struggled to keep the opposition from burying the puck at will.

    Frederik Andersen has a 5-3-3 record, which is almost impressive given the fact that he has a season .897 save percentage and 3.41 GAA. What gives him a little bit of a pass in comparison to Mason and Neuvirth is that Toronto does not have anywhere near the defense playing in front of him.

    The defense allows 33.3 shots against per game, and only Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev and more than 20 blocks, with 28 and 22 respectively. Based on what Andersen was able to achieve last season in Anaheim with a good defense, Toronto would be wise to make a concerted effort to build up their blue line as they try to climb the table in the future.

    Surprisingly, the Maple Leafs are capable of shoring up the defense when they want to, but apparently for only two minutes at a time. Their penalty kill ranks ninth-best in the NHL, an impressive stat given their play at even-strength.

    One facet of the Maple Leafs offense that has worked particularly well has been their power play. Led by William Nylander‘s seven power play points on three goals, Toronto has been successful on 22.9% of their extra-man opportunities to rank seventh-best.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Philadelphia‘s Giroux (11 assists [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) and Jakub Voracek (15 points [tied for eighth-most in the league]) & Toronto‘s Nylander (eight assists, half of which were on the power play, and three power play goals for 12 points [all lead the team]).

    Vegas has picked the Leafs to win with a -103 line, but I think Philly walks away with the victory in this one. Since neither team can keep the puck out of their own net, the Flyers offense should be able to best Nylander and Auston Matthews‘ efforts.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Harry Lumley (1926-1998) – Apple Cheeks (seriously, that was his nickname!) played 803 games over his 16 seasons. Most of his time was spent in Detroit‘s net, where he earned a 163-105-56 record and won the 1950 Stanley Cup.

    Just as I expected, Dallas took advantage of a Calgary team that has struggled to keep points off the board to earn a 4-2 victory in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Korpikoski (Radek Faksa) struck the first goal for the Stars on a snap shot with 7:29 remaining in the first period. That lead doubled 3:04 later when First Star of the Game Jamie Benn (John Klingberg and Faksa) buried a backhand. It was the final goal of the first period, so Dallas took a two-goal shutout lead into the dressing room for first intermission.

    Calgary returned with a vengeance in the second frame, scoring both their goals within 3:31 of returning to the ice. Second Star Johnny Gaudreau (Third Star Brett Kulak and Sean Monahan) takes credit for both goals, the first struck 1:33 into the period. 1:58 later, he (Kulak and Michael Frolik) tied the game at two-all with a tip-in goal, the final tally of the second period.

    Benn’s (Tyler Seguin and Antoine Roussel) power play wrister 7:20 into the final period proved to be the game-winning goal. Dallas‘ lone insurance goal was an empty-netter courtesy of Roussel (Justin Dowling) with 54 seconds remaining in regulation.

    Kari Lehtonen earns the victory after saving 29-of-31 shots faced (93.5%), leaving the loss to Brian Elliott, who saved 18-of-21 (85.7%).

    Dallas‘ victory is only the second by a road team in the DtFR Game of the Day series in the last six days. It pulls the roadies within seven points of the home squads, but the homers still have a 18-11-3 record.

  • November 10 – Day 29 – Great Stars of fire

    The bartender just walked by. He asked if anybody wanted another hockey game. Considering how good yesterday was, I got a whole round for tonight. Hope that’s okay.

    In all seriousness, we have quite a selection of games this evening, starting with three at 7 p.m. (Columbus at Boston, Minnesota at Pittsburgh and Anaheim at Carolina), followed half an hour later by four more (Los Angeles at Montréal [RDS/SN360], Vancouver at Detroit, the New York Islanders at Tampa Bay and San Jose at Florida). St. Louis at Nashville drops the puck at 8 p.m., and tonight’s co-nightcaps get underway an hour later (Dallas at Calgary and Winnipeg at Arizona). All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Los Angeles at Montréal: Tom Gilbert played the last two seasons in The City of Saints, but now he works in The City of Angels.
    • New York at Tampa Bay: It’s a rematch of the Eastern Conference Semifinals from last year.
    • St. Louis at Nashville: Carter Hutton heads back to Nashville, where he played the previous three seasons, and with a chance to play to boot.
    • Dallas at Calgary: Jiri Hudler spent four seasons in the Saddledome, but now he wears white in that building.

    We haven’t watched the Stars yet this season, so let’s head to Alberta with them.

    Unknown-2Unknown-4

     

    Hudler joined Calgary before the 2012 season via free agency, and the center’s impact was noticed immediately in the lockout-shortened season as he notched 27 points.

    His final full season with the Flames was easily the best campaign of his career. In 78 games played during the 2014-’15 season, he narrowly missed averaging a point a game with 76 to his credit.

    This was also the season that Calgary qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2009. Although his club fell in the Western Conference Semifinals, it was no fault of Hudler’s. He continued his success with eight points in 11 games, split evenly between goals and assists.

    Following his career year, Hudler was awarded the Lady Byng Trophy, the first Flame since Joe Mullen of the 1989 Stanley Cup winning team to earn the honor.

    He was traded from Calgary to Florida at last year’s trade deadline, but was not offered another contract this off-season. He signed with Dallas in August, only 21 days before the start of the season. He has not had the start to the season that he would’ve liked, with no points, or even a shot, to show for an hour’s work. He has been facing an illness so severe that he was placed on injured reserve, but he has the chance to be activated this evening.

    Those Stars enter the night riding a 4-6-3 record, a far cry from their expectations entering this campaign. While the goaltending is on par with last season’s (be careful, I don’t want you to read that as good), it has been Dallas‘ offensive drought that has caused their current predicament.

    So far this season, the Stars have managed only 33 goals in 13 games, the 11th-worst scoring average in the game. Dallas‘ struggles can’t be pinned on Tyler Seguin, who has 14 points to his credit evenly split between goals and assists, but the rest of the team – including great forward like Jamie Benn – has yet to break the 10-point mark.

    While I wasn’t planning on thoroughly discussing Dallas‘ defense, there’s one major pitfall that must be acknowledged: the penalty kill. The Stars‘ 75% kill rate ranks fourth-worst in the league. When paired with a team that struggles to keep the puck out of their own net at even-strength, they are not doing themselves any favors by committing 52 penalties – four per game!

    The Flames play tonight’s game with the same record as the Stars but with the added note of riding a two-game losing skid. That’s where the similarities end though, as Calgary‘s inability to prevent the opposition from scoring is putting them in quite a hole.

    Having already allowed 50 goals against this season, the Flames give up an average of 3.57 tallies against per game – tied for the third-worst rate in the NHL with Philadelphia. The blame rests solely on the goaltenders, who have been under no more or less pressure than the average netminder in the league in terms of shots faced per game. Brian Elliott has started nine games so far this season for a 3-6-0 record. In those games, he’s saved a poor 88.7% of shots faced for a whopping 3.33 GAA to rank worst and third-worst in the league, respectively, among the 24 goalies who have appeared in as many contests.

    Offensively, the Flames badly need to focus on one important aspect of their game: the power play. Successful on only 8.3% of attempts, Calgary ranks dead last in the NHL in the category. On the bright side, it means that most of their goals have come against more difficult conditions, so at least they have that going for them.

    Ahh, Caddyshack.

    Continuing the thread of special teams, you would be wise to assume the Flames‘ penalty kill is equally as bad as their power play given the goaltending situation. For those who had second-to-last in the league, you win bonus points, as the Flames have stopped 72.4% of opposing extra-man advantages to rank better than only Chicago‘s horrendous efforts on the kill.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Calgary‘s Michael Frolik (nine points on five goals [both lead the team]) and Dallas‘ Seguin (seven goals [tied for sixth-most in the league]).

    Las Vegas favors the home team with a -125, but I don’t like that the NHL’s most potent offense last season is coming to town to face one of the worst goaltending situations. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that the Stars start getting things pulled together against a prone opponent.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Don Saleski (1949-) – This right wing was the 64th overall selection in the 1969 NHL Entry Draft. He ended up playing 543 games in the league, all but 67 of which were with the team that drafted him: the Philadelphia Flyers, including the 1973-’74 and ’74-’75 Stanley Cup winning teams.
    • Mike Leclerc (1976-) – On the opposite wing, Leclerc was drafted 55th overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by Anaheim. He ended up playing 341 games over his career, 85.3% of which were with the club that drafted him.
    • Kristian Huselius (1978-) – Another left winger like Leclerc, Huselius was drafted 47th overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by Florida, the club he spent 38.8% of his career with.

    The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in the first overtime game in our Game of the Day series since October 28.

    Columbus struck quickly last night, scoring both their regulation goals within the opening 5:30. Second Star of the Game Boone Jenner (Scott Hartnell and Cam Atkinson) takes credit for the first goal with a snap shot only 1:23 after the opening puck drop. 4:06 later, Brandon Saad (Ryan Murray and Third Star Jack Johnson) scored a snapper of his own to give the Jackets a 2-0 lead, which held into the first intermission.

    Anaheim‘s comeback began with 2:39 remaining in the second period when Rickard Rakell (Cam Fowler and Josh Manson) scored his fourth goal of the season. It was the lone tally of the second period, meaning Columbus still had a one-goal lead going into the final 20 minutes of play.

    That lead lasted only 1:25 after resuming play before Nick Ritchie (Joseph Cramarossa) scored a wrap-around to level the score for the Ducks.

    Three-on-three overtime lasted only 1:21 before First Star Zach Werenski (Alexander Wennberg and Saad) scored the winner with a wrister.

    Sergei Bobrovsky earns the victory after saving 30-of-32 shots faced (93.75%), while John Gibson takes the overtime loss saving 15-of-18 (83.3%).

    With that victory, Columbus improves the home squads’ record in the DtFR Game of the Day series to 18-10-3, favoring the homers by nine points over the roadies.

  • November 9 – Day 28 – Quackin’ Jackets, or not so much?

    Let’s watch ourselves some hockey tonight. While the selection is small at only three games, there’s some quality matchups being contested, starting with Anaheim at Columbus at 7 p.m. Half an hour later, Ottawa visits Buffalo (SN/TVAS), followed by Chicago at St. Louis (NBCSN), this evening’s nightcap.

    Short list:

    • Anaheim at Columbus: Jared Boll was a Blue Jacket for the last nine seasons, but he now finds himself sitting on the opposite bench.
    • Ottawa at Buffalo: It seems like every game for Buffalo has been a rivalry, of late. Tonight’s contest against Ottawa is another one.
    • Chicago at St. Louis: Another rivalry only magnified by last season’s playoff meeting.

    Oh… That’s all the games going on this evening. Like I said, you can’t go wrong with whichever game you choose to watch tonight.

    As far as the game DtFR will focus on, I’m leaning towards the Anaheim–Columbus game since Boll will only play in Nationwide Arena once this year, and we’re a little partial to him for sharing Charlotte, N.C. as our hometown.

    Unknown-1Columbus Blue Jackets Logo

     

    Columbus selected the right wing 101st in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He notched 40+ points in three of his four junior seasons, but Boll turned out to not be quite the striker in the pros. Like many before him who have suffered the same fate, he turned to his physical play to continue to earn a spot on the Jackets‘ roster and a paycheck.

    Over his nine seasons in Columbus, Boll threw 967 hits – 107.4 per season and 1.9 per game. That translated into 1195 minutes in the penalty box – 132.8 minutes per season and 2.31 minutes per game. For those of you that don’t like stats and numbers, this set – especially the penalty minutes – screams an enforcer position.

    This offseason, Boll signed with Anaheim, who currently sits at 6-5-2. What has been most-impressive about the Ducks this season has been their defense, which has allowed only 30 goals against.

    John Gibson has started in net for all but three of the Ducks‘ games, and has earned a 5-4-0 record on a .914 save percentage and 2.43 GAA.

    Not very good numbers.

    It has been the blue line that has stood strong. Anaheim has allowed only 378 shots to reach Gibson and co. in 13 games. Limiting opposing offenses to only 29.1 shots per game is an impressive move, given that the average team in the league allow 30.2 per game. Sami Vatanen has led the charge with 29 blocks to his credit, but he is the only Duck with more than 20. I’ve said it every time I’ve featured Anaheim, but the remainder of the blue line needs to protect their young goaltender if they want to find success.

    What has kept Anaheim alive offensively has been their strong power play. Successful on 27.9% of attempts, the Ducks have the third-best man-advantage in the league and should be feared. Ryan Kesler has led the special teams with four power play goals to his credit.

    Columbus enters the night with a 5-3-2 record. Just like Anaheim, the Blue Jackets have been finding success on the defensive end by allowing only 21 goals.

    Sergei Bobrovsky has been playing out of his mind so far this season, earning a 5-3-1 record in his nine starts. His three losses haven’t entirely been his fault though, as he owns a season .947 save percentage and 1.79 GAA – both ranking top-six in the league among goaltenders that have played three or more games. Even more impressive is the fact that he faces an average of 33.3 shots per game, well above the league average.

    It will be interesting to see if Bobrovsky can continue his stellar play as the season progresses and if the Jackets could by buyers at the deadline – but hey, that’s still four months away!

    One place the Jackets don’t need to improve at right now is their power play. The Ducks‘ is good, but Columbus‘ 39.3% success rate is way better. In fact, it’s best in the league, beating second-best Philly by 11%. Cam Atkinson has lead the charge for the Blue Jackets on the power play, notching four extra-man goals.

    The penalty kill has also been extremely good for the Jackets. Columbus has found themselves in the penalty box 32 times this season, but they’ve refused to yield a goal on 90.6% of those attempts for the second-best rate in the league.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Anaheim‘s Jonathan Bernier (.939 save percentage [sixth-best in the NHL] for a 2.03 GAA [ninth-best in the league]) and Ryan Getzlaf (11 assists [tied for second-most in the NHL]) & Columbus‘ Bobrovsky (three shutouts [tied for most in the league] on a .947 save percentage [fourth-best in the NHL] for a 1.79 GAA [fifth-best in the league]) and Alexander Wennberg (11 assists [tied for second-most in the NHL]).

    Vegas has marked Columbus as a -119 favorite coming into tonight’s game. Going back to last season, I don’t know if I’ve ever favored the Jackets before in this series, but I agree with the odds-makers. Columbus is a hot team right now, being opportunistic and refusing to yield opposing tallies. It will be interesting to see if this is just a hot streak or a real threat in the Eastern Conference.

    Hockey Birthday:

    • Bill Guerin (1970-) – Over 18 seasons, Guerin played 1263 games at right wing, most of which – 30.1%, in fact – were with the Devils, the team that drafted him fifth overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. He’s hoisted the Stanley Cup three times, most recent of which was last season as Assistant General Manager for Pittsburgh.
    • Carl Gunnarsson (1986) – The Swedish defender of the St. Louis Blues, the team he’s playing his third season with. Tonight will be his 447th career game, and he’ll be looking for his second point of the season this evening against Chicago.

    A late Canadiens goal was the difference in yesterday’s Game of the Day, leading them to a 3-2 victory over the arch-rival Bruins.

    After no goals were struck in the first frame, the Habs broke the draw with a power play slap shot from Shea Weber (Andrei Markov and Tomas Plekanec) 3:58 after resuming play. That lead lasted only 50 seconds before Colin Miller scored an unassisted wrister to level the score for Boston. The third-and-final goal of the second frame was struck at the 5:08 mark, 20 seconds after Miller’s, when Alex Galchenyuk‘s (Alexander Radulov and Second Star of the Game Paul Byron) backhand found the back of the net to give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead they would take into the second intermission.

    The score was tied once again 6:38 into the final frame when Third Star David Pastrnak (John-Michael Liles and Brad Marchand) scored a power play slap shot. The Bruins nearly forced overtime, but Byron’s (Galchenyuk and Radulov) backhander with 62 seconds remaining earned Montréal two more points in the standings to further cement their spot at the top of the league.

    First Star Carey Price earned the victory after saving 41-of-43 shots faced (95.3%), while Zane McIntyre saved only 20-of-23 (87%) in the loss.

    Montréal‘s Game of the Day victory is their fourth out of four appearances and the second-straight for the home team in the series. It improves the home squads’ record to 17-10-3 and expands their lead over the roadies to eight points.

  • November 8 – Day 27 – Could there be any other?

    Happy Tuesday! For me, that means band rehearsal, but you get to kick back and watch some hockey. You’ve picked the right night to do that, as there’s quite a selection of games to choose from, starting with five at 7 p.m. (Carolina at New Jersey, Vancouver at the New York Rangers, Detroit at Philadelphia, Edmonton at Pittsburgh and San Jose at Washington), followed half an hour later by two more (Los Angeles at Toronto [TVAS] and Boston at Montréal [RDS]). 8 p.m. marks the beginning of a couple more contests (Ottawa at Nashville [RDS2] and Dallas at Winnipeg), with Arizona at Colorado, this evening’s nightcap, dropping the puck an hour later. All times eastern.

    I know we just watched them last night, but we’re going to hop on the Bruins‘ plane to Montréal to catch them take on the best team in the league in one of the best rivalries in North America.

    Unknown-7Unknown-1

     

    The last time these two met, Montréal upset the Bruins 4-2 in the TD Garden. Don’t think for a moment that Boston has forgotten.

    These are two proud franchises, with 30 Stanley Cups between them, and the rivalry between requires no introduction.

    As stated yesterday, the 7-5-0 Bruins‘ strength is found between the pipes and along the blue line. They have allowed 32 goals so far this season, led by 7-1-0 Tuukka Rask‘s .941 save percentage and 1.74 GAA. So good has Rask been that he’s earned two shutouts even when facing 29.7 shots per game, the 13th-fewest allowed by a team’s defense in the NHL.

    While 13th is far from the top of the list, it is probably better than most would consider the Bruins‘ defense to be. So far this season, they’ve been led by Brandon Carlo and Zdeno Chara, who have 30 and 26 blocks respectively.

    The defense has been especially good on the penalty kill, refusing to yield a goal on 84.3%  of opposing man-advantages, the ninth-best rate in the best hockey league in the world.

    Their opposition this evening are the 10-1-1 Canadiens. While they’ve played fantastically so far on both ends of the ice, I’m most impressed with their offense, which has managed 39 goals in 12 games (3.25 per game).

    Twenty Habs have notched a point so far this season (including goaltender Al Montoya!), but the two that have really stood out have been center Alex Galchenyuk and defenseman Shea Weber, who have 11 and 10 points respectively. In addition, Torrey Mitchell has struck five goals so far for Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge to lead the club.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Boston‘s Brad Marchand (14 points [tied for fourth-most in the league] on nine assists [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]), David Pastrnak (eight goals [tied for the league-lead] and a +11 [tied for sixth-best in the NHL]) and Rask (seven wins [tied for second-most in the league], two of which are shutouts [tied for third-most in the NHL], on a 1.74 GAA [fifth-best in the league] and .941 save percentage [sixth-best in the NHL]) & Montréal‘s Carey Price (.952 save percentage [second-best in the league] for a 1.57 GAA [fourth-best in the NHL] and seven wins [tied for second-most in the league], one of which was a shutout [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]) and Weber (+15 [leads the league]).

    It looks like most books are closed in Vegas regarding this game, which should always get a hockey fan excited. What makes this matchup even more tantalizing is it’s location, as the Canadiens are a perfect 7-0-0 at the Bell Centre, but five of Boston‘s seven wins have been away from the TD Garden. It should be a good contest, but I’m leaning towards a Montréal victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Johnny Bower (1924-) – Known in his day as “The China Wall,” Bower was the goaltender to win four of Toronto‘s 13 Stanley Cups. The two-time Vezina winner played 522 games over 15 seasons, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976 with a career 250-195-90 record.
    • Keith Jones (1968-) – This right wing played 491 games over nine seasons, most of which were with Washington – the team that drafted him. Nowadays, Jones spends his days with the NBCSN studio crew and providing color and analysis for the Flyers‘ local broadcasts. Maybe Philadelphia will give him a victory over Detroit for his 48th.

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day was our fourth-straight lopsided victory, as Boston beat Buffalo 4-0.

    After a scoreless first period, Marchand (Pastrnak and Third Star of the Game Matt Beleskey) scored a power play wrister that proved to be the game-winner 5:44 into the middle frame.

    Second Star David Krejci (Torey Krug and Ryan Spooner), Riley Nash and Pastrnak (Austin Czarnik and John-Michael Liles) accounted for the three insurance goals.

    First Star Rask saved all 32 shots he faced to earn the shutout victory, while Robin Lehner saved 38-of-42 (90.5%) in the loss.

    Boston‘s victory extends the home teams’ advantage to six points in the DtFR Game of the Day series with a record of 16-10-3.

  • November 7 – Day 26 – Buffalo-Boston bout

    We’ve got three games on the schedule this evening, and they’ll all be played at almost the same time. Two games drop the puck at 7 p.m. (Buffalo at Boston [SN/TVAS] and Vancouver at the New York Islanders (NHLN]), with Tampa Bay at Florida going underway half an hour later. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Buffalo at Boston: Over 40 years this rivalry has been waged, including eight playoff series. Not only does it rage in the TD Garden this evening, but also at DtFR headquarters.
    • Tampa Bay at Florida: Round two of the Governor’s Cup goes down tonight.

    Given that Boston and Buffalo are tied on points, we’ll catch their game in the City on a Hill.

    Unknown-2Unknown-7

    The Sabres entered the league in 1970, and the rivalry has only intensified since. Boston has a 156-141-29 all-time advantage over the Sabres for a well-contested series in addition to their eight postseason meetings.

    They last met in the playoffs during the 2009-’10 season in the Eastern Quarterfinals, with Boston winning the series 4-2. That victory gave the Bruins a 6-2 series record against Buffalo in the playoffs, but they were upset a round later that year by Philadelphia.

    The Sabres enter tonight’s game with a 5-4-2 record. While they have had some offensive struggles with Nicolas Deslauriers, Jack Eichel and Evander Kane finding themselves on the injury report, Buffalo has stood strong on the defensive end, allowing only 24 goals against – the fourth-best mark in the league.

    Robin Lehner has started eight games for Buffalo this year, accounting for a 4-3-1 record on a .929 save percentage and 2.14 GAA. Given the defense playing in front of him, those numbers are very good. The Sabres defense has allowed 334 shots to reach their goaltenders already this season, which breaks down into 30.4 shots against per game.

    Should the Sabres want to continue improving (odds are good that they do), more than Josh Gorges and Rasmus Ristolainen, who have 22 and 20 blocks respectively, need to contribute to alleviate pressure on their goaltender. Zach Bogosian has blocked the third-most shots so far this season, and only has 15 to his credit.

    The special team Buffalo is most proud of has been their power play, which accounts for 32% of their goals. The Sabres have been successful on 22.22% of their attempts, which ranks as the ninth-best effort in the NHL, and half of their eight power play goals have been scored by Matt Moulson.

    Boston enters the night with a 6-5-0 record, a position I feel they are fortunate to be in. Defense and goaltending has been the strength of the Bruins, if you could call an end of the ice that has allowed 32 goals in 11 games a strength. The offense has been even poorer, scoring only 25 times.

    Last season, Boston was home to the fifth-most potent offense in the NHL, scoring 236 goals to average 2.88 per game. Almost a month into the season, the Bruins average only 2.27 goals per game to rank fifth-worst. Brad Marchand has done a good job to lead the team with 13 points, trailed closely behind by David Pastrnak‘s 10, but the remaining Bruins have yet to break the five-point mark.

    If the Bruins don’t figure their offense out, at least they can hang their caps on having the 10th best penalty kill in the league. Allowing eight extra-man tallies against, they’ve killed 83.33% of their penalties.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Boston‘s Marchand (nine assists [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]), Pastrnak (seven goals [tied for fourth-most in the league] and a +11 [tied for sixth-best in the NHL]) and Tuukka Rask (six wins [tied for fourth-most in the league], including a shutout [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]) & Buffalo‘s Anders Nilsson (1.95 GAA [10th-best in the league] on a .937 save percentage [10th-best in the NHL]), Kyle Okposo (five goals [leads the team]) and Ristolainen (eight assists [leads the team]).

    Boston has been marked by Vegas with a -160 advantage, but I think they’re wrong. I’m picking the upset due to Buffalo‘s defense being more than able to contain the Bruins‘ anemic offense.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Michel Picard (1969-) – This left wing played 166 games over nine seasons in the NHL with six teams, 36.7% of which were in St. Louis from 1997-’99. Nowadays, he’s an amateur scour for the Blues.
    • Mike Commodore (1979-) – The 42nd overall selection in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, this defenseman played 484 games over 11 seasons, mostly with Carolina, the team he won his lone Stanley Cup with.
    • Pascal Leclaire (1982-) – The eighth overall pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, and first goaltender selected, Leclaire played 173 games over seven seasons to total a 61-76-15 record. Most of those games were played with the team that drafted him: the Columbus Blue Jackets.

    With two goals in the second period, the Anaheim Ducks beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    The Ducks found the scoreboard first, and didn’t wait long to do it. 2:29 after beginning the game, First Star of the Game Clayton Stoner (Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf) scored a wrister to give Anaheim the lead. With 3:45 remaining in the period, Calgary drew even when Alex Chiasson (John Gaudreau and Sean Monahan) found the back of the net for the Flames. The one-all score held into the first intermission.

    The Ducks were quick starters again in the second period, waiting only 3:18 before Second Star Ryan Kesler (Perry and Getzlaf) scored the game-winning wrister.

    Andrew Cogliano (Jakob Silfverberg and Josh Manson) and Kesler (Perry and Getzlaf) scored the two insurance goals for Anaheim to secure the victory.

    Third Star Jonathan Bernier earns the victory after saving 25-of-26 shots faced (96.2%), while Chad Johnson takes the loss after saving 17-of-21 (81%).

    Anaheim‘s victory on the Pond pads the home squads’ lead in the DtFR Game of the Day series, setting the homers’ record at 15-10-3 to lead the roadies by four points.