Down the Frozen River

Tag: Crawford

  • January 24 – Day 106 – Yup, they’re still not friends

    The Florida Panthers scored four goals in the second period to lead them to a 5-2 victory over their in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    28:50 after the opening puck drop, First Star of the Game Jonathan Huberdeau scored the Panthers‘ first goal of the evening, assisted by Aleksander Barkov (his 18th helper of the season) and Aaron Ekblad.  3:46 later, Third Star Nick Bjugstad scored a power play goal after an assist from Huberdeau, his 26th helper of the season.  The eventual game winner is compliments of Reilly Smith, his 15th of the season, at the 15:56 mark.  The final tally of the period, another one for the Panthers, was scored by Vincent Trocheck, assisted by Logan Shaw and Jussi Jokinen (his 20th of the season).  Florida‘s four-goal shutout held into the second intermission.

    Victor Hedman finally got Tampa Bay on the board with a power play goal at the 5:39 mark of the third, assisted by Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov (his 21st assist of the season).  A little over 10 minutes passed before Florida scored their final goal of the night, an empty netter courtesy of Brian Campbell, assisted by Bjugstad and Jaromir Jagr (his 18th helper of the season).  The final goal of the game belonged to the Lightning after Brian Boyle assisted J.T. Brown to his fourth tally of the season, but it was too little too late, as the 5-2 score held to the final horn.

    Second Star Roberto Luongo earns the win by saving 38 of 40 (95%) to improve his record to 21-13-4, while Ben Bishop’s falls to 19-14-3 after saving only 26 of 30 (86.7%).  He was replaced after 39:58 of play by Andrei Vasilevskiy, who saved all four shots that came his way.

    Before leaving our recap of the game, I would like to include this note from George Richards, a Panthers beat writer for the Miami Herald:

    Although he wrote the tweet before Tampa‘s inconsequential goal trickled in, the fact still stands: Florida is competing with, no, humiliating the best of the best from last season, and should be taken very seriously.

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 47-20-9, favoring the home squads by 38 points over the roadies.

    We had five games on the schedule, but the snow in Washington D.C. has forced NBC’s Game of the Week to be postponed.  Not to worry though, we still have four games to choose from.  The first of those gets started at 3 p.m. eastern, when the New York Rangers visit Ottawa (RDS2).  Following the completion of that game, Calgary at Carolina (SN) drops the puck at 6 p.m. eastern, trailed by St. Louis at Chicago (NHLN/TVAS) an hour later.  This evening’s nightcap drops the puck at 10 p.m. eastern when Los Angeles visits San Jose.

    Both of today’s divisional matchups (St. Louis at Chicago and Los Angeles at San Jose) are also the games between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs.

    Originally, I was planning on Pittsburgh–Washington being the Game of the Day with Eric Fehr making his first return to the Verizon Center, but that will have to wait and make room for St. Louis at Chicago!

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    Tonight’s game will be St. Louis‘ 10th appearance in the Game of the Day series, and third this week.  They own a 5-3-1 record in the series, with their most recent being a 2-1 shootout loss in Colorado Friday.  Chicago has been featured 14 times before tonight’s game, and own a 8-5-1 record in such games.  They’ve also been featured this week in their 2-1 loss in Tampa Bay Thursday.

    The 28-15-8 St. Louis Blues currently sit in third place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.  To get them to that position, they’ve played a top-10 offense (as scored by goals scored), backed by a slightly below-average defense (again, measured by goals against).  A more in-depth explanation of their game can be found in Monday’s post.

    The Blues‘ most recent game was the 2-1 shootout loss to Colorado Friday.  A win in Chicago this evening propels the Blues past Dallas for second place in the division and conference, trailing the Hawks by only two points.

    The 32-15-4 Chicago Blackhawks own both the Central Division and the Western Conference, and only trail Washington by five points for the Presidents’ Trophy.  They play the third-best offense in the league, paired with the 10th best defense, making them the formidable opponent their position in the standings indicates.  A more in-depth explanation of their game can be found in Thursday’s article.

    The Blackhawks‘ most recent game was a four-goal shutout loss in Florida on Friday, which extended their losing streak to two games.  With the Capitals being inactive this weekend due to the snow, a win this evening by the Hawks would pull them within three points of the league lead.

    These two have met twice already this season, with the Blackhawks having a slight edge thanks to taking the Blues to overtime before losing in the first meeting.  The most recent game was on November 14, when Chicago beat bested the Blues 4-2 in The Lou.

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Chicago‘s Corey Crawford (six shutouts [most in the league], 27 wins [second-most in the league] and .931 save percentage [fourth-best in the league]), Patrick Kane (72 points [most in the league], 42 assists [most in the league], 30 goals [most in the league] and +23 [tied for third-best in the league) and Artemi Panarin (29 assists [tied for eighth-most in the league] and 45 points [ninth-most in the league]) & St. Louis‘ Colton Parayko (+18 [tied for seventh-best in the league]) and Vladimir Tarasenko (25 goals [tied for fourth-most in the league] and 46 points [tied for seventh-most in the league]).

    With the Hawks returning home from their less-than successful Floridian road trip, they’ll be looking to get back in the win column.  I’m picking the Blackhawks to get the win.

  • January 21 – Day 103 – Rematch, Pt. II

    In yesterday’s Game of the Day, the Colorado Avalanche spoiled Jamie McGinn and Ryan O’Reilly’s return to the Pepsi Center, beating the Sabres 2-1.

    It was actually the Sabres who scored the opening goal of the game, but it did not occur until 36:38 had ticked off the clock.  It was a power play goal, courtesy of an Evander Kane wrister, who was assisted by Jack Eichel and O’Reilly (his 23rd helper of the season).  Buffalo‘s one-goal lead held into the second intermission.

    The Avalanche leveled the game at the 9:23 mark of the third, courtesy of an Second Star of the Game Alex Tanguay backhander, assisted by Carl Soderberg (his 24th helper of the season) and First Star Francois Beauchemin.  Tanguay returned the favor with only 32 seconds remaining in the game with his 15th assist of the season, this one to Beauchemin, who banged home the game-winner.

    Third Star Semyon Varlamov improves his record to 17-12-3 after saving 27 of 28 (96.4%), while Robin Lehner’s record falls to 0-2-0 after saving 33 of 35 (94.3%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 44-20-9, favoring the home squad by 33 points over the roadies.

    A light Wednesday gives way to a busy Thursday, with 10 games taking place.  The action gets started at 7 p.m. eastern with four games dropping the opening puck (Vancouver at Boston [SN360], Ottawa at New Jersey [RDS], Philadelphia at Pittsburgh and Calgary at Columbus), followed half an hour later by two more (Carolina at Toronto and Chicago at Tampa Bay [TVAS]).  Nashville at Winnipeg gets started at 8 p.m. eastern, followed half an hour later by Edmonton at Dallas.  9 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of San Jose at Arizona, and this evening’s nightcap, Minnesota at Los Angeles (SN), gets started at 10:30 p.m. eastern.

    Three of tonight’s games are between division rivals (Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, Nashville at Winnipeg and San Jose at Arizona), while three/four are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Chicago at Tampa Bay, San Jose at Arizona and Minnesota at Los Angeles).

    Tonight’s selection poses a tough choice for our Game of the Day, as you know I try to favor players returning to their old stomping grounds and last year’s playoff matchups.  Matt Bartkowski is making his first appearance in the TD Garden wearing a white sweater after spending the last five seasons with the Bruins, and Jarret Stoll’s return is even bigger as measured by seasons spent with a team, as he played seven seasons with Los Angeles before joining the Wild earlier this month.  Lastly, Chicago at Tampa Bay is a rematch of last season’s Stanley Cup Finals.

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    No team has been featured more in the DtFR Game of the Day series than the Chicago Blackhawks, as tonight is their 14th appearance.  They own a 8-4-1 record in such games, with their most recent being a 3-2 victory over the Predators in the United Center on January 12.  The Tampa Bay Lightning have been featured five times before this game, and own a 2-2-1 record in the series.  Their most recent showing in the series was a 5-2 loss to the Rangers the day before New Year’s Eve.

    The 32-13-4 Chicago Blackhawks are the hottest team in the NHL right now, made evident by their position at the top of the Western Conference standings.  The play one of the top offenses in the league, with their defense only steps behind.

    Led by Patrick Kane’s 177 shots, the Hawks have fired a whopping 1523 shots so far this season, with 9.4% finding the back of the net for 143 goals (led by Kane’s 30 tallies), third-most in the league.  Just like the offense as a whole, the power play has been nothing short of exemplary, scoring on 23.3% of opportunities for 33 goals, led by Kane’s 14 man-advantage goals.

    It’s almost a shame Chicago‘s offense has been so good this season, because it casts shadows on their defense.  Even with Trevor van Riemsdyk’s 97 blocks, Chicago has allowed 1488 shots to reach 27-10-2 Corey Crawford and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.7% for only 111 goals against, sixth-fewest in the league.  The biggest hole in the Blackhawks‘ defense is the penalty kill, but Bolts fans shouldn’t be too excited – it’s still above average, completing the kill 82.09% of the time for only 24 goals against.  The penalty kill also has four goals of their own, one more than the league average.

    Chicago has won their last 12 games, and has yet to lose this calendar year.  Their most recent game was a 4-1 win in Nashville on Tuesday.  A win tonight gets Chicago within three points of the league-leading Washington Capitals (73 points), although the Caps still have four games in hand.

    The 25-17-4 Tampa Bay Lightning obviously made some New Year’s resolutions, as their 2016 surge has paid off with not only a playoff position, but a divisional spot.  They’ve used a top-10 defense to get them back in the playoff picture, and their offense is not far behind.

    Thanks in part to Victor Hedman’s 76 blocks, the Bolts have only allowed 1291 shots to reach 18-13-3 Ben Bishop and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.3% for only 108 goals against, sixth-fewest in the league.  Similar to Chicago, Tampa‘s most glaring defensive deficiency has been their penalty kill, but their’s is slightly below the league average, killing 80.43% for 27 goals against.

    Tampa Bay has fired 1318 shots this season (led by Steven Stamkos’ 135 attempts), of which 9.3% have found the back of the net for 123 tallies (led by Stamkos’ 20 goals).  The power play has been below average, scoring on only 17.95% for 28 goals (led by Stamkos’ nine extra-man tallies).

    Tampa is also streaking, as they’ve won six-straight.  Their most recent showing was a 6-4 victory over the Oilers on Tuesday.  A Bolts win tonight puts them within a point of the division-leading Panthers.

    We all know how last season’s Stanley Cup Finals, but these two have met more recently then that.  It was October 24 when Tampa traveled to the Windy City, and both played an entire 60 minutes without a goal.  Jonathan Toews was responsible for the game-winner, but a scoreless regulation game screams of an exciting, defensive game.

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game includes Chicago‘s Crawford (six shutouts [best in the league], 27 wins [second-most in the league] and .931 save percentage [tied for fourth-best in the league]), Kane (71 points [most in the league], 41 assists [most in the league], 30 goals [most in the league] and +24 [third-best in the league]) and Artemi Panarin (45 points [tied for eighth-most in the league] and 29 assists [tied for eighth-most in the league]) & Tampa Bay‘s Bishop (1.97 GAA [second-best in the league], .927 save percentage [tied for eighth-best in the league] and 18 wins [tied for ninth-best in the league]) and Stamkos (20 goals [tied for ninth-best in the league]).

    I predict this to be another great game between these two squads, but I do believe that Chicago will get out of The Big Guava with two points.

  • 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.

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    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 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.

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    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 5 – Day 87 – The reigning champs visit the City of Champions

    The Arizona Coyotes survived an exciting third period to earn a 3-2 victory in Vancouver last night in out Game of the Day.

    The first goal of the game didn’t come until 26:55 had passed, and it was First Star of the Game Shane Doan who broke the tie with his 14th tally of the season, assisted by Connor Murphy and Brad Richardson, an ex-Canuck as of this offseason.  Vancouver leveled the score again at the 13:41 mark with a slapshot form Bo Horvat, but the tie lasted only 19 seconds before Tobias Rieder and Louis Domingue assisted Laurent Dauphin to his first career NHL goal.  The Coyotes‘ 2-1 lead held into the second intermission.

    The eventual game-winner was a power play goal only 1:13 into the third from Doan, assisted by Rieder and Antoine Vermette.  The Canucks tried to stage a comeback with a goal at the 4:41 mark of the third from Second Star Daniel Sedin, who took a puck to the face earlier in the game and lost a few teeth, but were unable to get a third puck past Domingue.

    Domingue improves his record to 4-2-2 after saving 35 of 37 (94.6%), while Jacob Markstrom’s record falls to 4-5-3 after saving 26 of 29 (89.7%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 34-17-6, favoring the home squad by 24 over the roadies.

    There’s a total of eight games being played in the NHL this evening, and most of them will end before your bedtime!  The action gets started at 7 p.m. eastern when the first five games drop the opening pucks (Washington at Boston [TVAS], Florida at Buffalo [BELL TV], Dallas at the New York Rangers, Chicago at Pittsburgh [SN1] and Minnesota at Columbus), followed half an hour later by Montréal at Philadelphia (NBCSN/RDS).  8 p.m. eastern brings with it the start of the Winnipeg at Nashville game, while this evening’s nightcap, Tampa Bay at Calgary, will begin at 9 p.m. eastern.

    Two of tonight’s games are divisional rivalries (Florida at Buffalo and Winnipeg at Nashville), while another two are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Washington at Boston and Dallas at New York).

    Tonight also marks Rob Scuderi’s first return to Pittsburgh since being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks.  Because this is his only trip back to the city he played eight seasons in (barring a Stanley Cup Finals series) this year, lets take a look at the game in the City of Bridges.

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    Tonight marks Chicago‘s Game of the Day series-leading 11th appearance, in which they host a 5-4-1 record.  Their most recent showing in the series was a two-goal shutout victory over the Jets on December 11.  Pittsburgh has been featured five times before tonight, and currently owns a 3-2-0 record in such games.  Their most recent was a 4-1 loss to the Capitals on home ice on December 14.

    The 23-13-4 Chicago Blackhawks currently sit in third place in the Central Division and fourth in the Western Conference.  They may have started the season slowly, but the Hawks have refined their game to be strong on both ends of the ice, only slightly favoring their offensive end.

    With the puck on their stick, the Blackhawks do what every good team does: shoot.  They’ve put a total of 1231 shots on net so far this season (led by Patrick Kane’s 141), of which 8.9% have found the back of the net for 110 goals (led by Kane’s 23).  An especially potent facet of their offense has been the power play, where they’ve scored on 23.58% of attempts for 29 goals (led by Kane’s 12), both numbers well over the league averages.

    The Chicago defense has also been very strong this season.  They have allowed 1188 shots on net (Trevor van Riemsdyk has a team-leading 78 blocks), but 20-10-2 Corey Crawford and co. have collectively saved 92.1% for only 97 goals against.  They’ve especially clamped down on the penalty kill, where they have allowed only 21 goals on 113 attempts for at 81.42% kill rate that leads the league average by .66%.  In addition to making kills, the special teams have also gotten four scores of their own.

    The Hawks are currently riding a three-game win streak, with their most recent being a three-goal shutout victory over the Senators on Sunday.

    The 19-15-4 Pittsburgh Penguins currently sit in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division and 10th in the Eastern Conference.  Although the offense is picking up, the Pens are still a very defensive-minded team.

    Even though Ian Cole has a team-leading 70 blocks, 1198 shots have still made their way to 14-10-2 Marc-Andre Fleury and co., who have collectively saved 92.7% (1.1% better than the league average) for only 90 goals against.  The Pens have been just as good on the penalty kill, if not better.  Although Pittsburgh has provided the opposition 126 opportunities, they’ve only been scored on 20 times for a 84.13% kill rate that leads the league average by 3.37%.

    Offensively the Penguins haven’t been as fortunate, although it is not for lack of effort.  Led by Phil Kessel’s 121 shots, the Pens have put 1225 shots on net, but only 90 have found the back of the net (led by Evgeni Malkin’s 18) for a 7.3% success rate.  Just like the total offense, the power play has also performed below average.  On 129 opportunities, Pittsburgh has only converted 18.6% (.64% below league average) for 24 goals (led by Malkin’s eight).

    The Penguins are currently riding a win-streak of their own, as they are victorious in their last two.  Their most recent game was a 5-2 victory over the Islanders on Saturday.

    With the 134th pick in the 1998 entry draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins selected Rob Scuderi, a Boston College product from Syosset, N.Y. in Nassau County.  It took until the 2003-’04 before he saw time with the senior club, and earned a full-time position in the 2006-’07 season.  Following the 2008-’09 season that witnessed the Penguins winning their third Stanley Cup (and, subsequently, him being the first ever Long Islander to have his name engraved on the Cup), he signed with the Los Angeles Kings, where he won his second Cup during the 2011-’12 season.  He signed again with the Penguins before the 2013-’14 season where he has remained until December 14, when he was traded to Chicago for Trevor Daley.

    After playing in exactly 460 games with the Penguins, probably his most productive season was with the championship team, as he set career highs in assists (15), blocks (164), points (16), takeaways (26) and +/- (+23).

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Chicago‘s Crawford (six shutouts [leads league] and 20 wins [third in the league]) and Kane (57 points [leads league], 34 assists [leads league], 23 goals [tied for second in the league] and +18 [fourth in the league]) & Pittsburgh‘s Fleury (.927 save percentage [tied for ninth in the league]) and Malkin (18 goals [tied for seventh in the league] and 37 points [10th in the league]).

    It is hard to pull against Chicago in this one, as their defense should be able to easily neutralize Pittsburgh‘s offense.

  • December 10 – Day 64 – Return from hiatus

    Hello again friends!

    As you may have noticed, I was forced into a month long writing hiatus due to a major project for school, for which I am extremely sorry.  For those that care, you will be pleased to know that (1) I completed my senior project and (2) I think it went marvelously!  Due to that, I may be a little rusty in delivering my Game of the Day, and I hope you forgive me as I work out the rust.

    That being said, there’s been a lot of hockey happening between then and now, and I’m not in the ‘Hockey in the Last Month’ business.  Let’s take a look at what today’s Game of the Day is!

    Tonight’s schedule includes a total of seven games, with three (Montréal at Detroit [RDS], Ottawa at Tampa Bay [RDS2] and Washington at Florida) beginning at 7:30 p.m. eastern.  Three games get started half an hour later (Philadelphia at St. Louis, Chicago at Nashville and Columbus at Winnipeg), followed an hour later by Buffalo at Calgary (SN360), tonight’s nightcap.

    Three of tonight’s matchups are divisional (Montréal at Detroit, Ottawa at Tampa Bay and Chicago at Nashville), while two are between two teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Montréal at Detroit and Chicago at Nashville).  Since one of last year’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinals was between Chicago and Nashville, we’ll focus in on Bridgestone Arena.

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    Currently, Chicago lays claim to the final divisional spot in the Central Division’s playoff bracket and fourth place in the Western Conference with a 15-9-4 record (34 points).  They are currently riding a two-game winning streak, with their last game being a 4-1 victory against these same Predators in the United Center only two days ago.

    So far this season, Chicago has employed strong play on both sides of the ice.  By pairing four more goals scored than the league average with four goals against than the league average, the Hawks have moved their way past the Preds and Wild into the third divisional spot.

    An especially strong point of the offense has been the all-important power play.  Chicago has scored 20 power play goals (led by Patrick Kane) so far this season (three more than the league average), as well as earned two more opportunities than the league average.  Both of these numbers combine to yield the Hawks a 21.98% power play rate, which exceeds the league average by almost 2.75%.

    Even when down a man, Chicago has been better than the rest of the NHL.  So far this season, they’ve tallied three shorties (two of which belong to Artem Anisimov), which leads the league average by a goal.

    While all of these goals are great, the real reason the Blackhawks have been successful has been their forwards putting pucks on goal.  They’ve registered a total of 851 shots so far this season (98 of which belong to Kane), which leads the league average by 35 shots.  Because of this, their 9.2% shot percentage slightly exceeds the league average.

    On the other end of the ice,  Corey Crawford (13-7-2) and co. have kept a few more goals out  of net than their average league counterpart – four, to be exact.  Aided by Trevor van Riemsdyk’s 53 blocks, they’ve only allowed 70 goals so far this season by saving 91.6%of the 826 shots they’ve faced.

    On the other end of the ice is a 14-9-5 Nashville team that currently occupies the lesser of the two wildcard positions.  Nashville‘s game has focused more so on the defensive end of the ice, but they’ve been struggling of late to keep the puck out of the back of their own net, made evident by the 13 goals they’ve given up in their last four games played.

    As it currently stands, Pekka Rinne (11-7-5) and co. have given up 74 goals, exactly the league average.  One of the main reasons this number has been so high, especially on a goalie as strong as Rinne, has been the lack of success on the penalty kill.  22 of Nashville‘s goals against have come when a man down, even though they’ve given up three less opportunities than the average NHL team.  Due to this, their kill rate is below the 80.74% league average, which is only hurting this team’s chances of being a strong force in the Central Division and the Western Conference as a whole.

    Offensively, there’s been a lot of bad puck luck happening to the Predators this year.  They’ve put 881 shots on net so far this season (led by James Neal’s 89), well over the league average, but they only have 71 goals to show for their efforts (led by Neal’s 10 tallies).  One of the main things keeping Nashville together this season has been their success on the power play.  So far this season, the Predators have notched 20 power play goals (led by Shea Weber’s eight tallies) on only 86 attempts, giving them a strong success rate of 20.83%.

    Tonight’s game between these two squads is the second in a five-game season series.  Game 1 just occurred only a couple days ago.  That game witnessed the Hawks taking a 4-1 victory at the United Center, with Andrew Shaw notching the game-winner on a power play during the 15th minute of the second period, assisted by Teuvo Teravainen and David Rundblad.  A total of seven Blackhawks were mentioned on the score sheet that night, and they will intend to do the same in Nashville this evening.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Chicago‘s Crawford (13 wins [tied for fourth in the league] and two shutouts [tied for sixth in the league]), Kane (43 points [leads the league], 26 assists [leads the league], 17 goals [second in the league] and +13 [tied for sixth in the league]) and Artemi Panarin (19 assists [tied for seventh in the league] and 28 points [tied for eighth in the league]) and Nashville‘s Roman Josi (79 blocks, 21 points, 14 assists and one shorty [all stats lead team]), Neal (89 shots and 10 goals [both lead team]) and Weber (64 hits and eight power play goals [both lead team]).

    Even though Nashville has been a much better home team than road team this season, I still expect Chicago to win this matchup, mostly (1) because of the way Nashville has been skidding recently (3-5-2 in their last 10 games played) and (2) my belief that Chicago is simply the better team so far this season.

  • November 4 – Day 29 – These towns don’t like each other

    In yesterday’s Game of the Day, the New York Rangers held home ice to beat the Washington Capitals 5-2.

    The Blueshirts opened the scoring just before the ninth minute began when Kevin Hayes and Viktor Stalberg assisted Third Star of the Game Oscar Lindberg to his sixth goal of the season, but the Capitals leveled the game at one-all at the 15:45 mark when Nate Schmidt assisted Alex Ovechkin to his sixth tally of the season.  New York broke the tie 2:01 later when Lindberg and Marc Staal assisted Hayes to his third of the year.  The 2-1 lead held into the first intermission.

    At the end of the second minute of the second period, Second Star Derick Brassard assisted Kevin Klein to what came to be the game-winner, followed 5:06 later by Brassard’s fourth of the season, setting the score at 4-1.  Washington scored the final goal of the period at the 18:53 mark when Karl Alzner and Justin Williams assist Marcus Johansson to his third of the season.

    The lone goal of the final period belongs to Jarret Stoll and the Rangers, assisted by Keith Yandle and Klein at the 10:53 mark.

    First Star Henrik Lundqvist saved 32 of 34 Capital shots (94.1%) to earn his sixth victory of the season (6-2-2 overall), while Braden Holtby earned his third loss (6-3-0 overall) after stopping only 16 of 21 (76.2%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 18-7-3 in favor of the home squad, who leads the roadies by 17 points.

    After a busy nine-game schedule last night, Wednesday provides a light break in the action with only four games.  The festivities get started at 7 p.m. eastern when Winnipeg visits Toronto (SN/SN1), followed an hour later by St. Louis at Chicago (NBCSN/TVAS).  SN/SN1 viewers get an extra helping tonight, as their TVs will turn to Pittsburgh at Vancouver following the completion of the Jets–Leafs game.  That game gets started at 10 p.m. eastern.  Finally, Florida faces Anaheim on The Pond at 10:30 p.m. eastern.

    St. Louis at Chicago is the only divisional rivalry being played this evening, and Pittsburgh at Vancouver is the only game between two playoff squads.  While the Penguins–Canucks game is tantalizing since it also includes the return of Nick Bonino to Rogers Arena, the Blues–Blackhawks rivalry has been too good in recent years to pass up.

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    Last night, the 8-2-1 Blues were shutout by Jhonas Enroth and the Los Angeles Kings on home ice.  Jake Allen gave up two goals on 33 shots (93.9%).  Although those numbers sting, it still does not change the fact that St. Louis puts a team on the ice that features a strong defense.  The Blues currently sit second in both the Central Division and the Eastern Western Conference (trailing Dallas by three points).

    So far this season, the Notes have given up only 26 goals (five below the league average), even though their goaltenders have faced 47 more shots than the league average.  Assisted by Colton Parayko’s 22 blocks, 4-2-0 Allen and 4-0-1 Brian Elliott (whom I expect will get the start this evening) are even shutting down the opposition’s power play opportunities.  While the Blues have given up the average number of power play goals (seven), they’ve had to defend against four more opportunities, setting their penalty kill-rate 2.17% higher than the league average.

    On the other hand, the offense hasn’t quite been as strong as Coach Ken Hitchcock would like.  His squad has only managed 30 goals so far (one under league average), even though Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Steen already have five or more goals to their credit.  The most frustrating part about not being as potent as in years past is it is not due to effort.  The Blues have put 355 shots on goal so far this season, 18 more than the league average, but their shot percentage is a lowly 8.5%, .6% lower than the league average.

    Especially distressing has been the power play.  The Blues have only notched four tallies with the man-advantage, for a measly 10.53% success rate (8.31% below league average).

    Turning our attention to the 7-5-0 Blackhawks, we find a team sitting in sixth place in the Central Division and eighth in the Western Conference, a position that does not qualify them for the playoffs.  In their last game played, Chicago bested the same Kings that shutout the Blues yesterday by a score of 4-2.  You can read a short recap about that game here.

    Similar to tonight’s opposition, they have not been able to rely on their offense, so Corey Crawford and Co. have been responsible for much of the Hawks‘ success.  They’ve only allowed 26 goals so far this season, five below the league average.  Although Niklas Hjalmarsson’s 28 blocks have surely been much appreciated, it has been Crawford and his backup (1-2-0 Scott Darling) that have been busy, as they’ve had to save 342 shots against, of which they’re successful 92.4% of the time.  Even when a man-down, the Blackhawks have found a way to prevent the opposition from scoring 84.38% of the time and allowed only five man-advantage goals.

    On the other hand, the offense has not been completely on par with the rest of the league.  They’ve only scored 28 times (led by Patrick Kane’s seven goals), which trails the league average by three tallies.  Similar to the Blues, it may simply be bad puck luck for the Hawks, as they’ve put 374 shots on goal, 37 more than the league average, but only 7.5% of those shots have found the back of the net.

    Luckily for Chicago, the power play has been able to find success, scoring 19.51% of the time (compared to the 18.84% league average).  On 41 attempts, that is a total of eight goals in favor of the Hawks.

    Last season, the Blues won the season series 3-2-0 by winning both April matchups, but were not able to utilize the momentum in the playoffs and fell in the Western Conference Quarterfinals to Minnesota in six games.  On the other hand the Hawks won the Stanley Cup, so maybe they aren’t too worried about winning the series?  Yeah, right.

    This rivalry runs deep, maybe to the point of being one of, if not the best rivalry in the Western Conference.  In addition to the Blues–Blackhawks rivalry, these cities also have the infamous Cardinals–Cubs rivalry that was rekindled this season when the Cubbies beat the Redbirds in the National League divisional round.  Don’t think even for an instant that the St. Louis faithful don’t want to serve a little payback to Chi-Town.

    That being said, the Hawks are favored in tonight’s matchup at -124.  With home ice behind them in this rivalry, it is hard to pick against Chicago, especially since they are playing on a day of rest and their much stronger power play.

  • November 2 – Day 27 – All defense, all the time

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day between the Winnipeg Jets and the Montréal Canadiens ended in a 5-1 victory for the home squad.

    The Habs opened the scoring at the 6:34 mark of the first with a shorty from Third Star of the Game Paul Byron, assisted by Torrey Mitchell and Jeff Petry.  The game-winner came almost 10 minutes exactly from Second Star Tomas Fleischmann, assisted by First Star David Desharnais and Alexei Emelin.  The two-goal shutout held into the first intermission.

    Thirty-five seconds after dropping the puck in the second, Fleischmann scored his second of the night, assisted by Dale Weise and Desharnais.  Two and a half minutes later, the Canadiens set the score at 4-0 with a tally from Desharnais, assisted by Fleischmann and Nathan Beaulieu.  Montréal ended their offensive onslaught at the 17:51 mark when Lars Eller, assisted by Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban, fired his power play goal past Ondrej Pavelec.  The five-goal shutout held into the second intermission.

    Finally, the Jets got on the board at the 13:57 mark of the final period when Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers assisted Chris Thorburn to his second goal of the season.

    The Mike Condon Era (albeit only a week or so long) got off to a good start as he earned his fourth victory in as many starts by saving 18 of 19 (94.7%), while 4-1-0 Michael Hutchinson earned his first loss of the season after saving five of nine (55.6%).  Pavelec replaced him after Desharnais’ goal and saved 16 of 17 (94.1%) for no decision.

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 16-7-3, still favoring the home team by 13 points.  Montréal improves to 4-0-0 when featured in our series, while Winnipeg falls to 0-1-1.

    After a busy holiday weekend, there are only three games on the schedule this evening.  Beginning at 7:30 p.m. eastern at the Air Canada Centre are Dallas and Toronto (TVAS), followed an hour later by Los Angeles at Chicago (NHL Network).  The nightcap gets its start at 10 p.m. eastern when Philadelphia visits Vancouver.

    None of tonight’s matchups involve divisional rivals or two teams qualifying for the playoffs, but given the expectations for the Hawks, their game against the Kings provides for an interesting game.

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    After losing their first three games by a combined score of 12-2, the Los Angeles Kings have won seven straight games (their last victory a 4-3 win over the Predators on Saturday) to propel them to first place in the Pacific Division.  Their strength: the defense and goaltending.

    So far this season, the Kings‘ defense has only allowed 295 shots on goal (led by Alec Martinez’ 19 blocks), a total that trails the league average by 24 attempts.  Even better is the goals against total (21) that trails the NHL average by eight tallies.  Put those numbers together, and you’ll find Jonathan Quick and his backup, 1-0-0 Jhonas Enroth, owning a 93.2% combined save percentage, exceeding the league average by 1.8%.  Even on the penalty kill, the Kings have found success.  Although their seven power play goals against is on par with the league, they’ve held that number even though they’ve faced five more man-advantages.  Their 82.93% kill rate bests the league average by 1.73%.

    Los Angeles‘ offense has been working overtime to cover up their early season shortcomings, made evident by the 24 goals they’ve scored so far this season.  Center Tyler Toffoli leads the team by five tallies with nine goals to his credit.

    Probably the biggest struggle for this squad has been putting shots on goal, as well as getting them into the back of the net.  They’ve only managed 305 shots so far, which trails the league average by 15 shots.  Bring into account their 7.9% shot percentage that trails the league average by 1.2%, and we find a team that, should they resolve these issues, becomes a serious threat in the Western Conference.

    Turning our attention to the home side, we find a 6-5-0 team that hasn’t quite found the success yet that they’ve grown so accustomed to in seasons past.  Similar to Los Angeles, they’ve had to rely on their defense and goaltending for almost every point in the standings they’ve earned so far.  They enter the game on a two-game losing streak, their most recent a 5-4 loss in Minnesota on Friday.

    Goaltender Corey Crawford (5-3-0) and his backup, 1-2-0 Scott Darling, have only allowed 24 goals this season, trailing the league average by five tallies, but they’ve received a lot of help from Niklas Hjalmarsson (24 blocks) and the Hawks‘ defense.  Because of their efforts, Crawford and co. have only faced 307 shots and saved 92.2% of them, both numbers that are better than the league average.  Even on the penalty kill, the defense has been strong.  On 30 attempts, opponents have only scored five times (two less than average), giving the Hawks a 83.33% kill rate that leads the league average by 2.13%.

    The offense has only scored 24 goals this season, which trails the league average by five goals.  It has not been due to effort, though, as the offense has notched 348 shots, 28 over the league average.  But, because of that number, their 6.9% shot percentage trails the league average by 1.2%.

    Although the standard offense may not be up to standard, the power play lines earn DtFR Gold Stars, as they have eight goals to their credit with a 20% power play success rate.

    Last season, Chicago won two of three games against Los Angeles, but the more famous recent series occurred during the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Kings beat the Hawks in seven games in the Western Conference Finals en route to the four games to one routing of the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Finals.

    Chicago is favored at -125 at home, but it is hard to ignore a Kings team looking for their eighth straight victory.  I think I’m picking the Hawks to win, but it should be an excellent game.

  • October 30 – Day 24 – Western Conference Semifinal Rematch

    Head Coach Dan Bylsma’s return to the Consol Energy Center ended poorly, as his Buffalo Sabres fell 4-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    The Pens opened the scoring only 56 seconds into the game, as Sidney Crosby and First Star of the Game Ben Lovejoy assisted Pascal Dupuis to his first goal of the season.  Pittsburgh followed up that early goal with another at the 7:16 mark, when Crosby and Olli Maatta provided the helpers to Second Star Patric Hornqvist.  The two-goal lead held until the 14:25 mark, when Jamie McGinn, assisted by Tim Schaller and Rasmus Ristolainen, fired a shot past backup goalie Jeff Zatkoff, followed 2:15 later by a Nicolas Deslauriers goal, assisted by Third Star Ryan O’Reilly and Ristolainen, to set the score a two-all, which held into intermission.

    It was all Pittsburgh in the second period.  Lovejoy broke the tie at the 8:18 mark, assisted by Evgeni Malkin.  Malkin’s line had only just begun, as he is responsible for the game-winner 6:39 later, assisted by Hornqvist and Phil Kessel.

    Just as Pittsburgh controlled the second, Buffalo dominated the third.  In fact, the Sabres put 24 shots on goal in the final period, compared to a lowly four for Pittsburgh.  One of those shots, this one fired by Matt Moulson and assisted by O’Reilly and David Legwand, broke through in the 18th minute to set the final 4-3 score.

    Chad Johnson’s record fell to 3-6-0 with tonight’s loss.  He saved 25 of 29 shots (86.2%), while Zatkoff saved 50 of 53 (94.3%) to earn his first win in his first start of the season.

    After tonight’s game, the DtFR Game of the Day series stands at 14-6-3, favoring the home squad by 11 points.

    Tonight’s schedule is another busy one, as there are nine games on the Friday schedule.  Four of those games get started at 7 p.m. eastern (Philadelphia at Buffalo [Bell TV], Toronto at the New York Rangers [SN360], Columbus at Washington and Colorado at Carolina), followed half an hour later by two more (Ottawa at Detroit [RDSI] and Boston at Florida).  Chicago and Minnesota drop the opening puck at 8 p.m. eastern, followed an hour later by Montréal at Calgary (RDS).  The final game gets started at 10 p.m. eastern between Vancouver and Arizona.

    Five of the nine games tonight are divisional rivalries (Columbus at Washington, Ottawa at Detroit, Boston at Florida, Chicago at Minnesota and Vancouver at Arizona), and only one is between teams qualifying for the playoffs (Vancouver at Arizona).  But, only one is a rematch from last season’s playoffs: the Chicago–Minnesota matchup.  Since it’s also a divisional matchup, we’ll look a little further into that one.

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    The 6-3-0 Chicago Blackhawks have relied on their defense to find their early success.  Led by 5-2-0 Corey Crawford and Niklas Hjalmarsson (23 blocks), the Hawks have only allowed 246 shots on goal, saving 93.5% of those attempts.  That converts into only 16 goals so far this season, eight below the league average.  Even when down a man, Chicago has still found a way to keep the opposition off the board, as they’ve only given up three power play goals on 25 attempts for a 88% penalty kill rate, 7.35% above the league average.

    The offense, on the other hand, has not been quite as stellar. as they’ve only notched 19 goals so far, five below the league average.  That being said, the power play has scored just as many as the rest of the league (six), albeit on six more opportunities.  Therefore, Chicago‘s 16.67% power play trails the league average by 1.68%.

    Turning our attention to the 6-2-1 home squad, we find a Minnesota team that leans on their offense for success.  They’ve scored 28 goals so far this season, seven of which are a result of the power play (one above the league average).  On 30 attempts, their 23.33% power play percentage leads the league average by 4.98%.  The most exciting facet of this offense has been their two shorties scored this season.  While not something the team can rely on, these tallies can certainly sway the momentum of a game in their favor, and it is beneficial to the squad to know they have that capability going forward.

    While the defense hasn’t been as successful as the offense, it still has been fairly stout.  The squad has only given up one more goal than league average, of which only five have been on the power play.  This stat is slightly misleading though, as the team has only defended 23 power plays, giving them a 78.26% kill rate (3.39% below league average).

    Probably the biggest shortcoming of this Wild team is their lack of shots.  Minnesota has only notched 245 shots on goal this season, 23 below the NHL average.  Fortunately for them, they’ve scored 11.4% of those shots (2.3% over the league average), but it may not be wise to rely on that percentage for long without increasing their shot count.

    Last season, Chicago won the regular season series against the Wild 3-2-0 before sweeping them in the Western Conference Semifinals.

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Chicago‘s Crawford (two shutouts [tied for league lead], five wins [tied for fourth in the league], 1.76 GAA [tied for sixth in the league] and .938 save percentage [tied for eighth in the leauge]) & Patrick Kane (13 points [fourth in the league] on six goals [tied for sixth in the league]) and Minnesota‘s Devan Dubunyk (six wins [tied for second in the league] and one shutout [tied for sixth in the league]) & Zach Parise (seven goals [tied for second in the leauge]).

    The line for tonight’s game reads -145 in favor of Minnesota, but given Chicago‘s success against Minnesota last year, I am weary of siding with Vegas in this one.

  • October 26 – Day 20 – Are the Ducks quacks?

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day between the Calgary Flames and the New York Rangers ended in a 4-1 victory for the Blueshirts.  Although the Flames had a great start to the evening by posting a goal at the 3:06 mark of the first period, the Rangers were able to take the lead during second and never look back.

    Jiri Hudler was responsible for the Flames‘ lone goal.  He scored his third of the season following assists from Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.

    New York tied the game at the 12:03 mark of the second.  Oscar Lindberg was responsible for the tally, assisted by Kevin Hayes and Marc Staal.  They took the lead only 4:54 later, compliments of of Dan Girardi’s game winner, assisted by Emerson Etem and Jarret Stoll.  The 2-1 score held into the second intermission.

    During the third, Kevin Klein scored his second goal of the year at the 8:38 mark, followed by the final goal only 1:48 later by Derick Brassard, assisted by Jesper Fast and Ryan McDonagh.

    Antti Raanta earned his second win in as many starts by stopping 22 of 23 (95.7%), while Jonas Hiller took the loss after stopping only 17 of 21 (81%).  He was pulled at the 12:01 mark of the final period and replaced with Joni Ortio, who stopped all five shots he faced.

    The DtFR Game of the Day series still favors the home team by eight points, currently standing at 11-5-3.

    Today is the second straight of only three games on the schedule.  First up at 7 p.m. eastern, the Flames hop on the B Train a day after playing the Rangers to face their opponent’s in-town rivals, the New York Islanders, at the Barclays Center.  Half an hour after that game gets underway, Arizona visits the Air Canada Centre to face Toronto.  Finally, Anaheim and Chicago round the night out in the United Center, with the opening puck dropping at 8:30 p.m. eastern (NHL Network).

    It’s been a trip down memory lane this weekend for Chicago, as they hosted the Stanley Cup runners-up Saturday.  The throwback to last season continues tonight when the Western Conference’s runners-up come a-calling.

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    Although the Ducks were only a victory away from earning the right to face the Lightning in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals, they have looked nowhere near being considered contenders early this season.  The Ducks may literally waddle into the United Center tonight, having only a 1-5-1 record to show for their efforts.  Unlike division rival Calgary, whose plight was documented yesterday, the Ducks are right on par with the rest of the league in regards to goals against, as they’ve given up one less than the league average.  As I’m sure you’ve now assumed, the Ducks‘ concerns are with their forwards.  Anaheim has scored a grand total of six goals this season.  Yes, six goals over seven games.  What’s worse, they scored four of those goals in one game (10/18 against Minnesota).  Do the math, and that’s four times they’ve been shutout in seven games (they’re coming off one Saturday night at Minnesota).  In other words, not good.

    One of the issues here is an ineffective power play.  In 19 opportunities, the Ducks have only scored a lone power play goal.  Their 5.26% power play percentage trails the league average by 13.28%.  Another issue is the number of shots the Ducks are putting on goal.  Anaheim‘s 193 shots are 40 below the league average.  You’d think that would help their shot percentage… think again.  Anaheim trails the league in that category too, as their 3.1% trails the NHL average by 5.9%.

    Compare this to the team that rocked The Pond a season ago.  During the regular season, that squad scored 12 more goals than the league average, and allowed only two more than the average.  While the power play still was not on par with the rest of the NHL last season, it still exceeds this year’s effort as the special teams scored 15.68% of the time. Luckily, this year’s defense and goaltending is comparable, if not slightly surpassing last year’s excellent squad.

    So, what gives?  I think the loss of LW Matt Beleskey to Boston during free agency has a big part to do with it.  He scored 22 goals last season for the Ducks, third best on the team.  18 of those goals were during 5-on-5 play, where he also ranked third.  His four remaining goals were all on the power play, which tied for fourth on the team with Corey Perry.  Eight of his goals were game-winners, which led the team by two goals.  A goal scorer also brings with him shots, as he put 145 pucks on goal last season, placing him at fifth-best on the squad.  With those shots, though, came the second-best shot percentage (15.2%), trailing only Perry’s 17.1%.

    Additionally, the power play might also be struggling due to RW Kyle Palmieri being traded to the Devils during the offseason.  He accounted for five power play goals last season, which tied for second on the team.

    Turning our attention to the Stanley Cup Champions, we find a team that is settling into their groove and beginning to climb the ranks of the Western Conference.  Currently, the Hawks have a 5-3-0 record, giving them the second wild card position and fifth place in the conference.  Chicago enters the game on a three-game win streak, most recently shutting out the Lightning at home in overtime with a quick goal by Jonathan Toews.

    Similar to Anaheim, Chicago‘s offense hasn’t been glitzy, but they’ve been winning by keeping opposing offenses off the board.  They’ve given up only 16 goals so far this season, five goals under the league average.  Where they’ve really shined offensively is on the power play.  In 33 opportunities, they’ve converted six for goals (18.18%), which have accounted for a third of their total tallies this season.  Probably what is most frightening about the Hawks in light of their win streak is their number of shots (249, 16 over the league average) compared to their shooting percentage (7.2%).  If and when they get that percentage up, even if its just to the 9% league average, their offense will be a significant threat to any goalie.

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Anaheim‘s Frederik Andersen (.938 save percentage [tenth in the league]) and Chicago‘s Corey Crawford (one shutout [tied for fourth in the league], four wins [tied for seventh in the league] and 1.84 GA average [tied for ninth in the league]) & Patrick Kane (11 points [tied for fourth in the league] and five goals [tied for eighth in the league]).

    I expect a defensive, competitive matchup tonight that will end positively for Chicago, probably 1-0 or 2-1.