Tag: Brent Seabrook

March 12 – Day 144 – Wild-Hawks: not a biker gang

Post author By Connor Keith
Post date March 12, 2017
No Comments on March 12 – Day 144 – Wild-Hawks: not a biker gang

Every Sunday is Sunday Funday during hockey season.

I’m going to consider that my application for the NHL’s marketing department. Feel free to tweet me (@connorzkeith) to set up an interview. That’s what professionals do, right? Tweet people important things?

Anyways, while they’re composing their tweet, let’s watch some hockey. There’s lots to watch today, starting with the Minnesota at Chicago (NBC/TVAS) matinee at 12:30 p.m. The usual 7 p.m. starting time marks the beginning of two contests (Montréal at Edmonton [RDS/SN] and the New York Rangers at Detroit [NBCSN]), followed two-and-a-half hours later by Washington at Anaheim (NHLN). Finally, Dallas at San Jose drops the puck at 10 p.m. to close out the day’s action. All times eastern.

Short list:

Minnesota at Chicago: A rivalry game between the top-two teams in the Western Conference? Yes, please.
New York at Detroit: Original Six? Check. Return of Brendan Smith to Motown? Check.

It’s been hard to ignore a game between the Blackhawks and Wild all season, so we can’t stop today. Off to the United Center!

This is the fourth time these teams have met this season, and the fourth time the matchup has been featured as the DtFR Game of the Day.

In other words, I’m really committed to this rivalry.

But I should be! Today’s game features two of the top-five teams in the league and, should Chicago win, could leave the Wild with only a one-point lead in the Central Division with under 16 games remaining in the regular season.

As they’ve been for a majority of the season, the 43-17-6 Wild enter tonight’s game as the best team in both the Central Division and the Western Conference. The reason for that success? Their incredible offense, which has managed 218 goals – the second-most in the NHL.

Speaking of topping the charts, Mikael Granlund has been doing just that within Minnesota‘s offense on his team-leading 62 points. In only the fifth year of his NHL career, he continues to raise the bar regarding his abilities and contributions, as he sets a new career-high in all scoring statistics each year. Another of those stats is his 22 goals, another way he paces Minnesota. Four Wild skaters have 20 or more tallies, an incredible total.

While I would argue Minnesota is better when facing a full-strength defense compared to a short-handed opponent, that’s not to say its power play is poor. Led by – you guessed it – Granlund and his 18 extra-man points, the Wild have successfully converted 21.2% of their power plays – the eighth-best rate in the league. Granlund transitions into more of a passing role in Bruce Boudreau‘s offensive special team, instead opting to set up Nino Niederreiter, who has the club-lead in power play goals with eight.

Oh, and the penalty kill? Minnesota is pretty good at that, too. Thanks in large part to Jared Spurgeon‘s squad-leading 18 shorthanded shot blocks, the Wild have properly defended 83.7% of their undermanned situations, the seventh-best rate in the NHL.

Playing host this evening are the 42-20-5 Blackhawks, the second-best team in both the Central and the West. In a surprising turn of events, the facet of Chicago‘s game that I’ve been most impressed with has been their goaltending. While the offense is still as imposing as ever, the Hawks have allowed only 168 goals so far this year – the sixth-fewest in the NHL.

Of course, that effort always starts with the goaltender, and the Blackhawks have a good one in 26-15-3 Corey Crawford. He’s earned a .918 season save percentage for a 2.55 GAA, the 12th and (t)18th-best marks, respectively, among the 46 goalies with at least 22 appearances.

If the netminder is good and the offense is good, why does he have 15 regulation losses? You’ll notice defense is left out of that list, mostly because the Hawks‘ blueline has been… forgettable this year. Even though Niklas Hjalmarsson has an impressive 157 shot blocks to lead the team (he’s also tied for fourth-most in the league), his defense still allows 31.1 shots-against-per-game, the 10th-worst rate in the league.

But since the trade deadline, things are slowly improving in the Windy City. The Hawks‘ big add on the last day of February was Johnny Oduya. While not influencing shots the way he did two or three years ago, he does add experience along the blueline that has dropped to eighth-fewest shots-against since his arrival.

No matter how good the goaltender is, a bad defense usually yields a poor penalty kill. That’s the biggest pitfall for the Hawks this year, as they’ve neutralized only 77.6% of their shorthanded situations, the fourth-worst rate in the league. Just like he does the rest of the time, Hjalmarsson is the primary defenseman in this situation with his team-leading 34 shorthanded shot blocks. He’s not the problem.

Instead, he and Brent Seabrook are the only two blueliners with at least 15 shorthanded blocks to their credit this season, a lousy, too-small group. If this club has any intentions of winning four-straight even-numbered year Stanley Cups, more defensemen will need to get involved in the penalty kill.

If previous meetings are any indication, Chicago should win tonight’s game, albeit narrowly. Against the Wild this season, the Hawks have gone 2-1-0, including a 5-3 victory in the Xcel Energy Center in their most previous meeting on February 21.

Some players to keep an eye on this afternoon include Chicago‘s Scott Darling (.931 save percentage [second-best in the league] for a 2.13 GAA [fourth-best in the NHL]) and Patrick Kane (71 points [tied for third-most in the league] with 42 assists [seventh-most in the NHL]) & Minnesota‘s Devan Dubnyk (36 wins on a .932 save percentage [both best in the league] and a 2.03 GAA [second-best in the NHL], including five shutouts [tied for fifth-most in the league]), Granlund (+28 [eighth-best in the NHL]), Mikko Koivu (+31 [tied for fourth-best in the league]), Spurgeon (+33 [tied for second-best in the NHL]), Ryan Suter (+35 [best in the league]) and Jason Zucker (+33 [tied for second-best in the NHL]).

Vegas has marked Chicago a -130 favorite to win this afternoon’s contest. While I am concerned about the Hawks‘ penalty kill against the Wild‘s solid power play, I’ll stick with the experts. This should be a fantastic game, but I’ll give the home team the advantage.

Hockey Birthday

Bronco Horvath (1930-) – A two-time All Star, this center spent most of his nine-season NHL career in Boston. His best campaign was easily his 1959-’60 effort when he buried 39 goals for 80 points.
Douglas Murray (1980-) – San Jose selected this defenseman in the eighth round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, and that’s where he spent almost his entire nine-year career in the league. In 2007-’08 he managed a +20 with 10 points, but he was never able to replicate that defensive prowess over the remainder of his playing days.

After spotting the Panthers two first period goals, Tampa Bay notched three unanswered goals to win yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day 3-2.

Florida didn’t score its first tally until 3:28 remained in the opening frame. The Ageless Wonder Jaromir Jagr (Aleksander Barkov and Jon Marchessault) takes credit for his 14th of the season with a wrist shot to beat Second Star of the Game Andrei Vasilevskiy. Mark Pysyk (Reilly Smith and Barkov) provided the Panthers‘ second tally only 2:41 later, setting the score at 2-0 going into the first intermission.

Jon Cooper must have had some choice words for the Lightning during the break, because the team that emerged from the dressing room was not the one that entered it. 3:43 after retaking the ice, Nikita Kucherov (Victor Hedman and Jonathan Drouin) buried a power play slap shot to pull the Bolts back within a goal of the Panthers. Third Star Yanni Gourde completed the comeback with 9:49 remaining in the period with an unassisted shorthanded goal, the first tally of his young career.

The game-winner waited a long time to present itself, but First Star Ondrej Palat (Andrej Sustr) forced it to present itself with 2:23 remaining in regulation. He sneaked his tip-in past James Reimer to earn the victory.

Vasilevskiy saved 32-of-34 shots faced (94.1%) to earn the victory, leaving the loss to Reimer, who saved 31-of-34 (91.2%).

The third win in four days by the home team in the DtFR Game of the Day has pulled series hosts within a point of the 73-51-22 visitors.

Daily Matchup

February 21 – Day 125 – Central showdown

Post author By Connor Keith
Post date February 21, 2017
1 Comment on February 21 – Day 125 – Central showdown

If you’re the type to like weekdays busy with hockey action, today is your day. Nine contests will have been played by the end of the day, and as usual they get started at 7 p.m. (Pittsburgh at Carolina [TVAS], Montréal at the New York Rangers [RDS] and Ottawa at New Jersey [RDS2]). Three more matchups (the New York Islanders at Detroit, Edmonton at Tampa Bay and Winnipeg at Toronto) drop the puck at 7:30 p.m., followed by a pair (Chicago at Minnesota [NBCSN] and Calgary at Nashville [SN1]) at the top of the hour. Finally, Los Angeles at Colorado, tonight’s nightcap, drop the puck at 9 p.m. All times eastern.

Short list:

Montréal at New York: There’s nothing better than an Original Six matchup that also serves as a potential playoff preview.
Chicago at Minnesota: Although this rivalry doesn’t have the age of an Original Six, that doesn’t take away from the general dislike of one another.

Trailing the Wild by seven points, the Blackhawks seem to be only improving as we get closer to the playoffs. Let’s see how they square up against the best in the West so far this season.

Chicago makes their second trip of the month to the Xcel Energy Center with a 36-18-5 record, the second-best mark in both the Central Division and the Western Conference. While the Blackhawks have certainly been strong on both ends of the ice, they’ve been most impressive on the defensive end, as they’ve allowed only 150 goals against – the eighth-lowest total in the NHL.

As he has since 2010, 22-13-3 Corey Crawford has been charged with manning Chicago‘s crease, and one again he’s done a good job of it. Crawford has posted a season .917 save percentage and 2.56 GAA, the (t)15th and 21st-best efforts, respectively, among the 47 netminders with at least 19 appearances.

His play has been necessary, as the Hawks‘ defense hasn’t exactly been spectacular this year. Allowing 30.9 shots against per game, Chicago ties for 10th-worst in those regards, even with Niklas Hjalmarsson‘s impressive 151 shot blocks. Hjalmarsson has been quite the standout this season, as those blocks are not only the highest total in the Windy City, but it also ties for most in the NHL with Ottawa‘s Erik Karlsson.

The Blackhawks‘ otherwise shoddy defense catches up with them on the penalty kill, where their 77.1% success rate ties for fourth-worst in the league. Hjalmarsson continues to be a stud when his club is down a man, as his 34 shorthanded blocks nearly double the total of second-place Brent Seabrook‘s, but they are the only two players with more than a dozen penalty kill blocks to their credit. I wouldn’t be surprised if Stan Bowman makes a move for another blueliner before the fast-approaching trade deadline.

Playing host this evening are the 39-13-6 Wild, the second-best team in the NHL and best in the West. Winners of their past two games, Minnesota seems dead-set on eclipsing the 48-26-8 mark set by the 2006-07 team, and all signs are pointing towards them doing just that. Of course, they’ll also have intentions of getting past the Western Quarterfinals where that team fell, but that’s a bridge they’ll cross when they get to it.

In the meantime, Minnesota will continue to play the stellar defensive hockey that has gotten it to this point. Spearheading that effort is 32-10-3 Devan Dubnyk. That impressive record is no mistake, as his .934 save percentage and 1.97 GAA are both tops in the league.

Dubnyk’s play is made only more impressive by the fact that he has a below average defense playing in front of him. Even with Jared Spurgeon‘s team-leading 106 shot blocks, the Wild still allow 30.9 shots-against-per-game, which ties for 10th-worst in the NHL.

Say what you want about Minnesota‘s defense, but it certainly knows when to clamp down. Thanks in part to Spurgeon’s team-leading 15 shorthanded blocks, the Wild play the 10th-best penalty kill in the game, successful on 82.9% of opportunities.

To make matters worse for the opposition, the power play is absolutely exceptional. The best in the West, Minnesota ranks fourth in the league with a 21.9% success rate with the extra man. That effort is headed by Mikael Granlund and his 15 power play points, but the real skater Crawford needs to keep an eye on is Nino Niederreiter, as he’s scored eight times with the man-advantage.

Thanks to forcing overtime the last time these two teams met on February 8, the Wild have a one-point edge over Chicago in the season series between these clubs. When Minnesota visited the United Center on January 15, they won 3-2.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Chicago‘s Scott Darling (.928 save percentage [second-best in the NHL] for a 2.19 GAA [fourth-best in the league]), Patrick Kane (40 assists [fourth-most in the NHL] on 60 points [tied for fifth-most in the league]) and Duncan Keith (36 assists [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]) & Minnesota‘s Dubnyk (1.97 GAA on a .934 save percentage for 32 wins [all best in the league], including five shutouts [tied for fourth-most in the NHL]), Granlund (+31 [tied for sixth-best in the league] with 36 assists [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]), Mikko Koivu (+32 [tied for fourth-best in the league]), Spurgeon (+33 [third-best in the NHL]), Ryan Suter (+35 [best in the league]) and Jason Zucker (+34 [second-best in the NHL]).

Vegas has marked the Wild a -130 favorite to win tonight, and that’s a hard number to argue with. Minnesota has some fantastic special teams and the best goalie in the game to go with home ice, so I expect them to take care of business this evening.

Hockey Birthday

Brian Rolston (1973-) – Selected 11th-overall by New Jersey in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, this center played most of his 17 seasons with the Devils. After hoisting the 1995 Stanley Cup in his rookie campaign, his only other major honor was being selected for the 1999 All-Star team.
Ryan Smyth (1976-) – This left wing was picked sixth-overall in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft by Edmonton, and he played 15 of his 19 seasons with the Oilers. His greatest campaign was his 2006-’07 effort when he notched 36 goals and 68 points between the Oil and Islanders.
James Wisniewski (1984-) – This defenseman has made at least one appearance in the last 11 seasons after being selected by Chicago in the fifth round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, and has spent most of career with the Blue Jackets.
Mattias Tedenby (1990-) – The 24th-overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, this left wing played his entire NHL career for the same Devils organization that drafted him. He appeared in 120 games for Jersey, and scored 10 goals.

Vincent Trocheck, ladies and gentleman! With five seconds remaining in regulation, the First Star of the Game fired a slap shot past Third Star Jake Allen to clinch a 2-1 victory for the Panthers in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day!

In addition to scoring the last goal of the night, Florida also took credit for the first. With 9:20 remaining in the first frame, Jon Marchessault (Nick Bjugstad) scored a wrist shot to give the Panthers a lead they held through both intermissions.

The Blues finally leveled the game at the 2:54 mark of the third period on a Kyle Brodziak (Scottie Upshall and Ryan Reaves) wrister, and it looked like it was going to be enough to earn a point and get to three-on-three overtime, but Trocheck (Mark Pysyk and Reilly Smith) was not interested. His slap shot found the back of the net to send the Predators back to Sunrise in style.

Second Star James Reimer earned the victory after saving 26-of-27 shots faced (96.3%), leaving the loss to Allen, who saved 31-of-33 (93.9%).

As far as the DtFR Game of the Day series is concerned, what is probably the most impressive thing about the Panthers‘ victory is that the 63-43-21 road teams in the series now have a one-point lead on hosts.

Tags 1991 NHL Entry Draft, 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 1995 Stanley Cup, 2002 NHL Entry Draft, 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, Brent Seabrook, Brian Rolston, CBJ, Chicago, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Hawks, Columbus, Columbus Blue Jackets, Columbus Jackets, Connor Keith, Corey Crawford, Crawford, Darling, Devan Dubnyk, Devils, Dubnyk, Duncan Keith, Edmonton, Edmonton Oil, Edmonton Oilers, Erik Karlsson, Game of the Day, Granlund, Hawks, Hjalmarsson, Islanders, Isles, Jackets, James Wisniewski, Jared Spurgeon, Jason Zucker, Jersey, Jersey Devils, Kane, Karlsson, Keith, Koivu, Mattias Tedenby, Mikael Granlund, Mikko Koivu, Minnesota, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey, New Jersey Devils, New York, New York Islanders, New York Isles, Niederreiter, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Nino Niederreiter, NJ, NJ Devils, NJD, NY, NY Islanders, NY Isles, NYI, Oil, Oilers, Patrick Kane, Rolston, Ryan Smyth, Ryan Suter, Scott Darling, Seabrook, Smyth, Spurgeon, Suter, Tedenby, Wild, Wisniewski, Zucker

Daily Matchup

January 20 – Day 97 – Blackhawks in Boston

Post author By Connor Keith
Post date January 20, 2017
1 Comment on January 20 – Day 97 – Blackhawks in Boston

Loverboy is right: everybody is working for the weekend.

No, not the Weeknd – the weekend, and what better way to get it started than with hockey? The action begins tonight at 7 p.m. with three games (Chicago at Boston [NHLN/SN1/TVAS], Detroit at Buffalo and Pittsburgh at Carolina) and Montréal at New Jersey (RDS) half an hour later. 9 p.m. marks the puck drop of Nashville at Edmonton, with tonight’s nightcap – Florida at Vancouver – waiting an hour before getting underway.

There’s been a lot of Original Six matchups this week, and any involving the Blackhawks are special due to rarity. Given that both are currently in playoff position, let’s head up to the City of Notions.

The Hawks make their yearly trip to the TD Garden with a 28-14-5 record, good enough for second place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference. They’ve found that success by scoring a lot of goals, already notching 130 this season, which ties for 10th most in the league.

They call him Showtime for a reason. Patrick Kane has had his hand on an impressive 47 tallies this season to lead the team. That being said, it’s been second-year Hawk Artem Anisimov that has scored the most goals on the team with 18 to his credit.

That offensive success has been necessary for Chicago to cover for their horrendous penalty kill. The Blackhawks‘ 75.2% kill rate ties for second-worst in the NHL and is the worst among squads currently in playoff position. Niklas Hjalmarsson has tried to do all he can with his 19 shorthanded blocks, but him and Brent Seabrook are the only two skaters with more than nine.

Given the fact that usual-starter Corey Crawford‘s .822 save percentage against the power play is third-worst in the NHL among goalies with at least 15 appearances, it goes without saying that the entire team needs to make a stronger effort to keep shots off his net. If not, Stan Bowman will not be afraid to bring in another blueliner to bolster his squad. Fortunately, Scott Darling has been named the starter for tonight’s game, as his save percentage against the power play is slightly better at .898.

Playing host this evening are the 23-19-6 Bruins, the third-best team in the Atlantic Division. They pose a good matchup against the Blackhawks, as they’ve found much of their success on the defensive end. The Bruins have allowed only 121 goals in 48 games, which ties for the seventh-best rate in the league.

With a goaltender like 22-10-4 Tuukka Rask, it’s tough to lose. He’s earned that impressive record on a .919 save percentage and 2.11 GAA, the (t)14th and fourth-best rates, respectively, in the league against the 42 other goalies with 19 or more appearances.

I’ve said it every time we’ve featured Boston, and it’s not going to change tonight: Rask is successful this year because of the incredible defense playing in front of him. He faces only 26.6 shots-per-game, the second-fewest in the league. Zdeno Chara has headed that effort with 84 blocks in 42 games. When combined with Brandon Carlo and Adam McQuaid‘s efforts, a whopping 225 shots have been kept off Rask’s net (4.6875 per game).

It’s not surprising that the second-best defense at even-strength also fields the second-best penalty kill. Led by Chara’s 16 shorthanded blocks (tied for second-most in the NHL), Boston rejects 86.9% of opposing power plays.

Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Boston‘s Brad Marchand (45 points [tied for sixth-most in the NHL] on 28 assists [tied for ninth-most in the league]) and Rask (five shutouts [tied for second-most in the NHL] and a 2.11 GAA [fifth-best in the league] for 22 wins [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) & Chicago‘s Darling (.924 save percentage [tied for sixth-best in the league]), Kane (33 assists [second-most in the NHL] among 47 points [fourth-most in the league]) and Duncan Keith (29 assists [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]).

It looks like defense and home ice is the key to victory, as Vegas favors the Bruins at -138. It’s a hard formula to argue with, especially given the fact that Boston‘s offense is no slouch. The Bruins should earn tonight’s victory.

Hockey Birthday

Lou Fontinato (1932-2016) – This defenseman played almost the entirety of his nine-season NHL career with the Rangers. By the time his career was through, he’d notched 104 points to go with his 1247 career penalty minutes.

Although one game is far too small a sample size to make any concrete claims, it seems that Doug Weight can at least handle his own behind the bench, as his Islanders beat Dallas 3-0 in his coaching debut.

First Star of the Game John Tavares (Third Star Anders Lee) is the man responsible for the winning goal, burying his wrister with 6:29 remaining in the first frame.

The first of the two insurance goals did not get struck until only 3:06 remained in regulation. Once again it was Tavares (Nikolai Kulemin) taking credit for the tally, this time a shorthanded wrister. Calvin de Haan (Second Star Thomas Greiss) completed the game’s scoring on an empty net with only four seconds remaining in the game.

Greiss earns the shutout victory by saving all 23 shots he faced, leaving the loss to Kari Lehtonen, who saved 33-of-35 (94.3%).

Mark New York‘s victory as another win for the home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series. Hosts now have a 52-33-14 record, seven points better than the visitors.

Daily Matchup

January 2 – Day 79 – Winter Classic… hopefully

Post author By Connor Keith
Post date January 2, 2017
1 Comment on January 2 – Day 79 – Winter Classic… hopefully

For the second day in a row, there’s only three games on the schedule. Well, maybe. The NHL will decide today at 8 a.m. if the Chicago at St. Louis (NBC/SN/TVAS) Winter Classic, currently scheduled at 1 p.m., will take place at that time, later, or even potentially postponed until tomorrow. Two games will take place for sure: Boston at New Jersey (SN) at 7 p.m. and Colorado at Vancouver three hours later. All times eastern.

If only this was the situation yesterday. All three matchups looked good on paper to open the year. Instead, the Winter Classic is by far the best game on the schedule today, so we must hope that this game happens!

The best team in the not only the Central Division but also the Western Conference, is the same club that has already played in four outdoor games – the most in the league. This year’s edition of the Blackhawks, at 23-11-5, have a specialty in not allowing their opposition to find the back of their net, allowing only 93 goals, tying for the seventh-fewest.

Back from injury, 13-7-3 Corey Crawford has resumed his starting role in Chicago‘s net. So far this season, he’s set a .928 save percentage and 2.28 GAA, the (t)sixth and (t)10th-best efforts, respectively, among his 46 peers that have 12 or more appearances.

Crawford is especially deserving of the praise, because the defense playing in front of him has not been that good at their primary responsibility. The Hawks have allowed 31.2 shots-per-game to reach his net, making him the eighth-most taxed netminder in the business.

That all being said, Niklas Hjalmarsson has done all he can to impact that statistic, as his 87 shot blocks are far-and-away the most on the club. He leads Brent Seabrook‘s total by 31 blocks, who firmly has second place by 14 blocks in his own right. I’d say that more defensemen need to keep pucks off Crawford’s net, but with the record they have… I guess they’re doing all right.

This defensive effort rears its ugly head on the penalty kill. Have you heard that expression, “When *censored* hits the fan?” That might be an understatement. Chicago ranks third-worst in the league when down a man, neutralizing only 75% of opposing power plays. Seabrook has been very important here, but it is probably telling that his measly six shorthanded blocks are top on the team.

Playing three blocks down Clark Avenue from Scottrade Center, the 19-13-5 Blues have taken up residence at Busch Stadium, the home field of the St. Louis Cardinals. Currently in third place in the Central Division, the Notes have found their success with the puck on their stick, scoring 103 goals, tying them for the 11th-best offense.

Easily the best forward on the team, right wing Vladimir Tarasenko has a club-leading 39 points to his credit in 37 games. 16 of those have been goals which, you guessed it, is also the best mark in St. Louis.

The power play has been a point of pride for St. Louis, as their 21.6% success rate is tied for seventh-best in the NHL. Who else to lead that effort than Tarasenko, who has 15 man-advantage points already on his resume. That being said, it’s actually been Kevin Shattenkirk who’s buried more power play goals. His six extra-man goals are top on the team.

If the power play has been good, the penalty kill has been great. St. Louis rejects 86% of opposing power plays, the fourth-best effort in the NHL and tops in the Western Conference. Captain Alex Pietrangelo has been at the head of that effort, as you’d expect a leader to be. His 17 shorthanded blocks are tops on the team.

Just like yesterday’s featured game – both by DtFR and the NHL – this matchup is not by accident. Although probably more known for the baseball rivalry between the Cardinals and Cubs, these towns do not like each other. Like, at all. While the Cubbies have had more recent success on the diamond, it was these very Blue Notes that expelled the Blackhawks in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. Something tells me that was only fuel on an already brightly burning fire.

Some players to keep an eye on this afternoon include Chicago‘s Crawford (.928 save percentage [tied for seventh-best in the league]), Patrick Kane (26 assists [tied for third-most in the NHL] among 37 points [tied for eighth-most in the league]) and Artemi Panarin (38 points [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) & St. Louis‘ Tarasenko (39 points [fourth-most in the league], including 16 goals [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]).

As usual, the way to beat the Blues is by eliminating Tarasenko. Chicago has been able to do that in two of their three meetings with St. Louis, including their most recent meeting – a 6-4 victory down the road at Scottrade Center on December 17. Vegas has marked St. Louis a -124 favorite, but road teams have won four of the last six outdoor games. I’m biased, but I believe the Notes can hold off the Hawks for a victory today.

Hopefully today’s game is able to be played, because there’s a couple good games that deserve to be watched tomorrow.

Hockey Birthday

Glen Harmon (1921-2007) – This defenseman may have only played nine seasons in the NHL, but he was named to two more All Star teams and hoisted two more Stanley Cups than a lot of players who play double the time. He played all nine seasons in Montréal.
Robbie Ftorek (1952-) – Although undrafted, this forward played eight seasons in the NHL (he also spent five seasons in the WHA), most of which with the Rangers. By the time his NHL career was complete, he’d notched 227 points. He also won a silver medal with Team USA at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics.
Mattias Norstrom (1972) – Drafted 48th-overall by the Rangers in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, this defenseman played 14 seasons in the league, most of which in Los Angeles. He was the Kings‘ captain from 2001 until he was traded during the 2007 season.
Brian Boucher (1977-) – This goaltender was drafted 22nd-overall by Philadelphia in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, and he played most of his 13-year career with the Flyers. Although he never hoisted a Stanley Cup or was named to an All Star game, he holds the modern NHL record for longest shutout streak at 332:01 (that’s over 5.5 hours!).

If you like offensive surges, the Centennial Classic was the game for you, as Toronto won 5-4 in overtime against the arch-rival Red Wings.

Although it ended up being high scoring, this contest stayed scoreless until the 5:33 mark of the second period. Third Star of the Game Anthony Mantha (Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Tatar) takes credit for the lone goal of the frame, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead.

Toronto returned to the ice with a bad taste in their mouth, scoring four straight goals. Leo Komarov (Jake Gardiner and William Nylander) takes credit for the first, only 1:23 after resuming play. Next up was Mitchell Marner (Morgan Rielly and James van Riemsdyk), who buried his snap shot exactly seven minutes later. Second Star Connor Brown (Zach Hyman and Connor Carrick) set the score at 3-1 with his wrister at the 9:34 mark, First Star Auston Matthews (Brown and Hyman) completed the surge only 2:31 later.

Down 4-1, the Wings needed a mighty surge, and they got one. Jonathan Ericsson (Mantha and Xavier Ouellet) got it started with 6:06 remaining in regulation with his first goal of the season. Dylan Larkin (Zetterberg and Tatar) pulled Detroit within a goal with 1:46 remaining, and Mantha (Zetterberg and Thomas Vanek) completed the comeback with only two ticks left on the clock, forcing three-on-three overtime.

A game like this doesn’t deserve to end in a shootout. Whether you believe that or not, Matthews (Gardiner and Brown) did, as he buried his winner with 80 seconds remaining in overtime to earn Toronto the bonus point.

Frederik Andersen takes earns the win after saving 33-of-37 shots faced (89.2%), leaving the overtime loss to Jared Coreau, who saved 23-of-28 (82.1%).

Although not on their usual surface, Toronto‘s home victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 45-24-12, favoring the hosts by 15 points.

Tags 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, 1972 Winter Olympics, 1992 NHL Entry Draft, 1995 NHL Entry Draft, Alex Pietrangelo, Artemi Panarin, Blackhawks, Blue Notes, Blues, Blueshirts, Boucher, Brent Seabrook, Brian Boucher, Busch Stadium, Canadiens, Chicago, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Hawks, Connor Keith, Corey Crawford, Crawford, Flyers, Ftorek, Game of the Day, Glen Harmon, Habs, Harmon, Hawks, Hjalmarsson, Kane, Kevin Shattenkirk, Kings, LA, LA Kings, LAK, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Kings, Mattias Norstrom, Montréal Canadiens, Montréal Habs, Montreal, New York, New York Blueshirts, New York Rangers, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Norstrom, Notes, NY, NY Blueshirts, NY Rangers, NYB, NYR, Panarin, Patrick Kane, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Flyers, Philly, Philly Flyers, Pietrangelo, Rangers, Robbie Ftorek, Seabrook, Shattenkirk, St. Louis, St. Louis Blue Notes, St. Louis Blues, St. Louis Notes, Tarasenko, Team USA, Vladimir Tarasenko, Winter Classic

Older Content Sick Hands Sunday

Sick Hands Sunday – Panarin and Lundqvist Can’t Be Stopped, Win This Week’s Crown.

Post author By Frank Fanelli
Post date December 19, 2016
No Comments on Sick Hands Sunday – Panarin and Lundqvist Can’t Be Stopped, Win This Week’s Crown.

Hey everyone, I’m back again for a new week of Sick Hands Sunday! I can’t wait to get another version out to all my fans for you all to enjoy! This week was a little easier to pick the winner so let’s get right into it!

So for the forward portion of this article, like I stated above, it was an easy week to pick the winner! The reason why I say this was because Blackhawks winger Artemi Panarin was on fire over the last week picking up ELEVEN points (4G, 7A) in just four games and in four of his five games this week he tallied at least two points and three power-play goals as well. Here’s how Panarin did game by game.

Panarin celebrates his goal (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

In Panarin’s first game, he recorded a power play goal in a solid 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars. The “BreadMan” as they like to call him, received a beautiful pass right on the left-hand dot from Duncan Keith. Panarin let a nasty one-timer go from his knee that beat Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen right under the blocker to ice the game and push the score to 3-1. You can see his goal down below:

Toasty pic.twitter.com/5QB9gvjpcq

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 12, 2016

In Panarin’s second game they took on the streaking New York Rangers in a battle of hot teams. Panarin recorded two assists in a 2-1 win. His best assist came on the Hawks first goal of the game early in the second period. He came down the left-hand boards, cut towards the dot, and delivered a great pass to a streaking Trevor van Riemsdyk who ripped a shot past Antti Raanta for the opening goal. He added a secondary assist late in the game as well. You can see the great pass down below:

A quality finish by @TvanRiemsdyk6 and an apple for the #BreadMan in the Big Apple pic.twitter.com/DntO4GoOVi

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 14, 2016

In the Blackhawks’ third game Panarin picked up three points (2G, 1A) with all three points coming on the power play! Panarin scored his first goal of the game just like he did in his first game. He received a cross-ice pass from Brent Seabrook right in his wheelhouse and Panarin fired the one-timer top cheese to bring the Hawks back a goal at 2-1. Here’s his rocket down below:

A dozen bread goals fresh from the oven pic.twitter.com/1htnzSCNad

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 16, 2016

Panarin would tally yet another power play goal in basically the same spot with the same setup. He took another beauty of a pass from Seabrook right on the left side dot and ripped another one-timer far side that beat Isles goalie Thomas Greiss high glove side to tie the game up at four goals a piece.He finished with another assist for three points on the night. Here’s his goal down below:

And the #BreadMan makes it a baker's dozen with another PPG pic.twitter.com/okgukQ97pJ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 16, 2016

In Panarin’s fourth game he had another monster game with three points (1G, 2A) in a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Blues. His first assist came on Brian Campbell‘s tap in goal. Panarin received a cross-ice pass from Patrick Kane on the left side boards. Panarin then spotted Campbell sitting wide open at the back door and he rifled a pass over to him for the tap in goal to tie the game at 3-3. Here’s the beautiful pass below:

.@bcampbell_51 joins the scoring fun! pic.twitter.com/lgYoEfTBQi

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 18, 2016

Panarin then put his great hands to use again with another fantastic assist. He spotted a wide-open Niklas Hjalmarsson at the points and sauced him a beaut of a pass at the top and Hjalmarsson fired a one-timer past Jake Allen to tie the game back up at 4-4. Panarin also added the icing to the cake with an empty net goal late in the goal to cap off the come from behind win! Here’s the awesome pass below:

And boom goes the Hjalmarsson pic.twitter.com/IoWrffOOn3

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 18, 2016

Panarin’s last game of the week he tallied two assists in a commanding 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. Panarin’s first assist came on Kieth’s first goal of the season. He stopped on the half wall on the left-hand board and passed to Keith who was wide open at the point. Keith let a massive one-time clap bomb go that beat Sharks goalie Martin Jones blocker side to tie the game at 1-1. He would then get another assist on an empty net goal to cap off an amazing week. Here it is below:

#ChicagoRunsOnDuncan pic.twitter.com/Kcx8nDwwIM

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 19, 2016

Lundqvist makes a save vs the Stars (Jermone Miron/USA Today Sports)

Now for the goalie part of the article, I decided to go with Rangers goalie, Henrik Lundqvist! Even though he had games where he was benched because of poor play, he still finished with an extremely strong week. He finished with a record of 3-0 a .98 GAA and a .967 SV%. He only gave up three goals on 90 shots in three games and also grabbed one joint shutout with Rannta vs the Stars. If some of you guys don’t know he had to come out of the game because he was decked by Stars goon Cody Eakin, who has later suspended four games, but later returned to complete the shutout! So it was pretty easy to pick “King Henrik” as the winner for this week!

The Honorable Mention goes to Devan Dubnyk and Eric Staal. I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week! (Thanks to the Chicago Blackhawks’ Twitter for the videos of the goals!)

Tags Antti Raanta, Artemi Panarin, Brent Seabrook, Brian Campbell, Cody Eakin, Devan Dubnyk, Ducan Kieth, Eric Staal, Frank Fanelli, Henrik Lundqvist, Jake Allen, Kari Lehtonen, Martin Jones, Patrick Kane, Thomas Greiss, Trevor van Riemsdyk

Nick's Net

Realistic Predictions for the 2016-2017 Season

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date October 12, 2016
No Comments on Realistic Predictions for the 2016-2017 Season

By: Nick Lanciani

Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks added Jared Boll in the offseason to help bolster Team USA’s heart and grit rating at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Oh wait. Anaheim also brought back Randy Carlyle as head coach.

So basically it’ll be Throwback Thursday everyday this season for the Ducks, since it’ll be ten years since their 2007 Stanley Cup championship with Carlyle and crew. Why not bring back the maroon and jade uniforms while we’re at it?

Arizona Coyotes

Youth is not just prevalent on the Arizona Coyotes roster this season, but in their front office as well, as 27-year-old, John Chayka, was hired as the youngest GM in NHL history.

Max Domi and Anthony Duclair do all they can to convince Shane Doan to become the next Jaromir Jagr and maybe then we can start talking about a potential Cup run for the Coyotes. A plethora of defensemen fight for six roster spots and are narrowed down throughout the season, Hunger Games style.

Boston Bruins

Big and Bad are Backes. Wait, that’s not it. The Boston Bruins added David Backes, Riley Nash and Dominic Moore to their group of forwards this offseason all while seeming to forget that they still need another top-4 defenseman (let alone an entire defense).

Like most years of Boston sports (okay, with the exception of the last fifteen years), the Bruins will probably narrowly miss the playoffs again, much to the dismay of their hardcore fan base that still goes to every game like it’s their job. Or am I confusing them with the guys on the roster? At least 63 + 37 = 100.

Buffalo Sabres

So the Buffalo Sabres look to do things this year. That’s a thing, I’m pretty sure. Major loss? Chad Johnson left the team via free agency and went to Calgary. Major gains?

They brought in Kyle Okposo and everything else remained pretty much the same, so they should probably be on the outside looking in again, unless they become the new Ottawa Senators (forged by youth and a backup goalie that takes over from February through their early first round playoff exit in April).

All kidding aside, the Sabres remain hopeful. Meanwhile, Rasmus Ristolainen finally got paid (at a discount, none the less— Flo from Progressive would be happy).

Calgary Flames

What did the Calgary Flames do this offseason? They got some goaltending. Brian Elliott was acquired via a trade with St. Louis and Chad Johnson came over from Buffalo in free agency, so that’s two new goalies for a total of about half as many goalies that the Philadelphia Flyers have played in the last twenty years (though Calgary is starting to catch up).

Johnny Gaudreau is still unsigned, so that could be problematic, since he’s like, Calgary’s entire offense. At least, that’s what the fake Kanye West account told me— just kidding, he finally signed the other day. Given the state of the Western Conference, it’s safe to say they won’t be flaming their competition in the standings.

Carolina Hurricanes

Biggest additions: Lee Stempniak, Viktor Stalberg and Teuvo Teravainen (so basically just Teravainen, if you’re playing along with the rebuild at home). Matt Tennyson was also brought in on the blue line via free agency from San Jose, so there’s that.

Hurricanes fans, take solace in the fact that the Columbus Blue Jackets exist in your division, because at least Carolina won’t finish last with an improved New Jersey Devils team (minus their defense) looking to jump ahead of the Hurricanes in the standings.

Chicago Blackhawks

2013, 2015— shoot, this year’s Stanley Cup Final is in an odd numbered year, isn’t it? Well, forget all of the season predictions, congrats to the Chicago Blackhawks. They’ll probably just insert some prospect alongside Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Artemi Panarin, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook or someone and be fine.

I mean, that’s been the formula since 2010 anyway. Win the Cup, trade a bunch of people because of the salary cap over the next offseason or two, win the Cup again and do it all over again. The only problem is, the Blackhawks have got the toughest division, so they’ll probably still make the playoffs, at least.

Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche added two Bourques to their team (Gabriel Bourque and Rene Bourque) so they’re obviously hoping to double their efforts of their 2001 Stanley Cup championship with legendary defenseman Ray Bourque. What’s that? They’re not related? Nice try Joe Sakic.

While the Av’s were perfect in the preseason, sadly none of it counted and they’ll start 0-0-0 just like everybody else. New head coach, Jared Bednar, won’t be dismantling any stanchions this year, so that’s good news, glass between the benches at Pepsi Center.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Zach Werenski made the team, so now they’ll have a defense. Oh, sorry, didn’t you there Ryan Murray, Seth Jones and Jack Johnson. But all kidding aside, these guys just need to stay healthy— I’m looking at you Sergei Bobrovsky.

Their group of forwards kind of have it going on. But sadly, this isn’t the year for the Columbus Blue Jackets, unlike the rest of the teams in Ohio it seems. Also, how it is possible for Werenski, a player from Michigan University, to not get run out of Ohio? I’ll wait.

Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars have the same goaltending tandem of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi, the same core group of forwards primarily in Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn and an improved defense with the loss of Kris Russell.

Somehow every year, this band of veterans impresses the hockey world by combatting speed and skill with heart and grit (minus some of the grit). But just like last year, they probably still won’t figure it out in the playoffs between their two goaltenders and fail miserably (in the eyes of Stars fans).

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings added Steve Ott (grit), Thomas Vanek (heart) and Frans Nielsen (actually, kind of good), this offseason to their group of forwards that doesn’t include Pavel Datsyuk for the first time in like, forever.

Datsyuk was traded to Arizona at the draft after he announced his retirement from the NHL to go play in the KHL back home before ultimately wrapping up his professional hockey career. And with that, so ends the Red Wings playoff appearance streak this season. But at least Petr Mrazek will be their number one goalie, right?

Edmonton Oilers

Rogers Place looks pretty cool. Milan Lucic Bruinsinizes the team. Peter Chiarelli traded Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for Adam Larsson. And that is all. Just kidding, Chiarelli also traded Nail Yakupov to the St. Louis Blues for practically nothing (so just like the Hall trade).

Connor McDavid was named captain and the team got worse. Kris Russell was added to the defense and Eric Gryba was not re-signed, then PTO’ed, then signed to a new deal with Edmonton, then probably placed on waivers. Sounds like things are business as usual for the Oilers.

Florida Panthers

James Reimer signed as the backup goaltender to Roberto Luongo for the Florida Panthers this offseason, so if you’re a fan of the 2013 Toronto Maple Leafs or 2011 Vancouver Canucks, maybe Florida is your team (until games actually matter in the playoffs).

Jason Demers and Keith Yandle were two major additions to the Panthers blue line, while they managed to finagle Jared McCann out of Vancouver in exchange for Erik Gudbranson. So basically, the Panthers are poised to dominate the Atlantic Division once again in the regular season. Can I get a Jaromir Jagr for the Hart Trophy to with it?

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings most recently added Devin Setoguchi to their batch of forwards, so that summarizes everything about their offseason. Props to Setoguchi for making a comeback in the NHL. Shouts to the Kings for having a cool arena by the way. I stopped by there in August.

Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick and Anze Kopitar all won awards last season, so that should have some indication of how they’ll do this season. They’ll probably make the Western Conference Final and have to play the Chicago Blackhawks again, won’t they?

Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild added Eric Staal to their roster this offseason and most recently (and more important than Staal), Teemu Pulkkinen.

Chris Stewart returned to the Wild organization after a trip around the league (or so it seemed) and everything else pretty much remained the same.

So if you’re a Minnesota fan, first, good luck surviving the winter (as usual). Second, nobody knows how the Vikings are doing it, but they’re doing it. And third, the Wild aren’t going to be that great this season, so pick one of the first two options to bandwagon, if you would please.

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens traded P.K. Subban. That is all.

But seriously, how could you, Montreal? Other than that, Alexander Radulov, Andrew Shaw and Shea Weber are all part of the team now, while Carey Price will miss the first game with the flu and Mike Condon got claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh. Looks like the team’s all yours, Al Montoya.

Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators acquired P.K. Subban this offseason. What were the Montreal Canadiens thinking?

The Preds are letting their forwards develop and made their defense significantly better by getting rid of Shea Weber for Subban. Now if only Pekka Rinne would return to vintage Pekka Rinne form, then this could the year for Nashville. Then again, they’re in the same division as Chicago in an odd numbered playoff year, so…

New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils restructured their forwards with the additions of Taylor Hall, Beau Bennett, Vernon Fiddler and P.A. Parenteau, but they still lack a defense (mostly). Brandon Gormley, Ben Lovejoy and Kyle Quincey are notable (somewhat) additions to the blue line in the Garden State.

Andy Greene remains one of the strangest trivia questions when someone asks you “who is the current captain of the Devils?” And Cory Schneider is still a highly underrated goaltender that somehow manages to survive without a team in front of him. But at least New Jersey is gearing up for the underdog of the year status.

New York Islanders

The New York Islanders added a lot of veteran presence to their noticeably Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum-less organization (yes, I took a shot at Barclays Center, there). Jason Chimera, Andrew Ladd and Dennis Seidenberg are now members of the Islanders and well, at least Seidenberg’s contract is only for a year.

As long as Jaroslav Halak plays like he did at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey (minus the final loss to Canada) and stays healthy, John Tavares and crew could lead this team further in the playoffs than in recent memory. Time may be winding down on their Cup contention clock, since Tavares is looking for an extension and well, everyone else on their roster is getting older.

New York Rangers

If winning the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes counts for anything than the New York Rangers are winners. But they probably won’t be winners of much this season. Granted, they could make a playoff run (or miss it altogether), the same tune rings true, Henrik Lundqvist cannot be a team on his own.

Josh Jooris and Mika Zibanejad are big name additions to the offense. Okay, so they’re just names added to the roster. Nick Holden is new to the Blueshirts blue line and well, they’re still an aging defense. Best of luck to the youth in the New York, like Vesey, Jesper Fast, Oscar Lindberg, Kevin Hayes and others for getting to play more than one position this year on the same shift.

Ottawa Senators

Chris Kelly is back with the Ottawa Senators this season after playing 11 games last year with the Boston Bruins and recovering from a broken femur. Derick Brassard was acquired from the Rangers in exchange for Mika Zibanejad and Bobby Ryan switched his number from 6 to 9 (get your mind out of the gutter, Internet).

Otherwise, the Senators remain virtually the same. On the outside looking in, but probably raising a few eyebrows for their late season surge. They’re still waiting on their youth, which is at least working better than it is for their counterparts in Ontario, the Toronto Maple Leafs (who, although contrary to popular belief, might actually be better this year).

Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers already appear to be in midseason form, what with Radko Gudas‘s six-game suspension and their apparent preference for Steve Mason as their number one goalie, as usual.

Boyd Gordon and Dale Weise are additions (though, can you really call them that?) and Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov made the team from training camp (and the last couple of years of drafting), so the Flyers appear to be a middle of the pack team again this year.

Additionally, they’ll face off with the Pittsburgh Penguins in this season’s Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game at Heinz Field on February 25, 2017 as part of the league’s 50th season celebration of the 1967 expansion. So yeah, that’s all I got for Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins have virtually the same team from Game 6 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final and look to defend their championship title without Sidney Crosby for at least game one of an 82 game regular season schedule.

New goaltender, Mike Condon, could make things interesting when comes time to decide between Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray before the 2017 expansion draft, since he could likely become Murray’s backup.

San Jose Sharks

Just like the Penguins, the San Jose Sharks roster remains virtually untouched since their loss in Game 6 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, which kind of makes you wonder, did anyone remember that there was an offseason?

Matt Tennyson jettisoned to Carolina (I was dying to juxtaposition those words), where he was now sent down to the Charlotte Checkers. Roman Polak went back to Toronto and honestly, that was probably for the better for San Jose. Aaron Dell is the new backup to Martin Jones and would someone just let Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau win a Cup this year? I mean, if Phil Kessel can, then surely those guys can too.

St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues will be consciously uncoupling with Ken Hitchcock at the end of the season in his farewell to coaching tour. Mike Yeo has already been named as his replacement and has begun barking out orders at practice, similar to his meltdown in Minnesota (though I have not confirmed that).

They lost David Backes to free agency, because the salary cap exists and good luck to the front office in St. Louis to try figure that one out in the next few years. Meanwhile they added Nail Yakupov for virtually nothing, though in their defense, they already had their own Yakupov in Magnus Paajarvi on their roster, so maybe this time they can make it work.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning finally agreed to a three year bridge deal extension, so Lightning fans rejoice, your fountain of youth is still intact for now. Steven Stamkos stuck around for eight more years and GM Steve Yzerman can now take the next six months off until the playoffs when he has to start worrying about how far his team will go and what to do with Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy.

The Bolts look like geniuses here, for having developed their players well over the last few seasons and will more than likely dominant the Atlantic Division with their in-state rivals, the Florida Panthers. Sadly, Tampa probably won’t win the Cup because the Blackhawks exist and that whole 2013, 2015, 20??? pattern exists.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Auston Matthews.

(Colby told me to just write that. I think it works).

Vancouver Canucks

Loui Eriksson joined fellow Swedes, Daniel and Henrik Sedin in Vancouver this offseason. So in other news, Team Sweden, feel free to send the Canucks some of your jerseys, because after looking at the rest of the roster, I’m sure they don’t want to be associated with whatever Vancouver’s front office is doing.

Vancouver added Erik Gudbranson. At the cost of Jared McCann to the Florida Panthers. Actually, from the sound of it, it wasn’t a cost at all. The Canucks hate youths. Millennials ruin everything. Best of luck to you Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom.

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals acquired Lars Eller this offseason, so that’s good, but they also signed Brett Connolly via free agency (so that’s bad). But let’s be honest, the Capitals will probably make the former 6th overall pick better than he’s ever been. Or at least playing on a line with Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov or Nicklas Backstrom will probably help with that.

So basically, the outlook for Washington is this: they’re a good team, they’ll do well, Braden Holtby is elite and they’ll win a lot. Maybe a Cup run is in their future.

Winnipeg Jets

Patrik Laine was selected 2nd overall at this year’s draft by the Winnipeg Jets, Blake Wheeler was named captain and Winnipeg finally moved on from Ondrej Pavelec (by sending him to Manitoba).

What’s that? Jacob Trouba is still a RFA? He wants to be TRADED? Forget all of the good storylines going for the Jets, the Trouba dilemma overshadows everything especially after Rasmus Ristolainen re-signed with the Sabres and began the end of the stare down between Ristolainen, Hampus Lindholm and Trouba as to which RFA defenseman would make a move first. So Kevin Cheveldayoff, who are you going to trade Trouba to? Asking for a friend. No, but seriously, he doesn’t want to miss playing time.

*Honorable mention* Las Vegas _____ Knights

Honestly, somebody just name the team already. I want to start working on coming up with a uniform in NHL 17’s Franchise Mode for you, Bill Foley.

President’s Trophy Winner

If you’re Canadian, this doesn’t matter. If you’re American, good luck. Oh, you meant the President’s Trophy, as in “the team with the best record at the end of the regular season in the NHL”? Well, probably can’t go wrong with the Washington Capitals for that one, unlike their other Washington counterparts that have marred records.

1st Place in the Atlantic Division at season’s end– Florida Panthers or Tampa Bay Lightning, basically the entire state of Florida

One of the teams in Florida will win the Atlantic Division, that’s really all I know.

1st Place in the Metropolitan Division at season’s end– Pittsburgh Penguins

It’s no cakewalk, but Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury live up to that “two is better than one” mantra (sorry Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss).

1st Place in the Central Division at season’s end– Nashville Predators

It doesn’t really matter who clinches the Central Division this season because they’re still going to lose in the 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs.

1st Place in the Pacific Division at season’s end– Los Angeles Kings

Winning the division isn’t everything. Just ask the 2015-2016 Anaheim Ducks and the late 2000s/early 2010s San Jose Sharks. Unfortunately what this means for Los Angeles is that they’ll be out in seven games in the first round.

Tags 2001 Stanley Cup Final, 2007 Stanley Cup Final, 2011 Stanley Cup Final, 2013 Stanley Cup Final, 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, 2015 Stanley Cup Final, 2016 Stanley Cup Final, 2016 World Cup of Hockey, 2016-2017 Season Preview, 2017 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series Game, 63 + 37 = 100, Aaron Dell, Adam Larsson, Al Montoya, Alexander Radulov, Anaheim Ducks, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Andrew Ladd, Andrew Shaw, Andy Greene, Anthony Duclair, Antti Niemi, Anze Kopitar, Arizona Coyotes, Artemi Panarin, Atlantic Division, Auston Matthews, Barclays Center, Beau Bennett, Ben Bishop, Ben Lovejoy, Bill Foley, Bobby Ryan, Boston Bruins, Boyd Gordon, Brad Marchand, Brandon Gormley, Brent Seabrook, Brian Elliott, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Carey Price, Carolina Hurricanes, Central Division, Chad Johnson, Charlotte Checkers, Chicago Blackhawks, Chris Kelly, Chris Stewart, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Connor McDavid, Coors Light NHL Stadium Series, Cory Schneider, Dale Weise, Dallas Stars, Daniel Sedin, David Backes, Dennis Seidenberg, Derick Brassard, Detroit Red Wings, Devin Setoguchi, Dominic Moore, Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith, Eastern Conference, Edmonton Oilers, Eric Gryba, Eric Staal, Erik Gudbranson, Flo from Progressive, Florida Panthers, Frans Nielsen, Gabriel Bourque, Hampus Lindholm, Hart Trophy, Heart and Grit, Henrik Lundqvist, Henrik Sedin, Hot Dog Water, Ivan Provorov, Jack Johnson, Jacob Markstrom, Jacob Trouba, James Reimer, Jamie Benn, Jared Bednar, Jared Boll, Jared McCann, Jaromir Jagr, Jaroslav Halak, Jason Chimera, Jason Demers, Jesper Fast, Jimmy Vesey, Joe Sakic, Joe Thornton, John Chayka, John Tavares, Johnny Gaudreau, Jonathan Quick, Jonathan Toews, Josh Jooris, Kari Lehtonen, Keith Yandle, Ken Hitchcock, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Kevin Hayes, KHL, Kris Russell, Kyle Okposo, Kyle Quincey, Las Vegas, Las Vegas ______ Knights, Los Angeles Kings, Loui Eriksson, Magnus Paajarvi, Marc-Andre Fleury, Marian Hossa, Martin Jones, Matt Murray, Matt Tennyson, Max Domi, Metropolitan Division, Michigan University, Mika Zibanejad, Mike Condon, Mike Yeo, Milan Lucic, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Nail Yakupov, Nashville Predators, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, NHL, NHL 17, Nick Holden, Nick Lanciani, Nick's Net, Nikita Kucherov, Oscar Lindberg, Ottawa Senators, P.A. Parenteau, P.K. Subban, Pacific Division, Patrice Bergeron, Patrick Kane, Patrick Marleau, Pavel Datsyuk, Pekka Rinne, Pepsi Center, Peter Chiarelli, Petr Mrazek, Phil Kessel, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, President's Trophy, Radko Gudas, Randy Carlyle, Rasmus Ristolainen, Ray Bourque, Rene Bourque, Riley Nash, Roberto Luongo, Rogers Place, Roman Polak, Ryan Miller, Ryan Murray, San Jose Sharks, Sergei Bobrovsky, Seth Jones, Shane Doan, Shea Weber, Sidney Crosby, St. Louis Blues, Steve Mason, Steve Ott, Steve Yzerman, Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning, Taylor Hall, Team Sweden, Team USA, Teemu Pulkkinen, There are 200 tags for this post., This post has lots of tags., Thomas Greiss, Thomas Vanek, Toronto Maple Leafs, Travis Konecny, Tyler Seguin, Vancouver Canucks, Vernon Fiddler, Washington Capitals, Western Conference, Winnipeg Jets, Zach Werenski

Nick's Net Playoff Recaps

Elliott Backstops Blues to 3-2 Win in Game 3, St. Louis Leads Series 2-1

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date April 17, 2016
No Comments on Elliott Backstops Blues to 3-2 Win in Game 3, St. Louis Leads Series 2-1

By: Nick Lanciani

Unknown-1 The St. Louis Blues emerged victorious at the United Center on Sunday, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2. Blues goaltender, Brian Elliott stopped 44 shots on 46 shots against, picking up the win with a .957 SV%, while Chicago’s Corey Crawford turned aside 33 pucks on 36 shots against in the loss with a .917 SV%.

Jaden Schwartz’s third period power play goal proved to the game winner as St. Louis toppled Chicago on road ice.

Entering Sunday, David Backes had a two-game point streak with 1-1-2 totals in the first two games of the series. Backes has now extended his point streak to three games with an assist on Schwartz’s game winning goal.

Also heading into Game 3, the Blackhawks scratched Brandon Mashinter in favor of Richard Panik and Dale Weise, while the Steve Ott returned to the lineup from an injury that occurred on December 5^th for the Blues. Crawford became Chicago’s all-time franchise playoff leader in wins with his 46^th career playoff victory after Game 2, surpassing legendary Blackhawks goaltender Tony Esposito. Game 3 was the 371^st consecutive sellout at United Center, including postseason games.

Viktor Svedberg and Kyle Brodziak took penalties 1:49 into the first period in Game 3 and gave Chicago an early power play. Svedberg was in the box for a roughing minor, while Brodziak received a roughing double minor, which was served by Robby Fabbri.

St. Louis had 5 shots on goal before the Blackhawks could even record their first shot on goal, yet a slap shot from Brent Seabrook at the point beat Elliott almost 30 seconds into the Blackhawks power play, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead at 2:18 of the first period. Seabrook’s goal was assisted by Jonathan Toews (2) and Patrick Kane (3).

Next, St. Louis’ Jay Bouwmeester served time in the penalty box for hooking Artemi Panarin at 3:41 of the first period and promptly returned to the box for having played the puck before fully exiting the sin bin at 5:46. It’s a real interference rule, look it up.

Unknown-2 In keeping with the trend, Svedberg went to the box for catching Vladimir Tarasenko with a high stick at 12:04 of the first period and gave the Blues a power play.

All it took was seven seconds of a man advantage for St. Louis defenseman, Colton Parayko to tie the game, 1-1, with a power play goal (his first of the playoffs) that was assisted by Alex Pietrangelo and Fabbri.

At 19:31 of the first period, Joel Edmundson and Andrew Shaw exchanged pleasantries, sending Edmundson to the box for cross checking and Shaw for slashing. The matching minors would carry over into the second period for a little over the first minute and a half.

After one, the game was tied 1-1, with the Blackhawks leading in shots on goal (10-9), faceoff wins (17-10), giveaways (4-3) and takeaways (2-1). The Blues led in hits (16-12) and blocked shots (10-3) after twenty minutes of play.

Sixty-four seconds into the second period Artem Anisimov put Chicago ahead 2-1 with some help from Panarin.

Aside from the numerous saves Crawford made in the chaos of the first six minutes of the second period, the only other major event was Chicago’s last power play of the afternoon at 9:38 of the 2^nd. Scottie Upshall was sent to the box for tripping Andrew Shaw, but the Blackhawks were unsuccessful to convert on the power play. With forty minutes in the books, Chicago was leading 2-1 and outshooting the Blues 34-22.

The Blackhawks had a .774 win percentage (tied for 5^th in the NHL) in the regular season when scoring first, but regular season stats ultimately mean nothing in the playoffs.

A little over five minutes into the third period, Patrik Berglund scored for St. Louis to tie the game, 2-2. Kevin Shattenkirk (1) and Robby Fabbri (2) picked up assists on Berglund’s goal. Patrick Kane took a four-minute double minor penalty for high sticking at 11:51 of the 3^rd and put St. Louis on the power play.

Vladimir Tarasenko found David Backes who tossed the puck over to Jaden Schwartz, who in turn, capitalized on the power play with a goal. Schwartz’s goal put the Blues ahead 3-2 with plenty of time for Chicago to throw everything left at the net, including the kitchen sink. Ultimately, the Blackhawks pulled Crawford in exchange for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as the Brian Elliott and the Blues sealed the deal.

After sixty minutes of play, the Blues were victorious and led in hits (40-36), faceoff wins (42-41) and went 2/3 on the night on the power play. Chicago finished Game 3 leading in shots on goal (46-36), giveaways (12-9) and blocked shots (19-13), and went 1/4 on the man advantage on the night.

The St. Louis Blues now have a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4.

Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday night at 9:30 PM EST at the United Center and can be seen on NBCSN in the United States, as well as Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.

Playoff Recaps

Chicago at St. Louis – Game 2 – Keith returns to level the series for the Hawks

Post author By Connor Keith
Post date April 15, 2016
No Comments on Chicago at St. Louis – Game 2 – Keith returns to level the series for the Hawks

Duncan Keith doesn’t play in Game 1, the Blues take advantage to take a series lead. He plays Game 2, and now the Hawks have home ice advantage, winning 3-2.

A scoreless, highly defensive first period had many thinking Game 2 would be similar to the first. Only nine combined shots were fired in the opening frame, with Chicago firing only two, even though both sides had a power play opportunity each.

Second Star of the Game (although I would argue he is not deserving of the honor due to his involvement in a future play) Vladimir Tarasenko finally scored the first regulation goal of the series at the 15:20 mark of the second period on a wrister from between the dots, assisted by Jaden Schwartz and Jori Lehtera. The Blues‘ lead didn’t last long though, as Keith’s slap shot, assisted by Third Star Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews with five seconds remaining in the period, leveled the game.

Similar to the period before, the third was more than half complete before the third goal was scored. Before that happened though, Tarasenko committed a slashing penalty on Andrew Shaw, earning him a two minute break in the sin bin. With seven seconds remaining on the power play, and 4:19 remaining in regulation, Shaw himself made Vladi pay, assisted by Brent Seabrook and Kane to give Chicago the lead. They scored an insurance goal on an empty net with 1:26 remaining when Artemi Panarin tipped-in Keith’s initial attempt, and it proved to be necessary as Kevin Shattenkirk connected on a slap shot off a David Backes face-off win, but with only two seconds remaining in the game.

First Star Corey Crawford earns the leveling win after saving 29 of 31 shots faced (93.5%), while Brian Elliott takes the loss after saving 26 of 28 (92.9%).

The squads will board planes tonight or tomorrow and make their way to Chicago for Game 3, which will take place at 3 p.m. eastern on Sunday. It may be viewed on NBC, SN or TVAS.

Nick's Net

Numbers Game: Look to the Rafters- Chicago Blackhawks

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date September 13, 2015
No Comments on Numbers Game: Look to the Rafters- Chicago Blackhawks

By: Nick Lanciani

I continue to explore an important element of the game and what retired numbers around the league may look like in the future. While there’s only a finite set of numbers to utilize on the back of a jersey, many teams choose to retire (or honor) some numbers based on extraordinary circumstances, dedication to the organization, or legendary status.

Many thoughts went through my head in each and every consideration. Feel free to agree or disagree- I want to know what you, the fans, consider worthy when evaluating a player, their career, and whether or not their number should be retired by a franchise. I am interested in seeing what you have to say, assuming you are actually a fan of the team and/or player that you argue for or against. Drop us a line in the comments or tweet to @DtFrozenRiver using #DTFRNumbersGame.

For each team, I thought of former and current players that should have their numbers retired now or once they hang up the skates.

Chicago Blackhawks

Current Retired Numbers- 1 Glenn Hall, 3 Keith Magnuson/Pierre Pilote, 9 Bobby Hull, 18 Denis Savard, 21 Stan Mikita, 35 Tony Esposito

Recommended Numbers to Retire

81 Marian Hossa

Three Stanley Cup championships in his first six years as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks should pretty much guarantee his number will be retired after his career is over.

19 Jonathan Toews

Three Stanley Cups. That should do it.

88 Patrick Kane

(See above). Both Kane and Toews will go down as some of the greatest Blackhawk players in franchise history when all is said and done with their careers (if not already).

Honorable Mentions

2 Duncan Keith

While Keith shouldn’t have a hard time getting his number retired (again, 3 Cups) it might take some convincing around the room of Chicago’s front office meeting someday. I’d have to imagine the only reason why they wouldn’t, at least right away, would be because they’d want to stretch out as much as they can from the legendary teams that they put together in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

7 Brent Seabrook

While still a major part of Chicago’s blue line and arguably one of their greats, Seabrook, like Keith might need some convincing on his behalf when it comes time to decide on retiring his number or not in the Blackhawks front office.

Tags Bobby Hull, Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks, Denis Savard, DTFR Numbers Game, Duncan Keith, Glenn Hall, Jonathan Toews, Keith Magnuson, Marian Hossa, Nick Lanciani, Patrick Kane, Pierre Pilote, Stan Mikita, Tony Esposito

Nick's Net Playoff Recaps

Saad, Blackhawks Even Series 2-2

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date June 11, 2015
No Comments on Saad, Blackhawks Even Series 2-2

2015 Stanley Cup Final Game 4 Recap

By: Nick Lanciani

It was a valiant effort for the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final that ultimately paid out with a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the United Center on Wednesday night.

Corey Crawford backstopped the Blackhawks to the win, having turned aside 24 of 25 shots faced. Brandon Saad’s game winning goal in the 3^rd period ensured that the series would be tied, 2-2, heading back to Tampa on Saturday night for Game 5.

The Lightning, meanwhile, listed Ben Bishop as “day to day” with an injury, thereby making Andrei Vasilevskiy the 6^th goaltender in history to make his first career playoff start in the Stanley Cup Final. Vasilevsky is also the youngest goalie to start in a Stanley Cup Final game since Patrick Roy, in 1993. Despite a 17 save effort on 19 shots against, Vasilevsky earned his 1^st career playoff loss.

Entering the night Vasilevskiy and his backup for the night, Kristers Gudlevskis had a combined 9 career NHL wins. Vasilevskiy is not alone in losing his 1^st career playoff start in a Stanley Cup Final game, as Jussi Markkanen was the most recent to do so in 2006 with the Edmonton Oilers- having recorded a 5-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

For Chicago, Kyle Cumiskey, was a healthy scratch on the blue line in favor of defenseman, Kimmo Timonen. It was Timonen’s first Stanley Cup Final appearance since Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, when he was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers who happened to lose that night at the Wachovia Center (now Wells Fargo Center), 4-3, in overtime to the Chicago Blackhawks.

22,354 people packed into the Madhouse on Madison witnessed an undisciplined 1^st period as both teams took numerous penalties, as well as an unusual performance by the Blackhawks coming out of the gate. The Lightning quickly got 2 shots on goal, but the Blackhawks went over eight minutes without a shot on goal. At 8:17, Chicago recorded their first shot on goal. About a minute later, Brent Seabrook took the game’s first penalty.

Photo by Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images

The Blackhawks defenseman was sent to the sin bin for interference, resulting in a power play for Tampa. The Lightning were unable to score on the man advantage and took a penalty of their own at 11:41 of the 1^st period, when Jason Garrison was sent to the box for interference.

A minute later, Chicago’s power play was cut short, in favor of 4 on 4 action as Jonathan Toews was guilty of a high stick that caught Victor Hedman up high.

At 16:33, Kimmo Timonen was sent to the box for hooking and Tampa Bay once again went on the power play in a scoreless game. The Lightning were unsuccessful and swapped man advantages with the Blackhawks at 19:08 of the 1^st period, when Alex Killorn was sent to the penalty box for high sticking.

After twenty minutes of play Chicago and Tampa were scoreless, with the Lightning leading shots on goal 9-2. The Blackhawks had gone 0 for 2 on the power play in the period, while the Lightning went 0 for 3 on the man advantage.

Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images

Chicago began to take some control of the game flow in the 2^nd period, eventually outshooting the Lightning 12-8 in the period.

Nearly seven minutes into the second frame, Jonathan Toews found the back of the net for the game’s first goal and his 10^th of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa picked up assists on Toews’s goal.

Brent Seabrook found his way to the penalty box for his 2^nd time of the night at 7:19 of the 2^nd period for cross checking J.T. Brown along the wall in Chicago’s defensive zone. The Lightning, in keeping with the special teams trend on the evening, did not score on the ensuing power play.

The Blackhawks 1-0 lead did not last for long, like the rest of the games in the series so far, as 5:07 after Toews scored, Tampa forward, Alex Killorn fired home his 9^th of the playoffs.

Killorn’s goal at 11:47 of the 2^nd period was assisted by Valtteri Filppula and Steven Stamkos. Stamkos earned his first point since Game 5 against the New York Rangers in the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals with the assist and gave Killorn 3 goals in the last 5 games as a result.

The Hawks outshot the Bolts 8-0 after Killorn’s goal as the 2^nd period came to an end. Chicago also dominated faceoff wins, 23-15, and led in blocked shots, 16-14.

Tampa still outshot the Blackhawks, 17-14, at the end of forty minutes of play and led in hits, 30-22. Both teams were powerless on the power play with Chicago still 0 for 2 and the Lightning having gone 0 for 4.

Steven Stamkos was quickly penalized to begin the 3^rd period, for sending the puck out of play, over the glass, thus earning a delay of game penalty at 1:04 of the period. Chicago had already fired two quick shots on goal and looked as though they would soon be leading the shots on goal category, but the Lightning soon responded with a few shots of their own after killing off Stamkos’s penalty.

At 6:22 of the 3^rd, Brandon Saad capitalized on a quirky play and pocketed his 8^th goal of the postseason. Patrick Kane was credited with the lone assist on Saad’s goal, which had given the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead that they’d hold onto for the rest of the night.

Chicago survived Tampa’s desperate surge and the tremendous gain in the game’s already furious pace, staving off 6 shots on goal by the Lightning (and plenty more that went wide or were blocked). Tampa pulled Vasilevskiy with about a 90 seconds on the clock, in desperation, as Stamkos shot wide a couple of times and ran out of puck luck at the most inopportune winding seconds of the game.

Time expired and the Blackhawks took Game 4, 2-1. The Lightning led in shots on goal, 25-19, and hits, 46-34, while Chicago dominated faceoff wins, 38-20, and led blocked shots, 23-17. Chicago finished the night 0 for 3 on the power play and Tampa finished 0 for 4 with the extra man.

Game 4 was the fourth game in the series to be decided by 1 goal. The loss relegated the Tampa Bay Lightning to 8-4 on the road in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, despite having the worst regular season road record among teams that made the playoffs. With an extra day off between Games 4 and 5, Ben Bishop will have 4 days off between starts (assuming he starts in Game 5).

The Stanley Cup Final is tied 2-2 for the 5th time in 7 years, including all three Finals involving the Blackhawks in recent years (2010, 2013, and 2015). Game 5 will be Saturday night at 8 PM EST from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Television coverage will be on NBC in the United States and CBC in Canada.