Down the Frozen River

Tag: Jakob Chychrun

  • Coyotes’ win streak comes to an end in Boston

    Coyotes’ win streak comes to an end in Boston

    Craig Smith scored a pair of goals and Charlie Coyle scored the game-winning goal as the Boston Bruins beat the Arizona Coyotes, 3-2, Saturday night at TD Garden.

    Boston snapped Arizona’s four-game winning streak in the process and extended the league’s longest active consecutive win streak against an opponent to 18 games as the Bruins haven’t lost to the Coyotes since Oct. 9, 2010.

    Back then, Arizona was known as the Phoenix Coyotes in a, 5-2, blowout in the 2010-11 regular season opener in Prague, Czech Republic.

    Boston, meanwhile, has won eight-straight games against Arizona at TD Garden as part of the second-longest consecutive win streak against an opponent in National Hockey League history.

    Only the Montréal Canadiens had a longer win streak against an opponent– winning 23 games against the Washington Capitals from 1974-78.

    Back at TD Garden Saturday night, Jeremy Swayman (17-7-3, 2.06 goals-against average, .926 save percentage in 28 games played) made 27 saves on 29 shots against in the win for the Bruins.

    Coyotes goaltender, Karel Vejmelka (9-22-1, 3.37 goals-against average, .905 save percentage in 34 games played), stopped 37 out of 40 shots faced in the loss.

    Boston improved to 36-18-5 (77 points) overall with the win and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

    Arizona, on the other hand, fell to 18-36-4 (40 points) on the season and stuck in 8th place in the Central Division.

    The B’s swept their regular season series against the Yotes 2-0-0 and will not face them again until the 2022-23 regular season.

    The Bruins were without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) on Saturday, while Matt Grzelcyk returned to the lineup after missing his seventh game due to injury/illness this season in Thursday night’s, 4-3, win against Chicago.

    Grzelcyk returned to his usual role on the second defensive pairing alongside Brandon Carlo, while B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy made no other changes to his lineup.

    Jesper Frödén was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Friday, while Jack Ahcan joined Anton Blidh in the press box at TD Garden Saturday night as Boston’s pair of healthy scratches.

    Smith (12) got things going with a goal off of a rebound on an initial shot by Tomáš Nosek while crashing the net to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead at 2:33 of the first period.

    Nosek (10) and Nick Foligno (9) tallied the assists on Smith’s first goal of the game.

    Less than a minute later, J.J. Moser slashed David Pastrnak and presented Boston with the night’s first power play at 3:25.

    The B’s couldn’t capitalize on the ensuing skater advantage, however, and proceeded to give the Coyotes the next power play when Patrice Bergeron inadvertently sent the puck over the glass for an automatic delay of game minor infraction at 6:48 of the first period.

    Arizona wasn’t able to convert on the resulting power play, however.

    Midway through the opening frame, Coyle shielded the puck as he entered the zone and passed it back to Smith.

    Smith (13) sent a shot attempt off of a leg in the slot and gathered his own rebound before burying the rubber biscuit in the twine for his second goal of the game– giving the Bruins a, 2-0, lead at 10:49.

    Coyle (18) and Trent Frederic (7) notched the assists on the goal as Smith collected his 13th point (seven goals, six assists) in as many games.

    Entering the first intermission, Boston led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 14-11, in shots on goal.

    The B’s also held the advantage in takeaways (5-2) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while the Coyotes led in blocked shots (3-2), giveaways (3-2) and hits (11-8).

    Both teams were 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Frederic tripped up Jakob Chychrun and presented another power play to the Coyotes at 6:30 of the second period as a result.

    The Yotes were not successful on the ensuing skater advantage, though.

    In the dying seconds of the middle period, Dysin Mayo worked a pass through the slot to Clayton Keller (25) for a one-timer goal on the far blocker side as Swayman’s reaction time was reduced.

    Mayo (7) and Nick Schmaltz (23) had the assists on Keller’s goal and Arizona cut Boston’s lead in half– trailing, 2-1, as a result at 19:59 of the second period.

    Oh yeah, that’s anther thing– Keller’s one-timer just crossed the line with about 0.5 seconds left on the clock before the second intermission commenced.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Bruins held a, 2-1, lead on the scoreboard, as well as a, 26-22, advantage in shots on goal.

    Boston outshot Arizona, 12-11, in the second period alone and maintained an advantage in takeaways (10-7), giveaways (7-6) and hits (17-15) entering the second intermission.

    The Coyotes led in blocked shots (11-3), while both teams split faceoff win%, 50-50.

    Arizona was 0/2 on the power play heading into the final frame, while the Bruins were still 0/1 on the skater advantage.

    Shortly after the third period began, the Coyotes tweeted that Chychrun would not return to the night’s action with a lower body injury.

    A couple minutes later, Nick Ritchie (6) scored against his former team as he happened to be in the right place at the right time to collect the garbage on a rebound in the slot and pocket a shot down low while Swayman was catching up with the play.

    Barrett Hayton (10) and Matias Maccelli (3) had the assists as the Coyotes tied the game, 2-2, at 2:15 of the third period– fully swinging momentum to their favor as Arizona had picked up their dominance in possession from the second period to the final frame.

    Midway through the third, however, Frederic cleared a puck out of his own zone around the glass up to Coyle as No. 13 in black and gold broke into the neutral zone.

    Coyle (14) trucked his way to the other end of the ice before elevating a backhand shot past Vejmelka’s glove side to put the Bruins ahead once again– this time for good, 3-2.

    Frederic (8) and Charlie McAvoy (30) had the assists on Coyle’s goal at 10:39 and Boston kept their nose to the grind for the rest of the night.

    With about 50.7 seconds remaining in the action, Arizona’s head coach, André Tourigny, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker.

    Despite one last push, the Coyotes could not penetrate Boston’s defense in the dying seconds as the final horn sounded.

    The Bruins had emerged victorious, 3-2, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 40-29, including a, 14-7, advantage in the third period alone.

    Boston also left their own ice leading in blocked shots (14-9), giveaways (10-8), hits (26-24) and faceoff win% (55-45), while Arizona left without any points in the standings.

    The Coyotes exited TD Garden 0/2 on the power play, while the B’s went 0/1.

    Boston improved to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games, while Swayman improved to 9-0-1 in his last 10 games.

    Arizona’s longest winning streak of the season came to an end at four games as the Bruins put together back-t0-back wins Thursday and Saturday after their, 3-2, overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.

    The B’s improved to 26-7-2 (12-4-1 at home) when scoring first, 22-2-1 (10-1-0 at home) when leading after one and 25-1-3 (10-1-1 at home) when leading after two periods this season.

    The Coyotes, meanwhile, fell to 7-26-2 (3-11-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-19-1 (2-7-1 on the road) when trailing after the first period and 4-27-1 (2-11-1 on the road) when trailing after the second period in 2021-22.

    Boston hits the road for the next four games with stops in Chicago next Tuesday (March 15th), Minnesota next Wednesday (March 16th), Winnipeg next Friday (March 18th) and Montréal on March 21st.

    The Bruins return home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 24th.

  • Bruins rebound with, 2-1, win in Arizona

    Bruins rebound with, 2-1, win in Arizona

    Charlie McAvoy’s power-play goal in the second period was enough to ensure the Boston Bruins of a, 2-1, victory over the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena Friday night.

    Boston has won 17 consecutive regular season matchups against Arizona since losing, 5-2, to the then-Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 9, 2010, in the 2010-11 season opener in Prague, Czech Republic.

    Meanwhile, back at Gila River Arena on Friday, Linus Ullmark (15-5-1, 2.54 goals-against average, .916 save percentage in 22 games played) made 30 saves on 31 shots faced for a .968 save percentage in the win for the B’s.

    Coyotes goaltender, Scott Wedgewood (4-9-2, 3.32 goals-against average, .899 save percentage in 17 games played), turned aside 35 out of 37 shots faced in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 25-13-3 (53 points) on the season at the halfway point of the 2021-22 82-game calendar and sit 4th in the Atlantic Division. Boston remains in command of the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

    Arizona, meanwhile, fell to 10-28-4 (24 points) overall and remain dead last (8th place) in the Pacific Division– one point ahead of the Montréal Canadiens (23 points, 32nd) in the overall league standings.

    With the uncertainty surrounding next season’s home for the Coyotes, one thing is for sure– that Boston will have gone 10-1-0 in 11 games at Gila River Arena in its lifetime as Arizona’s home ice from 2003-22.

    A report just this week was hailed as a temporary plan for Arizona to play their home games in the same barn as the Arizona State University Sun Devils’ men’s ice hockey team beginning in 2022-23 for three to four years while the National Hockey League club seeks to build a new arena in Tempe.

    Matt Grzelcyk returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with an upper body injury.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, placed Grzelcyk in his usual role on the first defensive pairing with McAvoy– demoting Urho Vaakanainen to the third pairing alongside Derek Forbort in the process, while scratching Connor Clifton as a result.

    Boston was without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Trent Frederic (upper body), Nick Foligno (upper body) and Tuukka Rask (day-to-day, undisclosed) on Friday.

    With Rask out of the lineup, Troy Grosenick was recalled from the taxi squad and served as Ullmark’s backup against the Coyotes.

    Steven Fogarty, Jesper Frödén and Tyler Lewington joined Clifton in the press box as Boston’s group of taxi squad members and healthy scratches in Arizona.

    Jakob Chychrun closed his hand on the puck while trying to settle it and received a minor infraction for closing his hand on the puck (imagine that!?!) as a result– yielding the first power play of the night to the Bruins at 1:30 of the first period.

    Boston couldn’t convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    Midway through the opening frame, the Bruins controlled the puck in the attacking zone– working it from Forbort to David Pastrnak as No. 88 in black and gold crashed the net.

    Instead of shooting, Pastrnak sent a backhand pass to Erik Haula (5) for a one-timer goal to give the B’s a, 1-0, lead at 12:30 of the first period.

    Pastrnak (19) and Forbort (5) tallied the assists on Haula’s 99th career National Hockey League goal.

    Late in the period, Shayne Gostisbehere faked a shot from the point and passed the puck to Nick Schmaltz (5) for a catch and release goal on the short side as the Coyotes answered back and tied the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Gostisbehere (20) and Clayton Kellyer (18) notched the assists on Schmaltz’s goal at 18:04.

    Heading into the first intermission, Boston and Arizona were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, despite the Bruins holding a, 9-8, advantage in shots on goal.

    The B’s also led in blocked shots (4-2) and faceoff win percentage (56-44), while the Coyotes led in takeaways (4-0), giveaways (7-6) and hits (13-11).

    Boston was 0/1 on the power play, while Arizona had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.

    Midway through the middle frame, Gostisbehere tripped up Patrice Bergeron and presented the Bruins with their second power play of the night at 12:05 of the second period.

    A little more than a minute into the ensuing advantage, Brad Marchand sent the puck along the blue line to McAvoy as McAvoy (7) corralled the rubber biscuit and proceeded to snap a shot past Wedgewood’s blocker side for a power-play goal.

    Marchand (26) and Pastrnak (20) had the assists on the goal as the Bruins pulled ahead, 2-1, at 13:41 of the second period.

    Mike Reilly checked Lawson Crouse away from the puck 19 seconds later and presented Arizona with their first power play of the night at 14:00 of the second period.

    The Coyotes were not successful on the skater advantage, however.

    Shortly after Boston made the kill, Anton Blidh took a stick to the face and drew blood.

    At first glance, Schmaltz appeared to be the offender, which would’ve given the Bruins a four-minute power play as a result of Blidh bleeding his own blood, but upon official review McAvoy inadvertently caught his own teammate in the face.

    As such, no penalty was assessed on the play and Blidh returned to the night’s action after getting patched up a bit.

    Once again, late in the period, Boston sent a skater to the box only this time it was for goaltender interference as Curtis Lazar made no attempt to stop on a rush at 19:33.

    Arizona’s resulting power play would extend into the third period.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard despite trailing, 22-21, in shots on goal.

    The Coyotes held a, 14-12, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone and led in takeaways (6-3), as well as hits (20-17).

    Meanwhile, Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (7-4), giveaways (14-10) and faceoff win% (56-44).

    Arizona was 0/2 on the power play, while the B’s were 1/2 heading into the final frame.

    Neither team managed to score a goal in the third period, but each team had at least one more penalty in them as Antoine Roussel got his gloves off and tried to engage McAvoy for some reason– only to end up with a double minor for roughing, while McAvoy ended up with a single infraction for roughing despite not getting to defend himself.

    Regardless, Ryan Dzingel served time in the box for Roussel’s minor at 2:14 and the Bruins went on the power play early in the third period.

    Boston did not convert on the skater advantage and had another chance at doing so go by the wayside when Crouse tripped Marchand at 4:29.

    Instead, Arizona ended up with one more chance power play in the night’s action as Bergeron caught Chychrun with a high stick at 6:04 of the third period.

    The Coyotes couldn’t muster anything past Ullmark, however, despite 26 seconds of 4-on-4 action and an abbreviated power play thereafter.

    With about 2:29 remaining in the game, Arizona’s head coach, André Tourigny, pulled Wedgewood for an extra attacker, but the Coyotes couldn’t seem to hit the net at the most opportune moments in the dying seconds of the game– even after the Yotes took a timeout with 1:41 remaining and Boston used their timeout with 34.8 seconds left.

    At the final horn the Bruins had won, 2-1, and emerged victorious in the desert.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 37-31, including a, 16-9, advantage in the third period alone, while also maintaining dominance in giveaways (16-12) and faceoff win% (59-41).

    Arizona left their own ice leading in blocked shots (10-9) and hits (28-22).

    The Coyotes went 0/3 and the Bruins went 1/4 on the power play Friday night.

    The B’s improved to 16-5-0 (8-2-0 on the road) when scoring first, 5-5-1 (3-2-1 on the road) when tied after one period and 17-1-1 (11-0-1 on the road) when leading after two periods this season.

    Arizona, meanwhile, fell to 4-20-2 (2-11-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 3-10-2 (0-4-1 at home) when tied after the first period and 3-22-1 (2-13-0 at home) when trailing after two periods in 2021-22.

    The Bruins (1-0-1) wrap up their three-game road trip Sunday night at American Airlines Center against the Dallas Stars to finish off the month of January. Boston returns home to host the Seattle Kraken in their first-ever matchup on Feb. 1st.

    After facing Seattle, the Bruins begin their All Star break.

  • Coyle notches pair in, 4-2, win for Bruins over Coyotes

    Charlie Coyle scored two goals in the Boston Bruins’, 4-2, victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden– extending Boston’s winning streak to six-games in the process.

    In the meantime, Arizona has not defeated the Bruins in their last 16 meetings.

    Tuukka Rask (20-4-6 record, 2.15 goals against average, .930 save percentage in 31 games played) stopped 29 out of 31 shots faced for a .935 SV% in the win for Boston.

    The Bruins goaltender improved to 12-0-6 at TD Garden this season, which is the best home point streak record to start a season in B’s franchise history– surpassing Gilles Gilbert’s record set in the 1970-71 season.

    Only Bill Durnan (25 games with a point in 1943-44 with the Montreal Canadiens) and Tony Esposito (20 games with a point in 1970-71 with the Chicago Blackhawks) had longer point streaks in NHL history.

    Rask is now tied with Evgeny Nabokov (18-game point streak in 2008-09 with the San Jose Sharks), Ken Dryden (18-game point streak in 1978-79 with the Canadiens) and Billy Smith (18-game point streak in 1977-78 with the New York Islanders).

    Coyotes goaltender, Adin Hill (2-3-2, 2.54 GAA, .918 SV% in 11 games played), made 29 saves on 32 shots against for a .906 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 34-10-12 (80 points) on the season and remain atop the NHL standings, as well as the Atlantic Division, while Arizona fell to 27-23-7 (61 points) and stuck in 4th place in the Pacific Division.

    The B’s also improved to 19-2-9 at home this season and have won seven out of their last eight games.

    The last time the Bruins lost to the Coyotes was on Oct. 9, 2010, when both teams opened the 2010-11 season with a pair of games against each other in Prague, Czech Republic. Boston lost the first game, 5-2, on Oct. 9th before defeating the then known as Phoenix Coyotes, 3-0, on Oct. 10th.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body), Joakim Nordstrom (allergy complications) and Brandon Carlo (personal leave) on Saturday.

    Danton Heinen served as the only healthy scratch for Boston against the Coyotes.

    Clifton participated in practice with the rest of the team, but in a red non-contact sweater, while Nordstrom and Carlo are expected to join the rest of the team in Detroit on Sunday (with Carlo at least being re-inserted into the lineup).

    As a result of Carlo’s personal matters, John Moore was the only change to Bruce Cassidy’s lineup from Wednesday night’s, 2-1, overtime win in Chicago to Saturday afternoon’s meeting with Arizona.

    Moore was paired with Torey Krug on the second defensive pairing for Boston.

    Meanwhile, Karson Kuhlman and Jeremy Lauzon were reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Thursday and subsequently recalled on Friday in a paper transaction for salary cap related purposes.

    Prior to the game, Boston honored their captain, Zdeno Chara, for having surpassed 1,500 career NHL games played and 1,000 career games played as a Bruin earlier in the season.

    Midway through the opening frame, Charlie McAvoy hooked Taylor Hall and was sent to the penalty box with a minor infraction at 9:09 of the first period.

    The Coyotes did not convert on their first power play opportunity of the afternoon.

    Late in the first period, Conor Garland presented the Bruins with their first skater advantage of the game after Garland caught Chara with a high stick at 14:06.

    The B’s did not score on the ensuing power play.

    Moments later, Lauzon unintentionally returned the favor and caught Vinnie Hinostroza with a high stick at 17:27– yielding a power play to Arizona, but the Coyotes weren’t able to capitalize on their second power play of the game.

    Less than 20 seconds after getting out of the box, Lauzon charged down the ice in a race for a loose puck that Derek Stepan got to first, then delivered a miscalculated check on the vulnerable Arizona skater and was assessed a match penalty for an illegal hit to the head at 19:39 of the first period.

    The Coyotes earned a five-minute major power play as a result that would carry over into the second period as the horn sounded on the opening frame with the score still tied, 0-0.

    Boston led in shots on goal (9-6), blocked shots (7-4), takeaways (3-2) and faceoff win percentage (58-42), while Arizona led in giveaways (6-0) and hits (8-7) after 20 minutes of play.

    Entering the first intermission, the Coyotes were 0/3 on the power play and the B’s were 0/1.

    Boston almost made it the full five minutes without allowing a power play goal against until Phil Kessel (12) kicked off the game’s scoring with a garbage goal off a rebound to give Arizona the, 1-0, lead at 3:26 of the second period.

    Kessel’s goal was unassisted and marked the 15th time this season that the Bruins gave up the game’s first goal on home ice.

    A little over a minute later, Lawson Crouse was guilty of roughing McAvoy when he delivered a quick shot to the head while skating by at 4:46.

    Seconds after their power play ended, Boston scored on a beautiful setup when David Krejci dropped a short pass back to McAvoy, who then managed to send a quick backhand pass over to Coyle (11) for the one-timed redirection from point-blank to tie the game, 1-1.

    McAvoy (20) and Krejci (26) had the assists on Coyle’s first goal of the game at 6:50 of the second period.

    Midway through the middle frame, Brad Richardson bumped into Chris Wagner without the puck and was charged with an interference minor at 11:59.

    This time around, Boston was successful at capitalizing on the skater advantage as Patrice Bergeron won the faceoff to Brad Marchand, which led to Marchand tossing the puck back to the point whereby Krug corralled the puck and sent it across the blue line to David Pastrnak for the purposeful shot to the slot where Bergeron (23) outstretched his blade for the redirection goal to give the Bruins their first lead of the day, 2-1.

    Pastrnak (38) and Krug (31) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s power play goal at 12:06 of the second period.

    About a couple minutes later, Niklas Hjalmarsson hooked Wagner and was assessed a minor penalty at 14:13.

    This time the Bruins took a few extra seconds before hitting the back of the twine on a Jake DeBrusk (18) tip-in from the doorstep off of another shot from Pastrnak from the faceoff circle.

    Pastrnak (39) and Bergeron (22) notched the assists on DeBrusk’s power play goal and the B’s led, 3-1, at 14:35.

    Through 40 minutes of play on Saturday, the Bruins led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and shots on goal were even, 21-21. Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (11-7), takeaways (5-2) and hits (14-12), while Arizona led in giveaways (10-2) and faceoff win% (56-44).

    The Coyotes were 1/4 on the skater advantage, while Boston was 2/4 on the power play heading into the third period.

    Just 26 seconds into the third period, Jakob Chychrun (11) sent a shot off of Rask’s glove and into the twine– cutting Boston’s lead in half to just one goal.

    Clayton Keller (22) and Hinostroza (15) notched the assists on Chychrun’s goal.

    Until about 1:40 remaining in regulation, both teams swapped chances, but neither team committed a penalty nor scored a goal.

    With less than two minutes left in the game, Coyotes head coach, Rick Tocchet, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it was not enough for Boston’s defensive efforts in their own zone as Coyle (12) cleared a loose puck from his own end down the ice and into the open twine at 19:11 of the third period.

    Bergeron (23) recorded the only assist on Coyle’s empty net goal and the Bruins secured the, 4-2, win against Arizona as a result.

    At the final horn, Boston finished the afternoon leading in shots on goal (33-31), blocked shots (15-12), hits (21-15) and faceoff win% (52-48).

    Arizona, meanwhile, led in giveaways (14-5) and finished the game 1/4 on the power play.

    The B’s went 2/4 on the skater advantage on Saturday and improved to 10-1-6 when tied after one period, as well as 18-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    Boston travels to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon before returning home for a two-game homestand against the Montreal Canadiens next Wednesday (Feb. 12th) and Red Wings next Saturday (Feb. 15th) before going on a four-game road trip with stops against the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks.

  • Arizona Coyotes 2019-20 Season Preview

    Arizona Coyotes

    39-35-8, 86 points, 4th in the Pacific Division

    Missed the postseason for the seventh straight season

    Additions: F Beau Bennett, F Andy Miele, D Aaron Ness

    Subtractions: F Josh Archibald (signed with EDM), F Dave Bolland (retired), F Nick Cousins (signed with MTL), F Mario Kempe (signed with LAK), F Richard Panik (signed with WSH), F Emil Pettersson (SHL, reserve list), F David Ullstrom (KHL), D Dakota Mermis (signed with NJD), G Hunter Miska (signed with Colorado, AHL), G Calvin Pickard (signed with DET)

    Still Unsigned: None

    Re-signed: F Michael Bunting, F Lawson Crouse, F Hudson Fasching, D Dysin Mayo, G Adin Hill

    Offseason Analysis: The acquisitions of Carl Soderberg and Phil Kessel turn the Arizona Coyotes from outsiders looking in to contenders in the playoff pack.

    Arizona acquired Soderberg in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on June 25th. The Coyotes dealt Kevin Connauton and a 2020 3rd round pick to the Avs in return.

    The 33-year-old center brings some stability down the middle and is a pending-unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

    Coyotes General Manager, John Chayka, made his biggest splash of the offseason four days after acquiring Soderberg when he traded Alex Galchenyuk and Pierre-Olivier Joseph to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Kessel, Dane Birks and a 2021 4th round pick on June 29th.

    Arizona hasn’t been back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs since their defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings in five games in the 2012 Western Conference Final.

    With Kessel’s boost in offseason incoming and a core group of players in Clayton Keller, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jakob Chychrun, Christian Dvorak, Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse, the Coyotes are building off of a solid foundation.

    Kessel had 82 points in 82 games last season for Pittsburgh and he hasn’t missed a game since 2010. He had 34 goals and 58 assists (92 points) in 2017-18.

    As long as Antti Raanta can stay healthy, the Coyotes are determined to move up in the standings– either landing themselves a divisional playoff berth or a wild card standing.

    There’s really not much to it past that.

    Arizona’s not rebuilding and not exactly retooling– they’re growing. They’re getting better and it’s only a matter of time as long as Chayka sticks to his plan(s).

    Offseason Grade: B+

    Even though Shane Doan spent his entire career with the Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes franchise, his later years were nothing spectacular and carried no true star power to the extent that Doan alone could win some games.

    For the first time since Doan’s prime, Arizona has youth to kick things up a notch and a finisher in a big name. Whether or not Kessel returns to his goal scoring ways or continues to evolve as a playmaker remains to be seen, but Chayka had more than an average offseason in the Coyotes front office.

  • 2019-20 Pacific Division Outlook

    As the entire hockey world awaits training camp action next month, let’s make some (un)educated guesses about the upcoming season that will totally pan out because everything always goes as expected. (It doesn’t.)

    The projected standings below are only a forecast.

    They are based on recent indications– as well as the last few seasons of stats– and cannot account for variations in roster construction (a.k.a. trades and free agency moves).

    There’s a lot of variables that will turn the tables upside down, including transactions, injuries and otherwise. Anything can happen.

    As always, it’s more important to remember 1) the spread and 2) the positioning.

    Just how many points separate the projected division winner from the last wild card spot (the spread) and where a team is supposed to finish in the division standings (the position) can imply that things aren’t always what they seem.

    A team that’s projected to win it all still has to play an 82-game regular season, qualify for the playoffs and go on to amass 16 wins in the postseason.

    Projected Standings After ZERO Months

    Pacific Division

    1. y-Vegas Golden Knights, 101 points
    2. x-San Jose Sharks, 100 points
    3. x-Anaheim Ducks, 96 points
    4. wc1- Calgary Flames, 93 points
    5. Los Angeles Kings, 89 points
    6. Vancouver Canucks, 83 points
    7. Arizona Coyotes, 78 points
    8. Edmonton Oilers, 77 points

    Vegas Golden Knights: Pros and Cons

    Despite a colossal collapse in Game 7 of their First Round matchup with the San Jose Sharks this spring, the Golden Knights are ready for what could be another deep playoff run in 2020.

    A full season of Mark Stone– plus the rest of the original and supporting cast (Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, Paul Stastny, Max Pacioretty, Marc-Andre Fleury, etc.)– should provide Vegas with enough scoring power, while Nate Schmidt anchors the defense with Shea Theodore, Brayden McNabb, Jon Merrill and adopted Vegas son, Deryk Engelland.

    Aside from working on the penalty kill and the peaceful transition of power from George McPhee to Kelly McCrimmon as General Manager of the organization (effective Sept. 1st), the Golden Knights have had a quiet offseason.

    Sure, they traded Colin Miller to the Buffalo Sabres which hurts their blue line depth in the event of injuries, but Vegas has a few notable prospects with the Chicago Wolves (AHL) in Jake Bischoff, Nic Hague and Jimmy Schudlt that should be ready for a taste of NHL action if necessary.

    Owner, Bill Foley, has his sights set on his original vision for the franchise– winning a Cup within the first three seasons of its existence.

    The only downside for the Golden Knights heading into the 2019-20 season? Goaltending.

    No, Fleury isn’t in decline from his status as one of the better goaltenders in the league, but his time in the crease has to be managed.

    Though he was limited to 46 games in 2017-18 due to injury, Fleury amassed a 29-13-4 record with a 2.24 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. Vegas’ backup goaltender, Malcolm Subban, managed a 13-4-2 record in 22 games played that season with a 2.68 GAA and a .910 SV% in his rookie season.

    Last season, Subban’s numbers took a turn for the worse.

    He had an 8-10-2 record in 21 games played with a 2.93 GAA and a .902 SV%– all while Fleury was forced to carry a heavier schedule load, seeing his stat line slip to a 2.51 GAA and a .913 SV% in the process, but improving his overall record to 35-21-5 in 61 games.

    Vegas added Garret Sparks, who carries a career GAA (3.09) and SV% (.898) that’s worst than Subban in six fewer games played over two full-time seasons as a backup (Sparks appeared in 37 games with Toronto, while Subban’s played in 43 with Vegas since 2017-18).

    Gerard Gallant can’t rely on a fallback plan if one of them doesn’t yield a significant turnaround at this point in their careers (because there isn’t one) and he also can’t overexert Fleury in the buildup to the postseason.

    This is why you can never have too many goaltenders in the system.

    How would the Golden Knights fail?

    If an Uber driver records their players complaining about their special teams play and/or said Uber driver can’t do a better job at not allowing four power play goals against on a five-minute major penalty kill.

    San Jose Sharks: Pros and Cons

    San Jose has about $4.683 million in cap space and Joe Thornton is still unsigned. Are we really ready to live in a world where Thornton isn’t on the Sharks and it’s not 1997-2005 again?

    Also, Patrick Marleau is still unsigned too, but that’s besides the point– plus he spent the last two years with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

    Anyway, the Sharks went all in on Erik Karlsson’s extension, shelling out $11.500 million per season for the next eight years through the 2026-27 season.

    As long as Karlsson can remain healthy (and the rest of the roster for that matter, unlike in this spring’s Western Conference Final run), then San Jose’s blue line remains one of the most dynamic forces of offensive capabilities from an otherwise non-traditional source of scoring production.

    Kevin Labanc is an emerging star in a Sharks uniform and will carry a bigger role this season with the departure of Joe Pavelski to the Dallas Stars via free agency.

    Meanwhile, it’s officially the Logan Couture Era in Silicon Valley– if General Manager Doug Wilson is truly moving on from the days of Thornton and Marleau– with supporting roles from Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane.

    While Karlsson’s cap hit tops the league on an otherwise unnerving contract if something goes wrong, Wilson managed to keep Timo Meier in teal for the next four seasons at an affordable $6.000 million cap hit.

    Other than injuries, the only thing that could scare the Sharks out of the waters of contention is the inconsistency of Martin Jones and Aaron Dell in the crease.

    Despite compiling 36 wins on the season in 62 games played, Jones had a career-worst GAA (2.94) and SV% (.896), while Dell also managed to have a career-worst performance as a backup with a 3.17 GAA and a .886 SV% in 25 games played (of which he won 10).

    Yikes.

    How would the Sharks fail?

    San Jose has had everything imaginable happen to them in the postseason, so what seems irrational, inexplicable and/or unimaginable, because that’s probably how they’d lose (again).

    Anaheim Ducks: Pros and Cons

    The Ducks have about $8.500 million in cap space with a good mix of pending-unrestricted free agents and pending-restricted free agents next summer, which means they’ll only have more money to spend and reallocate to their better, younger players like Troy Terry and Daniel Sprong.

    What’s the bad news?

    It’s Anaheim. They’re suffering from buying out Corey Perry’s contract for the next four seasons ($2.625 million in 2019-20, $6.625 million in 2020-21 and $2.000 million from 2021-23), Ryan Getzlaf is signed through 2020-21 and has a no-movement clause, Ryan Kesler may never play again and is also signed through 2021-22 with a no-movement clause and finally, Adam Henrique has a modified no-trade clause and is signed through 2023-24.

    Yes, Kesler can be place on long-term injured reserve and shelved for the remainder of his contract and/or traded elsewhere (after waiving his NMC) to free up cap space if he truly cannot return, but the fact of the matter is the Ducks are still too tied up to takeoff and fly.

    The depth of prospects is sketchy with the Ducks, considering not much is known about their overall plan.

    Are they overcooking some prospects for a better immediate impact in the NHL or should they just play the kids, wait around near the basement of the standings and rebuild?

    Though this forecast has Anaheim tabbed for a divisional spot, they’re likely to be looking from outside the division with perhaps only the saving grace of a wild card spot thanks to John Gibson’s existence as one of the best goaltenders in the game (until the skaters in front of him let him down).

    At the very least, Dallas Eakins is back as a head coach in the NHL, so all is right with the world (and he did a decent job resurrecting his career with a strong performance in San Diego (AHL) after his dismal days in Edmonton).

    How would the Ducks fail?

    General Manager Bob Murray holds onto his cards for too long, talent development stalls and/or Eakins turns out to not be one of those classic examples of a coach that just came into the league a little too early, then got a second chance and succeeded.

    Calgary Flames: Pros and Cons

    The Flames couldn’t win the Cup with two-time All Star goaltender, Mike Smith, on their roster, so they rolling with David Rittich and Cam Talbot– who joins Calgary from their intra-province rival Edmonton Oilers.

    Speaking of the Oilers, that’s where Smith ended up. Goalie swap! But without any actual trading involved, since Talbot was most recently serving as a “Plan C” for the Philadelphia Flyers if Carter Hart, Brian Elliott and Co. weren’t ready to go down the stretch.

    Anyway, back to the “C of Red”.

    Calgary sent James Neal to Edmonton in exchange for Milan Lucic and ended up saving $500,000 per season for the remainder of Lucic’s contract (signed through 2022-23) in the process. The Oilers retained salary in the trade. You heard that right.

    Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane are still unsigned RFAs and General Manager Brad Treliving has about $7.757 million to work with in cap space.

    Get a deal done with Tkachuk and the Flames will go on without any interruption as a team that pleasantly turned a lot of heads in the regular season last year, then sputtered out in the First Round in five games to the Colorado Avalanche.

    Bill Peters is ready for his second season behind the bench in Calgary and the roster looks set to remain in contention for a divisional berth, if not leading the Western Conference once again.

    How would the Flames fail?

    Simply put, if they flame out at the end of the regular season like they did last season– March was a bad month, which led to their demise in five games against Colorado in the First Round.

    Los Angeles Kings: Pros and Cons

    The good news for the Kings? Tyler Toffoli, Trevor Lewis, Kyle Clifford, Mario Kempe, Derek Forbort, Paul LaDue, Joakim Ryan and Jack Campbell are all pending-UFAs after next season and Carl Grundstrom, Austin Wagner, Sean Walker and Kurtis MacDermid are all pending-RFAs.

    The bad news? Drew Doughty is signed through 2026-27 at $11.000 million per season, Anze Kopitar is making $10.000 million per season through 2023-24 and Adrian Kempe is currently an unsigned RFA.

    General Manager Rob Blake has a lot to sort through this season, but he’s already made some corrections to his blunders in his first two seasons as an NHL GM.

    For starters, he replaced Dion Phaneuf with Ryan in free agency, brought back his stable backup goaltender in Campbell on a one-year deal and didn’t give up on Ilya Kovalchuk, but rather hired an actual NHL head coach fit for the contemporary game in Todd McLellan.

    Though Marco Sturm remains one of the best looking assistant coaches in the league, we’ll let this one slide, Los Angeles.

    Are the Kings actually that much better than they were last season? Time will surely tell, but one thing’s for sure– they can’t possibly be much worse, right? Right!?!

    If anything, the Kings are a wild card team at best or situated behind either Vancouver or Arizona at worst in the standings, but they should be lightyears from the basement in the division this season with some solid additions through the draft over the years in Alex Turcotte, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Gabriel Vilardi.

    Los Angeles should be able to (somewhat) bounce back from their regression last season, but at the same time, the year isn’t 2012 or 2014 anymore. It’s time to start cutting the chord with former “glue guys” turned placeholders on a roster that needs an influx of youth sooner rather than later.

    How would the Kings fail?

    If Jonathan Quick gets hurt in any fashion and Blake can’t get rid of at least one of the eight players on the 23-player roster over aged 30 or older.

    Vancouver Canucks: Pros and Cons

    The Canucks are looking to make it back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2015, but did General Manager, Jim Benning do enough this offseason to set Vancouver back on the right track for 2020?

    Benning went out and acquired J.T. Miller from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Marek Mazanec, a 2019 3rd round pick and a conditional 2020 1st round pick in June, then signed 29-year-old defender, Tyler Myers to a five-year, $30.000 million contract.

    Miller and Myers are two quality assets compared to previous transactions made in the offseason by the Canucks. For once, Benning didn’t overpay an aging veteran player, but he also hasn’t cleaned up what might be a costly (both in price and on ice) fourth line in a league that runs four lines deep.

    There’s a very real chance that none of the players on Vancouver’s fourth line any given night are making less than $3.000 million per season.

    That’s unfathomable in a salary cap driven sport and only speaks to the number of misguided happenings in asset management by the Canucks.

    Come to think of it, Vancouver only has five players out of a possible 23-player roster making less than $1.000 million per season. Sure, nobody’s making $10.000 million, but all those $2.000 million-plus, $3.000 million-plus, $4.000 million-plus and $5.000 million-plus contracts add up.

    At least Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser are worth watching night-in and night-out. Plus, Thatcher Demko should pan out to be one of the league’s better goaltenders.

    There’s just one concern for Benning as the offseason continues– Boeser and Nikolay Goldobin are still unsigned RFAs.

    And Boeser is certainly worth the four-year, $7.000 million cap hit he’s looking for. Too bad the Canucks only have $5.058 million in cap space though.

    How would the Canucks fail?

    By being close, but not close enough in yet another race for the playoffs. Things are heading in the right direction, however.

    Arizona Coyotes: Pros and Cons

    Mastermind GM John Chayka has landed this offseason’s biggest prize in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins– two-time Stanley Cup champion, Team USA representative and hot dog enthusiast, Phil “The Thrill” Kessel.

    Kessel brings his goalscoring prowess to the Western Conference for the first time in his career, having been drafted by the Boston Bruins 5th overall in the 2006 NHL draft, then playing with Boston until being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2009 and then again the Pittsburgh in 2015.

    No. 81 had 82 points in 82 games played last season, which was down from career-high 34-58–92 totals in 2017-18. Additionally, he hasn’t missed a game since 2010.

    Along with Carl Soderberg– another offseason acquisition in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche– Kessel and the Coyotes are revamped and poised to make a run for the postseason.

    Arizona’s only ranked low in this forecast because of nearly a decade of middle of the road rosters and missed opportunities since losing in the 2012 Western Conference Final in five games to Los Angeles.

    The Coyotes haven’t been back to the playoffs since, but they’re trending upward.

    With Nick Schmaltz, Jakob Chychrun and Oliver Ekman-Larsson locked up on long-term contracts, the core has really come into fruition while Chayka remains active in the draft and trade market.

    Now they just need a little luck on their side to avoid losing Antti Raanta to the injury bug again.

    How would the Coyotes fail?

    If this forecast actually turns out to be true and Arizona finished 7th in the division, because otherwise who would actually want to see them fail?

    Edmonton Oilers: Pros and Cons

    Pro: New GM (Ken Holland) and a new head coach (Dave Tippett).

    Con: Another new GM and a new head coach.

    Pro: Connor McDavid!

    Con: Plays for the Oilers.

    Pro: They were able to trade Milan Lucic.

    Con: While acquiring James Neal and retaining part of Lucic’s salary in the process, thereby spending more money than in the first place.

    Pro: They should actually be better this year.

    Con: We keep saying every year, even about a team that has the second-greatest player in the game behind Sidney Crosby on the roster.

    Pro: There’s a lot of pending UFAs and RFAs on the roster.

    Con: That means at least half of them are now going to have a career-year in a contract year and be overpaid either by Edmonton or other teams in the next offseason.

    Pro: Two-time All Star Mike Smith signed a one-year deal to backup Mikko Koskinen.

    Con: The average age of Edmonton’s goaltending duo is 34.

    How would the Oilers fail?

    How there’s any such thing as optimism besides having McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton is incredible. If they make it to a wild card berth, it’d take McDavid playing every position, probably.

  • Bruins score Four in 2nd, Beat Coyotes 4-3

    Four unanswered goals in the second period– including two goals from Brad Marchand (2-1–3 totals), a goal from David Pastrnak (1-2–3 totals) and three assists from David Krejci (0-3–3 totals)– led to a, 4-3, comeback victory for the Boston Bruins over the Arizona Coyotes at TD Garden Tuesday night.

    The last time the Boston lost to Arizona, the Coyotes were still known as the Phoenix Coyotes. In fact, the Bruins  have now won 14 games in-a-row against Arizona in the regular season– dating back to October 9, 2010.

    That game back in 2010 was played in… Prague, Czech Republic, of course. In fact, it was the first game of the 2010-11 season for Boston, which led to the franchise’s 2011 Stanley Cup championship that season.

    Among other longest active-win streaks, the Washington Capitals have beaten the Bruins in their last 13 regular season matchups and the Tampa Bay Lightning have done the same to the Detroit Red Wings.

    Tuukka Rask (8-6-2 record, 2.53 goals against average, .916 save percentage in 16 games played) made 30 saves on 33 shots against for a .909 SV% in the win for the B’s.

    Meanwhile, Arizona goaltender, Darcy Kuemper (4-6-2, 2.82 GAA, .909 SV% in 12 GP) made 22 saves on 28 shots faced for a .909 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 17-10-4 (38 points) on the season– good enough to remain 4th in the Atlantic Division as the 3rd-place Buffalo Sabres defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3, in overtime on Tuesday.

    The Coyotes fell to 13-14-2 (28 points) on the season and remain four points ahead of the Kings in 7th place in the Pacific Division.B

    Earlier in the day on Tuesday, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy gave an update on Jake DeBrusk, Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron.

    DeBrusk is considered “day-to-day” and spent Tuesday seeing a specialist, while Chara and Bergeron resumed skating on their own.

    Cassidy made no changes to his lineup from Sunday’s win in overtime against the Ottawa Senators for Tuesday night’s matchup with the Coyotes and gave Rask his second start in-a-row.

    Joining Bergeron, Chara and DeBrusk on the injured list out of the lineup were Urho Vaakanainen (concussion) and Kevan Miller (throat). Noel Acciari and Jeremy Lauzon were, once again, healthy scratches  against Arizona and watched the game from the press box on level nine at TD Garden.

    Clayton Keller was charged with the game’s first penalty– a double minor– for high-sticking Bruins defender, Charlie McAvoy, at 2:54 of the first period.

    Despite having an extended power play, Boston was not able to convert on the skater advantage and the Coyotes’ league-best penalty kill was able to escape without harm while being shorthanded.

    Midway through the period, Matt Grzelcyk hooked Keller in Arizona’s offensive zone, leading to a Coyotes power play at 10:31.

    Late on the ensuing skater advantage, Nick Schmaltz (6) ripped a shot off the post on the short side that bounced off of the back of Rask’s leg and into the net to give Arizona the 1-0 lead.

    Schmaltz’s power play goal was assisted by Oliver Ekman-Larsson (14) and Keller (13) at 12:22 of the opening frame.

    Just 40 seconds later, Nick Cousins (3) fired a shot that deflected off of Boston defender, John Moore, and went past Rask on the short side to give the Coyotes a two-goal lead, 2-0.

    Alex Goligoski (9) and Josh Archibald (4) notched the assist’s on Cousins’ goal at 13:02 and players with the first name “Nick” were wild (you see, because both goals in the game up to that point were scored by a player named “Nick something”).

    With 3:31 remaining in the first period, Ekman-Larsson got checked by David Backes in the low slot in Boston’s offensive zone. While Ekman-Larsson was falling to the ice, his skate caught Backes in the face and appeared to cause harm as Backes quickly grabbed his face with his glove and sprinted off the ice, presumably to stop bleeding.

    Backes went down the tunnel for repairs and returned prior to the start of the second period with what looked like only a minor scab below the nose.

    Getting a skate to the face certainly could’ve been much worse and as scary as it looked, thankfully it wasn’t that bad in the long run.

    After 20 minutes of play, the Coyotes led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and trailed the Bruins, 12-7, in shots on goal. Arizona held onto the advantage in blocked shots (4-0) and takeaways (6-2) after one period, while Boston led in giveaways (7-2), hits (12-7) and face-off win percentage (61-39).

    Entering the first intermission, Arizona was 1/1 on the power play, while Boston was 0/2.

    Almost midway through the second period, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson rushed into the offensive zone and sent a pass through the low slot to Danton Heinen (4) whereby Heinen kicked the puck from his skate to his stick before firing a shot past Kuemper.

    Heinen’s goal put the B’s on the board and cut the Coyotes lead in half, 2-1, as Forsbacka Karlsson (1) and Ryan Donato (2) were credited with the assists at 8:40 of the second period.

    Keeping up with Arizona’s fashion of quick goals, David Pastrnak (21) tabbed the tying goal 33 seconds after Heinen scored to make it, 2-2.

    Brad Marchand worked the puck to Pastrnak while the young Bruins winger was flying towards the crease in order to redirect the puck a la Mark Recchi back in his prime past Kuemper just as No. 88 stopped before the blue paint in time.

    Marchand (22) and David Krejci (20) picked up the primary and secondary assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 9:13 of the second period.

    It wouldn’t take long before Boston scored again, as Marchand (9) gave the Bruins their first lead of the night, 3-2, at 11:31.

    Krejci sent the puck to Pastrnak as Pastrnak faked a one-timer and instead sent a slap pass to No. 63 in black-and-gold for the redirection into the twine.

    Pastrnak (16) and Krejci (21) had the assists on the B’s third goal in 2:51.

    Moments later, Marchand (10) added his second goal of the night– and Boston’s fourth unanswered goal– at 13:30 of the second period as Pastrnak’s initial curl and drag turned pass to Krejci left Kuemper scrambling in the crease.

    While Kuemper was out of position, Krejci’s initial pass to Marchand didn’t connect, though the veteran Bruins left winger remained in the slot for the second chance and batted the loose puck past the Arizona netminder on a backhand to make it, 4-2, Boston.

    Krejci (22) had his third assist of the game and Pastrnak (17) picked up his third point (and second assist) of the game as the Bruins began to pull away from the Coyotes.

    Late in the second period, after Moore mishandled the puck along the wall behind his own net and Rask tried to get a glove on the loose puck, Michael Bunting (1) tapped in the free standing rubber biscuit to pull Arizona to within one-goal.

    Bunting’s goal was his first career National Hockey League goal in what was also his NHL debut at 15:00 of the second period and made it, 4-3.

    He had 6-12–18 totals in 20 games with the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) prior to his NHL debut on Tuesday night and ended a run of four unanswered goals by the Bruins with his goal.

    Through two periods of play, Boston led, 4-3.

    Arizona led in shots on goal (24-21) after outshooting the B’s (17-9) in the second period alone. The Coyotes also led in takeaways (9-3) after 40 minutes of play.

    Meanwhile, the B’s led in giveaways (14-6), hits (21-19) and face-off win% (60-40) entering the second intermission. Both teams recorded seven blocked shots apiece and the Coyotes were still 1/1 on the power play, while Boston was 0/2.

    Almost midway through the third period, Arizona blue liner, Jakob Chychrun was charged with a holding infraction against Bruins forward,  Joakim Nordstrom at 8:50 of the third.

    Boston did not convert on the ensuing power play and would finish the night 0/3 on the skater advantage as a result.

    Late in the third period, Moore tripped up Jordan Oesterle and sent the Coyotes on their second power play of the game, but Arizona couldn’t muster a goal on the ensuing skater advantage at 14:11.

    Arizona finished the night .500 on the power play (1/2) as a result.

    With 1:36 remaining in regulation, the Coyotes used their only timeout during a stoppage in play to draw up a strategy to force overtime.

    Seconds later, with 1:15 left on the clock, Kuemper vacated his crease for an extra attacker, but Arizona could not put the puck past Rask as neither team scored in the third period.

    At the final horn, Boston secured the win, 4-3, despite Arizona leading in shots on goal, 33-26, after 60 minutes of play.

    The Bruins led in just about every other category, however, holding the advantage in blocked shots (15-9), giveaways (20-9), hits (29-24) and face-off win% (59-41).

    Despite scoring the game’s first goal, Arizona fell to 11-4-1 when scoring first this season.

    On the plus-side for the Coyotes, their eight power play goals against is still the fewest in the NHL, having shutout the Bruins on all three special teams opportunities.

    For Boston, Rask improved to 43-18-9 in the month of December in his career, while Krejci’s three-point night came in his 800th career NHL game.

    The Bruins travel to PPG Paints Arena for a Friday night matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins, then return home for a Sunday evening (5 p.m. ET puck drop) square dance with the Buffalo Sabres.

    Boston hits the road for another back-to-back game in Montreal against the Canadiens next Monday (Dec. 17th) before returning for a two-game homestand starting next Thursday (Dec. 20th) against the Anaheim Ducks and concluding next Saturday (Dec. 22nd) against the Nashville Predators.

  • DTFR Podcast #132- Hall of Guardians and Turtlenecks

    DTFR Podcast #132- Hall of Guardians and Turtlenecks

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

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

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

    Support the show on Patreon.

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

  • Arizona Coyotes 2018-2019 Season Preview

     Arizona Coyotes

    29-41-12, 70 Points, Last in the Western Conference

    Additions: RW Hudson Fasching, F Alex Galchenyuk, W Michael Grabner, D Jacob Graves, LW Adam Helewka, F Vinnie Hinostroza, RW Marian Hossa, D Jordan Oesterle, D Robbie Russo

    Subtractions: D Andrew Campbell (traded to Chicago), F Max Domi (traded to Montréal), C MacKenzie Entwistle (traded to Chicago), D Joel Hanley (signed by Dallas), D Brandon Hickey (traded to Buffalo), C Marcus Kruger (traded to Chicago), C Ryan MacInnis (traded to Columbus), C Jordan Maletta (traded to Chicago), F Zac Rinaldo (signed by Nashville), D Luke Schenn (signed by Anaheim), RW Mike Sislo (rights traded to Buffalo, signed by NYI), D Kyle Wood (traded to San Jose)

    Offseason Analysis: Whether or not last season was a success for the Coyotes is an answer that is dependent upon who you ask.

    For those that didn’t pay any attention to the club, they’ll probably point to Arizona’s fourth-straight losing season and sixth-straight missing the playoffs and say this organization is a total disaster. However, those willing to look a bit deeper are seeing feint glimpses of the light at the end of what has been a fairly long and dark tunnel for the Desert Dogs.

    Yes, it is true Arizona started the season with an 0-10-1 record, but it is also true that the baby-faced Coyotes posted a decent 17-9-3 effort in their final 29 games played, a mark that placed 12th in the NHL from February 8 to the regular season finale.

    The main reason for that surge was none other than first-year starter G Antti Raanta, who salvaged what was a middle-of-the-road .916 save percentage through his first 29 showings (officially the 18th-best among the 37 netminders with at least 22 appearances by February 7) and turned it into a solid .93 season mark with a commanding .95 save percentage – including three shutouts – over his final 18 showings. Though Arizona does boast a quietly improving defense (headlined, of course, by Oliver Ekman-Larsson), Raanta continuing his success and joining the ranks of the Pacific Division’s goaltending elites (it’s a pretty stacked list) will be integral to the Coyotes’ chances of advancing beyond their already ensured seventh place (nobody’s finishing behind Vancouver, after all).

    Speaking of defense, one desert-dwelling blue liner I will have my eye on this season is 20-year-old Jakob Chychrun. Entering his third season in the league, I’m waiting for 2016’s 16th-overall pick from Boca Raton, Fla. to fully validate his high selection, as well as his position on the Coyotes’ second pair and special team units. Chychrun posted a +2 rating with 4-10-14 totals on a club that yielded 251 goals against last season (the 11th-most in the NHL in 2017-18), but I’m holding onto faith that he can maintain his defensive prowess while also getting his offensive numbers closer to those he posted in juniors (during the 2016 OHL playoffs, Chychrun managed 2-6-8 totals in seven games played, not to mention the 27 goals and 82 points he registered in 104 regular season games in that league).

    Of course, no discussion about the Yotes’ attack is complete without at least acknowledging 20-year-old phenom F Clayton Keller, the young man who finished third in last season’s Calder Trophy voting behind winner C Mathew Barzal (NYI) and runner-up RW Brock Boeser (VAN). With 23 goals and 65 points in his first full NHL season, Keller has already proven to be an important offensive building block the Coyotes can work with as they construct their future. Like many sophomores – especially on young teams like Arizona – Keller will likely regress this campaign, but I’m most focused on seeing if he can score at least 15 goals again this year, as well as improve on his 42 assists.

    The main reason for focusing so much on last season’s results is largely due to the Coyotes’ quiet offseason this summer. With the biggest name departing Arizona being Domi (he was traded to Montréal) and his nine goals, Galchenyuk (the Yotes’ return for Domi) and Grabner represent the Coyotes’ largest splashes – and are likely improvements on the former first-rounder.

    Both have registered 30+ goals in a season before, but expectations are certainly going to be higher for the former Canadien considering he’s all but ensured a spot in Arizona’s top-six. That being said, the Rangers weren’t expecting 52 goals in 135 games played (.53 points per game during his NYR career) from Grabner when they signed him to a two-year deal in 2016, so perhaps the soon-to-be 31-year-old still has enough pep in his step to cause some real offensive damage from his likely spot in the bottom-six to compete for top-six minutes.

    Of course, that’s the gamble the Devils made when they traded a defensive prospect and a second round draft pick to their bitter rivals (the first-ever trade between NJD and NYR), but perchance General Manager John Chayka’s luck will be better than counterpart Ray Shero’s and Grabner will provide more than the two goals in 21 games played with Jersey.

    Offseason Grade: C+

    Chayka surely knows his team is likely at least a season away from making a real playoff push, so I’m okay with Arizona’s limited activity this summer that focused on bringing in players with a bit of term on their contracts. The main goal for the Coyotes this campaign is to build on their late season success from last year and to gain more NHL experience for the youngsters – hopefully leading to further growth. If they can do just that, Phoenix could become quite the destination for next summer’s unrestricted free agents.

  • Arizona Coyotes 2017-2018 Season Preview

    Unknown-3Arizona Coyotes

    30-42-10, 70 points, 6th in the Pacific Division (’16-’17)

    Additions: D Andrew Campbell, D Adam Clendening, F Nick Cousins, F Emerson Etem, D Joel Hanley, D Brandon Hickey, D Niklas Hjalmarsson, F Mario Kempe, F Michael Latta, G Merrick Madsen, G Antti Raanta, F Zac Rinaldo, F Mike Sislo, F Derek Stepan

    Subtractions: F Alexander Burmistrov (signed with VAN), F Craig Cunningham (retired), F Laurent Dauphin (traded to CHI), D Anthony DeAngelo (traded to NYR), F Shane Doan (retired), F Grayson Downing (signed with EDM), F Peter Holland (signed with MTL), G Chad Johnson (acquired from CGY as a pending-UFA, then signed with BUF), F Josh Jooris (signed with CAR), D Jamie McBain (signed with TB), F Jeremy Morin (signed with Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk, KHL), F Mitchell Moroz (signed with Idaho Steelheads, ECHL), F Chris Mueller (signed with TOR), D Connor Murphy (traded to CHI), D Chris Pronger (retired), G Mike Smith (traded to CGY), D Jarred Tinordi (signed with PIT), F Brendan Warren (traded to PHI), F Radim Vrbata (signed with FLA)

    Still Unsigned: F Anthony Duclair, D Zbynek Michalek, F Garret Ross, F Branden Troock, F Joe Whitney

    Offseason Analysis: In short, the puns continue as Arizona Coyotes general manager John Chayka continues to “Chayk-a” things up. As is deemed by John-Chayka’s-magical-technicolor-masterplan, the Coyotes have turned the tables upside-down (again), but this time for the better (on paper).

    Chayka’s influence of analytics in the front office of the original hockey club in the Southwest desert region (ignoring the State of California’s teams) led to a -63 goal differential in 2016-2017, which happened to be the worst goal differential in the Pacific Division, despite finishing second-to-last in final standings.

    Sometimes the numbers don’t add up, but the Coyotes aren’t pulling a page from the Florida Panthers, where it seems every calculator has been thrown out of the building after one bad year. Instead, they’re going forward with their renovations and transforming this fixer upper of an organization.

    Don’t let that distract you from the fact that Chayka’s 2017 offseason plans went out and nabbed F Derek Stepan and G Antti Raanta from the New York Rangers for a reasonable price of D Anthony DeAngelo and a 2017 1st round pick (7th overall, F Lias Andersson).

    Stepan has amassed four seasons in a row of 50-plus points in scoring and has only recorded point totals less than 50 in two out of his seven career NHL seasons (21-24-45 totals in his rookie, 2010-2011 campaign and 18-26-44 totals in the 48-game lockout shortened season of 2012-2013). In short, Stepan is a quality top-6 forward that provides some much needed punch for Arizona’s offense.

    A much improved defense in the form of Niklas Hjalmarsson alone provides stability in front of the goal with powerful shutdown combinations on the blue line that the Coyotes likely haven’t seen in at least a few years. Hjalmarsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jakob Chychrun and Alex Goligoski are a solid core group of defensemen to cycle through night-in-and-night-out.

    And the addition of Raanta ensures the careful transition of power from the days of Mike Smith in goal to the days of Raanta as the expected starter and Louis Domingue ready to balance the workload if required.

    Domingue’s 2016-2017 campaign was largely uneventful with a 3.08 goals against average and a .908 save percentage in 31 games played. Both stats were worse than the year prior, though Domingue played in eight more games in 2015-2016.

    Raanta’s increased workload comes on the heels of a 2.26 GAA and .922 SV% in 30 games played last season. While Raanta settles in as a starting goaltender at the ripe age of 28-years-old, Domingue can take his time further establishing his game as potentially one of the league’s best backups, given that he’s only 25 and entering his goaltending prime.

    In the long run, Chayka added some much needed faces to the franchise. He’s built his core (Dylan Strome, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, Ekman-Larsson), now he’s added Stepan, Hjalmarsson, Raanta and friends to the mix. Arizona won’t be a playoff team for another season, but things are looking up if they could only figure out where they’ll be playing, considering the lingering overcast skies of Glendale’s acceptance of the franchise.

    Is it worth noting that Chayka committed larceny by trading Smith for what he got in return (a conditional 3rd round pick, the rights to Chad Johnson and Brandon Hickey)? Granted, Johnson jettisoned for Buffalo, but the point is this– Arizona wiped off Smith’s contract as clean as they took on Pavel Datsyuk and Chris Pronger’s final year(s) on the books.

    It’s incredible when you think about it. GMs are weird.

    Offseason Grade: B-

    Chayka filled the need of retooling the core this offseason, but more work needs to be done to improve the depth (whether that’s let time dictate the future or add one more piece to the puzzle, we’ll see).

  • March 31 – Day 163 – Keeping it in Alberta

    Welcome to the penultimate Friday in the NHL’s regular season. Unless you’re a fan of one of the 16 teams heading for the playoffs, there’s not much hockey left to be watched so make sure to catch the rest of this season’s games!

    Tonight’s festivities start with Pittsburgh at the New York Rangers (SN) at 7 p.m., followed half an hour later by New Jersey at the New York Islanders. 8:30 p.m. marks the puck drop of Columbus at Chicago,  with two more (St. Louis at Colorado and San Jose at Calgary) getting underway at the top of the hour. Two contests – Los Angeles at Vancouver (SN360) and Washington at Arizona – share the role of nightcap and get started at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Pittsburgh at New York: Not only is it a rematch of last year’s Eastern Quarterfinals, but the Blueshirts could pull within four points of third place in the Metropolitan Division.
    • Columbus at Chicago: Two of the three best teams in the league? Yes please.
    • San Jose at Calgary: Thanks to the Sharks‘ loss last night, the Flames are only three points out of third place in the Pacific Division.

    I’d love to watch the Hawks and Jackets square off, but it doesn’t have major playoff implications – and that’s what we’re all about this time of year. As much as I dislike repeating teams on back-to-back nights, it looks like we have to catch the Sharks‘ plane to Calgary for another important Pacific tilt.

     

    If the Sharks can be happy about anything right now, it’s that today is the final day in what has been a dreadful March for them. Their 6-9-0 mark is tied with Arizona for the sixth-worst record in the month, and being compared to Coyotes in anything is usually a sign of trouble.

    What makes the recent struggles an even harder pill to swallow is that it is spoiling an overall solid regular season. When the final game in February was played, San Jose was not only leading the Pacific Division by five points, but also trailed Minnesota by only seven points for the top seed in the Western Conference.

    Thirty days later, the 43-27-7 Sharks sit alone in third place in the division, and four teams separate them from home ice throughout the conference playoffs. It leaves a club and fan base that entered the season on a quest to hoist its first Stanley Cup wondering if they can even escape what will be a very trying quarterfinals matchup against the Ducks, Flames, Oilers or possibly even the Blackhawks.

    As I mentioned yesterday, it’s been an nearly all-inclusive collapse (defense notwithstanding) by the Sharks that has resulted in their horrendous run over the past 15 games.

    Since 33-32-6 Martin Jones was in net last night, I’d assume 10-6-1 Aaron Dell will start in goal tonight (of course, I tabbed Dell to start yesterday and I was wrong, so who knows?). Dell has actually been a solid backup all season, as his .928 save percentage and 2.09 GAA are not only better than Jones’ effort, but also rank (t)third and fourth-best in the league among the 56 netminders with at least 16 appearances.

    Whether we get that Dell or the Dell that has seen his save percentage drop to .915 in March remains to be seen, but you can plan on Justin Braun and San Jose‘s defense playing as strong as ever.

    All season the goal has been to keep pucks off Dell and Jones’ crease as much as possible, and they’ve done an excellent job in achieving just that. All year, they’ve allowed only 27.5 shots-against per game – the third-best rate in the league – and they’ve actually been slightly better of late, allowing only 27.1 per game in March.

    No Shark deserves more credit for that than Braun. He’s been the defensive stalwart of the club all year, and it shows in his team-leading 154 shot blocks. Another that has done well defensively is Joe Thornton, but he does his work before the opposition even thinks about firing at the net. He leads the squad in takeaways with 64 (tied for eighth-most in the league), including 13 this month.

    The goaltending issues have proven to be especially detrimental to San Jose‘s penalty kill. Since it has been only an average effort on the season as a whole (80.8% kill rate is 15th-worst in the NHL), taking away the luxury of a usually-reliable backstop has dropped the Sharks to ninth-worst in March, neutralizing only 78% of their infractions. Dell has saved only 85% of the power play shots that have come his way this month, the 14th-worst effort among the 38 goalies with at least six March appearances.

    Special teams seem to be a struggle for Peter DeBoer’s squad this year, as his power play has actually been worse than his penalty kill. The Sharks rank seventh-worst on the season with their 17.1% success rate with the man-advantage.

    It’s surprising that San Jose has been so poor, mostly because they have one weapon few can match: Brent Burns. The offensive-minded blueliner has notched 24 points on the power play this campaign, which ties for 16th-most in the NHL.

    Perhaps the Sharks‘ mojo has relocated itself to Cowtown. Currently in possession of a 43-30-4 record and the West’s first wild card, the Flames have earned a 15-4-1 record since February 15. That ties Columbus for the best mark in that time, though I’d argue the Flames have been better with one fewer game played.

    I may actually be on to something regarding San Jose‘s mojo, as Brian Elliott has been fantastic during this run. After a rocky start to the season, he’s reclaimed the starting job in Calgary and made it his own. Since mid-February, he’s earned a .933 save percentage and a 1.97 GAA, the fourth and fifth-best marks in the league, respectively, among the 33 goalies with at least nine appearances in that time.

    Tonight is the fourth of five games between these clubs this season, and the Flames have the opportunity to clinch the series victory with a win tonight. They’ve gone 2-1-0 so far against San Jose, including the last time they met on January 11. It was a closely contested affair, but Dougie Hamilton scored with 2:19 remaining in regulation to earn a 3-2 win for the Flames in the Saddledome.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Calgary‘s Johnny Gaudreau (42 assists for 59 points [both lead the team]) and Mark Giordano (176 blocks for a+22 [both lead the team]) & San Jose‘s Burns (73 points [eighth-most in the league]) and Jones (33 wins [seventh-most in the NHL]).

    It’s hard to argue with recent success. Vegas has marked the Flames a -130 favorite to win tonight. Just like I said yesterday, the Sharks‘ rebound has to start in the crease. While Calgary certainly doesn’t pose the offensive threat the Oilers did a night ago, the Flames‘ confidence should be enough to get past whichever goaltender DeBoer decides to go with.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Bud MacPherson (1927-1988) – For seven seasons MacPherson roamed along Montréal‘s blueline, and he was rewarded with one All-Star Game and the 1953 Stanley Cup.
    • Gordie Howe (1928-2016) – There’s no discussion: this right wing is one of the greatest players the world has ever seen. Named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 – seven years before his last season in the league – he played in 23 All-Star Games over 26 NHL seasons (all but one with Detroit) and won both the Hart Memorial and Art Ross Trophies six times apiece, not to mention his four Stanley Cups.
    • Bob Pulford (1936-) – Another Hall of Famer, this left wing played all but two seasons of his 16-year career in Toronto. He won four Stanley Cups in the process, including three-straight from 1962-’64.
    • Bill Hicke (1938-2005) – Spending most of his time in Montréal, this right wing played 13 seasons in the NHL. The three-time All-Star was good for almost as many penalty minutes as points contributed, but that didn’t stop him from being a two-time Stanley Cup champion.
    • Gilles Gilbert (1949-) – Selected by the North Stars 25th-overall in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft, this goaltender played 416 games over his 14-year career. Spending most of his time in Boston, he earned a 192-143-60 record before hanging up his pads.
    • Tom Barrasso (1965-) – Buffalo selected this goaltender fifth-overall in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, but he played a majority of his career for the Penguins. He played well for both clubs, as he earned the 1984 Calder Memorial and Vezina Trophies and the 1985 William M. Jennings Trophy with the Sabres and back-to-back Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh.
    • Pavel Bure (1971-) – Though only selected in the sixth round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by Vancouver (his longest-tenured club), this right wing had a highly successful career. In addition to six All-Star Game appearances, he won two Maurice Richard Trophies and the 1992 Calder. All of that added up to a Hall of Fame induction in 2012.
    • Michael Ryder (1980-) – Montréal selected this right wing in the eighth round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, and that’s where he played most of his 11 seasons. That being said, he was wearing the crest of the arch-rival Bruins when he hoisted his lone Stanley Cup.
    • David Clarkson (1984-) – A longtime right wing for the Devils, this Toronto-native played 10 seasons in the NHL. He could’ve been playing his 11th this year with Columbus, but he was denied the opportunity to practice with the club due to failing his physical.
    • Steve Bernier (1985-) – The 16th-overall selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by San Jose, this right wing has played 633 games over 11 seasons in the league. His longest -tenured club is New Jersey, with whom he scored 28 goals for 65 points.
    • Jakob Chychrun (1998-) – This rookie defenseman was the 16th-overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by Arizona. He shows promise on the offensive end of the ice, as he’s provided 19 points already this year, the third-most among Coyotes blueliners.

    Thanks to Second Star of the Game Cam Talbot‘s 38-save effort, Edmonton was able to best the Sharks 3-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day to improve into second place in the Pacific Division.

    Though Talbot had a strong night, it didn’t start off the best way. He allowed Jannik Hansen (Paul Martin) to score only his eighth goal of the season 1:01 into play to allow the Sharks to take an early lead. Fortunately for him, Third Star Patrick Maroon (First Star Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) provided a game-tying goal 9:21 later. Though Zack Kassian was sent off the ice for hooking birthday boy Marc-Edouard Vlasic with 3:24 remaining in the period, McDavid (Oscar Klefbom and Drake Caggiula) was able to score a shorthanded backhander only 52 seconds later to give the Oil a 2-1 lead it would not yield.

    Maroon (Kris Russell) provided what proved to be the game-winning goal 7:51 into the third period with a tip-in. It became the winner with 6:01 remaining in regulation when Joe Pavelski (Vlasic and Hansen) scored a tip-in of his own, but the Sharks were unable to find another tally before the final horn.

    Talbot earned the victory after saving 38-of-40 shots faced (95%), leaving the loss to Jones, who saved 19-of-22 (86.4%).

    We’re all squared up once again in the DtFR Game of the Day series, as both home and away teams in the series have an identical 189 points. Road sides still have more wins with their 83-59-23 record.