Down the Frozen River

Tag: Getzlaf

  • March 5 – Day 142 – Freeway Face-Off

    For the second straight day, my prediction was incorrect, as the New York Rangers won in Washington 3-2.

    New York got on the scoreboard first, only 5:47 into the contest.  Jesper Fast’s wrister was true, assisted by Dan Girardi (his 15th helper of the season) and Ryan McDonagh.  Thanks to a Karl Alzner tripping penalty, the Blueshirts doubled their lead with a power play snap shot from Keith Yandle, who was assisted by Derick Brassard (his 25th helper of the season) and First Star of the Game Derek Stepan, which they held into the intermission.

    Just as the Rangers scored two goals in the first frame, Washington did in the second.  10:58 after resuming play, Third Star Jay Beagle’s wrister found the back of the net, his seventh tally of the season.  With only 40 seconds remaining in the period, T.J. Oshie’s scored on a wrister of his own, his 19th tally of the season.  The game would come down to the final 20 minutes, as the two-all score held into the second intermission.

    Only one goal was scored in the third, belonging to the Rangers only 17 seconds after returning to the ice from the dressing room.  New York‘s winner came courtesy of a Stepan wrister, assisted by McDonagh (his 23rd helper of the season).

    Second Star Antti Raanta earns the win after saving 32 of 34 (94.1%), while Braden Holtby takes the loss, saving 20 of 23 (87%).

    With New York‘s win, the DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 64-35-13, favoring the home squads by 34 points over the roadies.

    It’s a wildly busy Saturday in the NHL, as 11 games will be played in the span of approximately 12 hours, with the first of those matchups dropping the puck at 1 p.m. eastern (Minnesota at Buffalo).  3 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of a pair of games (Nashville at Colorado and Calgary at Pittsburgh), followed an hour later by Anaheim at Los Angeles.  The usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern features the beginning of five contests (Montréal at Winnipeg, Ottawa at Toronto, Carolina at Tampa Bay, Washington at Boston [NHLN] and Columbus at Philadelphia).  Florida at Arizona drops the puck at 9 p.m. eastern, trailed an hour later by this evening’s nightcap, Vancouver at San Jose.

    Five of today’s games are divisional rivalries (Nashville at Colorado, Anaheim at Los Angeles, Ottawa at Toronto, Columbus at Philadelphia and Vancouver at San Jose), but only two are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Anaheim at Los Angeles and Washington at Boston).

    If you haven’t looked at the standings recently, you need to know that Anaheim and Los Angeles are currently tied at 80 points apiece for the Pacific Division lead.  To not feature this game would be blatantly disrespectful to hockey, and probably all of mankind.

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    This afternoon’s game will be Anaheim‘s seventh in the DtFR Game of the Day series, where they currently own a 3-1-2 record.  Their most recent showing under our scrutiny was February 15, a 6-4 victory in Calgary.  Los Angeles has only been featured four times before today’s matinee, and own a 2-2-0 record in such games.  Their most recent was February 9, an incredible 9-2 victory in Boston.

    The 36-19-8 Anaheim Ducks currently occupy second place in the Pacific Division (due to losing a regulation+overtime win tiebreaker to Los Angeles) and fifth in the Western Conference.  Although they had a rough start to the season, they’ve played the third best defense in the league, but it’s been supported by the sixth worst scoring offense.

    Led by Hampus Lindholm’s 97 blocks, the Ducks have allowed only 1722 shots to reach 16-8-2 John Gibson and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 91.9% for only 147 goals against, third fewest in the league.  That incredible run of success has been led by the second best penalty kill in the NHL, which has neutralized 86.73% of their trips to the sin bin, allowing only 30 power play goals against.

    Earlier in the season, it was the offense holding Anaheim back, although that doesn’t seem to be the case right now (more on that in a minute).  Led by Corey Perry’s 174 shots, the Ducks have fired the puck a decent 1935 times, but only 8.2% have found the back of the net for 161 goals (led by Perry’s 28 tallies), sixth fewest in the league.  The penalty kill has not been hampered by this lack of success though, as Anaheim‘s 22.8% success rate, good for 44 power play goals (led by Perry’s 11 extra man tallies), is the second best rate in the NHL.

    Anaheim‘s 10 game winning streak is currently best in the league, two games stronger than Tampa Bay‘s eight game streak.  Their most recent showing was Thursday, a 5-1 victory in Arizona.  In addition to giving the Ducks a two point lead in the division over the rival Kings, Anaheim would also pull within three points of the dormant Blackhawks for the top spot in the Western Conference.

    The 38-21-4 Los Angeles Kings currently lead the Pacific Division by virtue of the regulation+overtime wins tiebreaker, and sit in fourth in the Western Conference.  They’ve gotten to that position by playing the bet defense in the league, paired with the 13th worst offense.

    Led by Alec Martinez’ 145 blocks, the Kings have allowed only 1747 shots to reach 32-16-3 Jonathan Quick and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.1% for 145 goals against, the fewest in the NHL.  The key to besting Los Angeles has been to get them to commit a penalty, as their 81.42% kill rate, which has allowed 42 power play goals, ranks only 13th best in the league.

    Jeff Carter’s 174 shots has helped lead the Kings to firing the puck a whopping 2054 times, but only 8.1% have found the back of the net for 168 goals (led by Tyler Toffoli’s 24 tallies), 13th fewest in the NHL.  While overall numbers might not be where they want them, the Kings have had decent success on the power play, where they optimize on 81.42% of opportunities for 40 power play goals (nine from Toffoli), the ninth best rate in the league.

    Los Angeles‘ last game was Thursday, a 3-2 victory over the visiting Canadiens.  Just like Anaheim, a win this afternoon gives the Kings an official lead over their heated rivals, and they pull within three points of the Western Conference lead.

    Anaheim currently leads the season series 2-1-0, with the most recent meeting occurring Sunday, a 4-2 victory for the Ducks on The Pond.

    Some players to keep an eye on in this afternoon’s game include Anaheim‘s Ryan Getzlaf (42 assists [eighth most in the league]), Frederik Anderson (2.22 GAA [eighth best in the league]) or Gibson (2.09 GAA [second best in the league]) and Perry (28 goals [ninth most in the league]) & Los Angeles‘ Anze Kopitar (+23 [tied for sixth best in the league]), Quick (32 wins [tied for third most in the league] and 2.18 GAA [sixth best in the league]) and Toffoli (+27 [tied for second best in the league]).

    It’s a shame this game isn’t on national TV, because there’s a lot on the line for not only the Pacific, but even the Western Conference.  Although the Kings‘ offense has been better for the entirety of the season and they have home ice, it is hard to pick against the Ducks with their 10 straight wins.  I’ll take Anaheim on the road.

  • February 15 – Day 123 – Happy Grammy Day!

    Once again, the Bruins proved me wrong in my prediction, as they fell 6-5 in Detroit in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Although they took the loss, Boston did set a positive franchise record, as Brad Marchand’s goal only eight seconds into the game, his 28th of the season, is the fastest-ever Bruins goal.  He was assisted by Brett Connolly.  Detroit leveled the game only 2:36 later with a Henrik Zetterberg backhander, his 11th tally of the season, assisted by Justin Abdelkader and Danny DeKeyser.  Again, Boston quickly broke the tie, when Zach Trotman scored his second of the season at the 2:58 mark with a slap shot.  Goal scoring subsided for a little while before the Bruins set the score at 3-1 with a Loui Eriksson tip-in, his 19th tally of the season, assisted by David Krejci and Jimmy Hayes.  The Wings got a goal back 1:47 later on the power play, scored by Pavel Datsyuk, assisted by Abdelkader (his 17th helper of the season) and Brad Richards.  The 3-2 Boston lead held into the intermission.

    The Wings leveled the score only 3:13 into the second period with a goal from Darren Helm, assisted by Xavier Ouellet and Alexey Marchenko.  They followed that up with another goal only 3:25 later, courtesy of Datsyuk, who was assisted by Richards and Zetterberg (his 29th helper of the season).  The Wings‘ lead expanded to two with another goal from Helm, assisted by Marchenko and Kyle Quincey.  The Bruins got one back with Dennis Seidenberg’s first goal of the season at the 11:23 mark, assisted by Ryan Spooner (his 29th helper of the season).  The 5-4 Red Wings lead held into the second intermission.

    Boston leveled the game only 38 seconds into the final period with a score from Joonas Kemppainen, assisted by Marchand and Krejci (his 31st helper of the season), but Detroit earned the last laugh with a deflection goal from Zetterberg, assisted by DeKeyser and Datsyuk (his 22nd helper of the season).

    Petr Mrazek earns the win by saving 17 of 22 (77.3%), while Jonas Gustavsson, who replaced Tuukka Rask after he gave up the fifth goal (19 for 24, 79.2%), takes the loss after saving 10 of 11 (90.9%).

    The Game of the Day series now stands at 55-27-11, favoring the home squad by 36 points over the roadies.

    Happy Presidents’ and Grammys Day!  In honor of both of these “holidays,” we’ll try to keep the theme going in the schedule run-down.  The first game of the day is between the Motown Red Wings and the “New York State of Mind” Islanders at 1 p.m. eastern (NHLN), followed by Marcus Mumford’s Anaheim Ducks at “(Marie’s the Name) His Latest” Calgary Flames three hours later.  7:30 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of the “Black and Yellow” Pittsburgh Penguins and the “Pocketful of Sunrise“ Panthers (yeah, I know, just work with me), followed half an hour later by Switchfoot’s Dallas Stars at the “Crazy Town” Predators.  Drake’s Toronto Maple Leafs are “Goin’ to (the) Chicago” Blackhawks at 8:30 p.m. eastern (NHLN), and the Canadiens are almost “A Million Miles from Montréal,” visiting the Arizona Coyotes.  The “Born to be” Minnesota Wild getting ready for a “Vancouver Shakedown” against the Canucks represents tonight’s nightcap at 10 p.m. eastern.

    Only two of today’s seven games are between divisional rivals (Anaheim at Calgary and Dallas at Nashville), while another set of two are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Detroit at New York and Dallas at Nashville).

    While I’d usually go with the Dallas–Nashville game, especially since they’re slated to meet each other in the first round, but we’re already committed to the Grammys spiel.  Because of that, and since Kendrick Lamar, the most nominated artist, is from Compton, Calif., we’ll go with the team he was born closest to (that’s playing today, the Kings are technically closer…): the Anaheim Ducks.

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    Today’s game will be Anaheim‘s sixth in the Game of the Day series, where they currently own a 2-1-2 record.  Their most recent featured game was Saturday’s game in Chicago, a 3-2 overtime victory.  The only other time Calgary was featured was featured was their trip to Madison Square Garden on October 25, where they lost 4-1.

    The 27-19-8 Anaheim Ducks currently occupy third in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference.  They have gotten themselves into playoff position with the second-best defense in the league, which has been more than necessary to cover for the worst offense in the NHL.  A more in-depth analysis of Anaheim‘s game can be found within Saturday’s post.

    As the Ducks were off yesterday, their most recent game was Saturday’s 3-2 overtime victory in Chicago.  A win in today’s game pushes Anaheim past San Jose and back into second place in the division by a point.

    The 25-26-3 Calgary Flames currently sit in sixth in the Pacific Division and 12th, or third worst, in the Western Conference.  The main reason they are in that position is because of their fifth-worst defense, as the offense actually ranks 15th-best.

    The Flames, led by John Gaudreau’s 143 shots, have fired only 1555 shots, of which 9.3% have found the back of the net for 144 goals (led by Gaudreau’s 21 tallies), 15th best in the league.  That could actually be better if it wasn’t for the power play, which is second worst.  Calgary has only optimized on 14.86% of opportunities for only 26 extra-man goals (led by Mark Giordano’s five power play tallies), seven fewer than the league average.

    The problems for Calgary have been on the other end.  Thanks in part to Kris Russell’s team-leading 174 blocks, only 1572 shots have made their way to the injured 17-18-1 Karri Ramo and co., of which they’ve collectively saved only 90.3% for 160 goals against, fifth-most in the league.  While it is not completely the problem, part of the issue has been the Flames‘ penalty kill which, just like the power play, ranks second-worst in the league.  The Flames have neutralized only 75% of opposing power plays for 35 extra-man goals against.

    Calgary‘s most recent game was a 4-1 loss in Arizona on Friday.  Should Calgary win today, they will move only a point behind 11th place in the Western Conference, and six points behind the second wildcard position.

    Today’s game will be the third in the season series, which Anaheim currently leads 2-0-0.  Their most recent meeting was way back on December 29 in this building, where the Ducks won 1-0.

    This game is also special in the sense that it is a rematch of one of last season’s Western Conference Semifinals, which the Ducks ultimately won in five games before falling to the Blackhawks in the conference finals.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Anaheim‘s Ryan Getzlaf (36 assists [tied for seventh-most in the league]) and John Gibson (four shutouts [tied for fourth-best in the league] and 2.11 GAA [fifth-best in the league]) & Calgary‘s T.J. Brodie (+15 and two short-handed assists [both lead the team]) and Gaudreau (30 assists, nine of which were on a power play, and 21 goals, 18 of which were at even-strength and six were game-winners, for 51 points on 143 shots [all lead the team]).

    Anaheim has been in control of this series of late, and I don’t expect anything to change now.  As long as Anaheim‘s defense continues to play lights-out like they have been all season, they should be all set for two points.

  • February 13 – Day 121 – Duck… Duck… Hawk!

    It took overtime, but the Tampa Bay Lightning were able to hold home ice to beat the Nashville Predators 4-3.

    It was actually the Preds that scored first.  Mike Fisher’s snap shot connected at the 9:40 mark of the first, assisted by Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm (his 19th helper of the season).  Nashville‘s 1-0 lead held to the intermission.

    Tampa leveled the score 8:22 after resuming play, courtesy of a J.T. Brown wrister, assisted by Valtteri Filppula (his 20th helper of the season) and Andrej Sustr.  The Bolts took the lead only 1:45 later when Nikita Kucherov fired a backhander for his 22nd tally of the season, assisted by Nikita Nesterov and Ben Bishop.  The Lightning took their 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

    Nashville leveled the score only 4:01 after resuming play from the break when James Neal found the back of the net with a wrister for his 20th goal of the season, assisted by Third Star of the Game Roman Josi and Barret Jackman.  They then took the lead at the 7:46 mark with a wrister from Filip Forsberg, assisted by Mike Ribeiro and Josi (his 29th helper of the season).  With only 27 seconds remaining in regulation, the Lightning leveled the game with a slap shot from Second Star Steven Stamkos, assisted by Victor Hedman and Kucherov (his 25th helper of the season).

    Overtime only lasted 1:04, as First Star Tyler Johnson’s wrister, assisted by Hedman (his 28th helper of the season) and Stamkos, was pure.

    Bishop earns the win after saving 27 of 30 (90%), while Pekka Rinne takes the loss after saving 24 of 28 (85.7%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 54-27-10, favoring the home squad by 35 points over the roadies.

    It’s another busy Saturday for the greatest hockey league in the world, with 10 games on the docket today.  New Jersey and Philadelphia drop the opening puck of the day at 1 p.m. eastern, followed an hour later by the only other afternoon matinee, Boston at Minnesota.  Four games get started at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern (Toronto at Vancouver, Nashville at Florida, the New York Islanders at Carolina and Ottawa at Columbus), followed an hour later by Washington at Dallas.  Anaheim at Chicago starts at 8:30 p.m. eastern in NHL Network.  Edmonton hosts Winnipeg at 10 p.m. eastern, followed half an hour later by this evening’s nightcap, Arizona at San Jose.

    Three of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (New Jersey at Philadelphia, New York at Carolina and Arizona at San Jose), and another set of three are games between current qualifiers (Nashville at Florida, Washington at Dallas and Anaheim at Chicago).  The Anaheim–Chicago game is also a rematch of the Western Conference Finals.

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    This will be Anaheim‘s fifth appearance in the Game of the Day series, where they currently own a 1-1-2 record.  Their most recent appearance in the series was a 4-1 victory over the Senators on January 13.  Chicago has played many more games (16 so far, in fact), and much more recently.  Their 4-2 loss on home ice to the Stars on Thursday set their Game of the Day record at 9-6-1.

    In addition to meeting in last season’s Western Conference Finals, the Blackhawks and Ducks are also connected by a mid-season trade that sent Ryan Garbutt to Anaheim in exchange for Jiri Sekac.

    Garbutt had two goals, four assists and 94 hits in his 43-game Blackhawks career before being sent to Orange County, where he’s already notched three goals and an assist in eight games played.

    The 26-19-8 Anaheim Ducks currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference.  So far this season, they’ve played the fourth-best defense in the league, but it’s been paired with the fewest goals scored in the league.

    Sami Vatanen may lead the team with only 85 blocks, but the Ducks have allowed only 1462 shots to reach 12-8-2 John Gibson and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 91.7% for only 125 goals against, fourth-least in the league.  That defensive strength has directly stemmed from Anaheim‘s penalty kill, which is the best in the league, killing 88.71% of opposing power plays for 21 extra-man goals against.

    Although the offense has been improving of late, it still ranks worst in the league in goals scored.  Led by Corey Perry’s 145 shots, Anaheim has fired 1618 attempts for 122 goals (led by Perry’s 21 tallies).  The power play has also been fairly poor, as it ranks 11th-worst in the league.  The Ducks have only scored on 17.88% of their opportunities for 27 extra-man goals (led by Perry’s six).

    Anaheim lost their most recent game 4-3 in a shootout in Columbus on Thursday.  A win today provides the Ducks the opportunity to move into second place in the division should the Sharks lose, but if Anaheim loses and Vancouver wins, the Ducks‘ lead for third in the division is reduced to only two points.

    The 36-18-4 Chicago Blackhawks currently lead both the Central Division and the Western Conference by a lone point over the Stars, and trail only the Washington Capitals, by eight points, for the Presidents’ Trophy.  They play the fourth-best offense in the league, paired with the seventh-best defense.  A more in-depth analysis of their game can be found in Thursday’s post.

    With their 4-2 loss to the Stars, the Blackhawks are currently riding a two-game losing skid.  A Blackhawks win paired with a Stars loss to the Capitals expands Chicago‘s lead in the division and conference to three points, but a loss could provide the Stars the opportunity to reclaim the title of ‘Best of the West.’

    As stated before, these teams met in the Western Conference Finals last season, where the Blackhawks won in Game Seven en route to their Stanley Cup.

    These squads have already met twice this season, with Chicago winning both games in overtime.  Most recently, they met in Anaheim, where the Blackhawks won 3-2 with extra time.

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Anaheim‘s Ryan Getzlaf (35 assists [tied for seventh-most in the league]) and Gibson (2.13 GAA [sixth-best in the league] and four shutouts [tied for fourth-most in the league]) & Chicago‘s Corey Crawford (seven shutouts [most in the league], 31 wins [second-most in the league], .929 save percentage [tied for fifth-best in the league] and 2.17 GAA [tied for eighth-best in the league]), Patrick Kane (77 points [leads the league], 44 assists (second-most in the league], 33 goals [second-most in the league] and +23 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) and Artemi Panarin (52 points [tied for seventh-most in the league]).

    Another night in Chicago, another same old prediction.  Although the Stars bested what I predicted, I fully expect the Hawks to take care of the Ducks in the United Center.