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February 6 – Day 114 – Playoff preview?

Pittsburgh‘s Floridian road trip got a poor spot, as they dropped yesterday’s Game of the Day against Tampa Bay 6-3.

That being said, it was actually the Penguins that got the first goal of the game. It was a Patric Hornqvist wrister off assists from Chris Kunitz (his 13th helper of the season) and Derrick Pouliot after 4:53 of play. The one-goal shutout held exactly 6:57 before Anton Stralman leveled the game with a wrister of his own, assisted by First Star of the Game Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn (his 16th helper of the season). Tampa took the lead with 1:26 remaining in the period when Killorn earned a tip-in, assisted by Johnson and Nikita Kucherov (his 23rd helper of the season). The 2-1 score held into the intermission.

Only 6:04 after resuming play, Second Star Ondrej Palat earned the Bolts their third goal with a wrister, assisted by Third Star Steven Stamkos. Pittsburgh got back within a goal exactly two minutes later when Sidney Crosby scored his 21st of the season off assists from Kunitz and Hornqvist, but the Lightning regained their advantage 1:11 later when Johnson snapped a goal after assists from Kucherov and Victor Hedman (his 25th helper of the season). The 4-2 lead held into the final period.

Only 55 seconds after returning to the ice, the Pens got back within a goal when Matt Cullen fired a snap shot off the assist from Phil Kessel (his 18th of the season), but it would be the last for Pittsburgh. At the 15:55 mark, Palat scored his second of the night after assists from Stamkos (his 19th helper of the season) and Vladislav Namestnikov, followed 2:01 by Ryan Callahan earning his 10th assist of the season by helping Anton Stralman to the final goal of the game, setting the score at the 6-3 final.

Ben Bishop earns the win by saving 27 of 30 (90%), while Marc-Andre Fleury takes the loss, saving only 10 of 14 (71.4%). He was pulled after Johnson’s eventual game winner in the second period and replaced by Jeff Zatkoff, who saved 13 of 14 (92.9%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 51-24-9, favoring the home squad by 38 points, due in part to the home teams winning the last three games.

As with most Saturdays, this one is a busy one. The action gets started at 1 p.m. eastern with two games (Washington at New Jersey and the New York Rangers at Philadelphia [NHLN]), with two more starting an hour later (Edmonton at Montréal and the New York Islanders at Detroit). Three games get started at the usual 7 p.m. eastern starting time (Buffalo at Boston, Toronto at Ottawa and Pittsburgh at Florida), with three more starting 60 minutes later (Minnesota at St. Louis, San Jose at Nashville and Chicago at Dallas [NHLN]). Finally, the co-nightcaps drop the puck at 10 p.m. eastern (Calgary at Vancouver and Winnipeg at Colorado).

Eight of today’s games are divisional (Washington at New Jersey, New York at Philadelphia, Buffalo at Boston, Toronto at Ottawa, Minnesota at St. Louis, Chicago at Dallas, Calgary at Vancouver and Winnipeg at Colorado), and four are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Washington at New Jersey, New York at Detroit, San Jose at Nashville and Chicago at Dallas). Two of today’s games are also rematches of last season’s Western Conference Quarterfinals: Minnesota–St. Louis and Calgary–Vancouver.

I know the last three games have all been in the Eastern Conference, but the Washington–New Jersey game could be a preview of a first round matchup for this postseason, so we have to keep an eye on that.

Today’s game will be Washington‘s 11th in the DtFR Game of the Day Series, where they own a 7-3-0 record. Their most recent was just this last Thursday, a 3-2 victory over the Islanders. New Jersey has not seen time in the series since January 8 when they hosted Boston, but lost 4-1. That game, their third in the series, set their record at 1-2-0 in such games.

The 36-9-4 Washington Capitals are currently the best team in the NHL. They lead the Central Division by 15 points over the New York Rangers, nine points over Florida and two points over Chicago. In addition to playing the best defense in the league (as measured by goals against), they also have the second-best offense. A more detailed account of their play may be found in Thursday’s Game of the Day.

Washington‘s most recent game was that victory over the Isles. Turning that lone win into a streak with this evening’s game has the potential to expand the Caps‘ lead over the Blackhawks in the Presidents’ Trophy race to four points.

The 26-20-6 New Jersey Devils currently sit in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference, good enough to qualify them for the second and final Eastern Conference wildcard position. They’ve given up the sixth-fewest goals in the league, but the offense has been brutal to watch, scoring the third-fewest tallies.

Thanks in part to Adam Larsson’s 93 blocks, the Devils have allowed only 1489 shots to reach 23-15-5 Cory Schneider and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.5% for 118 goals against (sixth-fewest in the league). Although the defense as a whole has been strong, the penalty kill has not been much more than average. It is the 11th-best in the league, killing 81.82% for 30 extra-man goals against.

The offense has been nothing to write home about. Even with Kyle Palmieri’s 127 attempts, the Devils have only fired 1268 shots so far this season, of which a solid 9.2% have found the back of the net (led by Palmieri’s 20 tallies). The offense has been led by the 10th-best power play in the league, successful on 19.39% of attempts for 32 extra-man goals (led by Palmieri’s seven). There is one major downfall of the power play though, and that’s short-handed goals – the Devils have given up seven so far this season, three more than the league average.

Jersey lost a 3-2 shootout in Toronto on Thursday, and would probably be very interested in keeping it from becoming a losing skid. A win this afternoon has the potential to move them into the first wildcard spot, which they would certainly appreciate to get as far away from the Capitals in the playoffs as possible.

These teams have only met once this season, with Washington winning 5-3 at the Verizon Center. After today’s game, they will play one more time during the regular season, two weeks from today. Should the standings hold as they stand before play today, this will be an Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.

Some players to watch in today’s game includes New Jersey‘s Schneider (2.03 GAA [third-best in the league], four shutouts [tied for third-most in the league], .929 save percentage [sixth-best in the league] and 23 wins [tied for sixth-most in the league]) & Washington‘s Nicklas Backstrom (+18 [10th-best in the league]), Braden Holtby (31 wins [most in the league], 2.07 GAA [fifth-best in the league] and .928 save percentage [seventh-best in the league]), Evgeny Kuznetsov (+25 [best in the league], 36 assists [third-most in the league] and 51 points [tied for fifth-most in the league]) and Alex Ovechkin (29 goals [second-most in the league] and +21 [sixth-best in the league]).

Although the Devils do have the advantage of playing at home, I do not think it will be enough to stop the incredible Caps. Expect Washington to continue their trek to the Stanley Cup Finals.

February 6, 2016
February 5 – Day 113 – Let’s score some goals

It took a goal with only 2:40 remaining in regulation to give the Washington Capitals the 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

Only 1:55 into the game, Mikhail Grabovski scored the first goal with a wrister off assists from Josh Bailey (his 15th helper of the season) and Travis Hamonic, giving the Isles a one-goal lead. The Capitals scored only 5:33 later when First Star of the Game T.J. Oshie scored a slap shot off an Nicklas Backstrom’s first assist of the night. The one-all score held into the intermission.

The second period had only one goal, this one belonging to Washington. It was Andre Burakovsky scoring with a wrister off assists from Jason Chimera (his 15th helper of the season) and Dmitry Orlov.

New York scored quickly in the third, 5:38 into the period to be exact. It was a Bailey wrister after assists from Marek Zidlicky and Brock Nelson, to tie the game at two-all. Washington scored the game winner late in the third when Second Star Alex Ovechkin fired a wrister off assists from Nicklas Backstrom (his 31st of the season) and Oshie.

Braden Holtby earns the win after saving 24 of 26 (92.3%), while Jaroslav Halak saves only 20 of 23 (87%) and takes the loss.

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 50-24-9, favoring the home squad by 36 points over the roadies.

There’s only four games on the docket this evening, with the Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay (NHLN) game starting the festivities at 7:30 p.m. eastern, followed half an hour later by Carolina at Winnipeg. 9 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of the Columbus at Calgary game, followed an hour later by this evening’s nightcap, Arizona at Anaheim.

Arizona at Anaheim is the only divisional game this season, and none are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs.

I must admit, I can’t decide between the Pittsburgh–Tampa Bay and Arizona–Anaheim games, as both are very important in the surge for the playoffs. That being said, I’m going to go with the Pens–Bolts game because it’s on national TV.

Tonight’s game will be Pittsburgh‘s eighth in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 3-3-1 record. Their most recent showing in the series was a 5-2 loss in St. Louis on January 18. Tampa Bay has been featured much more recently, as they beat the Red Wings 3-1 on Wednesday. That game was their eighth in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 4-3-1 record.

The 25-17-7 Pittsburgh Penguins currently sit in fifth in the Metropolitan Division and ninth in the Eastern Conference, only a point out of the second wildcard position. They’ve found their success by playing a top-10 defense, but it’s been paired with the 10th-worst offense in the league.

Even with Ian Cole’s team-leading 80 blocks, 20-11-5 Marc-Andre Fleury and co. have faced 1502 shots, of which they’ve saved 92.2% for 122 goals against, 10th-fewest in the league. One part of their overall defensive success has been having the seventh-best penalty kill unit in the league, killing 83.85% for only 26 extra-man goals against.

The offense has had a little bit of a tougher time, even though they’ve fired 1596 shots so far this season (led by Patric Hornqvist’s 158 shots), of which only 7.9% have found the back of the net for 126 goals (led by Evgeni Malkin’s 23 tallies), 10th-fewest in the league. Somehow, even though the offense as a whole hasn’t been as successful, the power play actually ranks eighth-best in the league, scoring on 20.48% of attempts for 34 extra-man goals (led by Malkin’s 10 power play tallies).

Going back to before the All-Star Break, the Penguins are riding a four-game winning streak, with their most recent being 6-5 victory over the Senators on Tuesday. A win today not only has the chance to move the Penguins into the playoffs, but all the way into the third division qualifier.

The 28-18-4 Tampa Bay Lightning currently sit in second place in the Atlantic Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference. Their defense is top-five in the league, and their offense is 14th-best. A more in-depth analysis of their game can be found in Wednesday’s post.

Going back to before the All-Star Break, the Bolts are riding a two-game win streak, with their most recent victory being the 3-1 victory over the Red Wings on Wednesday. While a win tonight doesn’t advance them in the standings, it would break the tie with the Boston Bruins.

These teams have already played once this season, and a whopping nine goals were exchanged, with the Bolts winning in overtime. The Penguins just played a game like that on Tuesday, so it will be interesting to see if they have any goals left over for tonight’s game.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Pittsburgh‘s Fleury (four shutouts [tied for third-most in the league] and 20 wins [tied for eighth-most in the league]) and Tampa Bay‘s Ben Bishop (1.99 GAA [second-best in the league], 20 wins [tied for eighth-most in the league] and .927 save percentage [tied for eighth-best in the league]).

Tampa Bay has been playing well of late, and have home ice. It is hard to pick against them.

February 5, 2016
Down the Frozen River Podcast #23-Grab Some Popcorn

The Down the Frozen River crew takes a look at the impact of the 2016 All Star Game, John Scott, Connor McDavid, and NHL.com’s rebrand. Oh, and, Nick totally meant John Tavares when he said Jonathan Toews early in the podcast. Stay tuned for more next week, but until then, hear what they have to say about the latest news and notes from around the NHL in this week’s #DTFRPodcast.

Join the conversation, make a suggestion, or ask a question for our next podcast using #AskDownTheFrozenRiver or #DTFRPodcast on Twitter and/or drop us a line on Facebook– your thoughts might make it on our show!

February 5, 2016
February 4 – Day 112 – It’s another rematch!

In what is currently a First Round matchup in the Eastern Conference, the Tampa Bay Lightning held home ice to earn the 3-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

The Bolts scored the first goal after 21:23 of play, courtesy of a J.T. Brown wrister, assisted by Braydon Coburn (his seventh helper of the season), but the Wings leveled the score only 3:43 later with a snap shot from Gustav Nyquist, assisted by Tomas Tatar (his 15th helper of the season) and Kyle Quincey. Tampa‘s game-winner came at the 6:30 mark of the second with a Tyler Johnson wrister, assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman (his 24th helper of the season). The 2-1 Lightning lead held into the second intermission.

The Lightning‘s lone insurance goal was Kucherov’s 21st tally of the season, a wrister off the assist from Ondrej Palat, setting the score at the 3-1 final.

Ben Bishop earns the win by saving 24 of 25 (96%), while Petr Mrazek takes the loss after saving 20 of 23 (87%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 49-24-9, favoring the home squad by 34 points.

It’s a busy Thursday in the NHL! The action starts at… you guessed it… 7 p.m. eastern (Boston at Buffalo and Minnesota at the New York Rangers)! 7:30 p.m. eastern brings with it four more games (the New York Islanders at Washington [NBCSN], New Jersey at Toronto, Edmonton at Ottawa and Detroit at Florida), followed by two more at the top of the hour (San Jose at St. Louis and Philadelphia at Nashville). 9 p.m. eastern brings with it two games (Dallas at Colorado and Chicago at Arizona), with the co-nightcaps occurring an hour later (Columbus at Vancouver and Anaheim at Los Angeles [NBCSN]).

Five of tonight’s 12 games are between divisional rivals (Boston at Buffalo, New York at Washington, Detroit at Florida, Dallas at Colorado and Anaheim at Los Angeles), while another set of five are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (New York at Washington, Detroit at Florida, San Jose at St. Louis, Dallas at Colorado and Anaheim at Los Angeles).

Four of tonight’s games have some special notes associated. Minnesota brings with them Jarret Stoll, an ex-Ranger of this season, and Edmonton‘s Eric Gryba makes his first return to Ottawa after three seasons of playing with the Sens. New York–Washington is a rematch of one of last season’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, and John Tortorella will coach his first game in Vancouver since being released in May of 2014.

While those returns are intriguing, we grow closer to the playoffs everyday, and what better way to realize that than taking a look at last year?

Tonight is New York‘s fourth game in the DtFR Game of the Day series, in which they own a 1-2-0 record. Their most recent appearance was on January 25 when they hosted the Red Wings and lost 4-2. Washington has been featured nine times before tonight’s game, and own a 6-3-0 record in such games, with their most recent being a 5-2 victory over the Rangers on home ice.

The 26-16-6 New York Islanders currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference. They have a top-10 defense paired with one of the better offenses in the league.

Led by Calvin de Haan’s 169 blocks, the Islanders defense has allowed only 1457 shots to reach 12-9-4 Jaroslav Halak and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.5% for only 118 goals against, eighth fewest in the league. The Isles also own the second-best penalty kill in the league, killing 86.9% for only 19 power play goals against.

John Tavares has spearheaded the Islanders‘ offense with a team-leading 145 shots, with the team being responsible for 1460 shots total. 9% have found the back of the net for 132 goals (led by Brock Nelson’s 20 tallies). The biggest thing holding the Islanders back is their 15th-worst power play. They’re successful on only 18.12% of attempts for 25 power play goals (led by Frans Nielsen’s five).

New York‘s most recent game was a 5-3 victory over the Wild on Tuesday. Pending the Rangers‘ result against those Wild, the Islanders do have the opportunity to jump the Blueshirts into second place in the division.

The 35-9-4 Washington Capitals are currently the best team in the league, leading the second place Chicago Blackhawks by two points. There’s no doubting that they deserve that spot, as they have the best defense and second-best offense.

Led by Karl Alzner’s 122 blocks, the Caps have only allowed 1376 shots to reach 30-5-3 Braden Holtby and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.6% for only 108 goals against, fewest in the league. Part of the reason Washington has found such success has been their seventh-best penalty kill, killing 83.67% of opposing power plays for only 24 power play goals against.

The offense is no slouch, either. Led by Alex Ovechkin’s 234 shots, the Capitals have fired 1482 pucks on goal, of which a whopping 10.7% have found the back of the net for 158 goals (Ovechkin leads the way with 28 tallies). That offense has been supported by the league-leading offense, scoring on 25.33% for 38 goals (led by Ovechkin’s 11 power play tallies).

Going back to before the All-Star Game, the Capitals are actually on a two-game losing skid, with their most recent being a 5-2 loss to the Panthers on Tuesday. While the Capitals may not have anyone to surpass, a win tonight does have the potential to increase their lead over the Rangers in the division, the Panthers in the conference and the Blackhawks for the Presidents’ Trophy.

In their only other meeting this season, the Capitals beat the Islanders 4-1 in Brooklyn on January 7. While that game may not have been so tight, last season’s playoff series was. The Caps needed seven games to knock off the Isles before eventually falling to the other team from the Big Apple.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include New York‘s Thomas Greiss (.927 save percentage [tied for ninth-best in the league]) and Washington‘s Holtby (30 wins [leads the league], 2.07 GAA [fifth-best in the league] and .929 save percentage [tied for sixth-best in the league]), Evgeny Kuznetsov (+25 [leads the league], 36 assists [third-most in the league] and 51 points [fifth-most in the league]) and Ovechkin (28 goals [tied for second-most in the league] and +20 [tied for sixth-best in the league]).

It’s tough to pick against the Capitals, especially on home ice. Washington expects to pick up the offense this night, as Ovi is making his return after serving his one-game suspension for missing/skipping the All-Star Game. I think this skid ends at two.

February 4, 2016
February 3 – Day 111 – Potential playoff matchup? But we already saw it last year!

St. Louis got exactly the start to the second half they wanted, but it was a little stressful.

The only goal of the game was scored with only 1:05 by Troy Brouwer (who I’m giving the First Star of the Game, assisted by Alex Pietrangelo (his 19th helper of the season) and Robby Fabbri. The Preds were unable to react and get a leveling goal

Brian Elliott saved all 16 shot he faced to earn the clean sheet, while Pekka Rinne allowed only the one goal on 23 shots faced (95.7%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 48-24-9, favoring the home team by 32 points over the road squads.

With so many games yesterday, it makes sense that tonight has only three matchups on the schedule. The action starts at 7 p.m. eastern when Buffalo visits Montréal (SN/RDS), followed an hour later by Detroit at Tampa Bay (NBCSN/TVAS). This evening’s nightcap drops the puck at 9:30 p.m. eastern when Carolina visits Calgary (SN1).

Two of tonight’s games are between division rivals (Buffalo at Montréal and Detroit at Tampa Bay), and Detroit at Tampa Bay is the only meeting of teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (in fact, they are currently slated to meet each other in the first round).

Detroit at Tampa Bay is also a rematch of one of last season’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

I give you three guesses to pick tonight’s Game of the Day, and you probably won’t need two of them.

Detroit has been featured four times in the Game of the Day series before tonight, and own a 3-1-0 record in those games. Their most recent was a 4-2 victory in Brooklyn on January 25. This is Tampa Bay‘s eighth time being featured, with their most recent being a 5-2 loss in Colorado on January 22, which dropped their series-record to 3-3-1.

The 25-16-8 Detroit Red Wings currently sit in third place in the Atlantic Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference. They play the 10th best defense in the league, but have been held back by the seventh worst offense.

Led by Danny DeKeyser’s team-leading 65 blocks, the Wings have allowed 1473 shots to reach the incredible 18-9-4 Petr Mrazek and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.3% for 121 goals against. That being said, the penalty kill has been only average, killing 80.89% (15th-best in the league) for 30 power play goals against.

Even with Dylan Larkin’s 127 shots, the Wings have only fired the puck 1404 times, but 8.6% have found the back of the net for 121 goals (led by Larkin’s 15 tallies). Part of the offense’s problem has been the 13th-worst power play in the league, scoring on only 17.65% for 27 extra-man tallies (led by Gustav Nyquist’s six goals).

Detroit won their last game before the break, and will need to continue that success in the tight Atlantic division race. A win tonight moves them past the Bolts into second in the division.

The 27-18-4 Tampa Bay Lightning currently sit in second place in the Atlantic Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference. To get to that position, they’ve played the fifth-best defense in the league paired with the 15th best offense.

Led by Victor Hedman’s team-leading 83 blocks, the Bolts have allowed only 1373 shots to reach 19-14-3 Ben Bishop and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.4% for only 114 goals against. Part of the reason for that success has been the 14th-best penalty kill in the league, killing 81.08% for only 28 goals against.

The Bolts have also been pretty good at putting on the offensive pressure, even though they only have 1420 shots to their credit (led by Steven Stamkos’ 145 attempts). Nine percent have found the back of the net for 128 goals against, led by Stamkos’ 21 tallies. Part of the reason for that success has been the 15th-best power play, scoring on 18.13% of attempts for 31 extra-man tallies (led by Stamkos’ 10 power play goals).

Just like their opposition, Tampa won their last game before taking the All-Star Break. Turning that win into a streak this evening gives Tampa an actual lead over Detroit in the standings.

Thanks to winning both the previous meetings this season, Detroit would clinch the season series with anything better than a regulation loss tonight. These squads last met in Detroit exactly three months ago, with the Wings winning 2-1.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Detroit‘s Larkin (+24 [tied for best in the league]) and Mrazek (.932 save percentage [tied for second-best in the league] and 2.03 GAA [tied for third-best in the league]) & Tampa Bay‘s Bishop (2.02 GAA [second-best in the league] and 19 wins [tied for ninth-best in the league]).

Although Detroit has had the upper-hand so far this season on Tampa, the Bolts have improved a lot since their meeting in November. I’m picking Tampa Bay to win this one and start the second half of their season on the right foot… or skate… or whatever.

February 3, 2016
February 2 – Day 110 – If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, we get two more months of hockey
Let’s start the second half of the season with a bang! A whopping 12 games are being played tonight, with five starting at 7 p.m. eastern (Toronto at Boston [TVAS], the New York Rangers at New Jersey, Minnesota at the New York Islanders, Montréal at Philadelphia [RDS] and Ottawa at Pittsburgh [RDS2]), with Florida at Washington (NBCSN) starting half an hour later. 8 p.m. eastern brings with it two games (St. Louis at Nashville [SN1] and Dallas at Winnipeg), and 9 p.m. eastern has three more (Chicago at Colorado, Columbus at Edmonton and Los Angeles at Arizona). Finally, San Jose at Anaheim, this evening’s nightcap, drops the puck at 10 p.m. eastern.

Over half of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (Toronto at Boston, New York at New Jersey, St. Louis at Nashville, Dallas at Winnipeg, Chicago at Colorado, Los Angeles at Arizona and San Jose at Anaheim), and four are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Florida at Washington, St. Louis at Nashville, Chicago at Colorado and Los Angeles at Arizona).

I have three reasons for choosing today’s Game of the Day. You choose which one you most agree with.
1. It’ll be my little way of honoring the All-Star Game.
2. Judging by the standings, it should be the most competitive game of those listed in both groups above.
3. It’s my birthday, so I can do whatever game I want.
(.Gif posted by D I O S)

Tonight’s game is St. Louis‘ 11th in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 5-4-1 record. Their most recent appearance was a two-goal shutout loss in Chicago on January 24. Nashville has been featured four times before tonight’s game, with their most recent also being a loss in Chicago, but they played a more respectable 3-2 game. They own a 2-2-0 record in the series overall.

The 28-16-8 St. Louis Blues are currently third-best in both the Central Division and the Western Conference. So far this season, their defense ranks 13th best in goals against, while the offense has the 15th most goals scored.

Even with Alex Pietrangelo’s team-leading 98 blocks, the Blues have allowed 1540 shots to reach 18-10-3 Jake Allen and co. Fortunately for St. Louis, they’ve had some solid goaltending, as the group has collectively saved 92.5% for only 125 goals against. The penalty kill has also been exceptionally strong (third-best in the league), as they’ve killed 85.21% for only 25 goals against.

Led by Vladimir Tarasenko’s 184 attempts, the Notes have fired the puck 1551 time, 8.1% of which have found the back of the net for 126 tallies (led by Tarasenko’s 25 goals). The Blues also have the 11th-best power play in the league, successful on 19.58% of attempts for 28 extra-man tallies (led by Tarasenko’s eight).

Before the All-Star Break, the Blues were riding a two-game losing skid that they intend to end after nine days of rest. A win tonight has the potential to pull St. Louis within a point of the Stars, pending Dallas‘ result in Winnipeg.

The 24-18-8 Nashville Predators currently sit in fifth place in the Central Division and seventh in the Western Conference, good enough for the second wildcard spot. The Predators host the 15th best offense in the league, paired with the 15th-worst defense, as measured by goals scored and against, respectively.

Led by James Neal’s 158 attempts, Nashville has fired 1538 shots so far this season, 8.3% of which have found the back of the net for 127 goals (led by Neal’s 18). The offense also hosts the eighth-best power play, successful on 20.37% of attempts for 33 goals (led by Shea Weber’s nine extra-man tallies). This special team has also done well to prevent opposing short-handed goals, allowing only one so far this season.

Led by Roman Josi’s 121 blocks, the Predators have allowed only 1326 shots to reach 19-15-7 Pekka Rinne and co., but Nashville‘s struggles haven’t lied in the defenders. Collectively, the goaltenders have saved only 90.7% of shots for 130 goals against. The penalty kill has also struggled, killing only 79.08% (sixth-worst in the league) for 32 power play goals against. The effects of the special teams have been slightly improved though, with four short-handed goals to their credit.

The Preds entered the break strong, winning their last four games, all on the road. A solid start to the last two months of the season is exactly what Nashville needs, as they are in the midst of a tough wildcard battle between themselves, Colorado and Minnesota. A win tonight has the potential to propel the Predators past the Avalanche into the first wildcard spot, but they’ll need Colorado to lose, either in regulation or overtime, for that to happen.

With a 3-0-0 record in the season series, St. Louis has already won the best of five against the Predators this year. Their last meeting was December 29 in the Gateway to the West, by far the best showing for Nashville against the Blues this season, as they managed to get the game to overtime before ceding the 4-3 OT victory.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Nashville‘s Josi (35 points, 25 of which have been assists, and 121 blocks [all lead the team]), Neal (18 goals on 158 shots, 15 of which have been at even-strength, and a +15 [all lead the team]), Mike Ribeiro (17 even-strength assists [leads the team]) and Weber (nine power play goals and 106 hits [both lead the team]) & St. Louis‘ Allen (five shutouts [second-most in the league]) or Brian Elliott (.927 save percentage [tied for eighth-best in the league]), Colton Parayko (+18 [tied for seventh-best in the league]) and Tarasenko (25 goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]).

After the break, it is tough to get a gauge on how these teams are going to perform, but I’ll get a slight edge to Nashville for playing with their streak on home ice.

*Disclaimer: Blues-bias is now on, because, you know, birthday privileges and stuff.*

Screw that. Go Blues. Basically, at the end of the day, what we’re looking for is me singing this (video uploaded by patokaman)…

Instead of this (video uploaded by ZoSO282).
February 2, 2016
A Few Thoughts…

By: Nick Lanciani

Hello, it’s me- okay I promise I won’t get Adele stuck in your head. I’m back again (kind of) and I’m here to share a few thoughts with you on the state of the National Hockey League as we wrap up the 2016 NHL All Star Break and get ready for tonight’s games. Thank you for reading (and hopefully enjoying) my “Look to the Rafters” series last year. I had a lot of fun writing most of them before the season started, then making minor changes to them before posting them throughout the last several months as I tried to cram them into my busy schedule.

This is my first “real-time” post in a while that hasn’t just been a podcast, because I’ve had other commitments on weekends. Having said that, I’ll resume a regular column role after the Super Bowl because, well, I’ll be working this weekend (go Panthers! – Carolina Panthers, that is).

Anyway, how about the league parity this year? Every division is pretty close unless you’re the Columbus Blue Jackets, then there’s pretty much no hope (I’m sorry, good people of Columbus, Ohio).

Plenty of teams are in spectacular standings battles as we begin the rest of the season after the All Star Break (it’s not really the second half of the season, since every team has played over 41 games already ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). I’ll be taking a look at some trade deadline previews in the next week or two, as the trade deadline is looming over the horizon, but first here’s a few thoughts for your pleasure…

First, good for the NHL for finally stepping up to the plate and embracing John Scott at the All Star Game- that and the new 3 on 3 All Star Game format made it perhaps the best All Star Game since at least 2004. I won’t go into the hypocritical nuances and overtones from the entire All Star Weekend regarding the storylines the league was drumming up about John Scott, but I digress.

Second, John Scott has a way with words (and I mean it). If you still haven’t had the time to read Scott’s column in The Players’ Tribune go ahead and read it now, I’ll wait. You good now? If you’ve already read it, read it again. Scott’s piece is exceptional. It’s well crafted, well written, and well, better than anything I ever did/aim to do here on this site. Seriously, Mr. Scott, if you ever consider becoming a hockey blogger after you retire from the game someday, please write for us, as long as we’re still around however many years into the future.

Third, there’s plenty of speculation mounting regarding league expansion once again- then again, when hasn’t it been this season? I’m sure the league is doing everything in its power to carefully review and construct all the details that would be necessary to work out for any cautious business ventures that may or may not ultimately be made.

Again, however, not much has changed in the discussion at the end of the day. Québec City is still a beautiful city and deserves an NHL team, however, history may be repeating itself in that the Canadian dollar has been showing signs of the ultimate demise of the 1990s Quebec Nordiques. In other words, it’s not good.

You might ask, “what about revenue sharing?” and the answer is that the league already has a system in place that significantly boosts its smaller market Canadian teams (Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, and even Ottawa- these are “small” in the sense that their financial backing is nothing compared to the Toronto Maple Leafs and/or the Montreal Canadiens).

Bottom line, it’s important to remember that 1) any sports franchise is expensive as heck to own and operate, especially if any public funding comes into play and 2) all Canadian teams generate revenue in Canadian dollars, but must pay their salaries in American dollars per the terms and conditions of the current CBA.

So, yeah, umm I’d like to see the Québec Nordiques resurrected, but not if it means that they’ll end up folding or relocating only a few years into a rebirth.

With regards to Las Vegas, T-Mobile picked up the tab on the naming rights for the new Las Vegas arena, so that’s promising for something, whether it’s hockey or just another entertainment venue ultimately. The league seems to have a special interest in the Las Vegas ownership group given its strong backing and the tremendous amounts of support that local Vegas residents have shown in hopes of landing an NHL gig.

And for you, good people of Las Vegas, Nevada, I am hopeful. Just as hopeful as I am for the wonderful citizens of Le Ville de Québec. Indeed, it would be a shame if this is all for nothing for now, but at least the serious level of the discussions is out there, are tangible, and within reach of hopefully putting something together.

As for Seattle, remember they are not part of the formal expansion application/discussion process at this time because they still cannot come to terms on building a new NHL/NBA ready arena in the Seattle metropolitan area.

Which, hey, if you wonderful people of Seattle, Washington got on that, we could be talking about another possible expansion team and almost being able to balance the conferences again (and that right there, lies another issue potentially holding expansion back- the imbalance of the conferences as they are and as they would be by adding teams in Québec and Las Vegas).

All I know is that I’m glad I’m not the one that is responsible for making all of these decisions. I’d much rather be a GM right now that’s having to debate trading a major component of a franchise or not and praying he doesn’t leave in free agency if he doesn’t resign (I’m looking at you, Mr. Yzerman). It seems as though at the end of the day, dealing with player contracts that don’t yield $500 million in expansion fees is much easier to crunch than well, what I just said about expansion fees.

Finally, thank you to the NHL, NWHL, CWHL, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Pride, and hockey fans everywhere for joining forces and continuing to support Denna Laing. It’s incredible to see the outpouring of compassion by the hockey community and helps make the world a better place.

I’ve seen some bad injuries in person before and I never want to have to see another stretcher on the ice again, but it’s nice to know and see how positive Denna Laing has remained through the last month and has given a newfound hope for us all to see that anything is possible and dreams may come true.

Let’s let our professional women’s athletes play another outdoor game as part of the Winter Classic festivities, let’s let our player’s play, and let’s have it televised, because there’s no reason to believe that women’s hockey is any less thrilling than men’s hockey.

February 2, 2016
Down the Frozen River Podcast #22- All Star Weekend

The Down the Frozen River crew tackles the All Star break in stride with thoughts on the relevance of the All Star Game, John Scott, and Dennis Wideman. Stay tuned for more next week, but until then, hear what they have to say about the latest news and notes from around the NHL in this week’s #DTFRPodcast.

Join the conversation, make a suggestion, or ask a question for our next podcast using #AskDownTheFrozenRiver or #DTFRPodcast on Twitter and/or drop us a line on Facebook– your thoughts might make it on our show!

January 30, 2016
Colby’s Corner: Florida Heat

The Atlantic division got burned and the teams are feeling the Florida heat with the Florida Panthers on top. The Panthers went on a 12-game winning streak that earned them the top spot in the Atlantic. They made it seem like the other teams were standing still as they blew by them.

My first thought was that it wouldn’t last, and they would fall back to where they belong, but now I am second-guessing myself. They continue to win games, and big games like January 22^nd when they beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0. The Panthers have 63 points, and only 3 points separate them from the second division spot.

So why are they so successful?

A big part of their success can be tied with their young players. First would be the team’s point leader Jonathan Huberdeau. He has 34 points, and of those points 26 come from assists. This is a great feat for a 4^th-year player who is only 22 years old.

A bigger piece of this Florida team would be 2^nd-year player Aaron Exblad. Exblad is key to this team; he missed four games thus far and Florida stumbled in those games. Ever since his return to the lineup, the Panthers have found winning ways again. Exblad has 21 points this season, split pretty evenly between goals and assists (10G, 11A).

Finally, it wouldn’t be right to talk about this team without mentioning the great one: Jaromir Jagr. Jagr is second on the team in goals with 15 and in points with 33, only one point behind his line mate Huberdeau. Jagr is still finding ways to succeed in this league and his experience is helping these young kids as they push for the playoffs. I feel it will be interesting to watch this team in the playoffs, and this could be the final push for Jagr and another cup.

AP Photo/Joel Auerbach

If I were to steal Rob Ray’s explanation for why Jagr is this old and still playing: he believes it’s because he has stayed single for all these years. Say what you will, but it makes you really think about his career and what he has achieved.

January 27, 2016
January 27 – Day 109 – Last hurrah for the first half

It’s the last lead that matters! Buffalo did not have a lead in the game until the 1:08 mark of the third period, but they were able to hang on for the 3-2 win in Ottawa in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

The Sens opened the scoring after 6:42 of play with a goal from Third Star of the Game Erik Karlsson, assisted by Mika Zibanejad (his 21st helper of the season) and Chris Neil, but the Sabres leveled the score only 4:30 later with Evander Kane’s 11th tally of the season. The one-all score held into the intermission.

Three seconds after the halfway point of the game, Ottawa took their second lead of the game compliments of Second Star Bobby Ryan’s 18th goal on the season, assisted by Cody Ceci and Shane Prince. But, just like the first time, the Sabres were able to quickly level the score, this one a power play goal at the 13:48 mark courtesy of First Star Jack Eichel, assisted by Robin Lehner (his first helper of the season). Once again, the game entered an intermission tied.

Eichel’s night was not complete, as he scored the 16th goal of his NHL career to give Buffalo the win.

Lehner’s record improves to 1-3-0 after saving 34 of 36 (94.4%), while Craig Anderson’s falls to 20-15-4 after saving 19 of 22 (86.4%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 48-22-9, favoring the home squad by 36 points over the roadies.

I’m not saying we’re going out with a whimper into the All-Star Break, but there are only four games on the docket this evening. Fortunately, all of them are nationally televised, making it a pretty phenomenal night for hockey fans! The action gets started at 7 p.m. eastern with Toronto visiting Tampa Bay (TVAS/SN), followed an hour later by Philadelphia at Washington (NBCSN). 9:30 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of the Nashville at Calgary (SN1), followed by this evening’s nightcap, Colorado at Los Angeles (NBCSN), an hour later.

Half of tonight’s games are between division rivals (Toronto at Tampa Bay and Philadelphia at Washington), and Colorado at Los Angeles represents the only game between playoff qualifiers.

It’s been a while since we’ve focused on the Kings, so let’s head to the Staples Center.

Tonight’s game will be Colorado‘s fifth in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 3-1-0 record. Their most recent showing in the series was a 2-1 shootout victory over the Blues on Friday. Los Angeles has only been featured twice before tonight’s game, and they are 1-1-0 in such games. Their most recent appearance was a five-goal shutout victory in Vancouver on December 28.

The 26-21-3 Colorado Avalanche currently sit in fifth place in the Central Division, sixth in the Western Conference and, most importantly, they own the second wildcard position. They’ve gotten to that position with the sixth-most goals scored in the league, but have been held back by their defense. A more in-depth explanation of their game can be found in Friday’s post.

Thanks to last night’s loss in San Jose, the Avs‘ win streak ends at four, but a win tonight propels Colorado past Minnesota into the first wildcard position.

The 30-15-3 Los Angeles Kings currently occupy first place in the Pacific Division and fourth in the Western Conference. To get to that position, they’ve paired one of the best defenses in the league with an average offense.

Thanks to Alec Martinez’ team-leading 112 blocks, the Kings have allowed only 1352 shots to reach 26-12-2 Jonathan Quick and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.3% for only 107 goals against, third-least in the league. The penalty kill has also been strong, killing 82.25% for 30 goals against.

Led by Dustin Brown’s 131 shots, LA has fired 1534 shots, of which 8.1% have found the back of the net for 124 goals (led by Tyler Toffoli’s 22 tallies), 15th-fewest in the league. The strongest asset for the Kings‘ offense has been the power play, where they’ve scored on 21.17% for 29 extra-man goals. The power play continues to get better, as they’ve allowed only two short-handed goals so far this season, one less than the league average.

Los Angeles‘ most recent game was a 3-2 overtime victory in San Jose Sunday. A win tonight continue’s Los Angeles‘ excellent season by extending their lead over the Sharks to nine points.

Colorado and Los Angeles have met twice already this season, with both teams winning the game they hosted by holding the opposition to a lone goal. Their most recent meeting was January 4 in Colorado, where the Avs won 4-1.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Colorado‘s Matt Duchene (22 goals [tied for eighth-most in the league]) & Los Angeles‘ Anze Kopitar (+17 [tied for eighth-best in the league]), Quick (26 wins [third-most in the league] and three shutouts [10th-most in the league]) and Toffoli (+26 [best in the league] and 22 goals [tied for eighth-most in the league]).

After last night’s performance in San Jose, you expect the Avs to play a better game tonight. Too bad for them, their competition this evening is far superior to last night’s. I expect the Kings to take care of Colorado easily.

January 27, 2016