Down the Frozen River

Tag: Braun

  • October 30 – Day 27 – I Left My Heart in San Francisco

    How do we do this Monday thing during the summer without hockey to watch after work? Maybe that’s why so many people take summer vacations.

    I suppose that’s a question we’ll solve another day. In the meantime, there’s a total of eight contests on the schedule today, starting with three (Vegas at the New York Islanders, Arizona at Philadelphia and Boston at Columbus [SN]) at the usual 7 p.m. starting time and two more (Montréal at Ottawa [RDS/TSN2] and Tampa Bay at Florida) half an hour later. In a matchup of the top two teams in the Western Conference, Los Angeles visits St. Louis at 8 p.m., followed by Dallas at Vancouver two hours later and tonight’s nightcap – Toronto at San Jose – at 10:30 p.m. All times Eastern.

    What a slate of games! Beyond the note associated with the Kings-Blues game, there’s also two rivalry games to be played tonight that should produce some thrilling action.

    All that being said, there’s one occurrence that simply cannot be missed this evening: the return of F Patrick Marleau to San Jose.

     

     

     

     

     

    Time to take the WABAC Machine to Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Penn. on June 21, 1997, the location and date of that year’s NHL Entry Draft.

    It was here that Marleau’s 19-season tenure with the Sharks began, as the Seattle Thunderbird was selected second-overall by former General Manager Dean Lombardi. It proved to be an excellent match, as Marleau owns many of the Sharks’ franchise records, including games played (1493), goals (508), even-strength goals (331), power play goals (160), short-handed goals (17), game-winning goals (98) and points (1082), among others.

    Talk about a career.

    Though Marleau’s 2005-’06 season was his best as measured by his career-high 86 points, it’d be hard to argue that his 2009-’10 effort, at 30-years-old, wasn’t his most impressive. It was that season that he scored 44 goals – better than a goal every-other game – in the regular season followed by eight more in the playoffs to lead the Sharks to their second-ever appearance in the Western Conference Finals, where they were swept by Chicago.

    Along with other playoff shortcomings, that is the main blemish on Marleau’s impressive career: he’s never hoisted any NHL hardware besides the Campbell Bowl in 2016. His best accolades from the league are his three All-Star Game appearances.

    When General Manager Doug Wilson elected not to resign the forward, who turned 38-years-old this September, Marleau made sure to choose a team that could resolve that issue for him, leading him to Toronto.

    Though currently third in a stacked Atlantic Division, they sky is the limit for the 7-4-0 Maple Leafs this season, due in large part to their unbelievable offense.

    Yes, Atlantic-rival Tampa Bay may prove to be a more complete team in the long run, but it’s hard to beat a team that boasts a league-best 4.09 goals per game.

    Of course, what should we expect from an attack headed by C Auston Matthews? The reigning Calder Trophy winner, who posted 40-29-69 totals in his rookie season, is suffering no sophomore slump this year as he’s already scored eight goals for 15 points (both [t]fourth-most in the league).

    For those wondering who was selected with the first-overall pick in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, they need to look no further than the 5-5-0 Sharks’ top-line center. That’s right: Joe Thornton. After being traded from Boston in late November, 2005, the top-two picks of the 1997 draft played on the same team for the next 12 years.

    Though it hasn’t exactly been the best of starts for the Sharks this season, they certainly have postseason aspirations of their own, hoping to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third-consecutive campaign.

    Even though San Jose still touts offensive weapons of the likes of F Logan Couture and Thornton, the Sharks are at their best when playing a defensive game. Having allowed an average of only 29.8 shots-per-game to reach G Martin Jones (fifth-fewest in the NHL), the Sharks allow only 2.6 goals against-per-game, the seventh-best mark in the league.

    That defense is co-led by two of the best defensemen in the NHL: Justin Braun and Brent Burns. Burns’ reputation is certainly cemented in his offensive contributions, but he’s also been very busy along his own blue line by blocking 2.1 shots-per-game and registering nine takeaways already this season (the most of any defenseman). Braun has also been very effective on San Jose’s second D-pair, but with his own style. He prefers to play a very physical game and has registered 3.2 blocks-per-game to go with his 21 blocks in 10 games played.

    Marleau should receive an extremely favorable response from devoted Sharks fans before they lend their support to their teal-clad club. Since this game features strength-on-strength, I like the Sharks to win this game due to their offense being better than Toronto’s defense.

    The Winnipeg Jets showed no mercy in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-1 at Bell MTS Place.

    We featured this game on the chance Penguins G Casey DeSmith would earn the first start of his NHL career. Though it was instead G Matthew Murray that started his second game in as many days, DeSmith did eventually earn his first NHL appearance after Murray allowed four goals on nine shots against (.556 save percentage).

    Murray didn’t even last an entire period of play, as all four of his goals against were struck in 18:07 of action. First up was C Andrew Copp (F Shawn Matthias and D Toby Enstrom), who buried his first goal of the season only 1:20 into the game.

    Assisted by Second Star of the Game C Mark Scheifele and LW Kyle Connor, RW Blake Wheeler buried what proved to be the game-winning goal with 6:02 remaining in the period.

    Though the play started in Winnipeg’s defensive zone, it didn’t stay there long thanks to an untimely turnover by D Zach Trotman. Connor was quick to take possession of the loose puck and passed to Scheifele through the neutral zone to set up a two-on-one attack for the Jets. Once D Ian Cole committed to preventing a shot from Scheifele, the center passed to Wheeler in slot, who buried a low wrist shot through Murray’s five-hole.

    Wheeler (Matthias and Scheifele) continued applying the pressure 3:46 later, setting the score at 3-0, followed by RW Joel Armia (F Matt Hendricks) burying a wrister with 113 seconds remaining in the first period to chase Murray.

    Not to leave DeSmith out from being scored on in the first period, Wheeler (Connor) scored a backhanded shot only 11 seconds after the netminder’s NHL debut to complete his first-frame hat trick. As you might expect, he took home First Star honors for his effort.

    Though F Evgeni Malkin (RW Phil Kessel and D Kris Letang) was able to score a power play deflection with 2:58 remaining in the second period, it did little to brighten the Penguins’ spirits – especially since Scheifele (Wheeler and D Dustin Byfuglien) and LW Brendan Lemieux (D Tyler Myers and Armia) were able to score a goal apiece in the third frame to set the 7-1 final score.

    Third Star G Connor Hellebuyck earned the victory after saving 31-of-32 shots faced (.969 save percentage), leaving Murray the loss.

    Winnipeg’s win was its first in the DtFR Game of the Day series this season and helped the 15-8-4 home teams reclaim an eight-point advantage over the roadies.

  • March 31 – Day 163 – Keeping it in Alberta

    Welcome to the penultimate Friday in the NHL’s regular season. Unless you’re a fan of one of the 16 teams heading for the playoffs, there’s not much hockey left to be watched so make sure to catch the rest of this season’s games!

    Tonight’s festivities start with Pittsburgh at the New York Rangers (SN) at 7 p.m., followed half an hour later by New Jersey at the New York Islanders. 8:30 p.m. marks the puck drop of Columbus at Chicago,  with two more (St. Louis at Colorado and San Jose at Calgary) getting underway at the top of the hour. Two contests – Los Angeles at Vancouver (SN360) and Washington at Arizona – share the role of nightcap and get started at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Pittsburgh at New York: Not only is it a rematch of last year’s Eastern Quarterfinals, but the Blueshirts could pull within four points of third place in the Metropolitan Division.
    • Columbus at Chicago: Two of the three best teams in the league? Yes please.
    • San Jose at Calgary: Thanks to the Sharks‘ loss last night, the Flames are only three points out of third place in the Pacific Division.

    I’d love to watch the Hawks and Jackets square off, but it doesn’t have major playoff implications – and that’s what we’re all about this time of year. As much as I dislike repeating teams on back-to-back nights, it looks like we have to catch the Sharks‘ plane to Calgary for another important Pacific tilt.

     

    If the Sharks can be happy about anything right now, it’s that today is the final day in what has been a dreadful March for them. Their 6-9-0 mark is tied with Arizona for the sixth-worst record in the month, and being compared to Coyotes in anything is usually a sign of trouble.

    What makes the recent struggles an even harder pill to swallow is that it is spoiling an overall solid regular season. When the final game in February was played, San Jose was not only leading the Pacific Division by five points, but also trailed Minnesota by only seven points for the top seed in the Western Conference.

    Thirty days later, the 43-27-7 Sharks sit alone in third place in the division, and four teams separate them from home ice throughout the conference playoffs. It leaves a club and fan base that entered the season on a quest to hoist its first Stanley Cup wondering if they can even escape what will be a very trying quarterfinals matchup against the Ducks, Flames, Oilers or possibly even the Blackhawks.

    As I mentioned yesterday, it’s been an nearly all-inclusive collapse (defense notwithstanding) by the Sharks that has resulted in their horrendous run over the past 15 games.

    Since 33-32-6 Martin Jones was in net last night, I’d assume 10-6-1 Aaron Dell will start in goal tonight (of course, I tabbed Dell to start yesterday and I was wrong, so who knows?). Dell has actually been a solid backup all season, as his .928 save percentage and 2.09 GAA are not only better than Jones’ effort, but also rank (t)third and fourth-best in the league among the 56 netminders with at least 16 appearances.

    Whether we get that Dell or the Dell that has seen his save percentage drop to .915 in March remains to be seen, but you can plan on Justin Braun and San Jose‘s defense playing as strong as ever.

    All season the goal has been to keep pucks off Dell and Jones’ crease as much as possible, and they’ve done an excellent job in achieving just that. All year, they’ve allowed only 27.5 shots-against per game – the third-best rate in the league – and they’ve actually been slightly better of late, allowing only 27.1 per game in March.

    No Shark deserves more credit for that than Braun. He’s been the defensive stalwart of the club all year, and it shows in his team-leading 154 shot blocks. Another that has done well defensively is Joe Thornton, but he does his work before the opposition even thinks about firing at the net. He leads the squad in takeaways with 64 (tied for eighth-most in the league), including 13 this month.

    The goaltending issues have proven to be especially detrimental to San Jose‘s penalty kill. Since it has been only an average effort on the season as a whole (80.8% kill rate is 15th-worst in the NHL), taking away the luxury of a usually-reliable backstop has dropped the Sharks to ninth-worst in March, neutralizing only 78% of their infractions. Dell has saved only 85% of the power play shots that have come his way this month, the 14th-worst effort among the 38 goalies with at least six March appearances.

    Special teams seem to be a struggle for Peter DeBoer’s squad this year, as his power play has actually been worse than his penalty kill. The Sharks rank seventh-worst on the season with their 17.1% success rate with the man-advantage.

    It’s surprising that San Jose has been so poor, mostly because they have one weapon few can match: Brent Burns. The offensive-minded blueliner has notched 24 points on the power play this campaign, which ties for 16th-most in the NHL.

    Perhaps the Sharks‘ mojo has relocated itself to Cowtown. Currently in possession of a 43-30-4 record and the West’s first wild card, the Flames have earned a 15-4-1 record since February 15. That ties Columbus for the best mark in that time, though I’d argue the Flames have been better with one fewer game played.

    I may actually be on to something regarding San Jose‘s mojo, as Brian Elliott has been fantastic during this run. After a rocky start to the season, he’s reclaimed the starting job in Calgary and made it his own. Since mid-February, he’s earned a .933 save percentage and a 1.97 GAA, the fourth and fifth-best marks in the league, respectively, among the 33 goalies with at least nine appearances in that time.

    Tonight is the fourth of five games between these clubs this season, and the Flames have the opportunity to clinch the series victory with a win tonight. They’ve gone 2-1-0 so far against San Jose, including the last time they met on January 11. It was a closely contested affair, but Dougie Hamilton scored with 2:19 remaining in regulation to earn a 3-2 win for the Flames in the Saddledome.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Calgary‘s Johnny Gaudreau (42 assists for 59 points [both lead the team]) and Mark Giordano (176 blocks for a+22 [both lead the team]) & San Jose‘s Burns (73 points [eighth-most in the league]) and Jones (33 wins [seventh-most in the NHL]).

    It’s hard to argue with recent success. Vegas has marked the Flames a -130 favorite to win tonight. Just like I said yesterday, the Sharks‘ rebound has to start in the crease. While Calgary certainly doesn’t pose the offensive threat the Oilers did a night ago, the Flames‘ confidence should be enough to get past whichever goaltender DeBoer decides to go with.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Bud MacPherson (1927-1988) – For seven seasons MacPherson roamed along Montréal‘s blueline, and he was rewarded with one All-Star Game and the 1953 Stanley Cup.
    • Gordie Howe (1928-2016) – There’s no discussion: this right wing is one of the greatest players the world has ever seen. Named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 – seven years before his last season in the league – he played in 23 All-Star Games over 26 NHL seasons (all but one with Detroit) and won both the Hart Memorial and Art Ross Trophies six times apiece, not to mention his four Stanley Cups.
    • Bob Pulford (1936-) – Another Hall of Famer, this left wing played all but two seasons of his 16-year career in Toronto. He won four Stanley Cups in the process, including three-straight from 1962-’64.
    • Bill Hicke (1938-2005) – Spending most of his time in Montréal, this right wing played 13 seasons in the NHL. The three-time All-Star was good for almost as many penalty minutes as points contributed, but that didn’t stop him from being a two-time Stanley Cup champion.
    • Gilles Gilbert (1949-) – Selected by the North Stars 25th-overall in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft, this goaltender played 416 games over his 14-year career. Spending most of his time in Boston, he earned a 192-143-60 record before hanging up his pads.
    • Tom Barrasso (1965-) – Buffalo selected this goaltender fifth-overall in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, but he played a majority of his career for the Penguins. He played well for both clubs, as he earned the 1984 Calder Memorial and Vezina Trophies and the 1985 William M. Jennings Trophy with the Sabres and back-to-back Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh.
    • Pavel Bure (1971-) – Though only selected in the sixth round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by Vancouver (his longest-tenured club), this right wing had a highly successful career. In addition to six All-Star Game appearances, he won two Maurice Richard Trophies and the 1992 Calder. All of that added up to a Hall of Fame induction in 2012.
    • Michael Ryder (1980-) – Montréal selected this right wing in the eighth round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, and that’s where he played most of his 11 seasons. That being said, he was wearing the crest of the arch-rival Bruins when he hoisted his lone Stanley Cup.
    • David Clarkson (1984-) – A longtime right wing for the Devils, this Toronto-native played 10 seasons in the NHL. He could’ve been playing his 11th this year with Columbus, but he was denied the opportunity to practice with the club due to failing his physical.
    • Steve Bernier (1985-) – The 16th-overall selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by San Jose, this right wing has played 633 games over 11 seasons in the league. His longest -tenured club is New Jersey, with whom he scored 28 goals for 65 points.
    • Jakob Chychrun (1998-) – This rookie defenseman was the 16th-overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by Arizona. He shows promise on the offensive end of the ice, as he’s provided 19 points already this year, the third-most among Coyotes blueliners.

    Thanks to Second Star of the Game Cam Talbot‘s 38-save effort, Edmonton was able to best the Sharks 3-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day to improve into second place in the Pacific Division.

    Though Talbot had a strong night, it didn’t start off the best way. He allowed Jannik Hansen (Paul Martin) to score only his eighth goal of the season 1:01 into play to allow the Sharks to take an early lead. Fortunately for him, Third Star Patrick Maroon (First Star Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) provided a game-tying goal 9:21 later. Though Zack Kassian was sent off the ice for hooking birthday boy Marc-Edouard Vlasic with 3:24 remaining in the period, McDavid (Oscar Klefbom and Drake Caggiula) was able to score a shorthanded backhander only 52 seconds later to give the Oil a 2-1 lead it would not yield.

    Maroon (Kris Russell) provided what proved to be the game-winning goal 7:51 into the third period with a tip-in. It became the winner with 6:01 remaining in regulation when Joe Pavelski (Vlasic and Hansen) scored a tip-in of his own, but the Sharks were unable to find another tally before the final horn.

    Talbot earned the victory after saving 38-of-40 shots faced (95%), leaving the loss to Jones, who saved 19-of-22 (86.4%).

    We’re all squared up once again in the DtFR Game of the Day series, as both home and away teams in the series have an identical 189 points. Road sides still have more wins with their 83-59-23 record.

  • December 30 – Day 76 – Something’s Phishy

    A light, four-game Friday is setting up an exciting end to the 2016 hockey calendar year. The action starts at 7:30 p.m. with Chicago at Carolina, followed half an hour later by Nashville at St. Louis (SN1/TVAS). Finally, two contests (Philadelphia at San Jose and Anaheim at Vancouver) close out the night, dropping the puck at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    I know we’ve featured both teams already this week, but that Flyers–Sharks matchup is too attractive to pass up.

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    Game two of Philly‘s three-game Western road trip brings them to The Tank with a 20-13-4 record and in possession of fifth place in the Metropolitan Division (seventh in the Eastern Conference), even though they’re riding a two-game losing skid. As stated before Wednesday’s game in St. Louis, the Flyers‘ success has originated with their amazing scoring ability, as they’ve buried 109 goals already this season – the fourth-most in the NHL.

    Jakub Voracek has been an absolute handful this season for opposing defensemen, as his 35 points are tops on this high-powered offense. That being said, it’s been fellow right wing Wayne Simmonds that really strikes fear into goaltenders with his 17 goals.

    Just like Broad Street is home to one of the best offenses in the game, the Flyers are also a dangerous club when given a man-advantage. Philadelphia has converted 22.1% of their power play opportunities to rank seventh-best in the league. Both Captain Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds have been equally active on the power play, each notching 15 extra-man points, but Simmonds’ eight power play goals are tops on the team.

    Winners of their last three games – their most recent being their 3-2 overtime victory in Anaheim – San Jose owns a 22-12-1 record for the top spot in the Pacific Division. That success rests on the Sharks‘ defensive success that has yielded only 77 goals – the fourth-fewest in the NHL.

    With a 19-11-1 record in 31 starts, Martin Jones has been the main man in net for San Jose this season. He’s notched a .92 save percentage and 2.08 GAA so far this year – the (t)16th and eighth-best marks among the 41 goalies with 16 or more appearances.

    Truly, it’s the Sharks‘ defense that deserves the most credit. They’ve allowed only 26.5 shots-per-game to reach Jones’ net, the second-lowest average in the NHL. Marc-Edouard Vlasic currently takes most credit as his 66 shot blocks are tops on team, but he has only one more rejection than fellow defenseman Brent Burns.

    Like you’d expect, The Tank is home to one of the best penalty kills in the game – ninth-best, in fact, refusing to yield a power play goal on 83.7% of opposing opportunities. When down a man, Justin Braun steps up, as his 15 shorthanded blocks are the team best.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Philadelphia‘s Simmonds (17 goals [sixth-most in the NHL]) and Voracek (24 assists [tied for sixth-most in the league] among 35 points [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]) & San Jose‘s Jones (19 wins [tied for second-most in the league] on a 2.08 GAA [eighth-best in the NHL], as well as two shutouts [tied for ninth-most in the league).

    Vegas has marked San Jose a -169 favorite, almost certainly due in part to the Sharks‘ 12-4-0 record at home going against Philadelphia‘s 8-8-1 road record. Pair that with the Flyers‘ miserable defense, and the reasoning is complete. I expect a good game, but a home winner.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Lester Patrick (1883-1960) – Some guys are successful, but few rival Patrick. He hoisted the Stanley Cup six times – twice as a player, and four more times as coach/manager/owner.
    • Rob Scuderi (1978-) – The Piece was a 1998 NHL Entry Draft pick by Pittsburgh, and he played 12 seasons en route to two Stanley Cup titles.

    In yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, Edmonton bested the Kings by a score of 3-1.

    The Oil waited until 22:32 had ticked off the clock before Third Star of the Game Patrick Maroon (Jordan Eberle and Matthew Benning) buried his wrap-around power play shot. The lone goal of the second period, Edmonton took their 1-0 lead into the second intermission.

    Los Angeles leveled the game only 3:05 after returning to the ice when Nick Shore scored an unassisted wrister, his third tally of the season. 3:53 later, First Star Eric Gryba (Eberle and Milan Lucic) scored what proved to be the winning score. After Second Star Peter Budaj had left the ice for the extra attacker, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Leon Draisaitl) provided an insurance goal on the empty net.

    Cam Talbot earns the victory after saving 28-of-29 shots faced (96.6%), leaving the loss to Budaj, who saved 32-of-34 (94.1%).

    Edmonton‘s victory is the second-straight in the DtFR Game of the Day, setting the record at 43-23-12 to favor the homers by 14 points over the roadies.

  • December 27 – Day 73 – Pacific Powerhouses

    The worst thing about Christmas is that there was no hockey for three days. The world can be so cruel.

    Fortunately, the NHL makes it all better by scheduling 10 games this evening, starting with four contests (Pittsburgh at New Jersey [TVAS], Washington at the New York Islanders, Ottawa at the New York Rangers [RDS2] and Boston at Columbus [SN]) at 7 p.m. and Buffalo at Detroit half an hour later. Minnesota at Nashville drops the puck at 8 p.m., with Winnipeg at Chicago waiting 30 minutes. Another wave of games gets underway at 9 p.m. (Calgary at Colorado and Dallas at Arizona), followed an hour later by tonight’s nightcap: San Jose at Anaheim (SN). All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Washington at New York: It’s rivalry night in the Barclays Center!
    • San Jose at Anaheim: Same goes for the Honda Center!

    Sorry Isles fans, but the biggest game of the night is happening on The Pond, and we’d be remiss to not give it our attention!

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    The Sharks return from Christmas break riding a two-game winning streak with a 21-12-1 record, the best mark in the Pacific Division. They’ve found that success on an impressive defense and great goaltending that have combined to allow only 75 goals, tying for the fourth-fewest in the league.

    Only two goalies have taken a turn between the pipes for San Jose this season, and most of the time it is 18-11-1 Martin Jones. He’s earned that record on a .919 save percentage and 2.08 GAA – the (t)17th and eighth-best marks, respectively, among netminders with 15 or more appearances this season.

    I’ve said it multiple times this season, but most of Jones’ success this season has been a direct result of the impressive play of the blueline in front of him. Led by Marc-Edouard Vlasic‘s impressive 63 blocks, the Sharks have allowed only an average of 26.2 shots to reach Jones’ crease per game, the second-lowest average in the NHL. Justin Braun, Brent Burns and Paul Martin have also been very important in this effort as well.

    This success has carried into the penalty kill, where San Jose ties for ninth-best with a 83.5% kill rate. Braun has truly been on his game when down a man, as his 15 shorthanded blocks are the best on the team.

    Playing host this evening are the 17-12-6 Ducks, the third-best team in the Pacific Division. The offense has led the Ducks‘ charge so far this season, scoring 95 goals – the 12th-most in the NHL.

    Hockey’s version of the Ryan brothers has found far more success than their football counterparts. Captain Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler have 28 points to their credit to co-lead the team. Tag on Rickard Rakell‘s team-high 14 goals, and you have a potent Anaheim offense.

    The Ducks‘ success has been almost entirely due to their power play. Successful on 24.3% attempts, Anaheim is tops in the Western Conference, and second-best in the league as a whole. Who to lead that charge than Kesler? He has 14 power play points, not to mention his seven man-advantage goals, for tops in the Ducks‘ clubhouse.

    This is the second time we’ve featured this matchup this season, and this series is already three games deep going into this evening. The last time this matchup was featured was also the last time these teams saw each other, a 3-2 Ducks victory on the Pond 18 days ago. Anaheim leads the season series 2-0-1.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Anaheim‘s Getzlaf (24 assists [tied for third-most in the league]) and San Jose‘s Jones (18 wins [tied for second-most in the NHL] on a 2.08 GAA [eighth-best in the league], as well as two shutouts [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]).

    Even though it’s the Sharks with the winning streak, it’s hard to pick against the Ducks given their recent success against their rivals. I expect another good game on The Pond between these clubs.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Mickey Redmond (1947-) – This right wing only played nine seasons, but he won two Stanley Cups during his time in Montréal. That being said, he spent more of his career in Detroit.
    • Bryan Smolinski (1971-) – The 21st-overall selection in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by Boston, this center played 1056 games over his career. He spent most of his career in Los Angeles, where he notched 191 of his 651 career points.
    • Jay Pandolfo (1974-) – This left wing was the 32nd-overall pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey, he won two Stanley Cup titles – both with the Devils.
    • Fernando Pisani (1976-) – A right wing drafted by Edmonton in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, he would have been a lifetime Oiler if not for a season spent in Chicago.
    • Patrick Sharp (1981-) – Although drafted in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by Philadelphia, this left wing is playing his second season in Dallas. He is a three-time Stanley Cup winner, all with Chicago.
    • Paul Stastny (1985-) – The 44th-overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, was this center to Colorado. He played eight seasons in Denver before moving to St. Louis in 2014.

  • December 9 – Day 58 – The Tank empties into The Pond

    You made it through another week of work, so you deserve to watch some hockey. Washington at Buffalo gets things started at 7 p.m., followed half an hour later by a pair of contests (Columbus at Detroit and St. Louis at New Jersey). 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of Edmonton at Minnesota, with the New York Rangers visiting Chicago (NHLN) 30 minutes later. San Jose at Anaheim (SN) acts as this evening’s nightcap, getting underway at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list

    • New York at Chicago: It’s an Original Six matchup between two of the top teams in the league.
    • San Jose at Anaheim: This rivalry may not have existed 25 years ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching.

    It’s been a long time since we’ve checked in on the Ducks, so let’s head out to the Honda Center!

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    The reigning Western Conference Champion San Jose Sharks are well on their way to making their second-straight playoff appearance, as their 15-10-1 is third-best in the Pacific Division. They’ve gotten to that position by playing some good goaltending and even better defense, yielding only 55 goals so far this season – the third-fewest in the NHL.

    Martin Jones has only had three days off, but that hasn’t affected him much. He has a 13-9-1 record with a .92 save percentage and 2.04 GAA to rank (t)14th and seventh-best among the 36 netminders with 12 or more appearances.

    An impressive GAA paired with a less-impressive save percentage is almost always due to an impressive defense. San Jose is definitely one of those cases. Led by Justin Braun and Brent Burns‘ co-leading 48 blocks, the Sharks‘ blueline has allowed only 25.8 shots to reach Jones’ crease per game, the best rate in the league.

    Hosting that strong defense this evening are the 13-9-5 Ducks, the club sitting in fourth place in the Pacific Division. Anaheim is a well-rounded team, but I’m more impressed by their offense that has scored 72 goals this season, a total that ties them for 14th in scoring.

    Ryan Kesler has been the man in charge of the Ducks offense so far this season, leading the club with his 23 points as well as his 12 goals. But, it hasn’t been just him. Captain Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry join Kesler in the 20+ point club.

    One of the main reasons for this success has been the Ducks‘ opportunistic play. Kesler’s 11 power play points has led Anaheim to converting 22.1% of their man-advantages, the sixth-best rate in the league. The incredible center has completed a lot of those attacks, taking credit for seven of the 19 extra-man tallies.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Anaheim‘s Getzlaf (20 assists [tied for second-most in the league]) and San Jose‘s Jones (13 wins [tied for fourth-most in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league], on a 2.04 GAA [ninth-best in the NHL]).

    Vegas has marked Anaheim a -112 favorite, but I like the underdog in tonight’s contest. San Jose has a superior defense going against a slightly above-average offense. Unfortunately, I’ve been wrong in my last few picks, so we’ll have to see if it’s the Ducks or Sharks that are grateful I’ve sided with NorCal.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Germain Gagnon (1942-2014) – This left wing may have only played five seasons, but he played for four different clubs in that relatively short amount of time. Although he appeared on three Chicago teams, he played most of his 259 games for the Islanders.
    • Pit Martin (1943-2008) – 1101 games were played over 17 NHL seasons by this center, most of which with the Blackhawks. Although he never won a Stanley Cup, he did claim the 1970 Masterton Trophy.
    • Dana Murzyn (1966-) – Hartford selected this defenseman fifth-overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, but he spent most of his days in Vancouver. After playing his amateur days in Calgary, he joined the Flames in 1988 and played on the 1989 Stanley Cup winning team.
    • Petr Nedved (1971-) – Nearly half of this center’s career was spent playing with the Rangers, but he was drafted second-overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by Vancouver. By the time his NHL days came to a close, he’d played for seven teams.

    For the second time in four days, and coincidentally the same statecommonwealth, goaltending took the night off in the DtFR Game of the Day in favor for a barn-burner as Philadelphia beat Edmonton 6-5.

    Only one goal was struck in the first period, and it belonged to the visiting Oilers. Third Star of the Game Leon Draisaitl (Jesse Puljujarvi and Kris Russell) scored a snap shot 4:39 into the game to give Edmonton an early lead.

    That lead doubled 4:35 into the second period when Connor McDavid (Draisaitl and Milan Lucic) buried a power play snap shot, but Philly reeled them in when Mark Streit (Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov) buried a slap shot 7:56 later to set the score at 2-1. The Flyers leveled the score with 6:36 remaining in the frame when Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Andrew MacDonald and Chris VandeVelde) scored his first goal of the season with a snapper. Philadelphia scored again 19 seconds later to take their first lead, courtesy of a flying First Star Claude Giroux (Second Star Jakub Voracek) slap shot. The Oilers didn’t like that very much, so Andrej Sekera (Mark Letestu and McDavid) buried a shorthanded slap shot to tie the game at three-all going into an exciting final period.

    As crazy as the second period was, the third was even more wild. With goals from Benoit Pouliot (Draisaitl and Sekera) and Oscar Klefbom (Jordan Eberle and Drake Caggiula) at the 3:07 and 5:12 marks respectively (Klefbom’s was on the power play), the Oilers had a strong 5-3 lead. But it would end up not even yielding a point. A Voracek (Shayne Gostisbehere and Giroux) power play snap shot pulled the Flyers back within a goal at the 6:31 mark, followed 5:40 later by a Giroux (Radko Gudas and Voracek) snap shot to tie the game. The game stayed tied until 89 remained – that’s when Michael Raffl (Voracek and Streit) buried his game-winning snap shot.

    Steve Mason took the victory after saving 28-of-33 shots faced (84.8%), leaving the loss to Jonas Gustavsson, saving 25-of-31 (80.6%).

    Philadelphia‘s home victory is the fourth-straight in the DtFR Game of the Day series. They join with previous home teams to set the hosts’ record at 33-19-8 in that series, leading the visitors by nine points.

  • November 30 – Day 49 – When that Shark bites with his teeth babe

    It’s Wednesday, so you know what that means: a light NHL schedule. Don’t worry though, most off tonight’s offerings are quality matchups.

    We start at 8 p.m. with Pittsburgh visiting the New York Islanders (NBCSN/TVAS), followed half an hour later by Toronto at Calgary (SN). Finally, at 10:30 p.m., San Jose at Los Angeles (NBCSN) drops the puck.

    • Pittsburgh at New York: We’ve already featured this rivalry once this season. It’s usually a good one.
    • San Jose at Los Angeles: Another rivalry, but this one cuts a little deeper this season given these squads met in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

    The added “oomph” of the playoff rematch takes us to the City of Angels!

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    Only seven months ago, these teams were battling in the First Round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Obviously, the Sharks won as they represented the Western Conference in the Finals, but their 4-1 victory over the rival Kings surprised many, given that Los Angeles had home ice advantage. But San Jose actually dominated the season series with a 3-1-1 record, three points better than the Kings head-to-head.

    Nowadays, those Sharks are 13-9-1 and sit atop the Pacific Division. To earn that position, they’ve played some excellent defense and goaltending to allow only 49 goals, tied for the fourth-fewest in the game.

    At 20 starts, Martin Jones has been between the pipes for almost every single game the Sharks have played so far this season. Over his 1148 minutes, he’s earned an 11-8-1 record on a .919 save percentage and 2.09 GAA, the 13th and (t)seventh-best rates, respectively, among the 34 netminders with 10 or more appearances.

    A GAA that is significantly better than its associated save percentage is indicative of a great defense, and this instance is no different. Led by Justin Braun‘s 46 blocks, the Sharks have allowed 25.9 shots to reach Jones per night, the second-lowest average in the league.

    Unsurprisingly, this success has continued to the penalty kill, where San Jose ranks ninth-best. Braun continues to lead the effort with 12 shorthanded shot blocks, and that has guided the team to effectively limiting opposing power plays 84.9% of the time.

    The skating tenants of the Staples Center are 12-9-1, good enough for only fourth place in the Pacific Division. Similar to their NorCal rivals, the Kings play a great defensive game, allowing seventh-fewest goals against in the NHL at 53.

    The main headline this year has surrounded Los Angeles‘ crease not being patrolled by Jonathan Quick. He is still expected to need another month of rehabilitation, leaving the net to Peter Budaj. Already on course for his most starts in a season since his days in Colorado, the Slovak has taken advantage of the opportunity presented to him to set a 12-6-1 record – yes, he’s been in net for each and every one of the Kings‘ points. He’s done that with a .917 save percentage and 2.04 GAA, the (t)17th and eighth-best efforts, respectively, among the 40 goaltenders with nine or more appearances.

    Once again we have a decent goalie playing with an excellent defense. Leading the charge in only his second season (after a rookie season where he played only 22 games with the senior squad) has been Derek Forbort, with an impressive 52 blocks to his name. The entire blueline’s effort has led to the Kings allowing only 25.5 shots-against-per-game, the lowest in the league.

    Where Los Angeles is really lacking is on their power play. Successful on only 12.1% of attempts, they rank third-worst in the NHL. Five different players have three man-advantage points to their credit, but it’s been Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli leading the goal-scoring charge with only two power play-goals apiece.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Los Angeles‘ Budaj (12 wins [tied for second-most in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for sixth-most in the league] on a 2.04 GAA [ninth-best in the NHL]) and Toffoli (+12 [tied for fifth-best in the league]) & San Jose‘s Brent Burns (21 points [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]) and Jones (11 wins, including two shutouts [both tied for sixth-most in the league]).

    Bets are off in Vegas, which is always a good sign. I’m leaning towards San Jose winning tonight’s contest on the road not only because they won the first meeting this season 2-1, but based on their power play – I believe it to be better than the Kings‘ penalty kill. We’ll see if that holds true.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Jason Pominville (1982-) – This right wing was selected by Buffalo in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, but he’s currently playing in Minnesota. He was an All-Star in 2012, the same season he was traded.

    Tom Rowe may not have turned the Panthers into winners overnight, but they were good enough to force a shootout in Chicago before falling 2-1.

    With 2:10 remaining in the first period, Richard Panik (Dennis Rasmussen and Marcus Kruger) scored a backhander to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead they would not yield until the third frame.

    Only 35 seconds after returning to the ice from the second intermission, Jaromir Jagr (Jonathan Marchessault and Aaron Ekblad) took advantage of a Niklas Hjalmarsson hooking penalty carried over from late in the second period with a power play wrister to level the game at one-all.

    Neither team was able to score a winner in either the remaining time in regulation or three-on-three overtime, so we were off to the Game of the Day series’ second shootout in four days.

    1. Up first was Patrick Kane for Chicago, but his shot was saved by Roberto Luongo.
    2. Vincent Trocheck went next, but he did even worse than Kane – his shot wasn’t even on frame and did not require a Corey Crawford save.
    3. Second Star of the Game Artemi Panarin was the first to strike shootout blood, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead.
    4. Aleksander Barkov‘s tying attempt was saved by Crawford.
    5. Panik sealed the victory for Chicago with another goal.

    First Star Crawford earned the victory after saving 38-of-39 shots faced (97.4%), while Third Star Luongo saved 32-of-33 (97%) in the shootout loss.

    That home victory extends the hosts’ lead to eight points in the DtFR Game of the Day series with a record of 28-16-7.

  • November 17 – Day 36 – Campbell Bowl

    Wednesday was a light schedule, so you know what that means: gobs and gobs of hockey tonight. The action commences at the usual 7 p.m. with two games (Tampa Bay at Buffalo and Winnipeg at Philadelphia), followed half an hour later by another pair (Florida at Toronto and Nashville at Ottawa [RDS]). 8 p.m. marks the beginning of our third pair (San Jose at St. Louis and Boston at Minnesota), with Colorado at Dallas trailing 30 minutes later. A final pair drop the puck at 10 p.m. (Arizona at Vancouver and New Jersey at Anaheim) with Edmonton at Los Angeles (SN360) getting underway half an hour later. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • San Jose at St. Louis: In a thrilling six-game series, the Sharks advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals by beating St. Louis.
    • Arizona at Vancouver: Radim Vrbata took a two-year hiatus from playing with the Coyotes from 2014-’16. You remember correctly, he played for Vancouver.
    • Edmonton at Los Angeles: In addition to the more historic than current rivalry between the clubs, Milan Lucic makes his first return to the Staples Center after calling it home a season ago.

    In the spirit of playoff rematches from a season ago, we’re off to the Gateway to the West.

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    The Sharks swim into St. Louis (Yeah, just ignore it. It’s bad.) with a 9-7-0 record, which is good enough for third place in the Pacific Division. Before losing in Carolina Tuesday night, the Sharks were riding a three-game winning streak.

    While they’ve certainly been let down by their offense, San Jose has found their nine wins on a solid defense.

    Martin Jones has started 14 games already this season to an 8-6-0 record. He has a .913 save percentage and 2.2 GAA to his credit, which ranks 16th and 11th-best among goaltenders with at least seven appearances.

    These are not numbers one would expect from a netminder that was two wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup. Why has he been able to find wins?

    I’d argue it is his blue line. Led by Justin Braun‘s 35 blocks, the Sharks allow only 25.7 shots per night to reach the net, the second-lowest rate in the NHL. Of course, knowing that Jones is facing far fewer shots than most goalies and still not performing well is a bit distressing, but at this point a win is a win!

    That defensive success has continued to the penalty kill, where the Sharks rank third-best in the league by negating 89.5% of their infractions. They’ve also done well to limit opposing extra-man opportunities, facing only 38 power plays so far this season (2.4 per game).

    Playing host this evening are the 8-6-3 St. Louis Blues. Although neither the offense nor defense has been anything near impressive, the thing that concerns me as an admittedly-biased Blues fan is the decline in defense and goaltending.

    Last season, St. Louis allowed only 197 goals – 2.4 per game. So far this year, they’ve allowed 2.8 per game. You’d think that four-tenths of a goal isn’t much, but at this rate the Blues will allow 30 more goals by season’s end than they did a year ago.

    Manning the net this season is 6-3-3 Jake Allen, who has a .901 save percentage and 2.49 GAA to his credit, which ranks 12th and 23rd-worst among the 42 netminders with six or more appearances.

    None of that blame may be placed on St. Louis‘ defense. Led by Colton Parayko‘s 31 blocks, the Blues have allowed only 26.3 shots to reach net, the third-lowest average in the league.

    Just like San Jose, that defensive success has continued to the Blues‘ penalty kill. Only 10.3% of opposing power plays have found the back of Allen’s net, the second-lowest rate in the league.

    Offensively, the Blues have found much of their success on the power play. Led by Kevin Shattenkirk and Vladimir Tarasenko, both of whom have nine power play points, St. Louis has connected on 22% of their extra-man opportunities, the 10th-best rate in the NHL.

    The last time these teams met, the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl was awarded to the Sharks for besting the Blues in six games. It should have been expected given that the Sharks won the 2015-’16 season series 2-1-0.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include St. Louis‘ Tarasenko (18 points [tied for sixth-most in the league] on 12 assists [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]) and San Jose‘s Jones (one shutout [tied for ninth-most in the league] and eight wins [tied for fourth-most in the NHL]).

    St. Louis comes into tonight’s game slightly favored at -110. Since the Sharks are on the tailend of a long eastern roadtrip, I’ll stick with Vegas’ decision.

    Hockey Birthday

    • The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (1896-1910) – This league was the first of it’s kind, allowing players to be paid for their services and be traded between clubs.
    • Dennis Maruk (1955-) – The California Golden Seals drafted this center 21st overall in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft. Not only was he a part of the merge with Minnesota, he returned to the North Stars for the final six seasons of his career.

    The Penguins were nothing short of whipped in yesterday’s Game of the Day, falling 7-1 in Washington.

    Second Star of the Game T.J. Oshie (Jay Beagle) didn’t wait long to open the scoring, but he did choose the most difficult circumstances. He potted a backhand shot while the Capitals were short-handed 7:32 after the opening puck drop. The eventual game-winning goal was struck almost 10 minutes later by First Star Nicklas Backstrom (Oshie and Matt Niskanen), who scored a snap shot with 2:30 remaining in the period. Oshie (Backstrom and John Carlson) struck again with eight seconds remaining in the first frame to set the score at 3-0.

    Dmitry Orlov (Marcus Johansson and Backstrom) scored an insurance goal in the second period, as did Justin Williams (Oshie and Backstrom), Alex Ovechkin (Andre Burakovsky) and Backstrom (Nate Schmidt and Brooks Orpik) in the third.

    The Penguins did get on the board with a tally from Phil Kessel (Nick Bonino and Justin Schultz) with 3:32 remaining in the game, but it was far too little too late to make any sort of an impact on the tone of the contest.

    Third Star Braden Holtby saved  25-of-26 shots faced (96.2%) to earn the victory, while Matthew Murray takes the loss after saving 12-of-14 (85.7%). He was lifted for Marc-Andre Fleury with 24 seconds remaining in the first period after taking Evgeni Malkin‘s stick to the face. Fleury saved 20-of-25 (80%) for no decision.

    The Capitals‘ victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 22-12-4, favoring the homers by 10 points over the roadies.

  • November 5 – Day 24 – Rematch, Vol. II

    Exactly what Elton John said. So good for fighting, in fact, that we’ll have 13 of them, starting with a matinee featuring Minnesota at Colorado (SN) at 3 p.m. The usual starting time of 7 p.m. brings eight puck drops (Columbus at St. Louis, New Jersey at Tampa Bay, the New York Rangers at Boston [NHLN], Philadelphia at Montréal [CITY/TVAS], Buffalo at Ottawa [SN1/SN360], Florida at Washington, Edmonton at the New York Islanders [SN] and Vancouver at Toronto [CBC]), followed an hour later by two more (Carolina at Nashville and Chicago at Dallas). The west coast gets involved at 10 p.m. with Calgary visiting Los Angeles (CBC/SN1), followed half an hour later by our nightcap: Pittsburgh at San Jose. All times eastern.

    Short List:

    • New York at Boston: It’s an Original Six rivalry as well as hockey’s iteration of the USA’s most famous sports rivalry.
    • Buffalo at Ottawa: Another rivalry for the Sabres this week.
    • Philadelphia at Montréal: Dale Weise returns to the Bell Centre wearing white after spending three seasons with the Canadiens.
    • Calgary at Los Angeles: Kris Versteeg is also making a return to his home arena of a year ago, but he only played for the Kings one season.
    • Pittsburgh at San Jose: It’s the second and final Stanley Cup Finals rematch this year, this one taking place on the surface where hardware was distributed.

    The Penguins and Sharks won’t run into each other again this calendar year, so we’re off to the Tank!

    tIMcw8ylStanley Cup Final LogoUnknown

    Game 8 of the Stanley Cup Finals goes down tonight!

    …Wait…

    Well, it is the eighth and final meeting between the Pens and Sharks in 2016, and Pittsburgh has certainly had the advantage in that time-span. Not only do they have the Stanley Cup in their possession due to beating the Sharks four times in early June, but the Penguins already won the first rematch in Pittsburgh 3-2.

    San Jose enters the night with a 6-5-0 record, even if they are riding a two-game losing skid. So far this season, they’ve found success in their defense and goaltending, allowing only 27 goals against.

    Martin Jones has started all but one game this season, and has a 5-5-0 record to show for a .909 save percentage and 2.34 GAA. Those are both decent statistics, but I would contest that they’re due in part to the help he is getting from his blue line (and sometimes even forwards!), as three skaters (Justin Braun, Brent Burns and Paul Martin) have 20 or more blocks to their credit and three more have over 10 (Joe Pavelski, David Schlemko and Marc-Edouard Vlasic).

    In the other corner, the 7-2-2 Penguins enter the Tank on a five-game point streak. While the Sharks are a defensive-minded club, the Penguins prefer to score with 31 goals already to their credit.

    Leading the way for Pittsburgh as been Evgeni Malkin, who has 11 points to his credit to average a point-per-game. That being said, Sidney Crosby is hot on his tail with eight points on six goals. He’s appeared on the score sheet in each of the five games he’s played since returning from his concussion and has been a force to be reckoned with.

    The Pens have been exceptionally potent on the power play so far this season. For every four extra-man opportunities, Pittsburgh has found the back of the net once – the fifth-best rate in the league. Michael Haley will need to keep himself contained if the Sharks want to earn a victory.

    That being said, part of the reason the Sharks have been so strong has been their ability to negate penalties. Their 86.7% kill rate ranks sixth-best in the league, a good match for Pittsburgh‘s attack.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Pittsburgh‘s Marc-Andre Fleury (six wins [tied for second-most in the NHL]) and Malkin (six goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]) & San Jose‘s Pavelski (eight assists [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]).

    The Sharks desperately want to defend the Tank and earn a win this evening given what happened the last time the Penguins came to town. Vegas has them marked to win with a -125. I don’t feel quite that confident, but that may be partially my bias. Whichever team is able to win the special teams battle, especially when Pittsburgh has the man-advantage, should walk away with tonight’s victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Cooney Weiland (1904-1985) – A center from Ontario, Weiland played 11 NHL seasons, 71.7% of which were with the Bruins.
    • Sergei Berezin (1971-) – A left winger from Russia that played seven NHL seasons. He started his career in Toronto, where he played 357 games and scored 220 points.
    • Alexei Yashin (1973-) – Another Russian, but Yashin played center. He was drafted second overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by Ottawa and played 850 games over a dozen seasons.
    • Toby Enstrom (1984-) – This Swedish defenseman is working on his 10th season in the NHL, all of which have been spent with the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise.
    • Nikolai Zherdev (1984-) – The fourth overall of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, this right wing has played six seasons in the best league in the world so far. Currently playing in the KHL, he’s most remembered for his four seasons in Columbus.

    On a night where 24 goals were scored among five teams (Montréal was shutout by Columbus), a 5-1 Anaheim victory seemed par for the course in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    The Ducks struck first, waiting 9:05 before Kevin Bieksa (Third Star of the Game Corey Perry and Second Star Rickard Rakell) scored his first goal of the season on a power play slap shot. The eventual game-winner was struck 3:06 later when Rakell (Perry and Michael Sgarbossa) found Anaheim gold with a slap shot of his own. The third and final tally of the frame also belonged to the Ducks, this time a Jakob Silfverberg (First Star Antoine Vermette and Andrew Cogliano) backhander to set the score at 3-0 45 seconds before the first intermission.

    With 6:37 remaining in the second period Vermette (Ondrej Kase and Josh Manson) scored a slap shot to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead. Arizona finally stopped the bleeding with a goal from Jamie McGinn (Radim Vrbata and Christian Dvorak) 3:09 later, but was unable to find another with the remaining time.

    Rakell (Ryan Kesler) scored another insurance goal in the third period to put the final nail in the Coyotes‘ coffin.

    John Gibson earns the victory after saving 21-of-22 shots faced (95.5%), while Louis Domingue saved 18-of-21 (85.7%) in the loss. He was replaced after 20 minutes of play by Justin Peters, who saved 10-of-12 (83.3%) for no decision.

    With the Ducks‘ victory, the DtFR Game of the Day series stands at 14-9-3, favoring the home squads by four points.

  • November 1 – Day 20 – The Great Dane

    We’re trying out our new DtFR mirror technology. I can only assume that a night with no hockey that aligned with the one night of the year when your neighbors give out free candy has you looking something like this.

    Simmer down, kiddo.

    Anyways, hockey’s one-day vacation has us feeling all types of withdrawals. Thank goodness we get a healthy serving of games today, starting with two at the usual time of 7 p.m. (St. Louis at the New York Rangers and Dallas at Columbus), followed half an hour later by four more (Boston at Florida [TVAS], Carolina at Ottawa [RDS2], Tampa Bay at the New York Islanders [NBCSN] and Edmonton at Toronto). 8 p.m. brings with it two puck drops (Buffalo at Minnesota and Washington at Winnipeg), with Calgary at Chicago trailing by 30 minutes. Nashville at Colorado finds its start at 9 p.m. At 10 p.m. the San Jose at Arizona (NBCSN) game starts, followed 1800 seconds later (that’s 30 minutes, guys) by Anaheim at Los Angeles, tonight’s nightcap. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Tampa Bay at New York: Last year, the Lightning defeated the Islanders in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in five games.
    • San Jose at Arizona: Mikkel Boedker spent eight seasons in Glendale before being traded away to Colorado at the deadline last season.
    • Anaheim at Los Angeles: You might have heard about this one. They call it the Freeway Face-Off. It’s kind of a big deal.

    Eight seasons is a long time, and I don’t feel like we’ll have many reasons to go watch Arizona this season, so I’m drawn to the late game in the desert.

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    Danish right wing Boedker was drafted eighth overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Coyotes. He jumped right into the league that season, scoring 11 goals under head coach Wayne Gretzky, which tied him for sixth-most on the squad.

    Boedker’s best campaign with Arizona was in 2013-’14 when he tied Radim Vrbata for the second-most points on the team with 51. But, as has been par for the course for the Coyotes since 2011-’12, it did not yield any playoff action.

    Last season, Boedker shed his brick red sweater for a burgundy Avalanche uniform after being traded on February 29. It was all for naught though, as Boedker found himself on the golf course following the regular season for his fourth season in a row.

    This offseason he joined a San Jose Sharks who knows a little bit about the playoffs, coming off a Stanley Cup run that fell just a series short a season ago. He has little to show for his work on San Jose‘s second line, notching a lone goal.

    The 6-3-0 Sharks have played a more defensive game this season, allowing only 21 goals against – three fewer than the league average. Martin Jones has a .916 save percentage for 2.15 GAA, but he is getting a lot of help from his defensive corps. Four skaters (Justin Braun, Brent Burns, Paul Martin and Joe Pavelski) have 15 or more blocks to their credit, and their efforts have resulted in only 25.2 shots against per game, the second-fewest shots against per game in the league.

    The 2-6-0 Coyotes would have to be classified as an offensive club, due to the fact that they definitely don’t play defensive hockey. They’ve scored 24 goals this season – on par with the rest of the league – led by Brad Richardson‘s seven points. That being said, it is Oliver Ekman-Larsson getting a lot of the accolades with a team-leading five goals to his credit.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Arizona‘s Max Domi (six assists [leads the team]), Ekman-Larsson (five goals [leads the team]) and Richardson (seven points [leads the team]) & San Jose‘s Burns (seven assists [tied for third-most in the league]), Jones (five wins [tied for third-most in the NHL]), Pavelski (11 points [tied for third-most in the league] on seven assists [tied for third-most in the NHL]) and Joe Thornton (seven assists [tied for third-most in the league]).

    Vegas marks Arizona with a +150 in almost every book, meaning that the Sharks are favored.

    I’d say that’s a very safe bet.

    Hockey Birthday:

    • Al Arbour (1932-2015) – Arbour won eight total Stanley Cups: four as a player (two of which were with Toronto) and four in a row as head coach of the New York Islanders.
    • Phil Myre (1948-) – This goaltender played 14 seasons in the NHL for six different teams. Four years after being drafted fifth overall in the 1966 NHL Entry Draft, he was on the 1970-’71 Montréal Stanley Cup winning team .
    • Tie Domi (1969-) – A right wing that played 16 NHL seasons as an enforcer, Domi is most remembered for his 11 campaigns in Toronto. Maybe son Max will give him a goal for his birthday.
    • Matt Moulson (1983-) – This left wing is in his third season with Buffalo. Two seasons ago he struck 41 points, the second-best effort on the squad that year.

  • Pittsburgh at San Jose – Game 3 – Donskoi wins first Finals game for Sharks

    Pittsburgh Penguins LogoUnknownThe San Jose Sharks held serve in the Tank by beating the Penguins 3-2 in overtime to pull themselves within a game of a tied series.

    Two quick icing penalties in the opening minutes were almost two too many to overcome for the Penguins, but they were able to get the puck out of the zone just long enough to get in a quick change.

    Following that, Pittsburgh occupied much of the play leading up to Second Star of the Game Joel Ward’s hi-stick against Conor Sheary at the 2:58 mark in the Sharks‘ defensive zone.  San Jose‘s penalty kill responded exceptionally well, not allowing any shots on Third Star Martin Jones’ net.

    The Penguins seemed to prefer even sides, as only 31 seconds after Ward returned to the ice, Ben Lovejoy snuck an on-edge wrister past Jones’ stick for the opening tally.  His play started along the goal line when Brenden Dillon attempted the clear the puck along the near boards.  The puck didn’t have the Wheaties to cross the blue line and was intercepted by Lovejoy, who trickled his wrister into net.

    The Sharks finally notched their first shot of the game just past the eight minute mark, but rookie goaltender Matt Murray was certainly up to the task, deflecting the puck out of harm’s way to a teammate’s stick.

    That shot provided all the confidence the Sharks needed though, as Justin Braun, assisted by Joe Thornton  and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (his 11th helper of the playoffs), scored 26 seconds before the midway point of the frame to level the contest.  He received a screen from Melker Karlsson so perfect that Murray didn’t know Braun had fired the puck until he heard it in the net behind him.  Thornton was the lucky recipient of a scrum along the near boards and centered to Braun, who quickly ripped his wrister over Patric Hornqvist’s diving block and past Murray’s glove shoulder.

    Following the leveling goal, although Phil Kessel and the Pens had an exceptional breakaway opportunity, it was San Jose who had extended plays in their offensive zone, but the Penguins notched a total of 12 blocks to keep the Sharks‘ second goal off the board.

    After 20 minutes, the Penguins led in shots (14 to six), face-offs (52%), blocks (12 to five) and giveaways (four to eight), while the Sharks had takeaways (nine to two) and hits (20 to nine) to their credit.

    Due to play taking place almost exclusively outside the offensive zones for both teams, the second period failed to see a shot on goal until 4:14 had passed.

    The Sharks eventually took control of most of the first half of the period, including finding yet another post after beating Murray five-hole, but the netminder and his defense did well to keep the score tied at one-all.

    The Sharks headed to the power play with 9:18 remaining in the second frame when Carl Hagelin was found guilty of tripping Karlsson.  Although the Sharks had two fantastic opportunities, the score remained tied after a successful Penguins penalty kill.

    Even though the Sharks played a superior period filled with multiple plays of extended time in their offensive zone (they led shots in the period nine to six), it was the Penguins who exited the frame with the 2-1 lead off a Hornqvist tip-in (his eighth tally of the playoffs) off another Lovejoy shot and the hockey assist from Olli Maatta.  Maatta reset the play from the near boards to Lovejoy at the point, who fired the puck at Jones’ net.  Along the way, Hornqvist redirected the puck under the netminder’s arm to give the Pens the lead going into the final 20 minutes of regulation.

    San Jose also led face-offs (they took the game lead – 52%), giveaways (five to nine) and hits (10 to three), while Pittsburgh took won the period’s blocks (eight to six) and takeaways (five to three).

    The Penguins entered the third frame exactly how they wanted to – with a lead.  So far this postseason, they’d done that 11 times, and had a 10-1 record in such instances.  Further increasing their confidence, the Sharks were 1-4 in the five games where they’d entered the final 20 minutes trailing.

    Nick Bonino gave the Sharks four minutes of the man-advantage at the 4:48 mark when he not only hi-sticked Thornton, but also drew blood.  Though the Sharks played an exceptional power play, the Penguins almost completed both kills.  But that is all for naught since, just as Bonino’s sentence was about lifted, Ward scored a slap shot to level the game, assisted by First Star Joonas Donskoi and Thornton (his 17th helper of the postseason).  Thornton passed to rookie Donskoi from his own defensive zone, who completed the transition across the neutral zone with a pass to Ward.  The winger advanced as far as the point before firing his screaming slap shot past Murray.

    Following Ward’s tally, the game very much became a back-and-forth affair with neither team establishing a solid, long-term  presence in their offensive zone.  The Sharks finally had an opportunity around the 15 minute mark, but a poorly timed icing ended their threat and allowed the Penguins to transition from being reactive to proactive.

    No more goals were struck in the frame, sending the Stanley Cup Finals to the second straight overtime game.  After a third frame that favored the Sharks, it was the Penguins who began the extra time in control of the game.  In the first six minutes, the Penguins fired a solid five shots to San Jose‘s one.  That is not to say that Murray’s services were not required though.  Even as the Sharks earned more opportunities, the rookie continued to answer the call and keep his team in the contest.

    Overtime ended up lasting 12:18 before Donskoi earned the Sharks their first ever Stanley Cup Finals win.  He went top shelf over Murray’s shoulder after an approach from behind the goal line for his sixth goal of the playoffs, assisted by Chris Tierney.

    There were two intriguing statistics in this game: shot totals, specifically those of the Penguins, and hits, those focusing on the Sharks.  It has been heavily featured in the analysis of their run, usually because the Pens‘ totals strongly led the opposition.  This evening was more of the same, as the Pens led shots 42 to 26.

    The Sharks have had much more success this postseason when being the more violent of their opposition.  Tonight?  47 hits to Pittsburgh‘s 17.  Doing this helped to slow the speedy Pens down and eliminate many of their dump-and-chase plays.

    Jones earns the win after saving 40 of the 42 shots he faced (95.2%), while Murray takes the overtime loss after saving 23 of 26 (88.5%).

    After earning their first win, the Sharks are now focused on leveling the series and making it a best of three.  They’ll get that opportunity this Monday at 8 p.m. eastern, which may be viewed on CBC, NBC or TVAS.