Down the Frozen River

Tag: Allen

  • October 27 – Day 16 – Bunches of animals are showing up in St. Louis this week. Today it’s Otters.

    It’s a busy Thursday, just the way we like them. Per usual, the action gets started at 7 p.m. with three puck drops (Minnesota at Buffalo, Arizona at Philadelphia and the New York Islanders at Pittsburgh), followed half an hour later by two more (Florida at Toronto and Tampa Bay at Montréal [RDS/SN360]). The top of the hour marks the start of two contests (Detroit at St. Louis and Dallas at Winnipeg), while this evening’s co-nightcaps wait until 10:30 before starting (Nashville at Los Angeles and Columbus at San Jose). All times eastern.

    It’s goin’ be lit.

    Short list:

    • Arizona at Philadelphia – Ryan White returns to the Wells Fargo Center, his home for the previous two seasons.
    • New York at Pittsburgh – I don’t need to dress up this rivalry.
    • Florida at Toronto – James Reimer only played eight regular season games with San Jose, so the Panthers are effectively his second team after six seasons with Toronto.
    • Tampa Bay at Montréal – Michael Bournival used to call the Bell Centre home. Now his office is in the Sunshine State.
    • Detroit at St. Louis – In addition to being a vintage rivalry, Steve Ott returns to Scottrade Center.

    If Reimer were expected to play this evening in Toronto, we’d certainly focus there. Instead, we head to St. Louis with Otter for an old-timey rivalry.

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    Center Ott arrived in St. Louis with Ryan Miller when the Blues traded William Carrier, Jaroslav Halak and Chris Stewart to Buffalo at the 2013-’14 trade deadline. Miller departed for Vancouver after that postseason, but Ott remained until this offseason.

    Ever since he entered the league in 2002, Ott has had a reputation for being one of the biggest pests in hockey. His penchant for getting into even the coolest of heads is well-known, as is his ability to cuss out any player in the arena in his native tongue.

    It’s an ability that doesn’t show up on his stat sheet. The NHL doesn’t track “Caused Penalties in Minutes,” but if they did Ott would be a league leader. Some of the most recent Blues memories of Ott were against the Blackhawks during last season’s Western Quarterfinals. Ott was regularly getting into it with Jonathan Toews, a player that spent only 62 minutes in the penalty box during the regular season (.775 minutes, or 46.5 seconds, per game). In those seven games, he served 10 minutes – over 1.4 minutes per contest!

    But it’s not simply his quick wit and abrasive behavior that has made him a fan favorite with every team he’s played for. During the 2014-’15 season, his first full campaign in St. Louis, he scored 12 points (including nine assists) while throwing 182 hits and 14 blocks. He was also effective at causing turnovers that season, forcing 21 giveaways.

    This year, Ott dons the sweater of the Blues‘ former rivals: the 5-2-0 Detroit Red Wings. Before Detroit swapped conferences in 2013, the Blues and Wings shared the same division since 1981, which led to some fantastic matchups when they were both playing well (also read as when St. Louis was playing well).

    The Wings enter tonight’s game on a five-game winning streak, tying Arizona for the longest active streak of any variety – except that the Coyotes have been on the losing side of things.

    Much of that success has been due to some serious offensive firepower. They’ve scored 24 goals already this year in only seven games played (they average over 3.4 goals per game). Gustav Nyquist and Thomas Vanek take equal responsibility, as they both lead the team with eight points to their credit. Completing the scores have been Darren Helm and Vanek,  each of whom have a team-high four goals to their name.

    The 4-2-1 Blue Notes have a .667 winning percentage in the Scottrade Center, and they’ll be looking to improve that to a .750 this evening. Although they play a more well-rounded game than their opposition, St. Louis also prefers to have the puck on their stick.

    Just like he’s been the last three seasons, Vladimir Tarasenko has been the star of St. Louis so far this season (that’s why I have him on my fantasy team!). He has eight points to his credit already, four of which are goals – both totals lead the team.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Detroit‘s Helm (+9 [second-best in the NHL]) and Jimmy Howard (.5 GAA [leads the league] on a .984 save percentage [leads the league] for one shutout) & St. Louis‘ Jake Allen (2.39 GAA for three wins [both best on the team]) and Tarasenko (eight points [best on the team]).

    The Blues barely had the upper hand last year, going 1-0-1 against the Wings by forcing overtime in their first meeting. Vegas predicts St. Louis will keep that run going tonight, as they’re favored at -155. I think that’s a safe assumption. The Blues should win this evening.

    Hockey Birthday:

    • Sergei Samsonov (1978-) – This left wing played exactly 888 regular season games, over 500 of which were with Boston. He was drafted eighth overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, seven picks after fellow Bruins-pick Joe Thornton, and a year later the Russian earned the Calder Memorial Trophy.
    • Brandon Saad (1992-) – This is Saad’s second season in Columbus after spending four seasons with ex-division rival Chicago. He’d already scored 179 points before this season started. Maybe he’ll score another tonight in The Tank.

    With three goals in the second period, the New York Rangers bested the visiting Boston Bruins 5-2 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Boston actually jumped out to a 2-0 lead, starting with David Pastrnak‘s (Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara) wrister only 10 seconds into the contest. With 5:16 remaining in the opening frame, the Bruins‘ Austin Czarnik (David Krejci) doubled the visitor’s score with the first goal of his young career.

    New York‘s comeback began 44 seconds before the midway point of the game when Second Star of the Game Rick Nash (Derek Stepan and Jimmy Vesey) connected on a power play wrister. 7:19 later, Kevin Hayes (Jesper Fast and Ryan McDonagh) scored his second goal of the season on a wrister to draw the Blueshirts even. 36 seconds before the final horn of the second period, First Star Brandon Pirri (Third Star J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad) buried the Rangers‘ second power play goal of the game. That tally ended up being the game winner.

    Pirri (Marc Staal and Miller) and Vesey (Nash and Stepan) both scored insurance goals in the final frame to put this game away.

    Henrik Lundqvist earns the victory after saving 27-of-29 shots faced (93.1%), while Zane McIntyre takes the loss, saving 26-of-31 (83.9%).

    With another home victory, the DtFR Game of the Day series favors the home sides by six points with a 11-6-1 record.

  • October 25 – Day 14 – Moose comes home

    It’s been too long since we’ve had a busy schedule. Cue tonight, which has 11 games taking place. As you’ve come to expect, the action gets started at 7 p.m. with three of them (Minnesota at Boston, Arizona at New Jersey and Florida at Pittsburgh), followed half an hour later by another trio (Buffalo at Philadelphia [NBCSN], Tampa Bay at Toronto [SN1/TVAS] and Carolina at Detroit). Calgary at St. Louis drops the puck at 8 p.m. and Winnipeg at Dallas follows suit 30 minutes later. The west coast gets involved at 10 p.m. with two contests (Ottawa at Vancouver [RDS2] and Anaheim at San Jose [NBCSN]), and Columbus at Los Angeles rounds things out half an hour later. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Calgary at St. Louis – Troy Brouwer and Brian Elliott make their first return to the Scottrade Center since making their way to Alberta in the offseason.
    • Anaheim at San Jose – No friends here, and that often yields some of the best hockey.

    I enjoy an Anaheim–San Jose meeting as much as the next, but since Calgary‘s second visit isn’t until March – a month most have no expectations of them being relevant in – we’ll catch Brouwer and Elliott’s return to the Gateway to the West.

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    Elliott’s career in St. Louis began in the 2011-’12 season, back in the days of Jaroslav Halak. They found immediate success,  taking home the William M. Jennings Trophy for that campaign.

    Over the next five seasons, he amassed a 104-46-16 record, averaging a .925 save percentage (best Blues-career among players with more than one appearance) and 2.01 GAA.

    His 164 starts are most recorded by a St. Louis goaltender, but the record that he truly hangs his hat on is the franchise record for shutouts – 25, five more than the man he was originally charged with backing-up. One more shutout was recorded last season during the playoffs, as he led the Blues to qualify for the Western Finals for only the seventh time in team history.

    Helping Elliott and the Notes to the Western Finals was Brouwer. Only in town for a year as a result of the trade that sent T.J. Oshie to Washington, the right wing made good use of his time, notching 21 assists, the second-highest mark of his career, and 18 goals, tying for third-most on the team.

    He scored eight goals in the playoffs with the Notes last season (the most of his career), including a Game 7 winner in Chicago during the Western Quarterfinals to eliminate the team that drafted him in 2004.

    Be it by trade or free agency, both have found their way to the struggling 2-4-1 Calgary Flames. Before last night, their only other victory was a 4-3 overtime win against the Sabres last Tuesday.

    As Colby documented Saturday, goaltending and defense has been the problem for Calgary so far this season. In only seven games played, they’ve already allowed 28 goals against, by far the most in the league. That averages out to four-per-game, tied for the second-worst rate in the NHL with Carolina and Ottawa.

    Much of that responsibility falls on the shoulders of the goalies. Together, Elliott and Chad Johnson have saved only .871 percent of shots faced for a 3.78 GAA – in other words, not good, as their combined save percentage trails the league average by .032. These stats collected before the completion of Monday’s game.

    St. Louis has picked up right where they left off a season ago. Their 4-1-1 record is best in the Central Division, with their lone pointless game occurring five days ago in Edmonton when they lost 3-1.

    After the last few days of focusing on some defensive teams, the Blues provide a lot of scoring. Of course, could you expect anything less of a team led by Paul Stastny, Alex Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko with seven points apiece? The right wing of that group is on a mission every time he takes the ice, and already has a team-leading four goals to show for it.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Calgary‘s Brouwer (five points, including three goals [both tied for team lead]), Michael Frolik (three goals [tied for team lead]), Mark Giordano (five points [tied for team lead]) and Sean Monahan (three goals [tied for team lead]) & St. Louis‘ Jake Allen (three wins [tied for second-most in the league]) and Tarasenko (four goals [tied for fourth-most in the NHL] for seven points [tied for ninth-most in the league]).

    Tonight’s game is actually the second half of a home-and-home series between these squads… Well, kind of. That holds true for the Blues, who have been waiting for the Flames in St. Louis probably since Sunday morning. The Flames made a quick stop in Chicago last night, winning 3-2 in a seven-round shootout.

    The Blues beat the Flames 6-4 Saturday in the Saddledome. Vegas is predicting more of the same, as St. Louis is favored -190 this evening. I’ve picked against the gamblers and been right a few times already this season, but tonight is not a game I’m willing to take that bet. The Notes should win this one.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Rejean Houle (1949-) – This right wing spent his entire 11-year NHL career in Montréal, playing 635 games en route to five Stanley Cup championships.
    • Mike Eruzione (1954-) – We usually reserve this section for NHL alumni, but this left wing deserves an exception, seeing as he captained the American hockey team at the 1980 Winter Olympics. For those who are bad at remembering dates, maybe the game-winning goal in the Miracle on Ice means something to you?
    • Wendel Clark (1966-) – The first pick of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, Clark played 608 of his 793 career games with Toronto, the team that drafted him. Interestingly, it took him three stints with the club to reach that number.
    • Josef Beranek (1969-) – Beránek was a center drafted 78th overall in 1989 by Edmonton. Although he bounced around the league a little bit, his 208 games with the Oil were the majority of his 531-game NHL career.

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day went exactly as expected, with the Montréal Canadiens beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1.

    Second Star of the Game Shea Weber (First Star Alexander Radulov and Artturi Lehkonen) opened the scoring 25:28 into play with a slap shot, but Jakub Voracek (Claude Giroux and Brandon Manning)  drew the Flyers level with 8:13 remaining in the second period.

    With 6:52 remaining in regulation, Brendan Gallagher (Radulov and Weber) scored a game-winning power play goal with a tip-in for the Habs. Radulov capped his three-point night with an insurance goal (Alexei Emelin) on an empty net with 63 seconds remaining.

    Third Star Carey Price earns the victory after saving 31-of-32 (96.9%), while Steve Mason takes the loss after saving 30-of-32 (93.8%).

    Montréal‘s victory set the DtFR Game of the Day series at 10-5-1, favoring the home sides by six points.

  • San Jose at St. Louis – Game 5 – Sharks score six goals to pull within a win of the Stanley Cup Finals

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    The two highest scoring postseason teams went at it again Monday night, and did not disappoint as the Sharks won 6-3 to pull within a win of the Stanley Cup Finals.

    St. Louis started the night with three straight shots before the Sharks could register their first almost four minutes into play.  It didn’t matter though, as Shot No. 2 found the back of the net on a Tomas Hertl backhander, assisted by Marc-Edouard Vlasic and First Star of the Game Joe Pavelski.  Third Star Joe Thornton won the face-off at the far dot, which was collected by Pavelski heading towards the point.  He passed back to the far boards to Vlasic, who fired a slap shot towards Jake Allen’s net before Troy Brouwer could apply pressure, but Hertl redirected the puck before it reached the crease to get past Allen’s glove.

    Following that tally, the Sharks certainly took control of the game, as they had another great scoring opportunity around the 6:30 mark.  A San Jose forward collected a rebound in front of a fairly open net, but he elevated the puck too much and it sailed over the cross bar.

    Jaden Schwartz leveled the game at the 7:04 mark with a wrister, assisted by David Backes (his seventh helper of the postseason) and Patrik Berglund.  Off an initial shot from Kevin Shattenkirk, Berglund collected the rebound around the near face-off dot.  He turned around and shot again at Martin Jones’ net, which was once again blocked.  From his usual spot right in front of the crease, Backes passed along the goal line to Schwartz, who fired past Jones’ stick side to tie the game at one-all.

    With 4:52 remaining in the frame, Brouwer fired a wrister out of midair to give the Blues their second tally.  He was assisted by Paul Stastny (his ninth playoff helper), who had fired the initial shot that became the airborne rebound off Jones’ pads, and Alexander Steen.  Steen advanced the puck into the zone before running into Hertl, but passed just in time to Stastny who fired from between the face-off dots.  Brouwer one-timed his shot from the near face-off circle to beat Jones stick side.

    Just like San Jose, the Blues fed off the momentum of that tally to keep the puck almost predominantly in the offensive zone.  Although it did not turn into their third goal, the Notes were certainly happy to keep the Sharks off the board for the remainder of the frame, sending the game into intermission at 2-1.

    Although St. Louis led on the scoreboard, San Jose statistically had the advantage through the first frame.  Their 10 shots were one more than the Blues‘, helped by winning 56% of face-offs.  Defensively, their five blocks were two more than St. Louis‘, the same differential as their takeaways (the Sharks had three of those).  Giveaways and hits also favored San Jose, as the Sharks committed one fewer turnover and threw four more blows.

    The first power play of the game occurred at the 2:38 mark, but it was three players earning seats.  Tommy Wingels hit an unaware Shattenkirk, who didn’t take kindly to it and initiated a fight.  He was also charged with roughing, which was served by the innocent Second Star Robby Fabbri.  The Blues were two seconds from killing the penalty, but Joel Ward was able to score a wild puck to tie the game again at the 4:37 mark.  He was assisted by Vlasic and Paul Martin.  Martin received a pass at the point and passed to Vlasic, waiting at the top of the near face-off circle.  His initial shot on Allen’s net was saved, but wildly bounced off the crossbar and the net-minder’s back.  Ward’s quick stick was able to complete the score to level the game at two-all.

    St. Louis earned their chance at the power play at the 8:03 mark when Justin Braun held Fabbri, partially because he had thrown a solid hit and fired a quality in the preceding seconds.  The Sharks‘ penalty kill stood tall though, so the score remained tied at two.

    The second fight of the night was between Roman Polak and Dmitrij Jaskin.  The two were tumbled together in the St. Louis offensive zone and, while they were still on the ice, Polak threw a right punch at Jaskin’s head, and again once they’d gotten  up.  Polak was charged with roughing, and both with fighting, giving the Blues a second power play.

    In their first power play attempt, the Blues didn’t notch a shot on goal.  They learned from their mistakes and scored on this one with 8:02 remaining in the frame.  Fabbri takes credit for the tally, assisted by Colton Parayko and Alex Pietrangelo (his seventh playoff helper).  Fabbri begins the play retreating back to the blue line before passing across the zone to Pietrangelo.  After getting to the near face-off dot, he passed across the zone to the rookie defenseman in open ice, who found Fabbri at the point to score five-hole on Jones, making him only the second Blues rookie with 15+ points in a postseason.

    With 2:52 remaining, Shattenkirk earned a seat in the sin bin for hooking Hertl as he was streaking towards Allen’s crease, although I would guess that many folks in the Bay Area would have been inclined to award a penalty shot.  The net result was the same, as the Sharks struck on their second power play with their second power play goal with 1:27 remaining in the frame to level the score again.  Pavelski takes credit with a slap shot, assisted by Thornton and Logan Couture (his 14th playoff assist).  Patrick Marleau collected the puck along the near boards and dumped further into the goal to Couture, who won a scrum against Carl Gunnarsson to pass behind the net to Thornton.  Thornton centered a pass to Pavelski, setting him up to beat Allen over his glove.

    Three more shots in the period turned into an extra goal for the Sharks, especially when paired with eight takeaways, only two giveaways and 30 hits through 40 minutes.

    The Sharks took a 4-3 lead only 16 seconds after returning to the ice when Pavelski tipped-in his second goal of the game, assisted by Brent Burns (his 13th postseason helper) and Hertl.  Off another face-off win (this one courtesy of the goalscorer), Thornton collected and dumped off to Burns, who fired a shot on Allen.  Allen blocked the attempt into the near corner where it was collected by Hertl, who returned the puck to Burns at the top of the zone.  Burns fired once again from the blue line, which Pavelski redirected under Allen’s glove.

    A bad situation got worse for St. Louis when they were caught with too many men on the ice, giving the Sharks the opportunity to go three-for-three on the power play this game.  Vladimir Tarasenko took the seat in the box for the Notes at the 4:52 mark.  It lasted only 41 seconds before Marleau tripped Parayko, setting the game at four-on-four for 1:19 and ending that opportunity.  The four-on-four was exciting, with both teams having solid opportunities, but no score.

    St. Louis‘ 41 seconds of the power play was equally as unsuccessful as the Sharks‘, so the score remained 4-3.

    With 54 seconds remaining in the regulation, Chris Tierney scored a wrap-around goal on an empty net to secure the victory, assisted by Thornton (his 14th playoff helper).  Another empty netter was struck from mid-ice 21 seconds later by Ward, his fourth of the playoffs, setting the score at the 6-3 final.

    Jones earns the win after saving 18 of the 21 shots he faced (85.7%), while Allen takes the loss, saving 21 of 25 (84%).

    Game 6 will take place on May 25 in San Jose at 9 p.m. eastern.  It may be viewed on CBC, NBCSN or TVAS.

  • Dallas at St. Louis – Game 6 – Early mistakes too much for Blues; Stars force Game 7

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    The Stars‘ three first period goals were all they needed to force a Game 7 in Dallas, as they won in St. Louis 3-2.

    The Blues didn’t get a shot on goal until almost five minutes into the game, but it was Dallas‘ second shot that stole the show when Mattias Janmark connected on a wrist shot at the 4:53 mark (his second tally of the postseason), assisted by Valeri Nichushkin.  It was a breakaway goal caused by Colton Parayko when his pass from the blue line to the center of the offensive zone was intercepted by Nichushkin, who immediately found a steaking Janmark who had already cleared both St. Louis defensemen to set up a one-on-one with Brian Elliott.  After advancing to approximately the far face-off dot before firing over Elliott’s stick shoulder.

    The Stars doubled their lead 20 seconds later, courtesy of Vernon Fiddler, who was assisted by Third Star of the Game Colton Sceviour and Kris Russell (his fourth helper of the playoffs), caused by yet another Blues turnover.  Elliott was attempting to clear the puck, but his dump was intercepted by Russell, who immediately sent the puck back behind goal for Sceviour.  Sceviour had intentions of a wrap-around attempt, but Robert Bortuzzo, playing in his first game of the Western Semis, forced him into a backhanded centering pass that Fiddler redirected past Elliott’s stick shoulder.

    The Blues had a great opportunity to get a goal back just past the 10 minute mark, as they fired three different shots that First Star Kari Lehtonen only blocked but did not freeze, but the important thing for the Stars is that none found the back of the net.

    Jason Demers committed the first penalty of the night for a hi-stick on Jori Lehtera with 7:59 remaining in the frame.  The Blues certainly applied some pressure, but the Dallas penalty kill stood strong to keep the Notes scoreless.

    Troy Brouwer returned the favor with 3:46 remaining with a blatant cross check against Radek Faksa.  Unlike the first power play, this one counted as Jason Spezza connected on a wrister, assisted by Jamie Benn and John Klingberg.  Klingberg made a kick steal on an attempted pass from Dmitrij Jaskin, collected and dumped back towards his offensive zone for Benn.  Benn completed the advance along the near boards under pressure from Jay Bouwmeester… until he fell down, allowing Benn to center the puck for Spezza, who advanced towards Elliott’s crease and scored through traffic over the netminder’s glove.

    It was the needle that broke the camel’s back, as Ken Hitchcock pulled Elliott in favor of Jake Allen, earning his first minutes of the 2016 playoffs.  He completed the frame without giving up any goals, leaving the score at 3-0.

    Although they trailed on the scoreboard, the Blues actually played a decent period beyond their mistimed mistakes, leading the Stars in shots (nine to seven), face-off wins (57%), takeaways (four to two), giveaways (one to three) and hits (11 to nine).

    St. Louis finally got on the board at the 7:29 mark of the second period with a Second Star Alexander Steen wrister, assisted by Bortuzzo and Vladimir Tarasenko.  The left wing’s initial shot was blocked by Demers and eventually sent towards the near boards by Tarasenko where it was collected by Bortuzzo, who immediately fired a slap shot on Lehtonen’s net.  With Lehtonen still collecting himself, Steen collected the rebound and scored on the basically empty net.

    It was the lone tally of the back and forth period, leaving the Stars with a 3-1 lead going into the final period.

    After 40 minutes, the Blues had a commanding lead in shots on goal (23 to 12) in addition to leading face-off wins (51%), takeaways (nine to six), giveaways (four to five) and hits (19 to 15).

    2:41 into the third period, Russell earned a seat in the sin bin for a delay of game penalty, giving the Blues their second power play opportunity of the contest, but just like the first it yielded no goal.

    The Notes pulled within a goal at the 8:59 mark when Patrik Berglund scored his third goal of the postseason, assisted by Lehtera and David Backes (his fifth helper of the playoffs).  Backes received a pass from Alex Pietrangelo and then found Lehtera hanging around near Lehtonen’s crease.  Lehtera turned with the puck and passed between his legs to Berglund, who tipped-in his score past the goalie’s right skate.

    St. Louis was unable to level in the remaining 11:01, which means these teams will meet one more time in North Texas on Wednesday.

    In summary, after a poor first period for the Blues, this was an incredible game by St. Louis, as they fired 37 shots on goal to Dallas‘ 14 (the most they ever had in one period was seven), earned 17 takeaways and threw 21 hits.  Given how well they handled the Stars in the final 40 minutes, it is difficult to tell who carries the momentum into the deciding game.

    Lehtonen earns the win after saving 35 of 37 shots faced (94.6%), while Elliott takes the loss, saving four of seven (57.1%).  After coming into the game as relief, Allen saved all seven shots he faced for no decision.

    Wednesday’s game at the American Airlines Center will drop the puck at 8 p.m. eastern, and may be viewed on NBCSN, SN or TVAS.

  • March 12 – Day 149 – Keep it in the Central

    Dallas used a three-goal second period in yesterday’s Game of the Day to beat the Blackhawks 5-2.

    Only one goal was scored in the first period, and it belonged to the Stars.  First Star of the Game Jason Spezza’s power play wrister found the back of the net after 11:08 of play, assisted by Jamie Benn (his 42nd helper of the season) to give the Stars the beginning of a lead they would not yield.

    Only 1:09 into the second, Dallas doubled their lead on a Second Star Antoine Roussel wrister, assisted by Alex Goligoski (his 27th helper of the season) and Ales Hemsky.  3:57 later, a Tyler Seguin wrister, which ended up being the game winner, crossed the goal line to set the score at 3-0 (his 33rd tally of the season), assisted by Spezza.  Forty-two seconds after the midway point of the game, Benn tipped a power play shot into goal, assisted by Patrick Eaves and Seguin (his 37th helper of the season).  The Hawks got one goal back only 2:19 later with a snap shot from Teuvo Teravainen, who was assisted by Tomas Fleischmann and Erik Gustafsson (his 12th helper of the season), setting the score at 4-1 going into the second intermission.

    Hemsky improved the Stars‘ advantage to 5-1 with 4:31 remaining in regulation, assisted by Johnny Oduya (his 15th helper of the season) to the empty netter, but Fleischmann’s scored with 59 seconds remaining on the clock, returning the spread to three goals.  He was assisted by Dale Weise and Niklas Hjalmarsson (his 18th helper of the season).

    Kari Lehtonen earns the win after saving 21 of 23 shots faced (91.3%), while Corey Crawford takes the loss, saving 16 of 20 (80%).  He was replaced after Benn’s tip-in goal in the second period by Scott Darling, who saved all 10 shots he faced.

    Dallas‘ win sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 66-38-15, favoring the home teams by 29 points over the roadies.

    As usual, there’s a ton of games occurring this Saturday, with the action starting at 1 p.m. eastern with two games (the New York Islanders at Boston and Carolina at Buffalo), followed an hour later by the New York Rangers at Detroit (NHLN).  Four games drop the puck at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern (Colorado at Winnipeg, Minnesota at Montréal, Toronto at Ottawa and Philadelphia at Florida).  St. Louis visits Dallas at 9 p.m. eastern (NHLN), and two games trailing an hour later (Nashville at Vancouver and Arizona at Edmonton).  Finally, this evening’s co-nightcaps get going at 10:30 p.m. eastern (New Jersey at Los Angeles and Washington at San Jose).

    Four of today’s games are divisional rivalries (Colorado at Winnipeg, Toronto at Ottawa, St. Louis at Dallas and Arizona at Edmonton), and another set of four are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (New York at Boston, New York at Detroit, St. Louis at Dallas and Washington at San Jose).

    Although today marks the first return of Colin Greening and Milan Michálek to the Canadian Tire Centre since being traded on February 9, the game that most attracts my attention is St. Louis at Dallas, as the winner takes the lead in both the Central Division and the Western Conference!

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    Tonight’s game will be St. Louis‘ 16th in the DtFR Game of the Day series, where they own a 8-6-1 record.  Their most recent appearance in the series was Sunday, a 4-2 victory in Minnesota.  Dallas‘ win last night set their series record at 6-0-4 in 10 contests under our observation.

    The 40-20-9 St. Louis Blues are currently second best in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.  It has been their defense that has gotten them there, as the Notes allow the eighth fewest goals in the league, which has been necessary to cover up for scoring only the 11th fewest goals in the NHL.  A more in-depth analysis of the Blues‘ game can be found within Sunday’s article.

    St. Louis is riding a five game winning streak, with their most recent being yesterday’s 5-2 win over the Ducks.  With a regulation win this evening, they would move a point ahead of the Stars for the division and conference lead.

    Based on record alone, the 41-20-8 Dallas Stars are the class of the Central Division and Western Conference.  They’ve gotten there by scoring the most goals in the league, but some games have stayed tighter due to giving up the eighth most scores in the NHL.  A more in-depth analysis of Dallas‘ game can be found within yesterday’s article.

    Yesterday’s win over the Blackhawks was important, as it propelled the Stars into the top position in the division and conference, but the Blues are challenging for that exact spot this evening.  Dallas will retain the lead even with an overtime/shootout loss, but they would certainly prefer to have a three point lead in the standings.

    St. Louis has already won the season series 3-1-0, but their lone loss to the Stars this season did occur at the American Airlines Center.  These squads most recently met February 16 and played to a 2-1 overtime winner for the Blues in St. Louis.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Dallas‘ Jamie Benn (75 points [second most in the league], 33 goals [tied for fourth most in the league] and 42 assists [tied for eighth most in the league]), John Klingberg (43 assists [seventh most in the league]) and Tyler Seguin (70 points [tied for third most in the league] and 33 goals [tied for fourth most in the league]) & St. Louis‘ Jake Allen (five shutouts [tied for second most in the league], 2.24 GAA [eighth best in the league] and .923 save percentage [tied for eighth best in the league]), Colton Parayko (+22 [tied for eighth best in the league]) and Vladimir Tarasenko (32 goals [sixth most in the league]).

    I think that the Blues are fully capable of earning two points in Dallas this evening, as even their offense should be able to find success against the Stars‘ defense.

  • March 6 – Day 143 – A streak must end!

    The Anaheim Ducks started from the bottom, now they’re here: the top of the Pacific Division, as they beat won in Los Angeles 3-2 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Anaheim‘s first goal wasn’t scored until 23:16 of play had passed, courtesy of a Ryan Kesler wrister, assisted by Second Star of the Game Jakob Silfverberg.  7:58 later, First Star Milan Lucic capitalized on a Cam Fowler slashing penalty, scoring a wrister for his 15th tally of the season, assisted by Vincent Lecavalier and Jonathan Quick.  With 4:03 remaining in the second period, the Ducks scored their second goal off a David Perron power play tip-in, assisted by Fowler and Sami Vatanen (his 28th helper of the season), giving them a 2-1 lead they would keep into the intermission.

    2:24 after resuming play, the Ducks scored their eventual game winner, a Silfverberg power play wrister, assisted by Rickard Rakell (his 19th helper of the season) and Hampus Lindholm.  It became the winner due to Drew Doughty’s power play wrister finding the net only 1:03 later, assisted by Lucic and Anze Kopitar (his 36th helper of the season), but the Kings were unable to level the score before the final horn.

    Third Star Frederik Andersen earns the win after saving 32 of 34 shots faced (94.1%), while Quick takes the loss, saving 19 of 22 (86.4%).

    After the second straight road win in the DtFR Game of the Day series, the record stands at 64-36-13, favoring the home squads by 32 points over the roadies.

    Hope you enjoy matinee games, because a majority of this Sunday’s games are just that.  Four games drop the puck at 5 p.m. eastern (Detroit at Chicago [NHLN], Dallas at Ottawa, Pittsburgh at New Jersey and the New York Islanders at the New York Rangers).  Edmonton at Winnipeg gets started at the usual time of 7 p.m. eastern, followed an hour later by this evening’s nightcap, St. Louis at Minnesota (NBCSN).

    Half of today’s games are divisional matchups (Pittsburgh at New Jersey, Islanders at Rangers and St. Louis at Minnesota), and another set of three feature teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Detroit at Chicago, Islanders at Rangers and St. Louis at Minnesota).  St. Louis at Minnesota is also a rematch of one of last season’s Western Conference Quarterfinals.

    As usual, I try to choose the game that qualifies for the most of those lists, and today is no exception.  Off to the State of Hockey!

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    Tonight’s game will be St. Louis‘ 15th appearance in our series where they own a 7-6-1 record.  Their most recent showing under our supervision was February 27, a horrendous five goal shutout loss in Nashville.  Minnesota has been featured eight times before tonight’s game, and own a 5-3-0 record in such games.  Their most recent showing in the series was this Tuesday, a 6-3 victory over the Avalanche to propel them into a playoff position.

    The 37-20-9 St. Louis Blues currently sit in third place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.  To get to that position, they’ve played the ninth best defense in the league, but they’ve been held back by the 11th worst offense.

    So far this season, the Notes have allowed only 1966 shots to reach 20-13-3 Jake Allen and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.5% for 162 goals against, the ninth fewest in the league.  St. Louis intensifies their efforts on their second ranked penalty kill, neutralizing 86.34% of their infractions for 31 power play goals against.

    Even with Vladimir Tarasenko’s team leading 236 shots, the Blues have fired the puck 1970 times, with only 8.2% finding the back of the net for 166 goals (led by Tarasenko’s 30 tallies), 11th fewest in the league.  Although the overall success hasn’t been there for the Blues, the offensive special team has also been a force to be reckoned with, scoring on 21.81% of opportunities, good for 41 power play goals (led by Tarasenko’s dozen), the sixth best rate in the NHL.

    The Blues are currently riding a two game win streak, with their most recent being a 4-3 marathon shootout victory in Ottawa on Tuesday.  A St. Louis win paired with a Dallas loss pulls the Blues into a tie with the Stars for second place, but Dallas would still own the regulation+overtime win tiebreaker.

    The 31-25-10 Minnesota Wild currently occupy fifth place in the Central Division and eighth in the Western Conference, good enough for the second wildcard.  To get to that position, they’ve played the 10th best defense, paired with the 15th worst offense.  A more in-depth analysis of their play can be found within Tuesday’s article.

    Minnesota is currently riding a three game winning streak, with their most recent being 2-1 victory in Toronto on Thursday.  A win by the Wild is doubly effective, as it would not only pull them within four points of Nashville, who is currently leading them for the top wildcard spot, but it would also improve their lead over Colorado, the team chasing them for the second wildcard spot, to four points.

    Minnesota currently leads the season series 2-1-1, but it was St. Louis who won the last meeting exactly a month ago 4-1.  These squads also met in the playoffs last year, where the Wild beat the Blues four games to two in the Western Quarterfinals.

    Some players to keep an eye on in this evening’s game include Minnesota‘s Devan Dubnyk (four shutouts [tied for fifth best in the league]) & St. Louis‘ Allen (five shutouts [tied for second most in the league]) and Tarasenko (30 goals [sixth most in the league]).

    Both squads enter this evening’s game well rested and riding a win streak.  Seeing as Minnesota is playing host and has the better offense of the two, I think it will be the Wild taking two points this evening, but I don’t think it’s too far fetched that it won’t require overtime or a shootout.

  • February 27 – Day 135 – Goin’ Country

    Tampa Bay only needed one goal to win in New Jersey in yesterday’s Game of the Day, but they scored four to ensure the victory.

    Alex Killorn provided the game-winner, a wrister after 15:36 of play.  He was assisted by Second Star of the Game Steven Stamkos (his 22nd helper of the season) and Ryan Callahan.

    The first of two insurance goals in the second period found the back of the net at the 13:02 mark, courtesy of a Third Star Ondrej Palat wrister assisted by Tyler Johnson (his 16th helper of the season).  Stamkos scored his 27th goal of the season with 1:06 remaining in the second, assisted by Anton Stralman and Ryan Callahan.  The 3-0 Bolt lead held into the second intermission.

    The final goal of the game was struck at the 11:12 mark, scored by Matthew Carle, who was assisted by Palat and Andrej Sustr (his 14th helper of the season).

    First Star Ben Bishop earns the win after saving all 21 shots he faced, while Cory Schneider takes the loss after saving only 32 of 36 (88.9%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 60-33-12, favoring the home squad by 31 points over the roadies.

    We’ve got an exciting lineup of games taking place today, as 18 teams are in action.  The first puck drop is at 1 p.m. eastern, when Arizona visits Philadelphia.  Three games get started at 3 p.m. eastern (St. Louis at Nashville, Winnipeg at Pittsburgh and Florida at Columbus), followed an hour later by the New York Rangers at Dallas (NHLN).  Toronto visits Montréal at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern, trailed an hour later by Detroit at Colorado (NBC), the last outdoor game of the season.  When the clock strikes 10 p.m. eastern, the Ottawa at Calgary game will commence, trailed an hour later by this evening’s nightcap, Buffalo at Los Angeles.

    Two of tomorrow’s games are divisional rivalries (St. Louis at Nashville and Toronto at Montréal), while three are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (St. Louis at Nashville, New York at Dallas and Detroit at Colorado).  The Arizona at Philadelphia game is also the first return of Nicklas Grossmann back to the Wells Fargo Center since being traded in June.

    The game that sticks out most from those lists is the St. Louis–Nashville game, as win by the Predators would pull them within six points of the third-place Blues.

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    Tonight’s game will be St. Louis‘ 14th in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 7-5-1 record.  Their most recent showing in the series was Monday’s 6-3 loss on home ice to the Sharks.  Nashville won their most recent game in the series, a 3-1 victory in Chicago on Thursday.  That win set their series record at 3-3-1.

    The 35-19-9 St. Louis Blues currently sit in third place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.  It has been the defense that has earned that position, as it ranks ninth-best in the league, because the offense’s 157 goals is the 11th-fewest.  A more in-depth analysis of the Notes‘ game can be found within Monday’s post.

    St. Louis is currently riding a two-game losing skid, with their most recent being a 2-1 home loss to the Rangers on Thursday.  With a win this afternoon, the Blues pull into a tie with Chicago for second place in the division, but remain in third due to losing the games played tiebreaker.

    The 30-21-11 Nashville Predators currently occupy fourth-place in the Central Division and sixth in the Western Conference, good enough for the top wildcard spot.  They’ve achieved that position by playing a balanced game, with the 13th-best defense and the 14th-best offense.  A more in-depth analysis of Nashville‘s game can be found within Thursday’s article.

    The Preds are currently riding a three-game winning streak, with their most recent being their 3-1 victory in Chicago on Thursday.  While a win would pull them within six points of the Blues for third place, it more importantly maintains at least a three point lead over the Avalanche in the race for the higher wildcard spot.

    St. Louis has already won the season series 4-0-0 (winning the most recent meeting 1-0 on February 2), and given their current streak, will be very interested in completing the season sweep.  That being said, the Predators are playing some of the best hockey they’ve played all season, so they will not go down easily.

    Some players to keep an eye on in this afternoon’s game include Nashville‘s Roman Josi (44 points, 14 of which were power play assists, and 145 blocks [all lead the team]) and Shea Weber (11 power play goals and 133 hits [both lead the team]) & St. Louis‘ Jake Allen (five shutouts [tied for second-most in the league] and 2.17 GAA [seventh-best in the league]) and Vladimir Tarasenko (29 goals [sixth-most in the league]).

    Similar to their last meeting, I’m predicting a low scoring game.  The Blues‘ defense will easily take care of Nashville‘s scoring threats, but will probably find it difficult to score themselves.  That being said, I think the Blues can complete the season sweep.

  • February 22 – Day 130 – Theme from Jaws

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day between the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers was a showing of excellent goaltending, as the only goal of the game was scored after 61:59 of play by the Blueshirts.

    It came courtesy of Kevin Klein on a wrister assisted by Kevin Hayes (his 18th helper of the season) and Chris Kreider.

    Henrik Lundqvist earns the win after saving all 22 shots he faced, and Jimmy Howard takes the overtime loss after saving all but one of his 30 shots faced (96.7%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 58-30-12, favoring the home squads by 33 points over the roadies.

    Only four games are being played this Monday, and half of them drop the puck at 7 p.m. eastern (Columbus at Boston and Arizona at Washington), followed half an hour later by Nashville at Montréal.  This evening’s night cap drops the puck at 8 p.m. eastern when San Jose visits St. Louis (NBCSN).

    None of tonight’s games are divisional rivalries, and San Jose–St. Louis is the only contest between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs.  Because of that, we head to the Scottrade Center!

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    If these logos were emojis, this song is what they would be trying to communicate.

    Tonight’s game is San Jose‘s sixth in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 3-2-0 record, and their first since beating the Stars 4-3 in overtime in the Tank on January 16.  St. Louis has been featured a dozen times before this evening’s game, and own a 7-4-1 record in the series, with their most recent being a 2-1 overtime winner against the Stars on Tuesday.

    The 31-21-5 San Jose Sharks currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference.  To get to that position, they’ve played a top-10 offense paired with the 13th-best defense.

    Led by Brent Burns’ 249 shots, the Sharks have fired the puck an incredible 1714 times, with 9.6% finding the back of the net for 168 goals (led by Joe Pavelski’s 26 tallies), seventh-most in the NHL.  Much of that success can be attributed to San Jose‘s power play, which capitalizes on 22.16% of opposing penalties for 43 extra-man goals (led by Pavelski’s eight).

    The defense has been no slouch themselves, as the Sharks have allowed only 1574 shots (led by Burns’ 114 blocks) to reach 28-16-3 Martin Jones and co., of which they’ve saved 91% for 154 goals against, 13th-fewest in the league.  Probably the biggest holes in San Jose‘s game has been their penalty kill, which neutralizes a 15th-worst 80.47% of penalties for 33 power play goals against.

    The Sharks‘ last result was a 5-2 loss in Carolina on Friday that ended their three-game win streak.  Should San Jose earn the win this evening, they will close the gap between them and second place Anaheim to one point.

    The 35-17-9 St. Louis Blues currently occupy third place in the Central Division and the Western Conference.  They play the seventh-best defense in the league, but it is paired with an offense that has scored 14th-fewest goals.  A more in-depth analysis of St. Louis‘ game can be found within last Tuesday’s post.

    St. Louis is currently riding a best in the league five-game win streak, with their most recent being a 6-4 victory in Arizona on Saturday.  Should the Blues earn the win this evening, they will jump the Stars for second place in both the Central and Western Conference by a point, although Dallas will have two fewer games played, by virtue of losing a regulation+overtime wins tiebreaker with the Blackhawks.

    These squads have only met up once this season, with San Jose winning 3-1 in St. Louis on February 4.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include San Jose‘s Jones (five shutouts [tied for second-most in the league] and 28 wins [tied for fourth-most in the league]), Pavelski (26 goals [seventh-most in the league] and 54 points [tied for ninth-most in the league]) and Joe Thornton (39 assists [tied for fifth-most in the league]) & St. Louis‘ Jake Allen (five shutouts [tied for second-most in the league], 2.17 GAA [tied for sixth-best in the league] and .924 save percentage [tied for eighth-best in the league]) or Brian Elliott (.931 save percentage [leads the league] and 2.06 GAA [tied for best in the league]), Colton Parayko (+22 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) and Vladimir Tarasenko (28 goals [sixth-most in the league]).

    Ah, the point of the post has come where I have to make a prediction.  It is well documented across this site my allegiance to the Notes, which is what makes this prediction even more difficult.  Frankly, I think San Jose is fully capable of beating St. Louis regardless of location, made evident on February 4, but the Blues are one of, if not the hottest team in the NHL right now.  Based solely on stats, I am leaning towards the Sharks taking their second win in the season series.

  • February 16 – Day 124 – Central Showdown

    Just as expected, the Anaheim Ducks took care of business in the Saddledome, beating the Calgary Flames 6-4 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Sixty percent of the goals scored in the first period came as a result of the power play, and two of them were for the lowly Flames.  The first tally of the game was one of those Calgary scores, courtesy of Third Star of the Game Johnny Gaudreau, and assisted by Sean Monahan and Second Star Jiri Hudler (his 23rd helper of the season), at the 5:56 mark.  The Ducks responded relatively quickly, scoring only 4:03 later with an extra-man tally of their own courtesy of Hampus Lindholm, his seventh of the year.  Calgary again broke the tie with another power play goal, this one at the 11:22 mark.  Dougie Hamilton took credit for this one, assisted by Monahan (his 21st of the season).  It was Anaheim‘s turn next, who scored only 2:26 later with a score from First Star Mike Santorelli, assisted by Cam Fowler (his 12th helper of the season) and Kevin Bieksa.  Calgary got the last laugh of the wild first, scoring with only 2:55 remaining in the frame courtesy of Hudler, who was assisted by Gaudreau and Hamilton (his 17th helper of the season), setting the score at 3-2.

    It was the second period where the Ducks pulled away, scoring three straight, with the first two coming off power plays.  The first of the trio found the back of the net only 2:15 after resuming play, courtesy of Corey Perry, who was assisted by Fowler and Ryan Getzlaf (his 37th helper of the season).  Only 1:05 later, the Ducks took their first lead of the game with a tally from Sami Vatanen, assisted by David Perron (his 19th helper of the season) and Fowler.  The clock read 7:42 when Anaheim scored an insurance goal, that eventually became the game-winner.  Rickard Rakell takes the credit, assisted by Perry (his 18th helper of the season) and Simon Despres.  The Flames got one back with only 2:55 remaining in the period when Hudler’s backhander found the back of the net, assisted by Gaudreau (his 32 helper of the season) and Monahan.  The 5-4 Ducks lead held into the second intermission.

    With the exception of Santorelli’s wrister at the 51st second, which was assisted by Ryan Kesler (his 17th helper of the season) and Josh Manson, goal scoring came to a halt in the third period, giving Anaheim the 6-4 victory.

    Frederik Andersen earns the victory after saving 33 of 37 (89.2%), while Joni Ortio, who replaced Jonas Hiller (13 of 17, 76.5%) after he allowed Vatanen’s goal in the second period, takes the loss after saving nine of 11 (81.8%).

    Anaheim‘s win sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 55-28-11, favoring the home squads by 34 points over the roadies.

    It’s a relatively busy Tuesday in the NHL, with eight games on this evening’s schedule.  Half of them get started at the usual 7 p.m. eastern starting time (Philadelphia at New Jersey, Los Angeles at Washington, Winnipeg at Carolina and Boston at Columbus), followed half an hour later by two more (Buffalo at Ottawa and San Jose at Tampa Bay).  8 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of the Dallas at St. Louis game (NBCSN), which is trailed by Anaheim at Edmonton an hour later.

    Half of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (Philadelphia at New Jersey, Buffalo at Ottawa, Dallas at St. Louis and Anaheim at Edmonton), and three are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Los Angeles at Washington, San Jose at Tampa Bay and Dallas at St. Louis).

    Regulars have become used to my choices and can probably already predict which one I’ll be going with after that last paragraph.

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    Tonight’s game will be Dallas‘ eighth in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 5-0-2 record.  Their most recent showing in the series was last Thursday, when they beat the Blackhawks 4-2 in the United Center.  St. Louis has been featured 11 times before tonight, and own a 6-4-1 record in such games.  Their most recent in the series was on February 2, when they beat the Predators 1-0 in Nashville.

    The 37-15-5 Dallas Stars are currently the class of the Central Division and the Western Conference (even if it is by virtue of a games played tiebreaker), and trail only Washington for the Presidents’ Trophy.  They play the highest scoring offense in the league, but it is backed by a defense that ranks 13th-worst in goals against.  A more detailed analysis of their game can be found within Thursday’s post.

    With Chicago having an off day, a fourth win a row (their last being a 4-3 win in against the Capitals on Saturday) by the Stars this evening makes their division and conference lead more than simply a tiebreaker, but a full two point lead.  In addition, should Los Angeles beat Washington, Dallas would pull within three points of the Presidents’ Trophy, which becomes more and more desirable with each passing day.

    The 32-17-9 St. Louis Blues currently sit in third place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.  They play the eighth best defense in the league, but the offense, even with league-wide stars, ranks 12th-worst in goals scored.

    Even with Alex Pietrangelo (who’s currently on the IR)’s team-leading 103 blocks, the Notes have allowed a bordering-on-the-high-side 1730 shots to reach 18-10-3 Jake Allen (another member of the Blues’ IR) and co., of which they’ve collectively saved a solid 92.8% for only 138 goals against, eighth best in the NHL.  That success almost directly stems from the third-best penalty kill in the league, which has neutralized 86.6% of opposing power plays for only 26 extra-man goals against.

    The offense has been a little less-than this season, but it’s not for a lack of effort.  Led by Vladimir Tarasenko’s 200 shots, the Blues have fired the puck 1696 times, of which 8.3% have found the back of the net for 140 tallies (led by Tarasenko’s 27 goals), 12th-fewest in the league.  Although the overall offense may not be what St. Louis had planned for, the power play certainly helps to make up for it.  This special team ranks eighth-best in the league, scoring on 20.5% of attempts for 33 extra-man goals, led by Tarasenko’s nine.

    Having won both of their last two games (with their most recent being a 2-1 win in Tampa Bay on Sunday), the Blues would also like to optimize on Chicago‘s off-day.  Should the Blues do so, they would pull within four points of both Chicago and Dallas for second and first in the division.

    So far, the 2015-’16 season series has gone St. Louis‘ way, as they have a 2-1-0 record against the Stars.  That being said, it was the Stars who won the most recent meeting 3-0, a December 27 game in Dallas.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Dallas‘ Jamie Benn (64 points [second-most in the league] and 29 goals [fourth-most in the league]), John Klingberg (38 assists [fifth-most in the league]) and Tyler Seguin (30 goals [third-most in the league] and 63 points [tied for third-most in the league]) & St. Louis‘ Allen (five shutouts [tied for second-most in the league] and 2.17 GAA [ninth-best in the league]) or Brian Elliott (.933 save percentage [best in the league] and 2.07 GAA [third-best in the league]) and Tarasenko (27 goals [sixth-most in the league]).

    Even with the Blues playing on home ice, I don’t think they match up well with the hot Stars.  Dallas‘ offense always finds a way to score, and the Stars‘ defense is fairly evenly matched against the Blues‘ scorers.  I pick the Stars to win a close on in the Scottrade Center.

  • 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)

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    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).