Down the Frozen River

Tag: Carey Price

January 3 – Day 80 – Remember Weber
It’s back to normal in the NHL with seven contests going down this evening. The action starts at 7 p.m. with four games (New Jersey at Carolina, Buffalo at the New York Rangers [NBCSN], Toronto at Washington [TVAS] and Edmonton at Columbus), followed half an hour later by Winnipeg at Tampa Bay. 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of Montréal at Nashville (RDS), with tonight’s nightcap – Los Angeles at San Jose (NBCSN) – waiting until 10 p.m. All times eastern.

Short list:
- Montréal at Nashville: Shea Weber played 11 seasons in the Music City, but he was traded this offseason to the Canadiens.
- Los Angeles at San Jose: Another edition of the Battle for California.
It seems like every time the Kings and Sharks meet up, another big matchup takes place the same night. Tonight is no different.

Do you remember when you moved for the first time? You’d lived your entire life in the same town around a lot of the same people. Everything was familiar. You could walk to your friend’s house blindfolded.

Welcome to the life of Weber. He was drafted 49th overall by the Predators in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, and by the 2006-’07 he had a full-time locker in Nashville‘s dressing room.

Since then, he was named captain before the 2010-’11 season and made four trips to the All-Star game (well, three trips and one in Bridgestone Arena, the Predators‘ home surface). He earned those accolades by twice leading the Preds in assists, points and blocks (2012-’13 and ’13-’14).

While he only minutely regressed following those impressive seasons, he was traded to Montréal this summer in exchange for P.K. Subban. Assuming an alternate captain role with his new club, he’s continued to be one of the best offensive blueliners in the NHL. His nine goals are most on the team and tied for second-most in the league, and his blocks are tops in the Habs‘ dressing room.

One part of his game he’s vastly improved since joining the Habs has been his +/- effort. Regardless of how much stock you put in the statistic, it’s easy to say a positive number is certainly more desired. During Weber’s most successful scoring seasons, he was sacrificing his play on the defensive end to the point he gave up more goals than he created. Nowadays in Montréal, he’s maintaining his offensive production while still keeping a +16 rating, the second-best mark of his career.

Weber and the Habs come to Athens of the South with a 22-9-6 record, the best mark in the Atlantic Division. They’ve found that success by playing some impressive defense, allowing only 85 goals so far this season – the fifth-best mark in the league.

Manning the crease for most of the season has been 18-5-4 Carey Price, the netminder whose .93 save percentage and 2.07 GAA ranks fourth and seventh-best in the NHL.

It’s a scary combination for opposing offenses when you pair a solid defense with an exemplary goaltender, and that’s the situation the Preds are in this evening. The Habs allow an average of only 29.8 shots-per-game to reach Price’s net, the 12th-lowest average in the league. Weber’s 78 blocks leads the club, but a total of three defensemen have 64 or more shot blocks to their credit.

Playing host this evening are the 16-14-6 Predators, the fifth-best team in the Central Division. Nashville‘s offense has plagued them this season, managing only 101 goals, tying them for 15th-fewest in the NHL.

Ryan Johansen has been involved in 27 of those scores for the clubhouse scoring lead, but James Neal has buried the most goals at 14. Neal’s effort ties him for 20th in the league, but the Predators have struggled to find scoring beyond him, Viktor Arvidsson and Mike Fisher. Those three skaters combine for 34 tallies, over a third of the Preds‘ goals.

If only the Predators had more power play opportunities, as that is when they are most effective. Successful on 20.3% of their man-advantages, Nashville is 10th-best in the league in that situation. Who else to lead that effort than the great facilitator Johansen? His 13 power play points are tops on the club. One of his line-mates with the extra man is Fisher, whose five man-advantage goals leads the Preds.

Some players to keep an eye on include Montréal‘s Price (18 wins [tied for fifth-most in the league] on a .93 save percentage [fourth-best in the NHL] and a 2.07 GAA [seventh-best in the league], including two shutouts [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]) and Nashville‘s Johansen (27 points, including 20 assists [both lead the team]).

Vegas gives a slight edge – -115, to be exact – to the home team, but I’m not very comfortable with that prediction. The Predators are going to be unable to break through Price, and the Habs are no joke offensively. I expect Montréal to get out of Nashville with two points.

Hockey Birthday
- Bobby Hull (1939-) – The Golden Jet’s career spanned 23 seasons (most with Chicago), and all he did was win trophies. The Hall of Famer was a 12-time All Star, winning the Ross Trophy thrice, the Hart twice, the 1965 Byng and the 1961 Stanley Cup. His number nine has been retired by both Arizona (the new home of the original Jets) and Chicago.
- Cory Cross (1971-) – Most players selected in the now-extinct Supplemental Draft never saw an NHL arena. This defenseman wasn’t most players, playing half his dozen seasons in Tampa Bay.
- Reto Berra (1987-) – Drafted by St. Louis in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, this goaltender has made 64 appearances over his three-season career, most of which in Colorado.
- Matt Frattin (1988-) – Another fourth round selection, Toronto selected this right wing from North Dakota in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Although he’s played most his games with the Leafs, he’s currently under contract with Stockton.
A dominant third period performance by First Star of the Game Vladimir Tarsenko gave St. Louis a 4-1 victory in the 2017 Winter Classic, yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

Only one goal was scored in the first period, and it was the Blackhawks‘ lone tally. Michal Kempny (Artemi Panarin and Third Star Duncan Keith) takes credit with his slap shot only 62 seconds into the game.

The same goes for the second period, but it was the Blues that earned the goal. Patrik Berglund‘s (Jay Bouwmeester and Alexander Steen) wrister at the 7:45 mark leveled the score at one-all.

St. Louis broke the draw with 7:55 remaining in regulation, courtesy of Tarasenko’s (Robby Fabbri) tip-in goal. Only 1:53 later, Tarasenko (Jori Lehtera and Fabbri) struck again for the Notes‘ first insurance tally. Steen sealed the game with 74 seconds remaining by burying a wrister into Chicago‘s empty net.

Second Star Jake Allen earns the victory after saving 22-of-23 shots faced (95.7%), while Corey Crawford takes the loss, saving 31-of-34 (91.2%).

St. Louis‘ victory at Busch Stadium is the second straight for home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, setting the season record at 46-24-12, 17 points better than the visitors.
January 3, 2017
December 16 – Day 65 – Gargantuan goalies
Happy Friday. Kick back with some hockey tonight, starting with two games at 7 p.m. (the New York Islanders at Buffalo and Los Angeles at Pittsburgh [NBCSN/SN/TVAS]) and another pair half an hour (San Jose at Montréal [RDS] and Washington at Carolina). 9 p.m. marks the puck drop of two more contests (Florida at Colorado and Columbus at Calgary), with tonight’s nightcap – Tampa Bay at Vancouver – waiting an hour before starting. All times eastern.

Two division leaders meet up in the Bell Centre this evening, so even though both clubs have already been featured once this week, we have to make the trip to The City of a Hundred Steeples.

The Sharks make their yearly visit to the Bell Centre with an 18-11-1 record, and winners of their last three contests. They’ve been able to attain that Pacific Division lead with an impressive defense and goaltending, which has only allowed 66 goals so far this season – the fifth-fewest in the NHL.

Martin Jones has made 26 starts for the Sharks this year, and has made good use of his time. To earn his 15-10-1 record, he’s earned a .92 save percentage and 2.1 GAA, the 14th and ninth-best effort in comparison to his 40 peers with 13 or more appearances.

A lower save percentage in comparison to a good GAA is always indicative of a solid defense, and the Sharks are no different. Led by Brent Burns‘ 56 blocks, San Jose has allowed only 26.6 shots per night to reach Jones’ crease, the second-best rate in the league.

Hosting that impressive defense are the 19-6-4 Canadiens, the leaders of the Atlantic Division. Although the have an impressive offense, they have also been led by a dominant netminder this season, who has led his team to allowing only 63 goals – the fourth-best total in the league.

16-3-2 Carey Price has been having a career season , as his .94 save percentage and 1.8 GAA are both third-best in the NHL among goalies with 11 or more appearances.

Price’s play has been necessary, as his defense has allowed 30.7 shots per game to reach his crease, the 13th-highest average in the NHL. Shea Weber has done all he can, as his 61 blocks lead the team, but him, Alexei Emelin and Jeff Petry are the only three skaters with more than 40 shot blocks to their credit. If others do not improve their effort, Canadiens fans could have concern Price is overworked as the playoffs roll around.

Montréal has already played made their dive into The Tank for the season, but like most teams that visit Northern California, they could not escape with even a point two weeks ago. The Sharks won 2-1, with Joe Pavelski taking credit for the winning goal in the first period.

Some players to keep an eye on include Montréal‘s Price (16 wins [second-most in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league], on a .94 save percentage and a 1.8 GAA [both third-best in the NHL]) and Weber (+18 [tied for second-best in the league]) & San Jose‘s Jones (15 wins [tied for third-most in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league], on a 2.1 GAA [ninth-best in the NHL]).

Just like their first meeting, this game will most certainly star Jones and Price. Since Montréal has the more explosive offense to go with their home-ice advantage, I like the Habs to take tonight’s victory.

Hockey Birthday
- Eric Belanger (1977-) – Drafted by Los Angeles in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, this center played exactly 820 games over his 12 seasons in the greatest hockey league in the world. By the time he played his final contest in the NHL, he’d notched 358 points, including 220 assists.
A second goal in the second period was the deciding factor in the Ducks‘ victory over Boston in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

Continuing the theme of the number two, Zdeno Chara (Second Star of the Game David Backes and Brad Marchand) scored his second goal of the season with 7:53 remaining in the first period to give the Bruins the lead, followed only 13 seconds later by an Austin Czarnik (Ryan Spooner and Riley Nash) snapper to double it to 2-0. Only 24 seconds after Czarnik’s tally, Andrew Cogliano buried an unassisted wrister to pull Anaheim back within one. Scoring subsided until 2:10 remained in the period, when Kevin Bieksa (Ryan Getzlaf) leveled the game at two-all with a wrister. That score lasted into the first intermission.

Anaheim took their first lead of the game 55 seconds after returning to the ice when Josh Manson (Jakob Silfverberg and First Star Rickard Rakell) buried his first goal of the season. That lead lasted only 71 seconds though, as David Krejci (Backes and Torey Krug) scored a power play wrister to level the game at three-all. The Ducks earned the game-winning score at the 5:02 mark when Rakell (Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler) potted a wrister that proved to be the final tally of the night.

Jonathan Bernier earned the victory after saving 31-of-34 shots faced (91.2%), leaving the loss to Anton Khudobin, saving 23-of-27 (85.2%).

The fourth-straight win by the teams in white sets the DtFR Game of the Day record at 36-21-10, but the series still favors the hosts by nine points.
December 16, 2016
Sick Hands of The Month – Chad Johnson Steals the Show in the Second Annual ShoTM.

Hey, everyone, I’m back this week for the second Sick Hands of The Month! If you forgot what that was, here is a quick reminder: So what I’m basically going to do is pick a player from each position on the ice (Left Wing, Center, Right Wing, two defenders, and a goalie). Then it’s basically the same thing as the normal “SHS” where I recap why I picked them and highlight their best games, goals, assists, etc. (A quick side note, sorry I’m a little late getting this out, I’m all caught up in finals at school and it’s been a mess and I haven’t found time to write it out but here I go!)

Sidney Crosby – Center (PIT) The reason why I picked this powerhouse center from Cole Harbour, Canada is plain and simple! Mr. Crosby is a straight up, certified G and I mean it. He went from having an alright 13 points in just 10 games his first month on the ice (keep in mind he missed a couple games due to a concussion) to having a WICKED 21 points with 12 goals and 9 assists in just 15 games! Four of his 12 goals also came on the power play as well. Crosby was a dominant force whenever he was on the ice as he leads the league with his 21 goals overall and tied for second in points with 32. In Crosby’s last five games he’s racked up 7 points (5G, 2A) with two goals coming on the manpower advantage. So it was an easy choice to pick Crosby for the center position.

Max Pacioretty – Left Wing (MTL) I picked the stud captain from Montreal because he had a stellar month to say the lease! Max went from only having 12 points in the opening month to having a solid 14 points in 15 games and playing in Montreal isn’t the easiest thing to do. That included 10 goals and a nice 4 helpers as well. In fact just last Saturday, Patches put up a five-point night that included four goals and an assist in a 10-1 win against Colorado. In his last five games, Pacioretty has put up nine points (7G, 2) with four goals coming on the power play. So you can say he his on a total tear and if he keeps this up, Montreal is going to be atop the league for a long time!

Cam Atkinson – Right Wing (CBJ) This position was pretty hard because it was down between Atkinson and Tarasenko again. And as most of you know, if you read my post last month, he won this title last month so I decided to go with Cam plus he had different stats! So the reason why I picked Atkinson as the winner for this month was because he had a HUGE turnaround with his play from last month where he only racked up 12 points (4G, 8A) with a plus/minus of -5. He went totaling 19 points in just 15 games while scoring six goals and 13 assists a plus/minus of 12! In his last five games, he has seven points (7G, 2A) including at least two points in three straight games so he’s on fire. So as you can clearly tell, that is a great turn around for one of the top Blue Jacket players and if he keeps producing like this, the Jackets are going to have a great season!

Brent Burns – Defense (SJS) Once again, who else but Brent Burns? Don’t worry, I’ll wait for an answer….that’s what I thought, you couldn’t think of someone, could you?! Yes, Mr. Burns appears on Sick Hands of the Month for the second month in a row because he was on yet another rampage during the second month of hockey. (When isn’t he on a tear?), Burns picked up right where he left off with 14 points through the first month and tallied 12 points including 6 goals and six assists in this past month. He now leads all defenders in goals with 12 and is second in points with 25 so Burns is a force on the offensive side of the puck. In Burns’ last five games he has four points including a point in his last four straight games so he will look to keep the streak going and push the Sharks’ back into the playoffs.

Erik Karlsson – Defense (OTT) Well if you didn’t think of anyone when I asked you “Who else but Brent Burns?” Here’s your guy, well in my opinion at least, actually it should be in everyone’s opinion because this man is a stud! Karlsson is one of the best offensive defensemen in the game and I will argue with anyone on that. Karlsson went from having 12 points (3G, 9A) in the first month of playing to now having a fantastic 15 points made up of four goals and 11 assists with six points coming on the power play. In his last five games, he has tallied eight points (3G, 5A) including a three-point night against the Sharks and a four point night against the Penguins. He is tied for third by D-men in goals with seven, leads the league in assists with 20 and in points with 27. Karlsson is a clear choice for the Norris Trophy if he keeps this up.

Chad Johnson – Goalie (CGY) Yes people, you guys are indeed seeing this right. I did pick Chad Johnson for a reason, I know some of you if not all of you were probably expecting to see Carey Price or Devan Dubnyk or Matthew Murray but no! Chad Johnson got the win for the month and I’ll tell you why! Johnson has been the hottest goalie in hockey right now hands down, and he has certainly exceeded my expectations by far. This month Johnson has started in 13 games and has an amazing record of 11-2 with a solid .946 SV% and a 1.61 GAA. Johnson leads the month in wins and save percentage and is second in GAA by .01 to Dubnyk. Johnson has clearly taken the starting job away from Brian Elliott and is killing it in net for the Flames. Johnson has started in all the Flames last five games going 5-0. He never let his SV% get below .910 or let in more than three goals in one game. In all of those previous five games, he’s faced 25 shots or more so they were tough games. If Johnson keeps up his play and the Flames can ride the hot hand, they are in for a fun time! Johnson by far was the most dominate player to write about this week.

Well, that does it for me this week, I hope everyone enjoys the second new version of the article! I know I had a blast and I hope you all did reading it as well! I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week!

December 13, 2016
December 12 – Day 61 – Not just a rivalry these days
Bad news: You had to go back to work today.

Good news: There’s hockey on tonight!

Don’t get too excited though, there’s only two games. The action starts at 7 p.m. when Arizona visits Pittsburgh (TVAS), followed half an hour later by Boston at Montréal (NHLN/RDS/SN). Both times eastern.

As sexy as the Coyotes–Penguins matchup is, I think we all know we have to turn our attention to The Metropolis.

The 15-12-2 Bruins come to Montréal in command of third place in the Atlantic Division. They’ve been able to find that success by allowing only 69 goals so far this season, tying for the seventh-fewest in the NHL.

Every good defense starts with a good goalie, and the Bruins are no different. 14-5-2 Tuukka Rask has earned his impressive record on a .93 save percentage and 1.85 GAA, the eighth and fifth-best rates in the league, respectively, among goaltenders with 11 or more appearances.

Although his numbers have been impressive, Rask doesn’t get all the credit. He faces only 27 shots-per-game, the fourth-lowest rate in the league. Rookie Brandon Carlo and Captain Zdeno Chara have headed that charge with their 46 and 44 blocks, respectively. Last season, the Bruins allowed 30.4 shots per game to tie for 11th-most, and Rask did not play to the standard we’ve come to expect.

In other words, goalies: be thankful for your bluelines!

Not surprisingly, Boston‘s penalty kill has also been very strong, refusing 87.2% of opposing power plays. The rookie has been just as important when a man down as he is at even-strength, notching a club-high 15 shorthanded blocks.

Where the Bruins need to improve is on their own power play, where they find the back of the net only 13.9% of the time. David Krejci, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak are the three man-advantage kings, each with five power play points on their season resume, but Pastrnak has been the most impressive. He has four extra man goals.

Third in the division is good, but first is better – especially when it coincides with first in the league. That’s the position the 19-6-3 Canadiens find themselves in, and you won’t find any complainers in that dressing room. Just like Boston, the Habs have found much of their success by keeping the opposition off the board.

The man between the pipes more often than not for the Canadiens has been 16-3-1 Carey Price, who’s .94 save percentage and 1.79 GAA are both the fourth-best efforts in the NHL among goalies with 10 or more appearances.

So both teams keep their opponents from scoring? What makes them different? We’ve already determined that Boston uses an excellent combination of goalie and defense. On the other hand, Montréal prefers to lean hard on Price.

The Habs defense has allowed 30.7 shots to reach Price per night, the 13th-most in the NHL. What’s alarming is to think if they’d not made the trade with Nashville for Shea Weber, who leads his new club with 60 blocked shots.

In conclusion: Price>Rask this season, but Boston‘s defense>Montréal‘s.

Fortunately for Montréal, their offense – specifically the power play – is able to cover up for the lack of defense. Even with Weber’s 10 power play points – including a club-leading seven power play goals – the Canadiens have converted 21.6% of their man-advantages, the eighth-best effort in the league.

These teams last met a little under a month ago on this surface, and the Habs won 3-2. That victory improved Montréal‘s record to 2-0 against the Bruins on the season.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Boston‘s Pastrnak (18 goals [second-most in the NHL] for a +15 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) and Rask (three shutouts [tied for second-most in the NHL] among 14 wins [tied for third-most in the league] on a 1.85 GAA [fifth-best in the NHL] and a .93 save percentage [ninth-best in the league]) & Montréal‘s Nathan Beaulieu (+13 [10th-best in the NHL]), Price (16 wins [tied for most in the league] on a 1.79 GAA and a .94 save percentage [both fourth-best in the NHL], plus two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league]) and Weber (+18 [second-best in the NHL]).

The consensus in Vegas is that Montréal is a -150 favorite to win tonight’s game. They’re hard to pick against, given that they’ve already won the first two meetings with their most hated rivals and they have home ice. I like the Habs to win tonight, but it should be a well-contested contest.

Hockey Birthday
- Billy Smith (1950-) – Who knew goaltenders could be strikers? OK, maybe that’s a slight over-exaggeration, but this longtime Islander was the first netminder to bury a goal. Oh yeah, he also won four Stanley Cups.
- Colin White (1977-) – Another multi-Cup winner, this defenseman was the 49th-overall selection in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey. He played 743 games over 11 seasons with the Devils, plus a 54-game stint in San Jose.
With two goals in the third period, Edmonton was able to defend home ice against the visiting Jets in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, winning 3-2.

The lone tally of the first period belonged to the Jets. With 5:10 remaining in the opening frame, Third Star of the Game Mathieu Perreault (Bryan Little and Jacob Trouba) buried a wrister to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead.

Second Star Oscar Klefbom (Tyler Pitlick and Patrick Maroon) and the Oilers struck back only 1:53 after returning to the ice with a snap shot, but the tied game lasted only 10:07 before Chris Thorburn (Marko Dano) scored a snapper of his own to reclaim a 2-1 lead for Winnipeg.

Edmonton once again returned from intermission with a vengeance, as First Star Mark Letestu (Connor McDavid and Milan Lucic) buried a power play snap shot to once again tie the game at two-all. But this time, Winnipeg did not have an answer. They could not muster another tally. Instead, it was Letestu who scored the winning goal, earning Edmonton second place in the Pacific Division for the next couple days.

Cam Talbot earns the come-from-behind victory after saving 29-of-31 shots faced (93.5%), while Connor Hellebuyck takes the loss, saving 27-of-30 (90%).

The home teams did it! They won all of this week’s DtFR Game of the Days. That streak improves their record to 36-19-8, which is 15 points better than the roadies.
December 12, 2016
November 22 – Day 41 – Where were you in 1917?
Guess what: yesterday was Monday. You know what that means: it’s Tuesday.

Now that we’re on the same page, let’s get to why we’re really here: to watch hockey. The action gets underway at the usual 7 p.m. starting time with a couple games (St. Louis at Boston [NBCSN/SN] and Carolina at Toronto), followed half an hour later by two more (Ottawa at Montréal [RDS/RDS2] and Philadelphia at Florida [TVAS]). After those games are over, the New York Islanders at Anaheim (SN) gets green-lit at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

There’s a couple good games this evening, but the one I’m more excited for is happening north of the border.

It may not officially have been these Senators that played the Canadiens in the first-ever NHL game in 1917, but since Ottawa returned to the league in ’92, this rivalry has also returned to form, specifically with two playoff meetings in three seasons. Although words were exchanged in both those series, things truly came to a point when P.K. Subban broke Mark Stone‘s wrist with a slash in the 2015 Eastern Quarterfinals. In Game 1. The defenseman may have moved on this off-season, but something tells me Stone has a particularly bad taste in his mouth every time he this red sweater.

Ottawa enters the Bell Centre with a 10-7-1 record, pinning them in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. What worries me about the Senators this season is that they have a lot of trouble finding scoring, managing only 37 goals so far this season.

As has been true the last four seasons, defenseman Erik Karlsson leads the Sens in scoring with 14 points, but Kyle Turris has been the one completing Karlsson’s plays with a team-leading eight goals. While the leaders’ numbers aren’t necessarily poor, it’s the fact that only 16 skaters have gotten involved in the scoring this year, leaving the Senators with the second-fewest goals in the league.

It’s probably no coincidence that Ottawa also ranks second-worst in the league on their power play, successful on only 9.4% of their attempts.

While offense has been an issue, the Sens have found success defensively, specifically on the penalty kill. Ottawa is home to the third-best kill, neutralizing 88.5% of their infractions.

Playing host this evening are the league-leading 14-3-2 Canadiens. They’ve certainly been impressive to earn that standing, but I’ve especially liked their offensive efforts, as their 60 goals ties for third-most in the NHL.

Alex Galchenyuk has been nearly unstoppable so far this campaign, notching 19 points to average a point-per-game. Impressive. Maybe even more impressive, three different skaters (Paul Byron, Galchenyuk and Shea Weber) have notched seven goals, which ties for the club-lead.

Montréal‘s power play has certainly been something to see as well. Ranking fifth-best in the league, the Habs have found success on 22.8% of their man-advantages, led by Weber’s eight power play points.

Some players to watch this evening include Montréal‘s Galchenyuk (19 points [tied for seventh-most in the league] for a +12 [tied for eighth-best in the NHL]), Carey Price (11 wins [tied for the league lead] on 1.58 GAA and a .95 save percentage [both third-best in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for fifth-most in the league]) and Weber (+16 [third-best in the NHL]) & Ottawa‘s Craig Anderson (two shutouts [tied for fifth-most in the league] among eight wins [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]).

I think we’ve got another game with no line, but something tells me I didn’t look in the right spot today. While I do respect Ottawa‘s defense, Montréal is easily the superior team in tonight’s contest. Plan on the Habs defending home ice and earning two points.

Hockey Birthday
- Albert Leduc (1902-1990) – How convenient that a defenseman that played for both of today’s featured clubs was born today? Most of his time was spent with the Habs, where he hoisted the Stanley Cup twice.
- Jacques Laperriere (1941-) – Another Canadien defenseman, Laperrière hoisted the Cup five times and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.
- Yvan Cournoyer (1943-) – You guessed it, another Hab. Cournoyer played right wing for 16 seasons, and won the Cup eight times in the process. He also won the 1973 Smythe Trophy with 15 goals to go with his 10 assists in 17 playoff games.
Colorado keeps surprising me. They’ve been featured in the DtFR Game of the Day series twice. I’ve picked against them twice. Yet they’ve come away from both those games with four total points.

Columbus opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period. Exactly nine minutes after beginning the game, First Star of the Game Cam Atkinson (Brandon Dubinsky and Brandon Saad) gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead with a tip-in tally.

The Avalanche pulled even 3:05 into the second period with a Tyson Barrie (Mikko Rantanen and Carl Soderberg) slap shot. The nine minute mark seems to be magic in Nationwide Arena, but not always for the home side. Erik Johnson (Nathan MacKinnon and Fedor Tyutin) scored his first goal of the year to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.

Columbus scored their game-tying goal by the skin of their teeth, waiting until only seven seconds remained in regulation before Atkinson (Sam Gagner and Zach Werenski) buried a snap shot to force overtime.

In his first game back after missing four with a concussion, Third Star Matt Duchene (Johnson) picked up right where he wanted with a snap shot 1:49 after beginning the three-on-three overtime period to earn the Avs a road victory.

Second Star Semyon Varlamov earns the victory after saving a whopping 40-of-42 shots faced (95.2%), leaving the overtime loss to Curtis McElhinney, saving 24-of-27 (88.9%).

With our second-straight game that extended beyond regulation, the DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 24-12-7, favoring the home clubs by 11 points over the roadies.
November 22, 2016
November 19 – Day 38 – The rivalry that predates the NHL
Saturdays aren’t just for college football. They also offer tons of hockey.

Tampa Bay at Philadelphia (SN) get things started at 1 p.m., followed three hours later by New Jersey at Los Angeles. The usual starting time of 7 p.m. brings with it five contests (Edmonton at Dallas [CITY], Winnipeg at Boston [SN], Pittsburgh at Buffalo, Toronto at Montréal [CBC/NHLN/TVAS] and Florida at Ottawa [SN1/TVAS2]), with three more dropping the puck an hour later (San Jose at Arizona, Nashville at St. Louis and Colorado at Minnesota). Chicago at Vancouver (CBC/SN) acts as this evening’s nightcap, getting underway at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

Short list:
- Toronto at Montréal: They might have faced each other more than any other teams in the NHL, but that never takes away from another game played.
- Chicago at Vancouver: Another rivalry… well, kind of. When the Canucks were having a little more success, they had a knack for running into the Blackhawks for three straight postseasons. It created some very contested regular season games.
It’s been over a week since we’ve been to eastern Canada, so let’s head up to the Bell Centre.

The rivalry between these sides predates any of us, hearkening back to tensions between the English and French immigrants to Canada. It has only evolved over the years, including the formation of the NHL and the Leafs, multiple expansions, Toronto departing for the Campbell Conference and finally rejoining the Canadiens in the same division.

This year’s Maple Leafs enter with an 8-6-3 record. The offense has been incredible for Toronto this year, but it has been absolutely horrendous defense and goaltending that has held them back from greatness by allowing 58 goals, the second-most in the league.

Frederik Andersen has started in net 15 times this season for a 8-4-3 record. To get there, he’s set a .907 save percentage for a 3.16 GAA, the 15th and sixth-worst effort in the NHL among goaltenders with at least eight appearances.

While those numbers leave much to be desired – especially after a 2.3 GAA a season ago – not all of the responsibility rests on Andersen’s shoulders. Even with Morgan Rielly‘s team-leading 35 blocks, the Leafs‘ defense has allowed 33.9 shots against per game, the worst rate in the league.

Interestingly, Toronto‘s penalty kill does not suffer the same fate of their even-strength defense. Only eight power play goals have been scored on the Maple Leafs for a 84.6% kill rate, the 10th-best in the NHL.

Last season, the Leafs‘ power play was second-worst in the league. A year later, they rank 10th-best, successful on 21.3% of attempts. 20-year-old William Nylander has been a big part of that turnaround, as he has seven extra-man points to his credit, including three power play goals to lead the club.

Hosting them this evening are the 13-3-2 Montréal Canadiens. Even though they’ve only earned one point in their last three games, the Habs are still the best team in the NHL, due in part to their strong offense.

The Canadiens‘ 58 goals are the third-most in the league, and much of that success has involved Alex Galchenyuk‘s stick. He has a team-leading 18 points to his credit to average a point-per-game.

Most of those points are assists though. Defenseman Shea Weber has been the man completing Galchenyuk’s plays, scoring seven goals already this season to lead his club.

As you’d expect, that offensive success has carried to the power play. Successful on 23.1% of attempts, the Habs rank sixth-best in the league with the man-advantage. Weber takes the charge on the power play too, with seven extra-man points to his credit.

These two have already met up once this season, with the Habs taking a 2-1 victory on this surface. It’s been a while since the Leafs have beaten Montréal, as the Habs are riding an 10-game winning streak against one of their biggest rivals.

That’s not to mention “recent” playoff results either. The Habs have swept the Leafs 8-0 in their last two postseason meetings, but those were in 1978 and ’79.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Montréal‘s Galchenyuk (18 points [tied for seventh-most in the NHL] for a +11 [tied for seventh-best in the league), Carey Price (10 wins [tied for most in the NHL] on a .948 save percentage [second-best in the league] and 1.63 GAA [third-best in the NHL], good for two shutouts [tied for fourth-most in the league]) and Weber (+15 [tied for second-best in the NHL]) & Toronto‘s Matt Martin (76 hits [leads the team]), Rielly (35 blocks and 10 assists [both lead the team]) and James van Riemsdyk (17 points on eight goals [both lead the team]).

Montréal enters with a -170 advantage, and they’ve deserved it with their play so far this season. Given the potency of their offense paired with Toronto‘s struggling defense, it should be the Canadiens‘ 11th-straight victory over the Leafs.

Hockey Birthday
- Dennis Hull (1944-) – The Silver Jet was a left wing, playing 14 seasons. Most of those were with Chicago, where he scored 298 goals.
- Reggie Lemelin (1954-) – Lemelin played 15 NHL seasons, most of which were with the Flames organization. The goaltender won the Jennings Trophy in the 1989-’90 season, allowing only 108 goals in 43 games.
- Petr Sykora (1976-) – The 18th-overall selection in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey, the right wing played in six Stanley Cup Finals, winning one with the 2000 Devils and another with the 2009 Penguins.
- Patrick Kane (1988-) – He was the first pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and I’d say he was worth it. Kane has won three Stanley Cups in his time with Chicago, not to mention a Calder, Hart, Lindsay, Ross and Smythe as well.
In our fourth overtime game in the last seven days, Pittsburgh bested the rival Islanders 3-2.

Only one goal was struck in the first period, and it belonged to the visiting Penguins. Sidney Crosby (First Star of the Game Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz) took advantage of a Brock Nelson charging penalty to bury a power play snapper with 4:41 remaining in the frame.

New York struck back only 1:51 after returning from intermission. With Evgeni Malkin getting caught for roughing, Nelson (Ryan Strome and John Tavares) capitalized on the man-advantage to score a wrister. Only 43 seconds later, Second Star Anthony Beauvillier won a one-on-one matchup with Matthew Murray with a wrister to give New York a 2-1 lead. That lead didn’t hold until the second intermission though, as Trevor Daley (Phil Kessel and Kunitz) scored a slap shot with 6:05 remaining to level the score at two-all. That tie held not only to the intermission, but to the end of regulation to force three-on-three overtime.

84 seconds was all it took for Letang (Crosby) to end overtime with a wrist shot and earn the victory.

Murray earned the victory after saving 20-of-22 shots faced (90.9%), forcing Jaroslav Halak to take the overtime loss, saving 32-of-35 (91.4%).

With that result, the DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 23-12-5, favoring the home teams by 11 points over the roadies.
November 19, 2016
Sick Hands of The Month – Panarin, Scheifele, Tarasenko, Burns, Weber, and Price win The First SHoTM.

Hey, everyone, I’m back this week for something a bit different then what I usually do! I’ve decided that every month instead of doing just the normal Sick Hands Sunday, I would turn it into the players of the month. So what I’m basically going to do is pick a player from each position on the ice (Left Wing, Center, Right Wing, two defenders, and a goalie). Then it’s basically the same thing as the normal “SHS” where I recap why I picked them and highlight their best games, goals, assists, etc. Here’s the first Sick Hands of the Month below and let’s see how it goes!

Mark Scheifele – Center (WPG) The reason why I picked the 6’3″ center from Kitchener, Ontario is simple. He leads the league and his team with twenty points (10G, 10A) in just 16 games at the one month mark. In his last five games’s he’s tallied a whopping eleven points (5G, 6A), so he is on absolute fire, and that may even be an understatement. He centers the first line with Nikolaj Ehlers on his left and rookie Patrik Laine (who leads the league in goals with 11) on his right. So he is having no problem producing with his line, even if it is a very young line. A month into the campaign last year, Mark only had a measly nine points through 15 games (5G, 4A). S0 he is making a huge improvement from last year. Keep a look out for Scheifele to stay red hot, and if he does, for the Jets to start putting a couple wins together.

Artemi Panarin – Left Wing (CHI) Picking the Left Winger was a bit difficult because it was either Panarin or Nick Foligno from the Blue Jackets. I decided to go with Panarin because he just had a better month even if they were tied in points. Panarin recorded six points in his last five games, that’s not as much as Scheifele but it is still a decent five-game span. He is tied for fourth in the league in points with 16 and is second on his team in points and is on the Blackhawks second line with fellow Russian, Artem Anisimov and Slovak, Marian Hossa. A month into his amazing rookie season last year Panarin only had 12 points (2G, 10A) so compared to last year he is doing much better to start the season. I see no problem with his game now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if by next month he is in contention for this spot again.

Vladimir Tarasenko – Right Wing (STL) Like picking the left, picking the right winger was challenging as well! It was down between Tarasenko and Patrick Kane (who else to be honest?) I ended up going with Tarasenko because he’s produced more with less time on the ice then Kane. Even though they both have 17 points, Tarasenko grabbed six goals and eleven assists while only averaging 18 minutes on the ice which is very impressive. While Kane had 17 points with 22 minutes on the ice, so that’s why I picked him. Tarasenko is on St. Louis’ second line with Jori Lehtera and Robby Fabbri, so he is really the main producer of that line. He leads the Blues in points with those nice 17 points. Tarasenko hasn’t really missed a beat from last year where a month into the season he racked up 13 points (7G, 6A). In his last five games he’s racked up eight points, so when Tarasenko’s on fire so are the Blues.

Brent Burns – Defense (SJS) Who else but Brent Burns honestly? When you think defense or even offensive defensemen the first name that comes to my mind is Brent Burns and I’m sure it come’s to many others as well. Burns leads all D-men with 14 points, 6 goals and tied for fourth with 8 assists. He also is tied with Joe Pavelski for the team lead in points. So as you can see, he is tearing it up so it wasn’t too hard to pick Burns as one of my main guys for the month. Burns has four points in his last five games which isn’t too bad for a defender. Based off a year ago and a month into the season Burns only had 10 points (4G, 6A) so he is on pace from last year and doing a little better as well. Maybe this year he can be crowned best defender in the league!

Shea Weber – Defense (MTL) Wow, some people, honestly I was one of them may be saying “Weber? How did he make it?” Well, I will tell you guys, because it is pretty impressive. After the trade, I thought he was going to be worthless but boy was I wrong. Weber is tied for second for defenders in points with 12 and is tied with Brent Burns for the league lead with six goals. He also has six assists to round out his great first month to the season that has made very many Habs fans happy. Weber is third on his team in points and last year a month into a season Weber only had seven points (3G, 4A) when he was still in Nashville before the trade. So a change of scenery has definitely had an impact on his scoring. Weber has three points in his last five games, which have all been goals! Weber has turned everyone’s head and he will probably continue to do so, so I think he will continue to produce.

Carey Price – Goalie (MTL) Picking Carey Price was probably the easiest position of this article. The reason why I say this is extremely easy to explain, Price leads the league in wins (10) and has a 10-0 record. He just became the first goalie ever in the history of the NHL to start the season with 10 straight wins. He’s second in the league with a 1.40 GAA and a 957 SV% only to Penguins goalie Matt Murray who has only played four games compared to Carey’s 10 so in my opinion Price is number one. Price is also second in the league with two shutouts with his most recent one coming to the Red Wings. Compared to last year Price dealt a major injury and only played in 12 games so he is showing no signs of rust and is showing us why he is the great Carey Price.

Well, that does it for me this week, I hope everyone enjoys the new version of the article! I know I had a blast and I hope you all did reading it as well! I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week!

November 13, 2016
November 8 – Day 27 – Could there be any other?
Happy Tuesday! For me, that means band rehearsal, but you get to kick back and watch some hockey. You’ve picked the right night to do that, as there’s quite a selection of games to choose from, starting with five at 7 p.m. (Carolina at New Jersey, Vancouver at the New York Rangers, Detroit at Philadelphia, Edmonton at Pittsburgh and San Jose at Washington), followed half an hour later by two more (Los Angeles at Toronto [TVAS] and Boston at Montréal [RDS]). 8 p.m. marks the beginning of a couple more contests (Ottawa at Nashville [RDS2] and Dallas at Winnipeg), with Arizona at Colorado, this evening’s nightcap, dropping the puck an hour later. All times eastern.

I know we just watched them last night, but we’re going to hop on the Bruins‘ plane to Montréal to catch them take on the best team in the league in one of the best rivalries in North America.

The last time these two met, Montréal upset the Bruins 4-2 in the TD Garden. Don’t think for a moment that Boston has forgotten.

These are two proud franchises, with 30 Stanley Cups between them, and the rivalry between requires no introduction.

As stated yesterday, the 7-5-0 Bruins‘ strength is found between the pipes and along the blue line. They have allowed 32 goals so far this season, led by 7-1-0 Tuukka Rask‘s .941 save percentage and 1.74 GAA. So good has Rask been that he’s earned two shutouts even when facing 29.7 shots per game, the 13th-fewest allowed by a team’s defense in the NHL.

While 13th is far from the top of the list, it is probably better than most would consider the Bruins‘ defense to be. So far this season, they’ve been led by Brandon Carlo and Zdeno Chara, who have 30 and 26 blocks respectively.

The defense has been especially good on the penalty kill, refusing to yield a goal on 84.3% of opposing man-advantages, the ninth-best rate in the best hockey league in the world.

Their opposition this evening are the 10-1-1 Canadiens. While they’ve played fantastically so far on both ends of the ice, I’m most impressed with their offense, which has managed 39 goals in 12 games (3.25 per game).

Twenty Habs have notched a point so far this season (including goaltender Al Montoya!), but the two that have really stood out have been center Alex Galchenyuk and defenseman Shea Weber, who have 11 and 10 points respectively. In addition, Torrey Mitchell has struck five goals so far for Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge to lead the club.

Some players to keep an eye on include Boston‘s Brad Marchand (14 points [tied for fourth-most in the league] on nine assists [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]), David Pastrnak (eight goals [tied for the league-lead] and a +11 [tied for sixth-best in the NHL]) and Rask (seven wins [tied for second-most in the league], two of which are shutouts [tied for third-most in the NHL], on a 1.74 GAA [fifth-best in the league] and .941 save percentage [sixth-best in the NHL]) & Montréal‘s Carey Price (.952 save percentage [second-best in the league] for a 1.57 GAA [fourth-best in the NHL] and seven wins [tied for second-most in the league], one of which was a shutout [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]) and Weber (+15 [leads the league]).

It looks like most books are closed in Vegas regarding this game, which should always get a hockey fan excited. What makes this matchup even more tantalizing is it’s location, as the Canadiens are a perfect 7-0-0 at the Bell Centre, but five of Boston‘s seven wins have been away from the TD Garden. It should be a good contest, but I’m leaning towards a Montréal victory.

Hockey Birthday
- Johnny Bower (1924-) – Known in his day as “The China Wall,” Bower was the goaltender to win four of Toronto‘s 13 Stanley Cups. The two-time Vezina winner played 522 games over 15 seasons, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976 with a career 250-195-90 record.
- Keith Jones (1968-) – This right wing played 491 games over nine seasons, most of which were with Washington – the team that drafted him. Nowadays, Jones spends his days with the NBCSN studio crew and providing color and analysis for the Flyers‘ local broadcasts. Maybe Philadelphia will give him a victory over Detroit for his 48th.
Yesterday’s Game of the Day was our fourth-straight lopsided victory, as Boston beat Buffalo 4-0.

After a scoreless first period, Marchand (Pastrnak and Third Star of the Game Matt Beleskey) scored a power play wrister that proved to be the game-winner 5:44 into the middle frame.

Second Star David Krejci (Torey Krug and Ryan Spooner), Riley Nash and Pastrnak (Austin Czarnik and John-Michael Liles) accounted for the three insurance goals.

First Star Rask saved all 32 shots he faced to earn the shutout victory, while Robin Lehner saved 38-of-42 (90.5%) in the loss.

Boston‘s victory extends the home teams’ advantage to six points in the DtFR Game of the Day series with a record of 16-10-3.
November 8, 2016
October 24 – Day 13 – Something something Canadian aviation
There’s only two games on the schedule this evening. The first involves Philadelphia visiting Montréal at 7:30 p.m. (RDS), with Calgary at Chicago dropping the puck an hour later (NHLN/SN/TVAS). All times eastern.

Seeing as Philly has much higher expectations for this season than the Flames, we’ll head up to the Bell Centre to catch them take on the Habs.

This game was supposed to be made a little bit more fun by the return of Dale Weise, but he is serving one-third of his suspension for his illegal check to Korbinian Holzer‘s head this evening. We’ll just hold that story until November 5.

…Or will we?

The season hasn’t treated the 2-2-1 Flyers very nicely so far. Before beating the Hurricanes 6-3 on Saturday, the Flyers were riding a 0-2-1 skid, being outscored 14-9 in that stretch.

As indicated by that statistic, defense and goaltending have been the issue on Broad St. – something Flyers fans have become all too familiar with. Steve Mason has taken the decision in four of Philly‘s five games for a 1-2-1 record. He has a .882 save percentage for a 3.35 GAA, both numbers well below the league average. Although he’s seen limited time, Michal Neuvirth has statistically been worse, posting a .854 save percentage for a 4.24 GAA in 85 minutes played.

Offensively, the Flyers are led by Jakub Voracek, who has scored two goals and notched five assists for seven points. Matt Read leads the club in goals, with five to his credit.

Montréal has yet to not earn a point having gone 4-0-1 so far this season, including their current three-game win streak. Most recently, the Canadiens went into the TD Garden to beat the Bruins 4-2 on Saturday. That success has propelled this squad that many wanted dissected a season ago to the top of the Eastern Conference early on.

Defense has been the name of the game for the Canadiens so far this year. Overall the Habs have a +11 goal-differential, but their eight goals-allowed is seven below the league average. Al Montoya started the first three games, saving .962 percent of the shots he faced for a 1.3 GAA. Carey Price has since returned to post a perfect 2-0-0 record, saving .92 percent for a 2.02 GAA.

Offensively, Montréal has turned to Alex Galchenyuk (1G/4A), Brendan Gallagher (3G/2A), Max Pacioretty (1G/4A) and Shea Weber (1G/4A), all of whom have five points. Gallagher and Torrey Mitchell have both scored three goals to lead the squad in that department.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Montréal‘s Nathan Beaulieu (+7 [tied for fifth-best in the NHL]), Montoya (1.3 GAA on a .962 save percentage [both second-best in the NHL] for two wins [tied for eighth-most in the league], including one shutout [one-of-five this season]) or Price (2.01 GAA [ninth-best in the NHL]) and Weber (+8 [tied for third-best in the league]) & Philadelphia‘s Claude Giroux (six assists [tied for the NHL-lead]), Read (five goals [tied for second-most in the league]), Wayne Simmonds (four goals [tied for fourth-most in the NHL]) and Voracek (five assists [tied for sixth-most in the league]).

Montréal has a -160 advantage over the Flyers this evening. Given Philly‘s goaltending situation and the fact that this game is in the Bell Centre, that might be a conservative mark. Expect the Habs to earn two points this evening.

Hockey Birthday:
- Jamal Mayers (1974-) – Over 65% of Mayers’ 915 career NHL games were played with St. Louis. A right wing by trade, he scored 90 goals en route to a 219 point career and currently acts as an analyst for NHL Network.
- Jonas Gustavsson (1984-) – This is the eighth NHL season of the goalie’s career and his first with Edmonton. One of his best accolades is the silver medal he won at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi with Team Sweden.
In case you didn’t watch the Heritage Classic yesterday, Edmonton scored three goals in 7:52 to beat the Jets 3-0 at Investors Group Field in our Game of the Day.

The first of those goals, thus the game-winner, was struck 36 seconds before the midway point of the game. Third Star of the Game Mark Letestu fired a unassisted short-handed snap shot past Connor Hellebuyck to open the scoring. 1:46 later, Darnell Nurse (Connor McDavid and Second Star Zack Kassian) doubled that lead with a snapper of his own. With 2:44 remaining in the second period, Kassian (Benoit Pouliot and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) scored the second insurance goal for the Oilers to set the score at the 3-0 final.

First Star Cam Talbot saved all 32 shots he faced en route to the shutout victory. Hellebuyck takes the loss, saving 29-of-32 (90.6%).

Edmonton‘s win is the second-straight for a road team in the DtFR Game of the Day series, but the home sides still have a four-point advantage with a 9-5-1 record.
October 24, 2016
October 22 – Day 11 – Not just a rivalry game
It’s Saturday, so you know what that means: a busy day. Everything is being held for prime time, so eight games drop the puck at 7 p.m. (Toronto at Chicago [CBC], Montréal at Boston [CITY/TVAS], Tampa Bay at Ottawa [SN1/SN360], San Jose at Detroit, Colorado at Florida, Minnesota at New Jersey, Carolina at Philadelphia and the New York Rangers at Washington [NHLN]). 8 p.m. brings with it two more contests (Pittsburgh at Nashville and Columbus at Dallas), and the final two games find their start two hours later (Vancouver at Los Angeles [CBC] and St. Louis at Calgary [SN1/SN360]). All times eastern.

Short list:
- Montréal at Boston: One of, if not the best all-time rivalry in hockey. It’s always worth the watch.
- Toronto at Chicago: Another Original Six matchup.
- New York at Washington: This rivalry goes back to the ’80s. Since all of us at Down the Frozen River were born in the ’90s, we’re pretty sure that was a long time ago.
Of those three games, it’s just too hard to ignore the scrap for the Atlantic Division lead between Montréal and Boston going on this evening in the TD Garden.

Two of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference square off this evening and, as I mentioned before, the winner will take the division lead. But, something tells me that a division lead, especially this early in the season, is just icing on the cake between these two.

The Canadiens enter the game with an impeccable 3-0-1 record, with their lone single-point game occurring last weekend In Ottawa.

Although the Habs have scored 16 goals already this season, it has been their blue line and goaltending that has been more impressive. So far, Al Montoya and Carey Price have only allowed six tallies, half the league average, on a combined .955 save percentage.

The home Bruins have a 3-1-0 record, losing their only game last Saturday 4-1 in Toronto.

Just like their counterparts, goaltending has been the Bruins‘ shining spot so far this season, as Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin have only allowed nine goals against, collectively saving 92.4% of shots faced.

To properly breakdown how good a goaltending matchup this could be, Montoya and Rask are the top two in the league in save percentage, and both also rank in the top five in goals against average. If presumed starter Price can continue to produce like his backup did to start the season, we should be in for a great game.

Some players to keep an eye on during this evening’s game include Boston‘s David Backes (+7 [tied for third-best in the league]), Brandon Carlo (+7 [tied for third-best in the NHL]), Zdeno Chara (+6 [tied for seventh-best in the league]), Brad Marchand (+9 [tied for the NHL-lead] with nine points [tied for the league-lead] on six assists [tied for the NHL-lead] and three goals [tied for ninth-most in the league]), David Pastrnak (+9 [tied for the NHL-lead] with four goals [tied for second-most in the league] for seven points [tied for fourth-most in the NHL]) and Rask (.947 save percentage [second-best in the league], three wins [tied for second-most in the NHL] and 1.67 GAA [fourth-best in the league]) & Montréal‘s Nathan Beaulieu (+6 [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]), Montoya (1.3 GAA [leads the league] and .962 save percentage [leads the NHL] for a shutout [one of three so far this season] on two wins [tied for sixth-most in the league]) and Shea Weber (+6 [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]).

Last season, the Canadiens took the season series 3-2-0, including two victories in Massachusetts. But, it is the Bruins that are favored in tonight’s game at -124. Although the Habs have played well to start the season, I have a hard time picking against Boston on home ice.

Hockey Birthday
- Ron Tugnutt (1967-) – This goaltender put in 16 NHL seasons, playing most of his 537 games with Quebec (153) and Ottawa (166). Some of the records he still holds are most saves in a regular season contest (70) and highest regular season save percentage.
- Stephane Quintal (1968-) – A long time Canadien, Quintal played 507 of his 1037 games along the blue line in a red sweater. Nowadays, he’s Senior Vice President of Player Safety.
- Miroslav Satan (1974-) – Over 14 NHL seasons, Šatan played for five clubs, but he spent most of his time in Buffalo. The right wing scored 363 scores and ended up with 735 points.
I expected a Predators win in yesterday’s Game of the Day. I was terribly wrong.

This game may come to be known as the Power Play Game, as five of the eight scores were a result of the man-advantage. The first of those tallies was struck 5:17 into the second period when Justin Abdelkader (Third Star of the Game Ryan Sproul and Gustav Nyquist) took advantage of a Filip Forsberg holding penalty four seconds earlier to set the score at 1-0 for the Wings. The Predators struck back 8:56 later with power play goal of their own from P.K. Subban (Roman Josi) on a 5-on-3 play. Still on the power play from Danny DeKeyser sending the puck over the glass, Mike Ribeiro (Ryan Ellis and Viktor Arvidsson) gave Nashville a 2-1 lead with 5:29 remaining in the period. They couldn’t take that lead into the dressing room though, as Drew Miller (Mike Green) beat Pekka Rinne with 40 seconds remaining before the horn to level the score at two-all.

1:10 after returning to the ice, First Star Tomas Tatar (Alexey Marchenko and Jonathan Ericsson) returned the lead to the Red Wings on an even-strength snap shot. Nyquist takes credit for the game-winner, an unassisted snap shot with 8:33 remaining on the game clock. Nashville pulled within one when Mike Fisher (Josi and Forsberg) scored a power play goal, but Darren Helm (Luke Glendening and Henrik Zetterberg) put that comeback to sleep with a power play goal of his own with 22 seconds remaining on an empty-net.

Second Star Petr Mrazek earns the victory after saving 30-of-33 (90.9%), while Rinne takes the loss, saving 38-of-42 (90.5%).

Detroit‘s victory at Joe Louis Arena sets the home teams’ record in the DtFR Game of the Day series at 9-3-1, favoring them by eight points over the visiting squads
October 22, 2016