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Thornton’s hat-trick measures short, B’s beat Sharks, 6-5, in OT

Messy officiating was a theme of the night, but at the end of the night, Charlie McAvoy scored the game-winning overtime goal to lift the Boston Bruins over the San Jose Sharks, 6-5, on Monday night at SAP Center.

San Jose’s ageless wonder, 39-year-old Joe Thornton had his fifth career hat trick (and first since Oct. 27, 2010) and united the hockey world in his quest for four goals in one game that was ultimately unsuccessful due to the loss.

Tuukka Rask (20-8-4 record, 2.45 goals against average, .918 save percentage in 33 games played) made 33 saves on 38 shots against for an .868 SV% in the overtime win for Boston.

Sharks goaltender, Martin Jones (28-11-5, 2.95 GAA, .896 SV% in 45 GP) turned aside 14 out of 20 shots faced for a .700 SV% in the overtime loss.

The B’s improved to 35-17-8 (78 points) on the season and remained in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Sharks fell to 35-17-8 (78 points) on the season and stayed in 2nd place in the Pacific Division.

Boston improved to 23-4-5 when scoring first this season and 11-2-3 when tied after two periods. San Jose fell to 4-4-3 when tied after two periods this season.

In addition, the Bruins are now 14-10-5 on the road this season and 3-0-0 on their current five-game road trip.

The Bruins are also on a six-game winning streak (their longest of the season) and are now 8-0-1 in the month of February.

Peter Cehlarik did not take part in morning skate on Monday, as Bruce Cassidy reassured reporters after practice that Cehalrik sustained a lower body injury in Saturday night’s matchup with the Los Angeles Kings and would be out against San Jose.

Karson Kuhlman took over Cehlarik’s spot on the second line right wing alongside Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci, while David Backes took Kuhlman’s spot from Saturday on the fourth line with Joakim Nordstrom and Trent Frederic.

Bruins defender, Steven Kampfer rejoined the NHL club in San Jose on a recall after a three-game conditioning stint with Boston’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.

Other changes to Cassidy’s lineup included swapping Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller on the second and third defensive pairings, respectively.

Carlo took the ice alongside Torey Krug, while Miller laced them up with Matt Grzelcyk.

Cehlarik (lower body), John Moore (healthy scratch), Kampfer (healthy scratch) and David Pastrnak (left thumb) were the only Bruins out of the lineup against the Sharks on Monday.

From puck drop to the first whistle, the Bruins and Sharks played a consecutive span of 10:13– negating the first media timeout altogether.

In fact, the networks carrying the game Monday night couldn’t even go to break after the first whistle as it came on an icing call.

As the frantic postseason-infused pace settled in, San Jose defender Marc-Edouard Vlasic saved the puck from crossing the line just in the nick of time. Or did he?

An overhead view from the crossbar might have indicated that Boston was robbed of a goal, but since the call on the ice was “no goal” and the other camera angles were inconclusive– the original call stood.

Midway through the first period, Tomas Hertl was penalized for high-sticking Sean Kuraly at 10:56.

While shorthanded, Evander Kane broke free from the Bruins blue liners, beat Rask and rang the post with his shot.

Moments later, after killing off the Hertl infraction, Kane got a stick up high on Grzelcyk, sending the B’s back on the power play at 13:04 of the opening frame.

After failing to generate any offense on their first power play chance of the night, Boston capitalized on their second extra skater advantage.

45 seconds into their second power play, Krug (6) blasted a slap shot while moving into the face-off dot to Jones’ right side, while Erik Karlsson partially screened his own goaltender, as the puck went high, glove side, into the twine.

Krejci (36) and Patrice Bergeron (35) tallied the assists on Krug’s power play goal at 13:49 as Boston jumped out to a, 1-0, lead.

With his assist on the goal, Krejci became the fourth Bruin to reach at least 50 points this season.

A few minutes later, Kuraly won a face-off in the attacking zone back to Zdeno Chara (6) whereby the 6-foot-9 defender rocketed his patented slap shot past Jones for his 199th career goal.

Kuraly (11) had the only assist on Chara’s goal at 16:26 and the Bruins led, 2-0.

Less than two minutes later, Boston continued to strangle the momentum pendulum into their metaphorical side.

DeBrusk lobbed an aerial pass on a two-on-one to Kuhlman (1) as Jones was caught behind the play, giving Kuhlman his first career NHL goal and a three-goal lead for the Bruins.

Kuhlman’s goal was assisted by DeBrusk (9) and Krejci (37) at 18:24 of the first period as Boston led, 3-0.

As the seconds ticked down before the first intermission, Joe Thornton (11) put the Sharks on the scoreboard to make it a two-goal game.

Joe Pavelski had the initial shot on goal, but Thornton found the rebound in the crease and sent it home to make it, 3-1, Boston at 19:57 of the first period.

Pavelski recorded his 22nd assist of the season on Thornton’s first goal of the game.

Entering the first intermission, the Bruins led, 3-1, on the scoreboard, but both teams recorded eight shots on goal aside.

The B’s led in takeaways (3-2), hits (8-6) and face-off win percentage (63-37), while the Sharks led in blocked shots (4-2) and giveaways (4-2) after one period of play. San Jose had yet to see any time on the power play, while the Bruins were 1/2 on the skater advantage heading into the second period.

Early in the middle frame, Miller sent the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game penalty– leaving Boston shorthanded at 1:40 of the second period.

Almost 30 seconds later, Pavelski (32) redirected an initial shot from the point off Rask, whereby the Bruins goaltender made the initial save, but the puck took an odd bounce and went over his shoulder and into the four-by-six frame behind him.

Brent Burns (54) and Logan Couture (33) picked up the assists on Pavelski’s power play goal at 2:24 of the second period.

Couture followed up his assist on Pavelski’s goal with a hooking penalty at 4:43.

Late in the ensuing power play for Boston, DeBrusk (18) entered the attacking zone on a breakaway with speed and beat Jones to make it, 4-2, Bruins.

In the last four games, DeBrusk has 4-4–8 totals.

Danton Heinen (11) and Backes (9) notched the primary and secondary assists, respectively, on DeBrusk’s power play goal at 6:30 of the second period.

Midway through the middle frame, Justin Braun caught Kuraly with a clean hit along the boards that Chris Wagner did not view as clean as it was.

Wagner and Braun tussled for a few seconds with the gloves off before the linesmen got in-between the two and separated them.

Despite not actually fighting, Wagner and Braun each received five-minute majors for doing more than what otherwise would have been considered roughing at 10:25.

Late in the second period, whatever tilt in the ice there was took a tank (at the Shark Tank, get it?) as San Jose made it a one-goal game at 16:03, thanks to another garbage goal collected by Thornton (12).

For the second time of the night, Thornton banged home the rebound to record his first two-goal game in his 51st game this season and fourth since 2013.

Shortly thereafter, Thornton took a trip to the penalty box for high-sticking Bruins winger, Brad Marchand.

While shorthanded, Couture split the Boston defense and charged into the offensive zone while the B’s were caught changing lines.

As Couture neared Rask, Marchand hooked the Sharks forward and the puck didn’t cross the goal line, despite the quick string of confusing signals indicated by the referee.

Instead of waving off the goal that wasn’t (alas, the puck almost reached the goal line), then pointing towards the center-ice face-off dot to award the ensuing penalty shot, the ref closest to the goal appeared to change his mind and indicated a goal had been scored.

Except he hadn’t, technically.

To the dismay of those in attendance, the ref had simply misdirected his followup signal to the washout and should have pointed towards center-ice as Couture was to follow up with a penalty shot, regardless.

The official call was that Rask had made the save on the initial breakaway while Marchand had hooked Couture, illegally disrupting the scoring chance and thus resulting in a penalty shot.

On the ensuing penalty shot, Couture (22) fired one into the twine at 19:35 of the second period, resulting in yet another last minute goal for San Jose– this time tying the game, 4-4.

As a result, Couture became just the fourth player in Sharks franchise history to score a shorthanded penalty shot goal.

Through 40 minutes of play, both teams were tied, 4-4, on the scoreboard, despite San Jose’s distinct advantage in shots on goal in the middle frame alone (14-4).

Entering the second intermission, San Jose led in shot on goal (22-12), blocked shots (7-3), giveaways (7-3) and hits (20-17), while Boston led in face-off win% (54-47). Both teams had five giveaways each after two periods.

The Sharks were 1/1 on the power play, while the Bruins were 2/4 on the skater advantage heading into the third period.

After not changing lines quick enough, the refs decided to charge the Bruins with a bench minor for delay of game at 1:57 of the third period.

Sure, that’s an actual thing, but given the standard (or lack thereof) of the night, well…

Too many men on the ice was something that went overlooked and two goals (one that was that wasn’t and one that wasn’t that was) were both miscalled as some of the bigger takeaways for next season’s “what not to do” officiating training video.

Jokes aside, it was a poorly officiated game.

Backes served the delay of game bench minor for Boston, but the Sharks weren’t able to capitalize on the power play.

Finally, in a moment the hockey world had been waiting to see in almost nine years, Thornton (13) scored his third goal of the game, notching a hat trick on the first lead change of the night.

San Jose led, 5-4, at 13:32 of the third period.

Pavelski (23) and Braun (13) tallied the assist’s on Thornton’s goal as the game’s momentum completely shifted to the Sharks’ favor.

Chara and Pavelski exchanged pleasantries and slashed each other with their sticks, yielding matching slashing minors at 15:42.

Late in the ensuing 4-on-4 action, Carlo sent a shot on goal that rebounded high into the air.

Wagner (8) batted the puck down with a seemingly high stick, then swung his stick along the ice at the puck tying the game, 5-5.

That’s right, Wagner scored the game-tying goal after playing the puck with a high stick.

Going to review is not an option for a goal that is thought to be scored as a result of knocking the puck down with a high stick, then scoring the goal from a legal elevation.

The problem with the goal was that the play should’ve been whistled dead as soon as Wagner knocked the puck out of the air with his stick above his shoulder.

Whether it was seen or not from the angle on the ice, we’ll never know (it’s not the NHL’s nature to make refs explain why a call was made or not– in fact, it’s never happened for anything that’s not reviewable).

Carlo (4) and Noel Acciari (4) had the assists on Wagner’s goal, which set a new career-high in goals in a season for the Walpole, Massachusetts native at 17:11 of the third period.

At the end of regulation, the Bruins and Sharks were tied, 5-5.

San Jose led in shots on goal (33-19) and in blocked shots (8-7), giveaways (9-5), hits (23-22) and face-off win% (54-46) after three periods of play.

Both teams had ten takeaways aside. The Sharks finished the night 1/2 on the skater advantage as Boston went 2/4 on the power play.

Peter DeBoer was coaching in his 800th career game on Monday and rolled out line after line of All-Star quality 3-on-3 overtime lines, especially after Cassidy started Kuraly, Grzelcyk and McAvoy in the five-minute overtime period.

Trouble is, one of those starters actually turned out to be the right one. *foreshadowing*

After Kane entered the zone with a virtual 3-on-0 for San Jose, the play was blown dead as the net behind Rask had come off its moorings and was not properly fixed even though the ref behind the play should have gone over and readjusted it while the puck was at the opposite end of the ice.

It’s either the goaltender’s responsibility or the referee’s job to fix the net if it’s off its pegs, but not enough to immediately disrupt play.

If it’s fixable, the ref must fix it as long as the puck is completely out of the zone.

Officiating be damned, Kane’s surefire scoring chance was killed.

On a 3-on-2 back the other way, DeBrusk worked the puck to Krejci for the perfect pass to McAvoy (4), who ripped a bullet past Jones to win the game for Boston, 6-5, in overtime.

Krejci (38) and DeBrusk (10) collected the assists on McAvoy’s game-winning goal at 3:59 of the overtime period, as the Bruins improved to 7-6 in overtime this season.

The Sharks fell to 6-5 past the 60-minute mark, but before having to go to a shootout, this season, despite finishing Monday night’s action with the advantage in shots on goal (38-20, including a 5-1 advantage in overtime alone), giveaways (10-6) and face-off win% (52-48).

Boston finished the night leading in blocked shots (11-8).

Both teams recorded 24 hits aside.

The Bruins travel to Las Vegas for a Wednesday night battle with the Vegas Golden Knights before finishing up their current five-game road trip on Saturday in St. Louis against the Blues. Boston returns home to close out February with a Tuesday (Feb. 26th) night matchup with the Sharks and a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 28th.

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Nick's Net

Halak, B’s, shutout Ducks, 3-0

Jaroslav Halak stopped all 30 shots he faced and Chris Wagner had the empty net goal against his former team in the Boston Bruins’ 3-0 shutout victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Friday.

Halak (15-9-4 record, 2.35 goals against average, .923 save percentage in 30 games played) earned his 4th shutout of the season (46th career shutout) and became the 14th goaltender in Bruins franchise history to record at least four shutouts in his first season with the club.

Byron Dafoe was the last Boston goaltender to do so in his first season with the B’s, recording six shutouts in 1997-98.

Noel Acciari and Jake DeBrusk also had goals for Boston in the win.

Kevin Boyle (1-1-0, 1.52 GAA, .955 SV% in three games played) made 26 saves on 28 shots against for a .929 SV% in the loss for Anaheim.

Boston improved to 33-17-8 (74 points) on the season and remains in 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Ducks fell to 22-27-9 (53 points) thus far and stayed in 7th in the Pacific Division.

The Bruins improved to 21-4-5 when scoring first this season, as well as 21-1-3 when leading after two periods. With Friday’s win, the B’s are now 12-10-5 on the road this season (including 1-0-0 on the current road trip) and 6-0-1 in the month of February.

Anaheim is now 3-16-4 since Dec. 18th with the loss on Friday. The Ducks also trailed on the scoreboard after two periods for the 29th time this season and fell to 6-21-2 in that span.

Bruce Cassidy didn’t make any changes to his lineup from Tuesday, but indicated prior to Thursday’s practice in Anaheim that Karson Kuhlman would make his NHL debut on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings and Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) would return to the lineup as well.

Kuhlman was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) prior to the B’s departure for their current road trip with David Pastrnak (left thumb) out of the action.

Steven Kampfer remains on conditioning loan to Providence and technically a healthy scratch for the Bruins on Friday.

Early in the first period, Brandon Carlo ripped a slap shot from the point that was tipped in by Acciari (2) to give Boston the, 1-0, lead at 5:31 of the opening frame.

Carlo (3) and Sean Kuraly (9) had the assists on the goal.

Entering the first intermission, despite leading on the scoreboard, the B’s trailed the Ducks, 11-8, in shots on goal.

Rickard Rakell was assessed a holding infraction at 4:58 of the second period for tying up Patrice Bergeron, sending the Bruins on their first power play of the night.

Nine seconds into the ensuing skater advantage, DeBrusk (16) buried a rebound to give Boston a two-goal lead on the power play.

David Krejci (33) and Torey Krug (36) had the assist’s on DeBrusk’s power play goal at 5:07 of the second period.

DeBrusk tied his career-high in goals– set last season– and now has goals in back-to-back games after a 13-game goalless drought prior to Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.

14 seconds after Boston capitalized on their first power play of the night, Brandon Montour got a stick up high on Peter Cehlarik and cut a rut to the penalty box, leaving the B’s with their second power play opportunity of the game.

The Bruins were not able to convert on Montour’s penalty.

Moments later, Wagner was penalized for interference at 8:57 of the middle frame, giving the Ducks their first look on the power play of the night.

With two seconds left on Wagner’s minor, John Moore hooked Max Jones and presented Anaheim with a brief 5-on-3 advantage at 10:55, before returning to an abbreviated 5-on-4 skater advantage.

The Ducks amassed three shots on goal through almost four minutes on the power play and could not beat Halak.

Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, despite trailing Anaheim in shots on goal (22-17). Boston held the advantage in giveaways (12-7) and face-off win percentage (61-39), while the Ducks led in blocked shots (12-8) and hits (19-16).

Both teams had four takeaways aside as Anaheim went 0/2 and Boston went 1/2 on the power play heading into the 3rd period.

Derek Grant jumpstarted the action in the third period with a holding penalty at 1:13, but the Bruins were not able to convert on the resulting power play.

Past the midpoint of the final frame of regulation, Hampus Lindholm was penalized for interfering with Brad Marchand at 10:56. Boston did not score on the ensuing power play.

Instead, shortly after the power play expired, Moore bumped into Boyle and received a two-minute fraction for goaltender inference at 13:05 of the third period.

The Ducks did not muster any offense on the ensuing power play.

Interim head coach (and current Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Ducks), Bob Murray, pulled his goaltender with about two minutes remaining in regulation for the extra attacker, but it was too little, too late.

Especially more so after Wagner (7) put the game away with his empty net goal at 18:29. Kuraly (10) and Zdeno Chara (6) collected the assists on Wagner’s goal against his former team.

The goal also tied Wagner’s career-high for most goals in a season (seven) and was the 13th empty net goal allowed by the Ducks in the 2018-19 regular season.

At the final horn, Boston had defeated Anaheim, 3-0.

Though the Ducks actually led the Bruins all night in shots on goal (finishing with a, 30-29, advantage), they could not beat the B’s defense and Halak.

Anaheim finished the night leading in blocked shots (16-13) and hits (27-22), while Boston led in giveaways (14-12) and face-off win% (65-35).

The Ducks went 0/3 on the skater advantage and the B’s finished Friday 1/4 on the power play.

The Bruins are now on a four-game winning streak as they continue their two-week road trip against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, then pay a visit to the San Jose Sharks on Monday, before swinging through the Vegas Golden Knights (Feb. 20th) and St. Louis Blues (Feb. 23rd).

Boston’s next home game this month is Feb. 26th against the Sharks.


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DTFR Podcast #145- We Plan To Be Good In 2021-25

Evgeni Malkin did a bad thing, the 2019 NWHL All-Star Game broke attendance records and more trades happened in the NHL. Patrice Bergeron reached 1,000 games and David Pastrnak is injured for the Boston Bruins leaving Nick in a glass case of emotion.

Plus, Eugene Melnyk plans to spend money, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a new alternate sweater, Randy Carlyle was fired and Scott Niedermayer will have his number retired (again) this week. Finally, Connor has a new segment.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

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Bruins beat Avs for the first time at home in 21 years, 2-1 in OT

Brad Marchand‘s 14th career game-winning overtime goal clinched a, 2-1, victory for the Boston Bruins over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.

Following the game, the Bruins partied like it was *1998 (it was Boston’s first win on home ice against the Avalanche since March 30, 1998– a, 4-1, victory for the B’s).

Jaroslav Halak (14-9-4 record, 2.44 goals against average, .921 save percentage in 29 games played) made 35 saves on 36 shots against for a .921 SV% in the overtime win for the Bruins.

Semyon Varlamov (13-13-8, 2.91 GAA, .906 SV% in 35 GP) stopped 33 out of 35 shots faced for a .906 SV% in the overtime loss for Colorado.

The Bruins improve to 31-17-8 (70 points) on the season and move ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Avalanche fell to 22-22-11 (55 points) and remain 6th in the Central Division (tied in points with the Chicago Blackhawks, but ahead in the standings thanks to having a game in-hand on Chicago).

Boston leads Montreal by one point in the standings for the final divisional spot in the Atlantic. Colorado is four points out of a wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Prior to Sunday’s matinee, the Bruins hosted the Los Angeles Kings for a Saturday afternoon matchup. Boston defeated the Kings, 5-4, in overtime thanks to an overtime game-winning power play goal from Patrice Bergeron (20) at 2:34 of the overtime period.

Bergeron was honored prior to the game with gifts– including the traditional “Silver Stick”– and a ceremony for having played in his 1,000th career regular season game on Tuesday against the New York Islanders.

Charlie McAvoy, Danton Heinen, David Krejci and Marchand also had goals for the Bruins in the win, while Alex Iafallo, Anze Kopitar, Nate Thompson and Oscar Fantanberg notched goals for Los Angeles.

Tuukka Rask (17-8-4 , 2.36 GAA, .922 SV% in 30 GP) made 25 saves on 29 shots against in the win for Boston.

Entering Sunday, Bruce Cassidy made minor adjustments to his lineup, inserting Trent Frederic on the fourth line, centering Jake DeBrusk and Joakim Nordstrom, while scratching David Backes.

Sean Kuraly, Noel Acciari and Chris Wagner were reunited on the third line.

Marchand, Bergeron and Heinen were kept together on the first line with Peter Cehlarik lining up alongside Krejci and David Pastrnak.

Steven Kampfer (healthy scratch, on conditioning loan to the Providence Bruins, AHL) and Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) joined Backes out of the lineup on Sunday.

Almost midway through the opening frame, Heinen got a stick up high on Erik Johnson and received a two-minute minor penalty at 9:54. The Avalanche didn’t convert on the ensuing power play.

Almost five minutes later, Gabriel Landeskog tripped Heinen and presented Boston with their first power play opportunity of the afternoon at 16:19 of the first period.

While on the power play, Torey Krug hooked Matt Calvert in effort to disrupt a shorthanded chance by Colorado. Krug was assessed an infraction and went to the box at 17:27, leaving both teams even strength at 4-on-4 for about 52 seconds before the Avs had an abbreviated power play.

Late in the first period, Nathan MacKinnon (29) roofed a shot over Halak’s glove from close range to give Colorado the first lead of the night, 1-0, at 19:27.

Landeskog (28) and J.T. Compher (11) collected the assist’s on MacKinnon’s goal as the Avalanche took the, 1-0, lead into the first intermission.

After one period, Colorado led in shots on goal (12-7), takeaways (5-3), giveaways (6-4) and hits (10-9), while Boston led in blocked shots (5-4). Both teams were 50-50 in face-off win percentage, while the Avs were 0/2 on the power play and the B’s were 0/1.

John Moore (3) tied the game, 1-1, as Bergeron acted as a screen in front of Varlamov at 3:40 of the second period. Moore fired a shot off the far post and in as McAvoy (13) and Marchand (44) picked up the assists and the Bruins tied the game.

MacKinnon was penalized for holding at 6:18 of the second period and was followed to the penalty box almost 30 seconds later by Carl Soderberg after Soderberg interfered with McAvoy at 7:45.

Boston had 34 seconds of a two-skater power play advantage before, but couldn’t convert on either opportunity.

Moore sent an odd puck bounce off the curved glass next to the Bruins bench and into the net behind Varlamov, but it was immediately waved off as “no goal” with 24.1 seconds remaining in the second period.

Through 40 minutes of action, the game was tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, but the Avalanche maintained the advantage in shots on goal, 24-22– despite being outshot by Boston, 15-12, in the second period alone.

Entering the third period, Colorado led in takeaways (10-6), giveaways (7-5) and hits (19-16), while the B’s led in face-off win% (56-44). Both teams had 10 blocked shots aside as the Avs were 0/2 and the Bruins were 0/3 on the power play.

A string of hooking penalties kicked things off in the third period with Kuraly hooking Samuel Girard at 7:16, followed by Krug hooking Matt Nieto at 9:53. Finally, Colorado’s Tyson Barrie hooked Bergeron at 10:08 of the third period.

Neither team capitalized on the special teams play.

Late in the final frame of regulation, Sheldon Dries was penalized for holding Krug at 17:45 and the Bruins went on the power play. Despite forging a couple shots at the net, Boston couldn’t buy a power play goal.

As time expired on regulation, the Avalanche led in shots on goal, 34-31, and the score remained tied, 1-1.

Boston led in blocked shots (18-12), hits (28-21) and face-off win% (53-47) after 60 minutes of play, while Colorado led in takeaways (13-8) and giveaways (11-10).

No penalties were called in the overtime period, meaning the Avs finished 0/4 and the B’s finished 0/5 on the skater advantage Sunday afternoon.

For the 5th time in the last seven games, Boston was heading for extra hockey.

Cassidy started Kuraly, Moore and McAvoy in overtime. Marchand, Bergeron and Krug ended overtime.

Just past the four-minute mark of the five-minute 3-on-3 overtime period, Marchand (21) unleashed a wrist shot from about the face-off circle to Varlamov’s left side and sent the puck off an Avalanche defender and into the twine.

Bergeron (31) and Krug (34) notched the assists on Marchand’s game-winning goal at 4:03 of overtime.

Marchand’s goal sealed the deal on a, 2-1, win for Boston, leaving the Bruins with a 6-6 record in overtime this season. Colorado fell to 1-10 in overtime.

The Avalanche finished the day leading in shots on goal (36-35) and giveaways (11-10), while the B’s led in blocked shots (18-12), hits (29-21) and face-off win% (53-47).

With the win, the Bruins are now 4-0-1 in the month of February and 7-0-0 in matinee games this season.

Boston takes on the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday at TD Garden before heading out for a western road trip, starting next Friday (Feb. 15th) in Anaheim, swinging through Los Angeles on Feb. 16th, San Jose on Feb. 18th, Vegas on Feb. 20th and finally St. Louis on Feb. 23rd.

The Bruins improved to 11-3-4 in their last 18 games. Cassidy is now one win shy of his 100th behind the bench for Boston.

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Flyers extend win streak to six games, beat Bruins, 3-2 in OT

Travis Sanheim ended things in overtime with his fifth goal of the season as the Philadelphia Flyers cruised to their sixth win in-a-row over the Boston Bruins, 3-2, on Thursday night at TD Garden.

Carter Hart (8-5-0 record, 2.48 goals against average, .922 save percentage in 14 games played) made 23 saves on 25 shots against (.920 SV%) in the overtime win for the Flyers and became the 10th different goalie in National Hockey League history to record a personal win streak of at least five games before his 21st birthday.

Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (14-8-4, 2.45 GAA, .920 SV% in 27 GP) turned aside 38 out of 41 shots against for a .927 SV% in the overtime loss and remains tied with Tiny Thompson for the most wins by a goaltender in Boston’s franchise history (252 wins).

The Bruins fell to 27-17-7 (61 points) on the season, but improved to 3rd place in the Atlantic Division.

Boston is tied with the Montreal Canadiens in points (61) and regulation-plus-overtime wins (26), but leads the Canadiens in standings as a result of having attained a greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs (Boston went 2-1-1 in the season series against Montreal, thereby yielding the Bruins five points in the standings to Montreal’s four points in the standings in games against each other).

If that doesn’t make sense, hopefully things will be clearer after both teams play their next game (the Canadiens play on Saturday, B’s play on Sunday).

Philadelphia improved to 22-23-6 (50 points) on the season and remain 7th in the Metropolitan Division standings. In addition, the Flyers extended their current win streak to six games.

Boston finished the month of January with a 6-3-3 record (15 points out of a possible 28 points, .538 points percentage).

While David Backes (900 career games) and Brandon Carlo (200 career games) both reached milestones Thursday night, Bruce Cassidy celebrated the return of Joakim Nordstrom to the lineup for the first time since the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.

Nordstrom missed the last 11 games with a non-displaced fractured fibula he sustained against the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 1st, but he didn’t miss a shift outdoors in true hockey player fashion.

Rask was also back in action after missing one game due to a concussion sustained on Jan. 19th against the New York Rangers. As a result, Zane McIntyre was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) prior to puck drop against the Flyers.

John Moore was inserted back into the lineup in place of Matt Grzelcyk, having been a healthy scratch for the last few games.

Joining Grzelcyk in the press box on Thursday were Noel Acciari (out of the lineup due to Nordstrom’s return) and Steven Kampfer (the de facto depth defender since being re-acquired by the Bruins in the Adam McQuaid trade in October).

Nordstrom suited up to the left of Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner on the fourth line, while Cassidy juggled his defensive pairings, placing Torey Krug alongside Kevan Miller to round out the top-four blue liners with Zdeno Chara paired with Charlie McAvoy.

Moore slid in as the left shot defender on the third pairing with Carlo to his right side.

Cassidy did not make any adjustments to his first three forward lines.

Almost two minutes into the game, Claude Giroux got his stick between the legs of David Pastrnak and brought the young Boston winger down to the ice.

Giroux was assessed a minor penalty for tripping at 1:47 of the first period and the B’s went on the power play for the first– and only– time of the night.

As the seconds ticked away on the ensuing skater advantage, Boston sustained a level of pressure on the special teams that had been seen in Tuesday night’s, 4-3, shootout loss to the Winnipeg Jets– it was only a matter of time before the Bruins would strike.

Brad Marchand worked the puck back to the point to Krug, whereby the Boston defender sent a pass across the slot to Pastrnak (29) for the one-timer past Hart while falling to one knee, giving the B’s the, 1-0, lead.

Krug (29) and Marchand (38) recorded the primary and secondary assists, respectively, on Pastrnak’s goal at 3:05.

In the final minute of the opening frame, Giroux (15) tied things up, 1-1, on a breakaway goal that he fired past Rask’s glove-side. Jakub Voracek (30) was tabbed with the only assist on the goal at 19:16 of the first period.

Entering the first intermission, both teams were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, with the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 10-8.

Both teams were also tied in blocked shots (4-4), takeaways (4-4) and face-off win percentage (50-50), while the Flyers led in giveaways (4-2) and hits (7-4) after 20 minutes of play. Boston was 1/1 on the power play, while Philadelphia had yet to see any action on the skater advantage.

Pastrnak (30) gave Boston the lead, 2-1, for the second time of the night at 5:11 of the second period when the young Bruins winger redirected a shot past Hart that originally came off Patrice Bergeron’s blade from the face-off dot to the Flyers netminder’s right side.

Bergeron (28) and Chara (4) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s goal as the 22-year-old Pastrnak became the first Bruin to reach the 30-goal plateau in a season before the month of February since Cam Neely did so in the 1993-94 season (Neely had 36-11–47 totals in 31 games played entering February 1994).

With his second goal of the game, Pastrnak surpassed Neely, Bobby Orr and Barry Pederson for sole possession of first place in franchise history for having three consecutive seasons of at least 30 goals prior to turning 23.

Entering the second intermission, Boston led, 2-1, on the scoreboard, despite trailing the Flyers, 25-17, in shots on goal. Philadelphia outshot the B’s, 17-7, in the middle frame alone.

The Bruins led in blocked shots (14-9) after 40 minutes of play, while the Flyers went into the dressing room after two periods with the lead in takeaways (9-6), hits (13-10) and face-off win% (52-49). Both teams had eight giveaways each and the B’s were still 1/1 on the power play.

As a matter of fact, Boston would finish the night 1/1 on the power play, while Oskar Lindblom would be the one to notch Philadelphia’s first power play goal of the night on their only power play opportunity in the third period (more on that in a minute).

Early in the final frame of regulation, Scott Laughton had a clean break with Moore and Carlo trailing.

Moore tied up Laughton with his stick, hooking the Flyers forward and preventing a scoring chance, yielding a penalty shot for the Philadelphia forward.

Laughton’s penalty shot was denied by Rask with a blocker save, leaving the Flyers forward 0-for-2 in his career on penalty shots.

Kuraly was penalized for holding the stick of Sean Couturier at 8:46 of the third period, sending Philadelphia on their first power play of the night.

With 10 seconds remaining on the power play, the Flyers net front presence led to a redirection that squeaked past Rask at 10:36 to tie the game, 2-2, thanks to Lindblom’s 7th goal of the season.

Voracek (31) and Sanheim (12) had the assists Lindblom’s power play goal.

With the score knotted at two goals apiece, the Bruins and Flyers were headed for overtime at the final horn of regulation. Philadelphia held the advantage in shots on goal (36-25) through 60 minutes of the Thursday’s effort.

Less than a minute into overtime, Marchand tripped up Travis Konecny 57 seconds into the 3-on-3 action.

Philadelphia head coach, Scott Gordon, followed the stoppage in play for the delayed call against Boston by using his team’s timeout to draw up a soon to be game-winning game plan.

Just like their first power play goal of the game, with one second remaining on the skater advantage, Sanheim (5) fired a wrist shot past the Bruins goaltender as his own defender (Miller) and Flyers forward, Wayne Simmonds, screened Rask’s view of the puck.

Couturier (22) and Konecny (16) had the assists on Sanheim’s game-winning power play goal at 2:56 of the overtime period, snatching the, 3-2, victory for Philadelphia on the road.

Philly finished the game leading in shots on goal (41-25)– including the 5-0 shots on goal advantage in overtime– as well as hits (18-13) and face-off win% (63-37).

Meanwhile, Boston finished the night leading in blocked shots (20-18) and giveaways (13-10).

The Flyers finished the night 2/2 on the power play, while the B’s went 1/1.

Despite scoring the game’s first goal in their last six games, the Bruins are 1-2-3 in that span– including their current three-game losing skid.

Boston is now 4-6 in overtime (1-1 in shootouts) this season, while the Flyers improved to 2-6 (2-0 in shootouts) past the 60-minute mark this season.

Boston travels to Washington, D.C. for a Sunday matinee matchup with the Capitals this weekend before heading back home to host the New York Islanders on Tuesday. The B’s travel to Madison Square Garden for a Wednesday night battle with the New York Rangers before hosting the Los Angeles Kings next Saturday (Feb. 9th) afternoon.

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Podcasts

DTFR Podcast #142- Chia’s Pets

The Edmonton Oilers fired their president of hockey operations and General Manager, Peter Chiarelli (April 2015-January 2019). The club officially made the announcement after the DTFR Duo finished recording this week’s episode.

There won’t be a 2020 World Cup of Hockey and there were a few milestones to go along with a bunch of minor trades made this week.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

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Nick's Net

Couturier nets hat trick against Bruins, Flyers win, 4-3

Sean Couturier recorded his first career hat trick in the Philadelphia Flyers’, 4-3, victory Wednesday night over the Boston Bruins on home ice.

Oscar Lindblom had the only other goal for the Flyers, while David Pastrnak and Peter Cehlarik (two goals) did the scoring for Boston.

Carter Hart (5-5-1 record, 2.72 goals against average, .915 save percentage in 11 games played) made 39 saves on 42 shots against for a .929 SV% in the win for Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, Bruins netminder, Jaroslav Halak (13-8-2, 2.46 GAA, .920 SV% in 25 GP) turned aside just 15 out of 19 shots faced for a .789 SV% in the loss and allowed four or more goals in his fourth straight appearance.

With his goal in the first period, Pastrnak surpassed Barry Pederson for the most goals in Bruins franchise history by a player prior to his 23rd birthday.

Pastrnak has 121 career goals, while Pederson notched 120 before turning 23 (3rd-5th, Bobby Orr, 113 goals, Joe Thornton, 101 and Tom Fergus, 98).

As a result of the loss, Boston is now 16-4-3 when scoring first this season.

The B’s fell to 26-15-5 (57 points) on the season and remained 3rd in the Atlantic Division, while the Flyers improved to 18-23-6 (42 points) and now trail the New Jersey Devils by one point for 7th in the Metropolitan Division. In other words, Philadelphia is still last in the Metro.

After Colby Cave was claimed off waivers by the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, the Bruins brass called up 23-year-old, Peter Cehlarik, from the Providence Bruins (AHL).

Boston head coach, Bruce Cassidy, assured reporters prior to Wednesday night’s battle that Cehlarik would be inserted on the second line, sliding in to the left of David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk, with David Backes as the odd forward out of the lineup.

Backes joined John Moore and Steven Kampfer as the healthy scratches out of the lineup against Philadelphia, while Joakim Nordstrom remains sidelined with a non-displaced fibula fracture.

Cassidy made no other changes to his lineup.

Cehlarik riled up the Wells Fargo Center crowd when he boarded Travis Konecny at 1:25 into the first period– even more so when the Flyers weren’t able to score on the ensuing skater advantage.

A few minutes later, Jori Lehtera took a skate to the sin bin for tripping Boston defender, Brandon Carlo, at 4:14.

It only took 15 seconds on the power play for the Bruins to crack the code on Hart as Torey Krug sent a cross-ice pass to Pastrnak (27) for the one-timer from one knee near the side of the goal to give Boston the lead, 1-0.

Pastrnak’s 13th power play goal leads the NHL in that stat category and was assisted by Krug (26) and Brad Marchand (33) at 4:39 of the first period.

Moments later, Cehlarik (1) followed up with his first goal of the season in his 2018-19 debut as Boston entered the zone on a rush led by DeBrusk that began with a pass from Krejci through the neutral zone.

Similar to Pastrnak’s goal, Cehlarik received a pass on the open weak side for the one-timer, but from the opposite side of the ice from where Pastrnak scored his goal from.

DeBrusk (4) and Krejci (27) were credited with the assists on Cehlarik’s first goal of the night and the Bruins led, 2-0, at 9:12.

A few minutes later, Philadelphia answered back on the scoreboard with a similar rush going the opposite way resulting in Lindblom (5) firing a shot past Halak’s blocker side on the short side to cut the lead in half, 2-1.

Claude Giroux (37) and Ivan Provorov (12) had the assists on Lindblom’s goal for the Flyers at 12:44.

Entering the first intermission, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 12-7, in shots on goal.

Boston also held onto the advantage in blocked shots (6-5) and hits (12-6), while Philly led in takeaways (4-3) and giveaways (7-2). Both teams were 50-50 in face-off win percentage, while the Flyers were 0/1 on the power play and the B’s were 1/1 on the skater advantage through one period.

Early in the second period, with momentum going their way, the Flyers pounced early on a shot by Jakub Voracek that was tipped in by Couturier (17) to tie the game, 2-2, at 5:32 of the middle frame.

Voracek (27) and Travis Sanheim (11) notched the assists on the goal and less than a minute later, Philadelphia had a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of the scoreboard on the power play after Patrice Bergeron tripped up Couturier at 6:10.

Just 37 seconds into the ensuing skater advantage for the Flyers, after Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner failed to convert on a shorthanded bid and were caught up ice, Philadelphia raced back the other way– catching the Bruins lagging behind the play.

With the B’s severely outnumbered, Couturier (18) rocketed home a one-timer goal past Halak to give the Flyers their first lead of the night, 3-2, at 6:47 of the second period.

Wayne Simmonds (8) and Giroux (38) had the assists on Philadelphia’s power play goal and first lead of the night.

Late in the second period, Lehtera hit Ryan Donato from behind and drove Donato’s face into the boards right where the glass meets the dasher, leaving Donato bloodied and headed for the dressing room as per concussion protocol.

Lehtera was given a five-minute major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct at 16:48, resulting in a power play for Boston that would carry into the third period.

The B’s failed to convert on their longest– guaranteed– extra skater advantage of the night.

After 40 minutes of play, Philadelphia held onto the lead, 3-2, despite being outshot by Boston, 29-14 (17-7 in the second period alone for the Bruins).

The Flyers dominated blocked shots (18-7), takeaways (9-7) and giveaways (10-5) through two periods as the Bruins entered the second intermission leading in hits (17-13) and face-off win% (58-42).

Both teams were 1/2 on the power play entering the third period.

Early in the final frame, Philadelphia was caught up in a poor line change, resulting in an automatic bench minor penalty for too many men on the ice.

Flyers head coach, Scott Gordon, sent Konecny to serve the minor penalty at 3:39 and Philadelphia killed off the ensuing shorthanded bid.

Scott Laughton hooked Pastrnak at 12:00 of the third period, but the Bruins did not score on the resulting power play opportunity.

Having killed off Laughton’s minor infraction, the Flyers went for the jugular in the vulnerable minute after a power play.

From the face-off dot to the right of Halak, Couturier (19) unloaded a wrist shot that Halak got a chunk of– but not enough of– as the puck twirled past the Boston goaltender and into the twine for Couturier’s first career hat trick at 13:53 of the third period.

Philadelphia led, 4-2, thanks to Couturier’s three goals and Lindblom (9) and Provorov (13) recorded the assists on his third goal Wednesday night.

With under two minutes to go in regulation, Cassidy pulled Halak for the extra attacker.

Boston was able to bring the game back to within one-goal as Marchand threw the puck towards net from almost the goal line for Cehlarik (2) to redirect for his second goal of the night at 18:54.

Marchand (34) and Krug (27) tallied the assists as the Bruins trailed, 4-3.

While attempting to disrupt an otherwise surefire empty net goal for the Flyers, Krejci interfered with Couturier at 19:44 and was surprisingly handed a two-minute minor penalty instead of automatically awarding Couturier with his fourth goal of the night.

The Bruins finished the game shorthanded as the final horn sounded on Philadelphia’s, 4-3, victory.

Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal (42-19), hits (18-17) and face-off win% (57-43), while the Flyers led in blocked shots (30-8) and giveaways (13-10).

The B’s went 1/4 on the power play Wednesday night, while Philly was 1/3.

For the first time since March 3-8, 1999, a player (Couturier) registered a hat trick in the National Hockey League in six consecutive days.

Of note, Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara tied Teemu Selanne for the 3rd most regular season games played by a European born player in league history, reaching his 1,451st career game on Wednesday.

Boston heads back home to take on the St. Louis Blues on Thursday and finish up three games in four nights with a matchup on Saturday against the New York Rangers at TD Garden.

Saturday’s game is also the last game before the All-Star break for the Bruins. Pastrnak is the lone representative for the B’s that will be heading to SAP Center in San Jose, California for the weekend of festivities.

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Nick's Net

Petry petrifies Bruins in OT, Habs win, 3-2

Jeff Petry batted in his game-winning goal in overtime just 15 seconds into the five-minute, 3-on-3, overtime period to secure the, 3-2, victory for the Montreal Canadiens over the Boston Bruins Monday night at TD Garden.

Carey Price (18-13-4 record, 2.65 goals against average, .912 save percentage in 36 games played) made 41 saves on 43 shots against for a .953 SV% in the win for the Habs.

Tuukka Rask (13-8-3, 2.44 GAA, .919 SV% in 24 GP) turned aside 19 out of 22 shots faced for an .864 SV% in the loss for Boston.

The Bruins fell to 26-14-5 (57 points) on the season and remain in 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Canadiens remain in 4th with a 25-17-3 record (55 points).

Boston fell to 16-3-3 when scoring first this season as Brad Marchand had opened the game’s scoring in the first period before Montreal added two unanswered goals.

It was the final regular season matchup between these two rival clubs, with the Bruins having won eight of the last nine games against Montreal entering Monday night.

Boston placed Colby Cave on waivers for the purpose of assigning the young center to Providence (AHL) prior to the game on Monday as Bruce Cassidy made no changes to his lineup with Steven Kampfer and John Moore serving as his only healthy scratches and Joakim Nordstrom (non-displaced fibula fracture) still out due to injury.

Despite the loss, one Bruins player reached a milestone in the action with David Pastrnak having appeared in his 300th career NHL game.

For just the second time since being fired by the Bruins, Monreal head coach, Claude Julien beat his former team (that he previously beat a bunch of times in his first stint with the Habs).

Mike Reilly tripped up Marchand at 8:16 of the first period and provided the Bruins their first power play of the night. Boston did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

Past the midpoint of the opening frame, Zdeno Chara interfered with Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who– as a result– tripped up Charlie McAvoy while falling.

Both Chara and Kotkaniemi were sent to the box at 13:46, leaving Boston and Montreal at even strength, 4-on-4, for the next two minutes.

While both teams were short a skater, Marchand (17) received an exceptional pass from Patrice Bergeron, then skated past Shea Weber and sniped a wrist shot past Price’s glove side a la Joe Sakic on any goaltender in his prime.

Bergeron (25) and Matt Grzelcyk (12) notched the assists on Marchand’s goal at 14:09 of the first period and the B’s led, 1-0.

Moments later, tempers flared as Kevan Miller and Nicolas Deslauriers dropped the gloves and exchanged fisticuffs. Both players received five-minute majors for fighting at 16:10 as Miller perhaps sought revenge for his shoulder injury that he suffered back in the day when Deslauriers was a member of the Buffalo Sabres.

Is it your modern day Milan Lucic vs. Mike Komisarek matchup? No, but it was a great fight nonetheless and we’ll take it considering the B’s and Habs rivalry.

Late in the first period on a face-off in Montreal’s offensive zone, Phillip Danault won the draw back to Petry for the shot from the point that Brendan Gallagher (18) tipped with incredible hand-eye coordination through Rask’s five-hole.

Petry (23) and Danault (24) had the assists on Gallagher’s goal at 18:27 and the Canadiens had tied the game, 1-1.

Heading into the dressing room for the first intermission, the Bruins led in shots on goal (11-6), blocked shots (8-3) and takeaways (9-6), while Montreal led in giveaways (3-2), hits (14-9) and face-off win percentage (57-44).

The Habs had yet to see any time on the power play– and, in fact, wouldn’t see any skater advantage opportunities all night as it was a relatively quiet night for penalties– while the B’s were 0/1 on the power play after one period.

Late in the second period, Victor Mete hooked Miller at 16:16 and the ensuing skater advantage for Boston did not go as the B’s had planned.

Less than a minute into their power play, the Bruins turned the puck over as Paul Byron (10) went unchallenged, breaking into Montreal’s offensive zone with speed and beating Rask with an elevated backhander to give the Canadiens the lead, 2-1, at 17:09.

Byron’s shorthanded goal was unassisted and was the league-leading 10th shorthanded goal allowed by Boston this season.

In the final minute of the middle frame, a scrum ensued post whistle, whereby Max Domi sought out Jake DeBrusk and everyone pulled on a member of the opposing team’s sweater.

Brandon Carlo received a two-minute minor for roughing, as did Domi, and the two players were sent to their dressing rooms early as the period was coming to a close.

Through 40 minutes of play, Montreal led, 2-1, on the scoreboard, while Boston led, 26-17, in shots on goal.

The Bruins maintained an advantage in blocked shots (11-6), takeaways (11-10) and giveaways (7-4) after two periods, while the Canadiens led in hits (22-17). Both teams were 50-50 in face-off win% heading into the third period and the B’s were 0/2 on the power play.

Boston couldn’t put anything past Price as the Habs struggled to generate shots on goal in the third period.

Late in the third, Michael Chaput sent the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game minor at 17:55.

Cassidy pulled his netminder with about 1:35 remaining in regulation while on the power play to try to tie the game and force overtime.

As the seconds were ticking down– both in the power play and in the game itself– David Krejci (10) found himself with ample opportunity to unload a wrist shot past the blocker side of Price while the Montreal goaltender was screened by DeBrusk in front of the goal.

Krejci’s power play goal tied the game, 2-2, and was assisted by Marchand (32) and Pastrnak (28) at 19:22 of the third period.

At the end of regulation, the Bruins led in shots on goal, 43-21, despite the scoreboard only reading, 2-2.

It took 15 seconds after puck drop in the overtime period for the Habs to work the puck in the offensive zone, generate a shot on goal and a rebound that Petry (10) batted out of the air for the odd, sheer good puck luck, overtime game-winning goal.

Domi (26) and Byron (7) were credited with the assists as the Canadiens defeated the Bruins, 3-2.

Upon the final horn, Montreal had stolen the extra point on the road, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal (43-22), blocked shots (14-11), giveaways (13-7) and face-off win% (53-47).

Montreal finished the night leading in hits (29-23) and never had a power play opportunity. Meanwhile, Boston went 1/3 on the skater advantage.

The Bruins embark on three games in four nights with a game in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Wednesday, then back home at TD Garden for a matchup Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues and finish off their third game in four nights with their final game before the All-Star break on Saturday against the New York Rangers.

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Podcasts

DTFR Podcast #139- They Ran Out Of Beer!

A bunch of minor trades were made in the last week, the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game rosters were released, as well as the 2019-20 outdoor game schedule. Nick and Connor also discuss the legacy that was the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic and the 2019 IIHF World Junior Quarterfinal upsets.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

*Editor’s Note: Of course, after recording this week’s episode, the Philadelphia Flyers claimed G Mike McKenna off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks.

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Golden Knights Forecast NHL Nick's Net Numbers Game Stats Forecasts

Vegas Golden Knights Forecast Through 40 Games

It’s not the most recent forecast, since the Vegas Golden Knights played Game 41 of their 2018-19 regular season on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings.

Nevertheless, it’s time to take a quick check of the pulse of the Golden Knights– how their season has progressed so far and where it appears to be going from here.

Thanks to some extenuating circumstances, perhaps Vegas fans will forgive me for not being able to get around to their quick forecasted glance after 20 games played this season.

Why? Because it would’ve been pretty dismal and you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.

Although, now at the halfway mark (officially after the game against the Kings, technically unofficially as of this forecast), things have improved, but with a few concerns remaining.

Nate Schmidt served his 20 game suspension for a performance enhancing drug and for the most part, Vegas’ blue line got the job done.

The team’s record wasn’t desirable, but guys like Shea Theodore and Colin Miller continued to rise past expectations in their ability– even more so now that Schmidt is back and solidified the defensive zone for the Golden Knights.

One thing that has plagued the team all season is subpar goaltending.

Marc-Andre Fleury isn’t getting any younger and Malcolm Subban regressed quite a bit from his debut season as a backup netminder at the NHL level last season.

Managing playing time in the crease is something to keep in mind and we’ll take a closer look in a minute.

For now, Vegas stands in a divisional spot in the playoffs in the Pacific. Not nearly as dominant as last season, but keeping up with the legitimate(?) playoff contenders in an otherwise weaker division compared to the rest of the league.

Without further ado, here’s a look at the remaining 42 games (now 41) on the season and what to expect from the latest forecast.

Keep in mind, there are many variables that can and will change what goes down from now through the end of the regular season in April, like trades, injuries, general lineup changes, roster moves and anything else unbeknownst to the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that generates this forecast.

My degree is in communication– not math. It’s “not my fault”.

If a player meets the forecasted stats, then they’ve met expectations. If they exceed their forecasted stats, then they’ve exceed expectations.

And of course, if a player does not live up to the latest forecast, then something went awry (the player could’ve been injured, been unlucky or regressed– a.k.a. didn’t meet expectations).

Puck luck cannot be predicted, but general trends and estimated gut feelings can indicate a sense of what’s to come based on the results of each and every scoresheet night-in and night-out.

Vegas Golden Knights Forecast Through 40 Games (42 Games Remaining)

(Just click on the image if you’re having trouble seeing it– WordPress changed their layout so there’s no more slideshow options.)

Every set of blessings comes with a set of curses and this year, that rings truer more than ever before for the Golden Knights. Of course, it’s only their second season in franchise history, but it’s still true.

William Karlsson (24-26–50 expected totals) is having a “down” year compared to last season’s breakout career-year of 43 goals and 35 assists (78 points). Reaching the 50-point plateau is still respectable, but doesn’t scream any guarantees of being on the first line should the postseason roll around.

Head coach, Gerard Gallant, has enough top-six forward depth to play around with if Karlsson starts to head south, considering Alex Tuch‘s expected 22-28–50 totals, Paul Stastny‘s expected 14-22–36 totals and Max Pacioretty‘s expected 21-22–43 totals.

Despite the ever-consistent qualities of Jonathan Marchessault (27-33–60 expected totals) and Reilly Smith (17-32–49 expected totals), this year’s Golden Knights team point spread is more spread out.

As it is, while Marchessault should lead in goals (27), assists (30) and points (60) and Karlsson should be second in goals (24) and points (50), one would think Smith would be second or third in whatever stats Marchessault and Karlsson aren’t leading in.

However, Tuch’s expected point outcome (50) is tied with Karlsson for the second-most points behind Marchessault and Tuch is expected to rank third on Vegas’ roster in goals behind Marchessault and Karlsson with Smith a distant 5th behind Pacioretty’s 21 expected goals this season.

While the offense isn’t as impactful from the forwards, the blue line has really come into its own in Vegas.

Shea Theodore’s expected 8-29–37 totals will be the best of his teammates and fellow defenders in a Golden Knights uniform, leading Colin Miller (5-27–32 expected totals) and Nick Holden (7-17–24 expected totals).

Nick Holden. That’s right. Holden is ahead of Nate Schmidt (5-18–23 expected totals) in the latest forecast.

But that speaks to Holden’s resiliency in his career and the chemistry Gallant has found in his pairing every night– coupled, of course, with the fact that Holden is seeing more time on the ice (in the literal “games played” sense) than he has the last couple of seasons with the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins.

He is a durable top-four defender that’s still in his athletic prime and it is exactly that kind of depth that can take teams deep into a Stanley Cup Final run.

In goal, Marc-Andre Fleury should land around a 2.61 goals against average and .911 save percentage in a season in which he has been overworked thus far.

He will continue to be overworked unless Malcolm Subban regains his footing, Gallant argues for calling someone up from the Chicago Wolves (AHL) or Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee makes an acquisition for a suitable backup option if all else fails.

Fleury has played in 35 of the 40 games up to this forecast. He’s since played in 35 out of the 41 games played by the club this season.

Subban has played in six games and is 0-5-0 in that span. His expected outcomes are a 2.76 GAA and .907 SV%– both below average goaltending the backup role.

Whereas if Vegas wanted to try Oscar Dansk or Maxime Lagace without the pressures of coming into the dressing room in an emergency recall situation– unlike last season– a little healthy competition for the backup role might nudge Subban in the right direction and take off some of Fleury’s workload.

It’s not that Fleury can’t handle 50-plus games anymore as a starting goaltender, but rather, it’s just that he shouldn’t be relied on for about 85% of the games in the regular season as is his current going rate.