The Boston Bruins fell behind by a pair of goals before the end of the first period, rallied to tie the game early in the third period and lost it in the dying seconds as the Anaheim Ducks bookended power-play goals Tuesday night at Honda Center in a, 4-3, victory for the home team.
John Gibson (17-14-8, 2.84 goals-against average, .911 save percentage in 39 games played) made 31 saves on 34 shots against in the win for Anaheim.
Boston goaltender, Linus Ullmark (17-9-1, 2.80 goals-against average, .908 save percentage in 28 games played), turned aside 24 out of 28 shots faced in the loss.
The Bruins fell to 32-18-4 (68 points) on the season and remain in 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as in command of the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference as a result.
The Ducks improved to 26-21-9 (61 points) overall, but stuck in 5th place in the Pacific Division as a result of the win.
Anaheim also swept the regular season series against Boston 2-0-0.
Bruce Cassidy made no changes to his lineup from Monday night’s, 7-0, shutout win in Los Angeles to Tuesday night’s action in Anaheim as the Bruins remained without Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) and Curtis Lazar (upper body).
Jack Ahcan and Anton Blidh remained in the press box as Boston’s healthy scratches against the Ducks.
Nick Foligno and Sam Carrick kicked the night off with a burst of energy as the two exchanged fisticuffs at 2:20 of the first period– yielding five-minute majors for fighting in the process in what was the 18th fight of the season for Boston and second in as many nights.
A few minutes later, Brad Marchand was sent to the box with a minor infraction for cross checking as the Bruins veteran illegally used his stick on Derek Grant at 5:35 of the first period.
It didn’t take Anaheim long to convert on the ensuing power play as Derek Forbort gave it away to Ducks defender, Jamie Drysdale, at the point in Boston’s own zone.
Drysdale slid the rubber biscuit along the blue line as the puck found its way to Trevor Zegras before Zegras set up Ryan Getzlaf for a clear shot on goal that rebounded off Ullmark to Rickard Rakell as Rakell (15) crashed the net and buried it.
Getzlaf (26) and Zegras (27) tallied the assists on Rakell’s power-play goal and Anaheim went ahead, 1-0, at 6:33 of the first period.
Less than a couple of minutes later, Boston responded with a goal of their own– this time on a redirection as Foligno (2) changed the course of a shot from the point by Brandon Carlo through his own legs and that of Gibson’s five-hole– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.
Carlo (5) and Tomáš Nosek (8) had the assists on Foligno’s goal at 8:15 of the first period as the two teams swapped momentum in the first half of the opening frame.
Towards the end of the period, however, everything came up just ducky.
Cam Fowler fired a shot on Ullmark that Isac Lundeström (13) gathered with ease and pocketed on the rebound to put the Ducks back in front, 2-1, at 17:53.
Fowler (21) and Jakob Silfvergberg (16) tallied the assists on the goal.
Less than two minutes later, Adam Henrique (10) received a pass from Troy Terry and unloaded on a catch and release shot to give Anaheim a two-goal lead at 19:03.
Terry (19) and Getzlaf (27) were credited with the assists as the Ducks took a, 3-1, lead into the first intermission.
Anaheim led in shots on goal, 9-7, after one period and held the advantage in blocked shots (6-5), takeaways (4-2), hits (10-6) and faceoff win percentage (58-42), as well.
Boston led in giveaways (4-2) through 20 minutes, while only the Ducks had seen any time on the power play and went 1/1 entering the middle frame.
Grant tripped Nosek and presented the Bruins with their first power play of the night at 2:51 of the second period, but Boston’s ensuing skater advantage was cut short at 4:03 when Taylor Hall interfered with Lundeström away from the play as the two collided in the neutral zone at 4:03.
After 48 seconds of 4-on-4 action, the Ducks went on an abbreviated power play that the B’s managed to kill off without issue.
Midway through the middle frame Carlo (5) sent a shot from the point that had eyes as it bounced off of Gibson and squeezed its way under his arm into the twine– pulling the Bruins to within one goal in the process.
Nosek (9) and Foligno (7) tallied the assists as Boston trailed, 3-2, at 11:15 of the second period– giving Foligno his first career Gordie Howe hat trick in the process as No. 17 in black and gold wracked up a fight, goal and an assist in Tuesday night’s effort.
Through 40 minutes of action, Anaheim led, 3-2, on the scoreboard despite Boston holding the advantage in shots on net, 21-16, including a, 14-7, advantage in the second period alone.
The Bruins also led in blocked shots (11-9) and hits (17-14) heading into the second intermission, while the Ducks led in takeaways (5-3), giveaways (6-5) and faceoff win% (54-46).
Boston was 0/1 and Anaheim was 1/2 on the power play entering the final frame.
David Pastrnak took a hit in the neutral zone as the puck rolled off his stick into the attacking zone while Hall raced to retrieve it.
Hall sent a pass back to Pastrnak (29) as the B’s leading goal scorer broke into the zone and blasted a shot from the point off of Carrick and behind Gibson while Erik Haula acted as a screen amidst the net front traffic.
Pastrnak’s goal tied the game, 3-3, as Hall (28) and Haula (15) picked up credit for the assists at 1:52 of the third period.
The Bruins had swung momentum in their favor and dominated possession in the offensive zone for the better part of the third period until the Ducks began to surge late in the action.
Charlie McAvoy got caught behind a play and hooked Getzlaf in front of Boston’s own net, yielding a power play to Anaheim at 19:14 of the third period.
It didn’t take long for the Ducks to capitalize on the resulting special teams advantage after head coach, Dallas Eakins, used his team’s timeout to drum up a plan with 45.9 seconds left on the clock.
Anaheim sent the puck around the horn while on the power play until Getzlaf sent the rubber biscuit to Drysdale, who then found Zegras (14) for the final blow on a shot from the outer edge of the circle with Sonny Milano screening Ullmark’s view as the puck rang the inside of the post and went in on the glove side.
Drysdale (20) and Getzlaf (28) notched the assists on what would be the game-winning power-play goal from Zegras at 19:38 of the third period and the Ducks led, 4-3.
Boston pulled their goaltender for an extra skater with about a dozen seconds left, but couldn’t establish enough of a zone presence to muster a last-ditch shot on goal as the seconds ticked down and the final horn sounded.
Anaheim had won, 4-3, despite finishing the night trailing in shots on goal, 34-28, including a, 13-12, advantage for the Bruins in the third period alone.
The Ducks left their own ice with two points and another victory in the regulation win column, while leading in blocked shots (16-14), giveaways (9-8), hits (24-23) and faceoff win% (51-49).
Anaheim went 2/3 on the power play, while Boston went 0/1 on the skater advantage Tuesday night.
The B’s fell to 10-11-3 (4-5-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-11-2 (0-5-1 on the road) when trailing after the first period and 3-14-2 (0-6-1 on the road) when trailing after two periods this season.
The Ducks, meanwhile, improved to 22-7-4 (13-2-2 at home) when scoring first, 17-2-2 (11-0-2 at home) when leading after one period and 18-2-1 (11-0-1 at home) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.
The Bruins visit the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday night (9 p.m. ET on ESPN) before wrapping up their six-game road trip (3-1-0) in Columbus on Saturday night.
Boston returns home to host the Los Angeles Kings next Monday (March 7th).
Apparently the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors were up to something this month as it was reported by Sportico on Tuesday that the Board unanimously approved ads on the front of NHL jerseys beginning with the 2022-23 season.
The ads will be no bigger than a 3-inch-by-3.5-inch rectangle, which is slightly larger than the ads featured on the front of National Basketball Association (NBA) jerseys.
It was only a matter of time before the NHL followed the NBA in generating additional revenue by doing what professional hockey leagues outside of North America have been doing for many years, as well as what’s been done for at least a few seasons now in the American Hockey League (AHL) and ECHL minor league levels on this side of the pond.
As always, hockey Twitter is taking the news well.
Let’s embrace the chaos for a moment and pick some sponsors for all 32 NHL teams that would make so much sense they’ll obviously be overlooked for, well, actual revenue generating streams instead.
Anaheim Ducks
What we want: Disney+ or TCL
What we’ll get: Honda
The Ducks play at Honda Center and, yeah, there’s really nothing besides Disney swooping in and sponsoring the team that they used to own as a means of cross promoting both the Ducks and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers on Disney+, so we’re stuck with a Honda logo at center ice and on the front of Anaheim’s jerseys.
In any case, Honda’s red logo works pretty well with the Orange County orange featured as an accent color on Anaheim’s home and road jerseys.
NHL teams have a tendency to go back to the well with their partners– think of how many teams have either the same helmet sponsor as another team or just slapped on the same brand as their venue’s naming rights deal– but if we want to expand the playground a little bit perhaps TCL could be of interest for the Ducks.
Come to think of it, that’s probably a better option.
*Opens up Photoshop*
Arizona Coyotes
What we want: P.F. Chang’s or Cold Stone Creamery
What we’ll get: Fry’s or something, probably
Believe it or not the Los Angeles Chargers won’t be the only team tweeting about P.F. Chang’s for long as the restaurant chain was founded in 1993, and opened their first location in Scottsdale, Arizona, so it only makes sense to go back to their roots and toss an ad on the Coyotes’ jersey.
Also founded in Arizona– Cold Stone Creamery.
We figured that’d probably make sense on an AHL team’s jersey, though, despite the obvious cold ice, cold ice cream connection.
The Coyotes had Mountain America on their helmets at home and Dignity Health on their road helmets in 2020-21, so in reality we’ll probably get one of those two on the front of their jerseys in 2022-23.
Boston Bruins
What we want: Dunkin’ or bust
What we’ll get: TD Bank or O.R.G. Packaging, probably
What could possibly be more Boston than a Bruins jersey with a Dunkin’ logo on it?
Their AHL affiliate– the Providence Bruins– already play in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Rhode Island and have a Dunkin’ ad patch on their jerseys. Why not call it up to the major league?
That said, with some NBA teams earning up to about $20 million in jersey ad space revenue, the B’s likely will reach for a brand with deeper pockets than doughnuts and coffee.
Delaware North likes their relationship with a certain bank from Toronto (TD Bank) and has had one of the league’s longest relationships with a Chinese company (O.R.G. Packaging) as part of the NHL’s intended growth beyond the continents of North America and Europe, so one of the two brands is more likely to appear on a Bruins jersey.
Buffalo Sabres
What we want: Super Chexx
What we’ll get: KeyBank
The Sabres could use some fun in their lives these days and you know what really helps put the mind at ease? Bubble hockey.
That’s right, Innovative Concepts in Entertainment, Inc. (ICE)– the manufacturers of the popular bar and arcade classic, Super Chexx, that your rich friend down the street growing up also had in the comforts of their home– is based outside Buffalo and would be a match made in heaven right about now.
Especially as Sabres fans are looking for something to do while the game’s on TV.
So yeah, we’re definitely going to get KeyBank, Tim Horton’s or something else entirely instead.
Calgary Flames
What we want: WestJet or Duraflame
What we’ll get: Scotiabank
If you, as an American, can name any other Canadian airline other than Air Canada, then congratulations. If you can’t, then may I introduce you to WestJet?
WestJet’s headquarters are next to Calgary International Airport and it’d be nice to prove to the world that Canada is more than just a land of Tim Horton’s, Roots, Canadian Tire, Rogers, Scotiabank and Mr. Sub.
If Duraflame isn’t available, then you might as well dip into the low-cost airline industry as a means of attracting tourists to Banff National Park, Calgary Stampede or whatever it is that sets Calgary apart from the rest of Alberta (so… not being Edmonton).
Carolina Hurricanes
What we want: Surge
What we’ll get: PNC, Diehard, maybe Cheerwine or something else
This should be obvious, but if you haven’t paid attention to the Hurricanes for at least the last few seasons now they do a “Storm Surge” celebration after every win on home ice in the regular season (and sometimes playoffs).
Surge (the soda) is one of those drinks that makes headlines every few years for being pulled straight out of the vault and placed back on grocery store shelves– speaking of which, does anyone know if it’s currently available?
If not, it’ll definitely be back by the 2022-23 season.
Yes, it’s hard to envision where an ad will be placed on the road jersey as the prime real estate is used up by the diagonal “CANES” letters and– for a few players– the captain’s “C” or alternate captain’s “A”.
Chicago
What we want: Portillo’s
What we’ll get: United
Look, between Walgreens, Sears and Portillo’s there’s a few legendary brands that Chicago could partner with as their first jersey ad in franchise history (not including practice jerseys).
Obviously only one of the three mentioned above is the right choice and its the one that might lead you to Walgreens later if you have a weak stomach. Besides, Sears is fading from our collective memory whether it is out of business already or not.
Clark Griswold would be proud of Portillo’s proudly being displayed on a, well, if a WHL team can rebrand, so can you, Chicago.
Colorado Avalanche
What we want: Chipotle or Coors
What we’ll get: Ball
Look, whether or not Nathan MacKinnon eats Chipotle is a debate for another day, but one thing’s for sure– both Chipotle and MacKinnon started their careers in Colorado.
Though Coors or Coors Light would make more sense, we have to consider the fact that kids might be wearing these jerseys to the game and we haven’t heard whether or not the jerseys that are sold in the proshops in 2022-23 and beyond will include the front jersey ad or not.
If they do, then we probably can’t market beer to children.
I’m pretty sure there’s a law about that and it’s also the reason why all my 1:64 scale diecast Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. cars from when I was a kid said “Team Rusty” and “Dale Jr.” on them, respectively, instead of Miller Lite and Budweiser.
Columbus Blue Jackets
What we want: Wendy’s
What we’ll get: Nationwide
Coinciding with the uptick in Columbus born and raised players on the Blue Jackets roster, it would be a great idea to add Wendy’s– which was founded in Columbus in 1969– to the team in such a way that perhaps Jack Roslovic and Sean Kuraly star in local commercials to the Blue Jackets viewing area during the 2022-23 season.
I know that’s assuming Roslovic signs an extension, but the pending-restricted free agent at the end of the 2021-22 season helped facilitate the Pierre-Luc Dubois for Patrik Laine trade with the Winnipeg Jets by forcing Winnipeg into trading him to his hometown team.
Unlike several recent stars that left the city via free agency, Roslovic will stick around for the long term.
Especially if there’s some goods in kind involved with a Wendy’s sponsorship. I mean, I would at least.
Dallas Stars
What we want: Whataburger
What we’ll get: AT&T
Though Whataburger would be a welcome party in the burger wars when Columbus and Dallas would “meat” up, there’s no beef to be found in this hypothetical because AT&T has already made that decision for us.
Sometimes you just can’t think too hyperlocal and AT&T fetches a more national audience than a regional chain that primarily serves Texas.
Besides, if you go to Dallas for a Stars game, you can always just get Whataburger then. It’s not like they’re going to send you a meal with a jersey if ads are on the jerseys sold to fans in 2022-23.
Detroit Red Wings
What we want: Little Caesars
What we’ll get: Little Caesars
The last few teams have all involved food and we’re going to be stuck on this theme for at least one more team after this.
Both the Red Wings and Little Caesars are owned by the Ilitch family and if you think adding one more connection between Detroit and pizza is a bad thing then you clearly don’t understand the marketing behind this.
Kids love pizza. Adults love pizza. There’s a lot of good memories involving pizza.
Plus, with General Manager, Steve Yzerman, in charge, the Red Wings are on the rise, which will only further tap into the nostalgia from when Detroit was doing what the Tampa Bay Lightning are currently doing to the rest of the league.
Edmonton Oilers
What we want: Boston Pizza
What we’ll get: Rogers
Edmonton thought they could replicate the success Ken Holland had in Detroit by hiring Holland as their General Manager and when they see that we’ve got a pizza establishment heading for the front of the Red Wings’ jersey, then the Oilers will think it’s also a good idea to snag a slice.
That’s where Boston Pizza comes in.
Whether or not they’ll get Connor McDavid to do an ad read or be left with whatever scraps surround him on the Oilers roster remains to be seen.
In all likelihood, Rogers Communications will probably just get to slap their logo on another element of Edmonton’s brand.
Florida Panthers
What we want: Royal Caribbean International
What we’ll get: Baptist Health or something
The Blockbuster guy (the late Wayne Huizenga) founded the team and almost named them the “Florida Block Busters”, so it’d be neat to incorporate an homage to the days of Blockbuster (rest in peace) with the almost Blockbuster-like colors of Royal Caribbean International on the jersey.
Plus, who among us hasn’t uttered the words “I need a vacation from my vacation” before?
If you’re an out of town fan visiting the Panthers in Florida or watching the Panthers come to your town— there’s a cruise line for you even if you wouldn’t go remotely near a cruise before the ongoing pandemic began.
Los Angeles Kings
What we want: Dollar Shave Club
What we’ll get: Anschutz Entertainment Group
Never doubt for a second that a team owner wouldn’t give up the chance to toot their own horn, which is why it’s quite possible that one of the world’s biggest entertainment entities would slap their own logo on the front of a Kings jersey.
If you’re not able to finagle a way to write things off as a deduction, then Dollar Shave Club presents a unique opportunity despite the fact that shaving isn’t something that’s in Drew Doughty’s vernacular (or any hockey player, for that matter, when the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around).
Manscaped could also make a run here and in any case, fine.
Minnesota Wild
What we want: Target or General Mills
What we’ll get: Xcel Energy
When you think of Minnesota what’s the first thing you think about?
That’s right, the very place where you could be standing right now reading this while you’re waiting for a cash register to open up or aimlessly perusing the aisles for those impulse purchases you somehow always make at Target.
It fits the Wild color scheme well and if we’re not going to get General Mills involved then at least getting more than the standard 5% discount for having a Target RedCard via goods in kind might be enough to convince Kirill Kaprizov to stay in Minnesota long-term.
Montréal Canadiens
What we want: CCM and/or Molson
What we’ll get: Bell
CCM makes more than just jerseys, but it’s not like adidas would be just fine with a CCM logo appearing on the front of an adidas ADIZERO jersey.
So, we’re left with two obvious choices– Molson or Bell.
If there’s nothing against a Canadian team bearing an alcoholic beverage on the front of their jersey with the potential for that brand to be marketed towards kids, then perhaps Molson– whose family ties own the Habs– might make an appearance near the crest.
That or we’ll just get more airtime for Bell. Either way, Montréal would be attractive enough as a franchise to bring in more than one jersey ad sponsor if the league doesn’t have any specific rules outside of the size of the ad.
Nashville Predators
What we want: Curb Records or CMT
What we’ll get: Fifth Third Bank
The music city could attract a music label if they wanted to, but Fifth Third Bank loves investing in Nashville for some reason– like, a lot, despite being headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and primarily serving Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida more than all of Tennessee.
In any case, good for the Predators. They’ll have some deep pockets to reach into while other teams surely will have to squabble for seven figures related to the going rate for the prime ad space.
Still feels like we’d be missing out on a sweet Curb Records patch close enough to the guitar pick on the right shoulder though.
New Jersey Devils
What we want: Honestly, just Prudential is fine
What we’ll get: Prudential
The Devils are overlooked and let’s admit it, you couldn’t think of something distinctly New Jersey either– besides not being allowed to fill your own gas tank.
Bruce Springsteen is not sponsoring the Devils alone.
Whether it’s settling on an old reliable or simply making use of what’s trustworthy and already available, Prudential and New Jersey just seem like a good fit.
New York Islanders
What we want: Gorton’s
What we’ll get: Not Gorton’s
“We want fishsticks!”
O.K., you got them. Take that, Rangers fans. The Islanders are cool now because they’re steering into the skid.
They just won’t go as far as bringing back the fisherman jersey from the dead, but alas, they’ll show a spark of creativity and even crack a smile on Lou Lamoriello’s face with the real Gorton’s fisherman making an appearance on the jersey.
Obviously this will never happen.
New York Rangers
What we want: Liberty Mutual if they’re bringing back the “Lady Liberty” jerseys as an alternate
What we’ll get: Chase for sure, maybe New York Life too
Liberty Mutual (a Boston company) on the “Lady Liberty” jersey would be a sight to see, but New York will never let it happen.
Instead, Chase, which already has quite a great partnership with the team, Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, etc. will likely just step up and foot the bill for one– if not all– of the jerseys in full.
That’s fine. The Rangers will suffer the same consequences of having a diagonal wordmark on their jersey like Carolina’s road jersey, but at least New York’s pretty much always been this way so they should have some ideas of how to work around that.
Ottawa Senators
What we want: Canada Post
What we’ll get: Bell, Scotiabank or Canadian Tire
Canada’s capital city gets the honor of having Canada Post on their jerseys because it breaks up the trend of having the same three or four companies sponsoring all seven Canadian teams (like how their helmets were for 2020-21).
In reality, we’ll probably get more of the same from the Sens and either Bell, Canadian Tire or Scotiabank will make an appearance on Ottawa’s jersey.
At the very least, Canada’s postal service sponsoring a team is more economically viable than the United States Postal Service sponsoring a team.
Philadelphia Flyers
What we want: Wawa or Audacy
What we’ll get: Comcast or GlaxoSmithKline
Remember how I said you don’t want to go too local for a jersey ad? Well, Wawa on a Flyers jersey is an exception.
That said, it probably wouldn’t have the staying power to work on a road jersey too, so Philadelphia could tap into the artist formerly known as Entercom, since rebanded as Audacy, for more.
Audacy maintained their Philadelphia headquarters and covers a broad range of Internet radio, digital content, regular radio and podcasting platforms, plus their logo is orange which fits the Flyers brand.
It’s either that or Comcast will slap their own logo on the jersey or something.
Pittsburgh Penguins
What we want: Duolingo
What we’ll get: PPG Industries
Duolingo is headquartered in Pittsburgh and as a website and mobile app, every sports league with ads on jerseys needs at least one that makes you scratch your head at first before realizing the connection between the company and the city.
The dating app, Bumble, once was featured on the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers jerseys prior to the Clippers replacing Bumble with their more jersey ad with the online browser extension coupon company, Honey.
Dating and living expenses in Los Angeles are probably harder than learning a few new languages through Duolingo, so combining Duolingo with the Penguins makes perfect sense since hockey players can come from all over and speak many languages.
Besides, it might give your team an advantage if they can communicate with one another in a setting that is more comfortable for them.
St. Louis Blues
What we want: Busch
What we’ll get: Enterprise
I know we’ve been over the whole “can they market beer to kids with these jerseys” thing, but St. Louis is the city of Anheuser-Busch, so it’s only fitting that the Blues get a jersey ad that 1) is Anheuser-Busch related and 2) works with their color palette.
If Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals play in Busch Stadium and get Budweiser by default with red as a primary color for the ball club, then the Blues naturally get Busch blue and Busch beer. I don’t make the rules.
Plus Midwesterners really like the stuff.
San Jose Sharks
What we want: Adobe
What we’ll get: SAP or Zoom
Look, we weren’t going to get away with making these in Photoshop and not having to give Adobe something— and with headquarters in San Jose it only made sense.
The Sharks have a deep relationship with SAP, though, so it’s more likely than not that the team will just go further with the brand that also is featured on their helmets at home and holds the current naming rights for SAP Center.
Plus with the uptick in the use of Zoom, San Jose could double-dip and match SAP on the home jersey with SAP stickers on their helmets with Zoom covering the road set (jersey ad and helmet ads).
Seattle Kraken
What we want: Boeing
What we’ll get: Alaska Airlines
The Kraken already have a deal with Alaska Airlines as the official airline of the franchise, but what’s bigger than an airline itself?
That’s right, Boeing, the company that makes a lot of planes and other aerospace stuff, was founded in Seattle and still has a major presence in Washington as the largest private employer in the state.
Want to see your newest expansion team take flight? Just add some Boeing engineering to the jerseys.
You might have thought Microsoft would make sense for a Seattle-based team, but the league’s agreement with Apple probably puts a quick end to that.
Tampa Bay Lightning
What we want: Accusoft
What we’ll get: DEX Imaging
Every sport with ads on jerseys has that one company that nobody’s really sure what they do, but they appreciate that they’re spending their money on their favorite team.
That just might be Accusoft’s relationship with the Lightning come time for ads on jerseys in 2022-23.
The private computer software company is headquartered in Tampa and was founded back in 1991, as Pegasus Imaging– one year prior to the Lightning’s debut season as an NHL team in 1992-93.
Toronto Maple Leafs
What we want: Swiss Chalet, Sun Life Financial
What we’ll get: Scotiabank, Sun Life Financial
Scotiabank already has a stronghold on Toronto both financially and in the sense that the Maple Leafs play inside Scotiabank Arena and proudly display Scotiabank’s logo on their helmets, so it seems inevitable that Scotiabank would also make an appearance on the Leafs jersey.
But Toronto is strong enough to maximize the value of a 3-by-3.5-inch ad and capitalize on the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) brand.
MLSE already has an agreement with Sun Life Financial on their NBA team’s jerseys and the Toronto Raptors were able to go on to win their first championship in 2019.
Perhaps the key to ending the Maple Leafs’ Stanley Cup drought lies within attracting Sun Life Financial to an NHL jersey ad.
Vancouver Canucks
What we want: Hootsuite
What we’ll get: Rogers
Remember when you’d see Hootsuite on just about every tweet with a photo? Am I the only one imagining that?
In any case, Hootsuite was founded and is based in Vancouver and still plays a major role in social media management for brands.
Whereas Rogers is accessible to most every day Canadians, Hootsuite would be more of a “corporate” target audience and you need sponsors at all levels to attract a wide base of potential clients, fans, etc.
That said, the Canucks have had a long relationship with Rogers in that they play in Rogers Arena, so it’s probably going to be Rogers.
Vegas Golden Knights
What we want: Zappos.com
What we’ll get: MGM Resorts International or Allegiant Air
Want to have fun with a local Nevada brand? Zappos is the way to go!
Want to be realistic and attract out of town fans to a destination like Las Vegas? MGM Resorts International is your sponsor and with Allegiant Air as an ultra-low cost airline that’ll gladly bring you to Vegas for a Golden Knights game…
Yeah, it’s inevitable that between MGM and Vegas’ current road helmet sponsor (Allegiant) that there’d quickly be no room for a company like Zappos.
Credit One Bank is on the home helmets for the Golden Knights, so don’t be surprised if they’re a wild card for a jersey ad too.
Washington Capitals
What we want: Marriott International
What we’ll get: Capital One, Custom Ink
Sportswriters rejoice! Your Marriott points may soon reward you with a Capitals jersey or something like that.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Marriott International would make sense from a local and international brand recognition stance.
But you know what we’re probably going to get instead? Sheer confusion as Capital One places an ad on front of a jersey that already says “Washington Capitals”. The Capital One Washington Capitals– live at Capital One Arena!
Either that or Caps owner, Ted Leonsis, might like to make a connection between making custom jerseys for local adult league co-ed softball teams or something and, well, Custom Ink’s logo appearing on Capitals jerseys.
Winnipeg Jets
What we want: A&W or SkipTheDishes
What we’ll get: Canada Life or Bell
A&W was founded in Winnipeg, while SkipTheDishes is headquartered in Winnipeg.
Since it’s 2021, and not 1956, we’re more than likely to see SkipTheDishes on a Jets jersey, but if their helmet ads from 2020-21 are any indication for 2022-23 and beyond, then Bell is probably going to land a spot near Winnipeg’s crest.
Canada Life is taking over as the new naming rights holder for Canada Life Centre where the Jets play, so there’s always a chance they’ll end up with their logo on the front of the jersey too.
In the early days of DTFR, we made an educated guess as to who each team might honor in the future regarding retired jersey numbers. Since then, the Vegas Golden Knights came into existence and more than a few jersey numbers went out of circulation across the league.
It’s time for an update and a look at who the Anaheim Ducks might honor by hanging their name and number from the rafters of Honda Center someday.
Anaheim Ducks Current Retired Numbers
8 Teemu Selanne
9 Paul Kariya
27 Scott Niedermayer
Did Anything Change In The Last Five Years?
Yes! Paul Kariya and Scott Niedermayer (called it, not to brag) had their jersey numbers retired by the Ducks since 2015. Both are very deserving.
Possible Numbers to Retire Someday
10 Corey Perry
Perry won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the regular season MVP for 2010-11, when he scored 50 goals and also added a Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy to his trophy case that season, but he has yet to get back to the 50-goal plateau and only crossed the 40-goal plateau once since then with 43 goals in 2013-14.
Since 2013-14, Perry added back-to-back 30-goal seasons with 33 goals in 67 games played in 2014-15, and 34 goals in 82 games in 2015-16.
Nicknamed “Scorey” Perry, his production is much more reminiscent of that of Barry Pederson in a Vancouver Canucks sweater– and he shares more in common with Pederson these days too as a player battling significant injuries.
He missed five months of the 2018-19 season (his last in Anaheim) due to a torn meniscus and an MCL injury. Since then, despite joining the Dallas Stars via free agency on a one-year deal ahead of the 2019-20 season, Perry has looked like a shell of his former self on the ice.
That’s not to say he can’t extend his career another year or two, but at 35-years-old, it’s unlikely that he’ll reach top-six forward status on any roster anytime soon.
Nevertheless, he racked up a Stanley Cup ring in his sophomore season, which also happens to be the Ducks’ only Stanley Cup championship to date back in 2007. In 988 career NHL games with Anaheim, Perry notched 372 goals and 404 assists (776 points), which was about .785 points per game as a Duck.
In his 14 seasons with Anaheim, there was perhaps no bigger name on the roster– aside from Teemu Selanne, Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger– so he’s more than likely to see his No. 10 rise to the rafters when he hangs up his skates.
15 Ryan Getzlaf
No, it’s not a product of “cancel culture”– a phrase that didn’t even exist in the mainstream Internet lexicon the last time we did this in 2015– to think that professional athletes should be held to “higher standards” for their words (the same standards the average professional actually has in their office– well, in theory), but the fact of the matter is that Getzlaf used a homophobic slur in Game 4 of the 2017 Western Conference Final and was fined $10,000 by the league for it.
He didn’t exactly apologize upon owning up to it, remarking to reporters after Game 5 that “[a] situation like that, where I’m on the bench by myself, frustration set in. There was obviously some words said, not necessarily directed at anyone in particular. It was just kind of a comment. I’ve got to be a little bit more responsible for the words I choose.
“Definitely as a father, as somebody that takes a lot of pride in this game and the respect for it, it’s tough to see somebody refer to it as what TSN did (a homophobic slur). I didn’t mean it in that manner in any way. For that to take that route was very disappointing for me. I do accept responsibility and I accept the fine.
“We talked to the league and I understand that it’s my responsibility to not use vulgar language. Period. Whether it’s a swear word or whatever it is. We’ve got to be a little bit more respectful of the game, and that’s up to me. I accept that responsibility and we’ll move forward.
“That’s my responsibility to understand that there are eyes and ears on us all the time. Fortunately enough, nobody heard it. If you can read lips, it’s a little bit harder, and I apologize for that. That’s a thing that you won’t hear from me again. I hope I didn’t offend anybody outside the circle that we trust.”
Sure, it might have “just [been] kind of a comment”, but it’s still irresponsible. Getzlaf addressed needing to be more responsible, but then slaughtered any responsibility for his action with the “[i]t’s tough to see someone refer to it as [homophobic]” part.
Might as well translate to “I’m sorry that you’re not sorry for not understanding me when I clearly used a slur according to the league”.
And that “I hope I didn’t offend anybody outside the circle that we trust” part? What the hell does that mean, exactly? Anybody “outside the circle” should still deserve your respect.
He also deflected to being “a little bit more respectful of the game”, but slurs of any kind have nothing to do with “the game”– they’re directed at people.
In the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Chicago Blackhawks forward, Andrew Shaw, was suspended for one game and fined $5,000 for using a homophobic slur and making an obscene gesture toward officials.
A year later, what’s another $5,000 and not being sidelined for a game?
Pocket change for Getzlaf– a player with an $8.250 million cap hit through 2020-21 and making a salary of $9.250 million in the 2016-17 season alone.
None of this isn’t to say that Getzlaf hasn’t possibly learned from his actions and tried to make a positive change in both his conduct on the ice, as well as in the LGBTQ+ community in Anaheim, but it is to make a point about whether or not character requirements for jersey retirements or Hall of Fame inductions should play more than just a minor consideration in the grand scheme of things.
That said, Getzlaf also was in his sophomore season with the Ducks en route to winning the Cup in 2007, and has amassed 274-691–965 totals in 1,053 career NHL games– all with Anaheim– since the 2005-06 season.
He had a 91-point season in 2008-09, and broke the 30-goal plateau with 31 goals and 87 points in Anaheim’s strong 2013-14 regular season.
He’s no Bobby Hull (an actual domestic abuser and racist), but if Getzlaf hasn’t grown as a person and the Ducks sweep the incident under the rug in favor of “honoring a great hockey player– you know, one who had a lot of respect for the game”, then that’d be a disgrace to the jersey numbers already hanging from the rafters inside Honda Center.
36 John Gibson
After posting a 1.33 goals against average and a .954 save percentage in three games in the 2013-14 season (all wins by the way– one of them being a shutout), Gibson followed up his league debut with a 13-8-0 record in 23 games as a backup in 2014-15, with a 2.60 GAA and a .914 SV%, as well as a shutout.
He made his debut as a starter in the 2015-16 season and had a 21-13-4 record in 40 games along the way, with an impressive 2.07 GAA and a .920 SV%, as well as four shutouts that season. Gibson then improved upon his save percentage and shutouts in a season the following year for the Ducks with a 25-16-9 record in 52 games, as well as a 2.22 GAA, a .924 SV% and six shutotus in 2016-17, en route to Anaheim’s ultimate defeat in the Western Conference Final at the hands of the Nashville Predators that spring.
Since then, the last three seasons haven’t been very kind to Gibson.
Granted, the Ducks as a whole have been on the downward trend and are going through a rebuild (or whatever you want to call it).
In 2017-18, Gibson had a 2.43 GAA and a .926 SV% with four shutouts and a 31-18-7 record in 60 games played. Certainly not bad, in terms of save percentage and wins, but that goals against average took a turn for the more, well, average.
In 2018-19, he had a 2.84 GAA and a .917 SV% with two shutouts and a 26-22-8 record in 58 games. This season, despite the regular season being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gibson had a 20-26-5 record and one shutout in 51 games, as well as a 3.00 GAA and a .904 SV%.
Yikes. That’s Martin Jones and Jonathan Quick territory, which, coincidentally happens to be both the starting goaltenders for the rest of the California teams.
That said, Gibson has shown before that he’s one of the better American goaltenders to come around in a long time, so with an actual defense in front of him, the Ducks can win more games!
Then again, if Anaheim constructs a defense that’s solid and he continues to struggle, then it might just mean that his better days are behind him, which is a shame and puts a damper to his potential as the first Ducks goaltender to possibly have his number retired in franchise history– and that’s fully acknowledging that Jean-Sebastien Giguere exists.
Final Thoughts
It’s too early to try to speculate which of the rookies and young players in Anaheim will 1) stick around as part of their rebuild/retool and 2) become key components of the franchise in the long-term to the point of being a franchise star, so the Ducks remain limited in their possible future jersey retirement ceremony’s based on the last five years.
Anaheim’s had two great serviceable “franchise” players to build around in Perry and Getzlaf, but both are nearing the end of their playing days with little hardware to show for their time in Anaheim while one (Perry) doesn’t even play for the Ducks anymore.
Think about that.
The Ducks had a solid core to work with from winning the Cup in 2007, through their most recent appearance in the Western Conference Final in 2017, and they only won one Clarence S. Campbell Bowl and one Stanley Cup in that span.
Back by popular demand– though a few months later than last season– it’s once again time to rank the NHL mascots.
In January 2017, DTFR began a new tradition of giving props for great efforts made in the community, laughs shared, smiles brought to everyone’s faces and (most importantly) character displayed by every mascot in the National Hockey League.
So without further ado, let’s get started.
31) New York Rangers 31st in 2018-19, 30th in 2017-18
The Rangers still don’t have a mascot, which in today’s day and age is a crime. Just march Brian Leetch around Madison Square Garden once in a while or something. Maybe even let Henrik Lundqvist become the team’s first mascot once he retires.
30) Al the Octopus (Detroit Red Wings) 30th in 2018-19, 26th in 2017-18
29) Spartacat (Ottawa Senators)21st in 2018-19, 9th in 2017-18
Just like the Senators, Spartacat has fallen on hard times and really needs someone to love him. Unfortunately for Spartacat, he probably needs a haircut first or at least that rebrand to finally come around and give Ottawa a fresh look all-around (with new jerseys, new logos and new players).
28) Thunderbug (Tampa Bay Lightning)18th in 2018-19, 15th in 2017-18
Being as cute as a bug no longer cuts it when you have Gritty running around causing chaos, plus other mascots really drumming up their personality bits. Perhaps Thunderbug has gotten too casual in recent years and that’s the reason why the Lightning haven’t won the Cup since 2004.
27) Nordy (Minnesota Wild)28th in 2018-19, 24th in 2017-18
Like Minnesota sports as a whole, Nordy is just comfortable where he’s at. Nobody’s really sure whether he’s a fox, a wolf or some hybrid northern animal native to the wild, but the Wild’s mascot might also be on General Manager, Bill Guerin’s, list of assets to move at this year’s trade deadline if he’s not careful.
26) Wild Wing (Anaheim Ducks)17th in 2018-19, 3rd in 2017-18
Wild Wing would be the perfect mascot for a roller hockey team, which is fitting for his location in southern California– where you could play roller hockey year-round. What might be a better option for the Ducks, however, would be to have legendary surfer, Rob Machado, make more appearances at Honda Center in an Anaheim sweater.
25) Sparky the Dragon (New York Islanders)29th in 2018-19, 25th in 2017-18
With a new arena in Belmont Park looming, one would think the Islanders would make the natural switch to a horse-based mascot because, you know, horse racing and stuff. Either that or just give Sparky the Dragon a more fish-based appearance. Just add a few cuddly scales or perhaps give him a fishing rod that can also double as a hockey stick. Props go a long way at improving ratings.
24) Tommy Hawk (Chicago Blackhawks)20th in 2018-19, 14th in 2017-18
Something about Tommy Hawk just feels off these days. Perhaps his contract will be traded in the offseason too while the Blackhawks adjust from their decade of dominance in the early 2010s to life in the 2020s.
23) Stanley C. Panther/Viktor E. Ratt (Florida Panthers)25th in 2018-19, 20th in 2017-18
The Panthers have what some might call the “Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly of mascots”. Sure their early works were great, but their recent comedy has shown their age. Florida should put all of their focus in on one or the other– or at least give Olli Jokinen a proper display case inside BB&T Center.
22) Hunter (Edmonton Oilers)26th in 2018-19, 23rd in 2017-18
Hunter’s redeeming quality this year is the new alternate threads for the Oilers. Edmonton’s new third sweaters help take away the scary qualities of this lovable lynx if you could only see through his otherwise terror inducing mane.
Dropping your 🍌 split = 😭
70% Super/Split Saturday = 😁
Tomorrow's #Oilers vs. Coyotes game is not only a huge divisional matchup, it's also our next Super/Split Saturday as the 50/50 winner will take home 70% of the total pot!
21) Howler (Arizona Coyotes)27th in 2018-19, 21st in 2017-18
The Coyotes are embracing their kachina sweaters like never before and we can only hope that Howler will have to wear them full-time in the near future. If not, he’ll continue to be average in ranking. Your move, Arizona.
20) Bernie the St. Bernard (Colorado Avalanche)22nd in 2018-19, 22nd in 2017-18
There’s nothing inherently wrong with Bernie the St. Bernard, since St. Bernard dogs are usually the go-to rescue animals in the event of an avalanche in the real world, but it’s just a little too on the nose compared to the Yeti that once walked the corridors of Pepsi Center.
It was as close to a Sasquatch as you’d see in an NHL arena– until Seattle joins the fray in 2021, that is (hopefully they take our suggestion for a mascot). So yeah… the Avalanche have an average mascot.
19) Youppi! (Montreal Canadiens)10th in 2018-19, 6th in 2017-18
Look, there’s nothing bad about Youppi!, but has anyone heard from him lately? I mean, is everything ok? First the Tampa Bay Rays jettison their plans for a potential split-season between St. Petersburg and Montreal, then the Canadiens just seem to have really overlooked how much he means to the mascot world lately.
Fear not, this may be a down year in the rankings, but Youppi! should bounce back once the Expos return from their quick run to get bread and milk.
Félicitations à un autre numéro 33 légendaire du sport à Montréal!
16) Chance (Vegas Golden Knights) 9th in 2018-19, 31st* in 2017-18
We gave Chance a chance, but now the Golden Knights’ mascot just seems average, if not just old news thanks to something we call “the Gritty Factor” in the industry. A good performance at the 2020 NHL Mascot Showdown could boost his ranking.
15) Mick E. Moose (Winnipeg Jets)16th in 2018-19, 11th in 2017-18
Mick E. Moose looked stunning in Winnipeg’s 2019 Heritage Classic sweater, but unfortunately for the Jets mascot, there’s not much else going for him these days. Maybe next year.
14) Gnash (Nashville Predators)19th in 2018-19, 17th in 2017-18
Gnash gets some bonus points for Nashville’s 2020 Winter Classic sweater, but he hasn’t done anything out of this world lately to try to capture a few more spots.
13) Slapshot (Washington Capitals)5th in 2018-19, 4th in 2017-18
Once a rising star in the mascot ranking world, Slapshot lost a little of his edge while the Capitals roll right along with the Metropolitan Division lead. Another Stanley Cup Final run could be the cure for his ails.
12) Victor E. Green (Dallas Stars)12th in 2018-19, 19th in 2017-18
We’re over the moon for this huggable alien in his Stars 2020 Winter Classic threads. Victor E. Green’s also still got those cute hockey stick ears going for him, but could use another viral video or two to really move him up the ranks. Anyone know if he’s on TikTok?
Finally joined the world of Instagram! Follow me @DallasStarsVic
11) Stinger (Columbus Blue Jackets)15th in 2018-19, 27th in 2017-18
Stinger’s quips with Greg Wyshynski are amusing and have us concerned about just how sentient all NHL mascots have become in today’s world. We’d hate for him to sting us next. The Blue Jackets, in the meantime, are slowly being forgiven over the years for the mistake that was Boomer. Meanwhile, Elvis Merzlikins’ post-win celebrations might merit their own felt-based mascot sometime soon.
10) Louie (St. Louis Blues)14th in 2018-19, 12th in 2017-18
The Blues win one Cup in 52 years and everyone loses their minds except one being– Louie. Louie will never give you up. He’s never going to let you down (anymore). He’s never going to run around and desert you. Also, he’s just really nice, so let’s reward him with Top-10 status this season.
9) Stormy (Carolina Hurricanes)24th in 2018-19, 28th in 2017-18
Our biggest improvement this season belongs to none other than Stormy. It may or may not have something to do with him rocking Hartford Whalers gear on Whalers Night for the past two seasons, but the Hurricanes mascot is looking fine as ever in every thread that covers that hog body.
Plus we’ll give bonus points for Hamilton the Pig and free street-cred to the wonderful fans that own and care for Hamilton.
8) Blades the Bruin (Boston Bruins)8th in 2018-19, 5th in 2017-18
The Bruins almost saw Blades fall in this year’s rankings if it weren’t for how well he’s able to pull off that “B” on their new alternate jerseys. It seems fitting that Blades wears the first letter of his name big and bright on his jersey once in a while. Now if only we could get him to do a backflip or something.
Patrice Bergeron, the #NHLBruins, and @985TheSportsHub teamed up for the 2020 Pucks & Paddles ping pong tournament on Friday, raising $125,000 for Floating Hospital for Children at @TuftsMedicalCtr.
7) Carlton the Bear (Toronto Maple Leafs)11th in 2018-19, 13th in 2017-18
The Maple Leafs mascot is in the Top-10 for the first time in our ranking and he is looking classier than ever before for some reason. Did someone say “everything old is new again”? Because he’s old, but never going out of style. Alexa, play “Style” by Taylor Swift while we jam with Carlton the Bear and his friends.
6) Fin (Vancouver Canucks)7th in 2018-19, 10th in 2017-18
Slow but steady has been the progress of the Canucks over the last few years that this season they might make the playoffs and next season Fin just might make the Top-5 in our mascot ranking. Unfortunately for Vancouver’s favorite orca, he’s just one spot shy of being a certified superstar in the making.
5) Gritty (Philadelphia Flyers)4th in 2018-19, 29th* in 2017-18 (pre-Gritty)
We swear we didn’t take the easy way out by picking Gritty as this year’s top 5th place mascot, but would you honestly blame us if we did? We are all gritizens these days anyway and Gritty rules us all. It certainly helps that the Flyers introduced their “Disassembly Room” and continue to go all-in on the chaos that Gritty brings everywhere he goes.
Plus, look at all the props, costumes and sheer grit that Philly’s orange monster has for each and every event, game and everything in between.
4) Iceburgh (Pittsburgh Penguins)1st in 2018-19, 7th in 2017-18
Iceburgh won top-dog– er, penguin– in last season’s mascot ranking, but things have cooled off for a bit while the Penguins mascot comes down from the many highs of being the No. 1 mascot. He’s ready to settle down and chill in his nest for a while, then go right back for the krill next year.
Thanks to Crosby's tally, YOU get a free meatball!
3) Sabretooth (Buffalo Sabres)6th in 2018-19, 8th in 2017-18
Just look at how phenomenal the Sabres’ 50th anniversary sweaters are, then look how much they bring out all the best qualities in Sabretooth to the forefront of this rising mascot in the ranking.
Sabretooth’s a shoe-in for Runner-Up or First Place next season when Buffalo goes back to royal blue as their primary color. The question is, will Sabretooth’s stripes change accordingly?
2) S.J. Sharkie (San Jose Sharks)2nd in 2018-19, 2nd in 2017-18
For the third year in-a-row, S.J. Sharkie came in 2nd in our ranking. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that we think Sharkie won’t be able to win this competition like how the Sharks always find a way to disappoint their fans before (or during) the Final.
One of these years, San Jose. One of these years. Unfortunately it won’t be this year, as the Sharks are likely to miss the postseason and don’t even have their first round pick.
1) N.J. Devil (New Jersey Devils)13th in 2018-19, 16th in 2017-18
What’s hotter than hell these days? The N.J. Devil himself.
Seriously, just look at this gorgeous mascot and you too will start questioning if you’re really that attracted to his facial hair or the fact that this guy can bench more than your cousin Tony. New Jersey, your next reason to shutdown your beaches is right in front of you and it looks way hotter.
Also, has there ever been a more relatable mascot that loves pizza just like us?
In all seriousness though, all of the league’s mascots do a great job of being an entertaining part of the game, as well as wonderful ambassadors for spreading kindness and cheer in their community.
Hats off to the people living inside the sweaty costumes and the marketing teams behind them.
Did you think I’d forgotten? We still need a Game of the Week! Let’s take a look at this edition’s options:
NHL SCHEDULE: February 11-17
TIME (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
VISITOR
HOST
NATIONAL BROADCAST(S)/ Result
Monday, February 11
7 p.m.
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
4-1
7 p.m.
Los Angeles
Washington
4-6
10 p.m.
San Jose
Vancouver
7-2
Tuesday, February 12
7 p.m.
Chicago
Boston
3-6
7 p.m.
New York Islanders
Buffalo Sabres
1-3
7 p.m.
Dallas
Florida
3-0
7 p.m.
Washington
Columbus
0-3
7:30 p.m.
Carolina
Ottawa
4-1
7:30 p.m.
Calgary
Tampa Bay
3-6
8 p.m.
New Jersey
St. Louis
3-8
8 p.m.
Detroit
Nashville
3-2
8 p.m.
Philadelphia
Minnesota
5-4
8 p.m.
New York Rangers
Winnipeg Jets
3-4
9 p.m.
Toronto
Colorado
5-2
10 p.m.
Arizona
Vegas
5-2
Wednesday, February 13
8 p.m.
Edmonton
Pittsburgh
1-3
10:30 p.m.
Vancouver
Anaheim
0-1
Thursday, February 14
7 p.m.
Calgary
Florida
2-3 (SO)
7 p.m.
New York Islanders
Columbus Blue Jackets
3-0
7:30 p.m.
Ottawa
Detroit
2-3
7:30 p.m.
Dallas
Tampa Bay
0-6
8 p.m.
Montréal
Nashville
1-3
8 p.m.
Colorado
Winnipeg
4-1
8:30 p.m.
New Jersey
Chicago
2-5
9 p.m.
St. Louis
Arizona
4-0
10 p.m.
Toronto
Vegas
6-3
10:30 p.m.
Vancouver
Los Angeles
4-3 (SO)
10:30 p.m.
Washington
San Jose
5-1
Friday, February 15
7 p.m.
New York Rangers
Buffalo Sabres
6-2
7:30 p.m.
Edmonton
Carolina
1-3
8:30 p.m.
New Jersey
Minnesota
5-4 (OT)
10 p.m.
Boston
Anaheim
3-0
Saturday, February 16
1 p.m.
Detroit
Philadelphia
5-6 (OT)
1 p.m.
Calgary
Pittsburgh
5-4
3 p.m.
St. Louis
Colorado
3-0
7 p.m.
Toronto
Arizona
0-2
7 p.m.
Ottawa
Winnipeg
4-3 (OT)
7 p.m.
Montréal
Tampa Bay
0-3
7 p.m.
Edmonton Oilers
New York Islanders
2-5
8 p.m.
Dallas
Carolina
0-3
8:30 p.m.
Columbus
Chicago
5-2
10 p.m.
Nashville
Vegas
1-5
10 p.m.
Vancouver
San Jose
2-3
10:30 p.m.
Boston
Los Angeles
4-2
Sunday, February 17
12:30 p.m.
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins
NBC, SN, TVAS
3 p.m.
St. Louis
Minnesota
NBC, SN
6 p.m.
Buffalo
New Jersey
6 p.m.
Philadelphia
Detroit
NBCSN
7 p.m.
Montréal
Florida
RDS, SN
9 p.m.
Washington
Anaheim
ESPN+
With the trade deadline looming just around the corner, it’s been another exciting week in the NHL. After all, another edition of the Battle of the Keystone State was waged on Monday, followed the next day by two more rivalries featuring Arizona, Boston, Chicago and Vegas.
Tuesday also saw the Blue Jackets and Capitals reignite last season’s First Round playoff bout, with Columbus winning 3-0 in what just might be a preview of another playoff series to come this April.
As for the biggest player homecoming on this week’s calendar, that title belongs to F Chris Wagner of the Boston Bruins. Wagner spent four seasons with the Ducks (2014-18), appearing in 133 games and registering 12-12-24 totals. He was shipped to the Islanders at last season’s trade deadline before signing with the Atlantic Division’s current second-best team – not to mention his hometown club – this offseason. His Bruins beat Anaheim 3-0 on Friday.
Today is Hockey Day in America, but DtFR is holding off on the celebration until this evening before the Capitals-Ducks game to take in D Scott Niedermayer‘s jersey retirement ceremony.
Niedermayer may have only spent five seasons in Anaheim, but there’s no doubt he plays an integral role in the Ducks’ history. He joined the then Mighty Ducks in 2005-06 after 13 seasons and three Stanley Cups in New Jersey, signing as an unrestricted free agent to a four-year, $27 million contract to join forces with RW Teemu Selanne, F Andy McDonald and brother F Rob Niedermayer and serve as their captain.
Named a First Team All-Star for the second consecutive season and finishing second in Norris Trophy voting behind D Nicklas Lidstrom, Niedermayer and his 13-50-63 totals was just the addition the Mighty Ducks needed on their blue line to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2003’s trip to the Stanley Cup Final – you know, the one where Niedermayer’s Devils beat Anaheim in Game 7. Despite qualifying as the six seed, the Mighty Ducks took advantage of a wildly unpredictable Western Conference playoff to advance all the way to the Conference Finals before falling in five games to Edmonton.
For a champion like Niedermayer, falling short in the Conference Finals was unacceptable, as he elevated his game to even better 15-54-69 totals during the 2006-07 season to notch career-highs in all three statistics as well as propel the Ducks (the new and less-mighty edition) all the way to the West’s second seed.
Though that impressive effort was good enough to earn Niedermayer his third-consecutive First Team All-Star selection, he still had his eye on a fourth Stanley Cup. Despite registering only 3-8-11 marks in the Ducks’ 21 postseason games (second-best among Ducks defensemen despite playing two more games than D Chris Pronger), Niedermayer’s two game-winners (one was the series-clincher against Vancouver in double-overtime, the other the overtime winner in Game 1 of the Western Finals) and his power play goal to force overtime against the Red Wings in Game 5 of the Conference Finals was enough to win him the Conn Smythe Trophy and Anaheim’s first title in any sport since the Angels’ 2002 World Series win. The Ducks’ lone Stanley Cup is still the city’s most recent title.
The remaining three years of Niedermayer’s tenure in Anaheim paled in comparison to his first two. The Ducks didn’t make it past the Conference Semifinals in 2008 or 2009 (in fact, they lost in the first round the season after winning the Stanley Cup) and failed to qualify for the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs; Niedermayer didn’t win anymore hardware, nor did he reach the 60-point plateau again.
However, Niedermayer’s mission when he signed with Anaheim had been accomplished. He’d won his fourth title without the help of his dominant Devils teammates, and he’d helped his brother earn his first ring. He’d helped the Ducks to a then franchise-record 48 wins
And it is for that championship and his career-defining seasons that the Hall of Famer is being honored tonight. Having already seen his No. 27 hoisted to the Prudential Center rafters, he’ll receive that same recognition tonight at Honda Center.
Unfortunately for the Ducks faithful, The Pond’s good vibes might find a quick end after Niedermayer’s ceremony. After all, the 22-27-9 Anaheim Ducks are riding an infamous 3-16-4 skid that dates all the way back to December 18. This torrid run has seen the Ducks drop all the way from a playoff position to fourth-to-last in the NHL, earning Randy Carlyle an early offseason.
It comes as no surprise that a squad that has struggled as much as the Ducks is finding almost no success in any phase of the game. Anaheim’s offense has ranked dead last in the NHL since December 18, accounting for only 1.52 goals per game in that time – a full six-tenths of a goal worse than Dallas.
Of course, even when the Ducks were having success earlier in the season, offense was in no way their game. They were averaging only 2.57 goals per game through their first 35 outings – a mark that would rank 29th among teams’ current season averages.
Instead, the biggest reason for this decline is the breakdown on the defensive end. In their past 23 games, the Ducks have allowed an average of 3.7 goals per game, the second-worst mark in the NHL in that time (fellow Pacific Division member Edmonton’s 3.92 goals against per game takes credit for worst in the league since December 18). However, only one facet of the defense is truly at fault.
Whether it is 1-1-0 G Kevin Boyle or 4-2-1 G Ryan Miller that receives the nod tonight (17-19-8 G John Gibson and 0-5-0 G Chad Johnson are both on injured reserve with respective back and head injuries) is still unknown.
Despite his rookie status behind a porous defense (more on that in a moment), Boyle has been far from the problem for the Ducks lately, as he boasts a .955 save percentage and 1.51 GAA for his short, three-game NHL career. Meanwhile, Miller has only recently been cleared to resume action. If he were to take to the crease tonight, it would be his first appearance since December 9 – a 6-5 shootout home victory over the New Jersey Devils that he did not finish.
For what it’s worth, Miller is riding a personal two-game win streak and three-game point streak.
As mentioned before, what makes the youngster’s solid stats even more impressive is he’s getting absolutely no help from his skaters. Since December 18, Anaheim has allowed a whopping 32.91 shots against per game – the seventh-worst mark in the league in that time.
Making the trip to Orange County are the 32-19-7 Washington Capitals, the Metropolitan Division’s second-best team.
In their last six games, the Caps have managed a solid record of 4-1-1 – more than good enough to hold on to their current position in the standings against the middling Metro teams. In particular, this surge has been spearheaded by Washington’s dominant offense, which has been rattling off 3.67 goals per game since February 5 – the (t)seventh-best mark in the league in that time.
Leading this attack has been none other than Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Capitals’ top-line center. In his past six outings, Kuznetsov has registered dominant 5-6-11 totals, including an amazing 2-2-4 performance against the Ducks’ arch-rivals in D.C. on Monday. On the season, Kuznetsov now has 15-39-54 marks in 52 appearances.
Joining Kuznetsov in averaging a point per game over this run are fellow first-liner W Alex Ovechkin (2-7-9 totals) and second-liners F T.J. Oshie (3-4-7) and LW Jakub Vrana (3-3-6).
Washington has also boasted a decent effort on the defensive end, allowing only three goals per game during this six-game run – the (t)12th-best mark in the NHL in that time. Despite managing only a .908 save percentage and 2.99 GAA for the season, 20-14-4 G Braden Holtby has been on a tear lately, boasting a .917 save percentage and 2.51 GAA for his last four starts.
It’s hard to see a way the Ducks escape with a win tonight. Washington has been rolling lately, and the Ducks offense in particular simply do not have an answer for the Caps’ attack. Unless C Ryan Getzlaf can add at least four points to his total tonight, Washington should pull back within three points of New York for the Metro lead.
Jaroslav Halak stopped all 30 shots he faced and Chris Wagner had the empty net goal against his former team in the Boston Bruins’ 3-0 shutout victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Friday.
Halak (15-9-4 record, 2.35 goals against average, .923 save percentage in 30 games played) earned his 4th shutout of the season (46th career shutout) and became the 14th goaltender in Bruins franchise history to record at least four shutouts in his first season with the club.
Byron Dafoe was the last Boston goaltender to do so in his first season with the B’s, recording six shutouts in 1997-98.
Noel Acciari and Jake DeBrusk also had goals for Boston in the win.
Kevin Boyle (1-1-0, 1.52 GAA, .955 SV% in three games played) made 26 saves on 28 shots against for a .929 SV% in the loss for Anaheim.
Boston improved to 33-17-8 (74 points) on the season and remains in 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Ducks fell to 22-27-9 (53 points) thus far and stayed in 7th in the Pacific Division.
The Bruins improved to 21-4-5 when scoring first this season, as well as 21-1-3 when leading after two periods. With Friday’s win, the B’s are now 12-10-5 on the road this season (including 1-0-0 on the current road trip) and 6-0-1 in the month of February.
Anaheim is now 3-16-4 since Dec. 18th with the loss on Friday. The Ducks also trailed on the scoreboard after two periods for the 29th time this season and fell to 6-21-2 in that span.
Bruce Cassidy didn’t make any changes to his lineup from Tuesday, but indicated prior to Thursday’s practice in Anaheim that Karson Kuhlman would make his NHL debut on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings and Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) would return to the lineup as well.
Kuhlman was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) prior to the B’s departure for their current road trip with David Pastrnak (left thumb) out of the action.
Steven Kampfer remains on conditioning loan to Providence and technically a healthy scratch for the Bruins on Friday.
Early in the first period, Brandon Carlo ripped a slap shot from the point that was tipped in by Acciari (2) to give Boston the, 1-0, lead at 5:31 of the opening frame.
Carlo (3) and Sean Kuraly (9) had the assists on the goal.
Entering the first intermission, despite leading on the scoreboard, the B’s trailed the Ducks, 11-8, in shots on goal.
Rickard Rakell was assessed a holding infraction at 4:58 of the second period for tying up Patrice Bergeron, sending the Bruins on their first power play of the night.
Nine seconds into the ensuing skater advantage, DeBrusk (16) buried a rebound to give Boston a two-goal lead on the power play.
David Krejci (33) and Torey Krug (36) had the assist’s on DeBrusk’s power play goal at 5:07 of the second period.
DeBrusk tied his career-high in goals– set last season– and now has goals in back-to-back games after a 13-game goalless drought prior to Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.
14 seconds after Boston capitalized on their first power play of the night, Brandon Montour got a stick up high on Peter Cehlarik and cut a rut to the penalty box, leaving the B’s with their second power play opportunity of the game.
The Bruins were not able to convert on Montour’s penalty.
Moments later, Wagner was penalized for interference at 8:57 of the middle frame, giving the Ducks their first look on the power play of the night.
With two seconds left on Wagner’s minor, John Moore hooked Max Jones and presented Anaheim with a brief 5-on-3 advantage at 10:55, before returning to an abbreviated 5-on-4 skater advantage.
The Ducks amassed three shots on goal through almost four minutes on the power play and could not beat Halak.
Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, despite trailing Anaheim in shots on goal (22-17). Boston held the advantage in giveaways (12-7) and face-off win percentage (61-39), while the Ducks led in blocked shots (12-8) and hits (19-16).
Both teams had four takeaways aside as Anaheim went 0/2 and Boston went 1/2 on the power play heading into the 3rd period.
Derek Grant jumpstarted the action in the third period with a holding penalty at 1:13, but the Bruins were not able to convert on the resulting power play.
Past the midpoint of the final frame of regulation, Hampus Lindholm was penalized for interfering with Brad Marchand at 10:56. Boston did not score on the ensuing power play.
Instead, shortly after the power play expired, Moore bumped into Boyle and received a two-minute fraction for goaltender inference at 13:05 of the third period.
The Ducks did not muster any offense on the ensuing power play.
Interim head coach (and current Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Ducks), Bob Murray, pulled his goaltender with about two minutes remaining in regulation for the extra attacker, but it was too little, too late.
Especially more so after Wagner (7) put the game away with his empty net goal at 18:29. Kuraly (10) and Zdeno Chara (6) collected the assists on Wagner’s goal against his former team.
The goal also tied Wagner’s career-high for most goals in a season (seven) and was the 13th empty net goal allowed by the Ducks in the 2018-19 regular season.
At the final horn, Boston had defeated Anaheim, 3-0.
Though the Ducks actually led the Bruins all night in shots on goal (finishing with a, 30-29, advantage), they could not beat the B’s defense and Halak.
Anaheim finished the night leading in blocked shots (16-13) and hits (27-22), while Boston led in giveaways (14-12) and face-off win% (65-35).
The Ducks went 0/3 on the skater advantage and the B’s finished Friday 1/4 on the power play.
The Bruins are now on a four-game winning streak as they continue their two-week road trip against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, then pay a visit to the San Jose Sharks on Monday, before swinging through the Vegas Golden Knights (Feb. 20th) and St. Louis Blues (Feb. 23rd).
Boston’s next home game this month is Feb. 26th against the Sharks.
Saturdays are a great day in the National Hockey League. Then again, Saturdays in March are pretty great in general even though we’re all going to be watching the sport on ice instead of flipping channels with that sport that started with a peach basket (ATLANTA HAD TWO NHL TEAMS!) and that Canadian guy (HOCKEY, EH!!) in Springfield, Massachusetts (AHL HOCKEY!!!).
Please ignore college basketball for one day, okay? Thanks guys.
So yeah, Saturdays are pretty great. Especially when you wake up and the heat is still running– thank you very much, power company.
While our usual DTFR Game of the Day writer, @connorzkeith, is day-to-day and recovering from minor upper body surgery, I’d like to extend a special “thank you” to @jdettro for filling in yesterday.
Thanks to the second nor’easter in about a week, I was unable to fulfill my scheduled duty of doing Connor’s job for a day as was originally planned. Luckily, the power is back on and I’m here to be the Daily Matchup boss for the day.
In the meantime, looks like New England’s going to get ravaged again by another nor’easter on Monday/Tuesday– so if this experience isn’t for you, don’t worry, my power will probably be knocked out again in a couple days.
Anyway, on with the show.
There’s a boatload of games (11, in fact) on the docket today and only one can be our DTFR Game of the Day, but if you’re trying to catch them all…
The puck drops first in the Hub of Hockey at 1 p.m. between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins nationally on NHL Network (NBCS Chicago and NESN in their respective local markets)– with the Vegas Golden Knights paying a visit to the Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning (RDS) and Winnipeg Jets at the Philadelphia Flyers all facing off at the same time.
Two hours later, the Arizona Coyotes visit the Colorado Avalanche at 3 p.m. An hour after that, the St. Louis Blues try to climb back into the playoff picture against the Los Angeles Kings on NHL Network at 4 p.m. Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks square off at four in the afternoon as well.
If you’re content with watching NHL Network all day and sitting through the thousands of J.G Wentworth commercials, then you can treat yourself to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 p.m. on NHL Network in the United States (CBC, Sportsnet & TVAS in Canada). If that’s not your thing, perhaps the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers are more of your cup of tea, because they’re also getting underway at seven o’clock.
The New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators face-off an hour later (8 p.m.) at Bridgestone Arena and the Minnesota Wild wrap up the night in Edmonton against the Oilers at 10 p.m. on CBC and Sportsnet in Canada. All times Eastern.
Here’s a few important ones circled on my calendar:
Chicago at Boston: Tommy Wingels will be in the lineup for the first of this home-and-home series weekend matchup against his former team. Also, Boston’s without David Backes, Patrice Bergeron and Charlie McAvoy, so there’s that.
Montreal at Tampa: If you like good Atlantic Division matchups, this is usually one of them, even if the Canadiens are in a rebuild.
Winnipeg at Philadelphia: The Jets are scary good and the Flyers are physically scary, what’s not to love in the City of Brotherly Love?
Arizona at Colorado: You would’ve laughed at me if I mentioned this last season, but the Coyotes are ruining their draft lottery chances by winning a lot lately and the Avalanche might be a wild card team this year, so…
Washington at San Jose: Both of these teams have 81 points on the season and are 2nd in their respective divisions (Capitals in the Metropolitan, Sharks in the Pacific). Fight it out!
Pittsburgh at Toronto: This could be a playoff matchup if the Leafs make it that far. In any case, it’s a Battle of Mikes behind the bench– Mike Sullivan and Mike Babcock.
Plenty of great match-ups to chose from, but only one can be our Game of the Day, after all. As such, let’s turn our attention to SAP Center, shall we?
Saturday afternoon is a great time to tune into the Washington Capitals at San Jose Sharks. Other than the whole “2nd place theme” going on, the Capitals are riding into San Jose on a two-game losing streak (a 4-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday and a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday).
Washington is being outscored by the entire State of California (so far), 7-1. Braden Holtby‘s had no brakes going down the tracks all season and it doesn’t appear his defense is doing anything to help.
After allowing three goals in a little over 25 minutes against the Ducks, Holtby was pulled. Philipp Grubauer then only faced eight shots on goal, turning all of them aside.
An empty net goal was enough to seal their fate at Honda Center, however.
Head coach, Barry Trotz, gave Grubauer a nod of confidence in giving him the start against the re-surging Kings, but the night did not go as planned for the team with the league’s leader in goals– Alex Ovechkin with 40 goals thus far– being held off the scoresheet in both SoCal games.
Grubauer allowed two goals before the Capitals gave up yet another empty netter in the closing minutes at Staples Center.
For all intents and purposes, Ovechkin is two-goals shy of 600 career NHL goals.
If he’s able to get at least two pucks past a San Jose goaltender on Saturday, he’ll become just the 20th player in NHL history to score 600 goals.
Looking to recapture the momentum of their 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium last week, Washington could use two points in regulation against the on-again-off-again Sharks.
San Jose, in the meantime, enters Saturday night 2-1-0 in the month of March, outscoring opponents 11-6. A 7-2 victory at home against the Chicago Blackhawks yielded itself to an embarrassing 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Shark Tank.
Trade deadline acquisition, Evander Kane, has fit in pretty well with the Northern California based franchise, amassing 1-4–5 totals in four games since trading in his Buffalo Sabres gear for a new teal-colored sweater.
In fact, Kane has fit in so well, he’s rejuvenated the Pavelski line with Joonas Donskoi on the other wing.
Jones will likely see his seventh straight start, but that’s no worry for the plus-14 goal differential Sharks now that Burns has begun to find his rhythm alongside… Joakim Ryan!?!
The 24-year-old rookie defenseman has three goals and nine assists (12 points) in 58 games played and is a plus-10 this season.
Veterans Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun are carrying their weight on the second defensive pair. Each of them are plus-7’s so far. Meanwhile Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo (try saying that ten times fast) solidfy the bottom pairing on the blue line.
Whereas the Capitals added Michal Kempny and Jakub Jerabek to their defensive zone leading up to the deadline, San Jose went after more of a spark.
It’s kind of hard to imagine where Joe Thornton will return to the lineup the way San Jose has been playing as of late. Then again, maybe that’s not a bad thing for someone who’s 38-years-old and still looking for his first Stanley Cup.
As long as the top-six forwards (Kane, Pavelski, Donskoi, Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture and Mikkel Boedker) don’t disappear when it counts, the Sharks should be poised to be a nice dark horse as long as they reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs down the stretch.
Despite being cash-strapped and weaker on defense, the Washington Capitals are putting together a solid season. Trotz’s team is offensively driven. It might just be enough to finally match the Pittsburgh Penguins style of constant offense in the Second Round of the postseason– but I’d hate to get ahead of ourselves.
Washington’s led the Metropolitan Division and they’re looking to regain the division lead with a win in any fashion on Saturday and a Penguins loss in regulation to Toronto later that evening.
In any case, whoever ends up in the Stanley Cup Final will have to go through a rigorous Western Conference team.
For San Jose, it could be three long rounds. For the Capitals, it might be any of the California teams they’ve played this week and, well, they’ve got some work to do.
Regardless, the Sharks want to stay hot and remain competitive– firmly in the grasp of a Pacific Division playoff spot instead of a wild card manifestation. Look for San Jose to take a bite out of Washington’s goaltending with their recent scoring prowess and 3-1-0 record through four games of their six game home stand.
The Dallas Stars took yesterday’s DTFR Game of the Day against the Anaheim Ducks by a score of 2-1 at American Airlines Center.
Ryan Getzlaf (10) kicked off the game’s scoring, giving Anaheim a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Corey Perry (27) and Rickard Rakell (29) notched the assists on Getzlaf’s goal at 17:16 of the 1st period.
Devin Shore (9) tied the game, 1-1, at 8:50 of the 3rd period on a power play goal. Tyler Seguin (27) and Jamie Benn (37) recorded the assists on Shore’s goal.
Benn (23) scored the game winning goal on another Stars power play at 14:50. Dallas blueliner, John Klingberg (50) reached the 50-assist plateau and Seguin (28) picked up his 2nd point of the night on Benn’s game-winner with a little more than five minutes remaining in regulation.
Dallas netminder, Kari Lehtonen, picked up the win with 26 saves on 27 shots against for a .963 save percentage. Ducks goaltender, Ryan Miller, allowed two goals on 37 shots for a .946 SV% in the loss.
The Stars were 2/2 on the power play, while Anaheim failed to convert on three man-advantages. Dallas travels to Pittsburgh for a Sunday night matchup at PPG Paints Arena on NBCSN (7:30 p.m. ET).
Anaheim is off until Monday night on home ice at Honda Center against the St. Louis Blues (10 p.m. ET).
The Nashville Predators are one win away from continuing to make franchise history and advancing to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final thanks to a 3-1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Saturday night.
Nashville’s Pontus Aberg scored the game winning goal in the 3rd period and Pekka Rinne made 32 saves on 33 shots faced for a .970 save percentage in the win. Anaheim goaltenders, John Gibson and Jonathan Bernier split time in goal, as Gibson left the game after the 1st period with a lower body injury.
Gibson stopped all 10 shots he faced in the 1st period, while Bernier made 16 saves on 18 shots against for an .889 SV% in the final two periods of play.
The Predators take a 3-2 series lead back home to Bridgestone Arena for Game 6. Nashville can advance to their first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history with a win on Monday night.
After 20 minutes of play, the game was still tied, 0-0. Shots on goal were even, 10-10, and the Ducks were leading in hits, 15-13, as well as giveaways, 4-3. Nashville led in blocked shots, 7-6 and went 0/1 on the power play, while Anaheim went 0/2 on the man advantage in the 1st period.
Chris Wagner (2) kicked off the game’s first goal at 12:46 of the 2nd period to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. Wagner promptly fired a shot on a rebound off of Rinne’s glove after Brandon Montour had initially threw the puck on goal. Montour (7) and Jakob Silfverberg (5) collected the assists on the goal.
Filip Forsberg took a penalty for hooking Sami Vatanen with six minutes remaining in the 2nd period. Anaheim failed to convert on the man advantage and took a penalty of their own when Josh Manson was sent to the box for cross checking Forsberg shortly after he was released from the sin bin.
Nashville was on the power play for just the second time of the night, trailing 1-0 on the scoreboard until Colin Wilson (2) was at the right place at the right time. With less than a minute remaining in the period (and almost 10 seconds left on the power play),
P.K. Subban shot the puck from the point, only to have it blocked before it could reach the net. That’s when Colton Sissons freed the loose puck and found Wilson in the slot, who then threw the rubber biscuit on goal and beat Bernier to tie the game 1-1 at 19:19 of the 2nd period.
After 40 minutes of play, the Ducks led 23-21 in shots on goal, 13-11 in blocked shots, 26-19 in hits, 5-2 in takeaways and 10-7 in giveaways, but the scoreboard still read 1-1. Statistically speaking, Nashville was close, but not too close.
Scoring chance for scoring chance was matched by each team through the first 10 minutes of the 3rd period. The Predators caught Anaheim’s defense lagging behind a play as they broke out on a rush, whereby Aberg crashed the net and dove for a rebound. Aberg (1) shot the puck while diving, leaving Bernier with no time to recover and square up to the shot in desperation.
Aberg gave Nashville their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 11:01 of the 3rd period. Forsberg (6) and Mattias Ekholm (8) were credited with the assists. The goal was Aberg’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal. He has one career regular season goal that he scored back in November, while also amassing 31 goals for the Milwaukee Admirals (t-3rd in the AHL) this season.
Bernier was forced to vacate his net in the closing minute of the game for the extra attacker as the Ducks were desperate to defend their home ice advantage. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned, as Nashville’s Austin Watson (2) stumbled upon a loose puck and fired it on goal from his just about the blue line in his own zone.
Watson’s empty net goal was unassisted at 19:12 of the 3rd period and put Nashville up by two goals.
The Predators finished the game 1/2 on the power play, while Anaheim failed to score on all four of their special teams advantages. The physical series has continued to claim more casualties, as Gibson indicated he would be good to go for Game 6, but is officially pending evaluation before Ducks head coach, Randy Carlyle makes a decision.
Anaheim led in shots on goal, 33-29, blocked shots 18-15, hits 32-25 and in giveaways 15-13 at the conclusion of Game 5 on Saturday night.
With the 3-1 victory, the Predators take a 3-2 series lead into Game 6— on home ice— Monday night in Nashville. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET. Fans looking to watch the game can tune to NBCSN in the United States, while Canadians can catch the action on CBC and/or TVA Sports.
Corey Perry and the Anaheim Ducks bursted the Nashville Predators undefeated at Bridgestone Arena this postseason bubble with a 3-2 victory in overtime in Game 4 of the 2017 Western Conference Finals.
In short, the series is now a best-of-three scenario as it is now tied, 2-2, heading back to Honda Center in Anaheim for Game 5.
Ducks goaltender, John Gibson made 32 saves on 34 shots against for a .941 save percentage in the win, while Predators goalie, Pekka Rinne stopped 34 out of 37 shots faced for a .919 SV% in the loss.
Rickard Rakell (7) opened the game’s scoring on a slap shot from outside the slot and just over the blue line after catching the Predators in the midst of a line change to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. Cam Fowler (7) had the sole assist on Rakell’s goal.
After 20 minutes of play, Anaheim led 1-0 on the scoreboard and held Nashville to just two shots on goal in the 1st period. As a result, the Ducks set a franchise record for fewest shots against in a playoff period (2). The previous record was three back in the 1st period of Game 5 of the 2015 Western Conference Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Both Nashville and Anaheim went 0/1 on the power play entering the first intermission.
The Ducks extended their lead to two goals when Nick Ritchie (4) used Roman Josi as a screen against Rinne, then toe dragged the puck out of Josi’s reach to snipe a wrist shot top shelf on the glove side. Nate Thompson (4) and Sami Vatanen (3) were credited with the primary and secondary assists on the goal that made it 2-0 Anaheim.
Officials put away the whistles for the 2nd period, as no penalties were called, which would only provide for more scrutiny later in the game when several calls were made against the Ducks and a non-call that probably should’ve been a penalty against the Predators indirectly led to the game tying goal in the final minute of regulation.
After Nashville had an abysmal two shots on goal (compared to Anaheim’s 14 SOG) in the 1st period, the Predators picked up their offensive efforts in the 2nd period, outshooting the Ducks 18-12. Anaheim still led in total shots on goal, though, 26-20 after 40 minutes of play.
Trailing 2-0 at the start of the 3rd period, the Nashville Predators remained calm, as they had been there before this postseason, having trailed by the same score to the Blackhawks in the First Round before coming back and winning in regulation.
Anaheim could not convert on their final power play opportunity of the night about a quarter of the way into the 3rd period.
After being given two power play opportunities of their own about midway through the 3rd, the Predators had no luck on the man advantage, but had begun racking up the minutes of offensive zone time.
P.K. Subban (2) received a pass from Colin Wilson (2) and fired home a slap shot to cut the lead in half and make it a 2-1 game at 13:33 of the 3rd period. The already rambunctious fans in attendance at Bridgestone Arena only became louder as the Predators begun to smell a possible comeback. Viktor Arvidsson (7) had the secondary assist on Subban’s 2nd goal of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Kevin Bieksa’s high sticking infraction was quickly followed up by Anaheim’s Josh Manson’s slashing minor penalty, resulting in a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:31 with 4:38 remaining in regulation for the Preds.
Anaheim’s penalty killing unit was successful at killing off both minor penalties before Nashville could tie the game.
With less than a minute in regulation, the Predators won an offensive zone face-off and fired a barrage of shots at Gibson.
Ryan Johansen appeared to get away with a cross check to the back of one of Anaheim’s skaters, before contributing on what would end up setting up the final goal of regulation
Filip Forsberg (7) tied the game, 2-2, with his followup in front of the goal, beating Gibson to the puck before he could freeze it. Arvidsson (8) and James Neal (2) collected the helpers on the game tying goal with 34.5 seconds to go in the 3rd period.
Forsberg now has four goals in four games thus far in the series.
Nashville was mounting a comeback riding the momentum of the final 13 and a half minutes of regulation. Shots on goal were even at 31-31 after 60 minutes of play. Nashville led in blocked shots 18-15 and in giveaways 10-9, while Anaheim led in hits 28-27 and takeaways 9-6 heading into the overtime intermission.
Game 4 became just the 26th playoff game of the 2017 postseason to require overtime (two games shy of the record— 28 overtime games— set in 1993).
A little past halfway into the overtime period, Perry (4) fired a shot in the direction of the goal as a hard charging teammate, Thompson, was crashing the goal. Instead of setting up a one-timer, the puck deflected off of Nashville defenseman Subban’s stick and past Rinne to secure the 3-2 victory for the Ducks.
Perry’s game winning goal was unassisted at 10:25 of overtime and tied the series 2-2.
Anaheim finished the game leading in shots on goal 37-34, blocked shots 20-19 and giveaways 12-10, while both teams were even in hits 30-30. Neither team scored a power play goal on Thursday night, as Nashville went 0/5 on the man advantage and Anaheim went 0/2.
Puck drop for Game 5 at Honda Center back in Anaheim is scheduled for a little after 7:15 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Viewers looking to watch the game in the United States can tune to NBC, while Canadian fans can catch the game on CBC and/or TVA Sports.
For the first and second rounds of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the authors at Down the Frozen River present a rapid recap of all of the night’s action. Tonight’s featured writers are Connor Keith and Nick Lanciani.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals– Game 7
By: Connor Keith
With a two-goal shutout over Washington at the Verizon Center, the Penguins have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row.
If statistics told the whole story (they don’t, much to my chagrin), the first period was only an appetizer of what to expect in the remainder of the first Game 7 of the night. Both teams committed one penalty, both penalty kills rose to the task. Pittsburgh blocked four shots, Washington three. The Penguins stole the puck four times and committed three giveaways, the Capitals made three steals and only two giveaways. Pittsburgh fired 10 shots on net, Washington nine – and all were saved by either First Star of the Game Marc-Andre Fleury or Third Star Braden Holtby.
Things were still looking that way until the 8:49 mark of the second period when Second Star Bryan Rust (Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby) drew first blood. The play started when Ian Cole intercepted Matt Niskanen’s attempted clear at the far point to keep the puck from crossing the blue line. In the same motion he passed to his captain in the center of the offensive zone, who dished to Guentzel en route to the near side of the slot. Instead of firing on Holtby’s net, he slid a centering pass to his right wing that was more than capable of banging home a wrist shot top-shelf for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
Once the scoreless draw was broken, the pressure was on Fleury for the remaining 31:11 of the game. As he’s proved so many other times this postseason, he was up to the task only a year removed from being relegated to the bench during the Penguins’ Stanley Cup run. In total, he saved all 29 shots he faced for his first shutout of the 2017 postseason. Included within those attempts was a flurry of action late in the second period.
To start, Alex Ovechkin had a beautiful look at leveling the game at one-all from his usual spot in the left face-off circle with 3:53remaining in the frame, but Fleury managed to get his stick and blocker between Ovechkin’s wrister and the back of his net at the last second to prevent the score from changing.
Fleury’s strong play continued 1:29 later when he fought off three separate shots in a wild scrum in his crease, but he was truly confirmed it was his day when Nicklas Backstrom’s offering from along the goal line with 73 seconds remaining before the second intermission not only bounced off his right skate, but also off the far post and out of harm’s way.
If the Pens have learned anything in these playoffs, it’s that sometimes the best defense is a good offense. In the opening five minutes of the third period, Pittsburgh outshot the Capitals seven-to-one. That attack found its reward 4:14 into the frame when Patric Hornqvist (Justin Schultz) sneaked a wrister between Nate Schmidt’s legs and over Holtby’s glove to set the score at 2-0.
While only an insurance goal, it seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for the Verizon Center crowd. The crowds’ mood significantly soured following Hornqvist’s marker as it realized the Capitals would fall for the ninth time in 10 matchups against Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Pittsburgh will host the Senators for Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals at PPG Paints Arena. That series is scheduled to start on Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The contest will be televised on NBC in the USA and CBC, Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.
Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks– Game 7
By: Nick Lanciani
Entering Wednesday night, the Anaheim Ducks had lost four consecutive Game 7s at Honda Center. Entering Thursday morning, they’re moving on to the 2017 Western Conference Finals after defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 on home ice thanks to Nick Ritchie’s early 3rd period game winning goal.
Ducks goalie, John Gibson made 23 saves on 24 shots against in just his 2nd career Game 7 appearance for a .958 save percentage en route to the win, while Edmonton goaltender, Cam Talbot made his first Game 7 appearance, stopping 28 saves on 30 shots faced for a .933 SV% in the loss.
For just the fourth time in franchise history, Anaheim will contend for a spot in the Stanley Cup Final, having appeared in the Western Conference Finals in 2003, 2007 and 2015 before advancing to the 2017 edition of the Western Conference Finals against the Nashville Predators.
Drake Caggiula (3) kicked off scoring in Game 7 with his unassisted redirection that beat Gibson just 3:31 into the 1st period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.
Despite trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes of play, the Ducks were not ready to fold on home ice in yet another Game 7.
Andrew Cogliano (1) tied the game, 1-1, on a backhand shot that slid past a sprawling Cam Talbot after a series of desperation saves almost midway through the 2nd period. Cogliano’s first goal of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs was assisted by Ryan Kesler (6) and Brandon Montour (5) at 8:55 of the 2nd.
With a close battle carrying over into the 3rd period, the Ducks came out flying early in effort to combat the younger, faster skating Edmonton offense that had pestered teams all season long by playing a game that only got better as the minutes passed.
After swapping scoring chances, Anaheim had strong attacking zone possession, firing pucks on Talbot, generating rebounds and odd caroms off the boards behind the goal.
Ritchie (2) collected a loose puck and fired a blocker side shot that clipped Talbot underneath the shoulder and fluttered into the twine to give the Ducks their first lead of the night. Sami Vatanen (1) and Corey Perry (7) collected the helpers on Ritchie’s goal, which made it 2-1 Anaheim, just 3:21 into the 3rd period.
Despite a late surge by the Oilers around two minutes to go in regulation, the Ducks held off on all of Edmonton’s advances with the Oilers having pulled Talbot for an extra skater.
As time expired, Anaheim head coach, Randy Carlyle improved to 2-2 in four career Game 7 appearances, while Edmonton head coach, Todd McLellan fell to 1-3 overall in Game 7s.
With Wednesday night’s 2-1 win, Anaheim has only allowed one goal in their three Game 7 victories in franchise history, having previously defeated Phoenix 3-0 in the 1997 Western Conference Quarterfinals and Calgary 3-0 in the 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals.
Anaheim plays host to the Nashville on Friday night at Honda Center for Game 1 of the 2017 Western Conference Finals. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 9 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can watch the game on NBCSN, while Canadians can tune to CBC or TVA Sports for coverage.
The Ducks lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in their most recent trip to the Western Conference Finals (2015) but advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in both 2003 and 2007.
The Predators will make their Western Conference Finals debut for the first time in franchise history.
Down the Frozen River 
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