Down the Frozen River

Tag: Connor Keith

January 16 – Day 98 – It’s another homecoming for an ex-Shark

Second Star of the Game Bo Horvat loves to play the Carolina Hurricanes. When they played in Vancouver last week, he had two goals, including the game-winner.

Guess what he did tonight?

Just notch two goals, including the overtime game-winner to secure the Canucks‘ 3-2 victory.

The story was more than Horvat though. Linden Vey scored his first goal of the season after 13:14 of play to give Vancouver the lead, but Third Star Kris Versteeg was able to level the score with 1:33 remaining before intermission with a power play goal, assisted by Jaccob Slavin and Jordan Staal (his 12th assist of the season). The one-all tie held into the second period.

Horvat scored his first goal of the night 9:32 after resuming play, assisted by Taylor Fedun and Matt Bartkowski (his ninth helper of the season) to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead that would hold into the second intermission.

Vancouver was beginning to feel certain about their victory, but John-Michael Liles had other ideas. After assists from Andrej Nestrasil and Victor Rask (his 17th helper of the season), he leveled the score at two-all, which held to the end of regulation, forcing the three-on-three overtime period.

Horvat waited 3:25 before scoring his winner, assisted by Radim Vrbata (his 10th assist of the season) and Christopher Tanev.

First Star of the Game Jacob Markstrom improves his record to 7-5-4 after saving 38 of 40 (95%), while Cam Ward’s record falls to 14-11-5 after saving 19 of 22 (86.4%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 40-19-9, favoring the home squads by 28 points over the road teams.

For a Friday night, the schedule was relatively light with only six games. Don’t worry though, the NHL has our back, as there’s a solid 10 on deck today. The action gets started at 1 p.m. eastern when the New York Rangers visit Philadelphia (SN), followed an hour later by New Jersey at Arizona. The final matinee begins at 4 p.m. eastern when Ottawa visits Los Angeles. Four games drop the puck at the normal starting time of 7 p.m. eastern (Toronto at Boston [CBC], Washington at Buffalo [BELL TV], Colorado at Columbus and Montréal at St. Louis [NHLN/TVAS/SN]), followed an hour later by Minnesota at Nashville. 10 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of Calgary at Edmonton (CBC/SN), followed half an hour later by Dallas at San Jose, this evening’s nightcap.

Four of tonight’s games are divisional rivalries (New York at Philadelphia, Toronto at Boston, Minnesota at Nashville and Calgary at Edmonton), while two other matchups represent meetings of teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Montréal at St. Louis and Dallas at San Jose).

The game that strikes me most is the Dallas–San Jose matchup, and it’s not just because of how both teams are doing this season. The Sharks have already welcomed Todd McLellan back to The Tank this week, so what hurts seeing another old friend? How about the goaltender for most of McLellan’s tenure, Antti Niemi?

Tonight’s game will be Dallas‘ sixth appearance in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 4-0-1 record. Their most recent showing in the series was the day after Christmas, a 3-2 shootout loss in St. Louis. San Jose has been featured much more recently, as they beat the Oilers 2-1 in a shootout on Thursday to improve their series record to 2-2-0.

Niemi spent a total of five seasons in San Jose before having his signing rights traded to Dallas this offseason. With the exception of the lockout-shortened 2012-’13 season, he was always good for 60+ games and 31+ wins per season, with his best being his 39-17-7 2013-’14 campaign, when he 91.3% for 149 goals against.

Excluding last season, Niemi’s Sharks always qualified for the playoffs, with his best performance certainly being the 2012-’13 where he saved 93% of the shots that came his way.

So far this season, Niemi has helped to lead his 29-11-4 Dallas Stars to second place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.

Measured by goals scored, Dallas is the best offense in the NHL this season. Led by Tyler Seguin’s 166 shots, the Stars have fired the puck 1419 times this season, of which 10.4% have found the back of the net for 147 tallies, led by Jamie Benn’s 25 tallies. Special teams have certainly contributed to that success, as Dallas scores on 22.46% for 31 power play goals (led by Benn’s 11). The biggest problem for the power play has actually been the defense, which has given up five short-handed goals so far this season.

Niemi was an excellent add for this team, as the Stars‘ defense is not exactly anything spectacular. Even with Johnny Oduya’s team-leading 93 blocks, Dallas has allowed 1279 shots to reach 16-8-4 Niemi and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 91.2% for 114 goals against, 13th-most in the league. The defense does clamp down when facing the power play, as they’ve killed 81.25% for only 24 power play goals against. What improves this special teams unit is their six shorties this season.

Dallas is currently riding a two-game losing skid, with their most recent being a 4-2 loss in Anaheim last night. A Stars win tonight puts them back the division and conference lead, as they win the games played-tiebreaker over Chicago.

The 22-18-2 San Jose Sharks are currently in third place in the Pacific Division and eighth in the Western Conference. Similar to Dallas, the Sharks play a more offensive game, but they are backed by a stronger defense than tonight’s opposition. You can read more about the Sharks‘ play here.

San Jose is currently riding a four-game win streak, with their most recent being the 2-1 shootout victory over the Oilers on Thursday. A Sharks victory this evening increases their lead over Vancouver for the third division spot to two points, while a loss loses one of San Jose‘s three games in hand over rival Canucks.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Dallas‘ Benn (53 points [second-most in the league], 25 goals [third-most in the league], 28 assists [tied for fifth-most in the league] and +17 [tied for sixth-best in the league]), John Klingberg (32 assists [third-most in the league]), Niemi (three shutouts [tied for seventh-best in the league]) and Seguin (51 points [third-most in the league], 24 goals [tied for fourth-most in the league] and 27 assists [ninth-most in the league]) & San Jose‘s Martin Jones (four shutouts [tied for third-most in the league] and 19 wins [tied for fourth-most in the league]) and Joe Pavelski (22 goals [tied for sixth-most in the league] and 43 points [tied for seventh-best in the league]).

Although I’m picking the Sharks to win this game tonight due to their current steak and playing on home ice, you can never count out a team like the Dallas Stars, who have aspirations of a Stanley Cup on their mind.

January 16, 2016
January 15 – Day 97 – On the outside looking in…

Yesterday’s Game of the Day between the Edmonton Oilers and the San Jose Sharks was the first since December 26 in the series to require a shootout, which the Sharks executed to perfection to win 2-1.

San Jose scored the opening goal of the game after 11:29 of play, courtesy of Marc-Edouard Vlasic after assists from Melker Karlsson and Joe Thornton, his 24th helper of the season. The Sharks‘ 1-0 lead held into the intermission.

Edmonton leveled the score at the 8:02 mark of the second when Second Star of the Game Nail Yakupov scored on assists from Lauri Korpikoski (his sixth assist of the season) and Justin Schultz.

It was the final goal in regulation, and there wasn’t one scored in the five minutes of three-on-three play, so The Tank hosted its first shootout of the season.

Joe Pavelski was the first to take his shootout goal, and his attempt was pure, giving the Sharks a 1-0 shootout lead. First Star Martin Jones made the save on Jordan Eberle’s attempt, which was quickly followed by Joonas Donskoi’s shot that also trickled into the net. Jones secured the bonus point with a save on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, cemented San Jose‘s lead over Vancouver to two points, and ruined the homecoming of ex-head coach Todd McLellan.

Jones earns the win after saving 24 of 25 (96%) to improve his record to 19-13-2, while Cam Talbot’s record falls to 7-13-3 after saving 36 of 37 (97.3%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 40-19-8, favoring the home squad by 29 points.

A busy Thursday schedule yields a lighter Friday schedule than normal in preparation of an exciting weekend of NHL action. A total of six games will be played this evening, with half getting started at 7 p.m. eastern (Boston at Buffalo [BELL TV], Chicago at Toronto [NHLN] and Vancouver at Carolina). Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay (TVAS) drop the puck 30 minutes later, followed at 8 p.m. eastern by Winnipeg at Minnesota. This evening’s nightcap gets its start at 10 p.m. eastern when Dallas visits Anaheim (SN).

A third of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (Boston at Buffalo and Winnipeg at Minnesota), while none involve both squads currently qualifying for the playoffs.

The game that has attracted my attention the most is actually the Vancouver at Carolina matchup, as both teams are currently very close to qualifying for the playoffs, but are still on the outside looking in.

Tonight’s game will be Vancouver‘s fourth appearance in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 1-2-0 record, while the Canes lost the only other game they’ve played in the series. Both team’s most recent appearance in the series was on January 6 when Carolina visited Rogers Arena and fell 3-2 to the Canucks.

The 17-17-10 Vancouver Canucks currently sit in fourth place in the Pacific Division and 10th in the Western Conference, meaning that they are sitting on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, although they trail the Sharks by only two points. Vancouver plays a balanced, yet lackluster game, slightly favoring their defense.

Even with Chris Tanev’s 99 blocks, the Canucks have allowed a whopping 1315 shots to reach 10-11-6 Ryan Miller and co., who’ve collectively saved 91.3% for 120 goals against, ninth-most in the league. The power play has also been below average, killing 79.58% of attempts for 29 goals against.

Vancouver‘s offense has also left much to be desired for residents of British Columbia, as they’ve managed only 1249 shots (led by Daniel Sedin’s 149), of which only 8.2% have found the back of the net for 105 goals (led by Sedin’s 19), eighth-fewest in the league. The power play has been just as incompetent, scoring only only 17.36% of attempts for 25 goals (led by Sedin’s six).

Vancouver‘s most recent game was a 4-1 loss in Washington last night.

The 20-18-7 Carolina Hurricanes currently sit in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division and ninth in the Eastern Conference, presently missing the playoffs only due to losing a tiebreaker of games played to Boston. Similar to Vancouver, they play a balanced, but rather underwhelming game slightly favoring their defense.

Thanks in part to Ron Hainsey’s 71 blocks, only 1146 shots have made their way to 14-11-4 Cam Ward and co., who’ve collectively saved 90.1% for 120 goals against, ninth-most in the league. The Canes‘ penalty kill has been only slightly below league average, killing 80.19% attempts for 21 goals against.

Led by Justin Faulk’s 130 shots, the Hurricanes have fired the puck 1298 times, of which 8.1% have found the back of the net for 105 goals (led by Jeff Skinner’s 16 tallies), eighth-fewest in the league. The power play has certainly let the Canes down, as they’ve scored on only 17.16% attempts for 23 goals (led by Faulk’s 12).

Carolina is currently riding a four-game win streak, with their most recent game being a 4-1 victory in St. Louis last night. A win tonight in combination with wins by Buffalo and/or Pittsburgh gets the Canes in the group of eight Eastern Conference teams competing for the Cup.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Carolina‘s Faulk (32 points, including 12 power play goals, on 130 shots and 84 hits [all lead the team]) and Vancouver‘s Henrik Sedin (28 assists [tied for fifth-most in the league]).

As made evident by the last time these two met, these squads are an even match for each other, and goals are always at a premium with these offenses. That being said, I am forced to lean with the Canes solely because they are playing in PNC Arena.

January 15, 2016
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.

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.

January 14, 2016
January 13 – Day 95 – It’s time for these teams to put their foot on the gas

In yesterday’s Game of the Day, the Chicago Blackhawks held on for a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators to extend their winning streak to eight.

Only one goal was scored in the first period, and it belonged to the Hawks. With only 58 seconds remaining in the period, First Star of the Game Andrew Shaw gave the Blackhawks the lead, assisted by Second Star Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews (his 16th helper of the season).

The busiest period was by far the second. Chicago opened the period scoring after 6:14 ticked off the clock courtesy of Shaw’s second tally of the evening, assisted by Hossa (his 14th assist of the season) and Dennis Rasmussen. The Hawks‘ final goal of the game, and ultimately their game-winner, occurred 7:04 later when Brent Seabrook set the score at 3-0, assisted by Patrick Kane (his 38th assist) and Erik Gustafsson. Only 18 later, Mike Ribeiro scored his fifth goal of the season to get the score back to 3-1, which held into the second intermission.

Nashville‘s final goal of the night did not occur until the 19:23 mark, a power play tally from Filip Forsberg after assists from Ryan Johansen and Ribeiro (his 23rd assist).

Third Star Corey Crawford made saved 41 of 43 (95.3%) to improve his record to 24-10-2, while Pekka Rinne’s record falls to 16-14-6 after saving 20 of 23 (87%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 38-19-8, favoring the home squad by 26 points over the roadies.

A busy Tuesday has come and gone; lets take a step back with today’s four-game schedule. Columbus and Toronto (SN) get things started at 7 p.m. eastern, followed an hour later by Boston at Philadelphia (NBCSN/TVAS). The western games get going at 9:30 p.m. eastern with Florida visiting Calgary (SN1), followed half an hour later by tonight’s nightcap between Ottawa and Anaheim (RDS).

None of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals, both teams currently qualifying for the playoffs, or a rematch of last year’s playoffs.

Today’s Game of the Day is Ottawa at Anaheim, due to both of these teams having playoff aspirations, but currently sit outside the tournament looking in.

Ottawa has been featured in the Game of the Day series six times before tonight, and currently owns a 2-3-1 record in such games. Their most showing in the series was a 7-3 loss in Boston on December 29. This will be Anaheim‘s fourth appearance in the series, where they own a 0-1-2 record. The Ducks‘ most recent game as the focus of our attention was a 4-3 overtime loss to the Coyotes on November 9.

The 20-17-6 Ottawa Senators currently sit in sixth place in the Atlantic Division and 11th in the Eastern Conference. They play a top-10 offense, but have not been able to break into the playoffs due to the second-worst defense in the league.

Ottawa‘s offense doesn’t put the puck on net very often (only 1222 times in their 43 games, led by Erik Karlsson’s 116), but they score a whopping 9.5% for 116 goals (led by Mike Hoffman’s 20 tallies), eighth-most in the league. The Sens still need to improve on the power play, scoring on 18.05% attempts for 24 goals (led by Hoffman’s five tallies), but it doesn’t seem like they are too worried with such success in five-on-five play.

The offense has needed to be good to compensate for, frankly, an atrocious defense, especially for a team with playoff aspirations. They’ve allowed 1429 shots to be fired (even with Karlsson’s team-leading 88 blocks), of which 17-12-4 Craig Anderson and co. have saved an average 91.7% for 127 goals against, second-most in the league. The special teams issues continue into the penalty kill, where Ottawa has killed only 76.22% for 34 goals against. Matters are made a little less terrible though, as the penalty kill has actually been very successful with the puck on their stick, scoring eight shorties already this season (led by Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s four goals).

In their last showing, the Sens were handily defeated 7-1 in Washington on Sunday, and they currently trail Boston by a single point for a wild card spot.

The 17-17-7 Anaheim Ducks currently occupy fifth place in the Pacific Division and 11th in the Western Conference. Their game play is the exact opposite of Ottawa‘s, as the Ducks are one of the best teams in the league on defense, yet have arguably the worst offense in the game.

Thanks in part to Kevin Bieksa’s team-leading 69 blocks, the Ducks‘ opposition has only managed 1120 shots so far this season, 91.7% of which have been collectively saved by 9-6-2 John Gibson and co. for only 97 goals against, fourth-least in the league. The penalty kill has been equally as strong, killing 89.66% of opposing power plays for only 15 goals against.

Measured by goals scored, Anaheim has the worst offense in the league, but it’s not for a lack of effort. The Ducks have attempted 1231 shots so far this season (led by Corey Perry’s 119 shots), but only 6.2% have found the back of the net for a measly 76 scores (led by Perry’s 16). To give a better understanding of how few tallies this is, Philadelphia has scored the second-fewest goals this season, and they have 91 to their credit, 13 more than the Ducks. The peculiar quandary that is Anaheim exhibits itself in the Ducks‘ power play, which is actually slightly better than the average team’s in the NHL. Anaheim has scored on 19.27% of their attempts for 21 goals to their credit (led by Perry’s six).

The Ducks‘ most recent game was a 2-1 loss to the Red Wings on Sunday, and they currently trail San Jose by three points for the third spot in the division.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Anaheim‘s Gibson (1.84 GAA [leads the league] and four shutouts [tied for third-best in the league]) & Ottawa‘s Anderson (17 wins [tenth-best in the league]), Hoffman (20 goals [tied for eighth-most in the league]) and Karlsson (36 assists [second-most in the lead] and 45 points [fourth-most in the league]).

I predict Anaheim to win tonight’s game on home ice, mostly because their incredible defense should be able to handle anything Ottawa can throw at them. The Sens also like to commit a lot of penalties, giving the Ducks the opportunity to beat them on the power play.

January 13, 2016
January 12 – Day 94 – Country meets Chi-Town

The New York Rangers scored the game-winning goal with only 1:42 remaining in regulation to secure the 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins.

The first goal of the game was not scored until 29:04 courtesy of Third Star of the Game Jimmy Hayes, assisted by Ryan Spooner (his 20th helper of the season) and Zdeno Chara. The Bruins‘ one-goal lead held into the second intermission.

New York didn’t wait long to level the score after returning from the dressing room, 35 seconds to be exact. Derick Brassard scored the leveler, assisted by Second Star Mats Zuccarello (his 16th helper of the season) and Ryan McDonagh. The Rangers‘ late game-winner was courtesy of First Star Jesper Fast, assisted by Keith Yandle (his 21st helper of the season) and Kevin Klein.

Henrik Lundqvist’s record improves to 19-11-4 after saving 32 of 33 (97%), while Tuukka Rask’s falls to 14-12-4 after saving 28 of 30 (93.3%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 37-19-8, favoring the home squads by 24 points.

After a light Monday schedule, we jump back into the swing of things with eight games tonight. The action gets started at the usual 7 p.m. eastern starting time with two matchups (Columbus at the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh at Carolina [TVAS]), followed an hour later by three more (New Jersey at St. Louis, Buffalo at Minnesota [BELL TV] and San Jose at Winnipeg). Nashville at Chicago gets started at 8:30 p.m. eastern, followed 30 minutes later by the co-nightcap games (Tampa Bay at Colorado [NBCSN] and Edmonton at Arizona).

Four of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (Columbus at New York, Pittsburgh at Carolina, Nashville at Chicago and Edmonton at Arizona), while New Jersey at St. Louis and Nashville at Chicago are the only games where both teams are currently qualifying for the playoffs. Lastly, the Preds–Hawks game is a rematch of one of the Western Conference Quarterfinals from a season ago.

As has become the norm for games that qualify for all three groups, lets focus in on tonight’s game in the United Center.

Tonight’s game will be Nashville‘s fourth appearance in the DtFR Game of the Day series, where they host a 2-1-0 record. Their most recent showing was a 2-1 loss in St. Louis on December 17. Chicago has been featured 12 times before tonight, with this game breaking their tie with the Rangers for most appearances in the series. They own a 7-4-1 record when the focus of our attention, with their most recent game being a 6-3 win over the Avalanche on Sunday.

The 19-16-7 Nashville Predators currently occupy fifth place in the Central Division and seventh in the Western Conference, qualifying them for the final wild card position. Overall, they play a balanced game, but have been slipping of late, losing their last three by a combined score of 13-4.

Nashville is a tough team to figure out offensively, as they seem to be doing all the right things for success. So far this season, they’ve shot the puck 1300 times (led by James Neal’s 129 attempts), with 8.1% finding the back of the net (only slightly below the league average of 8.8%) for 105 goals (led by Neal’s 15 tallies). Even the power play has been at least average, with the squad connecting on 19.57% of attempts for 27 goals (led by Shea Weber’s eight goals). Going along with the special teams play, it is probably not a good thing that the best note associated with the power play is that they’ve only given up one short-handed goal this season.

On the other end, the Preds have allowed only 1117 shots (a total below the league average, thanks in part to Roman Josi’s team-leading 111 blocks), but 90.3% have snuck past 16-13-6 Pekka Rinne and co. for 114 goals. A significant problem for the defense has been their penalty kill. Nashville kills only 75.4% of opposing attempts, allowing 31 goals.

As stated before, the Preds are currently riding a three-game losing skid, with their most recent showing being a four-goal shutout loss in Arizona on Saturday.

The 27-13-4 Chicago Blackhawks currently sit in second place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference, trailing Dallas by four points. Although they play well on both ends of the ice, they definitely a much more offensive-minded team.

The Blackhawks have attempted a significant 1308 shots so far this season (led by Patrick Kane’s 161 shots), of which 9.1% have found the back of the net for 125 goals (25 courtesy of Kane), third-most in the league. That success continues to the power play, where the Hawks have scored on 22.9% of their opportunities for 30 goals (led by Kane’s 13).

The defense has been good, just not quite as good as the offense. Led by Trevor van Riemsdyk’s 87 blocks, Chicago has allowed 1308 shots against, 92.3% of which are collectively saved by 23-10-2 Corey Crawford and co., for only 104 goals against, ninth-best in the league. Probably the most glaring aspect of Chicago‘s game has been their penalty kill, where they only kill 81.97% of attempts (yes, it’s still better than the league average!) for 22 goals against.

Of all the teams for Nashville to try to get their groove back against, Chicago would have to be near the bottom of the list, as the Hawks have won their last seven games, with their most recent being Sunday’s Game of the Day against the Avalanche, which they won 6-3.

These two teams met last year in the Western Conference Quarterfinals, with the Hawks winning the series 4-2 on their way to the Stanley Cup. The series included two incredibly exciting games, as the first meeting needed two overtime periods after the Preds scored three-straight goals to knot the game at three-all. Thanks to Duncan Keith, the Blackhawks won 4-3. Three games later, two overtime periods was not enough, as the Hawks won 3-2 in triple overtime with a Brent Seabrook one-timer.

The story has already been continued this season, as this is the third of five meetings. Each team’s home arena has seen a home-team blowout victory in a home-and-home series, with Chicago winning 4-1 on December 8 before heading to Nashville, where the Predators won 5-1 two days later.

Some players to watch include Chicago‘s Crawford (six shutouts [leads the league], 23 wins [tied for second-best in the league] and .926 save percentage [tied for ninth-best in the league]) and Kane (62 points [leads the league], 37 assists [leads the league], 25 goals [tied for second-most in the league] and +19 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) & Nashville‘s Josi (111 blocks and 31 points [both lead team]) and Neal (129 shots, 15 goals, 12 at even-strength, and +11 [all lead team]).

The Predators are in desperate need of a win, but I think it’s too tough a task for a road team in the United Center. The Hawks should win this one, with the potential for their second-straight blowout.

January 12, 2016
January 11 – Day 93 – This one definitely counts in the Boston-New York rivalry

With four second period goals, and six goals in 30:15, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-3 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

The Hawks‘ offense blitz did not get started until the 8:27 mark of the first when Brandon Mashinter opened the scoring off assists from Ryan Garbutt (his fourth helper of the season) and Dennis Rasmussen. The other goal of the period came with 3:38 remaining on the clock, as Second Star of the Game Patrick Kane scored off assists from Artemi Panarin (his 24th assist of the season) and Trevor van Riemsdyk to set the score at 2-0, which held into the intermission.

Chicago continued their success into the second, scoring only 1:39 after resuming play. It was First Star Marian Hossa with the tally, assisted by Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jonathan Toews (his 14th assist of the season). Colorado finally got on the board with a goal from Third Star Matt Duchene, assisted by Carl Soderberg (his 22nd helper of the season) and Gabriel Landeskog. Duchene struck only 4:08 later to set the score at 3-2 after being assisted by Alex Tanguay and Nathan MacKinnon (his 22nd assist of the season). Two-straight Avalanche goals didn’t seem to make the Blackhawks very happy, as they fired three-straight of their own before the second period ended. The first was a Kane power play goal at the 12:25 mark, his 25th goal of the season, assisted by Brent Seabrook and Artem Anisimov, which proved to be the game-winner. The next Hawk goal came only 2:06 later, Toews’ 16th tally, assisted by Andrew Shaw and Erik Gustafsson. Chicago completed their surge with 1:18 remaining in the period with Hossa’s second goal of the night, assisted by Toews (his 15th assist of the season) and Shaw to set the score at 6-2.

Colorado could only manage one goal in the final period, compliments of MacKinnon after assists from Duchene (his 16th of the season) and Nick Holden, setting the score at the 6-3 final.

Corey Crawford’s record improves to 23-10-2 after saving 34 of 37 (91.9%), while Semyon Varlamov’s record falls to 15-11-3 after saving 16 of 20 (80%). He was pulled after 32:25 of play following Kane’s second goal of the night, and replaced by Calvin Pickard, who saved 13 of 15 (86.7%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 36-19-8, favoring the home squads by 22 points over the roadies.

After a busy weekend, this Monday’s schedule consists of only four games, with the action getting started at 7 p.m. eastern when Boston visits the New York Rangers (NHLN/TVAS/SN). The rest of the games don’t get started for at least another two hours, as San Jose and Calgary drop the puck at 9 p.m. eastern. 10 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of the Florida at Vancouver game, followed half an hour later by this evening’s nightcap, Detroit at Los Angeles.

San Jose at Calgary represents the only divisional rivalry being played this evening, and the remaining matchups are all between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs.

I know we’ve watched both of these teams recently, one as recent as Saturday, but a team qualifying only for a wild card spot always has a little more to play for, so let’s take a look at the Boston–New York game.

The Boston Bruins have been featured eight times before tonight’s game in the DtFR Game of the Day series, and own a 3-4-1 record in such games, with their most recent showing being a 4-1 victory in New Jersey on Friday. The New York Rangers are tied with Chicago for the most appearances in the series, and own a 6-3-2 record when the focus of our attention. Their most recent game in the series was a 4-3 overtime loss to the Capitals on Saturday.

The 21-14-5 Boston Bruins currently sit in fourth place in the Atlantic Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference and, most importantly, the first wild card position. An in-depth explanation of their game may be read here, but the important thing to know is Boston is one of the best offensive teams in the league.

Their most recent showing was a 2-1 overtime loss in Ottawa on Saturday.

The 22-14-5 New York Rangers currently own second place in the Metropolitan Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference. Similar to the Bruins, the Blueshirts also play a strongly offensive game, which you can read more about here.

The Rangers‘ most recent game was their 4-3 overtime loss to the Capitals in Saturday’s Game of the Day. You can read a quick-and-dirty recap of that game here.

These two have already met up once this season, a 4-3 Boston win the day after Thanksgiving in the TD Garden. Although the Rangers had the lead twice, they were not able to hold on for the victory, and will utilize those sour memories as inspiration to level the season series.

Some players to watch in this one include Boston‘s Tuukka Rask (four shutouts [tied for third-most in the leauge]) and New York‘s Henrik Lundqvist (18 wins [tied for fifth-best in the league]).

Both of these teams play similar styles of play – good defenses supported by strong offenses. That being said, the B’s have done better on both ends than their opponents, and I believe that will be the difference in this one. I expect this Original Six matchup to go the way of the Bruins.

January 11, 2016
January 10 – Day 92 – A streak must end tonight

It may have taken overtime, but the Washington Capitals were able to complete their weekend-sweep of New York City-based teams, as they knocked off the Rangers with a 4-3 victory.

The first two periods had only a goal each, both scored by the Caps. The first period tally is compliments of none other than First Star of the Game Alex Ovechkin, a power play goal with only 15 seconds remaining before intermission.

Washington‘s second goal of the night came a little bit quicker, only 3:56 after resuming play. Nate Schmidt assisted Justin Williams to his 12th goal of the year to set the score the score at 2-0.

Although the Caps entered the period with the lead, it took a late goal to get the game into overtime. Oscar Lindberg and the Blueshirts got on the board 5:54 after resuming play after assists from Dominic Moore and Ryan McDonagh, his 13th helper of the season. Twelve seconds before the midway point of the period, Third Star McDonagh and Derick Brassard (his 16th assist of the year) assisted Kevin Hayes to level the score at two-all. New York‘s go-ahead goal crossed the goal line at the 13:11 mark, scored by Viktor Stalberg after assists from Keith Yandle (his 20th of the season) and Kevin Hayes. The Rangers got within six seconds of the victory, but Washington had different plans, as Second Star Nicklas Backstrom scored a game-tying goal after assists from Williams and Matt Niskanen (his 16th helper of the season).

The overtime period lasted only until 1:25 before Nate Schmidt assisted Ovechkin to the 24th goal of his season, and the 499th of his career to earn the Capitals the bonus point.

Braden Holtby improves his record to 27-4-2 after saving 23 of 26 (88.5%), while Henrik Lundqvist’s record falls to 18-11-4 after saving 27 of 31 (87.1%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 35-19-8, favoring the home squad by 20 points over the roadies.

The second weekend of the new year is completed with six games being played this Sunday. Only one matinee game is being played, with Buffalo visiting Winnipeg (BELL TV) at 3 p.m. eastern. Two games get started at the usual 7 p.m. eastern (Ottawa at Washington [TVAS/SN] and Colorado at Chicago), followed an hour later by a couple more (New Jersey at Minnesota [NBCSN] and Detroit at Anaheim). The final game of the night gets started at 9:30 p.m. eastern when Florida visits Edmonton (SN1).

Colorado at Chicago represents not only the only divisional matchup of the evening, but also the only game between teams both qualifying for the playoffs. Especially since I’ve been wanting to write about the Avs for a while, lets take a look at that game.

Tonight’s game is only Colorado‘s second appearance in the DtFR Game of the Day series, with their first being a three-goal shutout victory in Anaheim on October 16. On the other hand, Chicago has been featured a series-leading 12 times, and host a 6-4-1 record in such games. Their most recent showing was a 3-2 overtime victory in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

The 21-18-3 Colorado Avalanche currently sit in fifth place in the Central Division and seventh in the Western Conference, good enough to qualify them for the second wild card position over the Nashville Predators (Colorado wins on regulation+overtime wins). To get to this position, they’ve utilized one of the best offenses in the league to compensate for a less-exemplary defense.

So far this season, the Avs have put only fired the puck 1189 times (led by Nathan MacKinnon’s 137), of which a whopping 10.3% have found the back of the net for 122 goals (led by Matt Duchene’s 19 tallies), third-most in the NHL. That sharp-shooting success has followed them to the power play, where Colorado has converted 21.77% of their 147 opportunities for 32 goals. This success is good, but it comes with a catch – the Avalanche has already given up five short-handed goals this season, two more than the league average.

The offense has been necessary to cover up some less-than-ideal play on the defensive end. Although Francois Beauchemin has 125 blocks to his credit, 1296 shots have still made their way to 15-10-3 Semyon Varlamov and co., who’ve collectively saved an average 91.5% for 117 goals against, seventh-most in the league. The average, if not less-than, defensive play has continued to the penalty kill, where Colorado has killed only 79.26% of opposing attempts (1.61% below the league average) for 28 power play goals against.

Colorado is currently riding a three-game winning streak, with their most recent being a 5-3 victory over the Predators on Friday.

The 26-13-4 Chicago Blackhawks currently sit in second place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference, trailing the Dallas Stars by six points with a game in hand. As indicated by their place in the standings, they are one of the strongest teams in the Conference, playing a balanced, strongly competitive game. You can read more about their style of play here.

Chicago is currently riding a six-game win streak, with their most recent being a 3-1 win over the Sabres on Friday.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Chicago‘s Corey Crawford (six shutouts [leads the league], 22 wins [third-best in the league] and .927 save percentage [ninth-best in the league]) and Patrick Kane (60 points [leads the league], 37 assists [leads the league], +20 [third-best in the league] and 23 goals [fifth-best in the league]) & Colorado‘s Duchene (19 goals [tied for seventh-best in the league]).

Tonight’s meeting will be the third in the four-game season series, and the second in the Windy City. Colorado currently leads the series 1-0-1, thanks to a three-goal shutout victory in the United Center on December 15, followed by a 4-3 overtime Blackhawks winner on New Year’s Eve in Denver.

It will be a tall task for the Avalanche to pull off the upset in the United Center tonight. Not only are they playing on the road, but the Hawks‘ offense should be able to shred the Avs‘ defense and goaltending. While I always like to pull underdog, I gotta go with Chicago taking the win.

January 10, 2016
January 9 – Day 91 – I’m running out of jokes for Washington visiting New York…

It was the second straight 4-1 road victory in the Game of the Day series, as Boston earned their 3000th all-time victory with a win at The Rock.

The lone goal of the first period belongs to Frank Vatrano and the Bruins after only 2:02 of play, assisted by Third Star of the Game Colin Miller, his 11th helper of the season.

It was a night of quick starts for the Bruins, as First Star Ryan Spooner fired his ninth goal of the season, this one the eventual game-winner, after being assisted by Second Star Dennis Seidenberg 4:49 after resuming play. New Jersey tried to stage a comeback with a goal from Bobby Farnham, assisted by Stephen Gionta and Adam Larsson (his seventh of the season) at the 11:57 mark to set the score at 2-1, but eventually gave up a power play goal to Jimmy Hayes with only 1:25 remaining in the period, assisted by Zdeno Chara (his 15th helper of the season) and Matt Beleskey.

Boston completed their series of quick goals when Seidenberg and Spooner (his 19th assist of the season) assisted Miller to the final goal of the game, setting the score at the 4-1 final.

Tuukka Rask took the night off, so it’s Jonas Gustavsson who earned the win after saving 19 of 20 (95%) to improve his record to 7-3-1, while Cory Schneider’s record falls to 17-13-5 after saving 27 of 31 (87.1%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 35-19-7, favoring the home squad over the roadies by 21 points.

It’s a busy Saturday in the NHL, with a whopping 10 games being played. There’s two matinees at 1 p.m. eastern, both of them involving the teams from the Big Apple (Washington at the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders at Philadelphia). Four games drop the puck at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern (Pittsburgh at Montréal [NHLN/TVAS/SN], Boston at Ottawa, Carolina at Columbus and Toronto at San Jose [CBC]), followed an hour later by Minnesota at Dallas. The games west of the Rockies get started at 9 p.m. eastern when Nashville visits Arizona, followed an hour later by Tampa Bay at Vancouver (CBC/SN). Finally, this evening’s nightcap drops the puck at 10:30 p.m. eastern when St. Louis visits Los Angeles.

Five of tonight’s games are divisional rivalries (Washington at New York, New York at Philadelphia, Boston at Ottawa, Carolina at Columbus and Minnesota at Dallas), while four feature teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Washington at New York, Minnesota at Dallas, Nashville at Arizona and St. Louis at Los Angeles). Washington at New York also represents a rematch of an Eastern Conference Semifinal from last season’s playoffs.

Since we already watched Washington‘s rematch with their quarterfinal opponent of a year ago, let’s watch them take on their opponent from the semifinals.

Washington has been featured seven times before tonight’s game, and owns a 4-3-0 record in such games. Their most recent was a 4-1 victory in Brooklyn on Thursday. Tonight’s game will tie New York with Chicago for 11 appearances, most in our series. The Rangers own a 6-3-1 in such games, with their most recent being a 3-0 loss in Sunrise last Saturday to the Panthers.

The 30-7-3 Washington Capitals currently own the best team in the NHL, as they have a 14-point lead over the Islanders in the Metropolitan Division, a nine-point lead over the Panthers in the Eastern Conference, and a one-point lead in the league over the Stars. You can read a summary of their play here, but for those that don’t want to, just know that there’s a reason the Caps lead the league – they’re the best on defense, and second-best in offense. In other words, they’re pretty good!

The Caps are currently riding a two-game winning streak, and their most recent game was a Thursday 4-1 victory in Brooklyn against the Islanders. You can read a quick-and-dirty recap of it here.

The 22-14-4 New York Rangers currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference, and have utilized a strong offense to get them to that position.

Usually, good teams put lots of pucks on net. Instead, the Rangers prefer to take shots of a higher quality, as they’ve scored 10.3% of their 1132 shots (led by Rick Nash’s 117 shots) for 117 goals (led by Mats Zuccarello’s 16 tallies), fourth-most in the league. Although the offense as a whole has been one of the best, the Blueshirts‘ power play has been nothing special. They’ve had 114 opportunities and scored only 22 goals, for a 19.3% success rate that leads the league average by only .17%.

Thanks in part to Ryan McDonagh’s team-leading 77 blocks, the Rangers‘ defense has been able to keep all but 1193 shots away from 18-11-3 Henrik Lundqvist and co., who’ve collectively saved 91.8% for 103 goals against. Just like the power play, the penalty kill has been only average this season. New York has defended 133 penalties so far this season, of which they’ve killed 80.45% (.42% below average) for 26 goals against.

The Blueshirts‘ most recent game was a 6-2 victory over the Stars on Tuesday.

The Capitals and Rangers have already met twice before tonight’s game, with both taking place at Madison Square Garden. New York won the first meeting 5-2 on November 3, but Washington leveled the series only three weeks ago on December 20 with a 7-3 win. Both of those games were featured as a Game of the Day, and a recap can be found by clicking either score.

Some players to watch in tonight’s games include New York‘s Lundqvist (18 wins [tied for fifth-best in the league]) & Washington‘s Nicklas Backstrom (25 assists [tied for eighth-best in the league]), Braden Holtby (26 wins [best in the league], 1.9 GAA [third-best in the league] and .933 save percentage [fourth-best in the league]), Evgeny Kuznetsov (+18 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) and Alex Ovechkin (22 goals [fifth-best in the league] and +17 [tied for sixth-best in the league]).

Like I said a couple days ago, it is hard to pick against the Washington Capitals. I don’t care where they’re playing, who they’re playing, or any other variable. This team is no doubt the best team in the Eastern Conference, and potentially the league. Expect the Caps to complete their three-day, two-game tour of the Big Apple with four points.

January 9, 2016
January 8 – Day 90 – Does New Jersey count in the Boston-New York rivalry?

The Washington Capitals proved that they are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference by besting a solid New York Islanders team 4-1 in Brooklyn in last night’s Game of the Day.

The Caps came out firing on all cylinders, as they were able to punch the puck into the back of the net twice in the opening period. The first tally came after 5:45 of play when Third Star of the Game Jason Chimera was able to score off Marcus Johansson’s 16th assist of the season. Exactly 10 minutes later, Karl Alzner assisted First Star Alex Ovechkin to his 22nd goal of the season, putting his career total at 497 tallies, this one proving to be the game-winner.

New York finally got on the board after 21:59 of play when Ryan Strome and Mikhail Grabovski assisted Brock Nelson to his 14th goal of the season, but Washington was able to regain the momentum when Nate Schmidt scored on Nicklas Backstrom’s 25th assist of the season. The 3-1 score held into the final period.

Only one goal was scored in the final 20 minutes of play, this one credited to Backstrom, his 12th of the season, after Jaroslav Halak had left the ice for the extra attacker, setting the score at the 4-1 final.

Second Star Braden Holtby continues his incredible season, improving his record to 26-4-2 after saving 34 of 35 (97.1%). Halak’s first game back from injury didn’t go in his favor, and his record falls to 10-7-3 after saving 34 of 37 (91.9%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 35-18-7, favoring the home squad over the roadies by 23 points.

The weekend schedule gets started with six games this evening, and the first two drop the puck at 7 p.m. eastern (Boston at New Jersey and Columbus at Carolina). 8:30 p.m. eastern brings with it the start of the Buffalo at Chicago game (NHLN/BELL TV), followed half an hour later by a couple more (Nashville at Colorado and Tampa Bay at Edmonton). Finally, this evening’s nightcap gets started at 10 p.m. eastern when St. Louis visits Anaheim (SN).

Two games are divisional rivalries (Columbus at Carolina and Nashville at Colorado), and only Boston at New Jersey exhibits two teams currently qualifying for the playoffs.

The matchup I’m most intrigued by is the Boston at New Jersey game, as these teams are only separated by a point in their fight for the Eastern Conference wild card spots.

Boston has been featured in the Game of the Day series seven times before tonight’s game, and host a 2-4-1 record in such games. Their most recent showing was the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day, when they fell to the Canadiens 5-1. This will be New Jersey‘s third appearance, and they are 1-1-0 so far. Their last game in the Game of the Day series was on December 13, a 4-0 loss in Brooklyn to the Islanders.

The 20-14-4 Boston Bruins are currently fourth-best in the Atlantic Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference, earning them the final playoff position as the second wild card. They play one of the best offensive games in the league, and are improving their defensive efforts by the game.

Led by Patrice Bergeron’s 128 shots, the Bruins have put 1182 shots on net, only two behind the league average with two less games played. 9.8% have found the back of the net for 116 goals, fourth most in the league. The success has continued into the special teams, where Boston has scored on 28.44% of their attempts for 31 tallies (led by Bergeron’s eight goals).

Boston started the season having difficulty keeping opponents off the scoreboard, but has improved over the course of the season. The Bruins have allowed only 1098 shots (thanks in part to Adam McQuaid’s 67 blocks) to reach 14-11-3 Tuukka Rask and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 91.2% for only 104 goals against. The penalty kill has been only average so far this season, killing 82.09% for 24 goals against. What makes this special team significant is their knack for short-handed goals, as they have six to their credit (three of which belong to Brad Marchand).

The Bruins are currently riding a two-game losing skid, with their most recent being a 3-2 loss to the Capitals on Tuesday.

The 20-16-5 New Jersey Devils currently own fourth place in the Metropolitan Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference, earning them the top wild card spot. They’ve play one of the best defenses in the league to compensate for lower scoring numbers.

Thanks in part to Adam Larsson’s team-leading 74 blocks, only 1155 shots have made their way to 17-12-5 Cory Schneider and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.4% for only 93 goals against, sixth-best in the league. They’ve been just as successful on the penalty kill, preventing 82.95% of power plays and allowing only 22 goals. Additionally, the Devils also have four shorties to their credit, two of which belong to Adam Henrique.

Offensively, the Devils have not been as strong, with only 1018 shots (led by Kyle Palmieri’s 103) and 92 goals (led by Palmieri’s 17) to their credit, sixth-fewest in the league. The power play has been slightly better, as New Jersey scores on 19.26% of attempts (average in the NHL) for 26 goals (led by Palmieri’s six).

New Jersey is currently on a two-game losing skid, with their most recent being a 2-1 loss in Montréal on Wednesday.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Boston‘s Rask (four shutouts [tied for third-best in league]) and New Jersey‘s Schneider (2.06 GAA [tied for fourth-best in league], three shutouts [tied for sixth-best in league], .927 save percentage [seventh-best in league] and 17 wins [tied for seventh-best in league]).

Although New Jersey‘s defense is strong, I think Boston‘s offense can overpower Schneider’s team. Since the Devils have such a tough time scoring, I expect the B’s to claim the top wild card spot with a victory tonight.

January 8, 2016
January 7 – Day 89 – For a team that calls themselves the Caps, you’d figure their logo would be in all-caps like the Islanders…

First Star of the Game Bo Horvat scored twice in the third period to clinch the 3-2 Vancouver victory in Yesterday’s Game of the Day against the Carolina Hurricanes.

It was actually the Canes that struck first in this one, but it wasn’t until 28:02 had ticked off the clock. It was an important score for Carolina, as Jordan Staal earned his ninth assist of the season, helping Second Star John-Michael Liles to a short-handed goal, the first of the year for the squad. Vancouver leveled the score with 2:21 remaining on the clock when Adam Cracknell and Christopher Tanev assisted Third Star Sven Baertschi, the score that held into the second intermission.

The Canucks took their first lead of the game when Matt Bartkowski (his eighth assist of the season) and Alex Biega assisted Horvat 7:15 after resuming play. Their lead was short-lived though, as Noah Hanifin assisted Staal to his eighth goal of the season to knot the score at two. The game-winner came with only 1:06 remaining on the clock, courtesy of Horvat after being assisted by Baertschi (his seventh on the season) and Linden Vey on the power play.

These Swedish goalkeepers go way back, even before their NHL days. Eddie Läck began backing up Jacob Markstrom in 2009, when both played for Brynäs IF, and continued their relationship into the NHL, as both played in the Canucks‘ system. Markstrom got the advantage in this one, saving 26 of 28 (92.9%) to improve his record to 5-5-3. Läck’s record falls to 5-7-3 after saving 18 of 21 (85.7%).

Today’s Thursday schedule is an exciting one, with eight playoff teams in action. The festivities get started at 7 p.m. eastern when Washington visits the New York Islanders (TVAS/SN360), followed half an hour later by Florida at Ottawa (RDS). Philadelphia at Minnesota (NBCSN) gets started at 8 p.m. eastern, followed 30 minutes later by Winnipeg at Dallas. 9 p.m. eastern starts the Arizona at Calgary game, and this evening’s nightcaps start an hour and a half later (Toronto at Los Angeles and Detroit at San Jose).

Four of tonight’s games are between division rivals (Washington at New York, Florida at Ottawa, Winnipeg at Dallas and Arizona at Calgary), and Washington at New York represents the only game between two playoff qualifiers in addition to being an Eastern Conference Quarterfinal rematch.

Take all that information into account, and I challenge you to take a guess as to which game we’ll watch…

Washington has been featured in the DtFR Game of the Day series sixth times before this evening, and own a 3-3-0 record under such circumstances. Their most recent showing in the series was a 7-3 victory in Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers on December 20. New York has been featured only one time before, a 4-0 victory over the Devils on December 13.

The 29-7-3 Washington Capitals are currently the best team in the NHL, leading the Metropolitan Division by 12 points, the Eastern Conference by nine points, and the league by a lone point. Almost every facet of their game works to a t, as they lead the league in goals against and are second in goals for.

Good defenses keep the puck off their goalie as much as possible, and that is exactly what the Caps are doing. Thanks in part to Karl Alzner’s 103 blocks, they’ve allowed only 1105 shots to reach 25-4-2 Braden Holtby and co., who’ve collectively saved 92.9% (leads the league average by 1.3%) for only 84 goals against, 21 below the league average and tops in the NHL. Washington‘s been even better on the penalty kill, where they’ve saved 84.21% of the 114 attempts they’ve defended (3.51% above the league average), allowing only 18 goals.

Another thing good defenses do is get the puck to their forwards, and these forwards are some of the best in the business as well. Led by Alex Ovechkin’s 192 shots, the Capitals have put the puck on net 1183 times, of which 10.3% have found the back of the net for 122 tallies (led by Ovechkin’s 21). They’ve been especially potent on the power play, scoring on 25.83% of their attempts for 31 goals (led by Ovechkin’s seven).

The Caps‘ most recent showing was a 3-2 victory in Boston on Tuesday.

The 22-13-5 New York Islanders currently sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division and third in the Eastern Conference. Similar to Washington, the Isles play a very balanced game, but New York slightly favors the offensive end.

So far this season, New York has put 1191 shots on net (led by John Tavares’ 113), of which 9.2% have turned into goals for 110 tallies (led by Tavares’ 15), eighth-most in the league. Probably the biggest deficiency in the offense has been their power play. On 112 attempts, the Isles have scored 21 goals (led by Frans Nielsen’s four) for a 18.75% success rate that trails the league average by .55%.

What makes this Islanders team good is that the offense isn’t playing this well to overcome defensive or goaltending struggles. Although Calvin de Haan has 100 blocks to his credit, 1210 shots have still made their way to 12-6-2 Thomas Greiss and co., who have collectively saved 92.5% for only 97 goals against. And even though one special team has been struggling doesn’t mean that the other is. New York‘s penalty kill is great, killing 85.59% of 118 attempts for only 17 goals against.

The Isles‘ most recent game was a 6-5 victory over the Stars on Sunday.

Some players to watch in tonight’s game include New York‘s Greiss (.928 save percentage [sixth-best in the league]) or Jaroslav Halak (2.09 GAA [seventh-best in the league]) & Washington‘s Holtby (25 wins [best in the league], 1.93 GAA [second-best in the league] and .932 save percentage [tied for third-best in the league]), Evgeny Kuznetsov (+18 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) and Ovechkin (21 goals [fifth-best in the league] and +15 [tenth-best in the league]).

Last season, these squads met in the first round of the playoffs, with Washington needing all seven games to knock off the Islanders. Both teams seem to have improved since then, making this game and the season-series all the better to watch.

It doesn’t matter where they play, it is tough to pick against Washington. The Islanders and their fans will put up a good fight, especially given how the playoffs went last year, but I think the Capitals can get out of the Barclays Center with two points.

January 7, 2016