Down the Frozen River

Tag: Carlson

Pittsburgh at Washington – Game 2 – Letang and Murray lead Pens to Game 2 victory

Behind some incredible defensive play, the Pittsburgh Penguins stole home ice from the Capitals with a 2-1 Game 2 victory.

Ex-Penguin Brooks Orpik certainly doesn’t have any love for his old club, as he caused the first power play of the game at the 4:13 mark with a serious interference penalty against Olli Maatta. The hit seemed to be directed towards Maatta’s head and was severe enough to leave him dazed and require a Pittsburgh trainer to help him to the dressing room, but he only served two minutes in the box, which the Capitals‘ penalty kill easily neutralized. Maatta did not return to the ice.

The other infraction of the period belonged to Ben Lovejoy, as he was found guilty of a slashing penalty on Evgeny Kuznetsov with 3:31 remaining in the frame. Just like Washington, the Penguins‘ penalty kill was up to the task and kept the game scoreless.

Although they were unable to score, the Pens seemed to win the first period, as they almost tripled Washington‘s shot production (14 to five, respectively). That being said, the Capitals absolutely owned the face-off dot, winning 70% of restarts.

1:20 after returning to the ice, Kuznetsov was caught holding Matt Cullen, but once again the Penguins‘ power play yielded nothing.

Carl Hagelin finally scored the first goal of Game 2 at the 7:08 mark. His wrister, which he fired from point blank over First Star of the Game Braden Holtby’s glove hand, was assisted by Nick Bonino from behind the net (his seventh of the postseason) and Ian Cole.

Not only was it the first goal of the game, but it was also the lone tally of the frame. Once again, the Pens led the Caps in shots, 14 to five, but they still had yet to connect on any of their five power plays. Washington still maintained the lead in hits (23 to 14), as well as face-off wins (25 to 20).

2:56 after returning to the ice, Kris Letang earned a trip to the penalty box for tripping Nicklas Backstrom. 1:12 later, Washington leveled with a Marcus Johansson power play wrister, assisted by John Carlson (his fifth playoff helper) and Kuznetsov.

With 4:28 remaining in regulation, Second Star Eric Fehr, an ex-Capital, gave the Penguins the go-ahead goal on a tip-in of Evgeni Malkin’s initial shot. He was also assisted by Chris Kunitz.

Washington‘s most significant offensive threats occurred in the third period, but Matt Murray stood tall to level the series at one-all. Letang deserves special credit for the victory, as his five blocks led a team that held Washington to only 24 shots on goal.

Murray earns the victory after saving 23 of 24 shots faced (95.8%), while Holtby takes the loss after saving 33 of 35 (94.3%).

Game 3 will be Monday at 8 p.m. eastern in Pittsburgh. It can be viewed on CBC, NBCSN or TVAS.

April 30, 2016
Pittsburgh at Washington – Game 1 – Oshie’s hat trick gives Capitals one game lead

T.J. Oshie scored the final three Capitals goals, including the overtime winner, to lead Washington to a 4-3 Game 1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

A little over 10 minutes into the game (10:13, to be exact), Andre Burakovsky fired a writer after assists from Jason Chimera and John Carlson (his fourth helper of the playoffs) to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead, which held into the first intermission.

Washington certainly deserved the lead after one period, as they fired 15 shots to the Penguins‘ nine. In addition, they were also more physical along the boards, notching 10 more hits than the visitors.

Ben Lovejoy leveled the game 40 seconds after the midway point with a wrist shot of his own, assisted by Second Star of the Game Nick Bonino (his sixth helper of the playoffs) and Carl Hagelin. 57 seconds later, an Evgeni Malkin backhander, assisted by Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang (his fifth helper of the playoffs), gave Pittsburgh their first lead of the series. It wouldn’t last long though, as First Star Oshie scored an unassisted wrister at the 12:10 mark to level the game at two-all.

Just as Washington statistically dominated the first period, Pittsburgh returned serve in the second, as they fired 17 shots to the Caps‘ seven. Pittsburgh also outhit Washington 14-12.

Oshie turned his second period goal into a scoring streak for himself and the Capitals, as 3:23 after returning to the ice he scored on a backhander assisted by Alex Ovechkin. Bonino leveled 5:19 later on a wrister, assisted by Hagelin and Kessel (his fourth helper of the postseason) to set the score at three-all, which held to the end of regulation.

Overtime was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams firing at least six shots, but it lasted only 9:33 before Oshie completed his hat trick with a wrap-around winner, his fourth tally of the postseason.

Braden Holtby earns the win after saving 42 of 45 shots faced (93.3%), while Matt Murray takes the loss, saving 31 of 35 (88.6%).

These squads will be back at it this Saturday at 8 p.m. eastern. That contest can be viewed on CBC, NBC or TVAS.

April 29, 2016
Washington at Philadelphia – Game 3 – Ovi’s two goal night pulls the Caps within a win of the Eastern Semis

The environment for this game was incredible. All of Philadelphia seemed to be packed into the Wells Fargo Center, first to honor the late Ed Snider and then to try to propel their team to begin staging a comeback. While the Flyers were the first team to score this evening, it was the Capitals who won 6-1.

Philly looked like they might try to cause some trouble in this series, as Michael Raffl scored at the 57 second mark, assisted by Brandon Manning and Sam Gagner, to give the Flyers an early lead. Marcus Johansson and the Capitals leveled 3:46 later on the power play, assisted by First Star of the Game John Carlson and Third Star Nicklas Backstrom.

The Capitals took a lead they would not yield with Second Star Alex Ovechkin’s first goal of the night, a snapper at the 8:50 mark of the second period. He was assisted by Backstrom and T.J. Oshie.

It was the second period when things really started going south for the trailing home team. Although they were only down a goal, there was a noticeable difference in Philadelphia‘s approach to the game. Things peaked at when 8:01 remained in the period, when Ryan White absolutely smashed Brooks Orpik into the boards. Orpik did not return to his skates by his own power and had to be helped off the ice, and did not return from the dressing room. I am no doctor, but his eyes did not look clear at all, and given Orpik’s history of concussions, things may not be looking good for a quick return.

Before the night was through, Philadelphia committed a whopping 53 minutes of penalties. In fact, all four of the third period goals were a result of at least a one-man advantage, but many times the Flyers had a crammed penalty box, leaving Washington with 5-on-3 situations.

1:58 into the third, Evgeny Kuznetsov cashed in on a Brayden Schenn slashing penalty on Tom Wilson at the end of the second period, as his wrister, assisted by Justin Williams and Braden Holtby, set the score at 3-1. 5:39 later, Carlson extended the Caps‘ lead with power play slap shot that found the back of Steve Mason’s net, assisted by Ovechkin and and Williams. Washington struck again with 5:02 remaining in the game when Ovechkin found the net for the second time of the night with a slap shot from outside the left face-off circle, assisted by Carlson and Oshie. Jay Beagle closed the scoring line for the Capitals with 1:40 remaining with his second goal of the series, as his wrister assisted by Nate Schmidt and Dmitry Orlov set the score at the 6-1 final.

Holtby earns the win after saving 31 of 32 shots faced (96.9%), while Mason takes the loss, saving 21 of 27 (77.8%).

Washington will attempt to complete the series sweep Wednesday at 7 p.m. eastern. That contest can be viewed on CBC, NBCSN or TVAS.

April 18, 2016
December 20 – Day 74 – The Caps are heading back to the Garden!

Dallas proved their position as one of, if not the best team in the league by beating Montréal 6-2 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

The Stars scored the first goal of the game after only 1:34 minutes of play, the lone goal of the first period. Second Star of the Game Jason Spezza is credited with the tally, his 12th of the season, assisted by Ales Hemsky.

Even quicker than Spezza scored his goal, First Star Jamie Benn scored his, as he scored his unassisted goal at the 1:24 mark of the second. 1:42 later, Patrick Sharp scored the eventual game-winning power play goal, assisted by Third Star Tyler Seguin and Spezza. The Habs finally got on the board on a power play of their own, when Tomas Fleischmann and P.K. Subban assisted Daniel Carr to his second goal of the season at the 11:35 mark, setting the score at 3-1. Any momentum the Canadiens had built though, was squelched by another Stars goal, this one courtesy of Seguin at the 13:51 mark, assisted by Alex Goligoski and Benn. The 4-1 score held into the second intermission.

It was a night of quick starts for the Stars, as they scored their fifth goal only 31 seconds into the third. Benn notched his second of the night, assisted by Sharp and Spezza. 3:41 later, the Can scored their final goal of the season when Brian Flynn assisted Paul Byron to a shorty. On that same power play, Dallas scored their sixth goal of the evening at the 4:27 mark when Vernon Fiddler assisted Patrick Eaves to the second goal of his season, setting the score at the 6-2 final.

13-5-2 Antti Niemi earned the win after saving 21 of 23 (91.3%), while Mike Condon’s record falls to 9-7-3 after saving 17 of 23 (73.9%). He was pulled after 44:27 for Dustin Tokarski, who saved all four shots he faced.

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 28-10-6, favoring the home team by 28 points.

Six games will be played on this Sunday, with the action getting started at 4 p.m. eastern when Vancouver visits Florida, followed an hour later by two more games (New Jersey at Boston and Ottawa at Tampa Bay [RDS2]). Finally, three games share the nightcap role, all starting at 7 p.m. eastern (Calgary at Detroit [SN], Washington at the New York Rangers [NHLN/TVAS] and San Jose at Chicago).

Two of today’s games are between divisional rivals (Ottawa at Tampa Bay and Washington at New York), as well as two involving two teams between current playoff qualifiers (Washington at New York and San Jose at Chicago). Lastly, Washington–New York is also a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinal.

In other words, we’re watching Washington at New York, just in case you couldn’t figure that out!

The Capitals have been featured in the DtFR Game of the Day series five times, where they currently own a 2-3-0 record. The Rangers have been featured an additional two times, and they have a 5-1-1 record.

The 23-6-2 Washington Capitals currently lead both the Atlantic Division as well as the Eastern Conference, trailing the Stars by only two points for the league lead. They are riding a four-game win streak, with their most recent game a 5-3 victory over the Lightning on Friday. The Caps play a superior game on both ends of the ice, but their strength has actually been on the ice, which is surprising for a team with Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin.

20-4-1 Braden Holtby and co. have allowed only 857 shots, helped by Karl Alzner’s 76 blocks. Of those shots, only 67 have found the back of the net (92.6% save rate), which ranks second-best in the league. The Caps‘ penalty kill is not so much their defense, but that they do not commit many penalties. Washington has only had to defend 87 power plays, and given up 14 goals (83.91% kill rate).

As we’ve grown accustomed to, Washington‘s offense is also very good. Although they’ve only shot the puck 936 times (led by Ovechkin’s 155), they’ve scored a whopping 94 goals (led by Ovechkin’s 16), sixth best in the league. Especially potent has been the Caps‘ power play, which has a 25% success rate.

They are visiting the 19-11-4 New York Rangers, who currently occupy second place in the Metropolitan Division and third in the Eastern Conference. They are currently riding a two-game losing skid, most recently a 5-2 loss at Winnipeg on Friday. The Blueshirts will put Holtby to the test, as they exhibit a strong offense.

Led by Rick Nash’s 96, the Rangers have put a total of 950 shots on goal so far this season, scoring 97 of those attempts (led by Mats Zuccarello’s 14). Although not as potent as Washington‘s, New York‘s power play is also good, as they’ve scored 20 goals (led by Nash’s four) on 92 opportunities.

It goes without saying that a defense spearheaded by 15-8-3 Henrik Lundqvist in net is a good one. Aided by Dan Girardi’s 71 blocks, the Blueshirts have only allowed 82 on 1049 shots. Even when a man down, New York has still been strong, as Lundqvist and co. have killed 83.04% of opposing power plays.

Last year, the Caps and Rangers met in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Blueshirts won that series in seven games, and if that is indicative of how tonight’s game will go, we should be in for a good one. Expect the Caps to pull off the road upset.

December 20, 2015
October 28 – Day 22 – More capitals than you think…

Yesterday’s Game of the Day, contested between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the St. Louis Blues, was our second straight shutout victory for the home squad, as the Notes beat the Bolts 2-0.

Scott Gomez’ goal, assisted by Colton Parayko and Troy Brouwer at the 15:59 mark of the first period, was his first with St. Louis and the eventual game-winner. The lone insurance goal was an empty netter scored by Brouwer, assisted by Alex Pietrangelo, with only 41 seconds remaining in the game.

First star of the game Jake Allen earned the win by stopping all 26 Lightning shots, while Ben Bishop lost his yearly homecoming game by allowing only one goal on 23 shots (95.7%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 13-5-3, still favoring the home squad by 11 points.

After a busy 10 game schedule yesterday, the writers at Down the Frozen River invite you to sit back, crack open your beverage of choice and relax this evening, as there are only three games on the schedule tonight. Instead of frantically checking your phone every five minutes to check scores, you can chill out, knowing that all three games will be on national TV in their home nation. The evening begins at 7:30 p.m. eastern when the Calgary Flames visit the Canadian capital to take on the Senators (TVAS, SN1). The capital theme continues half an hour later, when Pittsburgh visits the American capital to play division rival Washington (NBCSN). Finally, at 10:30 p.m. eastern, the squad representing the capital of Tennessee, the Nashville Predators, will visit the county seat of Santa Clara County (So, like, the capital of Santa Clara County? YES, THE CAPITAL OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY!) to play the San Jose Sharks (NBCSN).

Of these three, one is a divisional rivalry (Pittsburgh at Washington), and none that features two teams that are currently qualifying for the playoffs (San Jose fell out of position last night with Vancouver‘s win over Montréal). Therefore, I expect the Pittsburgh–Washington game to be the best game of the night.

The rivalry between these two squads is well documented. In fact, this season is the tenth anniversary of the rebirth of the rivalry, as both teams’ captains began playing for their respective teams during the 2005-’06 season. In their history, the Penguins own the all-time series at 131-110-16 but, as should be expected, the Capitals own a better record when playing in front of their home crowd (63-58-9).

We first take a look at the visiting team. While offense is usually the first thing to come to mind when thinking of a squad with both Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins have strongly relied on their defense (especially Ian Cole, who has 25 blocks so far) and Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to achieve their 4-4-0 record. The only goalie to put on the pads for Pittsburgh so far this season, he’s given up 16 goals so far this season, six under the league average. Even when a man or more down, the Penguins have still found a way to keep the opposition off the board, as they’ve only given up four power play goals (one less than the league average) to maintain an 84.62% penalty kill rate, exceeding the league average of 81.43%. Fleury’s .932 save percentage also exceeds the league average by 1.7%.

In comparison to both their defense and Penguins teams in the past, the offense has been fairly lackluster. The club has only tickled the twine 13 times, nine goals below the league average. Part of the problem has been the poor results on the power play. In 28 attempts, the Penguins have only scored two goals (three below average), for a 7.14% power play. What’s most frustrating for the team is their lack of offensive success hasn’t entirely been their fault. Pittsburgh has shot the puck 261 times in eight games, 16 more times than the league average, but has only scored on 5% of their shots.

Turning our attention to the home side, we find a 6-1-0 Capitals side that we at Down the Frozen River think has the potential to represent the Eastern Conference in this year’s Stanley Cup Finals. Washington is a well rounded team that is a threat to score on one end of the ice, and has full capabilities to stop the opposition on the other end.

Beginning with the offense, the Capitals have scored 29 tallies so far this season, seven goals above league average (Ovi leads the way with five goals this season). Seven of those goals have been on the power play. What’s most remarkable is they’ve had extra-man success (two more goals than league average) on significantly fewer opportunities (six less, to be exact). What the kids that can do quick math have figured out before I tell you is that Washington‘s power play percentage is much better than the rest of the NHL’s. We’re talking so good, that the Caps score on almost a third of their man-advantages (31.82%, to be exact). The league averages only 18.57%… for sake of argument, we can almost claim that Washington scores two power play goals for every one scored by the average hockey team. Or, in other words, the Penguins would be very wise to not commit any penalties.

The biggest fallback of this offense? They don’t put as many shots on goal. They’ve only fired 207 pucks so far this season, 38 under the league average. But, they score seemingly all the time, which has given them a 14% shot percentage, 5% over the league average.

So, if the offense is so good, opposing teams should just get into a barn-burner with the Caps and hope for the best, right? Bad idea, mostly because Washington doesn’t share very well: the Caps are the only ones allowed to score. In addition to their successful offense, the Capitals have only given up 18 goals this season, which is four under the league average. Specifically on the penalty kill, the Caps have given up one fewer goal (four) than the league average, and on fewer opportunities too. Their 83.33% penalty kill rate exceeds the league average by 1.9%. And its not just Goaltender Braden Holtby, either. The defense has also held their opposition to only 167 shots, 76 under the league average. Karl Alzner has led the charge in blocks, with 18 to his credit.

Tonight was also supposed to be the return of RW Eric Fehr to the Verizon Center, but he is still in the final stages of recovery from elbow surgery and does not expect to return until this weekend. He played nine of his 10 seasons with the Caps (spent the 2011-’12 season in Winnipeg), and signed as a free agent with the Pens this offseason. His return will be postponed to January 24. In replacement, we get to celebrate Kris Letang’s 500th game of his career.

Last season, the Caps won the season series 3-1-0 after shutting out the Penguins twice. The Pens‘ lone win was a 4-3 thriller in Washington, with Chris Kunitz scoring the winning goal.

Some players to watch in this one include Pittsburgh‘s Fleury (one shutout [tied for sixth in the league] and four wins [tied for eighth in the league]) and Washington‘s John Carlson (eight assists [tied for seventh in the league]), Holtby (five wins [tied for second in the league]) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (11 points [tied for fifth in the league] and eight assists [tied for seventh in the league]).

Although the Penguins may have won their last game in this arena, I fully expect Washington to beat the Penguins easily, as the Pittsburgh offense will not be able to keep up with Ovechkin and the Capitals.

October 28, 2015