Down the Frozen River

Tag: Game of the Day

  • October 21 – Day 18 – Time to right the ship

    In the words of Sir Elton John, “Saturday night’s alright for fighting.” If there’s a lyric that better describes hockey, I have yet to hear it.

    To take it a step further, Saturday afternoon must not be too bad either, as Nashville visits the New York Rangers (SN) at 12:30 p.m. and Philadelphia hosts Edmonton half an hour later. After the matinees are complete, five contests (Buffalo at Boston, Toronto at Ottawa [CBC/CITY/TVAS], Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, San Jose at the New York Islanders and Los Angeles at Columbus) find their start at the usual time of 7 p.m., followed by Florida at Washington (NBCSN) 30 minutes after. Carolina makes its yearly visit to Dallas at 8 p.m., with Chicago at Arizona waiting an hour before dropping the puck. The stroke of 10 p.m. brings with it the start of Minnesota at Calgary (CBC), half an hour before tonight’s nightcap: St. Louis at Vegas. All times Eastern.

    It’s nights like these that are hard to pick just one game to focus on, as there’s a good reason to watch at least half of them. Here’s a few that stick out to me…

    • Buffalo at Boston: Rivalry night in Beantown is always a worthwhile experience.
    • Toronto at Ottawa: Speaking of rivalries, the Battle of Ontario is another good one.
    • Chicago at Arizona: Don’t tell anybody, but D Connor Murphy played his first four NHL seasons with the Coyotes.
    • St. Louis at Vegas: W Chris Thorburn was one of Vegas’ expansion draft selections, but he ended up signing with the Blues instead.

    Since we haven’t had the opportunity to feature the Bruins or the Sabres yet this season, what better way to make up for our transgression than by focusing on their rivalry tonight?

     

    Let’s just put things simply: both these clubs have much higher aspirations for their seasons than the first two-and-a-half weeks have indicated.

    The 1-5-2 Sabres have especially had a tough run of things, as they’re currently riding a two game losing skid after falling in overtime to Vegas on Tuesday and losing outright to Vancouver last night.

    Since the Bruins don’t play for a city that starts with a ‘V’, maybe Buffalo has a chance this evening.

    Averaging .8 points-per-game after his first two seasons in the NHL, C Jack Eichel was expected to lead the Sabres to one of the best offensive efforts in the league. Instead, Buffalo’s attack has averaged a (t)fourth-worst 2.5 goals-per-game effort, forcing the Sabres to be discussed in the same breath as the likes of Arizona.

    Unless we’re talking about logo and sweater designs at a franchise’s debut, it’s rarely good to be compared to the Coyotes.

    Though I threw Eichel under the bus, the Sabres’ struggles are certainly no fault of their first line. In fact, if not for the production of Eichel, LW Evander Kane and RW Jason Pominville, Buffalo might as well not have an offense at all. All three are averaging at least 1.13 points-per-game this season and they combine for 12 of the Sabres’ 20 goals. While it is nice to know that one line is capable of producing 60 percent of a team’s offense, I’ll bet the house that Head Coach Phil Housley would love for F Ryan O’Reilly‘s line to find their form sooner rather than later.

    Meanwhile, little has gone well on the Sabres’ defensive end either. Due at least in part to Buffalo’s 49.9 face-off winning percentage (11th-worst in the league), neither G Chad Johnson nor G Robin Lehner can claim a GAA under three. Lehner has certainly been the superior of the two netminders so far with his .9 save percentage and 3.14 GAA, and he’s likely to be tonight’s starter since Johnson was responsible for last night’s 4-2 loss to the Canucks.

    If anything has gone well so far for the Sabres, it’s certainly been their penalty kill. Successfully rejecting 83.3 percent of opposing power plays, Buffalo ties for eighth-best in the NHL. Defensemen Josh Gorges and Jake McCabe have played exceptionally when shorthanded, as both have five shot blocks to their credit in that situation. But there’s an asterisk next to Gorges’ name: he’s hit that total in only four games played as compared to McCabe’s eight.

    Alright, that’s enough laying into one team. Time to take on the 3-3-0 Bruins.

    There’s little to complain about on the Bruins’ offensive end. Averaging 3.33 goals-per-game, Boston is tied for the ninth-best offense in the NHL. It’s been the LW Brad Marchand show so far this season, as his 4-5-9 totals are easily among the top-25 performances in the league so far.

    Then again, that was before C Patrice Bergeron returned to action from his lower body injury. In only one game played against Vancouver on Thursday, the 32-year-old managed one goal and three assists for a four-point night, tying him for sixth-most points on the team with players that have five more games played.

    Regarding Bergeron, I have two guesses: (1) he’s one of those guys that’s good at his job, and (2) last season’s not-so-great 53 points could be eclipsed rather easily.

    Whether it’s Bergeron or Marchand leading the charge, the Bruins’ power play is one of the most intimidating in the league. Boston has found success on eight-of-27 extra-man opportunities for a fourth-best 29.6 percent success rate, including C David Krejci‘s team-leading four power play points.

    Of course, for an offense to be clicking along as well as the Bruins’ has been and the club only have a .500 record, there might be a problem on the other end of the ice.

    That problem’s name is G Tuukka Rask. Though he’s certainly been one of, if not the league’s best netminder since his debut in the 2007-’08 season (his .922 career save percentage is tied for best in the NHL since then among goalies with at least 50 starts, and his 2.25 career GAA is second-best in that group), he’s struggled mightily in his four starts to open this campaign, managing an ugly .882 save percentage and 3.3 GAA.

    Could it simply be that he’s getting sprayed with pucks every time he takes to the crease? Unfortunately, not really. He’s seen an average of only 25.5 shots-per-game so far this season, which is right in line with the (t)fourth-best 29.2 shots allowed by the Bruins’ defense per game.

    It’s a fact Bruins fans may not want to admit, but Rask has only seen his save percentage drop since his .93 performance in the 2013-’14 season, with the lone exception of last year when he matched his .915 effort from the 2015-’16 campaign.

    This drop in play began at the same time Rask started seeing 50-60 starts per season, which hearkens back to a statement I’ve made countless times about the Bruins’ goaltender: you can only work a mule so much. He’s been overworked for the past four seasons to the point that his play is suffering. Hopefully with G Anton Khudobin in the picture, Head Coach Bruce Cassidy will be able to relieve some of the pressure off his starter so he can rediscover his true form before his best playing days are behind him. If not, the Bruins are in a deeper hole than even the most dire of pessimists could have predicted.

    Of course, all that writing may have been for naught with Rask currently listed as day-to-day with a concussion after a collision with rookie F Anders Bjork Wednesday. Expect Khudobin and his .927 save percentage to start this evening.

    The Sabres are just waiting for a breakout game, but they have yet to earn it. I truly do believe in their offense, but I have concerns about the defense going up against an elite scoring club in Boston. Though the TD Garden hasn’t exactly been friendly to its residents for the past few years, I expect the Bruins to win this game by dominating the scoreboard.

    For the second-straight night, the DtFR Game of the Day required more than 60 minutes to determine a winner. This time, it was First Star of the Game W Alex Ovechkin scoring the overtime winner for the Washington Capitals to beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3.

    Featuring four total goals, the third period was absolutely wild. It was set up by a two-goal second period, as both F Darren Helm and W Andre Burakovsky (D Dmitry Orlov and W Tom Wilson) found goals to set the score at one-all. Helm’s wrist shot at the 4:31 mark of the frame was particularly noteworthy, as it was his first shorthanded goal since April 9, 2015.

    Eighty-five seconds after the second intermission ended, the flurry of third period goals began when F Jay Beagle (RW Alex Chiasson) scored a shorthanded wrister to give the Capitals the lead. It was a lead that lasted only 3:59 though, as Second Star F Tomas Tatar (F Dylan Larkin and D Mike Green) leveled the contest with a tip-in. Scoring subsided until Tatar (F Henrik Zetterberg and D Niklas Kronwall) buried his second of the game, a power play snap shot, with 7:15 remaining in regulation to take a 3-2 lead for the Red Wings.

    Detroit almost managed to earn the victory, but Larkin’s delay of game penalty for sending the puck over the glass set up a power play opportunity for the Capitals. Held off the scorecard in his last game played, F T.J. Oshie (Burakovsky and C Evgeny Kuznetsov) was sure to take advantage, scoring his wrister with 61 seconds remaining in regulation to level the game at three-all.

    The Red Wings apparently didn’t learn their lesson when Oshie forced overtime. 68 seconds into three-on-three play, D Trevor Daley earned himself a seat in the penalty box for tripping Ovechkin. Ovi didn’t seem to like that very much, as he ended the game only 48 later with a game-winning slap shot from his usual spot in the face-off circle to Third Star G Petr Mrazek‘s right, assisted by C Nicklas Backstrom and D John Carlson.

    G Braden Holtby earned the victory after saving 34-of-37 shots faced (.919 save percentage), forcing Mrazek to take the overtime loss, saving 37-of-41 (.902).

    Not only was this the second-straight overtime game, but it was also a second-straight victory for road teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series. Visitors now trail the 10-5-3 home teams by only five points.

  • October 20 – Day 17 – Don’t get confused, Mike Green

    You know that feeling you get when 5 p.m. rolls around on a Friday? Allow me to magnify that for you: there’s hockey on tonight!

    Specifically, there’s six games happening around the league this evening, starting with two (Vancouver at Buffalo [SN360] and San Jose at New Jersey) at 7 p.m. and another pair (Washington at Detroit and Pittsburgh at Florida [TVAS]) half an hour later. The action continues at 8 p.m. when Minnesota visits Winnipeg before tonight’s nightcap – Montréal at Anaheim (RDS/TSN2) – closes out the festivities two hours later.

    I was going to feature G Anders Nilsson‘s return to Buffalo this evening, but since he played in the Canucks’ game in Boston last night and is unlikely to draw back-to-back starts, I’m slightly more drawn to the action in Motown.

     

    I know we’ve already watched the Red Wings once this week, but that’s what we get on days when the schedule isn’t exactly filled to the brim with exciting matchups.

    #ThanksNHL

    And, considering expectations for the Wings this season (and the Capitals too, for that matter), we should enjoy watching them as much as we can while they’re still playing well and staying relevant.

    How much longer 4-3-0 Detroit can keep up its solid start is certainly the question, as the Wings are currently the last team in if the playoffs started today (you know how important playoff positioning is in Week 3 of a 27-week season).

    Earning them this better-than-expected start has certainly been their offense. It may not be as daunting as the days of old (à la C Steve Yzerman and basically anybody else on his line), but the Wings quietly run a decent top-two lines.

    The top line is headlined by W Anthony Mantha (3-4-7 totals) and F Henrik Zetterberg (4-4-8), both of whom are averaging at least a point-per-game. If G Braden Holtby and the Caps can fend them off, a second line that includes the likes of W Justin Abdelkader (2-2-4) and F Dylan Larkin (1-7-8) are right behind to continue applying the pressure.

    Two skaters that should also be included in that group are defensemen Mike Green and Nick Jensen. 32-year-old Green, a former first-round selection by the Capitals that played 10 seasons in Washington, actually leads the team in points scored with his 1-8-9 totals, while youngster Jensen has provided four assists from the third defensive pairing.

    As Minnesota and Ottawa have already proven this season, teams that sleep on this squad are liable to miss out on points that should be earned against a rebuilding club.

    That rebuild is no more apparent than when the Wings take to the power play. No matter how hard Green tries with his team-leading four power play points, the club has only converted four-of-27 man-advantage opportunities for an abysmal 14.8 percent success rate that’s eighth-worst in the league. Fortunately for the Wings, they aren’t exactly playing an exemplary penalty kill this evening (Washington kills only 78.6 percent of opposing power plays, 13th-worst in the NHL), so they might be able to find some success.

    Of course, it seems the Capitals are experiencing a bit of a rebuild themselves. Though the offense is still trucking right along at 3.14 goals-per-game, the defense has definitely suffered following the offseason’s transactions.

    It is no fault of Holtby’s that Washington is allowing an average of 3.43 goals against-per-game (10th-worst in the league). He’s still trucking along as well as ever with his .931 save percentage and 2.19 GAA, both of which are top-10 efforts in the NHL among goaltenders with at least three starts.

    Instead, the Capitals are fielding (Icing? No, that’s a penalty…) a defensive corps that allows an 11th-worst 33.9 shots against-per-game – even with D Brooks Orpik blocking 2.6 shots-per-night. In particular, D Dmitry Orlov has been pretty rough to open the season. He has yet to produce a point after posting 6-27-33 totals last season, and has been on the ice for 11 goals against for a -3 rating (both team-worsts).

    It seems losing both D Karl Alzner and D Nate Schmidt is proving a bit tougher to handle than previously hoped – and that was before D Matt Niskanen went down with an upper-body injury last Friday. Fortunately for the Caps, they may not notice those departures as badly this evening considering the Red Wings are not a club that likes to pepper opposing goaltenders.

    It’s another game of evenly-matched offenses, which means Detroit should have the upper-hand in this game (that’s weird to say when Holtby is playing for the opposing team) based on its defense. The Wings should be more than able to take two points tonight, especially if G Jimmy Howard rediscovers his form from his first three starts.

    Though they needed the shutout, the New York Islanders were able to beat the New York Rangers 4-3 at Madison Square Garden in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    The Islanders came out with guns blazing to start this game, as F Anders Lee (D Ryan Pulock and RW Jordan Eberle) was able to bury a power play wrist shot only 2:40 into the game. That early lead didn’t last long though, as C David Desharnais (D Kevin Shattenkirk and D Marc Staal) scored a tip-in only 2:22 later to level the game at one-all. Much to the Islanders’ delight, that tie lasted only 64 seconds courtesy of Second Star of the Game F Brock Nelson‘s (LW Andrew Ladd) wrister to retake the lead for the Boys from Brooklyn.

    All goals are important, but C Mathew Barzal‘s (D Calvin de Haan and F Josh Bailey) wrister 75 seconds into the second period will stick out in the minds of the Islanders for the next couple of weeks. Not only was it the first of Barzal’s NHL career, but it also proved to be the one that ensured the Isles would make it to overtime.

    The Rangers’ comeback began in earnest 3:29 into the third period when W Mats Zuccarello (Third Star D Brendan Smith) scored a wrister to pull the Blueshirts back within a goal. Brooklyn people and Manhattanites alike were on the edge of their seats until F Kevin Hayes (RW Jesper Fast and D Ryan McDonagh) leveled the game at three-all with a backhanded shot.

    Even though a total of six shots were fired over five minutes of three-on-three overtime and the Islanders played the final 79 seconds on the power play, neither club could find the golden goal, forcing the first shootout of the 2017-’18 DtFR Game of the Day series.

    1. Zuccarello drew the first chance to fire at G Jaroslav Halak, and he made good on the opportunity to give the Blueshirts an early lead.
    2. Eberle tried to match it against G Henrik Lundqvist, and he did. 1-1 after two shooters.
    3. Next up for the Rangers was C Mika Zibanejad, but Halak was able to make the save.
    4. With the opportunity to take the lead, Head Coach Doug Weight sent out First Star C John Tavares. The captain converted the break to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead.
    5. Tavares’ goal forced a miss-and-lose situation for Desharnais and the Rangers, but the center wasn’t able to get past Halak. That gave the Islanders a 4-3 victory on a 2-1 shootout.

    Halak earned the victory after saving 38-of-41 shots faced (.927 save percentage), leaving the shootout loss to Lundqvist, who saved 35-of-38 (.921).

    The Isles’ road victory snaps a two-game winning streak by the 10-5-2 home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, but the hosts still have a six-point advantage.

  • October 19 – Day 16 – Won’t you be my neighbor?

    With nine games on tonight’s schedule, there’s no time to waste. Let’s jump right in!

    As it usually does, the evening starts at 7 p.m. when four contests (Vancouver at Boston [SN360/TVAS], the New York Islanders at the New York Rangers, Nashville at Philadelphia and Tampa Bay at Columbus) drop the puck, followed by red-hot New Jersey at Ottawa (RDS) 30 minutes later. Slow-starting Edmonton will try to find its way with a visit to Chicago (SN1) at 8:30 p.m., trailed half an hour later by another two games (St. Louis at Colorado and Carolina at Calgary). Finally, tonight’s nightcap takes place in Arizona when the Coyotes host Dallas at 10 p.m. All times Eastern.

    As we saw last night, there’s nothing like a good rivalry game to get the juices flowing. And what better rivalries exist than those between clubs separated by only a half-hour train ride? The Battle of New York is on!

     

    Some rivalries start immediately when the second team is formed. Others are made following intense regular season and – more likely – nasty playoff series.

    The Big Apple Bout checks both those boxes.

    Ever since the Islanders began play in 1972, interactions between these two squads and their respective fan-bases have been heated. In the same strain as the old Dodgers-Giants matchups, as well the more contemporary tangles between the  Giants and Jets, Knicks and Nets, Mets and Yankees and NYCFC and Red Bulls, no one hates a New York team like a New Yorker that supports the other club. Just ask those Santas in 2003.

    But there’s more history between these clubs than simply claiming the same geographic area as home. Excluding any preseason matchups, these two clubs have squared off 341 individual times, with the Rangers narrowly leading the total series 163-159-19.

    But, when we get into the true basis of any NHL rivalry, we find the Islanders have a decent advantage. It may not seem that way by simply looking at the Isles’ playoff record against their New York brethren, as they lead that total series by only one game with a 20-19 record. But, when we realize these clubs have played eight Stanley Cup playoff series against each other and the Isles have advanced five times, we start to get the real root of the issue.

    Surprisingly, the rivalry between these clubs has been dominated by the Islanders for the last three seasons, as they own a 10-3-0 against the Blueshirts since the 2014-’15 campaign. Included in that stretch is the 2015-’16 season that featured the Islanders sweeping the season series against the Rangers for the first time in franchise history.

    If they want to win their fourth-straight series against the Rangers, the 2-3-1 Isles had better stick to the formula that has worked so far for them in this two-week old season: G Thomas Greiss.

    Seriously, that’s all I, and more importantly, the Islanders have to show for being 11th in the Eastern Conference. The defense allows a 12th-worst 33.2 shots against-per game (read: bad) and the offense currently ranks eighth-worst in the league at 2.5 goals-per-game (read: worse).

    But that’s the beauty of how Greiss has been playing so far this season. His 3.07 GAA may not be pretty, but it’s all you can ask of a goaltender who’s getting peppered every night and still managing a .921 save percentage.

    Oh, what’s that? G Jaroslav Halak is starting tonight? Oh boy…

    Well, it’s actually not that bad, as Halak’s 2.62 GAA is actually superior to Greiss’. Apparently, the defense plays better when the Slovak is in net, which is a good thing considering he’s rocking a .907 save percentage after three starts.

    Keeping in mind the Rangers’ offense has produced an 11th-best 33.3 shots-per-game so far this year, this may not end well for the Boys from Brooklyn.

    And don’t let the Islanders confuse you by winning the Pat LaFontaine Trophy the past three seasons: the Rangers have been the better team of the two since the turn of the millennium. Since the 2000-’01 season, the Blueshirts have won 10 of their 16 season series against the Islanders, including an unrelenting 6-0-0 performance in 2003-’04. Making matters even worse for the Islanders in that season is the fact that none of those games required overtime.

    But turning our attention back to present day, the 1-5-1 Rangers are absolutely floundering at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with Montréal (the Blueshirts win the ROW tiebreaker against the Habs, so at least they have that going for them… which is nice).

    In a situation similar to the Isles’, nothing is going right for the Rangers as their defense and goaltending averages the ninth-most goals against (3.71) while the offense is seventh-worst by managing only 2.43 goals-per-game.

    And this is the team that made it to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

    If anything has gone right for the Rangers so far this season, I suppose it’s their power play. Though it’s far from the best in the league, a 24.1 percent success rate (11th-best in the NHL) is nothing to spit at. Having already scored a league-leading four power play goalsthis season (tied with F Filip Forsberg), if C Mika Zibanejad has the chance to employ the man-advantage, it’s a safe bet he’ll be able to at least give the Rangers a chance to find a win against the Isles.

    This may not be an excellent game on paper, but rivalry games have a way of proving to be exciting. I’m leaning towards the Rangers winning this game with home-ice and the fact that they have G Henrik Lundqvist at their disposal.

    Led by First Star of the Game F Jaden Schwartz‘ hat trick, the St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 at Scottrade Center in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    The Notes needed only 4:46 of action to take a lead they would not yield. Schwartz (Third Star RW Vladimir Tarasenko and D Robert Bortuzzo) is the guilty party, and his backhanded shot was the lone goal of the first period.

    The Schwartz Show continued 5:59 into the second period when he took an assist from G Jake Allen down the ice to bury a wrist shot on G Corey Crawford on the opposite end. 110 seconds after Schwartz’ second goal of the night, Tarasenko found what ended up being the game-winning goal on his stick.

    St. Louis managed a fourth unanswered goal 7:01 into the third period when F Kyle Brodziak (LW Scottie Upshall and D Colton Parayko) buried his first goal of the season, but Schwartz’ (Parayko) third goal of the night – scored on an empty net with 52 seconds remaining – was not struck before Chicago registered two power play goals in the span of 80 seconds.

    First was RW Richard Panik (D Duncan Keith and F Patrick Kane) scoring on a tip-in with the man-advantage, followed by W Ryan Hartman (F Alex DeBrincat and D Brent Seabrook) finding the back of the net on a controversial power play deflection with 3:53 remaining. Those two goals pulled the Hawks within a two-goal deficit, which explains why Crawford had abandoned his post late in the game.

    Allen earned the victory after saving 22-of-24 shots faced (.917 save percentage), leaving the loss to Crawford, who saved 28-of-32 (.875).

    Though Allen played spectacularly, his defense deserves much of the credit for limiting the Hawks to 24 shots against. In particular, the D-corps allowed only four shots in both the first and second period before Chicago poured on the offense in the third. With his eight blocks, there’s a lot to be proud of for D Joel Edmundson.

    That’s two-straight three-goal victories by the 10-5-1 home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, who now have a seven-point lead on the visitors.

  • October 18 – Day 15 – Wednesdays are for rivalries

    Some Wednesdays feature rivalries, some don’t. Today is one of the former, as two of the three matchups on the schedules features clubs with a little bit more animosity towards each other than usual.

    One of those is Detroit at Toronto (SN1/SN360/TVAS), which drops the puck at 7:30 p.m., half an hour before Chicago at St. Louis (NBCSN). After those games are complete, both nations will turn their attention to Montréal at Los Angeles (NBCSN/RDS/TSN2), which drops the puck at 10:30 p.m. to close out the evening’s festivities. All times Eastern.

    Both the early games definitely attract my attention as some of the league’s fiercest rivalries, but which one gets the honor of being the DtFR Game of the Day?

     

    I’m big enough to admit that I picked this matchup because I’m a fan of one of the clubs involved, but I’m also going to stand by the fact that this is only St. Louis’ second time being featured this season.

    So there. Watch the game and be happy.

    These teams have certainly employed vastly different styles to find their early season success, but Chicago has certainly been the more impressive of the two. One word perfectly describes Head Coach Joel Quenneville‘s Blackhawks: dominant. Averaging 4.17 goals-per-game, Chicago is easily the best offense in the Western Conference and (t)third-best in the entire league.

    Of course, what would you expect from a team that features the likes of F Patrick Kane, W Brandon Saad and young standout W Ryan Hartman? All three have managed eight points already this season, but Saad has easily been the most impressive with his six goals. Not only does he pace the Hawks, but he has also scored the (t)third-most goals of any player in the NHL.

    But dominance, in my opinion, is a result of both ends of the ice – not just commanding one end. That’s where G Corey Crawford comes into play, who’s play has also been nothing short of clutch. His .96 save percentage is the best of any goaltender with more than one start, and the same can be said of his 1.39 GAA.

    Meanwhile, the Blues know all about solid play in net, as they allow an average of only 2.67 goals-per-game – the (t)10th-best effort in the league. Though his numbers pale in comparison to Crawford’s, G Jake Allen has posted a solid .917 save percentage and 2.96 GAA, which rank (t)16th and (t)20th in the league among netminders with at least two starts.

    Beyond that, the Notes are only average in a vast majority of their play. Their 20.8 percent success rate on the power play is only 14th-best (D Alex Pietrangelo and RW Vladimir Tarasenko co-lead the team with three power play points); the 80.8 percent penalty kill rate is 15th-best; and their 2.83 goals-per-game is (t)14th-worst (Pietrangelo and F Jaden Schwartz co-head the club with eight points, but Schwartz missed Monday’s practice with food poisoning).

    Average may beat a lot of clubs, but unfortunately for the Blue Notes, it probably won’t be able to touch what Chicago can throw at them. No matter how raucous the Scottrade Center crowd gets, I’m leaning towards the Hawks taking Game 1 of this nasty rivalry series.

    With a three-goal second period, the Nashville Predators dominated the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Since no goals were registered in the first frame, F Nathan MacKinnon‘s (D Tyson Barrie and RW Mikko Rantanen) power play deflection 4:09 into the second, his first goal of the season, gave the Avs a 1-0 lead.

    But then Nashville happened. The Predators leveled the game 2:58 after MacKinnon’s tally courtesy of a backhanded shot from First Star of the Game W Viktor Arvidsson (F Filip Forsberg and Third Star D Alexei Emelin), and then took the lead with Second Star D Roman Josi‘s (Arvidsson and Forsberg) game-winning five-on-three wrist shot with 6:30 remaining in the period.

    D P.K. Subban started with the puck at the far point before passing to Forsberg waiting at the far face-off dot. The forward started to drive on G Semyon Varlamov, but instead slid a crossing pass to Josi in the opposite face-off circle. Josi’s initial shot on goal was rejected by the netminder, so Arvidsson tried his best to wrangle the rebound to try to beat Varlamov again. Varlamov stood tall again, but he couldn’t fend of the third try, an elevated Josi wrister from the slot over the goalie’s left pad.

    But the Preds weren’t done, as F Colton Sissons (F Craig Smith and Josi) was able to bury his first goal of the season to set the score at 3-1 with 45 seconds before the second intermission. F Austin Watson (Emelin) finished Nashville’s scoring 4:08 into the third period with his first tally of the season.

    For those keeping track, that’s four different players that scored their first goal of the season in this game. That’s a decent number considering we just completed the second week of play.

    G Pekka Rinne earned the victory after saving 20-of-21 shots faced (.952 save percentage), leaving the loss to Varlamov, who saved 30-of-34 (.882).

    It’s another win for home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, improving their record to 9-5-1 – good enough for a five-point advantage over the visitors.

  • October 17 – Day 14 – The Avs are winners?

    Tuesdays are almost always full of hockey action, and tonight is no different.

    There’s 11 games to be played this evening, starting with a trio (Pittsburgh at the New York Rangers [TVAS], Florida at Philadelphia and Toronto at Washington) at 7 p.m. and another two (Tampa Bay at New Jersey [NBCSN] and Vancouver at Ottawa) half an hour later. 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of two more contests (Colorado at Nashville and Columbus at Winnipeg), while Arizona at Dallas waits 30 minutes before finding its green light. Carolina at Edmonton gets the West involved at 9 p.m., followed by Buffalo at Vegas (SN360) at 10 p.m. and Montréal at San Jose – tonight’s nightcap – half an hour after that. All times Eastern.

    There’s a few games that stick out to me for various reasons…

    • Toronto at Washington: It’s an Eastern Conference Quarterfinals rematch, and a good one at that – Washington needed all seven games to advance.
    • Colorado at Nashville: After eight years in Tennessee, F Colin Wilson now finds himself a member of the Avalanche.
    • Montréal at San Jose: D David Schlemko could make his season debut tonight against the club he spent last year playing for.

    Though Wilson was never necessarily the most important player for Nashville, I want to feature the Avalanche before they begin their fall to the bottom of the league table. We’re off to Tennessee for the second time in six days!

     

    It may be early in the season, but I don’t think that’s stopping Avs fans from celebrating their 4-2-0 club being in second place in the Central Division.

    In an even bigger surprise, Colorado is finding its success by being a defensive-minded team. Last season, the Avalanche allowed a league-worst 3.37 goals against-per-game, but that number has shrunk to a (t)third-best 2.17 through the first two weeks of 2017-’18 play.

    You might think it’s G Semyon Varlamov standing on his head to earn these victories, but you wouldn’t necessarily be right. Though his .944 save percentage and 1.76 GAA are both top-six in the NHL among goaltenders with at least two starts to their credit, it’s actually been the defense playing in front of him that has played an even bigger role.

    So far this season, the Avs have allowed only 30.7 shots against-per-game, the ninth-best effort in the league. D Mark Barberio and D Erik Johnson have both been major parts of that effort, as they both average more than two blocks per game, and F Matt Duchene has also made a positive impact with his team-leading eight takeaways.

    And everybody thought knew he showed up to training camp with a bad attitude.

    Second place is the minimum position many Predators fans predicted their club would be in after their first-ever trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, but once again this talented squad is taking its time getting into regular season gear.

    When the Preds are at their best, they play one of the best power plays in the game. Spearheaded by F Filip Forsberg‘s 4-1-5 totals on the man-advantage alone (5-2-7 overall), Nashville has managed a 29.2 percent power play success rate – the third-best in the NHL. Considering Colorado plays one of the worst penalty kills in the league, this might be a wild night if the special teams take to the ice multiple times.

    Going off preseason predictions, it should be no question that Nashville should win this game easily. But, considering its 2.8 goals-per-game offense ranks (t)12th-worst in the league, that victory may not come as easily. I expect a close game, but the home fans should still leave happy.

    It all came down to a deciding third period at Little Caesars Arena in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, as the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning were able to earn a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

    Some evenly matched games feature back-and-forth scoring, and others feature only one deciding goal. In this one, Tampa had a strong first period, while the Wings matched that performance in the second.

    Third Star of the Game C Tyler Johnson started the scoring 9:15 into the contest by scoring a shorthanded wrist shot, followed by First Star RW Nikita Kucherov (D Victor Hedman and C Steven Stamkos) on a power play wrister only 101 seconds later to set the score at 2-0.

    But like I said before, Detroit had all the answers in the second period. First up was Second Star W Justin Abdelkader, who buried an unassisted wrister 2:30 into the frame to pull the Wings back within a tally. D Mike Green (Abdelkader and F Tomas Tatar) completed the comeback with 3:58 remaining in the period, leveling the game at two-all with his first marker of the season.

    He’ll be the first to tell you it was a lucky goal, but Kucherov (Stamkos and F Vladislav Namestnikov) was able to score the game-winning goal 107 seconds into the third period. D Trevor Daley had tried to clear the puck out of his zone, but it was intercepted by Namestnikov before it reached the near point and shoved along the boards to Stamkos, who was outside the trapezoid to G Jimmy Howard‘s stick side. Since Namestnikov continued to crash the crease, Stamkos returned the pass for him to attempt a shot, but the netminder was able to reject the offering. Fortunately for the Bolts, Kucherov moved in for the rebound and barely tapped the puck under Howard and into the net.

    G Andrei Vasilevskiy earned the win after saving 29-of-31 shots faced (.935 save percentage), leaving the loss to Howard, who saved 23-of-26 (.885).

    Tampa Bay’s victory snaps a two-game winning streak by the 8-5-1 home teams, but the roadies still trail by three points in the DtFR Game of the Day series.

  • October 16 – Day 13 – Selections are slim, Vol. II

    We’re only 13 days into the season, but today is already the second that features only one game on the schedule. Fortunately for us, it features two 4-1-0 clubs. Let’s get to Motown by 7:30 p.m. Eastern time for Tampa Bay at Detroit (SN1/TVAS)!

     

    Tonight’s showdown between Atlantic Division rivals is a far bigger affair than many projected at the beginning of the season. It was simply assumed the Red Wings would already be in the Eastern Conference cellar and en route to an early pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, but so far they’re holding their ground with the best of them. That being said, there are few offenses of the caliber of Tampa Bay’s, so this should be a good test for the Wings.

    Since we haven’t featured the Lightning yet this season in the DtFR Game of the Day series, let’s tackle them first.

    There are few teams in this league that score as well as the Bolts do, as they average four goals-per game to rank (t)fifth-best. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Head Coach Jon Cooper has F Alex Killorn (1-6-7 totals), RW Nikita Kucherov (5-3-8), F Brayden Point (3-5-8) and C Steven Stamkos (1-6-7) all at his disposal. With the help of two others, these four help to build one of the best top-two line combinations available in the league, meaning 3-0-0 G Jimmy Howard cannot lose his focus for a second without risking a Tampa goal.

    In particular, Tampa has absolutely excelled on the power play, converting six-of-21 opportunities (28.6 percent) for the (t)fourth-best effort in the league. While Stamkos has yet to find his second goal of the season, he’s been a vital re-introduction to the special teams with his club-leading four power play points – including one man-advantage goal.

    The major hole on this Lightning team is its defensive performance so far, though it’s hard to accurately measure given that opposing forwards are known to step up their game when facing an offense of the caliber of Tampa’s. So far this season, even though D Jake Dotchin has managed two blocks-per-game, the Bolts have allowed 35.8 shots against-per-game to reach 4-1-0 G Andrei Vasilevskiy, the fourth-worst mark in the NHL.

    Fortunately, Vasilevskiy – a former first-rounder – is good at his job. Yet to cede the crease to G Peter Budaj, he’s managed a .911 save percentage and 3.2 GAA. Though he’s not exactly at the top of the list of goaltenders in the league right now, he’s doing just enough to ensure his offense can keep the game under control.

    Tonight will be a good test for him, because the Wings have had no trouble finding the back of the net most nights. Led by D Mike Green and his eight assists, Detroit has managed 3.4 goals-per-game to rank 10th-best in the NHL.

    But since Green doesn’t register an assist without somebody else scoring a goal, Vasilevskiy is going to have to keep an eye on W Martin Frk, W Anthony Mantha and F Henrik Zetterberg, as all three have three goals in their 2017-’18 accounts already.

    I brought up Howard earlier, but we didn’t discuss how integral he’s been to this hot start by the Red Wings. Of all the goaltenders that have appeared in more than one game, his .955 save percentage is second-best in the league. If Howard can maintain that level of play, it’ll be interesting to see where his season can take him, especially given he’ll be an unrestricted free agent following the end of next campaign.

    Until then, he’s the backbone of a very good penalty kill that could cause fits for Tampa’s special teams. So far this season, the Wings have only allowed two power play goals against in 23 opportunities for a 91.3 percent kill rate that ranks fourth-best in the NHL.

    Though Detroit is not being favored by Vegas in this game (the Wings have a +100 associated with their name), I’m leaning towards Howard and co. taking this game. The Wings’ offense has been able to hold its own so far this season, and the Bolts are not the type of team to try to overwhelm a goaltender. Add in the fact that this game is taking place at Little Caesars Arena, and I think the red-and-white can pull this one out.

    Though the New York Islanders tried their best, they could not find the upper hand against the Los Angeles Kings in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, as they fell 3-2 at the Staples Center.

    Los Angeles never trailed in this contest, thanks in large part to Second Star of the Game C Anze Kopitar‘s (First Star D Drew Doughty and W Dustin Brown) snap shot with 7:16 remaining in the first period. With the help of the Kings’ defense, Los Angeles was able to take that lead into the first intermission.

    F Josh Bailey (Third Star C Mathew Barzal and LW Andrew Ladd) pulled New York even 8:56 into the second frame with a backhanded shot to beat G Darcy Kuemper, but D Jake Muzzin‘s (D Oscar Fantenberg and F Tyler Toffoli) power play wrist shot 2:36 later returned the lead to the Kings’ hands. For the second straight period, Los Angeles’ defensive corps held the Islanders to only seven shots on goal to ensure they took the 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

    Shorthanded goals have a way of sucking any momentum out of the opposing team. That’s exactly what happened 5:44 into the third period, as Doughty (Kopitar) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal on a shorthanded tip-in. Like many shorties do, the play started with the Kings in their defensive zone, but that all changed when Kopitar intercepted a pass from F Joshua Ho-Sang intended for D Johnny Boychuk at the far point. Kopitar tore down the far boards into his offensive zone before steering towards G Jaroslav Halak. But, instead of firing a shot at the goaltender, he centered a pass to the crashing Doughty, who beat the falling Halak five-hole to the far post.

    C Casey Cizikas (RW Cal Clutterbuck and D Thomas Hickey) did manage to pull the Isles back within a goal with 5:40 remaining in regulation, but Kuemper did not let them get any further into their comeback plan after that.

    Speaking of Kuemper, he earned his 1-0-0 record by saving 23-of-25 shots faced (.92 save percentage), leaving the loss to Halak, who saved 24-of-27 (.889).

    A second-straight victory by the 8-4-1 home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series has the visitors falling behind five points early in the season.

  • October 15 – Day 12 – Kings of the Isle

    These Sundays during football season are tough, aren’t they? Since the NHL knows it isn’t always the hottest ticket in town during the fall, they intentionally backlog their Sundays until later in the year, leaving these early-season Sundays lightly populated.

    Oh well, I suppose we’ll have to do with what we have.

    Tonight’s action starts at 7 p.m. this evening when Boston makes its inaugural visit to Vegas (SN1), followed by Buffalo at Anaheim two hours later. Finally, our nightcap drops the puck at 10:30 p.m. when the New York Islanders make their annual visit to the Staples Center for a tilt with Los Angeles. All times Eastern.

    I want the most competitive game we can find today between teams we haven’t featured yet, and according to the standings that game is being contested between the Islanders and Kings.

     

     

     

     

     

    Based off preseason predictions, I don’t think there were many that would have pegged this as the game of the night. Few here at DtFR are predicting either to make the playoffs, and certainly not both.

    Instead, we’ve been presented with a Los Angeles team that has started the season with a strong 3-0-1 record, and an Islanders club that is not far behind at 2-2-1.

    Starting with the Kings, they’ve been one of the elite defenses to start the season, having allowed only 1.75 goals per game to rank second-best in the NHL behind Ottawa. In particular, D Derek Forbort has played spectacularly by allowing only one goal against while he’s on the ice, while D Drew Doughty has also been very good managing 2.5 blocks-per-game. Together, they’ve contributed to a corps that has allowed only 30.5 shots against-per-game to reach G Jonathan Quick, the eighth-best effort in the league.

    Speaking of Quick, he’s easily been on of the top-six goaltenders in the league through two weeks of play. Having posted a .943 save percentage and a 1.74 GAA, he has silenced any and all doubters wondering if he’ll be able to resume his form from before last season’s injury.

    Unfortunately for Angelenos, it will not be Quick in net tonight since he was a part of the Kings’ 4-2 victory over the Sabres last night. Instead, it will be G Darcy Kuemper making his first start for the Kings after signing as a free-agent this offseason. Though last season’s .902 save percentage and 3.13 GAA with the Wild was certainly not the best of his five-year NHL career, Kuemper is certainly a capable backup as he managed an 8-5-3 record in 17 starts.

    As far as the Islanders are concerned, they think they’re pretty good on defense too, and G Thomas Greiss is nice enough – and good enough – to let them think that.

    In all honesty, New York doesn’t exactly have a good defense at all. The Isles allow a (t)11th-worst 34.4 shots-per-game to reach Greiss, but he’s played brilliantly even with the heavy workload. Though his 3.07 GAA is only 20th-best in the league right now, his .921 save percentage is 14th. If only he had a defense playing in front of him.

    But, in a similar situation to Los Angeles, Greiss is getting the night off after posting a 3-1 victory in San Jose last night. Instead, it’ll be G Jaroslav Halak making his third start of the season.

    It seems the defense plays better when Halak is in net, as he as a 2.45 GAA that is much better than Greiss’, even though his .914 save percentage is certainly not.

    Since both clubs played last night, I’ll be interested to see the energy level in this game. Since the Kings did not have to travel for tonight’s game – and the fact that I believe they’re better – I’m leaning towards Los Angeles taking this game.

    They needed an overtime goal from Third Star of the Game Brandon Saad, but the Chicago Blackhawks were able to avenge their four-game elimination at the hand of the Nashville Predators last postseason, winning yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day 2-1.

    Chicago’s victory is actually of the  come-from-behind variety, as it allowed Filip Forsberg (Scott Hartnell and P.K. Subban) to take a lead with 1:44 remaining in the second period with a power play wrist shot.

    Patrick Sharp (John Hayden and Cody Franson) eventually leveled the game at one-all, but it wasn’t until only 5:36 remained in regulation. His backhanded shot forced ended up being 3:05 of three-on-three action before Saad (Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith) ended things on a tip-in.

    Saad’s goal began before he was even on the ice, as an extended possession in the Blackhawks’ offensive zone allowed Jonathan Toews to depart the ice so he could come on. While the change was happening, Keith held the puck at the blue line under no pressure from Colton Sissons. As Saad entered play, Keith passed the puck to him as he advanced towards Second Star G Pekka Rinne. Though he did pass to Kane across the ice along the far boards, Kane returned the favor when Saad reached the crease to set up an easy deflection goal.

    First Star G Corey Crawford earned the victory after saving 37-of-38 shots against (.974 save percentage), leaving the overtime loss to Rinne, who saved 33-of-35 (.943).

    Since October 10, wins have alternated between home and away teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series. After tonight’s hosts held serve, they earned a 7-4-1 record that is three points better than the roadies’.

  • October 14 – Day 11 – Sweep, sweep revenge

    It’s another great day (well, night, technically speaking) in the world of hockey, as there’s a whopping 14 games on the schedule.

    With no matinees, we have to wait until 7 p.m. to get the action started. It turns out to be well worth the wait, as there’s six contests (Carolina at Winnipeg [CITY/SN1], Toronto at Montréal [CBC/NHLN/TVAS], St. Louis at Tampa Bay, New Jersey at the New York Rangers, Washington at Philadelphia and Florida at Pittsburgh) on tap with another pair (Colorado at Dallas and Columbus at Minnesota) an hour later. 8:30 p.m. marks the puck drop for Nashville at Chicago, followed half an hour later by Boston at Arizona, and then the West Coast gets involved with two games (Calgary at Vancouver [CITY/SN1] and Ottawa at Edmonton [CBC/TVAS]) at 10 p.m. and another couple (Buffalo at Los Angeles and the New York Islanders at San Jose) 30 minutes after. All times Eastern.

    There’s a good reason to watch almost every fixture on tap this evening. Here’s a few I’ve thought of…

    • Toronto at Montréal: This is way more than an Original Six rivalry.
    • New Jersey at New York: Speaking of rivalries… Battle of the Hudson River, anyone?
    • Washington at Philadelphia: Is there a team in Pennsylvania that doesn’t have a rivalry with the Capitals?
    • Nashville at Chicago: If anyone has forgotten the Predators made the Stanley Cup Finals last season, it’s definitely not the Hawks.
    • Calgary at Vancouver: It’s rivalry night in Western Canada.

    We’ve made an unfortunate habit of repeating teams rather quickly lately, but there’s one must-watch game that sticks out above the rest.

     

    Just in case you’ve forgotten, the Predators’ run to the finals began in Chicago, where they beat the Blackhawks in a tight 1-0 game. Then they won again, this time by a much more commanding 5-0.

    And then the series went to the Bridgestone Center, where the Preds won 3-2 in a tight Game 3 that required overtime. And, of course, Smashville completed the sweep with a dominating 4-1 victory in Game 4.

    But you knew all that.

    Though I needed to look up the scores to those games, I’ll bet G Corey Crawford, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews and every other hockey player from the Windy City can recite all those numbers without blinking, and will be able to until they reach their graves.

    It’s that burning desire for revenge that makes this game so exciting. It’s that rare instance where, no matter what any coach says otherwise, what happened last year may actually have an impact on how tonight plays out.

    Scoring only three goals last postseason – including getting shutout twice – the Blackhawks will be expected to show no mercy this evening when they have the puck on their stick. Though the usual culprits of Kane and Toews are always important to defend especially well, Nashville will also have its hands full with prodigal son Brandon Saad and 23-year-old Ryan Hartman.

    Led by Hartman’s eight points (2-6-8 totals), those top four Blackhawks forwards have combined for 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 total points. Add in the fact that the other two players that complete the top two lines, Artem Anisimov and Richard Panik, are no slouches either and the Predators’ defense will certainly be busy.

    Similar to Chicago wanting to exact revenge, the Predators will try to use this game to really get back into the groove they found last postseason.

    It took Nashville a couple games to get their skates under them this season, as they started with an 0-2-0 record. But, since then, the Predators have won two-straight, most recently a 4-1 victory over Dallas Thursday.

    A year after their defense was all the rage, it’s been the Preds’ offensive prowess that has really stolen the limelight so far this season – even if a lot of that offense has come from a defenseman. Currently, both Filip Forsberg and P.K. Subban spearhead the team with six points apiece, more than enough to lead the club towards an 11th-best 2.9 goals-per-game.

    But it’s truly a full effort from the entire top line that is making this club tick right now. With a second line consisting of Scott Hartnell, Nick Bonino and Pontus Aberg (they’ve combined for only five points), the Forsberg-Ryan Johansen-Viktor Arvidson ensemble that has already managed 13 points is going to be expected to produce until the former builds more chemistry.

    There’s a lot more to this game than what’s on paper – unless of course you’re reading a recap from their playoff series last season. That being said, I feel pretty confident in picking the Blackhawks to take two points at home.

    The offensive powerhouse that is the Washington Capitals struck Newark in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, as the Caps beat the New Jersey Devils 5-2.

    Both squads needed a 20 minute warmup to start the game as only one goal was scored. Unfortunately for the home fans, that goal was struck by Second Star of the Game T.J. Oshie (First Star Nicklas Backstrom), as he buried a snap shot with 5:11 remaining in the frame to give Washington a lead it would not yield.

    Following intermission, Alex Ovechkin (Backstrom and John Carlson) scored his NHL-leading ninth goal of the season with a power play wrist shot 8:01 after resuming play. Though Taylor Hall (Third Star Kyle Palmieri and Will Butcher) was able to get the Devils on the board with 3:32 remaining in the frame with a power play goal, neither of those tallies proved to be the biggest of the period.

    Instead, the Capitals were able to once again register a late-period goal, but this one proved even more important than the last: this one proved to be the game-winner. It was struck courtesy of Jakub Vrana (Devante Smith-Pelly and Evgeny Kuznetsov), his first of the season.

    The play started behind G Cory Schneider‘s net when D Andy Greene misplayed a pass from D Steven Santini. Kuznetsov collected “the loose biscuit,” as it was described by play-by-play announcer Steve Cangialosi, at the goal line before advancing it along the far boards toward the point. He passed to Smith-Pelly in the middle of the zone, who fired a shot towards Schneider. But, before the netminder could make play on the puck, Vrana deflected it five-hole with the shaft of his stick.

    Palmieri (Damon Severson and John Moore) did pull Jersey back within a goal 53 seconds into the third period, but Oshie (Backstrom and Kuznetsov) and Backstrom (Ovechkin and Oshie) both scored power play goals to quell any chance of a Devils comeback.

    G Braden Holtby earned the victory after saving 21-of-23 shots faced (.913 save percentage), leaving the loss to Schneider, who saved 23-of-28 (.821).

    With Washington’s victory, road teams in the DtFR Game of the Day have now pulled within two points of the 6-4-1 home clubs.

  • October 13 – Day 10 – Sold their souls to the Jersey Devil

    Sorry, no obscure celebrity references in the title today. Hopefully you came for the references and stayed for the hockey previews.

    Friday has a few fun games on the roster, starting with two (Washington at New Jersey and the New York Rangers at Columbus [NHLN/SN1/TVAS]) at 7 p.m. Another pair of contests (Anaheim at Colorado and Ottawa at Calgary) drop the puck at 9 p.m., followed by tonight’s nightcap, Detroit at Vegas, 90 minutes later. All times Eastern.

    It’s unfortunate that New Jersey and Vegas weren’t squaring off tonight, as two undefeated clubs tangling would have been a fun sight. Instead, we have to choose between one or the other, and since we’ve already featured the Golden Knights twice this season, it looks like it’s off to Newark with us!

     

    Anyone who pegged the New Jersey Devils to start the season a perfect 3-0-0, please stand up.

    OK, now all of you sit down, because I think most of you are liars.

    A season removed from the third-worst offense in the league, the Devils have absolutely exploded to start this campaign, as they average 5.33 goals-per-game to rank second-best in the NHL.

    While it’d be fun to assume that the reason for Jersey’s improvement is the addition of C Nico Hischier (0-1-1 totals), the top-overall pick in this season’s NHL Entry Draft, much of the offense has actually come from W Jesper Bratt, a Swedish 19-year-old that was a sixth-rounder from the Class of 2016.

    Bratt (3-3-6) has been absolutely outstanding to begin his rookie career, as he currently averages a goal and an assist per game. It’s an elite group to be a member of, as only Washington’s D Christian Djoos can make a similar claim – though he’s played in only one game.

    Additionally, a total of only six players currently average two points-per-game, and it is quite a group. Bratt and Djoos are currently sharing company with the likes of Detroit’s D Mike Green, Buffalo’s LW Evander Kane and Washington’s C Evgeny Kuznetsov and W Alex Ovechkin.

    Not too shabby, as all are established names in his league.

    Another integral part to the Devils’ early success has been free agent signing D Will Butcher. Another rookie, he’s managed to provide five assists – three of which were on the power play – to fully integrate himself into New Jersey’s attack from the blue line.

    Why the Avalanche didn’t want Butcher in their system is beyond me. Maybe General Manager Joe Sakic thought he accidentally happened into his Hobey Baker Award.

    Turns out he was wrong in that assessment.

    As a result of Butcher’s play on the man-advantage, Jersey has seen a massive improvement on its power play. Last season, the Devils converted 17.5 percent of opponents’ penalties into goals, but this year is a totally different ball game (err… puck game). New Jersey has found success in four-of-13 opportunities for a 30.8 percent conversion rate, the fifth-best in the NHL.

    Unfortunately, numbers like Bratt’s and Butcher’s are tough to maintain even for RW Jaromir Jagr, much less two rookies. Both skaters will return to Earth eventually, so G Cory Schneider will need to continue his bounce-back season. Having played all three of the Devils’ games so far, he’s managed a .948 save percentage and a 2.00 GAA to rank among the top-10 goalies in the league.

    In the red corner, the Capitals enter this game on a two-game losing skid (most recent of which was Wednesday’s 3-2 home defeat at the hands of the Penguins).

    As I stated in Wednesday’s preview, Washington is playing far better than its offseason would have indicated. In particular, the Caps’ power play has been very good, as they’ve already registered three goals in 13 extra-man opportunities.

    One of Washington’s best play makers, C Nicklas Backstrom has been at the front of the man-advantage surge. He’s already registered three power play assists in four games. One of his favorite goal scorers to set up has been F T.J. Oshie, who has scored two man-advantage goals of his own. Considering New Jersey is playing the eighth-worst penalty kill to start the season, they’d be wise to keep RW Stefan Noesen under control.

    Additionally, RW Tom Wilson will make his season debut this evening. He was suspended for the first four games of the season for boarding St. Louis’ LW Samuel Blais in their preseason game on October 1. Wilson has already served two suspensions this season after serving a first during the preseason, so he’ll be walking on eggshells with Head Coach Barry Trotz and the Department of Player Safety. If the former first-rounder cannot clean up his game in his contract year, he may struggle to find a job that pays the way he wants it

    If Wilson shows any signs of timidity, I’d guess the Devils won’t hesitate to jump on him.

    Considering all the momentum is on New Jersey’s side right now, I’m leaning towards the Devils taking this game. That being said, Vegas is leaning towards the Capitals taking this one, favoring them in the -140 range.

    After allowing the Dallas Stars to score the first goal, the Nashville Predators buried four unanswered tallies to win yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day at Bridgestone Arena.

    Dallas’ lone goal of the night was struck 8:04 into the contest courtesy of LW Jamie Benn (C Jason Spezza and D John Klingberg), who used a power play wrist shot to pot his first marker of the season. The Stars held onto that lead throughout the opening period and into the first intermission.

    It took only 3:27 of action after returning to the ice for First Star rookie D Samuel Girard (D P.K. Subban and W Cody McLeod) to find his first goal of his NHL career. That slap shot leveled the game at one-all, allowing Second Star F Filip Forsberg‘s (Girard and F Ryan Johansen) power play wrister 2:54 later to be what proved to be the game-winner.

    There’s nothing like a revenge goal with the cherry on top being that it ended up the winner. 5:12 into the second period, Spezza was sent to the penalty box for tripping Forsberg, the eventual goalscorer.  The play started when Forsberg entered the offensive zone along the near boards. Under pressure from two Stars penalty killers, he was forced to retreat back towards the point before passing to Girard on the opposite side of the zone. The youngster advanced towards G Ben Bishop‘s crease before firing a slap shot from the face-off circle to the netminder’s stick side. Bishop was forced to make a diving save but was unable to contain the rebound, leaving him vulnerable to Forsberg’s elevated wrister.

    W Viktor Arvidsson (Forsberg) and Subban tacked on braces in the third period to cement the Preds’ second-straight victory.

    Third Star G Pekka Rinne earned the victory after saving 30-of-31 shots faced (.968), leaving the loss to Bishop, who saved 27-of-30 (.9).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series has certainly favored the 6-3-1 home teams so far, as they now have a four-point advantage over the visitors following tonight’s win.

  • October 12 – Day Nine – The Kevin Peter Hall game

    If you have no idea who the title is referring to, maybe today’s selection can help.

    Action is slightly delayed this evening, as our first two contests (Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay [SN360/TVAS] and St. Louis at Florida) don’t drop the puck until 7:30 p.m. Dallas pays a visit to Nashville at 8 p.m., followed by Minnesota at Chicago half an hour later. Another pair of contests (Winnipeg at Vancouver and Detroit at Arizona) get the green light at 10 p.m., with tonight’s nightcap – Buffalo at San Jose – getting underway 30 minutes later. All times Eastern.

    There’s two games from that selection that have drawn my eye. The Wild-Blackhawks rivalry is always fun to take in, but I’m surprisingly more drawn to a meeting between between two 1-2-0 clubs.

     

    Still can’t figure it out? Hall was the person in the Predator suit in the first two Predator movies. He’s the star of Predator!

    Sure, I could have gone with Arnold Schwarzenegger, but that would have been too easy.

    Anyways…

    Coming off an offseason of high expectations, both of these teams had a tough opening week to their campaigns. They both lost their opening two games (including an embarrassing 4-0 loss by the Predators to Pittsburgh in a rematch of the Stanley Cup Finals) before winning their contests on Tuesday.

    Starting with visiting Dallas, this was supposed to be an offense that eclipsed that of 2015-’16, yet the Stars have averaged only 2.33 goals-per-game to start the season ([t]third-worst in the league).

    Part of the problem has been the goaltending they’ve squared off against. Both Jake Allen (.93 save percentage and 2.58 GAA) and Marc-Andre Fleury (.963 save percentage and 1.32 GAA) have yet to lose a game in three starts and – especially Fleury – have been among the league’s best.

    Even though the super line of Jamie Benn–Tyler Seguin–Alexander Radulov didn’t find the back of the net, Dallas proved what it is truly capable of Tuesday against G Petr Mrazek. With the exception of the top power play unit scoring late in the first period, the middle two lines began flexing their muscles by scoring the remaining three goals (shh, no one needs to know that C Martin Hanzal‘s first goal of the year was an empty netter).

    While the offense assumes its form, it’s been the superb play of G Ben Bishop that has been keeping the Stars competitive in all their games. So far this season he’s posted a .955 save percentage and 1.15 GAA, including what could have been a shutout if he hadn’t been forced from the Vegas game on opening night.

    Of the numerous signings made across the league, few improved a team as immensely as this one did for Dallas. Add in the fact that the Stars also added D Marc Methot to a formerly flimsy defensive corps and you find a Dallas team ready to shoot for the stars (that was so lame).

    As for the Predators, they’re just trying to live up to qualifying for last year’s Stanley Cup Finals. No big deal, right?

    That postseason effort was largely dependent on a defensive corps that also had a scoring touch as golden as their sweaters, and maybe it’s the absence of that flair that has held Nashville back so far this young season. Beyond D P.K. Subban and his four assists, only two other blue liners have contributed on offense. Even more noticeable is that none of those defensive points are goals.

    It would seem D Ryan Ellis‘ absence is certainly being felt, as he posted 16-22-38 totals last season for .54 points-per-game. He would have notched at least one point by now.

    And as dependable as Bishop has been for the Stars, G Pekka Rinne has been below-average to star the season. He’s managed only an .869 save percentage for an atrocious 4.16 GAA – and he didn’t even play in the four-goal loss to Pittsburgh.

    With such an offensively-minded D-corps, elite play from Rinne is an absolute necessity. To put it bluntly, forcing the defense to actually focus on playing defense (that’s not a knock on this group, but we all know they’re almost always planning their next attack) takes such a major weapon away from this Nashville team. Head Coach Peter Laviolette cannot afford for this solid team to be in the wrong year of Rinne’s “good year, bad year” routine.

    If anything is starting to go right for the Predators, it’s their power play. The man-advantage, specifically the top unit, played an integral role in the Preds’ comeback win Tuesday from a 4-3 deficit in the third period. Nashville has converted 31.3 percent of its man-advantages, which ties with the Rangers for the second-best effort in the NHL.

    Though it was great to get that win over Philadelphia, I still don’t think all the Preds are mentally back from summer vacation. Having said that, I’m leaning towards Dallas pulling off the victory tonight, whether the game is over after 60 minutes or requires a shootout.

    The machine that is the Pittsburgh Penguins seems to have rediscovered its groove, as they beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 at the Verizon Center in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    The Penguins employed a goal-per-period strategy last night that the Caps nearly matched, failing to score in the first period. Because of that, does that make D Kris Letang‘s (W Bryan Rust and First Star of the Game RW Patric Hornqvist) first goal of the season, a power play wrist shot 5:22 into the game, the game-winner?

    Unfortunately for Letang, we all know the answer to that question is technically ‘no.’ Sorry, buddy.

    Pittsburgh registered its second power play goal of the night 8:20 into the second period, courtesy of Hornqvist (W Tom Kuhnhackl and C Sidney Crosby), another first-time goalscorer for the 2017-’18 season. The Penguins almost took a two-goal advantage into the second intermission, but Second Star D Christian Djoos (C Lars Eller and W Brett Connolly) sneaked a slap shot past G Matthew Murray with 53 seconds remaining in the frame to pull Washington back within a goal. Just like the goalscorers before him, Djoos’ marker was his first of the season, but this one was extra special: tonight was also his NHL debut.

    Apparently Head Coach Mike Sullivan was none too pleased about Djoos’ late marker, as Third Star W Conor Sheary (D Justin Schultz and D Olli Maatta) provided what proved to be the true game-winner 38 seconds into the third period.

    The play truly started with five seconds remaining in the second period when RW Alex Chiasson earned himself a seat in the penalty box for getting caught holding D Brian Dumoulin. As far as action on the ice is concerned, the scoring play began with Maatta at the blue line. Seeing Schultz undefended – due to the Capitals being shorthanded – in the face-off circle to G Braden Holtby‘s right, he passed to his fellow defenseman who quickly centered a pass to Sheary waiting in Holtby’s crease. Though the 25-year-old began falling while performing his tip-in, the redirection was just enough to beat Holtby to the post.

    W Alex Ovechkin (Djoos and C Nicklas Backstrom) did pull Washington back within a goal with 7:09 remaining in regulation, but neither he, F T.J. Oshie nor any of the other Capitals could complete the comeback in the remaining time.

    Murray earned the victory after saving 20-of-22 shots faced (.909), leaving the loss to Holby, who saved 33-of-36 (.917).

    Pittsburgh’s road victory snaps what was a four-game winning streak for the 5-3-1 home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series. That being said, hosts still have a two-point advantage over roadies in the competition.