Down the Frozen River

Tag: Enström

  • Jettisoned: Predators bow out in Game 7, Jets punch Conference Finals ticket

     

    Well there you have it, folks. The second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs has come to a close with an almost-fitting end to the series that played out exactly how we thought it would without ever really playing out how we thought it would.

    Perhaps the most hyped matchup of the postseason, it was nearly-universally agreed upon that Winnipeg/Nashville would go seven games, but how we got there was anything but predictable. A seven-game series that saw only two games end in one-goal margins (those in fact being the only games that ended with a margin of less than three tallies) and was more a story of attack/counter-attack. Nearly every game swung wildly to one team’s favor, usually on the back of explosive starts that took the wind out of the sails of the opponent before they knew what had happened.

    Game 4 was a tight 2-1 affair, though hardly memorable on the back of a 7-4 gongshow victory in Game 3 for Winnipeg on home ice. Game 1 and Games 5-7 were all complete visiting team dominations silencing notoriously loud buildings. Game 2 was really our only look at what many expected from this series, with Nashville grabbing a thrilling 5-4 victory in double-overtime on home ice.

    But since we’re here, let’s take a look at how this strange series came to a close.

    Winnipeg controlled things early, hemming Nashville on their own side of center ice for most of the opening minutes. The Predators looked to be skating in deep sand, oftentimes unable to advance the puck forward at all, thanks to a stifling forecheck from the Jets and some careless puck control of their own doing. Surely, though, Pekka Rinne would be able to help his team survive the early problems and gain their footing…

    Then Tyler Myers sent up a prayer from below the goal line to Rinne’s left that deflected into the net off of the stunned Nashville netminder, and just like that we had a 1-0 game 8:41 into the first period. But, again, no problem. We’re less than halfway through the first period, it’s just a one-goal deficit, Rinne will obviously shake this one off and…

    2:06 later Rinne inexplicably abandons the near post after stopping a Paul Stastny stuff attempt, the rebound landing right back on his blade for him to chip over the pad and into the net for a Charmin Ultra-Soft 2-0 goal. Has anyone seen the wheels for this bus lately? We seem to have misplaced them.

    Peter Laviolette, either wishing to settle things down without wasting a precious timeout, or knowing enough about his goaltender’s complete inability to recover from shaky starts in playoff games to realize that this ship needed immediate abandoning (third pull in the series for Rinne, you be the judge), yanked the big Finn in favor of the little Finn, inserting Juuse Saros into the net for the remainder of the game.

    To their credit, the Predators responded to the move by finally picking up their game. P.K. Subban first drew a penalty, then fired a one-time Howitzer off the post and in on the resulting power play, bringing his team back within one with just over four minutes to play in the first.

    Unfortunately for Nashville, this only seemed to fire up the opposition, with the Winnipeg defense vacuum-sealing their end from that point on, and Connor Hellebuyck dispelling any further offensive chances that came his way. The two goaltenders spent the next 20+ minutes countering everything thrown their way (which admittedly was not a lot as the two teams were basically stuck in a neutral zone traffic jam).

    Late in the second period the Jets grabbed the momentum back when Blake Wheeler jumped on a turnover (a theme in this one, with the Predators committing 24 vs Winnipeg’s paltry 10) and hung Subban out to dry in no man’s land, sending a pass over to Scheifele who quickly lifted one over the shoulder of Saros to regain the two-goal lead with 2:10 left to play in the second frame.

    The second period was really the finest display of a brilliant tactic Winnipeg utilized all night long, essentially using their team speed to actually slow the game down. No matter what Nashville tried to do, every puck carrier was instantly met by at least one, often multiple Jets. Passing lanes were non-existent due to some incredible defensive stickwork, and even when there appeared to be open space, it would close up immediately, leaving the Predators dumbfounded, and holding them to just six shots in the second period.

    The Preds did gain some offensive traction in the third, but Hellebuyck always had the answer and the defense in front of him made sure he had a clear line of sight to every shot and limited follow-up opportunities for anything that their goaltender didn’t manage to grab onto. Of note, Dustin Byfuglien played a lights-out game defensively, basically making it impossible for any Predators player to get to the front of the net to set up screens. Toby Enstrom was also stellar, making countless beautiful stick and positioning plays throughout the night to break up some of the few rushes Nashville was able to start.

    Nashville fought and clawed for every chance all throughout the third period, but their efforts came to a screeching halt at the 11:59 mark when Paul Stastny tallied his second goal of the game on Winnipeg’s lone power play of the night, banging home the rebound from a Laine blast before Saros could close down the five hole. That was Stastny’s fifth goal of this series, continuing a terrific playoff run for the deadline acquisition (lol remember that time the Blues traded him to the Jets for a lottery-protected first round pick?).

    Mark Scheifele would add the 5-1 empty netter to tally his league-leading 11th goal of the playoffs with 2:33 remaining, but even with the extra man on the ice the Predators were just lost trying to find the answer to Winnipeg’s flawless defensive scheme.

    So Winnipeg takes the series largely on the strength of winning three-of-four games in Nashville, all by convincing scores (4-1, 6-2, 5-1), and move on to face probably the only team in the Western Conference that can match their speed, the ‘Remember when we didn’t exist last year?’ Vegas Golden Knights in the Conference Finals. Game 1 of that series comes to you this Saturday night (May 12th) at 7 p.m. ET with DTFR recap coverage brought to you by @nlanciani53.

  • Whiteout Whitewashing: Jets take the series with Game 5 shutout victory

     

    For the first time since the birth of the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise 19 years ago, the team will see the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For the city of Winnipeg, a 31-year wait has ended with thunderous applause.

    For Minnesota, however, an arduous struggle has ended in back-to-back blankings at the hands of a Jets squad that far outclassed them. The Wild fought as best they could, but with the absence of Ryan Suter on defense, and the loss of Zach Parise after Game 3, the tools for them to compete with a stacked Winnipeg roster just weren’t there. Pile on some notably lackluster performances from key players like Jason Zucker, Nino Niederreiter, and Charlie Coyle (all held scoreless in the series) and there was really no hope to overcome the juggernaut Jets.

    The Wild knew to have any shot at surviving Game 5 they’d need to play the perfect road game and try to keep the Jets from building momentum and getting the raucous crowd involved. This strategy lasted all of 31 seconds.

    A strong opening shift was capped off when Jacob Trouba received a cross-ice pass from Mark Scheifele at the top of the right circle, took a few strides towards the net and ripped a wrist shot past Devan Dubnyk to ignite Bell MTS Place in the first minute.

    A Winnipeg penalty shortly after the goal threatened to kill the energy, but strong work on the PK kept the tide in the Jets’ favor, and shortly after the conclusion of the penalty Trouba (who had himself a game) nearly scored on an odd-man rush, before nearly tipping home a follow-up shot right after. Dubnyk was trying desperately to keep his team alive and settle things down.

    Unfortunately for the Minnesota netminder, his efforts were for nothing, as on the following faceoff Dustin Byfuglien let go a wrist shot from the right point that Bryan Little redirected beautifully past an unsuspecting Dubnyk for the 2-0 lead, still just 5:42 into the game.

    Still the Jets kept coming, and the Wild had no answer. A Brandon Tanev shot nearly went in off the skate of Dubnyk after bouncing off of the end boards. Then Niederreiter tried to create a scoring opportunity by dancing around one Winnipeg defender only to get blown up by Big Buff as he attempted to let the shot go. Then Tanev, apparently upset at his previous failure, stripped a fumbling Jonas Brodin of the puck at his defensive blueline and fired a quick turnaround wrister through Dubnyk before he had time to react, Winnipeg taking a 3-0 lead with 8:50 to play. Tanev’s first career playoff goal.

    Just 49 seconds later things went from calamity to catastrophe when an initial attempt from Andrew Copp rebounded out high to a locked and loaded Byfuglien, who proceeded to unload a bomb that redirected off of Joel Armia (his first playoff goal, just to stick with the theme) and into the net.

    It was now 4-0 with 8:01 to play in the first period, and a mercy pulling was in order. Bruce Boudreau sent Alex Stalock in to relieve Dubnyk of his nightmare, and he returned to the bench to a standing reception from his teammates. Captain Mikko Koivu walked down to the end of the bench after Dubnyk sat down, seemingly to say “We’re sorry, this is on us.” to his visibly emotional goaltender.

    Winnipeg fans, however, did not share in Koivu’s sympathies, as a chant of “We Want Dubnyk” rang out not long after the resumption of play. Apparently even after a long, cold winter, Winnipeg still has plenty of salt to go around.

    The period ended with the Jets outshooting Minnesota 13-7, but the play was even more lopsided than that would indicate.

    Early in the second Minnesota got their proverbial “This one just isn’t going to go your way” sign from the hockey gods, as a Mikael Granlund rush drew Connor Hellebuyck out of his net, giving Granlund an open cage to tuck a wraparound into, only to see the puck sail across the crease along the goal line and bounce off of multiple Winnipeg skates just inches from paydirt, only to be cleared away.

    Minnesota did finally gain some offensive traction to their credit, though the second notable opportunity was a Niederreiter rush that was met with a shot block and subsequent leveling hit by Trouba. Ironically even though they controlled a lot of the play early in the second, the Wild would not record a shot for nearly eight minutes of play.

    The game’s only real notable save came from the left pad of Stalock who denied a seemingly sure-thing one-timer right on the doorstep at the bottom of the left circle from Scheifele just past the game’s halfway mark.

    A Wild power play around the 11:00 mark brought some more offensive traction to the visitors, who had a few quality chances on the power play followed up by a Niederreiter breakaway all turned aside. Jason Zucker found iron on a later power play, but Hellebucyk simply couldn’t be solved.

    The Jets put a stamp on the game just 32 seconds into the third with a beautiful high-low-high passing sequence from Blake Wheeler, Paul Stastny, and Scheifele capped off by a beautiful one-time rip from #55 into the net from the low slot.

    Sensing victory was now firmly in hand, the Winnipeg Whiteout crowd started to take over the third period. Multiple renditions of Bananarama’s ‘Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye’ were belted out in perfect harmony at numerous points in the frame, starting with the initial performance just after the puck had dropped following the 5-0 goal.

    When Hellebucyk made a great stop on Matt Cullen off of a Marcus Foligno rebound, the crowd responded with the wave, then some more Bananarama.

    Blake Wheeler nearly made it 6-0 on a beautiful backhand tip of a Scheifele centering pass, but the hockey gods had decided enough was enough, so it found the crossbar and vacated the goal crease without further incident.

    ‘We Want Nashville!’ is now the chant. Bold, Winnipeg. Bold.

    Later in the period a fan took a deflected puck to the face, only to be tossed a towel by Matt Hendricks (making his series debut) and signal to everyone in attendance that they were still very much alive, drawing a rousing round of applause.

    The standing ovation started with 2:30 to play, and was only interrupted by an obligatory singalong to ‘Sweet Caroline’ at 2:10. The final minute of play was basically just one long explosion of noise as the city erupted into a party that I assume will still be occurring when the sun rises. On Monday.

    In the end, Connor Hellebucyk posted his second-consecutive shutout to seal the series, and the Parise-less Wild fail to score a single goal. It’s hard for Minnesota to argue that injuries were the only reason they couldn’t climb this mountain, as Winnipeg faced games without Tyler Myers, Nikolaj Ehlers and Josh Morrissey among others, and played the entire series without Toby Enstrom. It just speaks to their incredible depth that even when missing key contributors they could still trounce Minnesota with relative ease.

    Now with a long rest ahead of them to get healthy before a likely (at least as of this writing) Second Round matchup for the ages with Nashville, the Jets have a little time to celebrate before looking towards what lay ahead.

    Special shoutout to 20-year veteran and three-time Stanley Cup winner Matt Cullen, who may have just played the final game of a fantastic career.

  • Winnipeg Jets 2017-’18 Season Preview

    Winnipeg Jets

    40-35-7, 87 points, 5th in the Central Division

    Additions: C Matt Hendricks, D Dmitry Kulikov, G Steve Mason, C Michael Sgarbossa,

    Subtractions: C Quinton Howden, G Ondrej Pavelec, RW Anthony Peluso, D Paul Postma, D Brian Strait

    Offseason Analysis: Wait…Kevin Cheveldayoff did something in free agency?

    I hadn’t planned on actually having to cover any transactions in this article…

    For those who may be unaware, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is perhaps best-known for his complete disregard for those of us who cover offseason (and trade deadline, for that matter) roster moves and the like. So when he came out firing on July 1st picking up notable free agents like Kulikov and Mason, it came as quite a surprise.

    The Jets have have generally always been one of those bubble teams that are hard to predict, but are usually a fun group to watch. Ironically, those two qualities are basically tied together around one central theme: They often struggle to keep pucks out of their own net. Winnipeg has no shortage of offensive punch, but it’s hard to win games 5-4 every night.

    With all that in mind, and having done a very solid job of building within the organization for the past few years, Cheveldayoff apparently decided the time was finally right to bring in some outside help to try and push his team over the proverbial hump. We’ll start in net, where former Calder winner Steve Mason was brought in on a 2-year, $4.1M (I scoffed, but the Jets had the cap space) deal to supplement young stud Connor Hellebuyck. Obviously Mason hasn’t turned out to be the world-beater he appeared to be during his unbelievable rookie campaign with Columbus all those years ago, but with his 26-21-8 record, 2.66 GAA and .908 SV% last year with Philadelphia all nearly mirroring his career averages, he’s proven himself to be a more-than-useful backstop, particularly when used in a ‘1a-1b’ goaltending duo role, which could very well be what we see utilized in Winnipeg. Should he or Hellebuyck falter, the Jets have the luxury of having proven backup Michael Hutchinson and 2013 2nd round pick Eric Comrie waiting in the wings with AHL-affiliate Manitoba.

    Moving away from the blue paint, the Jets also bolstered an already solid, if not always consistent blueline with the addition of 6’1″ 204lb Russian defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. The jury is still deliberating on Kulikov’s true value (even after over 500 games of NHL experience), but he has certainly shown flashes of high-quality play over the years. His offensive production hasn’t often been what he was once thought capable of, but with all of the talent on Winnipeg’s blueline, that’s not a high priority for him to fill, anyhow. A physical force capable of some absolute filling-loosening hits, the Jets simply need Kulikov to limit his mistakes and help stabilize their D corps. At just 26 years of age, he’s still more than capable of learning and adapting his game, but brings with him the benefit of being an NHL regular since his draft year, giving him experience beyond his years. Slot Kulikov next to big Dustin Byfuglien dishing out plenty of physicality with a steady amount of added offense on Winnipeg’s 2nd pairing, with 2012 and 2013 1st round picks Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey munching up the minutes on the top pairing and smooth-skating vets Toby Enstrom and Tyler Myers (picturing 5’10” Enstrom and 6’8″ Myers standing next to each other on the blueline makes my heart happy) rounding out the rotation. Throw in the versatile Ben Chiarot as the 7th man, and Winnipeg’s blueline looks more than capable of stepping up their performance from seasons past.

    Up front, the Jets went into this offseason with little to worry about, but adding the versatility of guys like Matt Hendricks and Michael Sgarbossa on low-risk deals obviously didn’t hurt them. Hendricks can replace some of Anthony Peluso’s grit while also being a much more serviceable player, while Sgarbossa, though likely to spend much of the season in Manitoba, can bring a bit of extra offensive prowess into the lineup as opposed to Quinton Howden, whom he essentially replaced.

    The rest of the forward group carries over, and there’s not a slouch among them. Of the 12 forwards I have on Winnipeg’s projected opening night roster, only one has reached the age of 30 as of this writing, and that’s 31 year old captain Blake Wheeler, who is coming off of a 26 goal, 74 point season. Eight of those forwards are former 1st round picks; five of whom were Winnipeg’s own choices. There’s also in-house 2nd round pick Nic Petan (who I have as the 13th forward) accompanying 3rd round pick Adam Lowry and 4th rounder Andrew Copp. Strong camps from youngsters like 2015 Jets 1st rounder Jack Roslovic or Sabres 2014 2nd round pick Brendan Lemieux could easily get them out of Manitoba for the start of the year, as well.

    Remember what I said about Cheveldayoff building from within?

    Offseason Grade: B

    The Jets weren’t that far off from contending, even in the hyper-competitive Central. Cheveldayoff has done an excellent job of building his team the way he wants it, with his own core group of young talent. He knew he didn’t need to throw that big of a wrench at it, and he didn’t. With a few small tweaks, on generally reasonable deals, the Jets look to have covered the few leaks they had. If this young team can continue to gel, and play with the consistency they’ve lacked in key moments over the past few years, they have the tools to put a serious hurting on some unsuspecting opponents.

    Oh, and say a prayer for all of the crossbars Laine will be punishing in the coming months.

  • February 18 – Day 122 – No, he’s your friend now!

    The best day of the week – at least for hockey – is finally upon us! 11 games are taking place today, starting with St. Louis at Buffalo at 1 p.m. The final matinees of the day drop the puck an hour later (Washington at Detroit [NHLN] and Winnipeg at Montréal [CBC/SN/TVAS]), followed by three (Edmonton at Chicago [NHLN/SN], the New York Islanders at New Jersey and Ottawa at Toronto [CBC/TVAS]) at the usual 7 p.m. starting time. 8 p.m. marks the beginning of a trio of contests (San Jose at Arizona, Tampa Bay at Dallas and Nashville at Minnesota), with the co-nightcaps – Florida at Los Angeles and Calgary at Vancouver (CBC/SN) – dropping the puck at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Winnipeg at Montréal: Wait, wasn’t Claude Julien just coaching against the Canadiens on Sunday? Yes, yes he was.
    • New York at New Jersey: If he’s active tonight, this will be Stephen Gionta‘s first game in the Prudential Center wearing white after six seasons with the Devils.
    • Ottawa at Toronto: Have you checked the standings recently? This isn’t just a rivalry game, it’s a scrap for Atlantic Division positioning!
    • Calgary at Vancouver: Matt Bartkowski was a member of the rival-Canucks last season, but he could make his Flames debut tonight against them.

    I’m very disappointed today is Julien’s first game back as the Habs‘ coach, as the Battle for Ontario should be spectacular. Nonetheless, we always feature a coach’s first game with his new squad after a mid-season change, so we’re off to the Bell Centre.

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    Ah, the twists and turns of Julien’s career. 11 years removed from an uninspiring playing career from an NHL standpoint, Julien began his NHL coaching career with none other than the Montréal Canadiens. Hired midway through the 2002-’03 season to replace Michel Therrien (yes, seriously. Therrien) in the midst of a campaign that ended with a 30-35-8-9 record, he managed to qualify the Habs to the Eastern Conference Semifinals only a year later.

    That apparently wasn’t enough to keep him his job, as he was released at the halfway point of the 2005-’06 season even though he laid the groundwork of a team that qualified for the playoffs in its second-straight campaign.

    His next stop was with the Devils the following season, but it was a short one. Even though he led New Jersey to a 47-24-8 record, he was cut three games before the playoffs.

    That was just fine for the Bruins, who signed Julien almost three months later. Of course,  that’s both his most noteworthy and longest-tenured assignment. He was Boston’s bench boss for over nine-and-a-half seasons, leading them to four division titles, a Presidents’ Trophy, two Stanley Cup Finals appearances and, of course, the franchise’s sixth Stanley Cup.

    It seems to be in Julien’s best interest to not have a winning record, because after leading the Bruins to a 26-23-6 record, the league’s then-longest-tenured coach was released on February 7.

    The irony of the whole situation is that not only was Julien hired once again by the Canadiens mid-season, but that he once again replaced Therrien. Even more bizarre, Therrien had the Habs rolling this season, notching a 31-19-8 record before being released this Valentine’s Day.

    Of course, part of the reason for this change must be that Therrien was also in charge of last year’s Canadiens team that started their campaign 9-0-0 yet failed to end the season within 10 points of playoff position. That, and the Habs are currently riding a two-game losing skid and are 3-6-1 in their last 10 contests.

    Regardless of the reason he’s back in The City of Saints, Julien takes over a club that plays sound defense with good great goaltending to boot, as the Habs have allowed only 148 goals against in 58 games, the eighth-best rate in the league.

    Of course, the man that deserves the most credit is goaltender Carey Price, who has earned every bit of his 24-14-5 record. With a .917 season save percentage and 2.46 GAA, he is not only the best netminder in Montréal, but also the 14th and 13th-best in the NHL in those regards, respectively.

    Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have an above-average defense playing in front of him. Led by Shea Weber and his 120 shot blocks, the Habs allow only 29.9 shots-per-game to reach Price’s crease, the 12th-best effort in the league.

    Surprisingly, that overall effort does not carry over to the penalty kill, as the Canadiens are eighth-worst in the NHL at only a 79.4% success rate. With his 33 shorthanded shot blocks (tied for second-most in the league), Weber has kept up his spectacular play when a man down, but the rest of the squad needs to help limit the opposition’s scoring chances for Price, who has faced the fourth-most power play shots in the league.

    Fortunately for the Canadiens, they’re able to earn back those goals allowed on the penalty kill with a powerful power play of their own. Successful on 21.4% of attempts, Montréal is eighth-best in the league with a man-advantage. The leader of that effort is special teams ace Weber, who has 18 power play points to his credit, including a team-high 10 extra-man tallies.

    26-29-5 Winnipeg just seems to have the worst luck of late. Thursday night they were in victim and fell prey to Sidney Crosby, a man intent on earning his 1000th point in front of his home crowd. Two days later, they have to go up against a coach making his debut with his new club – a circumstance in which four other men have found victory. If the Jets want to win this game, they’ll have to shore up their defense, which has allowed 190 goals this season – the most on the league.

    As far as goaltending is concerned, 18-15-2 Connor Hellebuyck takes most of the fall for the Jets. Although he has a winning record and is the best Winnipeg netminder, he has a .91 season save percentage and 2.8 GAA to his credit – only the (t)29th and (t)34th-best efforts, respectively, among the 47 goalies with at least 19 appearances.

    Unfortunately for the Jets, it gets worse before it gets better. Even with Dustin Byfuglien‘s team-leading 99 shot blocks, Winnipeg still allows 31 shots-per-game to reach Hellebuyck’s crease, which ties for the 10th-highest rate in the league.

    Pair two deficiencies on the same end of the ice together, and you yield a poor special teams unit. That’s the situation the Jets face, as they’re third-worst in the NHL on the penalty kill, successful on only 76.7% of attempts. Even though he’s injured, Toby Enstrom still tops the team with his 23 shorthanded shot blocks. Instead, Jacob Trouba will be called upon to rally the troops to keep as many pucks as possible out of Hellebuyck’s crease, as his 18 shorthanded blocks are second-most on the team.

    The Canadiens have already made their yearly trip to Winnipeg, and it was a successful one for them. Led by Artturi Lehkonen‘s two-goal, three-point performance, the Habs claimed a 7-4 victory on January 11.

    Some players to keep an eye on this afternoon include Montréal‘s Max Pacioretty (28 goals [third-most in the league]) and Price (24 wins [ninth-most in the NHL]) & Winnipeg‘s Patrik Laine (27 goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]) and Mark Scheifele (58 points [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]).

    It’s hard to argue with Vegas on this one: Montréal is favored to beat the Jets at -165. Although both teams struggle on the penalty kill, only the Habs can be counted on to take advantage. Pair that with their overall solid defense, and it should be a Julien winner. Hopefully Montrealers have a short memory are forgiving of him coaching their rivals.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Andy Moog (1960-) – Just because you’re a seventh-rounder doesn’t mean you’re not a good player. Selected by Edmonton in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, this goaltender proved just that, as he earned the 1990 Jennings Trophy to go with his four All-Star selections and three Stanley Cups.
    • Alexander Mogilny (1969-) – Buffalo selected this right wing 89th-overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, so that’s the number he wore throughout his career. The Russian was named to four All-Star teams, and also won the 2003 Byng Trophy to go with his Stanley Cup in 2000.
    • Nik Antropov (1980-) – Another Russian, this center was the 10th-overall selection in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft by Toronto. He spent most of his 13 seasons with the Leafs and notched 465 points before hanging up his skates for good in 2013.
    • Cody Hodgson (1990-) – Another center selected 10th-overall pick, this Canadian was drafted by Vancouver in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. That being said, he’s spent a majority of his career in the Sabres‘ system.

    With Second Star of the Game Brandon Dubinsky‘s overtime winner, Columbus retained it’s undefeated record when hosting the Penguins this season, winning yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day 2-1.

    Both regulation goals were struck within five minutes of each other. Ryan Murray (William Karlsson and Josh Anderson) takes credit for the Jackets‘ tally, burying his backhand only 1:33 after resuming play after the first intermission. Ian Cole tied the contest 4:40 later, set up by Evgeni Malkin‘s face-off win.

    Dubinsky (Cam Atkinson and Seth Jones) needed only 64 seconds of three-on-three overtime before registering the Jackets‘ only shot, a pure snap shot that found the back of Third Star Matthew Murray‘s net.

    First Star Sergei Bobrovsky earns the victory after saving 38-of-39 shots faced (97.4%), leaving the overtime loss to Murray, who saved 37-of-39 (94.9%).

    Columbus‘ victory is the second-straight by a home team in the DtFR Game of the Day series and improves the hosts’ record to 64-42-18, five points better than the visitors.

  • February 10 – Day 114 – Should the Blackhawks be scared of Winnipeg?

    It’s not often I say this, but today is not a great day for hockey – no matter how hard Hall of Fame coach Bob Johnson tries to convince us otherwise.

    There’s only two games on the schedule today, and they’re both snoozers. Both Tampa Bay at Minnesota (NBCSN/TVAS) and Chicago at Winnipeg drop the puck at 8 p.m. eastern this evening.

    Of the two, I expect the contest in Manitoba to be the better tonight since it’s a divisional matchup, so off to Canada we go!

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    This is the fifth game in 33-17-5 Chicago‘s six-game road trip leading up to their bye week, but that doesn’t seem to be bothering them too much. They’re currently riding a three-game winning streak that has propelled them to the second-best mark in the Western Conference. The reason they’ve been so good? Their offense has managed 154 goals in 55 games, which ties for the 10th-best rate in the league.

    Remember how Patrick Kane won the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award and the Art Ross Trophy last season for absolutely annihilating the NHL with 106 points? He may not be reaching that number again this year, but he’s still leading the pack for the Hawks. His 53 points are the most on the club. However, it’s not him scoring the puck this campaign. Instead, he’s leaving that responsibility to Marian Hossa, who’s 19 tallies are tops in Chicago (sorry Wade Megan, we’re only counting NHL goals).

    The main issue for the Blackhawks continues to be their penalty kill, which ranks fourth-worst in the league and stops only 76.7% of opposing power plays. One of the few bright spots has been the play of Niklas Hjalmarsson, who has blocked 27 shots when facing the man-advantage.

    Playing host this evening are the 25-27-4 Jets, who currently occupy fifth-place in the Central Division and 11th in the Western Conference, due in part to their two-game losing skid. The biggest struggle in Winnipeg this season is on the defensive end, as the Jets have allowed 175 goals against – the most in the NHL.

    17-13-1 Connor Hellebuyck has gotten most of the starts this season, and for good reason: he has the best save percentage and GAA in Winnipeg. Saving .909 percent of pucks for a 2.78 GAA, he stacks up (t)30th and 32nd in the league against the 47 other netminders with at least 17 appearances.

    That being said, it’s been 4-4-0 Ondrej Pavelec that Paul Maurice has charged with manning the crease for the past four games, even though his .888 save percentage and 3.55 GAA are the worst marks by Jets goalies. It’ll be interesting to see who Maurice decides to give the nod against Chicago‘s solid offense.

    Unfortunately, the troubles don’t stop there for Winnipeg. Even though Dustin Byfuglien has a decent 95 shot blocks to his credit to lead the squad (ties for 33rd-most in the NHL), the Jets allow 30.7 shots to reach Hellebuyck’s crease per game, the (t)12th-worst rate in the league.

    Pair a poor defense with poor goaltending, and you get a miserable penalty kill. That’s the situation Winnipeg finds itself in, as it’s 76.6% kill rate in third-worst in the NHL. Fortunately for the Jets, they do have Toby Enstrom managing the defensive special team with his team-leading 22 shorthanded blocks.

    The Blackhawks just got the monkey off their back in Minnesota, beating the Wild for the first time in nine games Wednesday. Now they turn their attention to the Jets, an unusual team that seems to genuinely look forward to playing the Hawks. Winnipeg has already won the first four contests between the clubs by a combined score of 14-5. They last met in Chicago on January 26, where the Jets won 5-3.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Chicago‘s Scott Darling (.925 save percentage [fourth-best in the NHL] for a 2.31 GAA [ninth-best in the league]) should he play, Duncan Keith (34 assists [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]) and Kane (36 assists [tied for third-most in the league] among 53 points [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]) & Winnipeg‘s Mark Scheifele (25 goals among 53 points [both tied for seventh-most in the league]).

    This is a tough game to pick. Chicago is the obvious choice given their winning streak and overall superior play, but they are on the tail end of a long road trip. Winnipeg has home ice, and of course has won the last four games against the Hawks in convincing fashion. I wouldn’t bet on this game, but I’ll take the Jets to try to complete the season sweep.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Bud Poile (1924-2005) – This right win played for every Original Six team but Montréal, but he spent most of his days in a Toronto sweater. His most memorable season was in 1946-’47, when he won the Stanley Cup. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990 as a Builder.
    • Randy Velischek (1962-) – The 53rd-overall pick in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft by the North Stars, this defenseman played most of his career in New Jersey. His 1984-’85 campaign in Minnesota was probably his best, as he notched 13 points while only allowing six goals.
    • Peter Popovic (1968-) – Selected by Montréal in the fifth-round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, this defenseman played 485 games over eight seasons in the league – most of which with the Canadiens. His 1995-’96 season was his best, marking a +21 with 14 points to his credit.
    • Mike Ribeiro (1980-) – Currently in his third season in Nashville, this center was selected 45th-overall in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft by Montréal. He’s most known for his six seasons in Dallas.
    • Jakub Kindl (1987-) – The 19th-overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, this defenseman is in his first full season with the Panthers after getting traded from the Red Wings last year.

    Three coaching changes: three winning debuts. Bruce Cassidy pushed the right buttons last night in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, as Boston bested the Sharks 6-3.

    Third Star of the Game David Backes (Torey Krug and David Krejci) got things started quickly, burying a slap shot only 52 seconds into the game to give the Bruins an early lead. It only lasted 6:59 though, as ex-Bruin Joe Thornton (Tomas Hertl) scored his wrister to level the game. The next two goals belonged to the home team. First Star Patrice Bergeron (Backes and Brandon Carlo) took his turn first by scoring a tip-in with 4:08 remaining in the period, followed 1:39 later by Second Star David Pastrnak‘s (Bergeron) power play slap shot to set the score at 3-1 going into the first intermission.

    Justin Braun (Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau) did his best Backes impression to pull the Sharks within a tally only 1:08 after resuming play, but Boston‘s offense was more than up to the task. With 6:56 remaining in the second period, Tim Schaller (Riley Nash and Dominic Moore) scored the eventual game-winning goal, followed 6:07 later by Pastrnak’s (Bergeron and Brad Marchand) second power play goal of the game, which set the score at 5-2 going into the second intermission.

    With 2:37 remaining in the game, Timo Meier (Joel Ward and Hertl) scored a wrister for his third tally of the season, but even that goal didn’t go unanswered. With exactly 30 seconds remaining in the game Marchand (Bergeron and Backes) tacked on one final goal for the Bruins.

    Tuukka Rask earns the victory after saving 23-of-26 shots faced (88.5%), while Aaron Dell takes the loss, saving 18-of-20 (90%). He replaced Martin Jones, who’d saved only nine-of-12 (75%), after the first intermission. Jones earned no decision.

    Boston‘s win is the second in three days by a home team in the DtFR Game of the Day series to improve the hosts’ record to 61-37-18, 10 points better than the roadies.

  • December 11 – Day 60 – Round Three for Me

    Like U2 said, it’s basically just another Sunday in the NHL. The league has scheduled eight games for us to watch, starting with Ottawa at Anaheim (TVAS) at 4 p.m. Two more games drop the puck at 5 p.m. (Philadelphia at Detroit and Vancouver at Washington), followed an hour later by St. Louis at Minnesota to complete the afternoon matinees. Three contests get green-lit at the usual 7 p.m. starting time (Dallas at Chicago, Colorado at Toronto [SN] and New Jersey at the New York Rangers), with Winnipeg at Edmonton, this evening’s nightcap, waiting until 9:30 p.m. to get underway. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • New Jersey at New York: The Battle of the Hudson River finally gets underway in the 2016-17 season.
    • Winnipeg at Edmonton: Similarly, this rivalry makes it’s first visit to Rogers Place.

    I expect the late game to one of the better games of the day, so we’re off to The Big E.

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    It’s the second of Winnipeg‘s two-game, two-day weekend road trip. Looking to avoid their third-straight loss, the Jets will try to overcome goaltending that has allowed 92 goals, which ties for second-most in the league.

    Connor Hellebuyck has been the man between the pipes for the Jets more often than not this season, and has earned a 10-9-1 record in those 20 starts. To claim that record, he’s set a .908 save percentage and 2.73 GAA, both numbers the 30th-best effort among the 44 netminders with 10 or more appearances so far this season.

    Disappointingly, much of that responsibility rests on his shoulders. Although the Jets don’t have an exceptional defense, they allow only 29.9 shots to reach the net each game, the 13th-fewest among all clubs. That effort has been headlined by defensive extraordinaire Dustin Byfuglien, who has already prevented 54 shots from reaching Hellebuyck’s cage.

    Not surprisingly, Winnipeg‘s penalty kill has also suffered so far this year. Negating only 77.9% of their infractions, the Jets‘ penalty kill ranks fifth-worst in the league. Don’t tell Toby Enstrom though, as he has an impressive 15 shorthanded blocks to his credit to not only lead the team, but tie for 10th-most in the entire NHL.

    The power play has also been fairly unimpressive. Even with rookie Patrik Laine‘s nine power play points (seven of which are goals, which also leads the club), the Jets have found success on only 15.4% of opportunities to rank seventh-worst in the league.

    Hosting Winnipeg this evening are the 14-11-5 Oilers, a team sitting in third place in the Pacific Division. Much of the reason they’ve been able to find such success this season has been due to their explosive offense, which ranks fifth-best in the NHL after scoring 89 goals.

    He was the number one pick in last season’s draft, and every game proves that Peter Chiarelli made the right decision (not that it was in any doubt). Connor McDavid is the king of River City, already notching 38 points this season. While his dozen goals are impressive, it’s been Leon Draisaitl with the scoring lead, burying 13 goals so far this year.

    To continue the onslaught, Edmonton is home to the fifth-best power play in the game, converting 22.1% of their opportunities. The usual suspects have both led the man-advantage with 11 points apiece, but it has been Draisaitl with seven power play goals.

    The penalty kill has also been very impressive for the Oil. They’ve refused to yield a power play goal in 84.4% of situations, the ninth-best rate in the league. Heading the shorthanded goal-stopping effort has been not-so-new-anymore addition Kris Russell, who has 15 undermanned blocks to his credit.

    This matchup has already been played twice this season, with Edmonton winning both games by a combined 9-3, in Manitoba no less.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Edmonton‘s Draisaitl (13 goals [tied for seventh-most in the league]), McDavid (38 points, including 26 assists [both lead the NHL]) and Cam Talbot (three shutouts [tied for second-most in the league] among 13 wins [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]) & Winnipeg‘s Nikolaj Ehlers (19 assists [tied for seventh-most in the league]), Laine (17 goals [third-most in the NHL]) and Mark Scheifele (14 goals [tied for fifth-most in the league] for 28 points [10th-most in the NHL]).

    A quick search did not yield a line for this game, so it looks like the know-it-alls in the desert are calling this one too close to call. I like the Oilers to win. Not only does Winnipeg have a losing skid hanging over them, but their special teams pale in the face of Edmonton‘s.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Moose Vasko (1935-1998) – This defenseman’s given name might have been Elmer, but his nickname Moose was more descriptive of his efforts over his 13 seasons. Most of that time was spent in Chicago, where he hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1961.
    • J.P. Parise (1941-2015) – He may have never hoisted the Stanley Cup, but this left wing was twice an All-Star. Most of his 594-point career was spent in Minnesota with the North Stars.
    • Daniel Alfredsson (1972-) – The greatest scorer in Senators history, this right wing was drafted by the club in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. By the time his 17 seasons in Ottawa were complete, he’d notched 1108 points. His number 11 will be retired on December 29.
    • Mark Streit (1977-) – A Montréal draft pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, this defenseman is in his fourth season in Philadelphia.

    By scoring in each period, the Panthers were able to defend home ice against Vancouver 4-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Florida didn’t wait too long to get the scoring started. Their lone goal of the first period was struck only 2:22 into the match by First Star of the Game Aleksander Barkov (Third Star Seth Griffith) with an impressive wrist shot.

    With 25 seconds remaining until the midway point of regulation, Derek MacKenzie (Paul Thompson and Colton Sceviour) lit the lamp with a tip-in goal to set the score at 2-0, which held into the second intermission.

    Aaron Ekblad (Jaromir Jagr and Barkov) buried what proved to be the winning goal only 1:05 into the final frame with a backhanded shot. The Canucks finally got on the board at the 8:06 mark with a Jack Skille (Michael Chaput) wrister to pull within two, followed 3:39 later by a power play tally from Daniel Sedin (Troy Stecher and Henrik Sedin), but the comeback met its end with 48 seconds remaining in regulation when Vincent Trocheck (MacKenzie and Mark Pysyk) scored on an empty net.

    Second Star Roberto Luongo earned the victory after saving 37-of-39 shots faced (94.9%), while Jacob Markstrom takes the loss, saving 38-of-41 (92.7%).

    With a win today from Edmonton, the home teams will complete their week-streak over the roadies in the DtFR Game of the Day series. This success has given the hosts a 35-19-8 record, with favors them by 13 points over the visitors.

  • December 1 – Day 50 – This one’s not outside, but it’s still cool… right?

    How special that the 50th day of play perfectly aligns with December 1. It’s like the NHL planned it that way.

    As usual, Thursday is one of our busier weekdays, so without further ado…

    Four games drop the puck at 7 p.m. (Carolina at Boston, the New York Rangers at Buffalo, Dallas at Pittsburgh [SN360] and the New York Islanders at Washington), followed half an hour later by two more (Philadelphia at Ottawa [RDS] and Florida at Detroit). 8 p.m. marks the start of a pair of games (Tampa Bay at St. Louis and Edmonton at Winnipeg), with New Jersey at Chicago waiting 30 minutes before getting underway. Two more contests get green lit at 9 p.m. (Columbus at Colorado and Los Angeles at Arizona) trailed an hour later by this evening’s nightcap: Anaheim at Vancouver (SN360). All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • New York at Washington: I like rivalries. You like rivalries. We all like rivalries.
    • Edmonton at Winnipeg: This rivalry has existed even longer than New York–Washington, going back to these clubs’ WHA days.

    I expect the contest at the MTS Centre to be the better of our two rivalries this evening, so off to Manitoba!

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    Wait, didn’t we already feature this game? Yes, yes we have. In fact, if I went through my record correctly, this is the first exact rematch in the DtFR Game of the Day series this season, featuring both teams back in the same city.

    Then again, is it truly an identical rematch? That distinction of city instead of arena was intentional. When we featured these two last time, they played at Investors Group Field where the Oilers have a perfect 1-0-0 franchise record after beating the Jets 3-0.

    Edmonton enters tonight’s game with a 12-10-2 record, good enough for third place in the Pacific Division. They’ve earned that position with a solid offense that has scored 69 goals already this season – the fifth-best effort in the NHL.

    You get two guesses to find out who’s leading the Oil, and you probably won’t need the second. It’s been Captain Connor McDavid, who has 31 points to his credit to average 1.29 points per game – the best effort in the league among players with more than two games played (yes, that intentionally excludes only Jack Eichel‘s two points in one game). 11 of McDavid’s points have been goals, which also leads the club by four tallies.

    Defensively, the Oilers have been especially impressive on the penalty kill. They rank second-best in the NHL by not allowing a goal on 88.4% of opposing power plays. Leading the charge during these undermanned situations has been Darnell Nurse, who has 10 shorthanded blocks on his resume.

    Hosting them this evening are the 11-12-2 Jets who occupy sixth place in the Central Division. Although they have a good offense, Winnipeg has been held back by their defense and goaltending that has allowed 72 goals, the fourth-most in the league.

    Another Connor, Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has started between the pipes 17 times this season, earning a 9-8-0 record. Through those games, he’s earned a .915 save percentage and a 2.54 GAA, tying for (t)20th and 19th-worst among the 41 neminders with nine or more appearances.

    If we’ve learned nothing else from the Jets, it’s that an average paired with an average defense does not yield a consistent winning result. Even though four Winnipeg blueliners have 30 or more stops – led by Dustin Byfuglien‘s 44 blocks – they allow an average of 30.3 shots against per night, the only 15th-best rate in the league. While I’m still leaning towards the goaltending taking most of the blame, the Jets‘ defense does need to find a better way to limit opposing opportunities beyond blocking shots.

    As might have been suspected, the penalty kill has also been a problem for the Jets. Even though Toby Enstrom has 11 shorthanded blocks to his name, Winnipeg ranks eighth-worst when a man-down, stopping only 80.4% of opposing power plays.

    Given an offense that has scored 65 goals already this season, it is somewhat surprising that Winnipeg‘s power play has found success on only 13.8% of attempts. Rookie Patrik Laine leads that charge with seven power play points, five of which are goals.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Edmonton‘s McDavid (31 points on 20 assists [both lead the NHL] and 11 goals [tied for seventh-most in the league]) and Cam Talbot (three shutouts [tied for second-most in the NHL] among 11 wins [tied for sixth-most in the league]) & Winnipeg‘s Nikolaj Ehlers (16 assists [tied for third-most in the NHL]), Laine (13 goals [tied for second-most in the league]) and Mark Scheifele (26 points on 13 goals [both tied for second-most in the NHL]).

    Vegas favors Winnipeg tonight, but not by much. The line reads -110, effectively only rewarding the Jets for playing at home. Due to that, I feel like Edmonton will be able to pull off the victory, as their defense and goaltending is slightly better than Winnipeg‘s.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Ryan Malone (1979-) – Although drafted by his hometown Penguins, this left wing is most known for his six seasons in Tampa Bay.
    • Tomas Tatar (1990-) – The 60th-overall selection in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, he’s entering his sixth season with Detroit.

    An impressive three-goal first period led the Sharks to a 4-1 road upset of host Los Angeles in the Battle of California.

    The onslaught of goals started at the 3:32 mark with the second goal of rookie Kevin Labanc‘s (First Star of the Game Logan Couture and Second Star Joel Ward) career, a forceful wrist shot. With 55 seconds remaining in the frame, Couture (Joonas Donskoi and Ward) doubled a wrister of his own, trailed 30 ticks of the clock later by Ryan Carpenter‘s (Mikkel Boedker) first-ever career goal.

    The only goal of the second frame belonged to the host Kings. 3:01 after resuming play, Third Star Dustin Brown (Marian Gaborik and Nic Dowd) took advantage of a Labanc hooking penalty to pull back within two goals, but they were never able to tickle the twine again before the clock emptied.

    San Jose‘s final tally was with 77 remaining in the game, an empty-netter by Couture.

    Martin Jones earns the victory after saving 26-of-27 shots faced (96.3%), leaving the loss to Peter Budaj, saving 20-of-23 (87%).

    San Jose‘s victory is the first regulation win in the DtFR Game of the Day series since Ottawa’s 2-0 win on Sunday. It sets the series record at 28-17-7 in favor of the home squads, favoring them by six points over the roadies.

  • November 5 – Day 24 – Rematch, Vol. II

    Exactly what Elton John said. So good for fighting, in fact, that we’ll have 13 of them, starting with a matinee featuring Minnesota at Colorado (SN) at 3 p.m. The usual starting time of 7 p.m. brings eight puck drops (Columbus at St. Louis, New Jersey at Tampa Bay, the New York Rangers at Boston [NHLN], Philadelphia at Montréal [CITY/TVAS], Buffalo at Ottawa [SN1/SN360], Florida at Washington, Edmonton at the New York Islanders [SN] and Vancouver at Toronto [CBC]), followed an hour later by two more (Carolina at Nashville and Chicago at Dallas). The west coast gets involved at 10 p.m. with Calgary visiting Los Angeles (CBC/SN1), followed half an hour later by our nightcap: Pittsburgh at San Jose. All times eastern.

    Short List:

    • New York at Boston: It’s an Original Six rivalry as well as hockey’s iteration of the USA’s most famous sports rivalry.
    • Buffalo at Ottawa: Another rivalry for the Sabres this week.
    • Philadelphia at Montréal: Dale Weise returns to the Bell Centre wearing white after spending three seasons with the Canadiens.
    • Calgary at Los Angeles: Kris Versteeg is also making a return to his home arena of a year ago, but he only played for the Kings one season.
    • Pittsburgh at San Jose: It’s the second and final Stanley Cup Finals rematch this year, this one taking place on the surface where hardware was distributed.

    The Penguins and Sharks won’t run into each other again this calendar year, so we’re off to the Tank!

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    Game 8 of the Stanley Cup Finals goes down tonight!

    …Wait…

    Well, it is the eighth and final meeting between the Pens and Sharks in 2016, and Pittsburgh has certainly had the advantage in that time-span. Not only do they have the Stanley Cup in their possession due to beating the Sharks four times in early June, but the Penguins already won the first rematch in Pittsburgh 3-2.

    San Jose enters the night with a 6-5-0 record, even if they are riding a two-game losing skid. So far this season, they’ve found success in their defense and goaltending, allowing only 27 goals against.

    Martin Jones has started all but one game this season, and has a 5-5-0 record to show for a .909 save percentage and 2.34 GAA. Those are both decent statistics, but I would contest that they’re due in part to the help he is getting from his blue line (and sometimes even forwards!), as three skaters (Justin Braun, Brent Burns and Paul Martin) have 20 or more blocks to their credit and three more have over 10 (Joe Pavelski, David Schlemko and Marc-Edouard Vlasic).

    In the other corner, the 7-2-2 Penguins enter the Tank on a five-game point streak. While the Sharks are a defensive-minded club, the Penguins prefer to score with 31 goals already to their credit.

    Leading the way for Pittsburgh as been Evgeni Malkin, who has 11 points to his credit to average a point-per-game. That being said, Sidney Crosby is hot on his tail with eight points on six goals. He’s appeared on the score sheet in each of the five games he’s played since returning from his concussion and has been a force to be reckoned with.

    The Pens have been exceptionally potent on the power play so far this season. For every four extra-man opportunities, Pittsburgh has found the back of the net once – the fifth-best rate in the league. Michael Haley will need to keep himself contained if the Sharks want to earn a victory.

    That being said, part of the reason the Sharks have been so strong has been their ability to negate penalties. Their 86.7% kill rate ranks sixth-best in the league, a good match for Pittsburgh‘s attack.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Pittsburgh‘s Marc-Andre Fleury (six wins [tied for second-most in the NHL]) and Malkin (six goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]) & San Jose‘s Pavelski (eight assists [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]).

    The Sharks desperately want to defend the Tank and earn a win this evening given what happened the last time the Penguins came to town. Vegas has them marked to win with a -125. I don’t feel quite that confident, but that may be partially my bias. Whichever team is able to win the special teams battle, especially when Pittsburgh has the man-advantage, should walk away with tonight’s victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Cooney Weiland (1904-1985) – A center from Ontario, Weiland played 11 NHL seasons, 71.7% of which were with the Bruins.
    • Sergei Berezin (1971-) – A left winger from Russia that played seven NHL seasons. He started his career in Toronto, where he played 357 games and scored 220 points.
    • Alexei Yashin (1973-) – Another Russian, but Yashin played center. He was drafted second overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by Ottawa and played 850 games over a dozen seasons.
    • Toby Enstrom (1984-) – This Swedish defenseman is working on his 10th season in the NHL, all of which have been spent with the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise.
    • Nikolai Zherdev (1984-) – The fourth overall of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, this right wing has played six seasons in the best league in the world so far. Currently playing in the KHL, he’s most remembered for his four seasons in Columbus.

    On a night where 24 goals were scored among five teams (Montréal was shutout by Columbus), a 5-1 Anaheim victory seemed par for the course in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    The Ducks struck first, waiting 9:05 before Kevin Bieksa (Third Star of the Game Corey Perry and Second Star Rickard Rakell) scored his first goal of the season on a power play slap shot. The eventual game-winner was struck 3:06 later when Rakell (Perry and Michael Sgarbossa) found Anaheim gold with a slap shot of his own. The third and final tally of the frame also belonged to the Ducks, this time a Jakob Silfverberg (First Star Antoine Vermette and Andrew Cogliano) backhander to set the score at 3-0 45 seconds before the first intermission.

    With 6:37 remaining in the second period Vermette (Ondrej Kase and Josh Manson) scored a slap shot to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead. Arizona finally stopped the bleeding with a goal from Jamie McGinn (Radim Vrbata and Christian Dvorak) 3:09 later, but was unable to find another with the remaining time.

    Rakell (Ryan Kesler) scored another insurance goal in the third period to put the final nail in the Coyotes‘ coffin.

    John Gibson earns the victory after saving 21-of-22 shots faced (95.5%), while Louis Domingue saved 18-of-21 (85.7%) in the loss. He was replaced after 20 minutes of play by Justin Peters, who saved 10-of-12 (83.3%) for no decision.

    With the Ducks‘ victory, the DtFR Game of the Day series stands at 14-9-3, favoring the home squads by four points.