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  • January 14 – Day 91 – Battle of Ontario

    For those that love days full of hockey, your wish is fulfilled today with a whopping 12 games. The action starts at 1 p.m. with Philadelphia at Boston (NHLN/SN), followed a couple hours later by Nashville at Colorado. The usual starting time of 7 p.m. brings with it five contests (the New York Rangers at Montréal [SN/TVAS], Toronto at Ottawa [CBC/CITY], Pittsburgh at Detroit [NHLN], Columbus at Florida and the New York Islanders at Carolina), with two more games dropping the puck an hour later (Anaheim at Arizona and Minnesota at Dallas). 10 p.m. marks the beginning of two matchups (Winnipeg at Los Angeles [SN] and Calgary at Edmonton [CBC]), with St. Louis at San Jose – tonight’s nightcap – waiting half an hour before getting underway.

    Short list:

    • Nashville at Colorado: Yesterday, Cody McLeod was wearing the burgundy sweater he had for the last 10 years. Tonight, he’ll probably don new colors for the first time in his old home arena.
    • New York at Montréal: It’s an Original Six rivalry that could also serve as a preview of a Eastern Quarterfinals matchup.
    • Toronto at Ottawa: The Battle of Ontario is waged for the second time this season.
    • Pittsburgh at Detroit: Thanks to two-straight meetings in the Stanley Cup Finals, these fanbases may always have a slight disdain for each other.
    • Anaheim at Arizona: For five seasons in his career, Antoine Vermette made his home in the desert. After playing for the Coyotes last season, he makes his first return to Arizona tonight.
    • Minnesota at Dallas: The Wild scrapped and clawed, but the Stars eliminated them in six games in last year’s Western Conference Quarterfinals.
    • Calgary at Edmonton: The Battle of Alberta rages on in Edmonton this evening.
    • St. Louis at San Jose: Speaking of last year’s playoffs, the Blues and Sharks met up and played six games in the Western Finals before San Jose played in the Stanley Cup Finals.

    As you can see from the list of games to choose from, it’s hard to go wrong with almost every matchup listed today. I would love to feature Nashville at Colorado, but I don’t think McLeod is going to bring the same physicality when playing against his ex-team only a day removed from being traded.

    Instead, let’s head to Ottawa. It’s been exactly a month since we’ve featured the Senators, and a Leafs regulation win would push them into playoff position.

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    Yes Leafs fans, you read me correctly. Although it is only by the third tiebreaker regarding the season series between tonight’s featured clubs, Toronto could improve into third place in the Atlantic Division. I hate featuring teams on back-to-back days, but the fact that this is an important and potentially productive weekend for the Leafs was too much to ignore.

    But there’s also an added layer to this contest that makes it even more exciting. The Battle of Ontario recalls the days of the original Senators franchise, as well as the rivalry between Ottawa and Toronto. Since making their return to the NHL, the Sens and Leafs have met four times in the playoffs, with Ottawa winning all four series. They also have the recent success, winning the last five regular season meetings – including the 5-4 overtime thriller on Opening Day.

    As stated before, the 19-13-8 Leafs come to the Canadian Tire Centre with a lot on the line. What has gotten them within two points of third place in the Atlantic Division has been their impressive offense that has notched 123 goals in 40 games – the fifth-best scoring rate in the league.

    Have you heard of Auston Matthews? It seems like Toronto selecting him with the first-overall pick in this season’s draft just might pan out. He’s already notched 36 points this season, including 21 goals – both the best on the squad.

    Where the Maple Leafs have been most dangerous is on the power play, where their 23.3% success rate is third-best in the league. Fellow rookie William Nylander has made this his specialty, as his 15 power play points are tops in Toronto, but two-thirds of those points are assists. That’s where Nazem Kadri comes in with his club-leading eight power play goals.

    The penalty kill has been nearly as good for the Leafs, as their 84.3% kill rate is seventh-best in the NHL. Roman Polak deserves a lot credit for that effort with his team-leading 19 shorthanded blocks.

    Currently in possession of third place in the Atlantic, 22-14-4 Ottawa are currently riding a two-game winning streak. Where they’ve found their success has been on the defensive end, where they’ve allowed only 102 goals, the fifth-fewest in the league.

    It looks likely that 10-6-3 Mike Condon will be the man between the pipes tonight, and most of the time that hasn’t been a problem for the Senators. His .921 save percentage and 2.29 GAA are both top-20 among the 52 netminders with at least nine appearances this season.

    Those numbers don’t necessarily jump off the page, but much be analyzed in light of the pressure he faces on a nightly basis. Ottawa‘s defense allows an average of 30.4 shots-per-game to reach Condon’s crease, the 12th-most in the league. Of course, the man at the center of that effort is Mr. Senator himself, Erik Karlsson. The defenseman has notched an impressive 103 blocks this season, the fifth-most in the league. Unfortunately, he’s one of only three blueliners with over 80 blocks, which is where the true issue lies in Ottawa‘s defense.

    Surprisingly, that hasn’t been an issue on the penalty kill, where the Sens rank ninth-best by neutralizing 83.3% of their infractions. Dion Phaneuf has taken up the charge here with his team-leading 24 shorthanded blocks.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Ottawa‘s Condon (2.25 GAA [tied for eighth-best in the NHL]) & Toronto‘s Frederik Andersen (18 wins [tied for ninth-most in the league]) and Matthews (21 goals [tied for third-most in the NHL]).

    Beating New York last night was a big win for the Leafs, and I expect them to carry that energy into tonight’s rivalry game. Ottawa does have the advantage of rest, but Toronto‘s momentum might be too much for them to handle.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Babe Siebert  (1904-1939) – This Hall of Famer played 14 seasons in the NHL, most of which with the Montreal Maroons. In addition to hoisting the Stanley Cup twice, he also won the Hart Trophy in 1937. He met an early death after drowning in Lake Huron, only three months before he was expected to make his coaching debut with the Canadiens.
    • Bob Essensa (1965-) – Drafted in the fourth round of the 1983 NHL Entry Draft by Winnipeg, this goaltender played most of his dozen seasons with the Winnipeg/Phoenix franchise. By the time he hung up his pads, he’d accrued a 173-176-47 record.

    Sparked by two first period goals, the Maple Leafs were able to upset the Rangers 4-2 at Madison Square Garden in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    The Leafs got right to business after puck drop, and were rewarded with a goal at the 4:49 mark courtesy of a Nylander (Kadri and Matt Hunwick) wrister. That lead doubled to two with 2:32 remaining in the period when James van Riemsdyk‘s (Third Star of the Game Marner and Second Star Tyler Bozak) power play wrister found the back of New York‘s net. Toronto took their 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

    9:05 after returning to the ice, Chris Kreider (Ryan McDonagh and Mats Zuccarello) pulled the Rangers back within a goal with a successful backhander, but Toronto regained their two-goal differential on Connor Brown‘s (Matthews and Jake Gardiner) wrister, the tally that proved to be the game-winner.

    The Leafs had one more goal in them, an insurance power play score from Connor Carrick (Bozak and Marner) with 6:40 remaining in regulation. The Blueshirts tried their hardest to stage a comeback, but J.T. Miller‘s (Pavel Buchnevich and Adam Clendening) snap shot with 1:25 remaining was too little, too late.

    First Star Andersen earned the victory after saving 34-of-36 shots faced (94.4%), leaving loss to Henrik Lundqvist, who saved 23-of-27 (85.2%).

    The Maple Leafs‘ victory was the fifth in seven games in the DtFR Game of the Day series for the visiting clubs. That sets the series record at 49-30-14 for the hosts, only eight points better than the roadies.

  • January 13 – Day 90 – Ready for an Original Six game?

    It’s finally Friday, so sit back and watch some hockey after that stressful business week. The action gets started at 7 p.m. with two games (Toronto at the New York Rangers and Chicago at Washington [NHLN]), followed half an hour later by two more (the New York Islanders at Florida and Buffalo at Carolina). Columbus at Tampa Bay (SN/TVAS) drops the puck at 8 p.m., trailed an hour later by tonight’s co-nightcaps (New Jersey at Calgary and Winnipeg at Arizona).

    Short list:

    • Toronto at New York: It’s another Original Six game this evening, this one taking place at Madison Square Garden.
    • New York at Florida: Last postseason, the Islanders upset Florida in the Eastern Quarterfinals before falling to Tampa Bay.

    Don’t tell anybody, but Toronto is only four points out of playoff position, and tonight’s game in the Big Apple will be a good test to see if they’re capable of acting  on the opportunity.

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    The Leafs make their lone trip of the season to Manhattan with an 18-13-8 record. The main problem for Toronto has been their defense and goaltending, which has allowed 111 goals against – only the 15th-fewest in the league.

    With the exception of six games, 17-9-7 Frederik Andersen has always been the man in charge of the crease for the Maple Leafs this season. So far, he’s saved .918 percent of shots faced for a 2.69 GAA, which ties for 18th and 27th-best among the 44 goalies with 17 or more appearances.

    While Andersen has been far from impressive, he can’t shoulder the entire blame. The Leafs have allowed an average of 32.6 shots-per-game to reach Andersen’s crease, tied for the fourth-worst in the league. Morgan Rielly has given all he can and more to Toronto, as he leads the club with 67 shot blocks.

    If the Leafs truly want to make a playoff push, I’d expect them to be active at the trade deadline to bring in a quality defenseman.

    Although the Leafs have tied for the seventh-best effort on the penalty kill with a 83.6% kill rate (led by Roman Polak‘s 16 short-handed blocks), percentages can be deceiving. Toronto averages 11:35 penalty minutes per game, the second-highest in the NHL, and Andersen has struggled mightily. He’s allowed 19 power play goals to slip past him, which ties for the seventh-most in the league.

    Fortunately, Toronto has been very successful on the power play. Led by William Nylander and his 15 power play points, the Maple Leafs bury the puck 22.4% of the time with the man-advantage, the seventh-best rate in the league. Nazem Kadri has been the one responsible for most of those situational goals, with eight to his credit (tied for the fourth-most in the NHL).

    You know you’re in a tough division when you’re riding a two-game winning streak and have the fifth-best point percentage in the NHL, yet you’re still only in a wild card spot. That’s the position the 28-13-1 Rangers find themselves in, although that can change with a win tonight, as they could take advantage of Pittsburgh‘s two-game losing skid and jump into third place in the division. As they have been all season, they’ll be led by their dominant offense that has accounted for a league-leading 144 points.

    Although it’s more than a two-headed assault, the main pair getting a lot of the praise right now in New York are Kevin Hayes and Derek Stepan, both of whom have an impressive 31 points to their credit. Of course, they’ve mostly been facilitators. The striker on this team is still Michael Grabner with his 19 tallies.

    As you might expect, the Blueshirts‘ power play is no slouch. In fact, they’re third best in the league, successful on 23.2% of their opportunities. Ryan McDonagh has been at the forefront of that effort with nine power play points, but hasn’t been the one scoring the goals. That duty has been shared by Chris Kreider, Rick Nash, Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Vesey, all of whom have four power play goals.

    Even the penalty kill has been impressive, refusing to yield to the opposition’s man-advantage 83% of the time, the 10th-best effort in the league. Kevin Klein gets to take a lot of responsibility for that ranking, as his 16 shorthanded blocks are tops on the club.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include New York‘s Grabner (+22 [fifth-best in the NHL]), Nick Holden (+20 [tied for seventh-best in the league]) and Henrik Lundqvist (18 wins [tied for eighth-most in the NHL]) & Toronto‘s Andersen (17 wins [10th-most in the league]) and Auston Matthews (21 goals [tied for third-most in the NHL]).

    Vegas has put a -137 next to the Rangers‘ name to indicate they’re the favorites this evening. It’s hard to argue with, given their success regardless of who they’re playing. Until Toronto can put together a full game on a regular basis, they will not be able to stand up to talented teams like New York.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Art Ross (1886-1964) – It’s nearly impossible to fully summarize all Ross did. The defenseman won two Stanley Cups as a player, and tacked on an additional three as a coach or general manager for Boston. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1949, and the yearly award for the season’s leading scorer is named in his honor.
    • Cesare Maniago (1939-) – This goaltender played 568 games over 15 seasons in the NHL, mostly with the North Stars. He completed his career with a 190-257-97 record on a 3.27 GAA.
    • Kelly Hrudey (1961-) – Another netminder, the Islanders drafted Hrudey 38th-overall in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. That being said, he spent most of his 15 seasons in Los Angeles en route to a 271-265-88 career record.
    • Nikolai Khabibulin (1973-) – Drafted in the ninth round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the original Jets, this goaltender would’ve been a steal 100 picks earlier. The Bulin Wall finished his 18-season career with a 333-334-97 record, four All Star selections and a 2004 Stanley Cup title while in Tampa Bay.
    • Sergei Brylin (1974-) – The 42nd-overall pick in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft played his entire career with the club that drafted him – New Jersey. During that time, he notched 308 points to win three Stanley Cups.
    • Marc Staal (1987-) – The middle Staal brother was the 12th-overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Rangers, and that’s where he’s played every since. Over his entire career, he’s notched a +40.
    • Connor McDavid (1997-) – In only 88 career games, the first pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by Edmonton has already notched 96 points. There’s no ifs about it: he will be the next superior player, if he’s not already.
    • Ivan Provorov (1997-) – The seventh-overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by Philadelphia, this defenseman has finally joined the Flyers this season. He’s made quite the impact, tying Shayne Gostisbehere with 19 points for most by a Philly blueliner.

    Talk about an evening of comebacks. First, Third Star of the Game Taylor Hall made his return to Edmonton. Then, the Oilers scored a game-tying goal with 7:24 remaining in regulation to force overtime, which they used to beat the Devils 3-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    The lone goal of the first period belonged to Travis Zajac (Kyle Palmieri and Michael Cammalleri) and the visiting Devils. He tipped-in his shot with 1:54 remaining in the frame to put New Jersey ahead going into intermission.

    Edmonton pulled the game back even almost immediately after returning to the ice. 16 seconds after the initial puck drop, Andrej Sekera (Second Star Leon Draisaitl and Adam Larsson) scored a snapper to tie the game at one-all. That draw lasted until 51 seconds remained in the second period, when Steven Santini (Hall and P.A. Parenteau) scored the first goal of his career. Once again, Jersey took a one-goal lead into the dressing room.

    As stated before, the Oilers tied the game with 7:24 remaining in regulation off a wrister from First Star Patrick Maroon (Draisaitl and McDavid). Neither side was able to break the knot, so the game advanced into three-on-three overtime.

    Only 1:50 into the five-minute period, Draisaitl (McDavid and Oscar Klefbom) ended the game in the home club’s favor with an impressive slap shot, his 16th goal of the season.

    Cam Talbot earned the victory after saving 16-of-18 shots faced (88.9%), leaving the loss to Cory Schneider, who saved 31-of-34 (91.2%).

    The Oilers‘ victory is the second-straight by a home club in the DtFR Game of the Day series, improving the hosts’ record to 49-29-14, 10 points better than the visitors.

  • Boston Through 40 (2016-2017)

    By: Nick Lanciani

    In another rendition of my season long look at projected Boston Bruins stats, here’s how things are going through 40 games played (yes, I know, I’m a little late to posting this, but hey, life is kind of going on outside of the Internet, ya know).

    Despite cooling off as of late, David Pastrnak is still on pace for a career year to remember in Boston. A slow year for Patrice Bergeron is still a lot better year than all of our years combined. Given the eye test as of late, Brad Marchand is waking up, despite what his 22-35-57 projected totals say.

    Across the roster, the Bruins are dominating the Corsi for% game. The only problem is that they’re having a hard time converting immense offensive production and efficiency into goals. Additionally, plus-minus is not Boston’s best friend right now, despite having stellar nights in and out from Tuukka Rask in goal. While Rask has been outstanding, that whole “goals in, goals out” model doesn’t appear to be working for the skaters in front of him in goal differential and the like.

    Boston’s rookie trio of Austin Czarnik, Anton Blidh and Brandon Carlo look to be contributors down the remaining stretch, but don’t look for their play to show up in the points column too much. Instead, take your eye off the puck, because that’s where they reside, setting up the big plays.

    Finally, about the Bruins goalies…

    Rask shouldn’t play upwards of 60 games, but if he has to, this year appears to be an acceptable year to do so.

    Anton Khudobin was sent to Providence after having played thus far worse than he did in nine games last season with the Anaheim Ducks before being sent to San Diego.

    With a few more games under his belt, Zane McIntyre should come into his own on the NHL level. Until then, the 10-0-0 goalie in the AHL so far this year is still looking for his first win in the NHL (which would certainly help my forecast function in Excel and allow me to say more).

    Standard disclaimer:

    “Keep in mind, every stat is based off of a player’s entire career and may not reflect well with the other stats projected for this current season (a.k.a. goals + assists might not equal the number of points shown in the points category), because again, each stat is forecasted individually.

    Italics indicates a player currently with their respective AHL affiliate. Underlined player stats indicate a player on the IR (which, admittedly, I’ll do my best to keep up with, but might not have perfect every time, so forgive me if I mistakenly label an injury or fail to label one entirely).”

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    Boston Bruins Projections- Through game 40 of 82

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    For comparison, here’s how the Bruins were projected to do at Game 0 of 82 (prior to the start of the 2016-2017 regular season):

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    *I keep saying I’m going to get around to projecting stats for the Arizona Coyotes and I really do mean it. These things take some time by hand, so please forgive me. It’ll probably be some time soon(ish).*

     

  • January 12 – Day 89 – Y’Hall come back now

    You’re getting close to the weekend. Only one more day of school or work. The best way to prepare for Friday is with some hockey tonight, obviously.

    As usual, the action begins at 7 p.m. with Vancouver at Philadelphia, followed half an hour later by two more games (Pittsburgh at Ottawa [RDS2] and Buffalo at Tampa Bay). 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of another pair of contests (Boston at Nashville [TVAS] and Montréal at Minnesota [NBCSN/RDS]), with Detroit at Dallas trailing 30 minutes later. The final pair of games gets the green light at 9 p.m. (New Jersey at Edmonton and Anaheim at Colorado), with tonight’s nightcap – St. Louis at Los Angeles (SN/SN360) – getting underway at 10:30 p.m. All times eastern.

    Taylor Hall finally plays his first game in Rogers Place, although it’s much later than many Oilers fans expected before this offseason. He should receive a warm welcome this evening.

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    It seems like it was only last weekend that these two played each other. Oh wait, it was last Saturday that the Oilers beat New Jersey 2-1 on an overtime slap shot from Mark Letestu.

    This game has certainly been the more anticipated of the two contests waged between these teams this season. Thanks to a trade that shipped the former number one pick to Newark, Hall has been champing at the bit to get back in front of his original home crowd.

    Hall was drafted in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and made an almost immediate impact. He played 65 games in his rookie season, scoring a team-leading 22 goals.

    Although he only achieved that status one more time (ironically, it was last season when joined by Connor McDavid, the kid that replaced him as the star of the future), Hall was always an integral part of the Oilers‘ offense. He led the club in points three times in his six Edmonton seasons, and never fell lower than third place. In all, Hall contributed to or directly scored 328 goals in a blue sweater, only three fewer than Jordan Eberle in that time span.

    Since making his way to New Jersey after being traded for Adam Larsson, he’s learned all about how difficult scoring can be. Currently only taking credit for 25 points on nine goals, Hall is on pace for only 56 points on 20 goals, which would be the fifth and third-worst efforts, respectively, of his seven-year career.

    In his defense, it doesn’t help that he regularly has to play against the likes of Sergei Bobrovsky, Braden Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist. Those guys don’t give up many goals to start with, no matter how good you are.

    Hall and his 16-18-8 Devils make their way to Edmonton with the second-worst record in both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference. That sounds much worse than it actually is though, as it’s only eight points out of a playoff spot – and with a game in-hand! – but I’m far from predicting a New Jersey surge. As one might expect from Hall’s numbers, the Devils have mightily struggled to score, accounting for only 92 tallies in 42 games, the third-lowest scoring rate in the league.

    Remember Hall’s scoring stats? 25 points on nine goals? I regret to inform you that he’s actually a team-leader with those numbers. He and Travis Zajac both have the same point total due to sharing the second line. The other skater on that line – P.A. Parenteau – has certainly benefited from their efforts, as his dozen tallies are the most in Jersey.

    It’s not happenstance that the third-worst offense has the second-worst power play in the league, as the Devils capitalize on only 13.3% or their opponent’s penalties. Both Kyle Palmieri and Damon Severson have thrived with one fewer foe to keep an eye on, as both have nine power play points to lead the club, but it’s been Hall and Parenteau who have truly done the minimal damage, each with four man-advantage tallies.

    Hosting Jersey this evening are the 21-15-7 Oilers, the third-best team in the Pacific Division even though they’ve lost their last two games. As a club is prone to do when four of their last five first-round picks are forwards, Edmonton has made their living on the offensive end of the ice, scoring 121 goals – the seventh-most in the NHL.

    When I said McDavid replaced Hall as the star of Edmonton in his rookie season, I meant it. McDavid has the world – or at least the NHL – by a string with his league-leading 48 points. Just like Parenteau, Patrick Maroon has taken advantage of having such a player on his line, as his 16 goals are tops in Edmonton.

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Edmonton‘s McDavid (48 points on 34 assists [both lead the league]) and Cam Talbot (three shutouts among 20 wins [both tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) and New Jersey‘s Parenteau (12 goals [leads the team]) and Steven Santini (+5 [leads the team]).

    Vegas has marked the Oilers a heavy favorite to win tonight’s game at -190, and it’s hard to pick against that. The Oilers have been one of the better stories this season barring Columbus and Minnesota, and New Jersey hasn’t been able to match their mid-November form when they went 5-0 in nine days. Oilers fans shouldn’t need to break a sweat.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Jimmy Skinner (1917-2007) – Although offered a contract from the Rangers, Skinner never played a game in the NHL. Instead, he coached four seasons in Detroit to win the 1955 Stanley Cup.
    • Tim Horton (1930-1974) – Just in case some of you kids don’t know, he’s more than a donut and coffee shop. This seven-time All Star played 24 seasons, almost all of which were in Toronto, where he won four Stanley Cups – including three-straight from 1962-’64.  He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977, three years after passing away in a car accident.
    • Curt Fraser (1958-) – Drafted 22nd-overall by his hometown Canucks in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, this left wing played a dozen seasons in the league, most of which in Chicago. He ended his career with 433 points to go with his 1306 penalty minutes.
    • Espen Knutsen (1972-) – Although this center was drafted in the 10th-round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by Hartford, he never played a game with the club. Instead, he spent most of his five seasons in Columbus. In 2002, he became the first and only Norwegian participant in an All Star Game.
    • Jocelyn Thibault (1975-) – This goaltender was drafted 10th-overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by Quebec, but he ended up spending most of his time in Chicago. He completed his career with a 238-238-75 record and earned one All Star nomination.
    • Marian Hossa (1979-) – The 12th-overall pick in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by Ottawa, this right wing is currently in his eighth season in Chicago. He’s thrice hoisted the Stanley Cup, not to mention his five All Star Game appearances.
    • Claude Giroux (1988-) – The captain of Philadelphia was drafted 22nd-overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He’s spent his entire career with the Flyers and has been thrice named an All Star.

    Led by First Star of the Game Alex Ovechkin‘s two-goal night to notch the 1000th and 1001st points of his career, Washington was more than prepared to beat the Penguins 5-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Ovechkin (Second Star Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie) got off to a quick start, giving the Capitals the lead only 35 seconds into the contest with an impressive wrister. Although it proved to be the only goal of the first period, Pittsburgh was never able to pull ahead of the Caps.

    Thanks to Carl Hagelin earning a seat in the penalty box for hooking Tom Wilson, Ovechkin (John Carlson and Backstrom) doubled the Capitals‘ lead with a power play slap shot  from the spot he always shoots from in the left penalty circle. The 2-0 Washington lead held into the second intermission.

    Justin Williams (Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov) takes credit for the eventual winning goal, as his wrister only 4:31 into the final frame was pure. The Pens tried to claw (wing?) their way back into the game with an Evgeni Malkin (Justin Schultz and Phil Kessel) power play wrister only 3:15 later, but Backstrom (Oshie and Carlson) put that threat to bed with a power play wrsiter of his own with 6:49 remaining in the third period. Patric Hornqvist (Sidney Crosby and Kessel) tried once again to find some late momentum by scoring a power play wrister with 2:36 remaining in regulation, but Lars Eller (Backstrom and Oshie) scored on the empty net with 18 seconds left on the clock to fully ice the game.

    Third Star Holtby earns the victory after saving 30-of-32 shots faced (93.75%), while Marc-Andre Fleury takes the loss, saving 25-of-29 (86.2%).

    Washington‘s home victory snaps the four-game winning streak by the road squads in the DtFR Game of the Day series and improves their record to 48-29-14, nine points better than the visitors.

  • January 11 – Day 88 – Top offense and defense collide

    You heard the camel, it’s Hump Day!

    Like most, there’s not many teams in action today, and ones that are playing are scheduled for a shotgun start. Florida at the New York Islanders starts the festivities at 7 p.m., followed half an hour later by Montréal at Winnipeg (RDS/SN). 8 p.m. brings with it the Pittsburgh at Washington (NBCSN/TVAS) contest, with tonight’s nightcap – San Jose at Calgary (SN/SN1) – dropping the puck at 9:30 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Florida at New York: The Isles ended the Panthers‘ season last year in six games in their Eastern Quarterfinals matchup.
    • Pittsburgh at Washington: The same goes for these clubs in the Eastern Semifinals, but a game between these two is about more than a single playoff series.

    One of these matchups is a rivalry; one isn’t. One is between teams qualifying for the playoffs; one isn’t. Guess which game we’re watching.

    pittsburgh_penguins_logoWashington Capitals Logo

    It’s the third time these squads have played this season, and the third time we’ve featured the matchup. The stories of their rivalry have been told before, with yet another chapter added last May when the Penguins eliminated the Capitals in six games. There’s no point in delving into them further other than to say that these clubs simply do not like each other.

    In a sense, it is a special rivalry. The Nationals and Pirates have no animosity towards one another. Neither do the Redskins or the Steelers. It has nothing to do with the cities, only the clubs. Maybe it’s the fact that this rivalry doesn’t face a weird sort of peer pressure from the city brethren that makes it so intense. These teams just don’t like each other.

    Making the visit to the nation’s capital this evening are the 26-8-5 Penguins, winners of their last five games and the second-best team in both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference. As one might expect , they’ve found that success by being very good at scoring the puck, already notching 137 goals in 39 games this season – the highest scoring-rate in the NHL.

    Leading that charge has been the one and only Sidney Crosby with 44 points – one more than Evgeni Malkin. He’s been most impressive when he’s the last one to touch the puck, lighting the lamp a club-leading 26 times. Good for .79 goals per game, Crosby could be in line for a record year. His career-high came in the 2009-10 season when he buried the puck 51 times. At the pace he’s at right now, he could exceed that tally by nine goals if my math is correct.

    One of the reasons Pittsburgh has been so good offensively has been due to their explosive power play, converting 22.6% of their opportunities – tied for the fourth-best mark in the league.  Phil Kessel, who could miss tonight’s game due to illness, has led the charge in this department with his 16 man-advantage points, but once again Crosby takes the clubhouse scoring title, notching nine power play goals.

    What could hold the Penguins back from reclaiming the Stanley Cup this season might be their penalty kill, which ties for ninth-worst after stopping opposing power plays only 79.8% of the time. Although Ian Cole has been effective with his team-leading 16 shorthanded blocks (tied for 33rd most in the league), he’s been let down by Marc-Andre Fleury, whose .852 save percentage on the penalty kill ranks 15th-worst among the 50 goalies with 11 or more appearances.

    Hosting the Pens this evening are the 26-9-5 Capitals, winners of their last six games and the third-best team in both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference. They’ve found that success by playing a brick wall of a defense, allowing only 80 goals against – the fewest in the league.

    As mentioned Monday, 19-8-4 Braden Holtby is having himself a whale of a season, saving .931 percent of shots faced for a 1.9 GAA – the third and second-best marks in the league, respectively. For those wondering, he earned the Vezina Trophy last season with a .922 save percentage and 2.2 GAA. In other words, there’s no telling yet how good this guy can be.

    He hasn’t done it alone, though. Thanks to Karl Alzner‘s 76 blocks and the rest of the blueline, he’s faced only 27.9 shots-per-game, which ties for the fiffh-lowest average in the league.

    Where that defense has been especially helpful has been on the penalty kill. Washington ranks third-best in this situation, nullifying 86.8% of their penalties. Just like he does in even-strength situations, Alzner has headed the charge for the special teams too, notching a team-leading 20 shorthanded blocks.

    Currently, the season series favors the Capitals thanks to Andre Burakovsky forcing overtime during these clubs’ first game of the season on October 13. Although the Pens won that game in a shootout, they fell 7-1 a month later on this surface.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Pittsburgh‘s Crosby (26 goals [most in the league] among 44 points [third-most in the NHL]), Kessel (26 assists [tied for seventh-most in the league]), Malkin (43 points [tied for fourth-most in the NHL] on 27 assists [tied for fifth-most in the league]) and Justin Schultz (+24 [tied for best in the NHL]) & Washington‘s Holtby (five shutouts [tied for most in the league] on a 1.9 GAA [second-best in the NHL] and a .931 save percentage [tied for third-best in the league] for 19 wins [seventh-most in the NHL]) and Alex Ovechkin (19 goals [tied for seventh-most in the league]).

    I’m somewhat surprised that Washington is favored -121 by Vegas, but they claim to be the experts.

    Then again, what do I know? I miss my picks more often than not.

    In my opinion, the Caps are more than capable of neutralizing Pittsburgh‘s offense, so the game could come down to if the action on the other end of the surface. Given the Penguins‘ inability to keep pucks off their own crease, I’m giving the edge to Ovechkin and the Capitals.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Rob Ramage (1959-) – The first pick in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Rockies, this defenseman played 1044 games in the NHL, most of which in St. Louis. He won two Stanley Cups and was a four-time All Star.
    • Rory Fitzpatrick (1975-) – The 47th-overall pick by Montréal in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, this blueliner played 287 games over 10 seasons in the NHL, spending most of that time in Buffalo. He was not a very good defenseman, ending his career with a -48 and only 35 points scored. But, he owns the distinction of being the only Rory to play a game in the NHL, so he’s got that going for him – which is nice.

    Led by Brad Marchand‘s two-goal night, the Bruins leveled the season series against the Blues to 1-1-0 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Boston didn’t waste much time getting to work, as First Star of the Game Frank Vatrano (Second Star Torey Krug and David Pastrnak) scored his power play wrister only 8:19 after the initial puck drop. With 4:40 remaining in the opening period, Brandon Carlo (Vatrano and David Krejci) doubled the Bruins‘ score, followed 2:32 later by Marchand’s (Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron) first goal of the night. Boston took the 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

    Only 1:31 after returning to the ice for the second period, it was more of the same. Krug (Ryan Spooner and Marchand) takes credit for the power play wrister that proved to be the game-winner, but Colton Parayko (David Perron and Jaden Schwartz) pulled the Blues back to 4-1 only 2:26 later with his first goal of the season. That differential that held to the second intermission.

    St. Louis tried to make a game out of the evening with a power play wrister from Patrik Berglund (Perron and Alex Pietrangelo) with 9:46 remaining in regulation, but was unable to truly get anything else going. Marchand (Pastrnak and Bergeron) took advantage of an empty net with 77 seconds remaining to ensure that Kyle Brodziak‘s (Scottie Upshall) goal with 25 seconds to go wouldn’t affect the outcome of the contest.

    Tuukka Rask earns the victory after saving 14-of-17 shots faced (82.4%), leaving the loss to Third Star Carter Hutton, saving 26-of-27 (96.3%). The reason he was named a star is because he came into the game as relief for Jake Allen, who saved only eight-of-11 (72.7%) before being lifted after the three-goal first period.

    Boston‘s victory was the fourth-straight by the road team in the DtFR Game of the Day series, pulling the visitors within seven points of the hosts and their 47-29-14 record.

  • January 10 – Day 87 – Backe in white

    Time for some Tuesday hockey! There’s lots of good matchups this evening, giving us hockey fans no shortage of games to watch. The action starts at 7 p.m. with two contests (Philadelphia at Buffalo and Columbus at Carolina), followed an hour later by another pair (Boston at St. Louis [NBCSN/SN/TVAS] and Vancouver at Nashville). Detroit at Chicago drops the puck at 8:30 p.m., followed half an hour later by San Jose at Edmonton. Finally, at 10 p.m., Dallas at Anaheim – tonight’s nightcap – gets green-lit. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Boston at St. Louis: David Backes never knew a rink other than Scottrade Center. Now he makes his home in Beantown.
    • Detroit at Chicago: It’s an Original Six matchup in the Windy City!

    Barring a meeting in the Stanley Cup finals, this is the only trip Backes will make to St. Louis this season, and he’s sure to receive a warm welcome.

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    Backes’ relationship with the Notes began in 2003 when he was drafted in the second round of the NHL Entry Draft, but he didn’t join the club for another three years, electing instead to play three seasons for Minnesota State.

    Although he started his first professional season in Peoria (the Blues‘ former AHL affiliate), he eventually made the trip down I-55 to play a majority of his games in St. Louis, notching 23 points.

    He’s come a long way since that rookie season. Over his entire Blues career, he scored 206 goals among his 460 points, averaging .633 points per game. No season has been better than his 2010-’11 campaign, when he an evenly-split a 62-point season. It was good enough for a +32 ranking, the second-best in the NHL. Ironically, he trailed now-current teammate Zdeno Chara.

    He was also a special leader in St. Louis. Following that magical season, he assumed captaincy of the Blues, a role he retained until his departure this offseason.

    On the tail end of the peak of his career, Backes and the Blues were unable to agree on a contract this offseason, leaving the center to join Boston on a five-year, $30 million contract. He’s maintained his productive efforts in New England, taking credit for 11 tallies – the third-most on the squad.

    Backes and the Bruins come to St. Louis with a 21-17-5 record, the second-best record in the Atlantic Division. They’ve found that success on the back of their defense and goaltending, which has allowed only 104 goals – tied for the ninth-fewest in the NHL.

    Although four netminders have spent time between the Bruins‘ pipes, it’s never been in question whose crease it is. 20-9-3 Tuukka Rask has been having a fantastic season, notching a .928 save percentage and 1.93 GAA, the (t)fifth and third-best effort in the league among the 45 goalies with 16 or more appearances.

    Much of the reason he’s having arguably the best season of his career is because of the defense playing in front of him. Led by Chara’s 76 shot blocks, Rask has faced an average of only 27.1 shots-per-game, the third-lowest rate in the league.

    That success has carried into the penalty kill in a dramatic way, as the Bruins‘ 88% kill rate ties for the best rate in the NHL. Chara continues to lead the charge when shorthanded with 22 blocks, but he’s closely followed by rookie Brandon Carlo, who has 21 shorthanded blocks.

    Where the Bruins still need to improve is on the power play. They’re sixth-worst in the league, successful on only 14.5% of man-advantage opportunities. Even though he only ties for 67th against the rest of the league, Brad Marchand leads his club with nine power play points. That being said, it’s David Krejci and David Pastrnak that opposing goaltenders keep their eyes on, as both have four power play goals.

    Hosting them this evening are the 21-14-5 Blues, the third-best team in the Central Division. They’ll put that Boston defense to the test, as they’re an offensively-minded club, scoring 113 goals – the 13th-most in the league.

    Vladimir Tarasenko is a bad, bad man. He might as well take credit for the Notes‘ entire offense, notching 43 points in 40 games to lead the club. Nearly half of those points have been tallies, as his 20 goals are also the best in St. Louis.

    As you’d expect from a team like the Blues, the power play is far from a liability. St. Louis is tied for the sixth best man-advantage in the league, successful on 21.9% of opportunities. As you’d expect, Tarasenko leads this charge too with 17 power play points, but he has company for the extra-man goal scoring lead. He and Kevin Shattenkirk both have six power play goals to lead the team.

    The Blues have also been very excellent when down a man, stopping 85.8% of opposing power plays – tied for the fourth-best mark in hockey. Alex Pietrangelo deserves much credit for that success, as his 19 shorthanded blocks are best on the club.

    These teams have already met up in Boston on November 22. Led by Jori Lehtera‘s two-goal effort, the Blues were able to upset the Bruins 4-2. Jake Allen took credit for the victory.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Boston‘s Pastrnak (19 goals [tied for sixth-most in the league]) and Rask (five shutouts [tied for most in the NHL] among 20 wins [tied for third-most in the league] on a 1.93 GAA [third-best in the NHL] and .928 save percentage [tied for fifth-best in the league]) & St. Louis‘ Allen (17 wins [10th-most in the NHL]) and Tarasenko (43 points [tied for fourth-most in the league], including 20 goals [fifth-most in the NHL]).

    Vegas has marked St. Louis a -115 favorite, and I believe it would be unwise to bet against that. Not only do the Blues have home ice, but they’re simply playing solid hockey on both sides of the rink. Boston‘s inability to convert their power play opportunities could be the death of them tonight.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Don Metz (1916-2007) – You wish you had five Stanley Cup titles like this right wing. What makes his effort even more impressive is the fact he only played with the Leafs for seven seasons.
    • Frank Mahovlich (1938-) – You thought Metz was good? This left wing has one more title then him, not to mention 15 All Star selections and the 1958 Calder Trophy. The longtime Maple Leaf was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1981.

    An overpowering, three-goal third period was more than enough to earn the Capitals a 4-1 road victory in Montréal in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Only one goal was struck in the first period, and it belonged to the club wearing white. Nicklas Backstrom (First Star of the Game Alex Ovechkin and Karl Alzner) takes credit with his backhander with 8:57 remaining in the frame.

    The Canadiens waited until the 7:18 mark of the third period to pull even, courtesy of a Tomas Plekanec (Paul Byron and Artturi Lehkonen) power play wrsiter.  Washington didn’t seem to take very kindly to that, so Second Star Evgeny Kuznetsov (Ovechkin and Justin Williams) scored a wrister only 54 seconds later that proved to be the winning tally. Brett Connolly (Kuznetsov) and Ovechkin (Backstrom and Marcus Johansson) provided the two insurance tallies to ensure victory.

    Third Star Braden Holtby earns the victory after saving 22-of-23 shots faced (95.7%), while Carey Price saved 35-of-39 (89.7%) in the loss.

    The third straight victory by a home team in the DtFR Game of the Day series has pulled the visitors within nine points of the hosts, who have a 47-28-14 record.

  • January 9 – Day 86 – These goaltenders are Eller good

    It’s a low-key Monday in the NHL with only eight teams in action. The action starts at 7 p.m. with Florida at New Jersey (SN/SN1), followed half an hour later by Washington at Montréal (NHLN/RDS). 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of Calgary at Winnipeg (TVAS), with tonight’s nightcap – Dallas at Los Angeles (SN) – waiting until 10:30 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Washington at Montréal: For all intents and purposes, Lars Eller played the first six years of his NHL career in Montréal. Nowadays, he finds himself playing for the Capitals.
    • Calgary at Winnipeg: It’s the third-straight rivalry game for the Flames.

    Not only is this a special night for Eller, but it should be a fantastic game between two competitive teams. To the City of Saints we go!

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    The Danish center might have been drafted by St. Louis 13th-overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, but he only suited up seven times for the Blues during the 2009-’10 season before being traded to the Canadiens with Ian Schultz for Jaroslav Halak.

    It turned out to be a good trade for both clubs. Specifically for Eller, he ended up notching 154 points from 2010-’16 during his tenure with the Habs – the eighth-most for a Canadien during that span.

    He especially had a knack for scoring when shorthanded, as his eight shorthanded points for the Habs are second-most for the club during his tenure. That 2011-’12 season was certainly a magical one for Eller. He notched three shorthanded points that season, including two shorthanded goals.

    But scoring probably isn’t what he’s most known for.

    From the moment he showed up in Montréal to the day he left, Eller was always known as a physical player. Every single season, he made Montréal‘s top-10 list for hits thrown, including twice finishing the season with the third-most on the club. His presence was most known during the 2013-’14 campaign when he threw 130 hits, his career-high.

    During the 2016 NHL Entry Draft with two years remaining on his contract, Eller was shipped down to Washington in exchange for the Capitals‘ 2017 and 2018 second-round picks.

    Eller has kept his hitting ways up with the Capitals, as his 33 hits 10th most on the club. But he’s been an even bigger asset at the faceoff dot, where his .46 winning percentage is fifth-best on the team.

    Eller and his new club, winners of their last five contests, come to Montréal with a 25-9-5 record, only good enough for fourth place in the ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division. Although usually known for their offense, it’s been the Capitals’ impressive defense and goaltending that has led the way, allowing only 79 goals this season – the fewest in the NHL.

    As you’d expect after the phenomenal year he had last season, 18-8-4 Braden Holtby has been charged with manning Washington‘s crease most nights. He’s done a good job, notching a season .931 save percentage and 1.93 GAA – the fourth and second-best efforts, respectively, among the 45 goaltenders with 16 or more appearances.

    A player of Holtby’s caliber doesn’t necessarily need help, it’s certainly nice to play behind the sixth-best defense. Led by Karl Alzner‘s 70 blocks, Washington allows only 28 shots-per-game to reach Holtby’s net.

    That success has continued into the penalty kill, where the Capitals are third-best in the league, neutralizing 87.1% of their shorthanded situations. Among the blueliners, Brooks Orpik deserves most credit for that success with his team-leading nine shorthanded blocks.

    Surprisingly, the Washington power play is on the verge of being strikingly bad. Scoring on only 16.4% of their opportunities, the Capitals are tied for 10th worst in the NHL. Nicklas Backstrom has led the man-advantage surge with 13 power play points to his credit but, as one would expect, it’s been Alex Ovechkin scoring most the power play goals, with six to his credit – twice the total of second place.

    Playing host this evening are the 25-9-6 Canadiens, the best team in the Atlantic Division. Winners of their last three games, Montréal has also played fantastically on the defensive end, allowing only 92 goals – the fifth-fewest in the league.

    20-5-4 Carey Price has been just as impressive for the Habs with a season .93 save percentage and 2.06 GAA – the fifth and seventh-best efforts, respectively, in the league among the 45 netminders with 15 or more appearances.

    I would like to submit the argument that Price’s play has been more important for the Habs than Holtby’s for the Caps. You see, even with Shea Weber‘s team-leading 85 blocks, Montréal‘s defense allows 30.1 shots-per-game to reach Price’s crease, the 15th-highest total in the league.

    The defensive issues especially come to light when Montréal is on the penalty kill, as their 80.3% success rate is tied for 10th-worst in the league. Once again, Weber takes command of the defensive efforts with 24 shorthanded blocks, but he and Alexei Emelin are the only two skaters with 20 or more blocks on the penalty kill. More skaters need to get involved if the Habs want to find success when the playoffs come around.

    Fortunately for the Canadiens, they’ve been able to cover their inability to stop power play goals by scoring quite a few of their own. Successful on 21.3% of power play opportunities, the Habs are 10th-best in the league and led by Weber’s 14 man-advantage points, eight of which are goals, which also leads the club.

    These clubs have already met once this season, with the Canadiens earning a 2-1 road victory on December 17. Price earned the victory thanks to a Jeff Petry tally late in the second period.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Montréal‘s Max Pacioretty (19 goals [tied for sixth-most in the league]) and Price (20 wins [tied for second-most in the NHL] on a .93 save percentage [fifth-best in the league] and a 2.06 GAA [seventh-best in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for ninth-most in the league]) & Washington‘s Holtby (five shutouts [tied for most in the NHL] and a 1.93 GAA [tied for second-best in the league] and .931 save percentage [tied for third-best in the NHL] for 18 wins [tied for seventh-most in the league]) and Ovechkin (18 goals [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]).

    Montréal has a -110 next to their name in Vegas, marking them the favorite in tonight’s contest, and based on the most recent matchup, I think that’s fair. As both teams are certainly capable of scoring, I give the edge in this game to the Habs‘ blueline that will guide them to victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Scott Thornton (1971-) – This left wing was the third-overall pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by Toronto, but he spent most of his playing days in San Jose. By the time his 17-season career was through, he’d notched 285 points, 144 of which were goals. And yes, he and Joe Thornton are cousins.
    • Radek Bonk (1976-) – A two-time All Star, this center was drafted third-overall in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft by Ottawa. He played 10 of his 14 seasons with the Senators, helping them to eight playoff appearances over his tenure.
    • Mathieu Garon (1978-) – The 44th-overall pick in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by Montréal, this goaltender played 341 games over a dozen seasons. He played most of those games with Los Angeles, even though he spent more years with the Canadiens. He was a member of Pittsburgh‘s 2009 Stanley Cup winning squad.

    Minnesota took command of the second period in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, beating the Ducks 2-1 at the Honda Center.

    Only the Ducks were able to break through for a goal in the first period, compliments of Third Star of the Game Ryan Kesler‘s (Jakob Silfverberg) tip-in tally, his 16th time lighting the lamp this season. Anaheim held their lead into the first intermission.

    Only 4:39 after returning to the ice, Matt Dumba (Zach Parise and First Star Eric Staal) took advantage of a five-on-three power play caused by both Cam Fowler and Logan Shaw taking seats in the penalty box for separate offenses and leveled the game with a slap shot. 1:42 later, Jared Spurgeon (Jason Pominville and Jason Zucker) scored what ended up being final goal of the game, a game-winning wrister.

    Devan Dubnyk earns the victory after saving 23-of-24 shots faced (95.8%), leaving the loss to Second Star John Gibson, who saved 34-of-36 (94.4%).

    Minnesota‘s win is the second-straight for road teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, setting the series record at 47-27-14 in favor of the hosts by 11 points.

  • Sick Hands Sunday – Miller Goes Streaking and JVR Locks Up Second ‘SHS’

    Hey everyone, I’m back again for a new week of Sick Hands Sunday! I can’t wait to get another version out to all my fans for you all to enjoy! This week was a little easier to pick the winner so let’s get right into it! This time I can actually get my post out on time like I want so I hope you all enjoy!

     

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    JVR screams from the bench during the game (Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports)

     

    This was a little tough, but not the hardest, but it was challenging. I decided to go with Maple Leafs left winger James van Riemsdyk as he was on fire this week, especially in the assist category. JVR finished with eight points (1G, and SEVEN assists) in only three games so you can say he was having a great time finding his teammate’s sticks. He finished with two points in all three games this week and had at least one point on the man advantage as well. JVR had the hot hand and I’ll break it down game by game for you guys!

    In van Riemsdyk’s first game of the week, he took on the mighty Washington Capitals and finished with two assists in a 6-5 OT loss. With his first assist of the night, JVR tried jamming in the puck at the side of the net but was stopped by Philipp Grubauer. His linemate Nazem Kadri picked up the loose puck and jammed it past his pad and into the net to tie the game at 1-1.

    His second assist of the night was a beauty, to say the least. JVR saw linemate Mitch Marner streaking in for a breakaway and poked the bouncing puck behind him and onto his stick for the breakaway. Marner goes in all alone and puts the puck between the legs and into the net for the 5-4 lead. See the play down below:

    In the Leafs’ second game of the week, they took on the New Jersey Devils. JVR once again finished with another two assists to make that four points in two games for the young man. JVR picked up the secondary assist on the Leafs opening goal. He then would grab an assist on their fourth goal that stretched their lead to 4-0. It’s hard to see in the video but he passes the puck over to Tyler Bozak off the goalie’s pads who then jams it in for the power play goal. See the goal down below:

    In the last game of the week van Riemsdyk took on the Canadiens in a game that’s always a close high scoring matchup. He finished with a goal and two assists in a 5-3 loss. In his first assist of the game, he came down the wing, dished off to a breaking Mitch Marner who then fed it back to Tyler Bozak who slammed the puck home to bring the Leafs’ back to within a goal at 2-1. Here is the setup:

    With his second assist of the game, JVR passed the puck to Marner who slammed a one-timer on net from the slot. The puck sat in the slot to Carey Price‘s right and Nazem Kadri jumped right on it and pushed the puck over the line to tie the game up at two goals apiece. You can see the play down below:

    JVR finally get’s his first goal of the week and the last goal for the Leaf’s and it was a nice one! Mitch Marner flies around the zone looking for someone to dump it too but can’t find anyone to pass it too. He decides to go to the right dot and spots van Riemsdyk sitting in the slot and rifled a pass over to him. JVR taps the pass into the wide open net to bring the score to 4-3. Here’s the nice setup below:

     

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    Miller stops MacKinnon in front during their game this week. (Darryl Duck/The Canadian Press via AP)

     

    For the goalie portion of the article, I decided to go with Vancouver goalie Ryan Miller who went 3-0 in all three games this week. He finished with a stellar .957 SV% and a great 1.33 GAA. He only allowed four goals in his three games and also had a shutout as well. He stopped 94 out of the 90 shots he faced all together in the week. Miller was on fire and led Vancouver to a six-game win streak to get back on track. Originally, he started out his season on the wrong foot, but if he continues his stellar performance they will be more than happy to keep giving Miller some starts!

    The Honorable Mention goes to John Gibson and Michael Grabner. I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week! (Thanks to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Twitter for the videos of the goals!)

  • January 8 – Day 85 – Are Wild Ducks much different than the domestic variety?

    Happy Sunday to you. As you might guess, us here at Down the Frozen River encourage you to sit back and watch some hockey.

    The action starts at 5 p.m. with two matinee games (Boston at Carolina and Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh [NHLN/SN360[), followed an hour later by Philadelphia at Columbus. The usual starting time of 7 p.m. brings with it a pair of contests (Nashville at Chicago and Edmonton at Ottawa [SN/TVAS]), with tonight’s nightcap – Minnesota at Anaheim (NBCSN) – waiting 60 minutes before dropping the puck. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh: It took seven games for the Penguins to advance past the Lightning to the Stanley Cup finals a season ago.
    • Minnesota at Anaheim: Bruce Boudreau makes his return to the Pond.

    It’s been a while since we’ve made our way out to the Honda Center, and today’s contest should be fantastic. To Anaheim!

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    Let’s start with Boudreau getting fired from Washington on November 28, 2011, his first head coaching gig in the NHL. He had led the Capitals to four-straight Southeast Division titles, but no playoff success. It’s a theme that follows Gabby, so much that he should probably take up a career in soccer. He’s very successful in the regular season, but never got Washington past the Eastern Semifinals.

    He never had a chance to collect on unemployment, as only two days later he had traversed the country to Orange County to take over as the Ducks‘ skipper, the quickest turnaround for a coach in NHL history. Barring that initial 2011-’12 season when he was hired, Boudreau got all his Ducks in a row and returned them to glory once again. Starting with the 2012-’13 season, he again went four-straight years with a division title.

    Uh oh, we’ve seen that before…

    Unfortunately for Anaheim and Boudreau, even though they made it to the Western Conference Finals in 2015, they made zero trips to the Stanley Cup Finals – not to mention the most important piece of hardware the the league.

    Making matters worse, all the Ducks‘ season-ending games were on the very surface they’re playing tonight. Four straight years the Ducks hosted a Game 7 at the Honda Center, and four-straight years they cleaned our their lockers the next morning.

    Bob Murray, Anaheim‘s GM, ain’t about that life, so two days later Boudreau was again on the job search. That’s how he wound up in the State of Hockey, where he is well on his way to creating another dominant team. Recently, they were involved in the fabled game against Columbus (who would’ve thought that phrase would exist five years ago?) that featured two teams with 12-game or better winning streaks. The Wild simply hope he can keep that success up into the postseason.

    Boudreau and his 24-9-5 Wild have full command of second place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference. They’ve been able to find that success by playing some phenomenal goaltending, allowing only 82 goals so far this season, the second-fewest in the NHL.

    20-7-3 Devan Dubnyk has done more than his share to get Minnesota into their current position. He has a season .939 save percentage and 1.82 GAA, easily the best effort in the league.

    Dubnyk’s play has been beyond impressive since his defense has done little to help him out. Even with Jared Spurgeon‘s team-leading 68 blocks, the Wild have allowed 30.7 shots to reach their netminder per game, the 11th-highest average in the league.

    Even without the help, Dubnyk keeps pucks out of his net regardless of the circumstances. Minnesota is the home of the fifth-best penalty kill in the NHL, preventing 85.5% of opposing power plays to score. Spurgeon is joined by Mikael Granlund for the mark of best shorthanded defenseman, as both have 10 penalty kill blocks to their credit.

    Playing host this evening are the 21-12-8 Ducks, the second-best club in the Pacific Division. Winners of their last three games, and point-earners in their last seven, they’ve found that success on an impressive offense that has already scored 110 goals this season, the 13th-highest total in the league.

    Ryan Kesler has been the man in charge of the offense, notching 34 points in 41 games. That being said, the man striking fear in goaltenders across the Pacific is Rickard Rakell, the proud owner of 16 goals in only 30 games. He hasn’t netted a puck yet this calendar year, which should worry Dubnyk.

    Much of that success has been on the back of an intimidating power play. The Ducks score on 22.7% of their opportunities, the fourth-best mark in the NHL. Kesler has been just as productive on the man-advantage as he is at even-strength. He’s notched 15 power play points so far this season, just short of his entire point total. Seven of those points have been power play goals, the highest total in Anaheim.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Anaheim‘s Ryan Getzlaf (25 assists [most on the team]), Kesler (34 points [most on the team]), Rakell (16 goals [most on the team]), Nick Ritchie (133 hits [most on the team]), Jakob Silfverberg (+12 [best on the team]) and Sami Vatanen (74 blocks [most on the team]) & Minnesota‘s Dubnyk (1.82 GAA on a .939 save percentage [both lead the NHL], including five shutouts [tied for most in the league] for 20 wins [tied for second-most in the NHL]), Granlund (+20 [tied for seventh-best in the league]), Mikko Koivu (+20 [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]), Spurgeon (+21 [tied for fifth-best in the league]), Ryan Suter (+23 [tied for the NHL lead]) and Jason Zucker (+23 [tied for the league lead]).

    I like Anaheim to win tonight’s very competitive match, even if I don’t have statistics to back my claims. Anaheim is rolling right now with their seven-game point streak. Pair that with some home cooking on The Pond, and I see a Ducks winner no matter how good Minnesota is.

    Thanks to First Star of the Game Mark Letestu‘s overtime slap shot, the Oilers were able to escape New Jersey with a 2-1 victory in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    The game’s first goal actually belonged to the Devils, compliments of a backhander from Third Star Miles Wood (Travis Zajac and Steven Santini) at the 9:44 mark of the first period. New Jersey‘s lead lasted a full 33:49 before Edmonton pulled even.

    With his first goal of his career, rookie Matthew Benning (Andrej Sekera and Anton Lander)  takes credit for that game-tying tally. As neither team was able to breakthrough for a winning goal in regulation, this game advanced into three-on-three overtime.

    Letestu (Oscar Klefbom and Connor McDavid) struck with 61 seconds remaining before a shootout with a fantastic slap shot. He was aided by a Zajac slashing penalty against McDavid that forced a four-on-three power play.

    Cam Talbot earns the victory after saving 19-of-20 shots faced (95%), leaving the loss to Second Star Cory Schneider, who saved 41-of-43 (95.3%).

    Edmonton‘s road victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 47-26-14 in favor of the hosts. Home teams lead the visitors by 13 points.

  • January 7 – Day 84 – Larsson is back in town

    It’s the first Saturday of the New Year, and there’s no better way to celebrate than with hockey.

    You’ll notice we’ll celebrate anything around here, and we always celebrate the same way.

    There’s a dozen games being played today, so odds are good your favorite team is in action. Everything starts at 1 p.m. with a pair of contests (Tampa Bay at Philadelphia [NHLN/SN1] and Winnipeg at Buffalo), followed three hours later by Minnesota at Los Angeles (NHLN), the last day game. The usual 7 p.m. starting time brings with it five games (the New York Rangers at Columbus [NHLN], Boston at Florida, Montréal at Toronto [CBC/TVAS], Washington at Ottawa [CITY/TVAS2] and Edmonton at New Jersey [SN]), with a another pair of games waiting an hour before dropping the puck (the New York Islanders at Arizona and Dallas at St. Louis). The West Coast gets involved at 10 p.m. with Vancouver at Calgary (CBC/SN), with Detroit at San Jose – this evening’s nightcap – waiting half an hour before getting green lit.

    Short list:

    • Montréal at Toronto: It’s Original Six rivalry night in the Queen City!
    • Edmonton at New Jersey: Welcome back, Adam Larsson. Welcome back.
    • Dallas at St. Louis: Last season, these clubs met up in the Western Semifinals. The Stars may have been the higher seed, but it was the Blues competing for a Stanley Cup Finals berth.
    • Vancouver at Calgary: What’s better than a rivalry? A rivalry on the second-half of a home-and-home matchup. Tensions will be high.

    One of the bigger trades of the offseason has helped put the Oilers solidly in playoff position. The beneficiary? A certain defenseman…

    Unknown-5New Jersey Devils Logo

     

    Born in Skellefteå, Sweden, this defenseman made his way to the USA in 2011 after being drafted fourth-overall in that year’s NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey.

    Lou Lamoriello was drawn to Larsson after two successful World Championships. Playing with the Junior Crowns in 2010 at both the World Junior Championships and the IIHF World U18 Championships, he won bronze and silver medals, respectively.

    He got five good seasons in with the Devils, playing a total of 274 games. Although he only notched 69 points during that time, he performed his primary responsibility – keeping shots off his goaltender’s net – to a t. Headlined by his career 163 block campaign last season, he blocked 425 shots for Jersey.

    Thanks to a trade only four days after the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Larsson now wears blue and orange instead of red and black. On the way to Edmonton, he passed Taylor Hall, the player traded from the Oilers to New Jersey. Since joining Edmonton, Larsson has only improved. He already has 119 shot blocks this season, and is on pace for 125 more.

    Larsson and the 20-13-7 Oilers come to Newark in control of the third-best record in the Pacific Division. The defenseman has been a big help, but theme of the Oil‘s success has been their high-flying offense that has scored 113 goals, tied for the eighth-most in the NHL.

    Have you heard of Connor McDavid? He’s kind of good at hockey. He’s already notched 45 points this season and is one of seven players to average more than a point per game. Even though only 14 of those points have been goals, but linemates Leon Draisaitl and Patrick Maroon join McDavid with 14 goals. 42 between the three of them is an impressive number made dangerous as opposing goaltenders don’t know who the final shot will come from.

    The power play has also been a strength for Edmonton, as their 20.9% conversion rate is tied for the ninth-best mark in the league. Draisaitl has been the main man in this situation, notching 15 power play points. Most of those have been his 8 man-advantage goals, another statistic in which he leads the club.

    Playing host tonight are the 16-17-7 Devils, the second-worst team in the Metropolitan Division. The main problem in New Jersey has been their struggling offense that has managed only 91 goals, tied for the fourth-fewest in the NHL.

    Although it doesn’t look like it’s going to yield a return to the playoffs, today’s featured trade has worked out equally as well for the the Devils. Hall leads the team with 25 points, although P.A. Parenteau has the goalscoring lead with a dozen tallies. Where Jersey has struggled is finding others to score the puck. Only three skaters have 10 or more tallies, which is far from enough to compete in the deep Metropolitan.

    Part of the problem is that the Devils severely struggle on the power play. Even with Kyle Palmieri‘s team-leading nine power play points, Jersey has converted only 12.8% of their man-advantage opportunities. Once again, it’s the fact that there’s not a true standout completing plays. Hall leads the team with only four power play goals.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Edmonton‘s McDavid (31 assists among 45 points [both most in the league]) and Cam Talbot (19 wins [tied for third-most in the NHL], including three shutouts [tied for fifth-most in the league]) & New Jersey‘s Andy Greene (79 blocks [leads the team]) and Damon Severson (17 assists [leads the team]).

    I know the Devils are playing on home ice, but I don’t see any way Edmonton doesn’t win their second-straight game. McDavid is just too good.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Babe Pratt (1916-1988) – For eight of his dozen seasons, this Hall of Fame defenseman played for the Rangers en route to two Stanley Cup titles. A year after joining Toronto during the 1942-’43 season, he won the Hart Trophy on a career-high 57 points.
    • Mike Liut (1956-) – A fourth-round pick by St. Louis in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, this goaltender played 13 seasons in the NHL. Selected to the All Star Game in 1980-’81, he was also the recipient of the Pearson Trophy that season on a 33-14-13 record.
    • Guy Hebert (1967-) – Another St. Louis goaltending selection, Herbert was picked in the eighth-round of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. He ended up playing most of his 10-season career in Anaheim, notching a career 191-222-56 record.
    • Donald Brashear (1972-) – Although undrafted, this left wing played an impressive 16 seasons – most of which in Vancouver. He was most known as an enforcer, earning a career 2634 minutes in the sin bin.
    • Alex Auld (1981-) – The 40th-overall pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by Florida, this goaltender appeared in 10 NHL seasons, spending most of his time in Vancouver. By the time his career was complete, he set a 91-88-32 record.

    A Vancouver 4-2 victory over the Flames in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day was worth more than a rivalry victory. It moved the Canucks into playoff position.

    Calgary got things going quickly, scoring only 78 seconds into the game compliments of Third Star of the Game Michael Frolik‘s (Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk) wrister. The Canucks leveled with 9:11 remaining in the first period when Michael Chaput (Jack Skille) buried his first goal of the season. 2:18 later, Loui Eriksson (Second Star Markus Granlund and Alexander Edler) gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead with a wrister.

    The eventual game-winning goal was struck with 22 seconds remaining in the second period. Thanks to a too many men on the ice penalty, Granlund (Bo Horvat and Jayson Megna) took advantage of the power play to set the score at 3-1.

    3:18 into the third frame, Granlund (Nikita Tryamkin) deflected an insurance goal into net for the Canucks. Calgary tried their best to get back into the game, but they could only manage a power play wrist shot from Frolik (Backland and Mark Giordano) with 1:43 remaining in regulation.

    First Star Ryan Miller earns the victory after saving 44-of-46 shots faced (95.7%), leaving the loss to Brian Elliott, saving nine-of-13 (69.2%).

    The Canucks‘ victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 47-26-13, favoring the home sides by 14 points.