Down the Frozen River

Tag: Burns

  • Pittsburgh at San Jose – Game 6 – Penguins hoist the Cup after a 3-1 victory

    Pittsburgh Penguins LogoUnknownIf football is any predictor, we should’ve known this series would be exactly this long – the Raiders and Steelers have split their six games when meeting in the AFC playoffs in their historic rivalry, including such occurrences as the Immaculate Reception.  In hockey, we cannot end a playoff series tied, and the Penguins now have a 4-2 postseason record over the Sharks that they used to hoist the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in the franchise’s history.

    Perhaps Kris Letang’s goal (by a defenseman no less, not ironic if you’re familiar with the history of both football teams) will be remembered with such accolades as the one listed before and become one of those named plays in Pittsburgh‘s vast sporting lore.  The Second Star of the Game’s slap shot found the back of Third Star Martin Jones’ net at the 7:46 mark of the second period after assists from First Star Sidney Crosby (his 12th helper of the postseason) and Conor Sheary.  A centering pass to Patric Hornqvist went awry, leading to Crosby ending up with the puck on the near side of Jones’ crease.  He took it behind the net and passed to Letang waiting at the far face-off zone to bang it off the netminder for a five-hole goal.

    What’s more impressive is that tally was struck only 1:19 after Logan Couture and the Sharks had leveled the score.

    For the opening five minutes of the second period, the Sharks were making extremely evident what Coach Peter DeBoer had stressed during intermission, as they led the shot totals five to one.

    Those efforts proved fruitful 6:27 after resuming play when Couture scored his 30th point of the postseason (only the fifth player to reach that mark since 1995) with a goal-scoring wrister, assisted by Melker Karlsson and Brent Burns (his 17th helper of the postseason).  Burns had gloved down a clearing attempt by the Penguins just outside San Jose‘s offensive zone.  He passed from the near to far boards along the blue line to Karlsson to enter the zone, who immediately shoved the puck along to the attacking Couture.  Although the scouting report has said to attack Matt Murray’s glove hand, Couture fired for the netminder’s five-hole, banking a shot off his left pad to level the score after a first period goal from Brian Dumoulin.

    Dumoulin’s play actually begins 26 seconds before he finds the net when he was tripped by Dainius Zubrus at the 7:50 mark of the first period, causing the first power play of the game.  His ensuing slap shot was assisted by Justin Schultz and Chris Kunitz (his eighth helper of the postseason).  Kunitz passed up the near boards to Schultz at the point, who passed across the blue line to the waiting goal scorer.  The defenseman faked a shot to get Karlsson out of his way before following through with a second attempt that narrowly beat Jones far side.

    For the most part, Pittsburgh was in control for most of the final game of the NHL season.

    The first period stats that best explain the opening frame (other than Pittsburgh‘s 100% power play success rate) include the Pens‘ 60% face-off win rate and the 16 combined turnovers in favor of the Sharks – 11 giveaways from the Penguins and another five Shark takeaways.

    Overall, Pittsburgh controlled the puck, but when San Jose could ascertain possession, they certainly struck fear into Murray and the black-and-gold on a few occasions, but the netminder stood tall to keep the Sharks off the board.

     

    Once again the Penguins entered the intermission with a one-goal lead, but the long change in the second period, as its prone to do, has a way of evening things out to not favor either side.  The Sharks actually led the frame’s shot totals (13 to 11, respectively) in addition to continuing their dominance along the boards (18 to 10 for the period and 36 to 22 after two periods), but Pittsburgh continued to own the face-off dot (winning 15 out of 22 face-offs in the frame and 65% for the contest) to hold their own.

    Statistics for the final frame are misleading, with the exception of one: blocked shots.  Pittsburgh ended the game with 33 blocks, with quite a few of them occurring in the final 20 minutes.  With the help of those blocks and the threat of others forcing rushed attempts, only two Shark shots reached Murray’s net.

    With two minutes remaining in San Jose‘s season, Jones left the ice for a sixth skater.  Hornqvist made the Sharks pay with 62 seconds remaining with a wrister on the empty net after an assist from Crosby to seal the victory for the City of Champions.  The Conn Smythe Trohpy-winning captain took credit for one of the many blocks of the frame near the point and dished to a streaking Hornqvist, who barely advanced into the Sharks’ zone before scoring.

    History certainly has a way of repeating itself, even when excluding the connection between these towns on the gridiron.  Seven years ago, to the day, was the date when the Penguins last hoisted the Cup.  The seasons followed a similar story line: a team that looked so dangerous on paper that failed to live up to the scouting report on ice.  To resolve the issue, a new coach was hired, then Dan Bylsma, and Sullivan this season.  Even the fact that the Penguins won in their road white sweaters (That’s a Steel City tradition though, at this point.  It’s been since 1960 that a Pittsburgh-based Big Four team [baseball, basketball, football and hockey] has won on home turf (the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates) recalls memories of the Penguins‘ triumph in Joe Louis Arena.

    Both goaltenders played exceptionally well, but Murray earned the victory after saving 18 of the 19 shots he faced (94.7%), while Jones takes the loss, saving 24 of 26 (92.3%).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • San Jose at St. Louis – Game 2 – Martin and the Sharks level the series with a 4-0 victory

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    With the combined efforts of Second Star of the Game Martin Jones and Paul Martin’s three blocks, the Sharks shutout the Blues 4-0 in St. Louis to level the Western Conference Finals at a game apiece.

    The Sharks struck quickly, as Tommy Wingels scored a wrister only 2:07 into the contest, assisted by Dainius Zubrus and Justin Braun (his fourth helper of the playoffs).  Heading back towards the blue line along the far boards, Wingels pass to Braun, who dumped back into the zone to Zubrus.  Zubrus advanced to the far face-off dot and found the attacking center, who scored on Brian Elliott’s stick side.  Elliott made the initial save on Wingels’ attempt, but was unable completely contain the trickling puck that proved to be the winning tally.

    It was only the second shot faced by Elliott, but it foretold the way the night would go for the Notes.

    With 8:34 remaining in the frame, David Backes was charged and found guilty of tripping Tomas Hertl in the Sharks‘ attacking zone.  His sentence: two minutes in the sin bin.  The Blues continued the trend they set in the first game with their fourth straight penalty kill against the Sharks, allowing only three shots against.

    Almost immediately after Backes returned to the ice (12 seconds later, to be exact), Chris Tierney returned the favor by tripping Kevin Shattenkirk, but the Notes‘ power play was equally successful as San Jose‘s, failing to score on three shots on goal.  Due in part to that, the contest entered the first intermission with San Jose leading 1-0.

    The game certainly began favoring the Sharks, made evident by their tally, but the Blues started getting their skates under them to get the game to be more of back-and-forth, even affair.  The Sharks led the frame’s shot totals (10 to nine), but the Blues actually led in face-off wins (60%), blocks (seven to two), takeaways (seven to three) and hits (14 to 11).

    After resuming the back-and-forth nature in the second, Third Star Logan Couture was caught holding Jori Lehtera at the 4:45 mark.  Fortunately for him and his squad, San Jose earned their second straight penalty kill of the night to keep the Notes off the board.

    A second after completing the kill, the Sharks went to the power play on a Troy Brouwer slashing penalty against First Star Brent Burns.  Burns took offense to that and made him pay only 18 seconds later with a wicked snap shot, assisted by Joe Pavelski (his sixth helper of the playoffs) and Couture. This play was especially lopsided, as Alexander Steen was in the process of returning from the bench with a replacement stick.  Just before receiving a hit from Steen (on his way to the bench) at the blue line, Burns passed across ice to Patrick Marleau, who dumped into the zone to Couture.  Couture centered into the center of the zone for Pavelski, who found the crashing Burns at the left face-off dot to set up his snapper that set the score at 2-0.

    The Sharks got their third attempt at the power play at the 8:03 mark when the wily Steve Ott interfered with Pavelski along the far boards.  Luckily for the Blues, they were able to complete this kill to maintain the score differential at two tallies.

    Patric Berglund took a rough hit into the open door jam at the completion of that kill that forced him to the dressing room.  He did return to the ice with a little over four minutes remaining in the frame.

    Once again, only one goal was struck in the period, and this frame was decidedly more in San Jose‘s favor even though Brouwer had a great opportunity stopped by the goal post.  They led the period in shots (nine to six) and giveaways (one to three), while the Blues had face-offs (52%), blocks (14 to six), takeaways (eight to five) and hits (30 to 20) to their credit.

    Off a face-off only 32 seconds into the third period, Marleau hi-sticked Carl Gunnarsson and drew blood, earning him a double minor.  San Jose was once again up to the challenge, making their fourth kill of the night.  They were further rewarded at the five minute mark when Jay Bouwmeester slashed Joe Thornton, but were unable to take advantage.

    As would be expected, the Blues certainly increased their offensive pressure in the third period.  With 8:24 remaining in the frame, the Notes had already notched eight shots on goal to San Jose‘s three.

    Those attempts came to a grinding halt at that mark though, as Brouwer took his second seat in the penalty box of the night for hi-sticking Martin.  Just like the first time, Burns made him pay, this time with a slap shot assisted by Marleau and Couture (his 12th helper of the postseason).  The play looked like a basketball “extra pass” motion wrapping around the three-point arc.  Couture collected a pass along the near boards and passed to Marleau at the point, who found Burns waiting outside the far face-off circle, scoring over Elliott’s glove hand.

    Ex-Blue Roman Polak gave the Blues some life with 6:41 remaining when he interfered with Backes, made even worse for San Jose when Martin slashed Brouwer, giving St. Louis 24 seconds of 5-on-3.  After Polak served his complete time, Ken Hitchcock summoned Elliott to the bench for an extra attacker for a 6-on-4 advantage, but it wasn’t enough to get the Notes on the board.

    Elliott remained on the bench to give the Blues a 6-on-5, but it was not the Notes that took advantage.  With 19 seconds remaining, Zubrus scored his first goal of the postseason setting the score at the 4-0 final.

    Jones earns the shutout victory after saving all 26 shots he faced, while Elliott takes the loss, saving 20 of 23 (87%).

    The series now leveled at a game apiece, the action relocates to the SAP Center.  Game 3 takes place Thursday at 9 p.m. eastern and may be viewed on CBC, NBCSN or TVAS.

  • San Jose at St. Louis – Game 1 – Elliott saves 32, earns Game 1 victory

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    First Star of the Game Brian Elliott allowed only one goal to earn the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 home win over the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

    The first penalty of the game was at the 5:36 mark, a holding penalty against Melker Karlsson, courtesy of Third Star Jori Lehtera.  The Sharks‘ ensuing power play was unsuccessful, as the Blues and Elliott made three saves.

    With 8:25 remaining in the first period, the Blues almost struck with their first tally of the night with a Patric Berguland deflection off his chest, but he was ruled to have interfered with goaltender Martin Jones.  The call was challenged by the Notes, but upheld.

    Logan Couture was charged with tripping with 6:04 remaining in the period.  St. Louis made him pay 1:08 and one shot later when Second Star David Backes redirected a shot past Jones with his head and stick, giving the Blues the one-goal lead.  Kevin Shattenkirk takes responsibility for the initial shot, assisted by Jaden Schwartz.

    Only 34 later, the Sharks leveled when Thomas Hertl (his third tally of the playoffs) and Joe Pavelski redirected Brent Burns’ initial slap shot from the blue line (his 12th helper of the playoffs).

    Steve Ott headed to the box with 2:42 remaining for slashing Justin Braun, but once again the Blues‘ penalty kill was up to the task, holding the score at one-all going into the first intermission.

    Although the score was tied St. Louis overall dominated play during the first frame, with a solid five scoring chances to San Jose‘s lone chance.  The Blues notched 11 shots on goal to the Sharks‘ eight, six hits to San Jose‘s five, no giveaways to San Jose‘s one and four takeaways to the Sharks‘ one.

    With 9:15 gone in the second period, the Sharks committed a turnover in the neutral zone, collected by Lehtera.  Lehtera advanced the puck into the offensive zone before firing his slap shot from the far face-off zone past Jones’ glove elbow (his second of the postseason), giving them another one-goal lead.

    Elliott was very fortunate with 1:13 remaining in the second period when he attempted to freeze the puck, but it trickled under his glove and pads.  Before the Joel Ward and the Sharks could capitalize, the referee blew the play dead, leaving the score at 2-1, which held to the second intermission.

    Although they had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard, the Sharks dominated the second period.  The frame started very back-and-forth, but San Jose ended up firing 16 shots in the period to St. Louis‘ five in addition to extending their game total leads in face-offs (29-23), giveaways (two to four) and blocks (10 to eight).

    Paul Stastny was sent to the box at the 8:44 mark for hooking Pavelski.  The Blues had not one, but two shorthanded scoring opportunities, but the score remained 2-1 with 9:16 remaining in regulation.

    St. Louis earned their third period shot at the power play 20 seconds after Stastny returned to the ice when Hertl was caught tripping Colton Parayko.  Just like San Jose, the Notes were not able to produce with the man-advantage, so the score remained a one-goal differential.

    Jones left the ice for the extra attacker with 2:30 remaining in regulation, but Elliot and the St. Louis defense was up to the task to secure the 2-1 victory.

    Elliott earns the win afters saving 32 of 33 shots faced (97%), while Jones takes the loss, saving 21 of 23 (91.3%).

    Game 2 between these squads will occur Tuesday night at 8 p.m. eastern at Scottrade Center.  It may be viewed on NBCSN, SN and TVAS.

  • San Jose at Los Angeles – Game 1 – Pavelski and the Sharks steal Game 1

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    Who would’ve guessed that a one-goal third period would be the difference in this one?

    The first goal was struck after only 2:53, courtesy of Jake Muzzin on a tip-in, assisted by Second Star of the Game Milan Lucic and Tanner Pearson.  After collecting a deflected shot, Lucic was taking the puck behind the net, put a puck into the exposed crease for Muzzin to send home.  Anze Kopitar quickly followed that tally with a trip to the box for interference with 14:14 remaining in the first, which First Star Joe Pavelski capitalized on with a slap shot to level the game.

    Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the remaining 13:35, and the game leveled out in that time.  Neither team managed more than eight shots fired (Los Angeles only fired the puck five times), which was further improved by the Sharks‘ five blocks.

    The second period was one of power plays, with five being awarded, and three of those penalties against San Jose.  Brent Burns gave San Jose a one-goal lead at the 6:50 mark with a long range slap shot from the face off dot assisted by Third Star Joel Ward, who followed the play by interfering with Dustin Brown.  The lead lasted only 40 seconds before Jeff Carter scored on the ensuing power play.  Muzzin committed a hooking penalty 2:17 after Carter’s goal, giving the Sharks a power play, which they almost capitalized on, but they were hurt by an iffy no-call on a potential Alec Martinez trip on the San Jose shooter.  Trevor Lewis gave the Kings their second lead of the night at the  17:18 mark on a stunning shorthanded roofer of a slap shot, but it lasted only half a minute before Tomas Hertl returned the favor at the completion of Drew Doughty serving his time for hooking Ward.  After all the action, which also included tons of hits, the second period ended three-all.

    Only 17 seconds after returning to the ice, Pavelski connected on a wraparound for his second of the night.  Los Angeles certainly upped their pressure in the remaining time, but Martin Jones stood tall to earn the 4-3 victory.

    Jones made 21 saves on 24 shots faced (87.5%), while Jonathan Quick takes the loss, saving 19 of 23 (82.6%).

    These squads will meet again Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. eastern, which can be viewed on NBCSN, CBC and TVAS.

  • March 28 – Day 165 – Battle of California

    It may have taken overtime, but the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Rangers 3-2 in New York to win the season series 3-1-0.

    4:19 after dropping the opening puck, Second Star of the Game Eric Staal backhanded a goal after assists from Kevin Hayes and Jesper Fast (his 17th helper of the season), but the Blueshirts could not enter the intermission with the lead.  Matt Cullen leveled the game with 4:11 remaining in the period for the Penguins, assisted by Derrick Pouliot and Trevor Daley (his 20th helper of the season).  The one-all score held into the break.

    It was a night of early starts for Staal, as he scored only 2:07 after returning to the ice, assisted by Fast and Hayes (his 22nd helper of the season) to give the Rangers another lead.  They held onto that differential for only 6:29 before First Star Phil Kessel scored his 23rd goal of the season, assisted by Carl Hagelin, to again level the score for Pittsburgh.  Not only did the 2-2 score hold into the dressing room, but also to the final horn of regulation, forcing overtime.

    With only 30 seconds remaining in the overtime period, Third Star Sidney Crosby scored the game winner, assisted by Kris Letang (his 43rd helper of the season) and Kessel, to pull the Pens within three points of second place in the Metropolitan Division.

    Marc-Andre Fleury earns the win after saving 25 of his 27 shots faced (92.6%), while Henrik Lundqvist takes the overtime loss, saving 29 of 32 (90.6%).

    Pittsburgh‘s win is the second straight for the road teams, setting the DtFR Game of the Day series at 74-43-18, favoring the home sides by 30 points over the roadies.

    Eight games will take place this Monday evening, starting with two at 7 p.m. eastern (Winnipeg at Philadelphia and Columbus at Washington), followed half an hour later by another pair (Buffalo at Detroit [NBCSN] and Toronto at Tampa Bay [TVAS]).  Colorado at Nashville drops the puck at 8 p.m. eastern, with Anaheim at Edmonton trailing an hour later.  Finally, our co-nightcaps get underway at 10 p.m. eastern (Calgary at Arizona and Los Angeles at San Jose [NBCSN]).

    Almost all of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (only Winnipeg at Philadelphia isn’t), but only one is between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Los Angeles at San Jose).

    As usual, Detroit and Philadelphia have the opportunity to swap spots for the final wildcard, but the game I’m more interested in takes place in The Tank.

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    This will be Los Angeles‘ eighth appearance in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 3-4-0 record.  Their most recent time featured was last Monday, when they lost 5-2 in Nashville.  San Jose has been featured six times before tonight’s game, and own a 4-2-0 record in such occasions.  Last time we focused on them, they won 6-3 in St. Louis on February 22.

    The 45-25-5 Los Angeles Kings currently occupy the top spot in the Pacific Division and third in the Western Conference (due to winning a games played tiebreaker over Chicago).  To get to that position, they’ve allowed the second fewest goals, paired with an offense that has scored the 13th most goals.  A more in-depth breakdown of LA‘s game can be found within last Monday’s article.

    The Kings last played Saturday to a 6-4 home win over the Islanders.  With a win tonight, they have the opportunity to expand their lead for the division over Anaheim to five points, but they will need some help from Edmonton.

    The 41-28-6 San Jose Sharks are the third best team in the Pacific Division, and seventh best in the Western Conference.  So far this season they’ve scored the fourth most goals in the league, paired with the 13th stingiest defense.

    Led by Brent Burns’ 324 shots, the Sharks have fired the puck 2278 times, with a great 9.5% finding the back of the net for 219 goals (led by Joe Pavelski’s 35 tallies), fourth most in the NHL.  San Jose‘s power play has followed suit, scoring on 22.09% of their attempts for 55 power play goals (led by Pavelski’s 11 extra man tallies), the fourth best rate in the league.

    The Sharks have also done well to keep pressure off their goaltenders, allowing only 2041 shots to reach 35-21-4 Martin Jones and co., who’ve collectively saved 91.4% for 196 goals against, the 13th fewest in the league.  San Jose‘s biggest problem this year has been their penalty kill, as their 79.91% kill rate, which has allowed 43 power play goals against, ranks eighth worst in the league.

    San Jose enters today’s game riding a three game losing skid, with their last being Saturday’s 4-2 home loss to the Stars.  With a win tonight, they could pull within two points of second in the division and home ice for the quarterfinals, but, just like Los Angeles, are pulling for an Edmonton win this evening over the Ducks.

    San Jose currently leads the season series 2-1-1 going into this pivotal fifth game.  The last times these squads met was also in the SAP Center, where Los Angeles won 3-2 in overtime on January 24.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Los Angeles‘ Anze Kopitar (+31 [tied for second best in the league] and 68 points [10th most in the league]), Jonathan Quick (38 wins [second most in the league], 2.21 GAA [tied for fifth best in the league] and four shutouts [tied for seventh most in the league]) and Tyler Toffoli (+33 [leads the league]) & San Jose‘s Jones (35 wins [tied for third most in the league], five shutouts [tied for third most in the league] and 2.25 GAA [seventh best in the league]), Pavelski (35 goals [tied for fifth most in the league], +26 [tied for eighth best in the league] and 71 points [ninth most in the league]) and Joe Thornton (55 assists [tied for second most in the league], 72 points [eighth most in the league] and +26 [tied for eighth best in the league]).

    This is always a fun game, and the almost even season record between these two shows that.  Even though they’re on the road, I think the Kings have this one, most notably due to San Jose‘s recent cold stretch.

  • February 22 – Day 130 – Theme from Jaws

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • January 14 – Day 96 – The Oil bring with them an old friend

    The Anaheim Ducks scored three goals in 3:29 to beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in last night’s Game of the Day.

    The first goal of the night did not occur until 27:06 had ticked off the clock.  It belonged to Andrew Cogliana, a wrister after the assist from Kevin Bieksa (his sixth helper of the season).  Ottawa leveled the score with only 3:48 remaining in the second period, as Curtis Lazar snapped a shot past Third Star of the Game Frederik Andersen.  The 1-1 tie held into the second intermission.

    The game remained knotted until only 4:55 remained in regulation when First Star Shea Theodore scored the game-winner, a power play goal (his first career point), after assists from Ryan Getzlaf (his 23rd helper of the season) and Sami Vatanen.  2:23 later, it was Carl Hagelin with the first insurance goal, assisted by Ryan Kesler (his ninth assist of the season) and Jakob Silfverberg.  Silfverberg’s night was not done, as he scored with only 1:26 remaining in the game after assists from Second Star Hampus Lindholm (his eighth helper of the season) and Hagelin, giving the Ducks the 4-1 victory.

    Andersen’s record improves to 6-8-5 after saving 24 of 25 (96%), while Craig Anderson’s falls to 17-13-4 after saving 34 of 38 (89.5%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 39-19-8, favoring the home squads by 28 points over the roadies.

    It was a light schedule yesterday, which usually means a full set of games tonight.  This Thursday follows the trend, as a total of 16 points are on the table this evening.  The action gets started at the usual time of 7 p.m. eastern with two games dropping the opening pucks (the New York Rangers at the New York Islanders [TVAS] and Vancouver at Washington), followed half an hour later by Chicago at Montréal (NBCSN/RDS).  8 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of two games (Carolina at St. Louis and Nashville at Winnipeg), with another pair dropping the puck an hour later (New Jersey at Colorado and Detroit at Arizona).  Finally, at 10:30 p.m. eastern, we have our nightcap between Edmonton and San Jose.

    Three of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (Rangers at Islanders, Nashville at Winnipeg and Edmonton at San Jose), while another set of three represents matchups between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Rangers at Islanders, Chicago at Montréal and Detroit at Arizona).

    While this information is usually important in choosing a Game of the Day, there is a special reason I’ve chosen Edmonton at San Jose as the point of our focus – the return of Todd McLellan to the Tank.

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    This is the second time Edmonton has been featured in the Game of the Day series.  They lost their only other appearance 4-2 on December 15 in Madison Square Garden.  The Sharks have been featured three times before tonight, and own a 1-2-0 record in such games.  Their most recent showing in the series was also a 4-2 loss on December 18 in Ottawa.

    The whole focus of tonight’s game will be McLellan, who is making his first appearance in San Jose since “mutually parting ways” with the squad following the 2014-’15 season.

    McLellan never had a losing season in The Tank, including the team’s lone Presidents’ Trophy in 2008-’09, and missed the playoffs only once in his seven-season tenure.  But, for all the success he found in the regular season, the Sharks advanced to the Western Conference Finals only twice (2009-’10 and 2010-’11), and never to the Stanley Cup Finals.

    He now leads his new squad, the Edmonton Oilers, in their attempts to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since losing in the Stanley Cup Finals to Carolina in 2005-’06.  He will probably not keep his winning-season streak alive, but he certainly has his team heading in the right direction.

    McLellan’s 17-23-4 Edmonton Oilers currently sit in last place in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference, and lose the games played tiebreaker with Buffalo, putting them in second to last in the league.  Although Edmonton does not play a strong game on either end of the ice, they have to be considered more of an offensive team than a team of strong defense and goaltending.

    The Oil has fired 1279 shots so far this season (led by Taylor Hall’s 175), of which 8.2% have found the back of the net for 105 tallies (led by Hall’s 16), 21st most in the league.  While the shots and shot percentage are on par with the rest of the league, the Oilers‘ power play has been a major shortcoming.    Edmonton has scored on only 17.42% of their attempts for 23 goals.

    Of course, the forwards can’t take all the blame for the Oilers‘ position, as the defense has been anything but exemplary this season.  Even with Andrej Sekera’s team-leading 88 blocks, 1356 shots have still made their way to 10-10-2 Anders Nilsson and co., who’ve collectively saved 90.7% for 131 goals against, third-most in the league.  The special teams issues continue to the power play, where the Oil have killed only 78.74% of attempts for 27 goals against.

    Edmonton is currently riding a three-game losing skid, with their most recent showing being a 4-3 overtime loss in Arizona on Tuesday.

    The 21-18-2 San Jose Sharks currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division and 10th in the Western Conference, and have utilized a decent offense to fight for position in the competitive race for the Pacific’s third division qualifier.

    So far this season, the Sharks have fired  1227 shots (led by Brent Burns’ 177 attempts), of which a whopping 9.5% have found the back of the net for 117 goals (led by Joe Pavelski’s 22 tallies), 11th most in the league.  The success has continued to the power play, where San Jose has scored on 21.01% of attempts for 29 goals (led by Pavelski’s seven PP tallies).

    Although below the league average, the Sharks‘ defense has not been atrocious.  Burns leads the charge, with 84 blocks to his credit, to allow only 1146 shots to make their way to Martin Jones and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 90.9% for 113 goals against, 11th-fewest in the league.  The real deficiencies show up on the penalty kill, where the Sharks have only killed 79.69% of opposing power plays for 26 goals against.

    San Jose is currently riding a three-game win streak, with their most recent being a 4-1 win in Winnipeg on Tuesday.

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Edmonton‘s Hall (41 points [tied for eighth-most in the league]) & San Jose‘s Jones (four shutouts (tied for third-most in the league] and 18 wins [tied for sixth-most in the league]) and Pavelski (43 points [sixth-most in the league] and 22 goals [sixth-most in the league]).

    Although it seems like McLellan has the Oil headed in the right direction, they are still nowhere near the team Edmonton fans would like to see, due in part to Connor McDavid’s injury.  Expect the Sharks to beat their old coach.

  • December 18 – Day 72 – First trip to Canada since my return from hiatus!

    It took two goals in the third period, but the Blues were able to hold home ice to beat the Predators and spoil Third Star of the Game Barret Jackman’s homecoming in last night’s Game of the Day.

    Nashville struck first with a power play goal at the 7:14 mark of the first period.  Filip Forsberg and Shea Weber assisted Roman Josi to the Predators‘ lone goal of the night to set the score at 1-0, which held into the first and second intermissions.

    Only 2:38 into the third period, St. Louis leveled the score thanks to Second Star David Backes’ 10th goal of the season, assisted by Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk.  The draw held until the 14:40 mark, when Alexander Steen and Paul Stastny assisted First Star Vladimir Tarasenko to his 20th tally of the season, setting the score at its 2-1 final.

    15-7-2 Jake Allen earned the win after saving 27 of 28 (96.4%), while Pekka Rinne’s record falls to 12-9-6 after saving 31 of 33 (93.9%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 26-10-6, still favoring the home squad by 24 points.  Before anyone points it out, yes, I’m aware that this does not line up with yesterday’s record – This should be the correct record.

    Today’s schedule includes six games, with the first three starting at 7 p.m. eastern (Boston at Pittsburgh [TVAS], Tampa Bay at Washington and Florida at Carolina), with two more following half an hour later (San Jose at Ottawa [RDS] and Vancouver at Detroit [SN]).  Finally, the nightcap gets its start at 8 p.m. eastern when the New York Rangers visit Winnipeg.

    None of tonight’s matchups involve divisional rivalries, and San Jose at Ottawa represents the only game between two playoff qualifiers.  Sounds like reason enough to me to head up to the Canadian Tire Centre!

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    The 16-14-1 San Jose Sharks currently sit in second place in the Pacific Division, but seventh in the Western Conference, utilizing a defensive-first game plan.  They played last night in Toronto, where they won 5-4.

    So far this season, 13-10-1 Martin Jones and the Sharks have given up only 832 shots against (due in part to Brent Burns’ team-leading 64 blocks), a total well below the league average, and those efforts are reflected in their 79 goals against.  Even on the penalty kill, the Sharks have been tough to score on.  They’ve given up only 17 goals on 94 opportunities for a 81.91% kill-rate that slightly exceeds the league average.

    It has been the offense that has been letting the Sharks down this season made evident by only 880 shots on goal so far this year (led by Burns’ 132).  As can be expected from that total, San Jose has only managed 77 goals this season, led by Joe Pavelski’s 14.

    A portion of their offense that especially needs work is the power play.  On 96 opportunities, San Jose has only scored 17 times, for a 17.71% success rate that slightly trails the league average.  If the Sharks want to keep up with the Kings in their division, they need to improve their offensive proficiency.

    The 16-11-5 Ottawa Senators were most recently featured in the Game of the Day series on Wednesday.  You can read a quick summary of their squad here.  Their last game played was that Wednesday game in Washington, where they fell 2-1.

    Some players to watch in today’s game include Ottawa‘s Craig Anderson (14 wins [tied for sixth in the league] and two shutouts [tied for seventh in the league]), Mike Hoffman (17 goals [tied for fourth in the league]), Erik Karlsson (28 assists [tied for league lead] and 35 points [tied for fourth in the league]) and Mark Stone (21 assists [tied for sixth in the league]) & San Jose‘s Jones (three shutouts [tied for fifth in the league] and 14 wins [tied for sixth in the league]) and Pavelski (15 goals [tied for seventh in the league] and 31 points [tied for ninth in the league]).

    Especially since they are playing at home, I expect the Sens to be able to win tonight’s matchup.