Down the Frozen River

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  • November 6 – Day 25 – One more before heading back east

    For a Sunday, we have quite a few games on the schedule. What’s pro football? I’ve never heard of it.

    Two games drop the puck at 5 p.m. (Colorado at St. Louis and Edmonton at Detroit), followed an hour later by New Jersey at Carolina. The usual starting time of 7 p.m. marks the beginning of a couple of contests (Dallas at Chicago [TVAS] and Winnipeg at the New York Rangers [SN/SN360]) and tonight’s nightcap, Calgary at Anaheim, goes underway at 9:30 p.m. All times eastern.

    We’ve had a nice weekend out on the west coast. There’s no games out here tomorrow, so let’s catch one more game before heading back east.

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    It’s our third game on the Pond in five days, and if this one follows the scoring of the last two, the winner should cruise to a 5-1 victory.

    Enter the visiting 5-7-1 Calgary Flames. Just last night the Flames were up the freeway in the Staples Center, but they lost 5-0 to the Kings. While their offense is certainly capable of scoring, Calgary is held back by the large quantities of goals they allow.

    Brian Elliott has started nine of the Flames‘ games, including last night’s contest. Before the puck was dropped yesterday, Elliott had a .889 save percentage for 3.12 GAA – a far cry from the .93/2.07 he notched last year with the Blues. Chad Johnson, Elliott’s backup, has better stats – .908 save percentage for a 2.67 GAA – but on a small sampe size, with only four starts to his credit this season.

    Regardless of who starts in net for the Flames, they need to do better.  Plain and simple. Led by Mark Giordano‘s 37 blocks, Calgary‘s defenders have allowed the average number of pucks to reach Elliott and Johnson, so the fault does not lie along the blueline.

    One way to take pressure off the last line of defense needs to be avoiding the penalty box. Calgary is home to the second-worst penalty kill in the, neutralizing only 73.1% of opposing power plays.

    Defending home ice this evening are the 5-5-2 Anaheim Ducks. They play a well rounded game for a +2 goal differential.

    A strong suit I’ve liked out of the Ducks has been their commitment to special teams. Successful on 24.4% of power plays, Anaheim ranks sixth-best in the NHL with the man-advantage. They back that with the 10th-best penalty kill, refusing to yield a power play goal on 83% of opposing attempts.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Anaheim‘s John Gibson (one shutout [tied for sixth-most in the league]) and Calgary‘s Michael Frolik (nine points on five goals [both lead the team]).

    Vegas marks Anaheim as a -190 favorite coming into tonight’s game, one of the most uneven lines on today’s schedule. Given Calgary‘s inability to stop the Ducks‘ power play, much less their standard offense, I think Anaheim easily defends home ice for the victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Erik Cole (1978-) – The 71st overall selection in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, this left wing is still technically active in the league even though he hasn’t played since the 2014-’15 season. He’s most known for his two stints in Carolina, playing 557 games over nine seasons.
    • Brad Stuart (1979-) – The third overall pick of that draft is in the same situation as Cole. The defenseman was drafted by San Jose, and played 486 games over eight seasons with the Sharks.
    • Andrew Murray (1981-) – Drafted 242nd overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by Columbus, Murray’s career has taken him away from North America to the KHL from 2013-’15.

    The Penguins are taking no prisoners as of late, as their 5-0 victory over San Jose in yesterday’s Game of the Day is the fifth in their last six games.

    Chris Kunitz (Evgeni Malkin and Ian Cole) takes credit for the game-winning tally, a snap shot only 4:22 after initial puck drop. Second Star of the Game Sidney Crosby (Third Star Carl Hagelin and Conor Sheary) tacked on the second-and-final goal of the first period with 1:32 remaining in the frame.

    Crosby (Hagelin and Brian Dumoulin), Eric Fehr (Matt Cullen and Sheary) and Nick Bonino (Trevor Daley and Hagelin) scored the three remaining goals during the second period.

    First Star Matt Murray earns the shutout victory after saving all 32 shots he faced, while Martin Jones saved four-of-seven (57.1%) for the loss. He was replaced following Crosby’s second goal, only 13 seconds into the second period, by Aaron Dell, who saved 16-of-18 (88.9%) for no decision.

    With that victory by the visiting Penguins, the DtFR Game of the Day series stands at 14-10-3, favoring the home squads by only two points.

    Bonus stat: Five of our last seven Game of the Days have been won by a five-goal offense, beginning with Pittsburgh in Philadelphia October 29.

  • Colby’s Corner Situation on the Island

    The New York Islanders have found themselves another player situation, this time with goalies. And yes, of course, goalies, considering how this season has gone. This situation is very interesting however as the Islanders have three goalies on their New York Islanders Logoactive roster. They are Jaroslav Halak, Thomas Greiss and Jean-Francois Berube. Two of the goalies (Halak and Berube) are represented by sports agent Allan Walsh.

    Allan Walsh took to Twitter calling out the Islanders for using a three-goalie system. It was unclear which player was unhappy with the system. Walsh said players aren’t getting enough practice time to stay sharp and they are starting a goalie most times with only one solid day of practice.

    Garth Snow, GM of the Islanders, made it clear to everyone that Halak is available to other teams, essentially saying ‘if you need a goalie we will give you Halak’. Now last word on the interest of Halak was that two teams have inquired about the asking price. Halak currently has 2 years, $9 million cap hit remaining.

    The current stats of the goalies are:

    Greiss 5GP- 2-3-0  .908 S%  2.87 GAA

    Halak 6 GP 2-3-1  .908 S%  2.94 GAA

    Berube DNP

    Here are my thoughts…

    First of all, if you’re thinking, just send Berube down, that’s not going to happen because they are worried that he will get claimed off waivers. The Islanders think Berube is their goalie of the future and they don’t want to risk losing him.

    Next if you think the agent should’ve kept his mouth shut you are again wrong! Walsh needed to voice this opinion; one if not both of his clients are unhappy with this situation. There are only two nets at practice. That means one goalie is standing around or rotating in. Halak wasn’t at a morning skate and then started a game that night. How does that make sense? This team didn’t change that much in the off season losing Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, and Matt Martin. They found replacements for most with Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera. This team is better than 4 wins.

    I am okay with Snow shopping Halak to teams; something needs to change and trading one of the goalies solves these issues. Now I am wondering which teams are interested. My guess is the Kings and Hurricanes. I highly doubt Halak would like Carolina as a new home but he would love LA. I also don’t think Walsh is mad about this happening. He had an issue, he said something to get it to change.

    As for the Islanders point of view, first give Berube a start and see what happens. If he shines, then pull the trigger on a deal. If he falls on his face, then maybe reconsider your future. If you do trade Halak away and Greiss becomes your new number one, good luck with that. Don’t get me wrong, he is a decent goalie, but I don’t think he is number one goalie material. I think something needs to happen soon before all players get more upset and they fall further in the standings.

  • November 5 – Day 24 – Rematch, Vol. II

    Exactly what Elton John said. So good for fighting, in fact, that we’ll have 13 of them, starting with a matinee featuring Minnesota at Colorado (SN) at 3 p.m. The usual starting time of 7 p.m. brings eight puck drops (Columbus at St. Louis, New Jersey at Tampa Bay, the New York Rangers at Boston [NHLN], Philadelphia at Montréal [CITY/TVAS], Buffalo at Ottawa [SN1/SN360], Florida at Washington, Edmonton at the New York Islanders [SN] and Vancouver at Toronto [CBC]), followed an hour later by two more (Carolina at Nashville and Chicago at Dallas). The west coast gets involved at 10 p.m. with Calgary visiting Los Angeles (CBC/SN1), followed half an hour later by our nightcap: Pittsburgh at San Jose. All times eastern.

    Short List:

    • New York at Boston: It’s an Original Six rivalry as well as hockey’s iteration of the USA’s most famous sports rivalry.
    • Buffalo at Ottawa: Another rivalry for the Sabres this week.
    • Philadelphia at Montréal: Dale Weise returns to the Bell Centre wearing white after spending three seasons with the Canadiens.
    • Calgary at Los Angeles: Kris Versteeg is also making a return to his home arena of a year ago, but he only played for the Kings one season.
    • Pittsburgh at San Jose: It’s the second and final Stanley Cup Finals rematch this year, this one taking place on the surface where hardware was distributed.

    The Penguins and Sharks won’t run into each other again this calendar year, so we’re off to the Tank!

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    Game 8 of the Stanley Cup Finals goes down tonight!

    …Wait…

    Well, it is the eighth and final meeting between the Pens and Sharks in 2016, and Pittsburgh has certainly had the advantage in that time-span. Not only do they have the Stanley Cup in their possession due to beating the Sharks four times in early June, but the Penguins already won the first rematch in Pittsburgh 3-2.

    San Jose enters the night with a 6-5-0 record, even if they are riding a two-game losing skid. So far this season, they’ve found success in their defense and goaltending, allowing only 27 goals against.

    Martin Jones has started all but one game this season, and has a 5-5-0 record to show for a .909 save percentage and 2.34 GAA. Those are both decent statistics, but I would contest that they’re due in part to the help he is getting from his blue line (and sometimes even forwards!), as three skaters (Justin Braun, Brent Burns and Paul Martin) have 20 or more blocks to their credit and three more have over 10 (Joe Pavelski, David Schlemko and Marc-Edouard Vlasic).

    In the other corner, the 7-2-2 Penguins enter the Tank on a five-game point streak. While the Sharks are a defensive-minded club, the Penguins prefer to score with 31 goals already to their credit.

    Leading the way for Pittsburgh as been Evgeni Malkin, who has 11 points to his credit to average a point-per-game. That being said, Sidney Crosby is hot on his tail with eight points on six goals. He’s appeared on the score sheet in each of the five games he’s played since returning from his concussion and has been a force to be reckoned with.

    The Pens have been exceptionally potent on the power play so far this season. For every four extra-man opportunities, Pittsburgh has found the back of the net once – the fifth-best rate in the league. Michael Haley will need to keep himself contained if the Sharks want to earn a victory.

    That being said, part of the reason the Sharks have been so strong has been their ability to negate penalties. Their 86.7% kill rate ranks sixth-best in the league, a good match for Pittsburgh‘s attack.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Pittsburgh‘s Marc-Andre Fleury (six wins [tied for second-most in the NHL]) and Malkin (six goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]) & San Jose‘s Pavelski (eight assists [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]).

    The Sharks desperately want to defend the Tank and earn a win this evening given what happened the last time the Penguins came to town. Vegas has them marked to win with a -125. I don’t feel quite that confident, but that may be partially my bias. Whichever team is able to win the special teams battle, especially when Pittsburgh has the man-advantage, should walk away with tonight’s victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Cooney Weiland (1904-1985) – A center from Ontario, Weiland played 11 NHL seasons, 71.7% of which were with the Bruins.
    • Sergei Berezin (1971-) – A left winger from Russia that played seven NHL seasons. He started his career in Toronto, where he played 357 games and scored 220 points.
    • Alexei Yashin (1973-) – Another Russian, but Yashin played center. He was drafted second overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by Ottawa and played 850 games over a dozen seasons.
    • Toby Enstrom (1984-) – This Swedish defenseman is working on his 10th season in the NHL, all of which have been spent with the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise.
    • Nikolai Zherdev (1984-) – The fourth overall of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, this right wing has played six seasons in the best league in the world so far. Currently playing in the KHL, he’s most remembered for his four seasons in Columbus.

    On a night where 24 goals were scored among five teams (Montréal was shutout by Columbus), a 5-1 Anaheim victory seemed par for the course in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    The Ducks struck first, waiting 9:05 before Kevin Bieksa (Third Star of the Game Corey Perry and Second Star Rickard Rakell) scored his first goal of the season on a power play slap shot. The eventual game-winner was struck 3:06 later when Rakell (Perry and Michael Sgarbossa) found Anaheim gold with a slap shot of his own. The third and final tally of the frame also belonged to the Ducks, this time a Jakob Silfverberg (First Star Antoine Vermette and Andrew Cogliano) backhander to set the score at 3-0 45 seconds before the first intermission.

    With 6:37 remaining in the second period Vermette (Ondrej Kase and Josh Manson) scored a slap shot to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead. Arizona finally stopped the bleeding with a goal from Jamie McGinn (Radim Vrbata and Christian Dvorak) 3:09 later, but was unable to find another with the remaining time.

    Rakell (Ryan Kesler) scored another insurance goal in the third period to put the final nail in the Coyotes‘ coffin.

    John Gibson earns the victory after saving 21-of-22 shots faced (95.5%), while Louis Domingue saved 18-of-21 (85.7%) in the loss. He was replaced after 20 minutes of play by Justin Peters, who saved 10-of-12 (83.3%) for no decision.

    With the Ducks‘ victory, the DtFR Game of the Day series stands at 14-9-3, favoring the home squads by four points.

  • Down the Frozen River Podcast #42- Enough About Goalies Already

    Down the Frozen River Podcast #42- Enough About Goalies Already

    Colby and Nick discuss Seattle, Jaroslav Halak, concussion spotters and more as they gripe about goaltending for what seems like the millionth time this season.

  • November 4 – Day 23 – Friday nights have to improve soon… right?

    It’s Friday!

    Everybody’s getting off work, including most of the hockey players as there’s only six games going on this evening. The limited action finds its start at the usual time of 7 p.m. with Montréal visiting Columbus (RDS), followed half an hour later by Winnipeg at Detroit (NHLN/TVAS). When those games are complete, you can flip over to Arizona at Anaheim, which drops the puck at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    If the standings are any indicator, the most competitive game of the night should be taking place in Orange County, so we’ll head there.

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    While it is not  major, one aspect of this game that does make it a touch more intriguing is the presence of Jamie McGinn. The left wing started last season in Buffalo, but was traded at the deadline to the Ducks to bolster their forward situation. He scored 39 total points all last season – the best season of his career – but only two in the postseason as Anaheim fell in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

    This off-season, he tested free agency to eventually sign with Arizona. Already this season McGinn has found the back of the net twice en route to a three-point campaign so far.

    The addition of McGinn does not appear to be a major solution for the Coyotes, as they are the proud owners of a 4-6-0 record. In fact, goal scoring really hasn’t been the issue for the Coyotes as much as it has been their defense and goaltending.

    Already this season in only 10 games played, Arizona has given up 37 goals, a total that exceeds the league average by 10 scores. That responsibility starts with the man between the pipes: Louis Domingue. Before last night’s shootout victory over Nashville, the 24-year-old goaltender had saved only 88.7% of the shots he’d faced for a 3.95 GAA – not numbers becoming an NHL starting goaltender, or at least one that will keep his job for long.

    But he is far from the only one to take credit for the Coyotes‘ struggles. Before last night’s game, Arizona‘s goaltenders have been tasked with blocking 312 shots – approximately 35 per game. When the league average is a touch under 29, that’s a lot. Connor Murphy‘s 18 blocks have been good, but more skaters than him and Alex Goligoski need to contribute defensively.

    Based on last year’s efforts, the team they’re facing tonight, the 4-5-2 Ducks, would be the perfect team to emulate, as Anaheim‘s 188 goals allowed last season was best in the NHL.

    That was last year though. They’ve regressed to the mean so far this campaign, allowing 28 tallies after 11 games. John Gibson has a .911 save percentage to his credit, good for a 2.58 GAA. Gibson does have the luxury of Sami Vatanen playing in front of him, whose 26 blocks are tied for ninth-most in the league, but it could be argued that the top-two blockers for Arizona are doing better than Vatanen and Cam Fowler (13).

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Anaheim‘s Gibson (one shutout [tied for sixth-most in the league]) and Arizona‘s Oliver Ekman-Larsson (five goals [leads the team]).

    The Ducks are a solid favorite coming into this game with an impressive -208 associated with their name. With a line like that, it is probably unwise to pick against them.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Howie Meeker (1923-) – Although he is the lone surviving member of Toronto‘s 1947 Stanley Cup-winning team, playing hockey was just the beginning for the nine-year right winger. After a stint as the Leafs‘ coach, the right wing transitioned to the broadcast booth, announcing for Hockey Night in Canada for almost 30 years.
    • Michel Therrien (1963-) – This is Therrien’s 11th season coaching in the NHL, and seventh with Montréal. He spent four seasons with Pittsburgh, including leading the Penguins to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals. His replacement the following season, Dan Bylsma, finished the work Therrien started and led the Pens to their third title.
    • Dustin Brown (1984-) – Drafted 13th overall by Los Angeles in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Brown has spent his entire career with the Kings, already winning two Stanley Cups. Interestingly, although he was signed in 2013 to an eight-year contract, Brown was relieved of all captaincy duties this season after leading the team since 2008.

    The Battle of the QEW usually favors the home team, but that was not the case in yesterday’s Game of the Day when Toronto beat Buffalo 2-1.

    The Maple Leafs waited only 4:08 before scoring their first goal of the night. Second Star of the Game Mitchell Marner (Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk) takes credit for the tally with a solid wrister. The lone score of the frame, Toronto took the 1-0 lead into the dressing room.

    1:50 after returning to the ice, Marner struck again with an unassisted wrister to notch the eventual game-winner. It took that winning status only 4:08 later when Third Star Marcus Foligno (Johan Larsson and Sam Reinhart) buried a backhander to set the score at 2-1, the same score that held the remaining 34:02.

    First Star Frederik Andersen saved 42-of-43 (97.7%) shots faced to earn the victory, while Robin Lehner falls after saving 27-of-29 (93.1%).

    Toronto‘s first win in the DtFR Game of the Day series pulls the road squads within two points of the hosts, but the home team still has a winning 13-9-3 record.

  • November 3 – Day 22 – What does QEW mean to you?

    Thursdays are usually busy days, and today is no exception. We’ve got a dozen games to choose from, starting with four at 7 p.m. (Philadelphia at the New York Islanders, Toronto at Buffalo, Edmonton at the New York Rangers [SN360] and Winnipeg at Washington). Three more follow 30 minutes later (New Jersey at Florida, Boston at Tampa Bay and Vancouver at Ottawa [RDS]), and another pair of contests drop the puck at 8:30 p.m. (St. Louis at Dallas and Colorado at Chicago).  10 p.m. brings with it the beginning of Nashville at Arizona, and the final two games share nightcap responsibilities half an hour later: Pittsburgh at Los Angeles and Calgary at San Jose (SN360). All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Toronto at Buffalo: It’s the first installment of the season in the Battle of the Queen Elizabeth Way!
    • St. Louis at Dallas: The Blues and Stars met up last May for seven games, four of which were won by the Notes to send them to the Western Conference Finals.

    I’m drawn to both, so we’re just going to assume the answer is in the standings. Since the Atlantic rivals are separated by only a point, we’ll head to KeyBank Center.

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    The Maple Leafs and Sabres have played 206 times in their history prior to this evening, with Buffalo having a 115-73-18 advantage all-time – an impressive record for a team with no Stanley Cups to their record against a 13-time champion (shh, we don’t need to talk about how none of those titles have come since Buffalo entered the league in 1970).

    They’ve met one time in the playoffs. It was the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals, a series the Sabres won handily in five games before falling to Dallas in the Stanley Cup Finals.

    But it’s not the past meetings or playoff history that makes this rivalry interesting. It’s how far apart, or really how close, these teams are geographically. Center ice between both teams’ home arenas is less than 90 miles apart, allowing either fan-base to easily commute to the other arena. Expect a lot of Leafs fans in the stands tonight.

    Those Leafs enter tonight’s game with a 3-4-3 record. While their offense, led by youngsters Auston Matthews (10 points) and William Nylander (11 points), has certainly been strong, they have been held back by their defense and goaltending.

    Frederik Andersen has started eight of Toronto‘s 10 games, but he has only saved 89.1% of the shots he’s faced for 3.46 GAA – not what the Leafs expected when they traded a first round pick to Anaheim for him.

    Hosting them this evening will be the 4-3-2 Sabres, a team that has allowed only 21 goals this season – five fewer than the league average.

    In six starts, Robin Lehner is the proud owner of a .921 save percentage for a 2.34 GAA. Further improving those numbers is the fact that his defenders are keeping shots off his net. Led by Josh Gorges‘ 20 blocks, Buffalo‘s goaltending has only faced 272 shots, 10 fewer than the league average.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Buffalo‘s Ryan O’Reilly (eight points [leads the team]) and Rasmus Ristolainen (seven assists [leads the team]) & Toronto‘s Matthews (six goals [tied for third-most in the league]) and Nylander (seven assists [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]).

    At -120, Vegas favors Buffalo in tonight’s game, as does history: the Sabres have a 70-27-6 record against the Leafs in the Queen City, far superior to their 45-46-12 record in Toronto. I think the Sabres‘ defense is up to the task of beating Toronto‘s youngsters, and their forwards are more than capable of putting some pucks in the back of the net to secure the victory.

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day wasn’t a close one, as the Penguins scored their game winner in only 10:24 to eventually win 5-1 over the Ducks.

    Three goals were struck in the first period, beginning with Evgeni Malkin‘s (Phil Kessel and Chris Kunitz) slap shot 7:41 after the initial puck drop. 2:43 later, Matt Cullen (Tom Sestito and Eric Fehr) scored a slap shot of his own to give the Penguins a two-goal lead. Anaheim trimmed the differential back to one with 4:11 remaining in the opening frame on the power play when Third Star of the Game Cam Fowler (Sami Vatanen and Ryan Kesler) scored on another slap shot, setting the score at 2-1 going into the dressing room.

    Pittsburgh‘s first insurance goal was the lone score of the second period. Bryan Rust (Nick Bonino and First Star Kris Letang) scored his first goal of the season with a backhander with 3:18 remaining in the frame.

    The Pens struck quickly to open the final period, as Letang (Justin Schultz) scored a power play goal only 1:27 after resuming play. 5:47 later, Patric Hornqvist (Second Star Sidney Crosby and Carl Hagelin) stuck gold with a wrister to notch the Penguins‘ final tally.

    Matt Murray returns in style by saving 32-of-33 (97%) shots faced to earn his first victory of the season, while John Gibson takes the loss after saving 29-of-34 (85.3%). Jonathan Bernier entered the game for the final 8:40, but was not forced to make a save.

    Pittsburgh‘s road victory pulls the visitors within four points of the home squads, but the homers still have a 13-8-3 record in the DtFR Game of the Day series.

  • November 2 – Day 21 – Birds of Prey

    As is usual for a Wednesday, we have a light schedule this evening. The action gets started at 7:30 p.m. when Vancouver heads to Montréal (RDS/SN), followed half an hour later by Detroit at Philadelphia (NBCSN/TVAS). Tonight’s nightcap, Pittsburgh at Anaheim (SN1), drops the puck at 10:30 p.m. All times eastern.

    In addition to being separate by only three points in the league standings, a specific left wing returns to the Honda Center, where he made a quick pit stop last season before joining his current team.

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    Carl Hagelin started last season playing for Anaheim. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by the Rangers, the team for whom he played for four seasons. Following the 2014-’15 season, the Swedish restricted free agent was traded to Anaheim for Emerson Etem and the draft pick that became Ryan Gropp.

    It was a trade that simply did not work out for the Ducks. After scoring 130 points over four seasons with New York (.489 per game), he yielded only 12 points in 43 games played (.279 per game) with Anaheim.

    Even though the Ducks had signed Hagelin to a four-year contract, he was dealt to Pittsburgh in exchange for Adam Clendening and David Perron, who are now with the Rangers and Blues, respectively.

    Hagelin has since shined in Pittsburgh‘s system. In 46 regular season games with the club, he’s already notched 28 points – more than doubling his total in Anaheim with only a few more games played.

    And that’s not to mention his efforts during the Penguins‘ Stanley Cup run. He notched 16 points during last season’s playoffs, including the eventual game-winner in Game 3 against Washington in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

    So far this season, the 6-2-1 Pens continue their trend of being an offensive-minded team. Led by Evgeni Malkin‘s 10 points, they’ve scored 24 goals this season. Malkin deserves a lot of credit for stepping up – as he always does – while Sidney Crosby was sidelined, as his five goals lead the team.

    Pittsburgh‘s true strength is that special subset of the offense: the power play. They’ve been successful on 26.5% of their attempts, the fourth-best rate in the league.

    They visit a 4-4-2 Ducks squad that, for the second season in a row, is taking more time than they would like getting their skates under them. And just like last year, their goaltending is playing well to give the offense time to gel.

    Before last night’s game in Los Angeles, John Gibson had a 3-3-2 record by virtue of saving 90.7% of the shots he faced for a 2.55 GAA.

    Those numbers are far from incredible, but part of his problem is his skaters in front of him. He’s faced 205 shots in eight games, only 52 shots fewer than the average club has allowed to reach net. That sounds like the defense is doing a good job, but that doesn’t account for the 89 minutes that Gibson hasn’t had his mask on, and Jonathan Bernier and Dustin Tokarski have been just as peppered in their limited time. More blue-liners than Sami Vatanen will need to step up if the Ducks want to find success this season.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Anaheim‘s Ryan Getzlaf (eight points [leads the team]) and Pittsburgh‘s Marc-Andre Fleury (six wins [tied for second-most in the league]).

    It looks like bets are off again this evening, so Vegas expects tonight’s game to be a good one. I think Pittsburgh‘s offense will be too much for the Ducks to handle to give the Pens a two-goal win.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Bill Mosienko (1921-1994) – 21 seconds is all this right wing needed to notch a hat trick, and he owns the NHL record for fastest to three goals. He played 14 seasons for Chicago, scoring 258 goals.
    • Luke Schenn (1989-) – After four seasons in Philadelphia, Schenn joined Los Angeles last season at the deadline before signing with the Coyotes during this offseason. He notched his first assist of the season last night.

    Mikkel Boedker‘s return to Gila River Arena was spoiled by the Coyotes, who won yesterday’s Game of the Day 3-2.

    It was the Sharks who scored the lone goal in the first period, compliments of a Patrick Marleau (Melker Karlsson and Tomas Hertl) wrister. 5:53 later, they took their 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

    3:42 after returning to the ice, Arizona drew even when Second Star of the Game Brad Richardson (Tobias Rieder and Luke Schenn) buried a backhander. 1:08 later, the Coyotes took the lead with Third Star Lawson Crouse‘s (Kevin Connauton and Ryan White) first goal of the season, a tip-in past Kevin Miller. The eventual game-winner was struck with 8:01 remaining in the second frame when Jamie McGinn (Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Alex Goligoski) pocketed a wrister. That goal set the score at 3-1 heading into the dressing room, favoring the Coyotes.

    San Jose did too little too late. They waited to score until 12 seconds remained on the clock. After pulling Miller, Boedker (Joonas Donskoi and Hertl) scored a tip-in to set the score at 3-2, but the Sharks could not complete the comeback in the remaining time.

    First Star Louis Domingue saved 39-of-41 shots faced (95.1%) to earn the victory, while Jones takes the loss after saving 27-of-30 (90%).

    Arizona‘s win is the second-straight for the home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, setting the homers’ record at 13-7-3 with a six-point advantage over the visitors.

  • November 1 – Day 20 – The Great Dane

    We’re trying out our new DtFR mirror technology. I can only assume that a night with no hockey that aligned with the one night of the year when your neighbors give out free candy has you looking something like this.

    Simmer down, kiddo.

    Anyways, hockey’s one-day vacation has us feeling all types of withdrawals. Thank goodness we get a healthy serving of games today, starting with two at the usual time of 7 p.m. (St. Louis at the New York Rangers and Dallas at Columbus), followed half an hour later by four more (Boston at Florida [TVAS], Carolina at Ottawa [RDS2], Tampa Bay at the New York Islanders [NBCSN] and Edmonton at Toronto). 8 p.m. brings with it two puck drops (Buffalo at Minnesota and Washington at Winnipeg), with Calgary at Chicago trailing by 30 minutes. Nashville at Colorado finds its start at 9 p.m. At 10 p.m. the San Jose at Arizona (NBCSN) game starts, followed 1800 seconds later (that’s 30 minutes, guys) by Anaheim at Los Angeles, tonight’s nightcap. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Tampa Bay at New York: Last year, the Lightning defeated the Islanders in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in five games.
    • San Jose at Arizona: Mikkel Boedker spent eight seasons in Glendale before being traded away to Colorado at the deadline last season.
    • Anaheim at Los Angeles: You might have heard about this one. They call it the Freeway Face-Off. It’s kind of a big deal.

    Eight seasons is a long time, and I don’t feel like we’ll have many reasons to go watch Arizona this season, so I’m drawn to the late game in the desert.

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    Danish right wing Boedker was drafted eighth overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Coyotes. He jumped right into the league that season, scoring 11 goals under head coach Wayne Gretzky, which tied him for sixth-most on the squad.

    Boedker’s best campaign with Arizona was in 2013-’14 when he tied Radim Vrbata for the second-most points on the team with 51. But, as has been par for the course for the Coyotes since 2011-’12, it did not yield any playoff action.

    Last season, Boedker shed his brick red sweater for a burgundy Avalanche uniform after being traded on February 29. It was all for naught though, as Boedker found himself on the golf course following the regular season for his fourth season in a row.

    This offseason he joined a San Jose Sharks who knows a little bit about the playoffs, coming off a Stanley Cup run that fell just a series short a season ago. He has little to show for his work on San Jose‘s second line, notching a lone goal.

    The 6-3-0 Sharks have played a more defensive game this season, allowing only 21 goals against – three fewer than the league average. Martin Jones has a .916 save percentage for 2.15 GAA, but he is getting a lot of help from his defensive corps. Four skaters (Justin Braun, Brent Burns, Paul Martin and Joe Pavelski) have 15 or more blocks to their credit, and their efforts have resulted in only 25.2 shots against per game, the second-fewest shots against per game in the league.

    The 2-6-0 Coyotes would have to be classified as an offensive club, due to the fact that they definitely don’t play defensive hockey. They’ve scored 24 goals this season – on par with the rest of the league – led by Brad Richardson‘s seven points. That being said, it is Oliver Ekman-Larsson getting a lot of the accolades with a team-leading five goals to his credit.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Arizona‘s Max Domi (six assists [leads the team]), Ekman-Larsson (five goals [leads the team]) and Richardson (seven points [leads the team]) & San Jose‘s Burns (seven assists [tied for third-most in the league]), Jones (five wins [tied for third-most in the NHL]), Pavelski (11 points [tied for third-most in the league] on seven assists [tied for third-most in the NHL]) and Joe Thornton (seven assists [tied for third-most in the league]).

    Vegas marks Arizona with a +150 in almost every book, meaning that the Sharks are favored.

    I’d say that’s a very safe bet.

    Hockey Birthday:

    • Al Arbour (1932-2015) – Arbour won eight total Stanley Cups: four as a player (two of which were with Toronto) and four in a row as head coach of the New York Islanders.
    • Phil Myre (1948-) – This goaltender played 14 seasons in the NHL for six different teams. Four years after being drafted fifth overall in the 1966 NHL Entry Draft, he was on the 1970-’71 Montréal Stanley Cup winning team .
    • Tie Domi (1969-) – A right wing that played 16 NHL seasons as an enforcer, Domi is most remembered for his 11 campaigns in Toronto. Maybe son Max will give him a goal for his birthday.
    • Matt Moulson (1983-) – This left wing is in his third season with Buffalo. Two seasons ago he struck 41 points, the second-best effort on the squad that year.

  • Sick Hands Sunday – Brayden Schenn and Devan Dubnyk Capture This Weeks Crown With Dominate Preformance’s.

    Hello, folks, I’m back at it again with another “SHS” article and I can’t wait to get another article out for the week to the fans out there! This week I have some exciting news for everyone as I am changing up the way I do the weekly article! So as everyone knows the point of the article is to recap and point out the hot player of the week. Well, I thought the goalies should start getting some love too! So I am going to test out the waters and see how this week goes with the goalies added as well!

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    Schenn skates to the puck in the corner. (Yong Kim / Staff File Photo)

    This week for the forward part of the article it wasn’t as tight as a competition but it was close. In fact, the two players I narrowed it down to are from the same place, the KeyStone State! Penguins winger Phil “The Thrill”Kessel who notched six points (1G, 5A) in just three games and Flyers center Brayden Schenn who tallied six points as well (2G, 4A) in four games. There were also a whopping eight players tied with five points for second in the week but there are too many to list down below.

    I decided to go with Flyers center Brayden Schenn because he dominated all week and couldn’t be stopped. His first game of the week against Montreal he was held off the scoresheet in a tight 2-1 loss but was very effective in the game registering 5 hits. His next game versus the Sabres at home he registered one goal and one assist (both power goals and assists) on three shots on net in a 4-3 come from behind shootout win. Schenn scored the second goal of the game on a beautiful one-timer from the left-hand face off dot. He received a beauty of a saucer pass from Claude Giroux and blasted the shot past Nilsson to bring the Flyers back to 3-2. You can see his highlights down below:

    Schenn’s next game in a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Arizona he, once again, tallied a goal and two assists in a monster game that they should’ve won. He had another power play goal and an assist on 3 shots to the net. Schenn was able to find the puck and put it in the back of the net after finding the loose puck sitting in the slot, diving for it, and poking it in to tie the game at 2 goals apiece. Unfortunately, the Flyers were unable to pull off the win but Schenn had another great night! You can see his highlight down below:

    With Schenn’s last game being against the all mighty rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, you know he and the fans are all wishing for a win. Regretfully, they started out strong but fell 5-4 in the end. Schenn ended with an assist (which you can see down below) which was amazing! Schenn grabbed the puck in front of the net, and of balance, practically almost falling down was able to dish a no-look behind the back pass to a streaking linemate Wayne Simmonds for the tap in goal! As you can see this play took a lot of skill and capped off why I picked Schenn as this weeks Sick Hands Sunday Winner!

    Now for the first week of the goaltending section! This week was extremely hard to choose but I was able to narrow it down to three goalies. Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk went 3-0 not allowing a single goal on 94 shots and shut out every team in all three games he started this week against Boston, Buffalo, and Dallas. Obviously, he finished with a 0.00 GAA and 1.000 SV%. Edmonton goalie Cam Talbot also went 3-0 and only allowed one goal on 92 shots against Winnipeg, Washington, and Vancouver. He finished with a .989 SV% and 0.33 GAA. Last but not least, the last goalie I chose was the Blues’ Jake Allen who played 2-1 (one loss in a shootout) also giving up one goal on 54 shots against Detroit, Los Angeles, and Calgary. He finished with a .981 SV% and a 0.48 GAA. As you can clearly see, this is extremely tough to pick because all three goalies played amazing through the whole week.

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    Devan Dubnyk looks on during the action in his zone. (AP Photo/Jeffery T. Barnes)

    I decided to go with Mr. Devan Dubnyk simply because of his last three starts, yes you heard me right, all three starts have been shutouts! A 27 save shutout vs Boston (away), then a 38 save shutout vs Buffalo (away), and a 29 save shutout vs Dallas (home). To have two of those shutouts away from home is very hard and he was able to pull it off with ease, so it was easy to nominate him as my goalie winner for the week.

    The Honorable Mention goes out to Phil Kessel and Cam Talbot. They both had killer weeks but couldn’t come out on top! I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week! (P.S. Thanks for Sons of Pens’ Twitter for the GIFS!)

  • October 30 – Day 19 – For Martin, violence is always the answer

    Most Sundays, you’d assume there’s only going to be a few games on the schedule.

    This is one of the busiest Sundays we’ve seen in a while with eight games on tap. Starting with Buffalo at Winnipeg at 3 p.m., there are four matinees taking place. Two drop the puck at 5 p.m. (Florida at Detroit and Philadelphia at Carolina), with Toronto at the New York Islanders (SN1/SN360) starting an hour later. Two contests get underway at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. (Los Angeles at Chicago and Tampa Bay at the New York Rangers [NHLN/TVAS]) and Ottawa at Edmonton [RDSI] drops the puck at 9 p.m. Finally, Washington at Calgary, this evening’s nightcap, takes to the ice half an hour later. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Florida at Detroit: Jakub Kindl returns to Joe Louis Arena. His office used to be in the other dressing room the last seven seasons.
    • Toronto at New York: Another player who’s called this evening’s arena home for the seven previous seasons, Matt Martin makes his way to the Barclays Center.
    • Los Angeles at Chicago: No returns here, just a friendly little inter-divisional rivalry.

    Martin has seen far more playing time than his Floridian counterpart, so we’ll head to the Brooklyn.

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    Left wing Martin entered the league during the 2009-10 season after being selected 148th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Since his 2010-11 rookie season (he only played five games the season before), Martin has become well-known for his physical play. Before last night’s game, he’d thrown 2048 hits in only 445 games played (over 4.6 hits per game).

    In fact, his physicality has already been etched into the NHL record books. Two seasons ago, Martin threw 382 hits. That’s eight more than he landed in 2011-12, which now ranks as the second-best effort.

    As I said, he likes to hit.

    Over the off-season, he joined a Toronto Maple Leafs squad that currently sits at 2-3-3, most recently falling in Montréal 2-1. Their strong suit this year has been with the puck on their stick, scoring 25 goals already this season (3.125 per game). They’re led by fearless rookie Auston Matthews, who has 10 points, including six goals. Both totals are team-bests.

    Part of that success has been due to their opportunistic power play. Successful on 24% of attempts, the Leafs are the ninth-best man-advantage in the league.

    So far this season, Martin has already landed 33 hits to average 4.125 a game. He’s behind schedule, but I’m sure he’d love to get back on pace against the club that didn’t resign him this off-season.

    3-5-0 New York is in the midst of a two-game losing skid, most recent of which was their 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Penguins Thursday night. If you had to pick a part of their game to highlight, it’d have to be their offense, where they’ve scored 22 goals in eight games – the league average.

    Brock Nelson takes a lot of credit for the Isles scoring with seven points to his credit. That being said, it’s been John Tavares who has been getting most of the praise a team-leading four scores.

    A major facet of the Islanders‘ game that is keeping them together is their penalty kill. Holding opponents scoreless on 86.7% of the time when they’re a man down, New York is tied with Tampa Bay for the eighth-best rate in the league.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include New York‘s Nelson (five assists for seven points [both lead the team]) and Tavares (four goals [leads the team]) & Toronto‘s Matthews (six goals [tied for the league-lead] for 10 points [tied for second-most in the NHL]) and William Nylander (10 points [tied for second-most in the league]).

    Bets look to be off tonight, so that’s usually a good sign. Since Toronto has yet to win on the road, I’m leaning towards the Islanders taking tonight’s victory. That being said, we’re not watching this game for scoring or anything like that. We’re watching to see how chippy Martin plays against his old teammates. If he plays like I think he will, this might be quite the exciting contest.

    Hockey birthday:

    • Andy Greene (1982-) – This longtime Devil is playing his 11th NHL season this year. The defenseman assumed captaincy last season following Bryce Salvador‘s retirement.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 in exactly the wild barn-burner I predicted.

    Second Star of the Game Jakub Voracek (Brandon Manning and Radko Gudas) opened the scoring for the Flyers 9:48 after the initial puck drop with a slap shot. 3:14 (PI TIME!) later, Wayne Simmonds (Brayden Schenn and Shayne Gostisbehere) doubled the home squads’s lead. The Penguins began their comeback at the 15:44 mark with a Third Star Sidney Crosby (Patric Hornqvist and Scott Wilson) wrister, follwed 43 seconds later by another Crosby (Hornqvist and Phil Kessel) tally, this time on a power play, to tie the score at two-all.  A dozen seconds after that, Matt Cullen (Tom Kuhnhackl) buried a wrap-around goal to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead that held into the first intermission.

    Twenty-two seconds before the midway point of the game, First Star Evgeni Malkin (Kessel and Chris Kunitz) struck Pittsburgh gold with a wrister to give the Penguins an insurance goal. Sparked by the man-advantage, Claude Giroux‘ (Simmonds and Gudas) first goal of the season pulled the Flyers back within a goal at the 13:16 mark, followed 2:12 later by a Voracek wrister that squared the game at four-all going into the second intermission.

    Only one goal was scored in the final frame, the Penguins‘ winner. Malkin (Olli Maatta) takes credit, his fifth tally of the year.

    Marc-Andre Fleury takes the victory after saving 38-of42 shots faced (90.5%), while Michal Neuvirth earns the loss by saving 12-of-14 (85.7%). He replaced Steve Mason during the first intermission, who earns no decision after saving 10-of-13 (76.9%) and, for lack of a better term, being bailed out by his forwards.

    Pittsburgh‘s win pulled the visiting squads within two points, but the home teams still own an 11-7-3 record in the DtFR Game of the Day series.