Down the Frozen River

Tag: Game of the Day

October 15 – Day Nine – No games on TV has me bummed…

For two days in a row, the Game of the Day has yielded unexpected results as the Chicago Blackhawks were blanked by the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center last night 3-0.

The two squads played a scoreless 25 minutes before Philadelphia broke the ice (HA! IT’S HOCKEY! THEY PLAY ON ICE! …I will stop now.) with a power play goal by Sam Gagner, his first of the season. Claude Giroux added the first insurance tally at the 16:21 mark in the second period, followed by Matt Read early in the third.

Michal Neuvirth earned his second shutout victory in as many games played by stopping all 30 of the Hawks‘ shots, while Corey Crawford’s record falls to 1-2 after stopping 26 of 29 (89.7%)

The DtFR Game of the Day series is now an even four-all between the home and road squads.

Today is a busy day in the league, with a total of eight games being played, of which only two are north of the American border. Three games drop the puck at 7 p.m. eastern (Nashville at the New York Islanders, Ottawa at Pittsburgh, and Chicago at Washington), followed half an hour later by another set of three (the New York Rangers at Montréal, Dallas at Tampa Bay and Buffalo at Florida). St. Louis and Edmonton get started at 9 p.m. eastern, followed an hour later by the final game of the night: Minnesota at Arizona.

Of that set, there are at least four solid games to choose from (at least in my opinion), but sadly there aren’t any nationally televised games to help make the decision any easier (must be the Game 5 between the Mets and Dodgers…).

Therefore, I’m basically going to draw a game out of the hat and go with the Rangers at Montréal at the Bell Centre.

There’s a few appealing qualities about this game compared to the other great games tonight: This one is Montréal‘s home opener, looking for their best start ever in an illustrious franchise history. This one is an Original Six matchup. And, this one pits the two current division leaders of the Eastern Conference against each other. All of these should make for a great game.

Some players to watch in this one include Montréal‘s Andrei Markov (+6 Corsi rating [tied for league lead]), Max Pacioretty (four goals [tied for league lead], +6 Corsi rating [tied for league lead] and six points [tied for second in the league]), Tomas Plekanec (+6 Corsi rating [tied for league lead]), Carey Price (three wins [tied for league lead]) & P.K. Subban (four assists [tied for sixth in the league]) and New York‘s Oscar Lindberg (four goals [tied for league lead]) & Henrik Lundqvist (three wins [tied for league lead]).

Given the environment and some of the statistical edges the Habs have (averaging a goal less per game, higher power play and penalty kill percentages and more shots per game), I’m picking Montréal to win this very competitive game.

October 15, 2015
October 13 – Day Seven – And on the seventh day…

No, before you get worried, I won’t be forsaking my responsibility to the Game of the Day. That being said, since it is fall break for school, I definitely will be resting. So many video games, so little time…

Yesterday’s Game of the Day between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins ended exactly the way I, and I think most of us, expected: a Bolts winner. Steven Stamkos earned his 500th and 501st points with the game-winning goal at the 15:17 mark of the second period to set the score at 4-3. The Lightning scored two insurance goals in the final period to cement their victory, moving them into a tie with Montréal at the top of the division for the day.

Ben Bishop stopped 27 of 30 (90%) to earn the win, while Tuukka Rask could only stop 17 of 23 (73.9%).

The Game of the Day series is now an evenly split 3-3 between the home and road squads.

Today’s schedule includes nine games (eight in America), making a busy night for hockey fans. As usual, the action begins at 7 p.m. eastern, with five games starting then: Nashville at New Jersey, Winnipeg at the New York Rangers, Montréal at Pittsburgh, San Jose at Washington, and Florida at Carolina. Half an hour later, the puck drops at the Joe when Detroit plays host to Tampa Bay (NBCSN). At 8:30 eastern, Edmonton begins their game against Dallas, followed half an hour later by St. Louis at Calgary. The final game of the night begins at 10 p.m. eastern when Vancouver visits Los Angeles.

My pick for the Game of the Day is… San Jose at Washington!

Come on down!

Props to “Boba Fettuccine” for posting this .gif to this board. And for anyone wondering, yes, that is Aaron Paul (a.k.a. Jesse Pinkman) in 2000. The Internet is a great place with millions of hidden gems of information, kids.

Anyways, while the game may not be the most competitive of the night (the Caps are a -135 favorite in this one), it is highlighted by the return of RW Joel Ward to the Verizon Center.

Ward played 276 games over four seasons with Washington before signing with the Sharks this offseason. During his time with the Caps, he amassed 57 goals and 64 assists (121 points) and a +22 Corsi rating. Speaking of Corsi, Ward led the Caps in the statistic twice, during the 2011-’12 season and during the 2013-’14 campaign.

In the last two seasons, he has scored four game-winners per year, a feat he only accomplished once in seasons before. An especially important aspect of his game in Washington compared to his three seasons in Nashville was helping to produce power play goals. In those same two seasons that he scored his game-winners, he averaged 4.5 power play assists, by far the best of any other two years of his career. It is surely this recent success that inspired San Jose to sign him to a three-year contract, where he is currently playing on the second line.

So far this season, he has accounted for two assists in as many games played and a +1 Corsi rating.

As stated before, the game will probably not be the most competitive of the night. Washington has their sights set on Lord Stanley, while the Sharks are simply hoping to put together a respectable campaign during their time of transition. I’m taking the home squad in this one.

October 13, 2015
October 12 – Day Six – Christopher Columbus was Definitely a Hockey Fan

Last night’s lone game, and thus the Game of the Day, was contested between the Montréal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators, with the Habs winning 3-1 in the Canadian Tire Centre, their first regular season victory in the nation’s capital since April 4, 2014.

Tomas Plekanec was responsible for the game-winning goal, fired at the 18:34 mark of the first period. The unassisted tally was his second of the game and third of the season, earning him first star honors. Mike Condon earned the win after stopping 20 of 21 Senators‘ shots (95.2%), while his counterpart, Matthew O’Connor, stopped 31 of 34 (91.2%).

The home team is now 3-2 in Down the Frozen River’s Game of the Day series.

Today has five games on the schedule, taking place throughout the day in honor of Christopher Columbus, an Italian who undoubtedly was directly involved in forging the Stanley Cup, establishing the Original Six and initiating the new divisions and playoff format implemented in 2014. Obviously.

The things they do and don’t teach in grade school. Terrible.

In honor of Columbus, today’s schedule will be relayed in Italian, because we live in the wonderful world of Google Translate, allowing us to be fluent in almost every known language. Please know I took a few liberties with my translations before you begin harping in the comment section.

The day begins with two games at 1 p.m. eastern, when il Fulmine di Baia di Tampa visit gli Orsi di Boston and gli Aerei di Winnipeg visit le Isole di Nuova York. The fun continues at 3 p.m. eastern when the star of the day’s team, le Giacche Blu di Colombo, visit le Spade di Bufalo. The night games begin at 7 p.m. eastern when le Pantere della Florida visit the le Alette di Filatoio di Philadelphia (NHL Network). Finally, i Canadesi di Vancouver visit i Anatre di Anaheim at 10 p.m. eastern.

Currently, the Bruins are projected to lose with a +125 line, the closest line for the day, which confirms Bolts–B’s as our Game of the Day.

This matchup is one of two among divisional foes (Vancouver/Anaheim is the other) happening today, and also has some statistical significance: All Steven Stamkos needs is an assist in today’s game to earn the 500th point of his 7.02 year career. However, he’ll try to earn his point and, more importantly, two points for his squad in a building his team hasn’t won in since March 25, 2010.

Boston has had little to hang their hat on… or helmet, whichever… so far in this young season. In two games played, the B’s have yet to earn a point in the standings. What’s worse, they’ve played both those games at the TD Garden and have given up an average of exactly five goals per game, while only scoring an average of exactly two goals per game. Compare that to the 2-0-0 Lightning‘s averages of 1.5 goals against per game and 3.5 goals for per game, and you’ll see that this one may be leaning Tampa Bay‘s way.

I’m picking the Bolts to take care of business in this one and enter into a two-way tie with the Habs for the top of the Atlantic Division with six points.

October 12, 2015
October 11 – Day Five – Out of Necessity, Vol. 1

Last night’s game of the night between St. Louis and Minnesota ended in a 3-2 win for the Wild. The Blues tied the game at one-all at the 2:49 mark of the second period, a score that held for 13 minutes. The Wild took a 2-1 lead at the 15:15 mark with a power play goal by Zach Parise, his fourth goal, tying him for the league lead in the young season. Twenty-one seconds later, Charlie Coyle scored his second goal of the match, the eventual game-winner.

St. Louis out-shot the Wild 32-19, but Devan Dubnyk held his ground by stopping 93.8% of shots faced to earn the win.

Today’s Game of the Day is quite the tough decision. On the schedule tonight is Montréal at Ottawa (7 p.m. eastern, NHL Network/SN1) and… oh… nobody else… guess that makes things easier!

Similar to last night’s game, this matchup is both a divisional rivalry and a rematch from last year’s conference quarterfinals. Last season, Montréal won the Atlantic Division, 11 points better then the Wild Card Sens. That being said, Ottawa won the regular season series 3-1 before falling in six games to the Habs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Currently, there is a four-way tie for the division lead between the Bolts, Habs, Sens and Wings at four points apiece, therefore the winner of this game will own the division for a night. You know, ‘cuz that’s important without even a full week played in the season.

Some players to keep a watch on include Ottawa‘s Mark Stone (three assists, tied for fifth in league) and Kyle Turris (three goals, tied for fourth in league; four points, tied for seventh in league) and Montréal‘s Alex Galchenyuk (three assists, tied for fifth in league), Andrei Markov (+4 Corsi rating, tied for sixth in league) and P.K. Subban (+4 Corsi rating, tied for sixth in league).

The Sens are favored in tonight’s game at -124.

October 11, 2015
October 8, 2015 – Day Two

Last night’s Game of the Night between the New York Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks ended in a Blueshirts‘ 3-2 winner. Center Derek Stepan, assisted by Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider, scored the eventual game-winner with less than a minute left… in the first period. The Hawks could only muster a goal 6:55 into the second period for the remainder of the game. Although they lost, Chicago put 34 shots on goal (compared to New York‘s 27), but the Blueshirts made sure one more of their’s counted.

Tonight’s action involves seven games, all played on American soil… er… frozen water. The Winnipeg Jets are visiting the Boston Bruins (7 p.m. eastern), the Ottawa Senators are visiting the Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. eastern), the Philadelphia Flyers are visiting the Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30 p.m. eastern), the Edmonton Oilers are visiting the St. Louis Blues (8 p.m. eastern), the Carolina Hurricanes are visiting the Nashville Predators (8 p.m. eastern), the Pittsburgh Penguins are visiting the Dallas Stars (8:30 p.m. eastern), and the Minnesota Wild are visiting the Colorado Avalanche (9 p.m. eastern, NBCSN).

Judging from expected quality of the game, me, and thus Down the Frozen River (Look at all the power I have!), can make only one choice for our Game of the Night.

Thanks in large part to the trade for Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh is expected to have improved this season from last, and tonight will be their first real opportunity to show that where it counts: the regular season. Another team that has improved, maybe even more so from last season to this season, is the Dallas Stars. Colby has the Stars taking the Central Division crown after missing the Stanley Cup playoffs by seven points. While not all of us here at Down the Frozen River are yet convinced of that, we do agree that Dallas has made strong moves toward being highly competitive.

Currently, the Stars are favored in the matchup, but I expect a highly competitive game. It goes without saying that the Penguins have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in their arsenal, two players that already have significant reputations for scoring. But Dallas is now the home of Antti Niemi, Johnny Oduya and Patrick Sharp, all of whom have at least one Stanley Cup to their résumé and will want to impose their winning habits early on their new squad.

It should be an excellent game.

October 8, 2015