Down the Frozen River

Tag: Alec Martinez

  • Pavelski, Couture, Sharks Up 2-0 in Series Versus Kings

    By: Nick Lanciani

    UnknownJoe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Martin Jones led the way for the San Jose Sharks to their 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night in Game 2 of their 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round One matchup. The Sharks now have a 2-0 series lead, having won both games on the road at Staples Center, before heading home to the SAP Center for Game 3.

    Jones made 26 saves on 27 shots against, yielding a .963 SV% en route to the win, while Jonathan Quick made 21 saves on 23 shots faced in the loss with a .913 SV%.

    Saturday night was the first game back from injury for Los Angeles Kings forward, Marian Gaborik, while it was the first game that defenseman, Alec Martinez missed with an undisclosed injury. Jamie McBain was inserted on LA’s blueline in Martinez’s place and Gaborik wound his way up in the top-six forwards, while Milan Lucic was bumped down to the Kings’ third line. Game 2 was also San Jose’s 16th consecutive playoff game against Los Angeles.

    Pavelski kicked off the scoring at 3:37 of the first period with his 3rd goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Pavelski’s tally was assisted by Brent Burns and Joe Thornton and gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead that they would hold until the first intermission.

    By the end of twenty minutes of play, San Jose was outshooting Los Angeles 7-5 and leading in blocked shots (7-6), while the Kings were leading in hits (17-16), faceoffs (15-10) and giveaways (5-1). Both teams were tied in takeaways (0-0) and were unsuccessful on the power play (San Jose was 0/2, while Los Angeles was 0/1).

    The second period saw more domination of the pace of the game from the Sharks as both teams swapped chances, but Jones and Quick stood tall in goal. Tyler Toffoli and Lucic took penalties at 8:14 of the second period and were sent to the penalty box for roughing and charging, respectively.

    Thirty-seconds was all it took for San Jose to score on the ensuing 5-on-3 power play opportunity as Couture found Quick way out of position and was able to snap the puck home with ease. Couture’s goal gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead and was assisted by Pavelski and Patrick Marleau. The Kings were clearly shaken by the goal, but could not find a way to try to take back the momentum that was fully tilted in San Jose’s favor.

    Unknown-3What seemed to be a rarity on the night, next occurred with under nine minutes to go in the 2nd. Tommy Wingels was flying up ice on a breakaway and Quick remained square to the shooter, instead of getting out of position— outside of the crease— thereby denying Wingels and providing a huge save in what might have otherwise all but sealed the deal for the Sharks.

    San Jose took a couple more penalties as the second period went on at 12:18 (Matt Nieto for hooking) and 18:17 (Nick Spaling for holding), but the Kings were powerless on the power play, unable to convert on either opportunity.

    At the end of forty minutes of play, the fans at the Staples Center began to grow restless, with the Sharks beating the home-team Kings, 2-0, and leading in shots on goal (16-14).

    San Jose also led in takeaways (2-0) and blocked shots (16-13), while Los Angeles had a 28-16 faceoff win advantage, despite leading in giveaways (6-3). Hits were even at 31-31 and the Sharks were 1/4 on the power play after two, while the Kings were 0/3.

    The third period began with a bit of a slow start, but the Kings were starting to press, given that they were down by two and in the final twenty minutes of play, unless they had anything to do about it.

    Nick Spaling was sent to the box for tripping Los Angeles defenseman, Drew Doughty, at 10:59 of the 3rd, but once again the Kings were unable to convert on the power play as less than a minute later, Jeff Carter was sent to the penalty box for slashing at 11:28 of the period.

    Yet the result of a slashing minor against Melker Karlsson at 14:06 of the third period resulted in a Los Angeles power play that sparked some high intensity desperation back into the game. In a frenzy of bodies and pucks loose in front of the net and with Martin Jones out of position in the crease, Vincent Lecavalier was able to find the puck and send it home with a backhand on the power play at 14:59 of the 3rd.

    Lecavalier’s goal cut the Sharks lead in half to 2-1 and was assisted by Jake Muzzin and Tanner Pearson.

    With about 90 seconds left in regulation, Kings head coach, Darryl Sutter, pulled Quick for an extra attacker but the effort was ultimately for naught. The Sharks downed the Kings 2-1 on road ice trailing in shots (27-23), hits (47-40), faceoff wins (41-27) and giveaways (14-7) to Los Angeles. San Jose finished the game leading in blocked shots (28-17) and takeaways (2-0). Both teams were 1/5 on the night on the power play.

    Jones became the 2nd goalie in Sharks history to win his first 2 career playoff starts— the other being Wade Flaherty on May 17, 1995 and May 19, 1995. Per Elias Sports, San Jose also took a 2-0 series lead in a best-of-7 format via two road wins for the 3rd time in franchise history (with the previous two times being the 1995 Western Conference Quarterfinals and the 2013 Western Conference Quarterfinals).

    The series now shifts to the SAP Center in San Jose, California on Monday night at 10:30 PM EST for Game 3 and can been seen on NBCSN nationally in the United States and on CBC and TVA Sports in Canada.

  • San Jose at Los Angeles – Game 1 – Pavelski and the Sharks steal Game 1

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    Who would’ve guessed that a one-goal third period would be the difference in this one?

    The first goal was struck after only 2:53, courtesy of Jake Muzzin on a tip-in, assisted by Second Star of the Game Milan Lucic and Tanner Pearson.  After collecting a deflected shot, Lucic was taking the puck behind the net, put a puck into the exposed crease for Muzzin to send home.  Anze Kopitar quickly followed that tally with a trip to the box for interference with 14:14 remaining in the first, which First Star Joe Pavelski capitalized on with a slap shot to level the game.

    Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the remaining 13:35, and the game leveled out in that time.  Neither team managed more than eight shots fired (Los Angeles only fired the puck five times), which was further improved by the Sharks‘ five blocks.

    The second period was one of power plays, with five being awarded, and three of those penalties against San Jose.  Brent Burns gave San Jose a one-goal lead at the 6:50 mark with a long range slap shot from the face off dot assisted by Third Star Joel Ward, who followed the play by interfering with Dustin Brown.  The lead lasted only 40 seconds before Jeff Carter scored on the ensuing power play.  Muzzin committed a hooking penalty 2:17 after Carter’s goal, giving the Sharks a power play, which they almost capitalized on, but they were hurt by an iffy no-call on a potential Alec Martinez trip on the San Jose shooter.  Trevor Lewis gave the Kings their second lead of the night at the  17:18 mark on a stunning shorthanded roofer of a slap shot, but it lasted only half a minute before Tomas Hertl returned the favor at the completion of Drew Doughty serving his time for hooking Ward.  After all the action, which also included tons of hits, the second period ended three-all.

    Only 17 seconds after returning to the ice, Pavelski connected on a wraparound for his second of the night.  Los Angeles certainly upped their pressure in the remaining time, but Martin Jones stood tall to earn the 4-3 victory.

    Jones made 21 saves on 24 shots faced (87.5%), while Jonathan Quick takes the loss, saving 19 of 23 (82.6%).

    These squads will meet again Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. eastern, which can be viewed on NBCSN, CBC and TVAS.

  • March 21 – Day 158 – Los Angeles wants to replace Garth Brooks as the King of Country

    Even with the four goal offensive explosion in the second period, these squads needed a shootout before Minnesota could earn the 3-2 win.

    The first score didn’t find the back of the net until the 20:50 mark, courtesy of Minnesota‘s First Star of the Game Erik Haula, whose snap shot was assisted by Nino Niederreiter (his 22nd helper of the season) and Justin Fontaine, which was just the start of an exciting second period.  Niederreiter gave the Wild an insurance goal 6:14 later, assisted by Jordan Schroeder and Mikael Granlund (his 29th helper of the season).  It was an insurance goal they needed, as Third Star Andrew Shaw, assisted by Artemi Panarin (his 38th helper of the season), scored 1:34 later to pull the Hawks within a goal.  With 6:39 remaining in the period, Richard Panik leveled the game with a fancy wrap-around goal, assisted by Andrew Desjardins and Duncan Keith (his 34th helper of the season).  Neither team was able to score in the remaining time in the period and took their two-all tie into the second intermission and through the third and overtime, leading to a shootout.

    Only one attempt found the back of the net, but it was all Minnesota needed.  After Second Star Devan Dubnyk made the save on Jonathan Toews, Charlie Coyle fired the Wild‘s first attempt past Scott Darling.  Dubnyk followed that with a save on Patrick Kane and Panarin to earn the victory.

    Dubnyk earns the win after saving 29 of 31 shots faced (93.5%), while Darling takes the shootout loss, saving 32 of 34 (94.1%).

    It’s the second straight win for the road teams under our observation, and it sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 70-41-17, favoring the home squads by 29 points over the roadies.

    It’s a light Monday tonight as only four games will be played, starting with Florida at the New York Rangers at 7 p.m. eastern.  Half an hour later, two more games drop the puck (Philadelphia at the New York Islanders [NBCSN/TVAS] and Calgary at Toronto), followed at 8 p.m. eastern by this evening’s nightcap: Los Angeles at Nashville.

    Philadelphia at New York is the only divisional rivalry being played this evening, but there are two games between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Florida at New York and Los Angeles at Nashville).

    While the Florida–New York game is important for the Rangers and their efforts to get home ice for the first round, I’m more interested in the preview of the highly probable first round matchup between the Kings and Predators.

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    Tonight’s game will be Los Angeles‘ seventh appearance in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 3-3-0 record.  Their most recent game featured was March 9, a 4-3 overtime winner over the visiting Capitals.  Nashville has been featured nine times before this contest, and own a 5-3-1 record in the series, with their most recent being Thursday’s 4-2 victory over the Islanders on home ice.

    The 44-22-5 Los Angeles Kings currently rank best in the Pacific Division and second in the Western Conference, although a win tonight could change that – more on that later.  To get to that position, the Kings have given up the least goals in the NHL, paired with the 11th best scoring offense.

    Led by Alec Martinez’ 168 blocks, the Kings have allowed only 1959 shots to reach 37-17-4 Jonathan Quick and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.2% for only 160 goals against, the fewest in the league.  Although they’ve had overall defensive success, the penalty kill has been barely better than average, neutralizing 81.53% of their infractions for 46 power play goals against, only the 14th best rate in the league.

    Led by Jeff Carter’s 199 shots, Los Angeles has fired the puck 2274 times, but only 8.5% have found the back of the net for 196 goals (led by Tyler Toffoli’s 26 tallies), 11th most in the league.  The special team that really takes the cake in the City of Angels is the power play, as their 21.05% success rate, good for 44 power play goals, ranks seventh best in the NHL.

    The Kings come into tonight’s game riding a four game winning streak, with their most recent being Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Bruins on home ice.  With a win this evening, Los Angeles would not only pull themselves into a tie with the Stars, but also win the games played tiebreaker to take the lead in the Western Conference.

    The 36-23-13 Nashville Predators currently occupy fourth in the Central Division and seventh in the Western Conference, qualifying them for the first wildcard spot.  To get to that position, they’ve played an incredibly well-rounded game, playing both the 10th best offense and defense.  A more in-depth analysis of Nashville‘s game can be found within Thursday’s article.

    Nashville‘s last game was Friday, a 4-1 loss in Washington.  A win tonight by the Predators would pull them within four points of the Blackhawks with a couple weeks left in the regular season.

    As it stands right now, Los Angeles would host Nashville in a Western Conference Quarterfinal, although a Kings win this evening would completely alter that.  Los Angeles has already won the season series 2-0-0, but both previous games ended in overtime.  These squads last met February 20 on this surface, with both teams scoring a lone goal in regulation before Tanner Pearson earned the Kings the bonus point.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Los Angeles‘ Drew Doughty (+23 [tied for ninth best in the league]), Anze Kopitar (+31 [tied for league lead] and 65 points [10th most in the league]), Milan Lucic (+23 [tied for ninth best in the league]), Quick (37 wins [second most in the league], 2.14 GAA [fourth best in the league] and four shutouts [tied for sixth most in the league]) and Toffoli (+30 [third best in the league]) & Nashville‘s Pekka Rinne (four shutouts [tied for sixth most in the league] and 29 wins [tied for ninth most in the league]).

    The season series is a good indication of how well these two squads match up against each other.  That being said, I’m expecting the Kings‘ defense to lead them to yet another victory over the Predators and the conference lead.

  • March 5 – Day 142 – Freeway Face-Off

    For the second straight day, my prediction was incorrect, as the New York Rangers won in Washington 3-2.

    New York got on the scoreboard first, only 5:47 into the contest.  Jesper Fast’s wrister was true, assisted by Dan Girardi (his 15th helper of the season) and Ryan McDonagh.  Thanks to a Karl Alzner tripping penalty, the Blueshirts doubled their lead with a power play snap shot from Keith Yandle, who was assisted by Derick Brassard (his 25th helper of the season) and First Star of the Game Derek Stepan, which they held into the intermission.

    Just as the Rangers scored two goals in the first frame, Washington did in the second.  10:58 after resuming play, Third Star Jay Beagle’s wrister found the back of the net, his seventh tally of the season.  With only 40 seconds remaining in the period, T.J. Oshie’s scored on a wrister of his own, his 19th tally of the season.  The game would come down to the final 20 minutes, as the two-all score held into the second intermission.

    Only one goal was scored in the third, belonging to the Rangers only 17 seconds after returning to the ice from the dressing room.  New York‘s winner came courtesy of a Stepan wrister, assisted by McDonagh (his 23rd helper of the season).

    Second Star Antti Raanta earns the win after saving 32 of 34 (94.1%), while Braden Holtby takes the loss, saving 20 of 23 (87%).

    With New York‘s win, the DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 64-35-13, favoring the home squads by 34 points over the roadies.

    It’s a wildly busy Saturday in the NHL, as 11 games will be played in the span of approximately 12 hours, with the first of those matchups dropping the puck at 1 p.m. eastern (Minnesota at Buffalo).  3 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of a pair of games (Nashville at Colorado and Calgary at Pittsburgh), followed an hour later by Anaheim at Los Angeles.  The usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern features the beginning of five contests (Montréal at Winnipeg, Ottawa at Toronto, Carolina at Tampa Bay, Washington at Boston [NHLN] and Columbus at Philadelphia).  Florida at Arizona drops the puck at 9 p.m. eastern, trailed an hour later by this evening’s nightcap, Vancouver at San Jose.

    Five of today’s games are divisional rivalries (Nashville at Colorado, Anaheim at Los Angeles, Ottawa at Toronto, Columbus at Philadelphia and Vancouver at San Jose), but only two are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Anaheim at Los Angeles and Washington at Boston).

    If you haven’t looked at the standings recently, you need to know that Anaheim and Los Angeles are currently tied at 80 points apiece for the Pacific Division lead.  To not feature this game would be blatantly disrespectful to hockey, and probably all of mankind.

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    This afternoon’s game will be Anaheim‘s seventh in the DtFR Game of the Day series, where they currently own a 3-1-2 record.  Their most recent showing under our scrutiny was February 15, a 6-4 victory in Calgary.  Los Angeles has only been featured four times before today’s matinee, and own a 2-2-0 record in such games.  Their most recent was February 9, an incredible 9-2 victory in Boston.

    The 36-19-8 Anaheim Ducks currently occupy second place in the Pacific Division (due to losing a regulation+overtime win tiebreaker to Los Angeles) and fifth in the Western Conference.  Although they had a rough start to the season, they’ve played the third best defense in the league, but it’s been supported by the sixth worst scoring offense.

    Led by Hampus Lindholm’s 97 blocks, the Ducks have allowed only 1722 shots to reach 16-8-2 John Gibson and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 91.9% for only 147 goals against, third fewest in the league.  That incredible run of success has been led by the second best penalty kill in the NHL, which has neutralized 86.73% of their trips to the sin bin, allowing only 30 power play goals against.

    Earlier in the season, it was the offense holding Anaheim back, although that doesn’t seem to be the case right now (more on that in a minute).  Led by Corey Perry’s 174 shots, the Ducks have fired the puck a decent 1935 times, but only 8.2% have found the back of the net for 161 goals (led by Perry’s 28 tallies), sixth fewest in the league.  The penalty kill has not been hampered by this lack of success though, as Anaheim‘s 22.8% success rate, good for 44 power play goals (led by Perry’s 11 extra man tallies), is the second best rate in the NHL.

    Anaheim‘s 10 game winning streak is currently best in the league, two games stronger than Tampa Bay‘s eight game streak.  Their most recent showing was Thursday, a 5-1 victory in Arizona.  In addition to giving the Ducks a two point lead in the division over the rival Kings, Anaheim would also pull within three points of the dormant Blackhawks for the top spot in the Western Conference.

    The 38-21-4 Los Angeles Kings currently lead the Pacific Division by virtue of the regulation+overtime wins tiebreaker, and sit in fourth in the Western Conference.  They’ve gotten to that position by playing the bet defense in the league, paired with the 13th worst offense.

    Led by Alec Martinez’ 145 blocks, the Kings have allowed only 1747 shots to reach 32-16-3 Jonathan Quick and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.1% for 145 goals against, the fewest in the NHL.  The key to besting Los Angeles has been to get them to commit a penalty, as their 81.42% kill rate, which has allowed 42 power play goals, ranks only 13th best in the league.

    Jeff Carter’s 174 shots has helped lead the Kings to firing the puck a whopping 2054 times, but only 8.1% have found the back of the net for 168 goals (led by Tyler Toffoli’s 24 tallies), 13th fewest in the NHL.  While overall numbers might not be where they want them, the Kings have had decent success on the power play, where they optimize on 81.42% of opportunities for 40 power play goals (nine from Toffoli), the ninth best rate in the league.

    Los Angeles‘ last game was Thursday, a 3-2 victory over the visiting Canadiens.  Just like Anaheim, a win this afternoon gives the Kings an official lead over their heated rivals, and they pull within three points of the Western Conference lead.

    Anaheim currently leads the season series 2-1-0, with the most recent meeting occurring Sunday, a 4-2 victory for the Ducks on The Pond.

    Some players to keep an eye on in this afternoon’s game include Anaheim‘s Ryan Getzlaf (42 assists [eighth most in the league]), Frederik Anderson (2.22 GAA [eighth best in the league]) or Gibson (2.09 GAA [second best in the league]) and Perry (28 goals [ninth most in the league]) & Los Angeles‘ Anze Kopitar (+23 [tied for sixth best in the league]), Quick (32 wins [tied for third most in the league] and 2.18 GAA [sixth best in the league]) and Toffoli (+27 [tied for second best in the league]).

    It’s a shame this game isn’t on national TV, because there’s a lot on the line for not only the Pacific, but even the Western Conference.  Although the Kings‘ offense has been better for the entirety of the season and they have home ice, it is hard to pick against the Ducks with their 10 straight wins.  I’ll take Anaheim on the road.

  • February 9 – Day 117 – Hello, old friend

    Although they only needed one, the Red Wings decided to score three goals in the final period to secure the shutout victory over the Panthers in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Detroit waited 44:19 before Tomas Tatar tipped-in a goal, assisted by Jakub Kindl and Dylan Larkin (his 20th helper of the season), which came to be the game-winner.  But, now that the goose egg was off the board, the Wings felt a little bit more confident, scoring only 7:07 later when First Star of the Game Pavel Datsyuk snapped his goal off assists from Brad Richards (his 11th helper of the season) and Henrik Zetterberg.  The final goal occurred at the 12:34 mark (yes, 1-2-3-4) when Datsyuk scored his second of the night, assisted by Zetterberg (his 27th helper of the season) and Third Star Justin Abdelkader.

    Second Star Petr Mrazek earns the win after saving all 23 shots he faced, while Al Montoya loses, saving 28 of 31 (90.3%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 53-24-10, favoring the home squad by an even 40 points.

    It’s a busy Tuesday schedule in the NHL!  The action gets started at the usual 7 p.m. eastern starting time with four games (Los Angeles at Boston, Florida at Buffalo, Anaheim at Philadelphia and the New York Islanders at Columbus), followed half an hour later by Tampa Bay at Montréal.  Four more games drop the puck at 8 p.m. eastern (Winnipeg at St. Louis, Washington at Nashville, Dallas at Minnesota [NBCSN] and Edmonton at New Jersey), with San Jose at Chicago beginning half an hour later.  Finally, this evening’s co-nightcaps, Vancouver at Colorado and Toronto at Calgary, drop the puck at 9 p.m. eastern.

    Five of the 12 games this evening are divisional rivalries (Florida at Buffalo, New York at Columbus, Tampa Bay at Montréal, Winnipeg at St. Louis and Dallas at Minnesota), while three are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Los Angeles at Boston, Washington at Nashville and San Jose at Chicago).  The Tampa Bay–Montréal game is also a rematch of one of last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals.

    It is not only because Boston‘s and Los Angeles‘ records are closest of the playoff qualifiers that we will focus on this game, but also because of the return of Milan Lucic to the TD Garden, where he spent the first eight years of his career.

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    This will only be the Kings‘ fourth appearance in the Game of the Day series, where they currently own a 1-2-0 record.  Their most recent showing in the series was January 27, the last day before the All-Star Break, falling 4-3 on home ice to the Avalanche.  Boston has been featured more often, 10 times before tonight, and own a 4-5-1 record in such games.  Their most recent showing in the series was a 4-1 victory in Montréal on January 19.

    Hailing from the city of the now-division rival Canucks, Milan Lucic was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 2006.  By 2007, he was playing full time for the Black and Gold, and ended up playing 566 regular season games for the Bruins.  By far his most successful season was the 2010-’11 season (which corresponds with the Bruins‘ most recent Stanley Cup), when he scored 30 goals and 32 assists for 62 points (career-highs in goals and points).

    Since being traded to the Kings, Lucic has the most hits (157), scored the most game-winning goals (five) and is tied for second-most even-strength goals (11) on the squad.  He’s also been a great distributor, as he is tied for third on the team in even-strength assists (14).

    After missing the playoffs a year ago (and becoming the first since Carolina to not qualify after hoisting the Cup the season prior), 31-17-3 Los Angeles has appreciated his contributions.  Although they are still a team that likes to play squelching defense, they appreciate his efforts to make the Kings‘ offense the best of the worst (Does that not make sense?  It will soon…).

    Led by Alec Martinez’ 112 blocks, the Kings have allowed only 1421 shots to reach 27-14-2 Jonathan Quick and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92% for only 119 goals against, fourth-fewest in the league.  Part of that success can be attributed to the penalty kill, which ranks ninth-best in the league, killing 82.7% of opposing power plays for 32 extra-man goals against.

    On the other end, Dustin Brown’s 142 shots have led the way to a whopping 1632 attempts, of which 8.3% have found the back of the net for 137 goals scored (led by Tyler Toffoli’s 23 tallies), 15th-fewest in the league.  That lack of success cannot be attributed to the power play, as it is fourth-best, connecting on 21.85% of attempts for 33 extra-man goals (led by Toffoli’s eight).

    Los Angeles most recently lost 4-2 to the Ducks on Thursday, but that did little to affect the Kings‘ seven-point Pacific Division lead.  A win tonight has the potential to expand that lead to nine points over San Jose, or diminish the differential between the Kings and the Blackhawks to nine, pending the result of the San Jose–Chicago game.

    The 28-18-6 Boston Bruins currently sit in third in the Atlantic Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference, and have done so playing on of the best offenses in the league.  But what really makes the Bruins scary is the continual improvement on the defensive end, making them a sizable threat on either end of the ice.

    Led by Patrice Bergeron’s 181 shots, the Bruins have fired the puck a whopping 1654 times, with 9.1% finding the back of the net for 155 goals scored (led by Brad Marchand’s 24 tallies), fourth-most in the NHL.  Much of that success can be attributed to the second-best power play in the league, which scores on 24.14% of attempts for 35 extra-man goals (led by Bergeron’s nine power play tallies).

    Led by Kevan Miller’s 78 blocks, Boston has allowed only 1545 shots to reach 19-15-5 Tuukka Rask and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 91.7% for 138 goals against, 14th-fewest in the league.  Again, that success stems from the special teams play.  The Bruins kill 84.66% of penalties, allowing only 27 goals, making them fourth-best .

    The Bruins are currently riding a two-game win streak, with their most recent being a 2-1 overtime win over the Sabres.  Extending that streak to three breaks the tie with Detroit for the third spot, but also has the ability to propel the Bruins to second in the division should Tampa Bay fall in Montréal.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Boston‘s Marchand (24 goals [tied for seventh-most in the league]) and Rask (four shutouts [tied for third-most in the league]) & Los Angeles‘ Anze Kopitar (33 assists [tied for ninth-most in the league] and +19 [tied for ninth-best in the league]), Quick (27 wins [third-most in the league]) and Toffoli (+23 [tied for third-best in the league]).

    Based on the numbers, this is going to be an incredible game.  That being said, I’m still expected to pick a winner.  Not only because they are on home ice, but also because I think they are the better team overall, I believe that the Boston Bruins will earn the victory this evening.

  • 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.

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    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.

  • December 28 – Day 79 – Hollywood vs. Hollywood North

    I predicted a Bruins win, but the Senators proved me wrong with a 3-1 victory on home ice in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Ottawa snuck in the only goal of the first period with only 19 seconds remaining.  After Jimmy Hayes was sent to the box for instigating, Kyle Turris and Erik Karlsson assisted Mark Stone to a power play goal.

    That late goal did not sit well with Third Star of the Game David Krejci and the Bruins during the intermission, as he scored a goal after 7:54, assisted by Matt Beleskey and Loui Eriksson, to knot the game at one-all.  Again, the Sens waited until the end of the period to take the lead, as Bobby Ryan and Mike Hoffman assisted Second Star Mika Zibanejad to the game-winner with only 1:39 remaining in the second period.

    The final goal only occurred because Tuukka Rask was on the bench to give the Bruins a man-advantage.  It was a copy of the Senators‘ first goal, with Turris and Karlsson assisting Stone to an empty netter with 54 seconds remaining in the game, setting the score at the 3-1 final.

    First Star Craig Anderson made 38 of 39 saves (97.4%) to improve his record to 16-9-4, while Rask’s record falls to 13-9-3 after saving 19 of 21 (90.5%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 31-12-6 in favor of the home side, leading the roadies by 28 points.

    After 18 games over the weekend, Monday is a slightly relaxed schedule, featuring six matchups.  The action gets started at 7 p.m. eastern when Washington visits Buffalo, followed half an hour later by Montréal at Tampa Bay (RDS).  Two games drop the opening puck at 8 p.m. eastern (the New York Rangers at Nashville [TVAS] and Detroit at Minnesota) and are the last games to start before 10 p.m. eastern, when Los Angeles visits Vancouver.  Finally, this evening’s nightcap gets started at 10:30 p.m. eastern when Colorado visits San Jose.

    Two of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (Montréal at Tampa Bay and Los Angeles at Vancouver), while three are between quality squads currently qualifying for the playoffs (New York at Nashville, Detroit at Minnesota and Los Angeles at Vancouver).  Finally, Montréal at Tampa Bay is also a rematch of one of last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals.

    Even though the rematch provides interesting storylines, I’m taking the personal leverage to instead focus in the Los Angeles–Vancouver, mostly because I want to look into the Kings‘ play.  I know, selfish.

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    This will be Los Angeles‘ second appearance in the DtFR Game of the Day – the other time they were featured, they fell in Chicago 4-2 on November 2.  Tonight’s game will be Vancouver‘s first appearance as the Game of the Day.

    The 21-11-2 Los Angeles Kings currently own a seven-point lead in the Pacific Division, and are tied for third in the Western Conference.  They’ve found that success by playing one of the best defenses in the league, even though their most recent showing, a 4-3 overtime victory in Arizona on Saturday may not be indicative of that.

    Thanks in part to Alec Martinez’ team-leading 73 blocks, the Kings have allowed only 958 shots to reach the net, of which 18-9-1 Jonathan Quick and co. have saved 92.1%, allowing only 78 goals, the second best in the league.  The Kings have also killed 82.11% of penalties, allowing 22 goals on 123 attempts.

    I say it on a regular basis, but more shots usually turn into more goals.  While the Kings‘ percentages may not be on par with the league average, 86 (led by Tyler Toffoli’s 14 goals) of their 1097 shots (led by Jeff Carter’s 103 shots) have found the back of the net.  One point that the Kings should focus on to improve their offense should be their power play.  They have been successful on only 18%, scoring 18 goals on, you guessed it, 100 attempts.

    Their counterparts, the 14-14-9 Vancouver Canucks, currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division, but eighth in the Western Conference.  They are currently riding a two-game win streak, with their most recent showing a 2-1 overtime victory over the Oilers on Saturday.  So far this season, the Canucks have been a better team with the puck on their stick, but both sides of the ice are performing below the league average.

    Led by Daniel Sedin’s 133 shots, Vancouver has put 1086 shots on net so far this season (well above the league average), but only 91 have found the back of the net, led by Sedin’s 16 tallies.  The main facet of Vancouver‘s offense that is holding them back is their lack of success on the power play.  On 124 attempts (well-above the league average), the Canucks only have the league-average 21 goals to their credit, led by Sedin’s five.  Given the weak competition in the Pacific division, I expect Vancouver to make moves to improve their offense in preparation of a playoff run.

    Defensively, the Canucks have needed all the help they can get.  Even though Chris Tanev has a team-leading 89 blocks to his credit, Vancouver has allowed 1129 shots to reach 10-11-6 Ryan Miller and co., of which they’ve saved 91.2% and allowed 102 goals.  The special teams’ issues continue when defending against the man-advantage, as the Canucks have allowed 124 opportunities to the opposition.  Of those, they’ve killed 79.69%, allowing 26 goals.

    Some players to watch include Los Angeles‘ Carter (+16 [tied for fifth in the league]), Quick (18 wins [tied for second in the league] and two shutouts [tied for eighth in the league]) and Toffoli (+18 [third in the league]) & Vancouver‘s D. Sedin (37 points [tied for seventh in the league] and 16 goals [tied for ninth in the league]) and Henrik Sedin (24 assists [tied for seventh in the league]).

    The Kings and Canucks have already played two games in their five-game season series.  The Canucks won the first meeting 3-0 on October 13 in the Staples Center, but the Kings were able to hold home ice on the first day of this month, winning 2-1 in overtime.

    Given Vancouver‘s defensive woes, it’s hard to pick against a stellar Kings team, even if the Canucks have played Los Angeles tough twice this season.  Expect Los Angeles to get the win north of the border.

  • November 2 – Day 27 – All defense, all the time

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day between the Winnipeg Jets and the Montréal Canadiens ended in a 5-1 victory for the home squad.

    The Habs opened the scoring at the 6:34 mark of the first with a shorty from Third Star of the Game Paul Byron, assisted by Torrey Mitchell and Jeff Petry.  The game-winner came almost 10 minutes exactly from Second Star Tomas Fleischmann, assisted by First Star David Desharnais and Alexei Emelin.  The two-goal shutout held into the first intermission.

    Thirty-five seconds after dropping the puck in the second, Fleischmann scored his second of the night, assisted by Dale Weise and Desharnais.  Two and a half minutes later, the Canadiens set the score at 4-0 with a tally from Desharnais, assisted by Fleischmann and Nathan Beaulieu.  Montréal ended their offensive onslaught at the 17:51 mark when Lars Eller, assisted by Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban, fired his power play goal past Ondrej Pavelec.  The five-goal shutout held into the second intermission.

    Finally, the Jets got on the board at the 13:57 mark of the final period when Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers assisted Chris Thorburn to his second goal of the season.

    The Mike Condon Era (albeit only a week or so long) got off to a good start as he earned his fourth victory in as many starts by saving 18 of 19 (94.7%), while 4-1-0 Michael Hutchinson earned his first loss of the season after saving five of nine (55.6%).  Pavelec replaced him after Desharnais’ goal and saved 16 of 17 (94.1%) for no decision.

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 16-7-3, still favoring the home team by 13 points.  Montréal improves to 4-0-0 when featured in our series, while Winnipeg falls to 0-1-1.

    After a busy holiday weekend, there are only three games on the schedule this evening.  Beginning at 7:30 p.m. eastern at the Air Canada Centre are Dallas and Toronto (TVAS), followed an hour later by Los Angeles at Chicago (NHL Network).  The nightcap gets its start at 10 p.m. eastern when Philadelphia visits Vancouver.

    None of tonight’s matchups involve divisional rivals or two teams qualifying for the playoffs, but given the expectations for the Hawks, their game against the Kings provides for an interesting game.

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    After losing their first three games by a combined score of 12-2, the Los Angeles Kings have won seven straight games (their last victory a 4-3 win over the Predators on Saturday) to propel them to first place in the Pacific Division.  Their strength: the defense and goaltending.

    So far this season, the Kings‘ defense has only allowed 295 shots on goal (led by Alec Martinez’ 19 blocks), a total that trails the league average by 24 attempts.  Even better is the goals against total (21) that trails the NHL average by eight tallies.  Put those numbers together, and you’ll find Jonathan Quick and his backup, 1-0-0 Jhonas Enroth, owning a 93.2% combined save percentage, exceeding the league average by 1.8%.  Even on the penalty kill, the Kings have found success.  Although their seven power play goals against is on par with the league, they’ve held that number even though they’ve faced five more man-advantages.  Their 82.93% kill rate bests the league average by 1.73%.

    Los Angeles‘ offense has been working overtime to cover up their early season shortcomings, made evident by the 24 goals they’ve scored so far this season.  Center Tyler Toffoli leads the team by five tallies with nine goals to his credit.

    Probably the biggest struggle for this squad has been putting shots on goal, as well as getting them into the back of the net.  They’ve only managed 305 shots so far, which trails the league average by 15 shots.  Bring into account their 7.9% shot percentage that trails the league average by 1.2%, and we find a team that, should they resolve these issues, becomes a serious threat in the Western Conference.

    Turning our attention to the home side, we find a 6-5-0 team that hasn’t quite found the success yet that they’ve grown so accustomed to in seasons past.  Similar to Los Angeles, they’ve had to rely on their defense and goaltending for almost every point in the standings they’ve earned so far.  They enter the game on a two-game losing streak, their most recent a 5-4 loss in Minnesota on Friday.

    Goaltender Corey Crawford (5-3-0) and his backup, 1-2-0 Scott Darling, have only allowed 24 goals this season, trailing the league average by five tallies, but they’ve received a lot of help from Niklas Hjalmarsson (24 blocks) and the Hawks‘ defense.  Because of their efforts, Crawford and co. have only faced 307 shots and saved 92.2% of them, both numbers that are better than the league average.  Even on the penalty kill, the defense has been strong.  On 30 attempts, opponents have only scored five times (two less than average), giving the Hawks a 83.33% kill rate that leads the league average by 2.13%.

    The offense has only scored 24 goals this season, which trails the league average by five goals.  It has not been due to effort, though, as the offense has notched 348 shots, 28 over the league average.  But, because of that number, their 6.9% shot percentage trails the league average by 1.2%.

    Although the standard offense may not be up to standard, the power play lines earn DtFR Gold Stars, as they have eight goals to their credit with a 20% power play success rate.

    Last season, Chicago won two of three games against Los Angeles, but the more famous recent series occurred during the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Kings beat the Hawks in seven games in the Western Conference Finals en route to the four games to one routing of the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Finals.

    Chicago is favored at -125 at home, but it is hard to ignore a Kings team looking for their eighth straight victory.  I think I’m picking the Hawks to win, but it should be an excellent game.