Tag: Antoine Roussel

Bruins rebound with, 2-1, win in Arizona

Charlie McAvoy’s power-play goal in the second period was enough to ensure the Boston Bruins of a, 2-1, victory over the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena Friday night.

Boston has won 17 consecutive regular season matchups against Arizona since losing, 5-2, to the then-Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 9, 2010, in the 2010-11 season opener in Prague, Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, back at Gila River Arena on Friday, Linus Ullmark (15-5-1, 2.54 goals-against average, .916 save percentage in 22 games played) made 30 saves on 31 shots faced for a .968 save percentage in the win for the B’s.

Coyotes goaltender, Scott Wedgewood (4-9-2, 3.32 goals-against average, .899 save percentage in 17 games played), turned aside 35 out of 37 shots faced in the loss.

The Bruins improved to 25-13-3 (53 points) on the season at the halfway point of the 2021-22 82-game calendar and sit 4th in the Atlantic Division. Boston remains in command of the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

Arizona, meanwhile, fell to 10-28-4 (24 points) overall and remain dead last (8th place) in the Pacific Division– one point ahead of the Montréal Canadiens (23 points, 32nd) in the overall league standings.

With the uncertainty surrounding next season’s home for the Coyotes, one thing is for sure– that Boston will have gone 10-1-0 in 11 games at Gila River Arena in its lifetime as Arizona’s home ice from 2003-22.

A report just this week was hailed as a temporary plan for Arizona to play their home games in the same barn as the Arizona State University Sun Devils’ men’s ice hockey team beginning in 2022-23 for three to four years while the National Hockey League club seeks to build a new arena in Tempe.

Matt Grzelcyk returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with an upper body injury.

Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, placed Grzelcyk in his usual role on the first defensive pairing with McAvoy– demoting Urho Vaakanainen to the third pairing alongside Derek Forbort in the process, while scratching Connor Clifton as a result.

Boston was without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Trent Frederic (upper body), Nick Foligno (upper body) and Tuukka Rask (day-to-day, undisclosed) on Friday.

With Rask out of the lineup, Troy Grosenick was recalled from the taxi squad and served as Ullmark’s backup against the Coyotes.

Steven Fogarty, Jesper Frödén and Tyler Lewington joined Clifton in the press box as Boston’s group of taxi squad members and healthy scratches in Arizona.

Jakob Chychrun closed his hand on the puck while trying to settle it and received a minor infraction for closing his hand on the puck (imagine that!?!) as a result– yielding the first power play of the night to the Bruins at 1:30 of the first period.

Boston couldn’t convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

Midway through the opening frame, the Bruins controlled the puck in the attacking zone– working it from Forbort to David Pastrnak as No. 88 in black and gold crashed the net.

Instead of shooting, Pastrnak sent a backhand pass to Erik Haula (5) for a one-timer goal to give the B’s a, 1-0, lead at 12:30 of the first period.

Pastrnak (19) and Forbort (5) tallied the assists on Haula’s 99th career National Hockey League goal.

Late in the period, Shayne Gostisbehere faked a shot from the point and passed the puck to Nick Schmaltz (5) for a catch and release goal on the short side as the Coyotes answered back and tied the game, 1-1, in the process.

Gostisbehere (20) and Clayton Kellyer (18) notched the assists on Schmaltz’s goal at 18:04.

Heading into the first intermission, Boston and Arizona were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, despite the Bruins holding a, 9-8, advantage in shots on goal.

The B’s also led in blocked shots (4-2) and faceoff win percentage (56-44), while the Coyotes led in takeaways (4-0), giveaways (7-6) and hits (13-11).

Boston was 0/1 on the power play, while Arizona had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.

Midway through the middle frame, Gostisbehere tripped up Patrice Bergeron and presented the Bruins with their second power play of the night at 12:05 of the second period.

A little more than a minute into the ensuing advantage, Brad Marchand sent the puck along the blue line to McAvoy as McAvoy (7) corralled the rubber biscuit and proceeded to snap a shot past Wedgewood’s blocker side for a power-play goal.

Marchand (26) and Pastrnak (20) had the assists on the goal as the Bruins pulled ahead, 2-1, at 13:41 of the second period.

Mike Reilly checked Lawson Crouse away from the puck 19 seconds later and presented Arizona with their first power play of the night at 14:00 of the second period.

The Coyotes were not successful on the skater advantage, however.

Shortly after Boston made the kill, Anton Blidh took a stick to the face and drew blood.

At first glance, Schmaltz appeared to be the offender, which would’ve given the Bruins a four-minute power play as a result of Blidh bleeding his own blood, but upon official review McAvoy inadvertently caught his own teammate in the face.

As such, no penalty was assessed on the play and Blidh returned to the night’s action after getting patched up a bit.

Once again, late in the period, Boston sent a skater to the box only this time it was for goaltender interference as Curtis Lazar made no attempt to stop on a rush at 19:33.

Arizona’s resulting power play would extend into the third period.

Through 40 minutes of action, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard despite trailing, 22-21, in shots on goal.

The Coyotes held a, 14-12, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone and led in takeaways (6-3), as well as hits (20-17).

Meanwhile, Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (7-4), giveaways (14-10) and faceoff win% (56-44).

Arizona was 0/2 on the power play, while the B’s were 1/2 heading into the final frame.

Neither team managed to score a goal in the third period, but each team had at least one more penalty in them as Antoine Roussel got his gloves off and tried to engage McAvoy for some reason– only to end up with a double minor for roughing, while McAvoy ended up with a single infraction for roughing despite not getting to defend himself.

Regardless, Ryan Dzingel served time in the box for Roussel’s minor at 2:14 and the Bruins went on the power play early in the third period.

Boston did not convert on the skater advantage and had another chance at doing so go by the wayside when Crouse tripped Marchand at 4:29.

Instead, Arizona ended up with one more chance power play in the night’s action as Bergeron caught Chychrun with a high stick at 6:04 of the third period.

The Coyotes couldn’t muster anything past Ullmark, however, despite 26 seconds of 4-on-4 action and an abbreviated power play thereafter.

With about 2:29 remaining in the game, Arizona’s head coach, André Tourigny, pulled Wedgewood for an extra attacker, but the Coyotes couldn’t seem to hit the net at the most opportune moments in the dying seconds of the game– even after the Yotes took a timeout with 1:41 remaining and Boston used their timeout with 34.8 seconds left.

At the final horn the Bruins had won, 2-1, and emerged victorious in the desert.

Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 37-31, including a, 16-9, advantage in the third period alone, while also maintaining dominance in giveaways (16-12) and faceoff win% (59-41).

Arizona left their own ice leading in blocked shots (10-9) and hits (28-22).

The Coyotes went 0/3 and the Bruins went 1/4 on the power play Friday night.

The B’s improved to 16-5-0 (8-2-0 on the road) when scoring first, 5-5-1 (3-2-1 on the road) when tied after one period and 17-1-1 (11-0-1 on the road) when leading after two periods this season.

Arizona, meanwhile, fell to 4-20-2 (2-11-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 3-10-2 (0-4-1 at home) when tied after the first period and 3-22-1 (2-13-0 at home) when trailing after two periods in 2021-22.

The Bruins (1-0-1) wrap up their three-game road trip Sunday night at American Airlines Center against the Dallas Stars to finish off the month of January. Boston returns home to host the Seattle Kraken in their first-ever matchup on Feb. 1st.

After facing Seattle, the Bruins begin their All Star break.

January 29, 2022
Arizona Coyotes 2021-22 Season Preview

2020-21 record 24-26-6, 54 points

5th in the Honda NHL West Division

Missed the postseason for the first time since 2020

Additions: F Jay Beagle (acquired from VAN), F Travis Boyd, F Ryan Dzingel, F Loui Eriksson (acquired from VAN), F Dmitrij Jaskin, F Bokondji Imama (acquired from LAK), F Andrew Ladd (acquired from NYI), F Liam O’Brien, F Antoine Roussel (acquired from VAN), D Shayne Gostisbehere (acquired from PHI), D Cole Hults (acquired from LAK), D Vladislav Kolyachonok (acquired from FLA), D Anton Strålman (acquired from FLA), D Conor Timmins (acquired from COL), G Carter Hutton, G Josef Korenar (acquired from SJS)

Subtractions: F Michael Bunting (signed with TOR), F Brayden Burke (traded to LAK), F Derick Brassard (signed with PHI), F Michael Chaput (signed with PIT), F Christian Dvorak (traded to MTL), F Conor Garland (traded to VAN), F John Hayden (signed with BUF), F Dryden Hunt (signed with NYR), F Tyler Pitlick (expansion, SEA), F Lane Pederson (rights traded to and signed with SJS), F Emil Pettersson (KHL), F Tyler Steenburgen (traded to LAK), F Nathan Sucese (signed with Iowa Wild, AHL), D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (traded to VAN), D Alex Goligoski (signed with MIN), D Jordan Gross (signed with COL), D Niklas Hjalmarsson (retired), D Jordan Oesterle (signed with DET), G Adin Hill (traded to SJS), G Darcy Kuemper (traded to COL), G Antti Raanta (signed with CAR)

Still Unsigned: F Frédérik Gauthier, F Marian Hossa (retired, contract expired), D Jason Demers, D Aaron Ness

Re-signed: F Hudson Fasching, F Blake Speers, D Cam Dineen, D Dysin Mayo

Offseason Analysis: Arizona took on a bunch of contracts this offseason, but still has about $11.946 million in cap space as Coyotes General Manager, Bill Armstrong, put on a masterclass of how to effectively clean house to rebuild.

The Coyotes are paying a combined $1.500 million this season for the services of Carter Hutton and Josef Korenar in the crease after signing Hutton in free agency and acquiring Korenar and a 2022 2nd round pick via a trade with the San Jose Sharks that sent Adin Hill in return.

Antti Raanta, meanwhile, left for the Carolina Hurricanes, seeking a career resurgence after a rocky, injury filled, tenure in Arizona, while Darcy Kuemper was traded the same day free agency began on July 28th to the Colorado Avalanche for defender, Conor Timmins, a 2022 1st round pick and a conditional 2024 3rd round pick.

Whereas the Buffalo Sabres viewed goaltending as an afterthought this offseason, the Coyotes, uhh, planned this?

Hutton had a 1-10-1 record in 13 games for the Sabres last season and recorded a 3.47 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage in that span, while Korenar made his NHL debut for the Sharks and went 3-5-0 in 10 games with a 3.17 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage.

But goaltending wasn’t the biggest focus for Arizona this offseason as they completely stripped down their roster and planned for a major reset between now and next summer.

Only 19 players throughout the organization are signed through the 2022-23 season, including six players currently on the NHL roster.

After trading Hill and a 2022 7th round pick to the Sharks for Korenar and a 2022 2nd round pick on July 17th, Armstrong made sure to add salary to work his way to the cap floor that same day by acquiring Andrew Ladd from the New York Islanders in addition to a 2021 2nd round pick that originally belonged to Colorado (60th overall, Janis Jerome Moser), as well as a conditional 2023 3rd round pick for future considerations.

Ladd’s been buried in the American Hockey League (AHL) in recent years with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (now Bridgeport Islanders) and last played at the NHL level in four games with New York in 2019-20– scoring one goal that season.

As crazy as it sounds, Arizona might use Ladd on their roster. At 35-years-old, he’s in his final run, but with two years remaining on his contract at a $5.500 million cap hit, he’s one of the few players left on the team entering 2022-23– unless he’s moved before then or retires.

Philadelphia saw what the Islanders did and said “hey, we can do that too” and traded defender, Shayne Gostisbehere, to the Coyotes with a 2022 2nd round pick and a 2022 7th round pick in exchange for future considerations.

Arizona takes on Gostisbehere’s remaining two years of his current contract at $4.500 million per season and looks to resurrect his offensive game from the blue line since his career-high 65 points in 78 games with the Flyers in 2017-18.

Last season, Gostisbehere bounced back from 12 points in 42 games in 2019-20 with a respectable 20 points in 41 games, but it’s not enough to justify his price tag amid a plethora of defenders looking to crack Philadelphia’s lineup on a regular basis, so the Coyotes are glad to give Gostisbehere a warm welcome.

A day after acquiring Gostisbehere, Arizona made waves when they traded their captain, Oliver Ekman-Larsson with the rights to then restricted-free agent forward, Conor Garland, to the Vancouver Canucks for Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, a 2021 1st round pick (9th overall, Dylan Guenther), a 2022 2nd round pick and a 2023 7th round pick in return on July 23rd.

Ekman-Larsson’s production has been in decline since recording 21-34–55 totals in 75 games with the Coyotes in 2015-16. He followed that season up with 39 points in 79 games in 2016-17, and 42 points in 82 games in 2017-18, before signing an eight-year extension with an $8.250 million cap hit on July 1, 2018, that would go into effect for the 2019-20 season.

In 2018-19, Ekman-Larsson had 14-30–44 totals. In 2019-20, he had 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 66 games and just last season, Ekman-Larsson had 24 points (three goals, 21 assists) in 46 games for Arizona.

So the Coyotes packaged him with Garland to a team that Ekman-Larsson had expressed a desire in being traded to entering last offseason (Ekman-Larsson would only accept a trade to the Boston Bruins or Vancouver, but Arizona held out and kept him for the 2020-21 season).

Garland signed an extension with the Canucks, while Arizona also retained 12% of Ekman-Larsson’s salary (about $990,000 per season through 2026-27) in the aftermath of the deal.

Meanwhile, Eriksson, Beagle and Roussel are looking for a fresh start in a new market– though they each have one-year remaining on their contracts, so they probably shouldn’t get too comfortable.

Eriksson managed to earn one assist in seven games last season for Vancouver, while Beagle was limited to 30 games due to injury and had 1-4–5 totals and Roussel chipped in four points (one goal, three assists) in 35 games.

So they’re not offensive powerhouses, but the Coyotes aren’t going for a Cup ring this season– they’re going for a complete reset as they continued to wheel and deal this offseason.

Arizona swapped minor leagues with the Los Angeles Kings in a trade on July 24th, then took July 25th off before acquiring defender, Anton Stålman, from the Florida Panthers for a 2023 7th round pick on July 26th.

Strålman fell out of favor in Florida after scoring 19 points from the blue line in 69 games in 2019-20 before dropping to nine points in 38 games last season with the Panthers.

Needing cap space, the Panthers moved on from Strålman, dropping him and his $5.500 million cap hit, along with defender, Vladislav Kolyachonok, off with the Coyotes for the 2021-22 season, where the 35-year-old defender is hungry to keep his playing days alive in the twilight of his career.

With a few new faces on defense, Arizona is ready for life in a post-Niklas Hjalmarsson world, since the 34-year-old native of Sweden retired after five points (all assists) in 41 games with the Coyotes last season.

On July 28th, Arizona executed the Kuemper trade, then the phone lines went silent for about a month until the Carolina Hurricanes signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet that the Montréal Canadiens wouldn’t match.

Montréal inquired the Coyotes about the availability of Christian Dvorak on the trade market and he was shipped off the Habs on Sept. 4th for a conditional 2022 1st round pick (the worse of the Canadiens’ own or Carolina’s) and a 2024 2nd round pick.

By the way, Arizona hired a new head coach this offseason, naming André Tourigny as the designated leader to guide the rebuild down to the depths and back to the surface of playoff contention.

That should be fun.

At least Tourigny has a good repertoire among major junior players and can settle into the NHL level with whoever the Coyotes draft in 2022.

Offseason Grade: A-

Look, just because the offseason grade says “A-” doesn’t mean this team will actually be competitive.

Yes, the Coyotes are going to finish last in the Central Division– by the way, they’re new to the Central this season since the Seattle Kraken joined the league and took Arizona’s spot in the Pacific Division.

But it’s also true that Armstrong made most of the right moves that aligned with Arizona’s offseason philosophy– embrace the tank.

The Coyotes are loading up on draft picks, prospects and whatever scraps you can find with other teams’ bad contracts and should turn things around in the next few years.

Of course, there’s the fact that this seems to happen way too often in Arizona and the concern among the fanbase that things might not go as planned with their expected relocation from Glendale to Tempe, Arizona as the City of Glendale has booted the team out of their space at Gila River Arena after the 2021-22 season– opting out of their current lease agreement, as the city could in accordance with agreed upon clauses.

But for all things considered, the Coyotes have a plan. The same can’t be said for Buffalo.

September 10, 2021
Vancouver Canucks 2021-22 Season Preview

2020-21 record 23-29-4, 50 points

7th in the Scotia NHL North Division

Missed the postseason for the first time since 2020

Additions: F Justin Dowling, F Jason Dickinson (acquired from DAL), F Phil Di Giuseppe, F Sheldon Dries, F Conor Garland (acquired from ARI), F Nic Petan, F Sheldon Rempal, F John Stevens, D Kyle Burroughs, D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (acquired from ARI), D Brad Hunt, D Brady Keeper, D Tucker Poolman, D Luke Schenn, D Devante Stephens, G Jaroslav Halak, G Spencer Martin (acquired from TBL)

Subtractions: F Sven Baertschi (signed with VGK), F Jay Beagle (traded to ARI), F Travis Boyd (signed with ARI), F Loui Eriksson (traded to ARI), F Tyler Graovac (KHL), F Jayce Hawryluk (SHL), F Kole Lind (expansion, SEA), F Lukas Jasek (Liiga), F Marc Michaelis (signed with Toronto Marlies, AHL), F Petrus Palmu (Liiga), F Antoine Roussel (traded to ARI), F Jake Virtanen (buyout, KHL), D Jalen Chatfield (signed with Chicago Wolves, AHL), D Alexander Edler (signed with LAK), D Mitch Eliot (signed with Rochester Americans, AHL), D Brogan Rafferty (signed with ANA), D Nate Schmidt (traded to WPG), D Ashton Sautner (signed with Abbotsford Canucks, AHL), D Josh Teves (signed with Rochester Americans, AHL), G Braden Holtby (buyout)

Still Unsigned: F Elias Pettersson (RFA), F Jimmy Vesey, D Quinn Hughes (RFA), G Jake Kielly

Re-signed: F Justin Bailey, F Brandon Sutter, D Guillaume Brisebois, D Travis Hamonic, D Olli Juolevi

Offseason Analysis: Canucks General Manager, Jim Benning, has been busy this offseason undoing past misjudgments and moving Vancouver forward in other areas (however small they may be).

At least he didn’t sign anyone to a head-scratching long-term contract the day that free agency began on July 28th this year.

With about $10.664 million in cap space currently and Elias Pettersson as a restricted-free agent alongside Quinn Hughes, the Canucks still have some work to get done before the season begins or else they risk falling behind even further in the standings.

While Pettersson would probably love to make about $9.000 or $10 million per season, he hasn’t exactly reached that status yet as a 22-year-old center with 153 points in 165 career games.

A solid bridge contract is more likely in his future than, say, a long-term seven or eight-year deal.

It may be kicking the can down the road to pay him later, but with 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 26 games last season, there’s always the risk that his wrist injury might quite literally hurt his skilled hands in the near to long-term future.

A bridge deal insures the Canucks of avoiding prolonging the salary cap hell that they’ve been through until Benning was able to dump most of it in Arizona via the trade with the Coyotes for Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland.

That said, Pettersson is worth paying a premium for to build off of Vancouver’s young core. He had 28-38–66 totals in 71 games in his first season in the league in 2018-19 and amassed 27-39–66 totals in 68 games prior to the COVID-19 pandemic being declared in the 2019-20 season.

Hughes, on the other hand, is important to Vancouver’s future, but had a dip in production from 53 points (eight goals, 45 assists) in 68 games in his first full season in 2019-20 to 41 points (three goals, 38 assists) in 56 games last season.

Nevertheless, for a defender to wrack up 40 or more points in a season is pretty good all things considered.

Especially since Hughes is only 21-years-old and has plenty of track left on route to his potential.

It should be easier to get a deal done with Hughes than Pettersson if the sticking point is that one sees themselves more valuable to the team than the other.

If, for some reason, things went south between the Canucks and Pettersson, the Canucks could survive– albeit reminiscent of the last days of Pavel Bure with the franchise.

In other words, you probably don’t want that to happen again.

All right, what about what Vancouver has already taken care of this offseason, shall we?

Jaroslav Halak left the Boston Bruins for the Canucks via free agency this summer and signed a one-year deal worth $1.500 million with another $1.500 million in performance bonuses to become the backup to Thatcher Demko, though Vancouver may prefer to utilize Halak and Demko as some sort of a 1A/1B tandem.

Despite Halak’s 9-6-4 record in 19 games last season, he maintained a quality 2.53 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage with two shutouts in that span as Boston’s backup until Jeremy Swayman entered the conversation.

In 2019-20, Halak and Tuukka Rask captured the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltender(s) with 25 or more games played that allowed the fewest goals against in that season.

Halak went 18-6-6 in 31 games and had a 2.39 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and three shutouts in that remarkable regular season run.

It served as a reminder that Halak was once a surefire starting goaltender and could very well, in the event that was necessary, command a team from the crease as a starter once more.

This after a 22-11-4 record in 40 games played with Boston in 2018-19, in which he had a 2.34 goals-against average, a .922 save percentage and five shutouts.

But at 36-years-old, Halak’s time in the league is dwindling as he continues about the twilight of his career.

At the very least, he brings in more stability in the crease than Braden Holtby did for Demko– and that’s precisely why the Canucks felt is was O.K. to buyout the remaining year of Holtby’s contract.

The bulk of Benning’s work this offseason came via making trades.

He most recently acquired goaltender, Spencer Martin, from the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 31st for future considerations to solidify depth in the event of injury or to at least provide the Abbotsford Canucks (AHL) with a quality starter.

But earlier this summer, Benning kicked things off with a small grab for top-nine depth by sending the Dallas Stars a 2021 3rd round pick (73rd overall, Ayrton Martino) for forward, Jason Dickinson, on July 17th.

Six days later, Benning phoned Bill Armstrong in Arizona and executed a trade that saved the Canucks almost $5.000 million in valuable cap space after sending Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, a 2021 1st round pick (9th overall, Dylan Guenther), a 2022 2nd round pick and a 2023 7th round pick to the Coyotes for Ekman-Larsson and Garland’s signing rights before re-signing the latter to a five-year extension worth $4.950 million per season.

Arizona retained 12% of Ekman-Larsson’s salary, thus shaving $990,000 off of his cap hit for Vancouver, who is assessed a cap hit of $7.260 million per season for Ekman-Larsson through 2026-27.

With change coming to the blue line in Vancouver, Nate Schmidt reconsidered a trade he had initially rejected and informed Benning he would be fine being moved after all in a deal where the Canucks sent Schmidt to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2022 3rd round pick on July 27th.

If Ekman-Larsson’s able to rebound from his decline– reaching 55 points in 75 games in 2015-16, then 39 points in 79 games the following season before rebounding with 42 points in 82 games in 2017-18 and 44 points in 81 games in 2018-19 prior to his dropoff again in 2019-20, where he had 30 points in 66 games and 2020-21, where he had 24 points in 46 games– then Benning might just be a mastermind after all.

At the very least, Ekman-Larsson’s 24 points last season with Arizona was more than Schmidt had in 54 games with Vancouver, as Schmidt dropped from 31 points in 59 games with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019-20 to 15 points in 54 games with the Canucks.

Offseason Grade: B

If the Canucks had signed Pettersson and Hughes to extensions already– and assuming they weren’t overpaying them– then Vancouver probably would get an “A” overall for their willingness to free themselves from past mistakes and try something new.

Will they be as bad as they were last season? Probably not.

Will they be “blow other teams out of the water” good this season? Also probably not.

But at the very least, they’ve given themselves enough to work with in the next year or two to fill out the rest of their core and supplement their best players with better pieces of the puzzle.

If, however, everything falls on their face, then I guess Vancouver is just cursed like that then, huh.

September 8, 2021
2021 NHL Entry Draft Round 1 Recap
Round 1 of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft was held virtually Friday night for the second-straight year as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic delayed the league’s plans for a draft at Bell Centre in Montréal until 2022 at the earliest.

Coverage of this year’s first round began Friday night at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 in the United States, as well as SN and TVAS in Canada. Rounds 2-7 will be televised on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. ET on NHLN in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada.

As always, there were plenty of surprises and (possibly) a lack of trades. Here’s how it all went down.

2021 NHL Entry Draft Round 1

1.Buffalo Sabres –> D Owen Power, Michigan (NCAA)

2. Seattle Kraken –> C Matthew Beniers, Michigan (NCAA)

3. Anaheim Ducks –> C Mason McTavish, Peterborough Petes (OHL)

4. New Jersey Devils –> D Luke Hughes, USA-U18 (USHL)

5. Columbus Blue Jackets –> C Kent Johnson, Michigan (NCAA)

6. Detroit Red Wings –> D Simon Edvinsson, Frölunda HC (SHL)

7. San Jose Sharks –> LW William Eklund, Djurgårdens IF (SHL)

8. Los Angeles Kings –> D Brandt Clarke, Barrie Colts (OHL)

9. Arizona Coyotes (from Vancouver Canucks) –> RW Dylan Guenther, Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)

10. Ottawa Senators –> RW Tyler Boucher, USA-U18 (USHL)

11. ~~Arizona Coyotes~~ –> Forfeited pick

12. Columbus Blue Jackets (from Chicago) –> C Cole Sillinger, Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)

13. Calgary Flames –> RW Matthew Coronato, Chicago Steel (USHL)

14. Buffalo Sabres (from Philadelphia Flyers) –> RW Isak Rosen, Leksands IF (SHL)

15. Detroit Red Wings (from Dallas Stars) –> G Sebastian Cossa, Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)

16. New York Rangers –> LW Brennan Othmann, EHC Olten (Swiss League)

17. St. Louis Blues –> C Zachary Bolduc, Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)

18. Winnipeg Jets –> C Chaz Lucius, USA-U18 (USHL)

19. Nashville Predators –> C Fedor Svechkov, HC Lada Togliatti (VHL)

20. Minnesota Wild (from Edmonton Oilers) –> G Jesper Wallstedt, Luleå HF (SHL)

21. Boston Bruins –> RW Fabian Lysell, Luleå HF (SHL)

22. Edmonton Oilers (from Minnesota Wild) –> C Xavier Bourgault, Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

23. Dallas Stars (from Washington Capitals via Detroit Red Wings) –> C Wyatt Johnston, Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

24. Florida Panthers –> RW Mackie Samoskevich, Chicago Steel (USHL)

25. Columbus Blue Jackets (from Toronto Maple Leafs) –> D Corson Ceulemans, Brooks Bandits (AJHL)

26. Minnesota Wild (from Pittsburgh Penguins) –> D Carson Lambos, Winnipeg Ice (WHL)

27. Nashville Predators (from Carolina Hurricanes) –> LW Zachary L’Heureux, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

28. Colorado Avalanche –> RW Oskar Olausson, HV71 (SHL)

29. New Jersey Devils (from New York Islanders) –> RW Chase Stillman, Sudbury Wolves (OHL)

30. Vegas Golden Knights –> C Zach Dean, Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)

31. Montréal Canadiens –> ~~D Logan Mailloux, SK Lejon~~

32. Chicago (from Tampa Bay Lightning via Columbus Blue Jackets) –> D Nolan Allan, Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)

Trades made during the first round of the draft:
- The Dallas Stars traded the 15th overall pick to the Detroit Red Wings for the 23rd overall pick, 48th overall pick and 138th overall pick in this year’s draft.
- The Edmonton Oilers traded the 20th overall pick to the Minnesota Wild for the 22nd overall pick and 90th overall pick in this year’s draft.
- The Carolina Hurricanes traded the 27th overall pick to the Nashville Predators for the 40th overall and 51st overall picks in this year’s draft.
Trades made earlier in the day prior to the first round of the draft:
- The Buffalo Sabres traded D Rasmus Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers for D Robert Hagg, a 2021 1st round pick (14th overall) and a 2023 2nd round pick.
- F Pavel Buchnevich was traded by the New York Rangers to the St. Louis Blues for F Sammy Blais and a 2022 2nd round pick.
- The Arizona Coyotes acquired F Antoine Roussel, F Jay Beagle, F Loui Eriksson, a 2021 1st round pick (9th overall), a 2022 2nd round pick and a 2023 7th round pick from the Vancouver Canucks for D Oliver Ekman-Larsson and F Conor Garland. Arizona retained 12% of Ekman-Larsson’s cap hit (about $990,000) in the deal.
- Chicago traded D Adam Boqvist, a 2021 1st round pick (12th overall), a 2021 2nd round pick and a conditional 2022 1st round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for D Seth Jones, a 2021 1st round pick (32nd overall) and a 2022 6th round pick. If Chicago wins one of the 2022 draft lotteries, the conditional 2022 1st round pick becomes a 2023 1st round pick in the transaction.
- The Carolina Hurricanes dealt D Jake Bean to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2021 2nd round pick (originally belonging to Chicago).
July 23, 2021
DTFR Podcast #204- Late For Everything!

Nick and Colby talk about what went wrong for the Toronto Maple Leafs and other teams eliminated in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier, as well as preview the already in progress 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify.

August 16, 2020
Canucks down Bruins, 9-3

The Vancouver Canucks routed the Boston Bruins, 9-3, at Rogers Arena on Saturday night in what was Boston’s third game in four nights of traveling.

That said, Canucks goaltender, Jacob Markstrom (23-16-4 record, 2.75 goals against average, .918 save percentage in 43 games played) made 34 saves on 37 shots against for a .918 SV% in 58:12 time on ice en route to the win.

Meanwhile, his teammate and Canucks backup goaltender, Thatcher Demko (10-6-2, 3.03 GAA, .905 SV% in 20 games played) made a brief relief appearance for a 1:48 span after Markstrom took an inadvertent stick through the cage of his mask early in the first period.

Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (23-6-6, 2.17 GAA, .928 SV% in 36 games played) stopped 21 out of 27 shots faced for a .778 SV% in the loss.

Rask was replaced by Jaroslav Halak (16-6-6, 2.42 GAA, .918 SVT in 29 games played) after amassing 46:28 TOI and allowing six goals.

Halak came into the game during a stoppage in play after a Bruins power play goal in the second period and turned aside five out of the eight shots he faced for a .625 SV% en route to no decision in Boston’s loss.

All four goaltenders that dressed for the game took part in the action on Saturday– on a night in the National Hockey League where, 42-year-old, emergency backup goaltender, Dave Ayres, stole the show for the Carolina Hurricanes in their, 6-3, victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road.

Also, the Arizona Coyotes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-3, on Saturday night.

Apparently goaltending was optional league wide for one night only!

Boston fell to 39-12-12 (90 points) on the season, but remained in command of the entire league standings, while Vancouver improved to 33-22-6 (72 points) and rose to 2nd place in the Pacific Division.

The B’s also fell to 18-10-3 on the road this season, while the Canucks improved to 20-7-4 at home this season.

February 9, 2016 was the last time Boston allowed nine goals (a, 9-2, loss on home ice to the Los Angeles Kings).

Once more, the Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body/conditioning loan) on Saturday night.

B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Friday night’s, 4-3, win in Calgary to Saturday night’s action in Vancouver.

Joakim Nordstrom, Par Lindholm and John Moore were healthy scratches for Boston, while Ondrej Kase was a de facto healthy scratch as he won’t meet up with the team until Monday for practice at Warrior Ice Arena after having been acquired by the Bruins on Friday.

Kase hasn’t played since Feb. 7th due to an illness and was skating with the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday prior to being traded the following day.

A little past the four-minute mark in the action, the Canucks struck first with a blast from Troy Stecher (4) from the faceoff dot, off of Rask, then off the post and over the goal line– giving Vancouver the game’s first lead, 1-0.

Tyler Motte (4) and Jay Beagle (5) recorded the assists on Stecher’s goal at 4:14 of the first period.

Less than a few minutes later, Boston responded on the scoreboard with a goal of their own– tying the game, 1-1, when David Pastrnak (44) deked and wrapped the rubber biscuit around Markstrom with a forehand goal after breaking into the zone on a breakaway thanks to a stretch pass from Matt Grzelcyk through the neutral zone.

Grzelcyk (15) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s first goal of the night at 7:06 of the first period. The goal tied Pastrnak for the most goals by a Bruin in a season since Glen Murray scored 44 goals in the 2002-03 season.

Moments later, Danton Heinen caught Markstrom with an errant stick while engaged in a net front battle and accidentally clipped the Canucks goaltender inside the cage with the blade of his stick.

There was no penalty on the play and Markstrom was forced to briefly leave the game before returning almost two minutes later.

In the meantime, Jeremy Lauzon received a holding infraction against Elias Pettersson at the other end of the ice at 10:21 of the first period, which provided Markstrom with the chance to replace Demko at the stoppage in the action.

Less than a minute later, Canucks captain, Bo Horvat (19), rocketed a one-timer from the high slot past Rask while Zdeno Chara and Brandon Carlo were split chasing J.T. Miller deep into the corner (from where the one-timer opportunity was generated by Miller to Horvat) and protecting the front of the crease.

Miller (36) and Vancouver’s newest forward, Tyler Toffoli (18), tallied the assists on Horvat’s power play goal and the Canucks led, 2-1, at 11:08 of the opening frame.

About four minutes later, Horvat took a trip to the penalty box for a holding minor against Brad Marchand and presented Boston with their first power play opportunity of the night at 15:34.

Boston’s power play was cut short when Patrice Bergeron also cut a rut to the sin bin for holding against Motte at 17:13– resulting in 21 seconds of 4-on-4 action before the Canucks had an abbreviated power play.

Neither team was able to score on the special teams action.

After one period of play in Vancouver on Saturday, the Canucks led the Bruins, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 17-12, in shots on goal.

Vancouver also held the advantage in every other statistical category, including blocked shots (4-1), takeaways (7-4), giveaways (5-0), hits (14-10) and faceoff win percentage (57-43).

The Canucks were 1/2 on the power play, while the Bruins were 0/1 on the skater advantage heading into the first intermission.

Early in the middle frame, Adam Gaudette (11) wired a shot under the bar and over Rask’s glove from close range to extend Vancouver’s lead to two-goals.

Quinn Hughes (40) notched the only assist on Gaudette’s goal and Vancouver led, 3-1, at 5:32 of the second period.

Late in the period, the Canucks added a pair of goals when Tanner Pearson (18) pocketed a rebound to extend Vancouver’s lead to three-goals at 14:48.

Loui Eriksson (6) and Tyler Myers (13) had the assists on Pearson’s goal, which made it, 4-1, for the Canucks before Eriksson (6) tallied a goal of his own after stuffing in a loose puck off a deflection in the slot to make it, 5-1, for the Canucks.

Horvat (29) and Alexander Edler (21) recorded the primary and secondary assists on Eriksson’s goal at 15:39 of the second period.

Less than a minute later, Chara took exception to Myers’ hit on Karson Kuhlman in front of the benches and attempted to engage the Vancouver defender in an exchange of fisticuffs, but the Canucks blue liner didn’t want any part of it.

As a result, Myers was assessed a minor for roughing, while Chara picked up two roughing minors at 16:37– yielding a power play to the Canucks in the waning moments of the middle frame.

With less than a minute left in the second period, Charlie Coyle and Horvat got into a scrap and traded punches.

Both players received five-minute majors for fighting at 19:30 and were sent to the dressing room 30 seconds ahead of everyone else.

Through 40 minutes of action in Vancouver, the Canucks led on the scoreboard, 5-1, and in shots on goal, 25-24.

The Canucks also maintained the advantage in blocked shots (11-2), takeaways (12-6), giveaways (8-3) and faceoff win% (56-44), while the Bruins led in hits (25-23).

Vancouver was 1/3 on the skater advantage, while Boston was 0/1 on the power play heading into the third period.

Less than a minute into the final frame of regulation, Pettersson (25) snapped a wrist shot over Rask’s blocker side and into the twine.

Miller (37) and Stecher (9) had the assists on Pettersson’s goal and the Canucks led, 6-1, 46 seconds into the third period.

Moments later, Antoine Roussel caught Torey Krug with a high stick at 5:25 of the third period and presented the B’s with their second power play of the night.

This time around, Boston made sure to capitalize on the skater advantage.

Pastrnak (45) blasted one of his patented power play goals behind Markstrom to cut the deficit to four-goals at 6:28.

Krug (34) and Marchand (54) tallied the assists as Pastrnak picked up his 45th goal of the season– becoming the highest goal-scoring Bruin since Murray in 2002-03– and the B’s trailed, 6-2.

Before the ensuing faceoff, Cassidy replaced Rask with Halak in the crease.

Less than two minutes later, Boston began to mount some momentum with another quick goal from Chris Wagner (5)– his first goal in 18 games– after Wagner followed up on his own rebound and slipped in a backhand goal to make it, 6-3, at 8:11 of the third period.

Grzelcyk (16) and Sean Kuraly (16) had the assists on Wagner’s first goal since Jan. 7th.

Boston’s surge in momentum didn’t last long as Toffoli (19) slapped a one-timer past Halak about three minutes later.

Miller (38) had the only assist on Toffoli’s first goal and once again worked the puck from the end boards back to a teammate for the surefire one-timer goal at 11:10 of the third period and the Canucks led, 7-3.

Less than two minutes later, after Halak managed to stop multiple consecutive shots, finally the Canucks slipped a shot through as chaos ensued in front of the net.

Toffoli (20) mustered his second goal of the game and extended Vancouver’s lead back to five-goals.

Hughes (41) had the only assist on Toffoli’s second goal at 13:03 and the Canucks led, 8-3.

Finally, Jake Virtanen (17) snaked his way through the neutral zone and beat Halak clean with a wrist shot goal past Halak’s glove at 18:15 of the third period and extended Vancouver’s lead to six-goals.

Edler (22) and Stecher (10) each amassed their second assists of the night on Virtanen’s goal and the Canucks finished off the Bruins, 9-3.

At the final horn, Vancouver had beaten Boston, despite trailing the Bruins in shots on goal, 37-35.

The Canucks finished the night leading in every other stat, including blocked shots (18-6), giveaways (12-4), hits (31-29) and faceoff win% (55-46).

Vancouver wrapped up Saturday night’s action 1/3 on the skater advantage, while the B’s went 1/2 on the power play in the 60-minute effort.

Boston fell to 6-5-3 when trailing after one period and 5-9-4 when trailing after two periods this season, while Vancouver improved to 17-3-2 when leading after one period and 21-1-1 when leading after two periods this season.

Hughes became the 2nd Canucks rookie defender to record 40 or more assists in a season, joining Dale Tallon (14-42–56 totals) in 1970-71. Hughes joined Bryan Berard (40 in 1996-97), Janne Niinimaa (40 in 1996-97) and Nicklas Lidstrom (49 in 1991-92) as just the fourth rookie defender in the last 30 years to amass at least 40 assists in a single season.

Vancouver became the third different team this season to score nine goals, joining the Lightning (9-3, win against the New York Rangers on Nov. 14, 2019 and a, 9-2, win against Vancouver on Jan. 7, 2020) and Colorado Avalanche (9-4, win against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 7, 2019).

Boston finished their four-game road trip (3-1-0).

The B’s return home for a two-game homestand on Tuesday, Feb. 25th and Thursday, Feb. 27th for meetings with the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars, respectively, before wrapping up the month of February with a road game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 29th.

February 23, 2020
DTFR Podcast #161- Battle For Gloria (Part Three- The Games Are Happening Part)

The Battle For Gloria rages on with the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues tied 2-2 in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. Nick and Pete also discuss the latest coaching moves (Dave Tippett, Bob Boughner, Marc Crawford), trades (Kevin Hayes) and rumors (Patrick Marleau, Nikita Zaitsev, Phil Kessel), while Nick introduces a new game segment that has Pete stumped.

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

June 6, 2019

Game of the week: March 11-17

We’re definitely starting to get close to the Stanley Cup Playoffs now! As of the completion of last night’s games, three teams (Detroit, New Jersey and Ottawa) have already been eliminated from postseason contention, and even more will surely join that list by next week’s featured matchup.

Of course, the only way to figure out which teams those are is by playing out the schedule. Here’s this week’s NHL offerings:

NHL SCHEDULE: March 11-17
TIME (ALL TIMES EASTERN)	VISITOR	HOST	NATIONAL BROADCAST(S)/ Result
Monday, March 11
7 p.m.	Tampa Bay	Toronto	6-2
7 p.m.	Columbus Blue Jackets	New York Islanders	0-2
7 p.m.	Ottawa	Philadelphia	2-3
8 p.m.	San Jose	Minnesota	3-0
8:30 p.m.	Arizona	Chicago	1-7
9 p.m.	Carolina	Colorado	3-0
9 p.m.	New York Rangers	Edmonton Oilers	2-3 (OT)
Tuesday, March 12
7 p.m.	Dallas	Buffalo	2-0
7 p.m.	Washington	Pittsburgh	3-5
7 p.m.	Boston	Columbus	4-7
7:30 p.m.	Detroit	Montréal	1-3
8 p.m.	Arizona	St. Louis	3-1
8 p.m.	San Jose	Winnipeg	5-4
9 p.m.	New Jersey	Calgary	4-9
10 p.m.	Nashville	Anaheim	2-3
Wednesday, March 13
7 p.m.	Chicago	Toronto	5-4
9:30 p.m.	New Jersey	Edmonton	6-3
10 p.m.	New York Rangers	Vancouver Canucks	1-4
Thursday, March 14
7 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Buffalo	5-0
7 p.m.	Montréal Canadiens	New York Islanders	1-2
7 p.m.	Washington	Philadelphia	5-2
7:30 p.m.	St. Louis	Ottawa	0-2
7:30 p.m.	Tampa Bay	Detroit	5-4
8 p.m.	Dallas	Minnesota	4-1
8 p.m.	Boston	Winnipeg	3-4
10 p.m.	Anaheim	Arizona	1-6
10:30 p.m.	Nashville	Los Angeles	3-1
10:30 p.m.	Florida	San Jose	4-2
Friday, March 15
7 p.m.	Philadelphia	Toronto	6-7
7 p.m.	Carolina	Columbus	0-3
8 p.m.	Vegas	Dallas	2-1
9 p.m.	Anaheim	Colorado	5-3
9 p.m.	New York Rangers	Calgary Flames	1-5
10 p.m.	New Jersey	Vancouver	3-2 (SO)
Saturday, March 16
1 p.m.	St. Louis	Pittsburgh	NHLN, TVAS
1 p.m.	New York Islanders	Detroit Red Wings
4 p.m.	Florida	Los Angeles
7 p.m.	Calgary	Winnipeg	ESPN+
7 p.m.	Columbus	Boston	ESPN+
7 p.m.	Chicago	Montréal	CITY, TVAS
7 p.m.	Toronto	Ottawa	CBC, SN1, TVAS2
7 p.m.	Washington	Tampa Bay	NHLN
7 p.m.	Buffalo	Carolina
8 p.m.	New York Rangers	Minnesota Wild
10 p.m.	Edmonton Oilers	Arizona Coyotes	CBC, CITY, SN, SN1
10:30 p.m.	Nashville	San Jose	ESPN+
Sunday, March 17
3 p.m.	New Jersey	Colorado	SN1
5 p.m.	St. Louis	Buffalo	NHLN
6 p.m.	New York Islanders	Minnesota Wild	ESPN+
7 p.m.	Vancouver	Dallas	SN
7:30 p.m.	Philadelphia	Pittsburgh	NBCSN, TVAS
9 p.m.	Florida	Anaheim
10 p.m.	Edmonton	Vegas	NBCSN

Another fun week of NHL action, no?

After all, we’ve been treated to a little bit of rivalry action already when the Capitals visited Pittsburgh and the Red Wings headed to Montréal on Tuesday, not to mention Wednesday’s Original Six contest featuring Chicago at Toronto.

The hatred continued Thursday when the Caps headed to the City of Brotherly Love and will resume today with the Hawks in Montréal and the Battle of Ontario. Finally, the Battle of the Keystone State will clean up this week’s derby action tomorrow night.

We were also treated to more than a few playoff rematches from last season, though it must be asked if they’re all that exciting anymore since we’re so close to this year’s postseason.

It’s all about the Capitals and Penguins in that department this week, starting with their Tuesday night tilt in a rematch of the Eastern Semifinals. Washington then heads to Tampa tonight in a rematch of the Eastern Finals, while the Pens host Philly tomorrow in a rematch of the First Round.

Finally, this week’s homecoming king is none other than LW Antoine Roussel, who spent the first six seasons of his NHL career in Dallas before signing with the Canucks this offseason. He’ll play his first-ever road game at American Airlines Center tomorrow.

Players also making important returns this week include F Jacob de La Rose (he was a second-round pick by the Habs in 2013) and C Ryan O’Reilly (he spent three seasons with the Sabres before being traded to St. Louis this offseason).

However, we can throw all of this information out of the window, as I’m instead choosing to feature the tilt fellow DtFR writer Colby Kephart and I are taking this evening featuring his beloved Sabres taking on the red-hot Carolina Hurricanes.

The growing pains for the 30-31-9 Buffalo Sabres have been all too real this season, but the fact that they’re having them should mean the club is growing, right?

Of course, we all remember the Sabres’ unbelievable 10-game winning streak they experienced throughout almost the entire month of November.

However, that winning run is certainly in the rear-view mirror nowadays, as Buffalo is currently riding a six-game losing skid (0-5-1) and boasts a lowly 2-10-2 record in its last 14 outings. Making matters even worse, the Sabres’ attack has been shutout for three-straight games, clocking in at 192:40 since their last non-shootout goal.

As might be indicated by a shutout streak of that magnitude, offense has been the Sabres’ biggest struggle of late. That’s not to say the 3.79 goals or 35.07 shots they’re allowing on average since February 15 is OK (those stats respectively rank third and fourth-worst in the NHL in that time), but the Sabres’ 2.07 goals per game in the past month ranks second-worst in the league and simply must improve to something closer to their 2.71 season average if they want to end their campaign on a positive note.

In the Sabres’ defense, they have been without their captain, C Jack Eichel, while he’s been suspended for the last two games for an illegal hit to F Carl Soderberg‘s head. That being said, even his 7-4-11 production in his past 12 outings is still slightly off his expected pace. On the season, he’s managed 25-47-72 points in 65 games and looks to be on pace for his first season averaging more than a point per game.

With his return to the ice, Head Coach Phil Housley will have high expectations that his club’s top line and first power play unit should rediscover its groove. If that proves to be the case, F Jeff Skinner (36-22-58 on the season, 2-5-7 since February 15) and RW Jason Pominville (15-13-28 on the season, 2-3-5 in his last 14 appearances) should see their numbers get back on pace as well.

You’re hard pressed to find a hotter team in the NHL right now than the 38-26-7 Carolina Hurricanes, the Eastern Conference’s current first wild card.

Despite losing last night in Columbus 3-0, Carolina has rattled off an impressive 16-5-2 record in its past 23 outings and is drawing ever nearer to ending its nine-year playoff drought by qualifying for the postseason for the sixth time in Hurricanes history (14th if the Hartford Whalers’ eight Stanley Cup Playoff appearances are included).

While the Canes are certainly finding success in almost every facet of the game during this run, their most impressive strength, at least in my opinion, has been that of their defense. A point of emphasis even before Rod Brind’Amour took over head coaching responsibilities, Carolina has allowed an average of only 28.61 shots against per game since January 20, the second-best mark in the Eastern Conference and third-best in the league in that time.

Leading the defensive charge for the Hurricanes during this run has been none other than D Calvin de Haan (2.5 hits per game in his last 20 appearances) and D Jaccob Slavin (1.7 blocks per game and 21 takeaways since January 20).

Unfortunately, de Haan suffered an eye injury in Colorado on Monday and will likely remain out of the lineup this evening. Taking up de Haan’s role as the rough-‘n’-tough blueliner has been Slavin’s linemate, D Dougie Hamilton, who’s averaged two hits per game since January 20.

Of course, the person in PNC Arena most appreciative of that incredible defensive effort is always 17-8-2 G Curtis McElhinney, who’s all but ensured of this evening’s start since 18-13-3 G Petr Mrazek was in net last night in Ohio. McElhinney boasts a .914 save percentage and 2.52 GAA for the season, and that’s almost the exact form he’s shown for his past nine starts to add his last six wins (his GAA is a 2.54 for his last nine outings, two-hundredths of a goal worse than his season mark).

Especially after last night’s poor outing, it’s hard to pick against the Hurricanes this evening. Having already won their first two meetings with the Sabres this season, Carolina will have its sights set on completing the season sweep and staying ahead of Columbus and Montréal in the playoff race.

That being said, just because the Canes have won the last two meetings doesn’t mean they were easy victories. Both tilts ended with only one goal separating the winner and loser, including their last meeting on February 7 in Buffalo that required overtime.

Being the better rested team that is regaining its captain, the Sabres will surely show their teeth this evening, but Carolina should still escape with two points.

March 16, 2019

DTFR Podcast #133- Stuffed

The Original Trio reunites to talk recent trades, recent coaching changes, the Buffalo Sabres current winning streak, a haphazard review of the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers, as well as a look at the division standings as of American Thanksgiving.

Craig Berube is now in charge behind the bench of the St. Louis Blues and Ken Hitchcock is back from retirement to coach the Oilers after Mike Yeo and Todd McLellan were both fired respectively from their clubs.

Rasmus Dahlin continues to emerge as a star in Buffalo as the team rises in the standings– can the Sabres keep this up? Will Dahlin get some votes for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year and does Phil Housley deserve credit for the team’s turnaround?

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

November 25, 2018
Canucks rout Bruins, 8-5

One more goal and the Vancouver Canucks dressing room could’ve been singing Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” after Thursday night’s win on the road.

Jaroslav Halak (4-1-2, .936 save percentage, 1.96 goals against average in 9 games played) got the start in goal for the Boston Bruins, but was pulled after allowing five goals in favor of Tuukka Rask (4-4-0, .901 SV% and 3.05 GAA in 8 GP).

Halak stopped 14 shots out of 19 shots faced (.737 SV%) in 34:53 time on ice in the loss, while Rask made 11 saves on 14 shots against (.786 SV%) in 25:07 TOI.

Jacob Markstrom (7-3-1, .921 SV%, 3.28 GAA in 11 GP) made 23 saves on 28 shots faced for an .821 SV% in 60-minutes played en route to the, 8-5, win for the Canucks.

11 players recorded at least a point for Vancouver in the victory, while eight players recorded points for the Bruins. David Krejci had a team-high three assists and Jake DeBrusk also had three points (2-1–3 totals) for Boston.

As a result of the loss, Boston fell to 4th in the Atlantic Division with an 8-5-2 record (18 points) on the season. The Canucks maintained possession of 1st place in the Pacific Division, improving to 10-6-1 (21 points) so far.

Vancouver waltzed to sweep the season series against Boston, 2-0-0, with a 2-1 win on home ice at Rogers Arena in overtime on Oct. 20th in addition to Thursday’s 8-5 win at TD Garden.

Thursday night also marked the first time Vancouver scored eight goals in a game since doing so on Nov. 14, 2009 at Colorado.

Bruce Cassidy kept his lines the same from Monday’s matchup (and 2-1 win in overtime) against the Dallas Stars, while only three Bruins remained out of the lineup due to injury (Charlie McAvoy, upper body, Kevan Miller, hand and Urho Vaakanainen, concussion).

Miller and Vaakanainen have been skating on their own at practice, while McAvoy’s status remains shrouded in mystery (other than being on the injured reserve).

With Alex Edler out of the lineup for the Canucks Thursday night, only five players from the 2011 Stanley Cup Final were in action for both teams– incidentally, all of them still on the Bruins (Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Krejci, Brad Marchand and Rask).

Early in the action, Bo Horvat (6) broke the 0-0 tie, capitalizing on a bad bounce and firing the puck past Halak’s glove side while his own defender, John Moore, provided a partial screen in front.

Horvat’s goal was unassisted and gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 2:46 of the first period.

The Canucks entered Thursday night 4-0-1 when scoring first this season and they would improve to 5-0-1 by the final horn. Meanwhile, the B’s were 3-4-1 when allowing the first goal against so far this season and are now 3-5-1 when doing so.

But for all the blunders that built up to giving up the game’s first goal, the Bruins regathered themselves and fought back in a strenuous first period.

Matt Grzelcyk (1) slapped one past Markstrom for his first goal of the season from the point at 13:41 and tied the game, 1-1.

Krejci (9) and DeBrusk (2) picked up the assist’s on the goal and the score remained tied, 1-1, heading into the first intermission.

After 20 minutes of play, the game was tied, 1-1, and Vancouver was leading in shots on goal (8-5), as well as face-off win percentage (57-44). Boston had the advantage in blocked shots (5-4), takeaways (5-2), giveaways (7-2) and hits (12-8). Neither team had yet to see any action on the skater advantage.

Just 36 seconds into the second period, Bergeron (8) gathered a rebound and pocketed it behind Markstrom to give the Bruins their first lead of the night, 2-1.

Torey Krug (3) had the only assist on the goal as a result of purposefully shooting the puck to generate a rebound with Bergeron standing right in front of the goal ready to collect the garbage.

Bruins defender, Steven Kampfer, checked Vancouver forward, Antoine Roussel without the puck and received a minor penalty for interference at 3:58 of the second period, sending the Canucks on their first power play of the night.

Vancouver was not able to convert on their first power play opportunity, but set the tone for the remainder of their skater advantages for the rest of the game with some quality chances.

Former Bruin, Loui Eriksson (2) struck go[aled] adding a tally at 7:02 of the second period, tying the game, 2-2, when Boston failed to clear the puck out of their own zone and couldn’t even come up with possession as Brandon Carlo was without a stick.

The Canucks smashed a shot wide off the end boards and capitalized on the carom with Halak out of position, thereby letting Eriksson tie the game.

Erik Gudbranson (5) and Markus Granlund (4) had the assists on Eriksson’s first of the night.

Nine seconds later, Grzelcyk cut a rut to the sin bin for high-sticking Vancouver’s Brendan Leipsic at 7:11.

While on the penalty kill, Bergeron and Marchand almost perfected a break-in with a one-timer opportunity from Bergeron to Marchand, but the puck went wide of the goal and the Canucks pounced back the other way.

Ben Hutton (4) sent a wrist shot past Halak from the blue line after the Canucks moved the puck quickly in the attacking zone while on the power play. Hutton’s power play goal gave Vancouver two unanswered goals in 1:26 and the lead, 3-2, at 8:28 of the second period.

Horvat (5) and Nikolay Goldobin (7) had the assists on the goal.

Vancouver’s lead wasn’t for long as the Bruins struck back 32 seconds later, with DeBrusk (4) tipping the puck past Markstrom to tie the game, 3-3, at 9:00.

Krejci (10) and Joakim Nordstrom (1) recorded the primary and secondary assist’s, respectively, on DeBrusk’s first goal of the night.

Kampfer couldn’t get enough of Roussel after his first penalty moments earlier, so he reached out and got just enough of a hold on him to be assessed a minor infraction for holding at 11:30, sending the Canucks back on the power play at 11:30 of the second period.

Eriksson (3) continued to get revenge on his former team by adding his second goal of the night– this time on the power play– with a tip-in goal at 13:23. Hutton (2) and Leipsic (2) had the assists on the goal that put Vancouver ahead, 4-3.

90 seconds later, Roussel (3) added a goal to make it a two-goal lead for the Canucks at 14:53 of the second period. Granlund (5) and Michael Del Zotto (2) had the assist’s on Roussel’s wacky redirection past Halak to make it, 5-3, Vancouver.

Having surrendered five goals against, Cassidy replaced Halak with Rask after Roussel’s tally.

Late in the second period, Horvat was sent to the penalty box with a two-minute minor penalty for slashing Bruins defenseman, Torey Krug, at 16:13.

Boston converted on the ensuing power play by working the puck to the dashers and sending a saucer pass to DeBrusk (5) for the redirection past Markstrom from right in front of the net.

DeBrusk had his second goal of the night– his first on the power play– and entered his name in the hat trick watch competition with his opponent, Eriksson, though neither player would complete the rarity of a three-goal game Thursday night.

Krug (4) and Marchand (12) had the assist’s on DeBrusk’s goal at 17:18 of the second period and the Bruins pulled to within one, 5-4.

There was little cause for celebration as Gudbranson (1) notched his first goal of the season for Vancouver moments later on yet another embarrassing effort by the Bruins brass on defense and in goal.

Horvat (6) and Eriksson (6) collected the assist’s on Gudbranson’s goal at 19:28 and the Canucks led, 6-4.

Through 40 minutes of play, Vancouver led, 6-4, on the scoreboard and, 22-16, in shots on goal. The Canucks outshot the Bruins, 14-11, in the second period alone, while the B’s held onto an advantage in blocked shots (9-6), takeaways (8-7), giveaways (10-3) and hits (22-9). Vancouver maintained an advantage in face-off win% (53-47).

The Canucks were 2/3 on the power play heading into the second intermission, while Boston went into the dressing room 1/1 on the skater advantage.

Horvat tripped up David Pastrnak 38 seconds into the third period, putting Boston on the power play, but it would be a short-lived extra skater advantage as Marchand retaliated with a slash on Hutton at 1:32 of the third.

Both teams would play 4-on-4 for 1:06, then have an abbreviated 5-on-4 power play for Vancouver.

Horvat went back to the penalty box for the third time of the night when he caught Krug with a high-stick at 7:27 of the third period.

The B’s ended up with a 5-on-3 advantage about a minute later after Hutton slashed Pastrnak at 8:52, but Boston’s power play was powerless on the 35-second two-skater advantage and in the vulnerable minute after when Horvat lucked out with a shorthanded goal of his own individual effort at 9:40.

Rask tried to clear the puck, but sent it awry off of Horvat’s stick as the Canucks forward was pressuring the Bruins netminder. While Rask scrambled to make a last ditch effort play, Horvat buried the puck in the empty twine to make it, 7-4, Vancouver.

Through 10 road games this season, Horvat now has eight goals.

After a stoppage in play at 9:49 of the third period, Troy Stecher and DeBrusk exchanged some words and DeBrusk wound up with the take-down. Both players were assessed roughing minors and went to the penalty box to serve their infractions.

Jake Virtanen (6) added the final goal of the night for the Canucks on a crazy changeup shot that deflected off of Bergeron’s stick and past his own goaltender at 11:12 of the third.

Goldobin (8) and Elias Pettersson (7) had the assists on the goal that made it, 8-4, for the Canucks.

Hutton went back to the penalty box at 11:50 for slashing Bruins veteran, David Backes, and Boston responded on the ensuing power play with Danton Heinen (1) redirecting a slap pass from Grzelcyk past Markstrom at 13:38.

The Bruins once again trailed by three-goals, 8-5, and Grzelcyk (6) and Krejci (11) recorded the assists on Heinen’s first goal of the season– ending his goal-scoring drought at 13 games.

Darren Archibald and Krug mixed things up with an unequal (in size) fight at 17:48 of the third period, as Krug expressed his frustration with a disappointing effort.

No. 47 in black-and-gold picked up an extra two-minutes for instigating and as a result was charged with an automatic ten-minute misconduct.

Anders Bjork served Krug’s minor infraction for instigating, while Krug was sent to the dressing room early. Archibald, meanwhile, was charged with five minutes for fighting.

At the final horn, the Canucks had beaten the Bruins, 8-5, in a high-scoring, wildly all-over-the-place effort form both teams– with only slightly more sparks of brilliance from the team from Vancouver than unfortunate, unlucky, odd bounces and misplays for the team from Boston.

Vancouver finished the 60-minute effort ahead of the Bruins in shots on goal (33-28), despite being outshot in the third period, 12-11. Boston held onto an advantage in blocked shots (12-9), giveaways (14-6) and hits (23-15), while the Canucks led in face-off win% (52-48).

Both teams finished Thursday night 2/5 on the power play.

As a result of the loss, the Bruins faltered to 1-1-0 on their current four-game homestand with the Toronto Maple Leafs in town Saturday night and the Vegas Golden Knights paying a visit on Sunday.

Toronto is 6-0-0 on the road this season, while the Golden Knights are 3-6-0 away from T-Mobile Arena so far this season.

Boston wraps up their homestand against Vegas on Sunday before heading off to begin a four-game road trip with a matchup on the road against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, Nov. 14th.

November 9, 2018

Tag: Antoine Roussel

2021 NHL Entry Draft Round 1