Down the Frozen River

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  • Merkle’s Weekly Bumblings: Weeks 16 & 17

    Another two-week special, courtesy of a trip to the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

    Skater of the Week(s): Evgeni Malkin

    Hey, so, you know that thing the Penguins do where they trick everyone into thinking they’re not very good and then right around February they just start crapping in everyone’s Wheaties? Yeah, keep those cereal boxes sealed.

    The Pens are 4-1-0 in five games over this two-week span, and Geno is a major reason why. With eight goals and 11 points over the five contests, Malkin leads the league by two points in overall scoring in that span, and teammate Phil Kessel is the one trailing him. Possibly even more impressive is the fact that in the first game of the five, he was held scoreless, so he’s actually put up those numbers across just four contests. Throw in three power play tallies, a game-winner, and a cartoonish .40 shooting percentage, and it’s not hard to see why Malkin gets the nod here.

    Tendy of the Week(s): Carter Hutton

    I’m honestly very glad I checked the stats page on this, because I was jotting down Tuukka Rask‘s name when I saw he had actually been bested.

    Hutton continues an absolutely ridiculous run this season with a perfect 4-0-0 record and seemingly-impossible advanced stats with a .984 save percentage and 0.50 GAA over the past two weeks. He’s given up two goals on 123 shots, and I literally cannot even come up with anything witty for that.

    The 32-year old career journeyman now boasts a 14-4-1 record on the season with a .947 save percentage and 1.61 GAA. When the Blues traded Brian Elliott, it was because they felt they now possessed a true #1 goaltender for the future. But I’m pretty sure Hutton was not the name they were thinking of at the time.

    Game of the Week: Super Bowl LII

    The empire has fallen. Behold a god that bleeds.

    News, Notes, & Nonsense:

    Rick Nash has submitted his list of teams that he would not accept a trade to upon the Rangers’ request. The former Rocket Richard winner is now in his mid-30s and has seen his production dip signficantly, though some think a change of scenery could reinvigorate his career. The popular narrative is that he returns to Columbus, but I think I speak for most intelligent CBJ fans when I say ‘Dear god please no’.

    Jaromir Jagr retired from the NHL and returned to his native Czech Republic to continue his career back home. There were many touching sendoffs from around the NHL, but I’m honestly not sure why considering he’ll just come back in about three years and be a productive player for a few more teams.

    Filip Forsberg was suspended for three games following a very illegal hit, a decision that has apparently shocked and upset his teammates. Now I will definitely say the Department of Player Safety has been less than stellar with some decisions this year, and I am certainly of the opinion that good clean hits cause far too much hooplah anymore, but I don’t know how anyone can defend a hit as late and dirty as this one.

    Rookie sensation Charlie McAvoy made his triumphant return to the Bruins lineup just 12 days after undergoing a procedure on his heart to treat an abnormal rhythm. I’m not a doctor, but that sounds like a pretty heroic comeback effort to me after literally having the thing that keeps you alive fixed.

    Radko Gudas is back at the center of controversy, because of course he is. The oft-suspended Flyers defenseman made airborne contact with Kyle Palmieri after attempting to avoid leg-on-leg contact with teammate Wayne Simmonds by leaping out of the way, only to be met by a backchecking Palmieri. I am actually of the belief that this was truly an accident, but Gudas’ history probably doesn’t help his case.

    No one knows what goaltender interference actually is anymore, so everybody get your licks in on that guy who always stones you on breakaways while you can.

  • February 5 – Day 117 – Quack attack

    In your sporadic Trade Deadline countdown, we’re three weeks away from February 26. It may not seem like it strictly going off completed transactions, but head coaches and general managers around the league are already well into their plans for the final push of the regular season.

    As for today’s action, there’s four games on the schedule this evening starting with two tilts (Anaheim at Toronto and Nashville at the New York Islanders [SN/TVAS]) at 7 p.m. Next up is the New York Rangers at Dallas (NHLN) at 8:30 p.m., followed half an hour later by tonight’s nightcap: Tampa Bay at Edmonton. All times Eastern.

    Maybe it’s just me, but the choice for today’s DtFR Game of the Day is obvious: we’re off to Ontario!

     

    Sometimes, the energy a team needs to win can be found in its goaltender making some incredible saves.

    Enter Exhibit “A,” as well as Exhibit “B”: the Atlantic Division’s third-best team, the 30-19-5 Toronto Maple Leafs. Behind the solid efforts of both of their goaltenders, the Leafs have won four of their last five games.

    Let’s start with the most obvious example in tonight’s presumed starter, 25-15-4 G Frederik Andersen. Currently occupying fifth place in the league’s wins list, he’s started three of Toronto’s last five games and performed brilliantly, posting an impressive .946 save percentage and 1.68 GAA in those showings.

    But it hasn’t just been Andersen. 5-4-0 G Curtis McElhinney has also been exemplary of late, posting a .985 save percentage and .5 GAA in his two starts since January 24, joining Andersen in splitting consecutive shutouts on January 31 (Andersen saved all 28 Islanders shots) and February 1 (McElhinney saved all 25 Rangers shots). Andersen’s shutout was his fourth of the season, the (t)fourth-most of any goaltender in the NHL this season.

    As a result of Andersen and McElhinney’s play, Toronto has allowed a third-best 1.4 goals-per-game since January 24 even though it has yielded an average of 31.8 shots against per game – the 15th-worst mark in the NHL in that time.

    But with no disrespect to Andersen, goaltending usually isn’t exactly the first thing thought of when discussing the Maple Leafs. Instead, the mind is typically drawn to Toronto’s explosive offense, and that corps has definitely been worthy of attention of late as well, as they’ve averaged a fifth-best 3.4 goals per game since January 24.

    In total, four Leafs currently on the team are averaging at least a point per game (rookie D Justin Holl technically still qualifies with two goals in two games played, but he was sent back to the Marlies on Saturday), but the greatest of those lately has undoubtedly been C Nazem Kadri with his 3-3-6 totals in his last five tilts to improve his season numbers to 17-14-31.

    He’s joined by F William Nylander (1-4-5), D Jake Gardiner (0-5-5) and D Morgan Rielly (0-1-1 in one game played) in his consistent offensive production. Kadri and Gardiner in particular have gelled well of late, as the defenseman has provided the secondary assist on the center’s last two goals.

    25-18-10 Anaheim makes its annual trip to Ontario as the 11th-best team in the Western Conference, trailing Minnesota for the second wild card by only one point. The Ducks have posted a 3-1-1 record over their past five games (the last three of which have been in the midst of a five-game road trip), and they owe much of that success to… their offense?

    That’s right, the usually defensive-minded Ducks are staying afloat with an offense that has averaged three goals per game since January 23, the (t)11th-best effort in the league in that time.

    Of course, Anaheim’s success has to be linked to the blue line somehow, and we need look no further than D Cam Fowler. He’s posted an impressive seven assists (all but one of them secondary apples) in his last five games to lead the team in points over this run and elevate his season totals to 6-17-23.

    Of course, assists aren’t assists without goalscorers, and that’s where F Rickard Rakell and C Adam Henrique come into play. They join Fowler in averaging at least a point per game with their respective 2-4-6 and 4-1-5 efforts since January 23.

    I’ve been especially impressed with the chemistry between Fowler and Rakell of late. Fowler has had a hand in all six of Rakell’s points, and they show no sign of slowing down any time soon. The Maple Leafs will need to be on high alert when numbers 4 and 67 are both on the ice together, or else their shift might end with the puck behind Andersen.

    As far as the Ducks’ defensive end, there’s usually no one more important to acknowledge than 18-14-5 G John Gibson, especially since his .922 season save percentage is (t)ninth-best in the league. However, he’s expected to miss his third-straight game with a lower body injury, meaning ex-Sabre 6-3-5 G Ryan Miller will get the nod against his former rivals.

    Way back on the first day of November, the Maple Leafs made their annual trip to The Pond. With a two-point game from First Star F Patrick Marleau that included scoring the game-winning goal, Toronto beat the Ducks 3-1.

    Of note in that matchup, Fowler was unavailable for the Ducks. His presence will be a major reason Anaheim has a better shot in this game, but I’m still leading towards Toronto’s offense outpacing the visiting Ducks’ attack to earn two points.

    Only one club showed up to play in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, and unfortunately for the home fans at PNC Arena, it wasn’t their team as the Carolina Hurricanes lost 3-1 to the San Jose Sharks.

    What should make this loss by the Hurricanes even more frustrating for Head Coach Bill Peters is that the Sharks, hailing from California, were playing this game at 10 a.m. Pacific time. If any team should have been playing this game half asleep, it should have been them – especially considering San Jose is in the midst of a five-game road trip.

    Instead, San Jose took the lead only 4:06 into the game courtesy of a W Timo Meier (RW Joonas Donskoi and First Star of the Game D Brent Burns) snap shot. Though W Sebastian Aho (F Jordan Staal) was able to level the game with 2:02 remaining in the first period, it was the next tally that proved to be the most important of the match – and not only because it ended up being the game-winner.

    Carolina would have certainly been happy taking a 1-1 tie into the first intermission, but Second Star C Chris Tierney (F Melker Karlsson and W Mikkel Boedker) had other plans. Karlsson set him up with a centering pass from the right corner, but it was Tierney’s patience that really created the score. With no red sweaters around him but G Cam Ward‘s only three feet away, Tierney faked to his forehand to pull the goaltender away from his post before returning to the backhand to beat Ward’s left skate. That marker set the score at 2-1 going into the break and took all the energy out of Carolina.

    2:03 into the second period, Burns (RW Joel Ward and D Joakim Ryan) scored an insurance slap shot to finish off the sleepy Canes.

    G Aaron Dell earned the victory after saving 29-of-30 shots faced (.967 save percentage), leaving the loss to Ward, who saved 23-of-26 (.885).

    San Jose’s road victory is the first in the DtFR Game of the Day since Vegas’ January 30 win. That pulls the visitors in the series back within 23 points of the 64-38-15 hosts.

  • February 4 – Day 116 – The ocean is a dangerous place

    This is it guys: the last day of the year that football can get in the way of hockey. It’s almost over.

    Unfortunately, today’s football game just so happens to be the biggest of the year, so the NHL isn’t trying to compete too much with only three matinees on the schedule. The action begins at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time with Vegas at Washington, followed half an hour later by today’s extremely early co-nightcaps: Ottawa at Montréal (RDS/SN) and San Jose at Carolina.

    Before the season even began, I had two of today’s three tilts circled on my calendar:

    • Vegas at Washington: D Nate Schmidt is back in the capital city, and he’s bringing his new friends from the desert with him.
    • Ottawa at Montréal: A rivalry game between two of the bottom-three teams in the Atlantic Division? Oh boy!

    However, in an odd twist of fate, I’m actually leaning towards the activities taking place in Raleigh, N.C. today since we’ve highlighted the Capitals or Golden Knights in three of the past five featured games. To the Research Triangle!

     

    No matter how often I keep doubting the Sharks, they just keep on finding ways to win. As such, they’ve earned 27-16-8 record that is good enough for second place in the Pacific Division.

    At the start of the season, San Jose was priding itself on stellar play in the defensive zone while its offense struggled to find much traction. However, those roles have been swapped of late, as it’s been the attack that has led the Sharks to posting 3-2-2 record in their last seven games played.

    Since January 20, San Jose has averaged a (t)seventh-best 3.29 goals per game, and it’s all due to the excellence of the first line. F Logan Couture and RW Kevin Labanc have posted respective 5-2-7 and 3-4-7 totals (improving their respective season marks to 22-17-39 and 7-22-29) to average a point-per-game over this run. F Tomas Hertl completes the line with his 2-4-6 effort.

    They’ve also received some extra help from the blue line from the likes of D Brent Burns, who joins Couture and Labanc in averaging a point-per-game with his 1-6-7 totals in the past seven tilts, and D Marc-Edouard Vlasic‘s 3-3-6 surge.

    Of course, this offensive explosion has been born mostly out of necessity, as San Jose’s defense has struggled to be much better than average lately, allowing 31.86 shots against per game over their past seven tilts ([t]13th-worst in the league).

    That puts the onus on 12-4-3 G Aaron Dell – who will be starting this afternoon – to keep things under control in the defensive end, but if recent history is any indicator, the offense will need to keep up its stellar production. In Dell’s last four starts, he’s posted only a 2-1-1 record with an .882 save percentage and 3.52 GAA.

    Speaking of average, there’s not a better word that describes the 24-20-8 Hurricanes of late. However, sometimes average is exactly what you need to win, and that seems to be the case for Carolina, a team that has won three of its past four games.

    Of the three facets of the game that have struck me as average, the one that has definitely been the best is the Canes’ offense. Carolina has averaged 2.75 goals per game since January 25 (the [t]11th-best mark in the NHL in that time).

    But don’t read too much into the word average. Even though the net result of the team’s effort may fit into that description, it doesn’t mean individual players haven’t shined brightly. In fact, a whopping four players are averaging at least a point-per-game since January 25, and that group is spearheaded by F Teuvo Teravainen‘s 2-3-5 effort over the past four games to elevate his season marks to 13-28-41 – the best in Raleigh. Behind him, C Victor Rask (1-3-4), RW Justin Williams (1-3-4) and D Noah Hanifin (0-4-4) have also helped keep the Canes ahead of the opposition.

    For most of the season, Carolina has prided itself on stellar defense, but it seems the Hurricanes are still a little sluggish after the All-Star Break considering they’ve allowed 31.5 shots against per game since January 25 – the exact middle of the road for the NHL in that time.

    Fortunately, it seems 15-6-2 G Cam Ward is more than up to the challenge, as he’s won all three of his most recent starts. In those showings, he’s posted a .932 save percentage and 2 GAA, and he might be just the edge the Canes need to pull off a victory today.

    The Hurricanes have already made their annual visit to The Tank this season during a six-game road trip. They required an overtime goal from Burns, but the Sharks were able to comeback from a 4-1 second period deficit to knock off Carolina 5-4.

    Though I think it’s safe to say San Jose’s offense has definitely been ticking at a better pace of late, the Sharks’ lackadaisical effort in the defensive zone is just too much of a liability for me in this game. I think Ward leads Carolina to a victory this afternoon.

    The Dallas Stars showed no mercy in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, as they beat the Minnesota Wild 6-1 at American Airlines Center.

    Making Dallas’ offensive explosion even more impressive is the fact that not a single goal was struck in the first period. Don’t think that it was for a lack of effort though, as a combined 19 shots were saved by Second Star of the Game G Kari Lehtonen and G Alex Stalock.

    However, that narrative did not carry into the second period – at least not for Stalock. The Stars scored four goals in the frame in the span of only 5:08, meaning Dallas averaged a goal every 77 seconds.

    F Mattias Janmark (D John Klingberg and C Jason Spezza) claimed the honor of breaking the scoreless draw with a power play tip-in 8:58 into the period, followed 39 seconds later by an unassisted slap shot from Third Star D Stephen Johns that proved to be the game-winner.

    Johns ended up with the puck due to a sloppy attempt by RW Nino Niederreiter to dump the puck into the Wild’s offensive zone. With everyone headed that way, Johns advanced unimpeded into his own attacking zone before ripping a clapper from the right face-off dot past Stalock’s glove.

    The third goal belonged to LW Jamie Benn (F Devin Shore and First Star F Tyler Seguin) with 8:11 remaining in the period, a power play snap shot struck 2:12 after Johns’ game-winner. Seguin (Benn and RW Alexander Radulov) completed the outburst 2:17 after the horn stopped blaring for Benn with a wrist shot.

    5:40 into the third period, W Jason Zucker (F Mikael Granlund and D Jared Spurgeon) pulled the Wild back within a 4-1 deficit, but insurance goals from Radulov (Seguin) and D Dan Hamhuis (D Greg Pateryn and RW Brett Ritchie) eliminated any chance of a Minnesota comeback.

    Lehtonen earned the victory after saving 30-of-31 shots faced (.968 save percentage), leaving the loss to Stalock, who saved 25-of-29 (.862). The Stars’ final two goals were charged to G Devan Dubnyk, who replaced Lehtonen for the third period. He saved seven-of-nine (.778) for no decision.

    Four straight wins by the 64-37-15 hosts in the DtFR Game of the Day series has given them a 25-point advantage over the roadies.

  • February 3 – Day 115 – Green with envy

    With as many games as are on a Saturday schedule, there’s always a possibility of something special happening. Let’s just see if one of the 13 games on today’s slate can fit the bill.

    There’s two matinees on tap today (Anaheim at Montréal [RDS/TSN2] and Ottawa at Philadelphia [NHLN/RDS2]), both of which drop the puck at 1 p.m. The NHL kicks into high gear at 7 p.m. with a half-dozen tilts (Colorado at Winnipeg [SN], Toronto at Boston [CBC/CITY/NHLN/TVAS], St. Louis at Buffalo, Detroit at Florida, Pittsburgh at New Jersey and Columbus at the New York Islanders), followed by two more (the New York Rangers at Nashville and Minnesota at Dallas) an hour later. Next up is the 10 p.m. time slot, which features another pair of matchups (Tampa Bay at Vancouver [CBC] and Chicago at Calgary [SN]), while Arizona at Los Angeles waits half an hour before closing the evening out. All times Eastern.

    What a selection of games! Here’s just a couple that caught my eye for reasons other than the standings:

    • Toronto at Boston: Not only is it an Original Six matchup, but the Leafs are only three points back of the Bruins for second in the Atlantic Division.
    • New York at Nashville: W Cody McLeod was traded to the Predators and they made a run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Does that mean the Rangers are going to the Finals this year?

    Of those listed, the Toronto-Boston game is obviously the most enticing, but we just featured the Bruins two days ago. Instead, I think we turn our attention to an important Central Division battle.

     

    In a wild turn of events, 28-18-5 Minnesota started play yesterday on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. Beating Vegas 5-2 propelled the Wild past Colorado into the second wild card, but Minnesota can continue its climb tonight with a victory against the 29-19-4 Stars.

    Let’s start with the Wild, who have been screaming up the standings lately by going 6-1-2 over their past nine games. As you might be able to tell by that recent run, everything seems to be going right in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, as the Wild are (t)fifth in both goals-for (3.11 per game) and goals-against (2.33 per game) since January 9.

    With players like F Mikael Granlund and C Eric Staal on the same team, magic can happen any given night. Fortunately for Minnesota, that magic has been in abundance over the last nine games, as they’ve respectively posted 4-6-10 and 3-6-9 totals to average at least a point-per-game over this run to elevate their respective season marks to 15-25-40 and 22-24-46.

    If there’s any problem with Granlund and Staal, it’s that there’s not six of them apiece. That’s not a knock on the rest of the Wild as much as it’s a compliment to the superb streak those two players are currently riding.

    However that should be taken, it is of note that – even during this run of success – Minnesota gives up more than its fair share of shots against (30.67 per game since January 9, to be exact – the 14th-best in the league in that time). That’s where 20-10-3 G Devan Dubnyk comes into play, who’s posted a .921 save percentage and 2.26 GAA in his last seven starts. Both of those numbers are superior to his .917 and 2.63 marks on the season and are a testament to how well he’s been playing of late, and he’ll need to be on top of his game once again this evening against one of the better attacks in the NHL (more on that in a moment).

    Dunyk’s three shutouts are the (t)seventh-most in the NHL this season, but I wouldn’t bet on him adding another this evening. Not only is Dallas’ offense one of the better corps in the league (again, we’ll get there in a second), but he was also in net for yesterday’s 5-2 victory against the Golden Knights. Though I would usually err on the side of caution on back-to-back games when it comes to netminders, I still expect him to start over 8-8-2 G Alex Stalock.

    As for Dallas, the current fourth-best team in the Central Division and first wild card, everything has been going right over the past 18 days, as it is ranked third in goals-per-game (3.25), goals against-per-game (1.88) and shots against-per-game (27.88) since January 15. As might be expected with one of the most complete performances in the league in that time frame, the Stars have posted a solid 5-2-1 record in those eight games.

    If you prescribe to my opinions on how the game should be played, I think we’ll agree that this almost unbelievable success is a direct result of nearly unbeatable puck possession in the offensive zone, which in and of itself yields goals.

    Since I have yet to find a source that consistently tracks zone time, let’s go off the assumption that the team that spends more time in the offensive zone should fire more shots than the defending team. That seems like sound logic, right?

    If that’s the case, the Stars have out-shot their last eight opponents 258-223 – a rate that approximately works out to 15 Stars shots for every 13 they’ve allowed during this run. That doesn’t seem like much of an advantage, but it equals 35 more shots for Dallas than it has allowed, which breaks down into a differential of 4.375 per game.

    Does your head hurt yet? Then let’s talk about what’s ultimately matters: the scoreboard.

    As mentioned before, the Stars are averaging 3.25 goals per game since January 15. That’s a lot of scoring, and RW Alexander Radulov and D John Klingberg have been responsible for much of it. Respectively posting 4-5-9 and 0-9-9 totals over these last eight games, they’ve increased their respective season marks to 20-28-48 and 6-43-49 – the two highest point totals in Big D.

    What makes both of them averaging more than a point-per-game over this run most impressive is the fact that they’ve joined together on one scoring play only once since January 15. That means these two players have had a hand in creating or scoring 17 of the Stars’ last 26 individual goals – more than 65 percent.

    Talk about presence creating presents.

    Of course, talking exclusively about Klingberg (who’s 43 assists lead all defensemen and ranks [t]second among all skaters) and Radulov totally ignores the fact that F Tyler Seguin also wears victory green. Seguin has been nearly unstoppable all season, as his 24 goals are (t)eighth-most in the NHL.

    Dominating the offensive zone also has the luxury of creating a safe defensive end. After all, the opposition can’t challenge 8-5-1 G Kari Lehtonen if it doesn’t have the puck!

    You’ll notice I brought up Lehtonen and not 21-14-3 G Ben Bishop. That’s because Bishop will be unavailable this evening due to taking a puck to the face Thursday night while sitting on the bench. Considering Lehtonen’s .915 season save percentage is a little bit lower than Bishop’s .917, Dallas’ skaters limiting Minnesota’s opportunities will be of the utmost importance if the Stars want to keep the Wild below them in the table.

    Tonight’s game is only the second meeting between these division rivals this season. The first occurred December 27 at Xcel Energy Center, and the Wild came away with a 4-2 victory thanks to D Jared Spurgeon‘s one-goal, four-block game that earned him First Star honors.

    Bishop being out this evening is a major blow to the Stars. Even though Lehtonen is riding a three-game winning streak, I just don’t see him being able to slow down a Minnesota offense that has found a nice groove.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals 7-4 yesterday at PPG Paints Arena in an expected barn burner of a DtFR Game of the Day.

    Don’t mistake the final score for Pittsburgh dominating the entire game. While it is true the Pens didn’t trail in this game, it was in fact a very competitive matchup, as the clubs were tied 3-3 entering the third period.

    The first period ended in favor of Pittsburgh, as Second Star of the Game RW Phil Kessel (C Riley Sheahan and F Jake Guentzel) buried a wrist shot 2:11 into the frame, followed 13:39 later by an unassisted LW Carl Hagelin wrister. However, it wasn’t just the Penguins that found success in the frame, as Third Star W Alex Ovechkin (D Christian Djoos) sneaked a wrister between the pipes with 1:50 remaining in the period to pull the Caps within a 2-1 deficit.

    If my imagination is correct, Kessel stood in the middle of the dressing room during the first intermission and challenged his teammates to score faster than him in the second period. RW Patric Hornqvist (C Sidney Crosby and First Star F Evgeni Malkin) heeded that call, as he scored his power play snap shot only 26 seconds after the initial puck drop. However, that was the only goal the Pens struck in the middle frame, as D Dmitry Orlov (C Lars Eller and D Matt Niskanen) scored a slap shot only 2:42 later to pull Washington back within a goal. F Evgeny Kuznetsov completed the comeback with 8:03 remaining in the second period, setting the score at 3-3 on a wrister.

    Two exciting periods set the table for a thrilling third, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Things started quickly, as Malkin (Kessel and D Olli Maatta) returned the lead to the Pens only 1:01 into the frame, but an Ovechkin (Kuznetsov and Orlov) snapper pulled Washington right back into a 4-4 tie only 49 seconds later.

    The Capitals’ decline began when C Nicklas Backstrom was sent to the penalty box at the 4:40 mark for hi-sticking W Bryan Rust. As luck would have it, Rust (D Kris Letang and Sheahan) would be the one to take advantage of the man-advantage, cleaning up a saved Letang wrister by tapping the loose puck past G Braden Holtby‘s left skate only 32 seconds before Backstrom was to be released from the sin bin.

    At the 7:59 mark, the Penguins added their first insurance goal courtesy of a Kessel (Malkin and Hagelin) snapper. 2:01 later, Malkin (Crosby and Guentzel) made use of the man-advantage caused by D Madison Bowey tripping F Dominik Simon to score the final goal of the game, a power play tip-in, to set the 7-4 final score.

    G Matthew Murray earned the victory after saving 29-of-33 shots faced (.879 save percentage), leaving the loss to Holtby, who saved 27-of-33 (.818). After Kessel’s insurance goal, Holtby was lifted in favor of G Philipp Grubauer for the final 12:01 of play. The backup saved five-of-six (.833) for no decision.

    Home teams are standing their ground in the DtFR Game of the Day series of late, as they’ve won the last three matchups. As a result, they’ve improved their record in the series to 63-37-15, which is 23 points better than the visitors’.

  • February 2 – Day 114 – An overflow of goals

    Happy Friday to you and yours! Celebrate the last day of the work week with some hockey!

    To help you in that process, the NHL has scheduled four games this evening, including three at 7 p.m. (Washington at Pittsburgh [SN/TVAS], Detroit at Carolina and San Jose at Columbus). Vegas visits Minnesota (NBCSN) an hour later to close the evening out early. All times Eastern.

    Obviously, the game that sticks out above the rest is going down in the Steel City this evening. Even though we just featured the Capitals Wednesday, there’s no way we’re missing this one!

     

    No matter the time of season, these tilts between the Capitals and Penguins always seem to mean just a little bit more, don’t they? Having W Alex Ovechkin and C Sidney Crosby on these respective teams is probably a big reason for that.

    In fact, it’s to the Metropolitan Division-leading 30-15-5 Capitals’ offense that I was about to turn, so we’ll consider that as good a transition as any.

    There are few attacks in the league that have been better than Washington’s since January 12, and it’s not really that close. In their past six outings, the Caps have scored an average of 3.17 goals per game – a mark that is tied for fourth-best in the NHL in that time.

    As you might have guessed, Ovechkin has been a big part of that charge. Since mid-January, the 13-year veteran has posted a team-leading 3-4-7 totals to improve his season numbers to 30-23-53, the most goals in the league.

    But it’s not just Ovi. D John Carlson and F Evgeny Kuznetsov have been incredible lately as well, as they have both averaged a point-per-game over their last six showings. Carlson and Ovechkin have been meshing particularly well of late, as the defenseman has provided the primary assist on two of Ovechkin’s three most-recent markers.

    Of course, Washington also has the luxury of 26-9-2 G Braden Holtby manning the pipes in the defensive end. As a result of his .916 save percentage and 2.67 GAA, his 26 victories on the season are the (t)second-most in the league.

    Meanwhile, the 28-21-3 Penguins – who occupy third place in the Metropolitan – have dreams of capping their four-game home stand with their fourth-straight victory.

    Offensive struggles have been one of the issues facing Pittsburgh for most of the season, but if this home stand is any indication, those concerns are in the rear-view mirror. The Pens have scored a whopping 4.67 goals-per-game during this three-game winning streak, an effort that tops the league during this time frame.

    A total of six players are averaging at least a point-per-game (including D Ian Cole, even though he wasn’t a part of the 3-1 victory against the Hurricanes on January 23) during this run, but none stand out quite like F Evgeni Malkin. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the man whose 26 goals are (t)fifth-most in the league knows what to do with the puck, but Malkin has posted a 5-1-6 effort to improve his season numbers to 26-29-55 totals.

    Of course, success should be a given when Malkin has the supporting cast of Cole, Crosby, RW Phil Kessel, W Bryan Rust and F Dominik Simon – all of whom join the Russian in posting at least a point-per-game. With teammates that include the player that’s (t)fourth in points and 10th in assists in Kessel (21-38-59 totals) and the skater that’s (t)eighth in assists and (t)ninth in points in Crosby (17-39-56), losing is a hard thing to do.

    Tonight’s tilt is the third in the four-game regular season series, and the title of victor is still very much up for grabs. Both the previous games took place at Capital One Arena, with the Pens winning 3-2 on October 11 (W Conor Sheary provided the deciding goal) and the Caps exacting revenge November 10 with a 4-1 victory (Holtby took First Star honors). Pittsburgh and Washington will tangle for the final time this season on April 1 at PPG Paints Arena.

    Holtby and 16-12-1 G Matthew Murray will have to be in their best form tonight if they want to earn their respective club two points, but who will find the save to slow down these potent onslaughts? The Penguins may have home ice, but I’m leaning towards Washington taking the victory considering its defense has been performing better than Pittsburgh’s of late.

    In yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, the Boston Bruins successfully defended TD Garden by beating the St. Louis Blues 3-1.

    As far as the scoreboard was concerned, this game was a slow starter as only one goal was struck in the first two periods. That tally belonged to Second Star of the Game C David Krejci (LW Jake Debrusk and F Ryan Spooner), who buried his backhanded shot with 7:28 remaining in the first frame to give the hosts a one-goal advantage.

    However, the scoreboard never tells the whole story. Even though Krejci scored in the first period, it was actually the Blues that out-shot the Bruins in the first frame 14-9. The game then turned on its head during the intermission, as Third Star G Jake Allen had to fend off a whopping 22 Boston shots in the second while his offense managed only six shots on goal at the other end.

    Things leveled out in the third period as far as shots on goal were concerned (15-13 in favor of Boston), but the Bruins still outscored St. Louis 2-1 in the frame for the 3-1 final score. The first goal belonged to C Patrice Bergeron (RW David Pastrnak and Spooner), who took advantage of RW Vladimir Tarasenko serving a penalty for hooking D Torey Krug to bury a power play snap shot from the right face-off dot that proved to be the game-winner over Allen’s right shoulder. F Jaden Schwartz (F Brayden Schenn and Tarasenko) managed to pull the Notes back within a tally on a wrist shot with 1:32 remaining in regulation, but F David Backes completed the victory against the team he used to captain with an empty-netter with one tick left on the clock.

    First Star G Tuukka Rask earned the victory after saving 32-of-33 shots faced (.97 save percentage), leaving the loss to Allen, who saved 43-of-45 (.956).

    It seems all the 62-37-15 home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series was the All-Star Break to resume control, as they’ve won three out of the last four contests to take a 21-point advantage.

  • Down the Frozen River Podcast #91- Our USA Wins Gold

    Down the Frozen River Podcast #91- Our USA Wins Gold

    After NHLers were not allowed to participate in the 2018 Winter Games, Nick and Connor decided to create USA rosters with NHL players anyway. Also discussed, All-Star weekend, Jaromir Jagr and the Winnipeg Jets.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and/or on Stitcher.

  • Numbers Game: Flirting With [Trading] Partners

    For those of you that don’t work for Hallmark, it’s February, so you all have to get your act together– unless you’re like me and you’re totally going to be hitting up that half-price candy at Target on February 15th for no reason whatsoever.

    Anyway, it’s time we take a look at how the standings should look in April based on how all 31 NHL teams entered the month of February.

    Now, in light of the trade deadline near the end of the month (Monday, February 26th to be exact), let’s keep this one brief, shall we?

    Just for this time around.

    If you’re dying to know more about the outlook of your team, your rival or others, then you should come back each week (Thursdays at 3p ET) leading up to the deadline (take a gander at the Pacific Division trade deadline preview that’s out now!).

    Keep in mind the following projections do not take into account any of the action from Thursday night (“GP so far” = the number of games said team has played from October through January 31st).

    2017-2018 Projected Standings after Four Months

    Eastern Conference

    Atlantic Division

    1. z-Boston Bruins, 116 points (48 GP so far)
    2. x-Toronto Maple Leafs, 111 points (52 GP so far)
    3. x-Tampa Bay Lightning, 106 points (50 GP so far)
    4. Detroit Red Wings, 80 points (49 GP so far)
    5. Montreal Canadiens, 79 points (50 GP so far)
    6. Florida Panthers, 69 points (48 GP so far)
    7. Ottawa Senators, 69 points (48 GP so far)
    8. Buffalo Sabres, 63 points (50 GP so far)

    Overall the Atlantic Division is rubbish.

    Boston, Toronto and Tampa dominate the division, meanwhile the Senators are struggling to figure out that what they really need is to pay Erik Karlsson and rebuild (sooner rather than later). That being said, Detroit’s rebuild that they’re denying is actually a rebuild should look pretty good, considering the state of Montreal, Florida and Buffalo.

    Are the Bruins really that good? Time will tell. Under Bruce Cassidy, Boston hasn’t gone through long streaks of highs and lows– in other words, they seem to always be peaking.

    Will the Lightning cool off that much?

    It’s possible, considering the Maple Leafs might not actually be trying that hard right now. It’s all part of a conspiracy theory pushed forth by @connorzkeith whereby head coach, Mike Babcock, is actually just toying with the league right now and teaching his young kids in Toronto how to play defense. Then one day *boom* Toronto’s offense goes off again.

    Metropolitan Division

    1. y-Washington Capitals, 104 points (50 GP so far)
    2. x-Pittsburgh Penguins, 101 points (52 GP so far)
    3. x-Columbus Blue Jackets, 99 points (50 GP so far)
    4. x- New Jersey Devils, 96 points (49 GP so far)
    5. x-Philadelphia Flyers, 89 points (50 GP so far)
    6. New York Islanders, 89 points (52 GP so far)
    7. New York Rangers, 87 points (50 GP so far)
    8. Carolina Hurricanes, 83 points (50 GP so far)

    The Metropolitan Division is, at times, really exciting and at other times a crapshoot.

    Barry Trotz’s Washington Capitals have figured out their game (like they always do) and should continue to hold onto the regular season division title (cue the cliché Second Round exit joke).

    Pittsburgh is hitting their strides, despite shaky goaltending at times– though Washington has seen their share of that too. Speaking of goaltenders, Columbus has a not-so-secret weapon in net– it’s Sergei Bobrovsky and he’s here to keep the team out of a wild card spot.

    New Jersey’s hot start was met by a cool middle before figuring out that yes, they can be a playoff team after all. Same thing for the Flyers, but not really. Philadelphia started slow and they’re looking to finish fast (in the 2nd wild card spot in the Eastern Conference).

    Other than that, the Islanders and the Rangers look to retool, while Carolina looks to capitalize on selling Hartford Whalers merchandise in Raleigh, North Carolina for the first time at their team store.

    Consider me a fan, Tom Dundon.

    Western Conference

    Central Division

    1. y-Winnipeg Jets, 112 points (51 GP so far)
    2. x-St. Louis Blues, 103 points (52 GP so far)
    3. x-Chicago Blackhawks, 103 points (50 GP so far)
    4. x-Nashville Predators, 101 points (48 GP so far)
    5. Minnesota Wild, 96 points (50 GP so far)
    6. Dallas Stars, 92 points (51 GP so far)
    7. Colorado Avalanche, 91 points (48 GP so far)

    In what might actually be the most exciting playoff push coming down the stretch, the Winnipeg Jets top the Central Division. Prepare for another whiteout at Bell MTS Place.

    The St. Louis Blues cruise into the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs where it’s make or break– Cup or bust, the Western Conference’s Washington Capitals, except the Blues actually made a conference finals in the last decade.

    As always, the Chicago Blackhawks season hasn’t actually started yet, so this whole “they’re last in the Central Division currently” talk is just talk. March comes around and the Blackhawks don’t lose another game until they get swept in the First Round.

    Because of Chicago’s immaculate late season surge, Nashville slides into the first wild card spot in the West. No big deal.

    Minnesota, Dallas and Colorado, despite missing the playoffs, are all exactly where they want to be. Far ahead of the atrocities in the Atlantic Division, such that Colorado becomes a destination location to land in July.

    Pacific Division

    1. p-Vegas Golden Knights, 119 points (49 GP so far)
    2. x-Los Angeles Kings, 101 points (50 GP so far)
    3. x-Anaheim Ducks, 98 points (51 GP so far)
    4. x-San Jose Sharks, 97 points (50 GP so far)
    5. Calgary Flames, 88 points (50 GP so far)
    6. Edmonton Oilers, 80 points (49 GP so far)
    7. Vancouver Canucks, 79 points (49 GP so far)
    8. Arizona Coyotes, 57 points (50 GP so far)

    The Vegas Golden Knights have already smashed so many records, why not break another one and win the President’s Trophy in their first season of existence as an expansion team?

    They’ve already proven they’re the best expansion franchise in the history of the four major North American professional sports.

    Los Angeles and Anaheim take advantage of the fact that the San Jose Sharks time is running out with their current core. Deadline moves cost the Sharks a legitimate shot in the playoffs, but at least they still made it as the second wild card from the Western Conference.

    Calgary will get better, provided they take care of that defense first.

    While disappointing, Edmonton’s misjudgment should be easy to overcome, but they’re going to have to ride out this mediocre season first.

    Vancouver’s focus is on getting healthy and always giving Brock Boeser the puck.

    Meanwhile, does anyone happen to know if Rasmus Dahlin likes getting his tan on? Because he’s probably headed to Arizona right now, where they might move on from a franchise defenseman (Oliver Ekman-Larsson) to draft… another franchise defenseman. Consider the rebuild over?

    Not by a long shot.

  • 2018 Trade Deadline Preview: Pacific Division

    vegas_golden_knights_logo

    1. Vegas Golden Knights– 33-12-4 (70 points, 49 GP)

    There isn’t really that much the Vegas Golden Knights need to do to improve down the stretch. Should they trade James Neal or Marc-Andre Fleury as some fans and media members alike wondered since the expansion draft last June? No. They shouldn’t.

    These are the Golden Knights. They’re trying to win the Stanley Cup in their first season of existence. And they just might.

    They’ve dismantled some of the league’s best teams on a night-to-night basis, while amassing a plus-38 goal differential through 49 games played– and oh yeah, they’re smashing inaugural season records by an expansion franchise. All of that has put them in position for making a stake as a leading horse in the Presidents’ Trophy race.

    That said, if Vegas general manager, George McPhee, is presented with an offer he can’t refuse that would make his team better, by all means, he should pursue it. Addition without subtraction or whatever– they have roughly $8.100 million in salary cap space, they can afford it.

    Potential assets to trade: F Cody Eakin, F David Perron

    Potential assets to acquire: F Patrick Maroon (EDM), F Alex Galchenyuk (MTL), D Nick Holden (NYR), D Ryan McDonagh (NYR), F Mike Hoffman (OTT), D Ian Cole (PIT)

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    2. San Jose Sharks– 26-16-8 (60 points, 50 GP)

    The San Jose Sharks sit in an uncomfortable position. Yes, they’re currently 2nd in the Pacific Division, but it’s a four-horse race for anywhere between two and four playoff spots in the Pacific Division.

    No that’s not counting out the Edmonton Oilers (spoiler alert– they’ll be sellers), but let’s assume the Golden Knights lay claim to the regular season division title. Then it becomes a Battle of California and Calgary for two divisional spots and either one, two or no wild card positions in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Taking a look at the Central Division… yeah, odds aren’t great that they’ll be five teams from either the Pacific or Central clinching a playoff berth, considering the Dallas Stars (60 points), Sharks (60 points), Minnesota Wild (59 points), Kings (59 points), Ducks (59 points), Colorado Avalanche (58 points) and Flames (58 points) are all separated by a measly two-points.

    There’s no room for error.

    With only about $5.200 million in cap space currently and pending RFA forwards Tomas Hertl, 24, and Chris Tierney, 23, to re-sign along with pending RFA defenseman, Dylan DeMelo, 24, San Jose would be smart to lock up the future of their core while accepting that they’ll likely lose some guys via trade or free agency this offseason.

    Joe Thornton, 38, is currently on IR and making $8.000 million on his soon to expire contract. Joel Ward, 37, has a $3.275 million cap hit on his deal that expires on July 1st.

    Could this be a last hurrah?

    Again, it all depends on how the Sharks approach everything moving forward– oh, by the way, backup goaltender, Aaron Dell, is a pending-UFA at season’s end too, but Troy Grosenick looks ready enough to settle into the backup role once Dell is either traded or probably makes a lot of money for the chance to be a starting goaltender elsewhere this July.

    Potential assets to trade: F Mikkel Boedker, D Justin Braun, D Brenden Dillon, G Aaron Dell, D Paul Martin, F Joel Ward

    Potential assets to acquire: Cap Relief, F David Desharnais (NYR), F Michael Grabner (NYR), D Ian Cole (PIT), F Klim Kostin (STL), F Jordan Kyrou (STL), F Thomas Vanek (VAN), F Nic Petan (WPG)

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    3. Los Angeles Kings– 27-18-5 (59 points, 50 GP)

    The Los Angeles Kings are set. They don’t really need to add as long as elite-starting goaltender, Jonathan Quick, is healthy. General manager, Rob Blake, should take a page out of Vegas’s book and sit on his hands come February 26th, that way he won’t be tempted to make any phone calls he might regret later.

    It’s not like the Kings should really consider dumping what’s left of 35-year-old forward, Marian Gaborik, but they very well could– just to get $4.875 million in salary cap off of their hands. Gaborik’s 7-7–14 totals in 27 games played are pretty telling (albeit due to injury and being scratched other nights).

    F Nick Shore, D Kevin Gravel and G Darcy Kuemper stand out as the only “big” names Los Angeles will have to re-sign this offseason with veteran forward, Torrey Mitchell, either working out as a long-term, year-to-year, rental or a short-term, Cup focused, investment.

    Similar to San Jose, however, the Kings don’t have a lot of cap space as things stand. Los Angeles has about $3.600 million in wiggle room and really doesn’t have any holes that need to be filled.

    Los Angeles should sit this trade deadline out and instead work on a plan for the 2018 NHL Entry Draft in June where they’ll have to make some moves (unless the cap rises, which it’s expected to). Then again, Drew Doughty ($7.000 million cap hit) will need a new contract in 2019…

    Potential assets to trade: F Marian Gaborik

    Potential assets to acquire: draft picks, maybe a prospect or two

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    4. Anaheim Ducks– 25-17-9 (59 points, 51 GP)

    Every now and then there are teams that seemingly destroy their opponents in more ways than one while quietly existing and carrying their own weight. Injuries amounted early, but these days the Anaheim Ducks are the ones handing out the bruises– and winning… significantly.

    The Ducks are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, which won’t mean anything by February 26th (unless they go on a significant winning/losing streak).

    Anaheim might creep up in the standings, but what will set them apart from the rest of the Western Conference?

    This is where the Ducks can shine at the trade deadline if they just add one more piece to the puzzle. It doesn’t have to be a permanent piece, but one that’ll hold them over in the event of injuries.

    Let’s face it, regardless of the physical brand of hockey Anaheim plays, there will be an injury or two down the stretch that could impact their chances of postseason success.

    The Sami Vatanen-for-Adam Henrique trade with the New Jersey Devils has paid off in much needed scoring throughout their lineup, but the Ducks could get more if they wanted to.

    A return of Patrick Maroon to The Pond or a rental like Thomas Vanek or Michael Grabner just might put Anaheim on the fast track to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. Filling out their bottom-six depth and scoring prowess, while continuing to center their game around size and skill is exactly what they could add at the end of the month.

    With only about $3.100 million in cap space available, the right move might be hard to make.

    Potential assets to trade: G Reto Berra, D Steve Oleksy, draft picks, prospects

    Potential assets to acquire: D Cody Franson (CHI), D Mike Green (DET), F Patrick Maroon (EDM), F David Desharnais (NYR), F Michael Grabner (NYR), D Nick Holden (NYR), D Erik Gudbranson (VAN), F Thomas Vanek (VAN)

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    5. Calgary Flames– 25-17-8 (58 points, 50 GP)

    When the Calgary Flames are hot, they’re red hot. When the Flames are cold they’re cooler than being cool (shouts OutKast).

    Of all the teams in the Pacific Division, Calgary is the most Jekyll and Hyde of the two Alberta teams. Goaltender, Mike Smith, has saved the season (literally) multiple times on nights where Johnny Gaudreau and the Flames’s offense hasn’t gotten going.

    Conversely, Gaudreau has propelled his team on nights when Smith has struggled. Some nights the Flames are on their “A” game. Some nights their porous defense shows. A lot.

    Calgary is too young to give up on. Guys like Troy Brouwer, Matt Stajan and Kris Versteeg provide a veteran presence both on the ice and in the locker room, but are harder to move given their modified no-trade clauses. Not that anyone’s in a rush to move them. Just being mindful of July 1st and the plethora of youth that could steal some roster spots next year, provided the Flames don’t do anything crazy in free agency.

    The Flames have to get better if they want to play longer. Whether or not they decide to take action now or let things develop on their own, well, hasn’t it been long enough?

    If they want to make a deep playoff run they have to manage their cap situation a lot better (and fix their defense with, say, six new defensemen?). With a little more than $2.200 million to play with in cap space come deadline day, Calgary isn’t doing this whole “let’s be buyers on February 26th” thing right.

    Potential assets to trade: F Mikael Backlund, D Matt Bartkowski, F Michael Frolik, D Travis Hamonic, D Michael Stone

    Potential assets to acquire: F Sam Reinhart (BUF), D Nick Holden (NYR), D Ian Cole (PIT)

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    6. Edmonton Oilers– 22-24-3 (47 points, 49 GP)

    If you had Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, where would you expect to be in the standings?

    It’s a trick question, because no matter how many Art Ross Trophies those two players combined win in their careers, you still need to fill out the rest of the roster so you can be salary cap compliant and thus able to compete in the first place.

    Fortunately for the Edmonton Oilers, Peter Chiarelli is at the reins.

    Check that. It’s pretty dire.

    The Oilers aren’t the worst team anymore, so at least they have that going for them, but once again we’re approaching yet another trade deadline where Edmonton has a lot of cargo to jettison into the void that is the rest of the league.

    While McDavid and Draisaitl will eat up $21 million in salary starting next season, the Oilers have plenty of pending free agents to sort out– which also means they have a lot of rentals to sell at the deadline.

    With the right moves, Chiarelli can redeem himself in Edmonton. All it requires is a swift retool. Too bad there’s a couple of no movement clauses on the blue line, because they’re eating $9.500 million in salary that the team will probably need to re-sign Rasmus Dahlin in a few years after they win the draft lottery.

    Potential assets to trade: F Mike Cammalleri, D Brandon Davidson, F Mark Letestu, F Patrick Maroon

    Potential assets to acquire: F Zemgus Girgensons (BUF), F Sam Reinhart (BUF), F Luke Glendening (DET), F Alex Galchenyuk (MTL), F Andrew Shaw (MTL), D Nick Holden (NYR), F Derick Brassard (OTT), F Jean-Gabriel Pageau (OTT), F Klim Kostin (STL), F Jordan Kyrou (STL)

    imgres-2

    7. Vancouver Canucks– 20-24-6 (46 points, 50 GP)

    Similar to the Edmonton Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks had high hopes for this season. Okay, not that high, but still.

    Things haven’t exactly gone as planned, thanks in part to Bo Horvat‘s injury, yet the Canucks have one of this season’s most pleasant surprises in the league– the emergence of Brock Boeser.

    Vancouver has about $1.000 million in cap space currently. For a team that’s massively under-performing with a minus-31 goal differential through 50 games played, that’s horrendous.

    Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin are both pending-UFAs earning $7.000 million through the end of this season. Their playing days are safe in a Canucks uniform, given their no movement clauses and the fact that the traditional “honorary” $1.000 million (with a bunch of bonuses tied to performance) year-to-year contract extensions forthcoming– if they choose to play another year in the NHL.

    There’s a lot of youth in Vancouver, so that’s promising.

    Guys like Thomas Vanek and Erik Gudbranson have been the subject of those expected to be on the move from the Canucks organization and surely at least one of them will be out the door come February 26th.

    As much as Sam Gagner has turned around his game, he may fall victim to the tight cap situation with pending RFAs Jake Virtanen, Markus Granlund and Sven Baertschi on the cusp of seeing pay raises. Then again, maybe Gagner’s future with the Canucks will be saved by whatever the Sedin’s decide to do (take less money).

    Short of some adjustments on the blue line and letting their young forwards gain experience, Vancouver really doesn’t need that much. Full health and finding the right starting goaltender should be the main focus going into the deadline and beyond.

    Potential assets to trade: D Alex Biega, F Sam Gagner, D Erik Gudbranson, G Jacob Markstrom, G Anders Nilsson, F Thomas Vanek

    Potential assets to acquire: F Zemgus Girgensons (BUF), G Robin Lehner (BUF), F Sam Reinhart (BUF), G Petr Mrazek (DET), F Jean-Gabriel Pageau (OTT), G Aaron Dell (SJ), F Klim Kostin (STL), F Jordan Kyrou (STL)

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    8. Arizona Coyotes– 12-29-9 (33 points, 50 GP)

    Just exactly how long will we go before recognizing that the Arizona Coyotes are in a state of denial?

    The perpetual rebuild has hit its lowest point so far and general manager, John Chayka, has nothing to show for some of his seemingly brilliant acquisitions in the offseason (namely, Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta from the New York Rangers, as well as Niklas Hjalmarsson from the Chicago Blackhawks).

    Look, neither of the trades the Coyotes made around the 2017 NHL Entry Draft were going to make them contenders for the Cup, but they should’ve at least made them move out of the basement and onto the first floor of the league.

    Arizona will be selling once again and unless your last name is Hjalmarsson, Raanta or Stepan and you’re over the age of 24, there’s a good chance you could be packing a bag out of the desert (unless you get traded to Vegas, in which case, you’ll still be in the desert– only cooler because of all of the attractions around T-Mobile Arena, oh and the whole “Cup in one” mentality currently for the Golden Knights).

    Potential assets to trade: F Brad Richardson, F Tobias Rieder, F Jordan Martinook, F Nick Cousins, D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D Kevin Connauton

    Potential assets to acquire: Draft picks, F Zemgus Girgensons (BUF), F Sam Reinhart (BUF), D Tyson Barrie (COL), G Petr Mrazek (DET), F Alex Galchenyuk (MTL), F Max Pacioretty (MTL), D Nick Holden (NYR), D Ryan McDonagh (NYR), F Mike Hoffman (OTT), F Jean-Gabriel Pageau (OTT), G Aaron Dell (SJ), F Klim Kostin (STL), F Jordan Kyrou (STL), F David Perron (VGK)

  • February 1 – Day 113 – Golden opportunities

    Thursday nights are the best of the week in my opinion, and it doesn’t look like this one is going to disappoint with its dozen tilts.

    The action starts at 7 p.m. with six games (St. Louis at Boston [TVAS], Florida at Buffalo, Philadelphia at New Jersey, Toronto at the New York Rangers, Montréal at Carolina [RDS/TSN2] and Anaheim at Ottawa [RDS2]), followed an hour later by Vegas at Winnipeg. Next up is Los Angeles at Nashville (NBCSN) at 8:30 p.m., while a trio of matchups (Tampa Bay at Calgary [SN360], Colorado at Edmonton and Dallas at Arizona) wait half an hour before dropping the puck. Finally, Chicago at Vancouver gets underway at 10 p.m. to close out the evening’s festivities. All times Eastern.

    Without even looking at the standings, there’s a few games that should be extremely exciting…

    • Philadelphia at New Jersey: It’s a pivotal Battle of the Turnpikes in the ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division!
    • Toronto at New York: If an Original Six matchup doesn’t get you going, you’re like me and are from an expansion market.
    • Chicago at Vancouver: Remember back in yesteryear (basically 2008-’11) when these teams regularly squared off in the postseason? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

    Since I featured the Flyers yesterday, we’re going to avoid Newark this evening even though it’s certainly the most exciting matchup of those three. Since we also featured the Golden Knights Tuesday, I think we need to make a trip to The Bay State.

     

    Every hockey team will claim that their season is a roller coaster, but the 31-18-3 Blues can definitely make that claim with a clear conscience. They started the season looking like a favorite to qualify for the Stanley Cup Finals, but have since dropped to third place in the Central Division with only six points separating them from an early start to the offseason.

    While it seems F Jaden Schwartz‘ return is the reason the Notes are back on track (after all, his +23 on the season still ranks [t]fifth-best in the NHL), I’d argue it’s actually been the stellar play of 13-4-1 G Carter Hutton that is most responsible for St. Louis’ return to form.

    Since mid-December, 18-14-2 G Jake Allen has been the definition of inconsistent – if not worse considering he won only one game in his last nine starts. As a result, he has ceded his starting position to Hutton for the time being, and the Blues have found far more success.

    That is no less true for this winning streak, as the Thunder Bay, Ontario native has been nothing short of incredible in his last three starts. Allowing a total of only two goals, he’s posted a .979 save percentage and .67 GAA to improve his season marks to a .945 save percentage and 1.7 GAA, both of which are the best in the NHL among qualified goaltenders.

    With netminding like that, it doesn’t take much for an offense to find success. However, Head Coach Mike Yeo isn’t complaining one bit about an offense that has scored a (t)12th-best three goals per game since January 23.

    The attack has been largely spearheaded by F Alex Steen, who’s managed 2-2-4 totals in his last three games, improving his season numbers to 11-20-31. Tack on the fact that F Brayden Schenn (2-1-3) and D Alex Pietrangelo (0-3-3) both join Steen in averaging at least a point-per-game, and St. Louis is beginning to look like the unbeatable squad it showed at the start of the campaign.

    However, all this success comes with an asterisk attached: the Blues’ last three games were all at home against Ottawa, Colorado and Montréal – none of which are currently qualifying for the playoffs.

    That’s where 29-11-8 Boston comes into play, the second-best team in both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. The host Bruins will certainly be a good litmus test of whether the Blues have rediscovered the art of hockey or not.

    Of course, there are few clubs in the NHL that have pulled off a victory against the Bruins lately. In fact, Tuesday’s regulation loss against the Ducks was Boston’s first since December 14, meaning the Bruins posted a 14-1-4 record in their past 19 games.

    Talk about dominant.

    But really, how good are these Bruins?

    How’s this for you: When I compose these “Game of the Day” pieces, I use three primary statistics to determine how a team is trending – goals per game, goals against per game and shots against per game – comparing the current winning streak or losing skid’s numbers to a club’s season marks.

    Since December 16, Boston has topped the league in goals for and against per game, while falling only behind Philadelphia – another team definitely on an upward trend of late – in shots against per game.

    In other words, what haven’t the Bruins done right?

    While its not miserable, there’s still room for improvement in Boston’s penalty kill, which has managed only a middle-of-the-road 81.1 percent success rate since mid-December.

    One player who’s not responsible for Boston’s average penalty kill is D Zdeno Chara. Even at 40-years-old, he’s still one of the best players on the ice every night. In terms of the penalty kill, he leads the team in shorthanded blocks (10) and shorthanded takeaways (three) since December 16, putting youngsters like D Charlie McAvoy – who is literally half his age – to shame.

    It’s a tough ask to beat the Bruins, but Anaheim showed St. Louis the blueprint Tuesday night in its 3-1 victory at TD Garden. However, even though the Notes come into this game riding their three-game winning streak, I don’t see Boston dropping two consecutive home fixtures.

    They they trailed 2-0 after the first period, the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 at Capital One Arena in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Everything went the Flyers’ way at the start of the game, as they registered both their goals before a full eight minutes ticked off the clock. F Nolan Patrick (W Wayne Simmonds) took credit for the first goal with a backhanded shot 78 seconds into the tilt, followed 6:32 later by F Travis Konecny‘s (C Sean Couturier) wrist shot to give Philly its two-goal advantage.

    Washington finally got on the scoreboard 2:14 into the second period courtesy of a wrister from First Star of the Game F Chandler Stephenson (Second Star C Lars Eller and D John Carlson). Only 47 seconds later, the game was tied when Stephenson (D Madison Bowey) repeated his performance to beat G Michal Neuvirth, though this time it was with a backhander. W Andre Burakovsky (Eller) completed the period’s scoring with 5:28 remaining in the frame, burying a power play tip-in to give the Caps an advantage they would not yield for the remainder of the game.

    Another Capitals power play goal was scored in the third period, and this one proved to be the game-winner. With Patrick in the penalty box for hooking RW Tom Wilson and D Robert Hagg without his stick (effectively meaning only 3.5 Flyers were on the ice), Third Star F T.J. Oshie (F Evgeny Kuznetsov and Carlson) took advantage of Kuznetsov’s pass from the right face-off dot to beat Neuvirth upstairs, setting the score at 4-2. Oshie’s goal snapped a 13-game goalless skid for the forward.

    3:38 after the Capital One Arena siren stopped blaring for Oshie, W Devante Smith-Pelly (D Christian Djoos and F Jay Beagle) brought it back to life with what was then a second insurance goal. W Jakub Voracek (D Ivan Provorov and Patrick) made Smith-Pelly’s deflection a little bit more important with a tip-in of his own with 9:20 remaining in regulation, but the Flyers simply could not find another way past G Braden Holtby, letting the 5-3 score remain until the end of the game.

    Holtby earned the victory after saving 27-of-30 shots faced (.9 save percentage), leaving the loss to Neuvirth, who saved 15-of-20 (.75). Following Smith-Pelly’s goal 9:06 into the third period, Neuvirth was lifted in favor of rookie G Alex Lyon, who saved all five shots he faced for no decision in his first NHL action.

    The Capitals’ victory earns another two points for the 61-37-15 home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, meaning they now have a 19-point advantage over the roadies.

  • January 31 – Day 112 – High Flyer-ing offense

    There may only be three games on the schedule today, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a quality matchup.

    The action starts at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time when the New York Islanders visit Toronto (SN/TVAS), and it is followed half an hour later by tonight’s co-nightcaps: San Jose at Detroit and Philadelphia at Washington (NBCSN).

    As I discussed with @nlanciani53 in a recent podcast, it’s time to see just how good this Flyers team actually is, as they face a good test in a rivalry game with the Caps this evening. Let’s take a look into this matchup, shall we?

     

    Since December 29, there have been few teams in the Eastern Conference as successful as the Flyers. They’ve posted a 9-3-0 record to surge into the second wildcard, with impressive wins coming against the Lightning in Tampa Bay, St. Louis, the Devils in New Jersey, Toronto, the Devils again and the Capitals in Washington (more on that below).

    In other words, Philadelphia hasn’t been picking up wins against scrubs.

    All credit for this success is due to the Flyers’ offense, which is scoring the puck at an unbelievable pace (3.33 goals per game, the fourth-best average in the league since December 29) and maintaining possession to limit 5-6-1 G Michal Neuvirth‘s – tonight’s starter with 19-11-7 G Brian Elliott on injured reserve –  workload to an average of only 27.83 shots per game (the lowest mark in the NHL during this run).

    As for who’s been behind this attack, all signs point towards C Sean Couturier. Philly’s top center has posted 9-7-16 totals in his last 12 games played to improve his season marks to 26-23-49. In fact, his 26 markers are so impressive, they rank (t)fifth-best in the league.

    F Claude Giroux and W Jakub Voracek have also been stellar during this run of success, as they’ve respectively posted 1-13-14 and 1-11-12 totals to join with Couturier in averaging at least a point per game since December 29. Of course, their success is no surprise considering they both rank among the league’s top-three in assists and top-10 in points.

    Meanwhile, 29-15-5 Washington has been busy all season proving the doubters wrong, as all the team has done after a tough offseason is lead the ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division.

    However, the Caps did not have the best of runs leading into the All-Star Break. Though they earned points in four of their five games, they posted only a record of 2-1-2 in their last five games.

    The biggest reason for this lull in an overall very successful season seems to be the play of 25-9-2 G Braden Holtby. Starting three of those five games, he led the Capitals to only one victory with a .91 save percentage.

    Fortunately for him, his defensive corps played a big part in helping him post a 2.66 GAA in those tilts, which is exactly in line with his season mark. Behind the stellar efforts of D Dmitry Orlov (team-leading 1.4 blocks per game and five takeaways since January 12) and D Brooks Orpik (three hits per game over this run), the Capitals have limited his workload to only 30.8 shots against per game during this five-game stretch, the 13th-best effort in the NHL in that time.

    Tonight’s tilt is Game 3 of four between the Caps and Flyers this regular season. Though Philly trails in the standings, it has had its way in this series so far, as it has won both the previous two games. They first met on October 14 at Wells Fargo Center, where the Flyers exploded to an 8-2 victory (Voracek took First Star honors with three assists). More recently, Philadelphia traveled to the capital on January 21 to post a 2-1 victory, courtesy of a F Travis Konecny overtime game-winner.

    The Flyers have certainly been the more dominant team leading into the All-Star Break. Add in the fact that they haven’t lost to the Caps yet this year, and I have a hard time picking against Philly’s offense.

    With three goals in the span of 53 seconds in the third period, the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    This was an odd game in that the number of goals scored in each frame matched the period’s number, and that scoring in each frame was limited to only one team.

    Make sense?

    Allow me to explain: in the first period, only one goal was scored. Since W Reilly Smith‘s (First Star of the Game F Jon Marchessault and Third Star C William Karlsson) power play tip-in put the Golden Knights up 1-0 with 3:57 remaining in the frame, that meant Vegas was the only team to score in that frame.

    Off to Period 2, which featured two markers. Both of those goals belonged to the Flames, as Second Star F Sam Bennett (RW Troy Brouwer) leveled the game 6:02 into the frame with a wrist shot. Calgary then earned its first – and only – lead of the game 12:41 later, courtesy of a LW Matthew Tkachuk (D Dougie Hamilton and F Michael Frolik) wrap-around shot. The 2-1 score held into the second intermission.

    Things were looking very good for the Flames in the third period. They still had their one-goal lead with under two minutes remaining in regulation. Worst case scenario, this game went to overtime… right?

    Unfortunately for them, the game’s pattern caught up to Calgary in a big way, starting with F Erik Haula‘s unassisted wrist shot with 1:46 remaining on the clock to tie the game at 2-2. The game-winning goal was struck only 10 seconds later, courtesy of Marchessault (Karlsson and Smith).

    C Mikael Backlund thought he had this play all wrapped up along the boards in front of his own bench. Karlsson had the puck, but he was coming in to disrupt the play and potentially set his club up for a breakaway opportunity. However, just before he could engage, Karlsson backhanded a pass to Marchessault to set him up for a breakaway opportunity of his own. After getting around D Mark Giordano, Marchessault took advantage of his one-on-one opportunity against G Mike Smith to rip a wrister from the slot top-shelf over the netminder’s glove.

    Now trailing by a goal instead of leading by that margin, Flames Head Coach Glen Gulutzan was forced to pull M. Smith with 59 ticks remaining in the game. He was off the ice for only six seconds before W David Perron (F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and D Shea Theodore) capitalized on the gaping cage to set the 4-2 final score with a wrister.

    G Marc-Andre Fleury earned the come-from-behind victory after saving 31-of-33 shots faced (.939 save percentage), leaving the loss to M. Smith, who saved 31-of-34 (.912).

    Road teams are staging quite the comeback in the DtFR Game of the Day series, as they’ve won six of the last seven games. This streak has pulled them within 17 points of the 60-37-15 home teams.