Down the Frozen River

Tag: Florida Panthers

  • DTFR Podcast #135- Welcome to Seattle

    DTFR Podcast #135- Welcome to Seattle

    This week’s episode is chock full of coffee infused, Seattle inspired, artisanal Seattle expansion discussion in addition to William Nylander’s new deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Plus, waivers and trades are rampant this time of year, Tom Wilson: The Bad and the Bad Things That Happened This Week, Chuck Fletcher was hired as General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers and a 15-year first round draft pick look back of the Los Angeles Kings.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • Panthers pounce on Bruins, 5-0

    Aleksander Barkov had three assists and Mike Hoffman had two goals in the Florida Panthers sunset cruise over the Boston Bruins in Sunrise, Florida on Tuesday night. The Panthers won, 5-0, thanks to Roberto Luongo‘s 33 save shutout– good enough for his 77th career shutout in 1,011 NHL games played.

    Luongo (5-3-0, 2.71 goals against average, .914 save percentage in ten games played), stopped 33 shots against for a 1.000 SV% in the win, while Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (8-4-2, 2.55 GAA, .932 SV% in 16 GP) made 39 saves on 44 shots against (.886 SV%) in the loss.

    Boston fell to 14-9-4 (32 points) on the season, but remained in 4th place in the Atlantic Division standings, while the Panthers jumped up to 7th place with a 11-10-5 record and 27 points on the season. Florida has a game in-hand on the Ottawa Senators and trails the Detroit Red Wings for 6th place by one point.

    The B’s are one point ahead of the Montreal Canadiens in the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and may soon be in danger of falling further in the standings with Montreal having the chance to surpass Boston on Thursday night with a Bruins loss in regulation in Tampa and a Canadiens win any fashion in Ottawa.

    Torey Krug was in the lineup for Boston, despite taking a maintenance day on Monday, though his minus-three rating in Tuesday night’s action may say otherwise.

    Bruce Cassidy provided an update on Charlie McAvoy, indicating the young defender will be back in the lineup soon, but not expected to play on this two-game road trip in the Sunshine State. McAvoy returned to full-contact practice this week.

    Cassidy made no lineup changes, despite the poor efforts in three out of the last four games now.

    Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Steven Kampfer were the healthy scratches for the Bruins on Tuesday, while Zdeno Chara (lower body, left MCL), Patrice Bergeron (upper body), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion), McAvoy (concussion) and Kevan Miller (throat) remain injured.

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    Joakim Nordstrom hooked Dryden Hunt late in the first period at 15:34 and gave the Panthers their first power play of the night, but the Bruins were able to kill off Nordstrom’s minor and save themselves from one of the many chances Florida’s deadly power play would have on the night.

    Mark Pysyk interfered with David Krejci at 17:41 of the first period and put Boston on the power play for the first time in the game, but the Bruins were unable to convert on any of their skater advantages on the night. Boston failed to record a shot on goal on the power play while Pysyk was in the box.

    After one period, the score was still tied, 0-0, with Florida outshooting Boston, 13-7. The Panthers also led in giveaways, 8-6, after 20 minutes of play, while the Bruins led in blocked shots (4-3), takeaways (1-0) and face-off win percentage (52-48). Hits were even, 10-10, and both teams were 0/1 on the power play.

    With both teams coming out of the dressing room after playing on sloppy ice and lacking effort at establishing some sort of pace, the Bruins continued to struggle to establish a zone time presence and got outrun numerous times in the second period as the Panthers came back ready to play.

    Seriously.

    First Colton Sceviour banked a shot off of the back of Halak’s leg, leading to a loose puck in the crease for Mike Hoffman (13) to just tap it in and give the Panthers the 1-0 lead. Scevious (4) and Jonathan Huberdeau (23) had the assists on Hoffman’s goal at 4:21 of the second period.

    Jared McCann took a trip to the penalty box shortly after his teammate gave Florida the lead. McCann’s infraction was for hooking Bruins blue liner, John Moore, at 5:30.

    Boston did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    Almost midway in the second period, Michael Matheson (2) went 200-feet down the frozen river from one end of the ice to the other and scored an unassisted goal past Halak’s blocker side at 7:13 of the middle frame. Florida led, 2-0.

    The Bruins were 0-7 when trailing by two goals entering Tuesday and they left BB&T Center 0-8 at the final horn.

    Michael Haley caught Halak with a high-stick at 14:04, but the B’s power play was short-lived– 16 seconds, in fact– as David Pastrnak was penalized for holding at 14:20.

    While in the midst of the 4-on-4 action, Huberdeau (7) fired one of his accurate wrist shots into the back of the twine at 15:14 of the second period. Keith Yandle (20) and Aleksander Barkov (14) were tabbed with the assists and the Panthers led, 3-0.

    Hunt was charged with interference at 17:51, but Pastrnak received a matching minor penalty for embellishment, yielding no skater advantage for the Bruins.

    Jake DeBrusk cut a rut to the sin bin at 19:00 of the second period for slashing Sceviour and the Panthers went on a rare 4-on-3 power play.

    With seconds remaining on the clock before the second intermission, Hoffman (14) emulated Matheson’s goal, but with the help of Barkov (15) and Yandle (21) to give Florida a four-goal lead at 19:56.

    As a result of Hoffman’s second goal of the game, the Panthers have now scored at least one power play goal in 16 out of the last 17 games.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Panthers led the Bruins, 4-0, on the scoreboard and, 33-23, in shots on goal. Florida also dominated in blocked shots (8-4) and takeaways (6-4), while Boston led in giveaways (15-10) and face-off win% (60-40). Hits were even, 18-18.

    Florida was 1/3 on the power play and the B’s were 0/3 after two periods.

    Nick Bjugstad was called for holding Sean Kuraly at 5:20 of the third period and the Bruins went to the power play for the fourth and final time of the night. They did not score on the ensuing advantage.

    Moore went to the penalty box for hooking former Bruin, Frank Vatrano, at 9:10 of the third period and Chris Wagner shortly followed to the sin bin at 10:49 for tripping Bjugstad.

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    Connor Clifton launched himself into a high hit on Bjugstad with about eight minutes remaining in regulation. Bjugstad took his time getting up and had to go through concussion protocol, but Clifton was not penalized on the play.

    The rookie Bruins defender filling in while blue line regulars like Chara, McAvoy and Miller are out of the lineup received an earful for the remainder of the game from unhappy Panthers players, but wasn’t challenged to fight.

    Instead, while on the power play as a result of Brandon Carlo cross-checking Vatrano at 13:02 of the third period, the Panthers collected another power play goal thanks to the relentless effort of Evgenii Dadonov (13) collecting the garbage in the low slot.

    Barkov (16) had the only assist on Dadonov’s goal at 14:26 and the Panthers sealed their Tuesday night victory with a 5-0 lead.

    At the final horn, Florida finished the night outshooting Boston, 44-33, and leading in blocked shots (16-8). The Bruins led in giveaways (19-15), hits (26-22) and face-off win% (56-44)– two of the three don’t equal scoring prowess.

    Giving the puck away is problematic and usually teams that lead in hits lacked puck control to begin with, which was evident in the lack of sustained attacking zone time from Cassidy’s crew.

    Florida finished the night 2/6 on the power play and Boston went 0/4.

    The Bruins head to Amalie Arena for a Thursday night matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning before returning home Saturday to face the Toronto Maple Leafs.

    Boston has a quick turnaround back to the road on Sunday with a game in Ottawa against the Senators, before coming back home for next Tuesday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes.

    In fact, including Thursday night’s game in Tampa, Boston alternates between road and home games for the next seven games until their short two-game home-stand from December 20-22.

    The Bruins face five opponents in the next seven games from the Atlantic Division in addition to the Pittsburgh Penguins (Eastern Conference rival) and Coyotes (inter-conference action).

  • Red Wings top Bruins, 4-2, at TD Garden

    For the first time since October 4, 2013, the Detroit Red Wings have a victory in regulation at TD Garden, having beaten the Boston Bruins, 4-2, on Saturday.

    Frans Nielsen scored the game-winning goal on a tip-in midway through the third period and Gustav Nyquist added the insurance empty net goal late in the third to lift Detroit over Boston on the road.

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    Jimmy Howard (9-6-3, 2.66 goals against average, .923 save percentage in 19 games played) backstopped the Red Wings to victory, stopping 38 out of 40 shots faced for a .950 SV% in the win, while Bruins netminder, Tuukka Rask (6-5-2, 2.59 GAA, .915 SV% in 13 GP) turned aside 23 out of 26 shots against for a .917 SV% in the loss.

    Boston remained in 4th place in the Atlantic Division, despite the loss, with a 14-8-4 record (32 points) on the season, while Detroit jumped to 6th place in the Atlantic with a 12-11-3 record and 27 points on the year.

    Brandon Carlo returned to the lineup for the B’s on the blue line after missing the last nine games with an upper body injury. As a result, Bruce Cassidy made Steven Kampfer a healthy scratch, alongside Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (healthy scratch), Zdeno Chara (lower body, left MCL), Patrice Bergeron (upper body), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion), Charlie McAvoy (concussion) and Kevan Miller (throat) in the press box.

    Cassidy kept the same lines from Thursday night’s overtime win against the New York Islanders, but adjusted his defensive pairs as such with John Moore alongside Matt Grzelcyk, Torey Krug with Carlo and Jeremy Lauzon on the bottom pair with Connor Clifton.

    Colby Cave was penalized for boarding Detroit forward, Justin Abdelkader, 65 seconds into the game Saturday night and the Red Wings went on the power play.

    Boston killed off the penalty with ease and swapped special team units from their penalty kill to the power play about 30 seconds after Cave returned to the ice as Abdelkader slashed Krug at 3:38 of the first period.

    The Bruins did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    Sean Kuraly tripped up Michael Rasmussen at 13:34, but the Red Wings were unable to take advantage of their skater advantage.

    Shortly thereafter, Dennis Cholowski caught David Pastrnak with a high-stick at 16:30, sending the B’s back on the power play for the third time Saturday night, but while the Bruins couldn’t score on the Red Wings on the power play, they did strike in the vulnerable minute thereafter.

    David Backes (2) retrieved the puck along the wall in the attacking zone and sent a backhand towards the goal whereby the puck deflected off of Cholowski and went past Howard to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 3.8 seconds remaining in the first period.

    Moore (3) and Cave (1) had the assists on Backes’ goal at 19:56. Cave’s assist was his first career NHL point in just his 8th career NHL game (Cave appeared in three games last season and five so far this season).

    Entering the first intermission, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and trailed Detroit, 13-11, in shots on goal. The Bruins, however, held the advantage in blocked shots (6-4) and giveaways (6-3), while the Red Wings led in takeaways (5-3), hits (9-5) and face-off win percentage (65-35).

    Both teams were 0/2 on the power play after on period.

    Tyler Bertuzzi (9) tied things up, 1-1, at 5:45 of the second period on a deflection past Rask off of a shot from Rasmussen. The primary assist was credited to Rasmussen (4), while Mike Green (12) picked up the secondary assist.

    Bertuzzi thought he had a pair of goals midway through the middle frame, Thomas Vanek had slid between Clifton and Rask just enough to clip Rask’s stick and prevent him from playing in the crease to disallow the goal– this was determined after Boston used their coach’s challenge, reversing the call on the ice.

    With the game still tied, 1-1, tempers began to flare.

    First, Cholowski slashed Chris Wagner at 12:47 of the second period. Then Luke Witkowski delivered a hit on David Krejci that didn’t sit well with Boston’s bench given it was the second consecutive game in which Krejci took a big– but clean– blow.

    Joakim Nordstrom answered the call and promptly fought Witkowski in defense of his teammate at 15:08 of the middle period.

    Shortly thereafter, all hell broke loose.

    Brad Marchand delivered a hit on Nick Jensen along the boards in a clean manner that didn’t sit well with Detroit given Witkowski’s clean check on Krejci moments before. Nonetheless, Bertuzzi decided he’d give Marchand a piece of his mind and the two engaged in a battle of words and sticks with Bertuzzi delivering an uncalled cross-check.

    Cave came over to respond to the third-man-in mentality of Bertuzzi and a small scrum ensued– right about the time Howard was vacating his net for a delayed call on Marchand.

    Howard bumped into the scrum and swung his stick around to the observation of Rask at the other end of the ice in the crease, whereby– as everyone on the ice paired up along the benches– Rask came bursting with speed into the pile and tried to engage Howard in a fight, but the refs broke the two goaltenders up.

    We almost had a goalie fight, ladies and gentlemen. Almost.

    It would’ve been the first goaltender duel at TD Garden since Boston’s Tim Thomas and Montreal’s Carey Price went at it in February 2011.

    In the end, Marchand received a slashing minor and Cave was served one as well. Howard got an infraction for roughing, Rask was penalized for leaving the crease, and Jacob de la Rose received two-minutes for slashing too.

    Bertuzzi shortly followed up with an unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty of his own before Detroit ended up on the power play after all was said and done.

    Dylan Larkin (10) capitalized on a scramble in front of Rask after the Bruins netminder made the initial stop. Noel Acciari failed to clear the puck and Nyquist kept it in the zone– flinging the rubber biscuit back to the slot for Larkin to pot the puck into the twine.

    Abdelkader (4) and Nyquist (16) had the assists on Larkin’s power play goal at 17:36 of the second period and the Red Wings led, 2-1.

    Before the second period ended, Green hooked Pastrnak and the Bruins would be on the power play at 18:42 and into the third period.

    Heading into the dressing room after 40 minutes, Detroit led, 2-1, and was tied in shots on goal with Boston, 20-20. The Bruins outshot the Red Wings, 9-7, in the second period alone and held onto the advantage in giveaways (8-5).

    The Red Wings led in blocked shots (11-9), takeaways (7-4), hits (17-16) and face-off win% (57-43). Detroit was 1/3 on the power play heading into the final frame and Boston was 0/5.

    Danny DeKeyser caught Acciari with a high-stick at 4:45 of the third period and the Bruins went on the power play for the sixth time in the game.

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    This time, Boston converted on the ensuing skater advantage with Ryan Donato (2) flying in on a rush and firing the puck past Howard, high, short-side over the blocker into the twine.

    Donato’s power play goal tied the game, 2-2, at 5:31 of the third period and was assisted by Pastrnak (11) and Krug (12).

    Past the mid-point of the final frame, Nielsen (1) tipped in a shot from the point by DeKeyser and gave the Red Wings the lead back on what would become the game-winning goal at 11:53 of the third period.

    DeKeyser (6) and Nyquist (17) had the assists on the goal and Detroit led, 3-2.

    The goal was Nielsen’s first goal in 27 games– dating back to March 27, 2018.

    Cassidy pulled Rask for an extra attacker with about two minutes remaining in regulation, but it wasn’t enough to muster any fighting chance of an effort in the Bruins crew that looked flat after a rousing second period that almost broke-out in a line-brawl.

    Nyquist (4) flung a puck from about the red line into the empty net to give Detroit a two-goal lead and secure the 4-2 victory. DeKeyser (7) had the only assist on Nyquist’s goal at 19:33 of the third period.

    At the final horn, the Red Wings sealed the deal on the win and beat the Bruins, 4-2, despite Boston outshooting Detroit, 40-27. Detroit finished the night leading in blocked shots (16-9), hits (22-21) and face-off win% (63-37), while the B’s led in giveaways (11-6).

    The Wings finished the night 1/4 on the power play and Boston went 1/6.

    These two Atlantic Division rivals meet once more this season on March 31, 2019 in Detroit with the Red Wings leading the season series, 2-1-0.

    Boston travels to Florida for a two-game road trip, swinging through Sunrise, Florida for a matchup against the Panthers on Tuesday and Tampa, Florida on Thursday for a battle with the Lightning before returning home next Saturday to host the Toronto Maple Leafs.

  • That was Nifty! B’s retire Middleton’s No. 16, win in shootout, 2-1 over Islanders

    Brad Marchand tied the game on the power play in the second period and Ryan Donato had the only goal in the shootout to secure the 2-1 victory for the Boston Bruins on Thursday at TD Garden against the New York Islanders.

    Tuukka Rask (6-4-2, 2.54 goals against average, .917 save percentage in 12 games played) turned aside 28 out of 29 shots against (.966 SV%) in regulation and all four shots he faced in the shootout in the win for the Bruins.

    Meanwhile, Robin Lehner (4-6-1, 2.79 GAA, .918 SV% in 12 GP) made 35 saves on 36 shots against in regulation (.972 SV%) and went three-for-four on shots against in the shootout in New York’s loss.

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    Prior to Thursday night’s matchup, Boston retired Rick Middleton‘s No. 16 and raised his jersey banner to the rafters in a ceremony that pushed back puck drop about an hour later than usual.

    Middleton is the 11th player to have his jersey number retired by the Bruins, joining Nos. 2 (Eddie Shore), 3 (Lionel Hitchman), 4 (Bobby Orr), 5 (“Dit” Clapper), 7 (Phil Esposito), 8 (Cam Neely), 9 (Johnny Bucyk), 15 (Milt Schmidt), 24 (Terry O’Reilly) and 77 (Ray Bourque) in the rafters at TD Garden.

    He ranks 3rd all-time in franchise history in goals (402) and 4th all-time in assists (898) with the Bruins, while leading the club record in shorthanded goals with 25 (Derek Sanderson had 24, Brad Marchand has 23) and spent 12 seasons with Boston from 1976-88 after being acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers.

    One of the many highlights of the ceremony was when Middleton quipped in his speech about not inviting a lot of former teammates to his special night because he didn’t want to have too many men on the ice again (Middleton then gave a glance over to former Bruins head coach, Don Cherry, who was in attendance).

    B’s fans alive during the 1979 Stanley Cup Playoffs will remember. Keep reading on if you don’t and/or weren’t alive then.

    With Thursday night’s shootout victory, the Bruins improved to a 14-7-4 record (32 points) on the season. The Islanders fell to 12-9-3 (27 points) on the year.

    Prior to the matchup, Ryan Donato was recalled from a stint with the Providence Bruins (AHL), while Anders Bjork was assigned to Boston’s AHL affiliate after his less than stellar play just over a quarter of the way through the regular season.

    Kevan Miller will be reevaluated after five weeks, having sustained a cartilage injury to the larynx, per Bruce Cassidy earlier in the week and Brandon Carlo may rejoin the Bruins blue line on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings.

    Charlie McAvoy remains out with a concussion, but participated in Thursday’s morning skate in a red non-contact sweater.

    Cassidy inserted Donato on the third line in place of Bjork alongside Joakim Nordstrom and Noel Acciari, while the rest of the forwards remained unchanged.

    On defense, however, Torey Krug was paired with Connor Clifton on the first pairing, John Moore played alongside Steven Kampfer and Jeremy Lauzon was matched with Matt Grzelcyk on the bottom defensive pair.

    Zdeno Chara (lower body, left MCL), Patrice Bergeron (upper body) and Urho Vaakanainen (concussion) joined Carlo, McAvoy and Miller in the press box up on level nine out of the lineup with injuries.

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    Anders Lee (8) kicked off the game’s scoring past the midpoint of the first period, giving the Islanders a, 1-0, lead on a garbage goal in stereotypical fashion from Lee after an odd carom off the end boards went his way into the low slot.

    Mathew Barzal (18) and Scott Mayfield (8) had the assists on Lee’s goal at 12:17 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, the Bruins were outshooting New York, 13-7, and held an advantage in blocked shots (8-7), hits (15-13) and face-off win percentage (56-44). The Islanders led in takeaways (6-5) and both teams had three giveaways each.

    Almost midway through the second period, Acciari tripped up Islanders forward, Anthony Beauvillier, and gave New York their first and only power play of the night at 8:05 of the second period. It was not successful.

    Moments later, Nick Leddy, caught David Backes with a stick up high and received a minor infraction for high-sticking at 11:43. Boston converted on the ensuing power play thanks to the quick work of Krug to David Pastrnak and a cross-ice pass to Brad Marchand (7) for the one-timer past Lehner at 12:09 of the second period.

    Marchand’s power play goal ended a seven-game goalless drought for No. 63 in black-and-gold and tied the game, 1-1. Pastrnak (10) and Krug (11) were credited with the assists and the score remained tied throughout the remainder of the period.

    Heading into the dressing room for the second intermission, the score was tied, 1-1, and the Bruins led in shots on goal (25-16), as well as face-off win% (61-39). The Islanders had the advantage in takeaways (14-8), giveaways (9-7) and hits (26-22), while both teams had 11 blocked shots apiece.

    New York went 0/1 on the power play on the night, while the B’s went 1/1.

    Neither team could breakthrough on the scoreboard in the third period– or in overtime, for that matter– so here’s a quick glance at the stats from the back-and-forth battle over the final 20 minutes of regulation, plus five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime.

    After Three: Shots on Goal, 34-27 BOS (9-7 in the 3rd period alone for BOS), Blocked Shots, 16-16, Takeaways, 23-12 NYI, Giveaways 11-8, NYI, Hits 35-30 NYI, Face-off Win% 61-39 BOS

    After Overtime: SOG (36-29 BOS, 6-2 in OT for NYI), BS 16-16, Takeaways (27-12 NYI), Giveaways (11-8 NYI), Hits (35-32 NYI), Face-off Win% (62-39 BOS)

    In the shootout Barzal shot first for the Islanders and was denied by Rask. Jake DeBrusk had the first attempt for Boston and was denied by Lehner. The remaining rounds went as such:

    Round 2: NYI, Brock Nelson (saved), BOS, Pastrnak (hit post)– (0-0 after two rounds of the shootout)

    Round 3: NYI, Valtteri Filppula (saved), BOS, Marchand (saved)– (0-0 after three rounds)

    Round 4: NYI, Josh Bailey (saved), BOS, Donato (goal)– (1-0 BOS after four rounds)– Bruins win shootout, 1-0, and the game, 2-1

    The shootout victory was Boston’s first shootout win of the season in their first shootout appearance of the regular season– in just their 25th game on the schedule.

    Boston takes on the Red Wings on home ice this Saturday before traveling to Sunrise, Florida for the start of a quick, two-game, road trip against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (Dec. 4th) and heading up to Tampa, Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning next Thursday (Dec. 6th).

  • DTFR Podcast #134- Slinging First Round Picks

    DTFR Podcast #134- Slinging First Round Picks

    The Board of Governors meeting gets underway next week involving the Seattle expansion vote, Bill Peters took a puck to the jaw and Rick Middleton and Vic Hadfield are having their numbers retired this week.

    The Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes made another trade with each other, Karl Alzner is being Wade Redden’ed, Ron Hextall got ousted as the Philadelphia Flyers GM, the Buffalo Sabres win streak reached double digits and the Winnipeg Jets brought back their Heritage Jerseys.

    Nick and Connor also encourage all of Long Island to go to the New York Islanders game at NYCB Live (it’s the Nassau Coliseum) this week and quickly plan a hopeful trip to see Sporting KC play in Atlanta.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • DTFR Podcast #133- Stuffed

    DTFR Podcast #133- Stuffed

    The Original Trio reunites to talk recent trades, recent coaching changes, the Buffalo Sabres current winning streak, a haphazard review of the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers, as well as a look at the division standings as of American Thanksgiving.

    Craig Berube is now in charge behind the bench of the St. Louis Blues and Ken Hitchcock is back from retirement to coach the Oilers after Mike Yeo and Todd McLellan were both fired respectively from their clubs.

    Rasmus Dahlin continues to emerge as a star in Buffalo as the team rises in the standings– can the Sabres keep this up? Will Dahlin get some votes for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year and does Phil Housley deserve credit for the team’s turnaround?

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • Boston Bruins 2018-19 Forecast Through 20 Games

    I’ve been away from the blog for a week (shouts road trips) and look what happens– the Boston Bruins are off to a 1-1-1 start on a four-game road trip, having lost in Colorado, 6-3, against the Avalanche on Nov. 14th, then losing in overtime, 1-0, to the Dallas Stars on Nov. 16th before beating the Arizona Coyotes, 2-1, on Nov. 17th thanks to goals from Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (his first career National Hockey League goal) and Jake DeBrusk (8)– so there’s a quick little recap for you, if you’ve been wondering where the last two games have been around here on the site.

    Oh and the Bruins have reached the quarter-mark of the regular season having completed 20 games, which means it’s time to update my forecasted stats for Boston.

    Really couldn’t have timed a quick trip outside of New England better than I did, thank you very much.

    In all seriousness, the Bruins lost Zdeno Chara due to injury in Colorado– leaving my personal road trip off to a poor taste– then Patrice Bergeron went down with an injury in Dallas while I helplessly streamed the radio broadcast from the NHL app in a hotel room.

    The Hockey Gods don’t believe in having fun outside of the sport.

    My neurotic bumblings were eased with the support of the “next man up” mentality in the dressing room and, well, Connor Clifton beating the crap out of a guy against the Stars in his first career NHL fight (in his NHL debut, nonetheless).

    That guy being Jason Spezza, who’s actually kind of a big deal and not a jerk(?).

    Anyway, Boston is 5th in the Atlantic Division through 20 games played this season with an 11-6-3 record (25 points), a plethora of injuries and a lackluster depth scoring situation.

    Through 20 games last season, the B’s were 9-7-4 (22 points) and 4th in the division.

    This season, 25 points in the Eastern Conference is good enough for the 2nd wild card spot (for now). Last season, 22 points wasn’t good enough to be ahead of the playoff cutoff line.

    If anything, they’re managing to weather the storm well, despite having more injuries to the roster this year than this time last November– but they’re still not showing signs of the dominant Eastern Conference team that we saw from January through March of last season.

    Peaking at the right time is of the utmost importance in sports.

    In high school, when you’re running the mile, it’s the second lap that’s the most important before you begin to drop the hammer on the third lap and go all out on the fourth lap. The second lap is make or break.

    For Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals last season it meant having Holtby get off to a rocky start, lose his starting job for the first two games of the postseason, then go on to win the Stanley Cup by virtue of Holtby regaining his rhythm on top of the ridiculous depth scoring capabilities of guys like Devante Smith-Pelly and Brett Connolly.

    For the Bruins last season, it meant being in contention for the President’s Trophy hunt late into the regular season, falling short, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games in the First Round, then being too worn down to even match the compete level of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Second Round.

    Boston was done in five games– 12 postseason games total.

    What all of this has to do with this season is that basically, the Bruins are a combination of the team on the ice last season and their mirror image below-average start to this season as Washington had last season.

    Their starting netminder has struggled, their scoring depth isn’t apparent and they’re clinging to a playoff berth.

    In other words, it’s too early to rule them out– as evidenced last season, Mike.

    But– and this the important part– the window for optimal peak performance is closing. The B’s are running the second lap of the mile in high school track right now, if you will.

    Another ten games of whatever has plagued them from October until now will leave them just barely on the outside of the postseason looking in like the Florida Panthers did last season with 96 points.

    They won’t set a PR (personal record), nor will they get a chance to compete for the Cup.

    Tuukka Rask is back from his personal leave of absence and kept Boston close in Dallas, despite allowing the game’s only goal– in overtime– with a defense that featured Torey Krug as the only regular, Matt Grzelcyk as the usual seventh defender turned regular for now and Steven Kampfer as the go-to blue liner when Chara, Brandon Carlo, Kevan Miller, Charlie McAvoy and John Moore are all out of the lineup.

    Plus Jakub Zboril and Clifton made their NHL debuts in Dallas, with Jeremy Lauzon continuing to see ice-time since Urho Vaakanainen was an emergency recall that sustained a concussion in his 2nd career game while in Ottawa.

    We haven’t seen what a full, well-rested, Bruins lineup is capable of yet so far this season.

    They spent training camp and part of the preseason with split squads and most of their NHL regulars in China, returned with jet-lag that slowed their legs down through the first couple of weeks of October, got banged up and since then have been waiting for the return of… everyone? Is that fair to say at this point?

    Without further ado, here’s an updated look at the forecasted stats for the Bruins roster. As always, keep in mind there are many variables that can or will change things as seen here due to injuries, being a healthy scratch, being assigned to the minors (or called up), sickness and general hot and cold streaks unbeknownst to the formulas of Microsoft Excel.

    My degree is in communication– not math.

    These forecasted stats are an utopian outlook on the remaining 62 games of the regular season for Boston. If a player exceeds the forecast, they’ve exceeded expectations. If a player matches the forecast, they’ve met expectations. If a player falls short, they were either hurt a lot or simply didn’t live up to expectations.

    Hockey is both quantifiably predictable because of its concrete stats (goals, assists, points– everything on the scoresheet each night) and certifiably unpredictable due to its collective nature and sheer puck luck.

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    Boston Bruins Forecast Through 20 Games (62 Games Remaining)

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    One player that’s been consistent all season long thus far is David Pastrnak. Brad Marchand‘s become more of a playmaker through the first 20 games while Pastrnak’s emerged as a superstar in the making– drawing comparisons to Jaromir Jagr from Czech Republic’s other legendary player, Petr Klima.

    Pastrnak’s success should land him his third consecutive season amassing 70 points or more, while also surpassing the 40-goal plateau for the first time in his career. In doing so, Pastrnak would be the first 40-goal scorer for the Bruins since Glen Murray had 44 goals in 2002-03.

    With Bergeron missing some games due to injury, David Krejci looks to reemerge as the leading assist collector for the B’s, reaching 46 expected assists this season.

    In the meantime, DeBrusk surpasses the 20-goal plateau and solidifies himself as a top-six forward, while Danton Heinen continues to grow as a candidate for top-six minutes in spite of Boston not having a guy like Artemi Panarin alongside Krejci and DeBrusk.

    On defense, Krug rebounds from missing time to a 43-point season, leading McAvoy (38 expected points) and crew in scoring from the point.

    Though Jaroslav Halak has won playing time with the hot hands in goal at the quarter-mark, Rask settles into his rhythm with an expected goals against average of 2.32 and an expected save percentage of .920 to backstop his team to perhaps one of the best 1-2 matchups in net– if not, 1A-1B– of the entire league.

    Halak, in the meantime, should cool to a 2.43 GAA and .919 SV%, but both numbers are highly valuable for backup goaltending duties especially if the Bruins can continue to get healthy and limit the shot attempts against.

    Healthy competition for playing time in the crease isn’t a bad thing if both goaltenders are performing thanks to a limited workload from their teammates.

    The next forecast review (through 40 games played) should determine whether or not the Bruins are serious playoff contenders or large-scale pretenders with a lot to lose in 2018-19.

  • DTFR Podcast #132- Hall of Guardians and Turtlenecks

    DTFR Podcast #132- Hall of Guardians and Turtlenecks

    The 2018 Hockey Hall of Fame Class was inducted on Monday, plus we remember the NHL Guardians and celebrate Joe Thornton’s milestones. Tomas Plekanec retired– leaving us a turtleneck to pass on ceremoniously– and Milan Lucic was fined $10,000.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins’ plight comes with an extension for General Manager Jim Rutherford, while the Los Angeles Kings battle the injury bug in net (we finished recording before Wednesday’s trade between the two clubs).

    Meanwhile, Tom Wilson is back, a concussion lawsuit was settled, the 2019 NWHL All-Star Game was announced, Jakob Chychrun got a six-year extension and Nick and Connor discuss when they’ll eventually let their kids (if they ever have any) play contact sports.

    Support the show on Patreon.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • DTFR Podcast #131- Hockey Plague

    DTFR Podcast #131- Hockey Plague

    Pekka Rinne signed a two-year extension, John Stevens and Joel Quenneville were fired, Willie Desjardin’s back and there’s a new guy in Chicago (Jeremy Colliton), Philadelphia Flyers goaltending is in the news again, people in Ottawa are fired up about Uber, Lou Lamoriello reached 2,400 games as a GM as the New York Islanders lead the Metropolitan Division and is Halloween the new Thanksgiving? Nick and Connor discuss.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • Numbers Game 2018-19: One Month Down

    Folks, it’s no longer October.

    You can once again begin asking the question “is it October yet?” without facing any legal ramifications, despite the fact that the 2018-19 regular season is very much alive and in effect.

    Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone, but for all of you urban legend believers in postseason fate, American Thanksgiving has yet to pass– meaning every team’s playoff hopes is still technically alive. The majority of teams in playoff position by American Thanksgiving– in this case, Nov. 22nd– make the playoffs.

    If you’re new to hockey, this is a thing, but it’s not set in stone. There’s always that one or two teams that sneak their way in from outside the picture frame. Likewise, there’s always that team that blows it down the stretch.

    The Tampa Bay Lightning are off to a hot start, working their way to 1st place in the Atlantic Division by the end of October, with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins hot on their tail just as we all expected.

    Though the Maple Leafs have a fiery offense and solid goaltending, defense has been the most apparent area for improvement. In Boston, depth scoring, injuries and a slow start in net for Tuukka Rask have held the Bruins back from realizing their full potential, but the depth of their defenders and backup netminder Jaroslav Halak have kept them in good-standing.

    In the surprise of the month for the Atlantic Division, the Montreal Canadiens sit 4th and the Buffalo Sabres sit 5th– both with 14 points on the season so far. Meanwhile, to no surprise the Ottawa Senators are 6th, the Detroit Red Wings are in a rebuild and the Florida Panthers simply haven’t played as many games as their opponents.

    Taking a look at the Metropolitan Division and you won’t be surprised to see the Pittsburgh Penguins back in control with Sidney Crosby at the steering wheel, but you might be surprised by the other current divisional playoff spot holders.

    The New York Islanders are 2nd and the Carolina Hurricanes are 3rd after the Hurricanes led the division for most of the month, only to begin a recent skid.

    Just on the outskirts of a wild card spot are the Washington Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils.

    Washington’s off to a slower start than expected, but overall not feeling as bad as a Stanley Cup hangover as it could’ve been– given how many fountains around D.C. they dove in and the number of beers consumed.

    Columbus is just over .500 and the Devils have also played fewer games than anyone in their division, much like the Panthers.

    The Philadelphia Flyers sit 7th in the Metropolitan Division in a tight race, but have shown weaknesses on the blue line and in the blue paint (goaltending, again) and the New York Rangers are in a full-scale rebuild to start things off this season.

    In the Western Conference, the Nashville Predators are staking a case for defending their President’s Trophy season last year currently sitting atop the Central Division, as well as the league.

    Filling out the remaining Central Divisions spots, last season’s biggest improvers, the Colorado Avalanche sit 2nd with the Minnesota Wild in 3rd. There’s two wild card berth in the Central Division, currently held by the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks(!?!)– that’s right, last season’s division bottom feeders are able to keep their heads barely above the surface with Corey Crawford back in the net.

    The Dallas Stars sit 6th and the St. Louis Blues have had the wheels fall off in just a month’s time.

    In the Pacific Division, the Vancouver Canucks lead the San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Vegas Golden Knights and the 31st place team in the league– the Los Angeles Kings.

    Yes, the Pacific Division is that wide-open so far with legitimate playoff contenders from last season (San Jose, Anaheim, Vegas and Los Angeles) all over the place. The Sharks haven’t hit their stride, the Ducks are suffering from injuries and defensive breakdowns, while the Golden Knights are looking for last season’s inaugural season magic.

    Oh and the Kings? Yeah, everything’s pretty bad right now and Jonathan Quick‘s out indefinitely.

    Meanwhile, pleasant surprises in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Arizona are being led by… youth?

    Nothing makes sense anymore.

    Luckily, that’s just a quick recap of the first month in about as bland an outlook as you can get when the meat of this post is really about what’s to come. That’s right, everything above? Forget most of it. Let’s use a little foresight and figure out how November through April should go.

    2018-19 Projected Standings after One Month

    Eastern Conference

    Atlantic Division

    1. y-Boston Bruins, 104 points (12 GP so far)
    2. x-Tampa Bay Lightning, 103 points (11 GP so far)
    3. x-Toronto Maple Leafs, 94 points (12 GP so far)
    4. wc1-Montreal Canadiens, 93 points (11 GP so far)
    5. Florida Panthers, 84 points (9 GP so far)
    6. Ottawa Senators, 84 points (11 GP so far)
    7. Detroit Red Wings, 81 points (12 GP so far)
    8. Buffalo Sabres, 76 points (12 GP so far)

    What’s bound to happen in the Atlantic?

    The forecast is so close between the top-three teams in the division that none of their positions in the standings are truly set in stone, unlike how the Red Wings will undoubtedly land somewhere in the bottom-three spots in the Atlantic.

    There’s a chance the Panthers never get off the ground and there’s a chance the Sabres are able to continue turning heads around the league by not currently being in the basement of the division. However, since this forecast takes into consideration recent seasons in addition to current gameplay…

    Check back in another month.

    (Is it too early to do one of these? Yeah, probably.)

    Metropolitan Division

    1. p-Washington Capitals, 107 points (10 GP so far)
    2. x-Pittsburgh Penguins, 106 points (10 GP so far)
    3. x-Columbus Blue Jackets, 93 points (11 GP so far)
    4. wc2- New York Islanders, 89 points (11 GP so far)
    5. Philadelphia Flyers, 89 points (12 GP so far)
    6. New York Rangers, 89 points (12 GP so far)
    7. New Jersey Devils, 87 points (9 GP so far)
    8. Carolina Hurricanes, 85 points (12 GP so far)

    The biggest takeaway from the Metropolitan forecast is after the top-two teams, anything goes.

    Washington will be able to right the ship and land in a divisional spot– whether that’s top-dog or behind the Penguins remains to be seen. Columbus should even out as they’ve been doing as of late and settle in for another First Round exit (probably).

    But between the Islanders, Flyers, Rangers, Devils and Hurricanes? Yeah, anything goes.

    The Islanders are better than the Rangers, but the Rangers might somehow be better than the Flyers. Meanwhile, if New Jersey can get things going like they did last season, they’ve got a chance to box out the competition. Plus, Carolina remains unpredictable and foreseeably within striking range of a wild card spot in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Again, it’s only been one month. There’s still a little more than five months left in the regular season.

    Western Conference

    Central Division

    1. z-Nashville Predators, 105 points (12 GP so far)
    2. x-Minnesota Wild, 100 points (12 GP so far)
    3. x-Chicago Blackhawks, 98 points (13 GP so far)
    4. wc1-St. Louis Blues, 96 points (10 GP so far)
    5. wc2-Winnipeg Jets, 94 points (12 GP so far)
    6. Dallas Stars, 90 points (11 GP so far)
    7. Colorado Avalanche, 85 points (12 GP so far)

    In the Central Division, the Nashville Predators continue to reign supreme. Cool.

    Minnesota, Chicago and St. Louis are all somehow destined for the postseason. This, after the Wild make it every year, Crawford’s return lifts the Blackhawks over the competition and supposedly the Blues will figure things out.

    Wait, the Avalanche can’t be that bad.

    Once again, it’s an extremely early forecast that takes into account recency bias from the last few seasons. Colorado won’t be last. Winnipeg shouldn’t be a wild card team.

    But Dallas? Yeah, they’re definitely not making the playoffs if they keep playing like they have been.

    Pacific Division

    1. y-San Jose Sharks, 101 points (12 GP so far)
    2. x-Anaheim Ducks, 98 points (13 GP so far)
    3. x-Calgary Flames, 89 points (13 GP so far)
    4. Los Angeles Kings, 87 points (11 GP so far)
    5. Vancouver Canucks, 84 points (14 GP so far)
    6. Edmonton Oilers, 83 points (11 GP so far)
    7. Arizona Coyotes, 77 points (11 GP so far)
    8. Vegas Golden Knights, 75 points (12 GP so far)

    By now everything you’ve read should indicate what’s going to be written below.

    San Jose? Good team. No surprise, given Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic are on the blue line with Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier and Evander Kane at forward. Oh and Martin Jones in net.

    Anaheim? If they can whether the storm, they can make it in one of the most unpredictable divisions based on how bad the other teams are or should be.

    Calgary? Bill Peters finally coaches a team to a playoff berth? Yeah. That should happen.

    The Kings can recover from this slow start– if they don’t mess things up in November.

    As for the Canucks, Oilers, Coyotes and Golden Knights, well, Vancouver might make some noise. Edmonton could be a pretender as long as Connor McDavid is a contender. Arizona remains to be seen and the situation looks like it’s only going to get worse for Vegas before anything gets better– if it even does.