Down the Frozen River

Tag: Kane

  • February 8 – Day 112 – Selections are Slim, Vol. II

    For your viewing pleasure, here’s tonight’s listings.

    • Chicago Blackhawks at Minnesota Wild – 8 p.m. eastern – NBCSN, SN and TVAS
    • Blindspot – 8 p.m. eastern – NBC
    • Criminal Minds – 9 p.m. eastern – CBS
    • Empire – 9 p.m. eastern – FOX
    • Modern Family – 9 p.m. eastern – ABC
    • Code Black – 10 p.m. eastern – CBS

    I’m with Ariel on this one, no matter how funny Phil Dunphy is. That’s why they invented the DVR.

    For not having other viewing options, the NHL made sure to set us up with a fantastic brewing rivalry that should yield some exciting hockey.

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    This will be Chicago‘s eighth time being featured in the Game of the Day, while Minnesota is making only their sixth appearance. Within the DtFR series, the teams have 4-3-0 and 2-2-1 records, respectively.

    Chicago makes their first trip of the season to the Xcel Energy Center riding a two-game winning streak and with a 32-17-5 record, good enough for second place in the Central Division. Although they play very well on both ends of the ice, I’m most impressed by the Blackhawks‘ goaltending, which has allowed only 140 goals in 54 games – the 10th-best rate in the NHL.

    Numbers like that have to start with the goalie. Corey Crawford has earned his 20-12-3 record with a season .917 save percentage and 2.58 GAA, the (t)17th and 22nd-best efforts, respectively, among the 47 netminders with at least 18 appearances.

    Crawford doesn’t seem incredible on paper, but presenting goaltending numbers without shots faced doesn’t tell the whole story. Measured by shots against-per-game, the Blackhawks have the ninth-worst defense in the game, allowing 31.1 shots to reach Crawford’s crease every night. Niklas Hjalmarsson has tried his hardest to keep pucks off his netminder with his team-leading (and tied for fourth-most in the league) 132 shot blocks, but he’s the only skater with more than 85 to his credit. I expect Stan Bowman to be actively looking for a top-four, and maybe top-two, defenseman before the March 1 trade deadline.

    That shoddy defense truly yields its ugly head when a Hawk takes a seat in the penalty box. Chicago‘s 76.4% penalty kill rate is third-worst in the league, and the worst among playoff-qualifiers by at least 2.9%. Once again, Hjalmarsson has been the best skater when down a man, but his team-leading 25 shorthanded blocks have done little to inspire the team as no other Blackhawk has more than 18.

    Also winners of their last two games, Minnesota enters play tonight with a 35-12-5 record, the best mark in the Western Conference and second-best in the league. Just like Chicago, the Wild play exceptionally well on both ends of the ice, but their biggest strength has been their offense, which has managed 174 tallies in 52 games – the third-best rate in the league.

    Mikael Granlund was recently featured in Frank Fanelli’s “Sick Hands Sunday” segment, and for good reason. Thanks in part to a hat trick on Saturday, Granlund leads the club with 48 points to his credit, but it wasn’t enough to propel him past power play linemate Nino Niederreiter for the clubhouse goal scoring title. Niederreiter has lit the lamp 17 times for Minnesota.

    Tonight’s contest is only Game Two of the four-game regular season series between these clubs. They met for the first time on January 15 -another matchup that was broadcast nationally in the States. That contest took place in the Windy City, where the Wild were able to earn a 4-3 victory thanks to three-straight unanswered goals to close the game.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Chicago‘s Patrick Kane (35 assists [tied for fourth-most in the NHL] among 52 points [tied for eighth-most in the league]) & Minnesota‘s Mathew Dumba (+24 [tied for ninth-best in the NHL]), Granlund (+30 [tied for fifth-best in the league] on 33 assists [tied for eighth-most in the NHL]), Mikko Koivu (+30 [tied for fifth-best in the league]), Jared Spurgeon (+31 [fourth-most in the NHL]), Ryan Suter (+32 [tied for best in the league]) and Jason Zucker (+32 [tied for best in the NHL]).

    Seemingly to add a bit of drama to tonight’s game, Bruce Boudreau has elected to start Darcy Kuemper in net instead of Devan Dubnyk. Because of that, I believe the Hawks will be able to win a barn-burner of a game.

    Hockey Birthday:

    • Dino Ciccarelli (1960-) – Ciccarelli played 1232 games over 19 seasons in the NHL, putting in the most time with the Minnesota North Stars (nine seasons and 602 games), his first club. The right wing has the notable distinction of most goals scored (608) by an undrafted player. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010.
    • Kirk Muller (1966-) – Muller played 1349 games over 19 seasons, with a majority of that time spent in New Jersey (556 games over seven seasons), the team that drafted him with the second-overall pick in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Nowadays, Muller wears a suit to games as an associate coach with Montréal, but spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach in St. Louis.

    When you score every period, odds are usually good that you’re going to win. That was the case last night for the Rangers, as they beat Anaheim 4-1 at Madison Square Garden in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Oscar Lindberg (Pavel Buchnevich and Marc Staal) takes credit for the tally in the first period. He buried his wrister 4:01 after the initial puck drop to give New York a 1-0 lead.

    The Blueshirts‘ second goal was struck 1:06 after returning to the ice from the first intermission. Mats Zuccarello (Chris Kreider and Brady Skjei) takes credit with his snap shot. It became the game-winner because Jakob Silfverberg (Andrew Cogliano) was able to pull the Ducks back within a score 5:08 later, setting the score at 2-1 going into the second intermission.

    Things started falling apart for Anaheim in the third period, as Second Star Michael Grabner was able to light the lamp twice. One was an honest goal only 3:45 after resuming play (Third Star J.T. Miller and Skjei), but his second (Miller and Kevin Hayes) with 19 seconds remaining was on an empty net, sealing New York‘s victory.

    First Star Henrik Lundqvist impressively saved 43-of-44 shots faced (97.7%) to earn the victory, leaving the loss to John Gibson, who saved only 16-of-19 (84.2%).

    New York‘s victory was the 60th by a home team in the DtFR Game of the Day series. That improves the hosts’ record to 60-37-17, nine points better than the visitors.

  • January 20 – Day 97 – Blackhawks in Boston

    Loverboy is right: everybody is working for the weekend.

    No, not the Weeknd – the weekend, and what better way to get it started than with hockey? The action begins tonight at 7 p.m. with three games (Chicago at Boston [NHLN/SN1/TVAS], Detroit at Buffalo and Pittsburgh at Carolina) and Montréal at New Jersey (RDS) half an hour later. 9 p.m. marks the puck drop of Nashville at Edmonton, with tonight’s nightcap – Florida at Vancouver – waiting an hour before getting underway.

    There’s been a lot of Original Six matchups this week, and any involving the Blackhawks are special due to rarity. Given that both are currently in playoff position, let’s head up to the City of Notions.

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    The Hawks make their yearly trip to the TD Garden with a 28-14-5 record, good enough for second place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference. They’ve found that success by scoring a lot of goals, already notching 130 this season, which ties for 10th most in the league.

    They call him Showtime for a reason. Patrick Kane has had his hand on an impressive 47 tallies this season to lead the team. That being said, it’s been second-year Hawk Artem Anisimov that has scored the most goals on the team with 18 to his credit.

    That offensive success has been necessary for Chicago to cover for their horrendous penalty kill. The Blackhawks‘ 75.2% kill rate ties for second-worst in the NHL and is the worst among squads currently in playoff position. Niklas Hjalmarsson has tried to do all he can with his 19 shorthanded blocks, but him and Brent Seabrook are the only two skaters with more than nine.

    Given the fact that usual-starter Corey Crawford‘s .822 save percentage against the power play is third-worst in the NHL among goalies with at least 15 appearances, it goes without saying that the entire team needs to make a stronger effort to keep shots off his net. If not, Stan Bowman will not be afraid to bring in another blueliner to bolster his squad. Fortunately, Scott Darling has been named the starter for tonight’s game, as his save percentage against the power play is slightly better at .898.

    Playing host this evening are the 23-19-6 Bruins, the third-best team in the Atlantic Division. They pose a good matchup against the Blackhawks, as they’ve found much of their success on the defensive end. The Bruins have allowed only 121 goals in 48 games, which ties for the seventh-best rate in the league.

    With a goaltender like 22-10-4 Tuukka Rask, it’s tough to lose. He’s earned that impressive record on a .919 save percentage and 2.11 GAA, the (t)14th and fourth-best rates, respectively, in the league against the 42 other goalies with 19 or more appearances.

    I’ve said it every time we’ve featured Boston, and it’s not going to change tonight: Rask is successful this year because of the incredible defense playing in front of him. He faces only 26.6 shots-per-game, the second-fewest in the league. Zdeno Chara has headed that effort with 84 blocks in 42 games. When combined with Brandon Carlo and Adam McQuaid‘s efforts, a whopping 225 shots have been kept off Rask’s net (4.6875 per game).

    It’s not surprising that the second-best defense at even-strength also fields the second-best penalty kill. Led by Chara’s 16 shorthanded blocks (tied for second-most in the NHL), Boston rejects 86.9% of opposing power plays.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Boston‘s Brad Marchand (45 points [tied for sixth-most in the NHL] on 28 assists [tied for ninth-most in the league]) and Rask (five shutouts [tied for second-most in the NHL] and a 2.11 GAA [fifth-best in the league] for 22 wins [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) & Chicago‘s Darling (.924 save percentage [tied for sixth-best in the league]), Kane (33 assists [second-most in the NHL] among 47 points [fourth-most in the league]) and Duncan Keith (29 assists [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]).

    It looks like defense and home ice is the key to victory, as Vegas favors the Bruins at -138. It’s a hard formula to argue with, especially given the fact that Boston‘s offense is no slouch. The Bruins should earn tonight’s victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Lou Fontinato (1932-2016) – This defenseman played almost the entirety of his nine-season NHL career with the Rangers. By the time his career was through, he’d notched 104 points to go with his 1247 career penalty minutes.

    Although one game is far too small a sample size to make any concrete claims, it seems that Doug Weight can at least handle his own behind the bench, as his Islanders beat Dallas 3-0 in his coaching debut.

    First Star of the Game John Tavares (Third Star Anders Lee) is the man responsible for the winning goal, burying his wrister with 6:29 remaining in the first frame.

    The first of the two insurance goals did not get struck until only 3:06 remained in regulation. Once again it was Tavares (Nikolai Kulemin) taking credit for the tally, this time a shorthanded wrister. Calvin de Haan (Second Star Thomas Greiss) completed the game’s scoring on an empty net with only four seconds remaining in the game.

    Greiss earns the shutout victory by saving all 23 shots he faced, leaving the loss to Kari Lehtonen, who saved 33-of-35 (94.3%).

    Mark New York‘s victory as another win for the home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series. Hosts now have a 52-33-14 record, seven points better than the visitors.

  • January 15 – Day 92 – Wild-Hawks rivalry

    What better way to close out your weekend than with hockey? The action gets an early start at 1 p.m. with Philadelphia at Washington (NBC/TVAS), with two contests dropping the puck in prime time at 7 p.m. (New Jersey at Vancouver [SN] and Minnesota at Chicago [NBCSN]). Finally, St. Louis at Anaheim (NHLN) gets underway at 9 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Philadelphia at Washington: In addition to being a rivalry, it’s also a rematch from last season’s Eastern Quartefinals.
    • Minnesota at Chicago:  A Wild win tonight would distance Minnesota‘s Central Division and Western Conference lead over their biggest rivals in their first meeting of the year.

    Just like yesterday’s rivalry in Ottawa, the matchup in the United Center is just too big to miss. Off to the Windy City we go!

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    Way back in the day, the Blackhawks and North Stars had a fantastic rivalry, similar to the Bears and Vikings and the Twins and White Sox. Of course, it died out when the Stars lost the direction from their name and headed to the Lone Star State.

    Simply introducing the Wild to the league in 2000 did not completely rekindle the dormant geographical rivalry. That job was completed 13 years later when these clubs met in the Western Quarterfinals. Although the Hawks needed only five games to dispatch the Wild, a playoff meeting paired with Minnesota joining the Central Division that offseason marked the beginnings of today’s rivalry.

    For three-straight seasons, these clubs met in the postseason, and the Wild have been eliminated three straight-times. Minnesota does have a big victory over the Hawks though: last season’s Stadium Series matchup at TCF Bank Stadium, where the Wild whipped Chicago 6-1.

    What better environment for a statement win? With a win over the Stars last night for their third-straight, Minnesota took control of Central Division and Western Conference by winning the games-played tiebreaker over Chicago. Of course, the Wild would love to create a real point-spread over the Hawks before staking dramatic claims like “Best in the West” or something to that effect.

    Minnesota has earned their 27-9-5 record by playing  some phenomenal goaltending that has allowed only 84 goals, the second-fewest in the NHL.

    At the midway point of the season, 22-7-3 Devan Dubnyk easily gets my vote (if I had one) for Vezina. His .94 save percentage and 1.77 GAA are both best in the NHL.

    Making his effort more impressive is the fact that Minnesota‘s defense is not one of the elite units in the league. Led by Jared Spurgeon‘s 73-block effort, the Wild have allowed 29.5 shots-per-game to reach Dubnyk’s crease, only the 12th-best in the NHL.

    Dubnyk’s success has carried into the penalty kill. Thanks to him and Spurgeon’s team-leading 11 shorthanded blocks, Minnesota ranks fifth-best on the penalty kill, refusing to yield a goal on 85.1% of opposing power plays.

    Playing host this evening are the 27-13-5 Blackhawks, currently in second place in the Central Division due to losing the games-played tiebreaker to the this tonight’s opponent. They’ve found that success by playing a well-rounded game, but I’ve been most impressed with their goaltending that has allowed only 112 goals over 45 games – the seventh-lowest average in the league.

    The man between the pipes more often than not for Chicago has been 16-9-3 Corey Crawford, whose .922 save percentage and 2.47 GAA are (t)12th and 19th-best among the 47 netminders with 14 or more appearances.

    While Dubnyk has certainly been better than Crawford this season, Crawford has arguably been more important for his club this season as the Hawks‘ defense allows 31.3 shots-per-game to reach his crease, tied for the eighth-worst rate in the league. Niklas Hjalmarsson is doing all he can to resolve that issue, as his 104 blocks are not only most on the team, but fifth-most in the league.

    The biggest issue for Chicago this season has been their miserable penalty kill. Ranked third-worst in the league, the Hawks have stopped only 76.3% of opposing power plays. Once again, Hjalmarsson cannot be lumped into that effort, as his 19 shorthanded blocks are easily the best in the Windy City.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Chicago‘s Scott Darling (.924 save percentage [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]), Patrick Kane (33 assists [second-most in the league] among 45 points [fourth-most in the NHL]), Duncan Keith (29 assists [fourth-most in the league]) and Artemi Panarin (42 points [ninth-most in the NHL]) & Minnesota‘s Dubnyk (1.77 GAA on a .94 save percentage [both best in the league] for 22 wins, including five shutouts [both tied for second-most in the NHL]), Mikael Granlund (+22 [tied for fourth-best in the league]), Mikko Koivu (+22 [tied for fourth-best in the NHL]), Spurgeon (+24 [third-best in the league]), Ryan Suter (+27 [best in the NHL]) and Jason Zucker (+25 [second-best in the league]).

    This should be a fantastic game. Minnesota comes into this game riding tons of momentum, while Chicago finally has the goal of reclaiming their position in the standings. Given that the Hawks were inactive yesterday and Minnesota had to travel from Texas, I’m leaning towards Chicago, but that’s not to say I’m picking against a very impressive Wild team.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Brett Lebda (1982-) – Although undrafted, this defenseman played 397 games over seven seasons in the NHL, most of which with Detroit. He was a member of the Wings‘ 2008 Stanley Cup squad.

    You did it Leafs fans. Toronto‘s 4-2 victory over Ottawa in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day has earned them third place in the Atlantic Division. If they hold onto it, they qualify for the playoffs.

    Only 6:26 into the game, Second Star of the Game Nazem Kadri (James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak) got things started with a power play wrister to give the Maple Leafs an early lead that lasted until the first intermission.

    Toronto got off to an even faster start in the second period as Bozak (Mitch Marner) buried a wrister only 1:07 after returning to the ice. The Senators pulled back within a goal when Dion Phaneuf (Mike Hoffman and Erik Karlsson) potted a slap shot 8:08 later. With 110 seconds remaining before the second intermission, Third Star Kyle Turris (Bobby Ryan and Ryan Dzingel) leveled the game with a wrister.

    Kadri (William Nylander and Matt Hunwick) takes credit for the winning goal only 2:31 after returning from intermission – yet another quick goal. Connor Brown (Auston Matthews) tacked on an insurance goal 5:21 later to secure Toronto‘s victory.

    First Star Curtis McElhinney earned his first victory with the Leafs by saving 35-of-37 shots faced (94.6%), leaving the loss to Mike Condon, who saved 23-of-27 (85.2%).

    The Leafs‘ victory is the second-straight by the road team in the DtFR Game of the Day series, setting the series record at 49-31-14 in favor of the homers by six points.

  • January 2 – Day 79 – Winter Classic… hopefully

    For the second day in a row, there’s only three games on the schedule. Well, maybe. The NHL will decide today at 8 a.m. if the Chicago at St. Louis (NBC/SN/TVAS) Winter Classic, currently scheduled at 1 p.m., will take place at that time, later, or even potentially postponed until tomorrow. Two games will take place for sure: Boston at New Jersey (SN) at 7 p.m. and Colorado at Vancouver three hours later. All times eastern.

    If only this was the situation yesterday. All three matchups looked good on paper to open the year. Instead, the Winter Classic is by far the best game on the schedule today, so we must hope that this game happens!

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    The best team in the not only the Central Division but also the Western Conference, is the same club that has already played in four outdoor games –  the most in the league. This year’s edition of the Blackhawks, at 23-11-5, have a specialty in not allowing their opposition to find the back of their net, allowing only 93 goals, tying for the seventh-fewest.

    Back from injury, 13-7-3 Corey Crawford has resumed his starting role in Chicago‘s net. So far this season, he’s set a .928 save percentage and 2.28 GAA, the (t)sixth and (t)10th-best efforts, respectively, among his 46 peers that have 12 or more appearances.

    Crawford is especially deserving of the praise, because the defense playing in front of him has not been that good at their primary responsibility. The Hawks have allowed 31.2 shots-per-game to reach his net, making him the eighth-most taxed netminder in the business.

    That all being said, Niklas Hjalmarsson has done all he can to impact that statistic, as his 87 shot blocks are far-and-away the most on the club. He leads Brent Seabrook‘s total by 31 blocks, who firmly has second place by 14 blocks in his own right. I’d say that more defensemen need to keep pucks off Crawford’s net, but with the record they have… I guess they’re doing all right.

    This defensive effort rears its ugly head on the penalty kill. Have you heard that expression, “When *censored* hits the fan?” That might be an understatement. Chicago ranks third-worst in the league when down a man, neutralizing only 75% of opposing power plays. Seabrook has been very important here, but it is probably telling that his measly six shorthanded blocks are top on the team.

    Playing three blocks down Clark Avenue from Scottrade Center, the 19-13-5 Blues have taken up residence at Busch Stadium, the home field of the St. Louis Cardinals. Currently in third place in the Central Division, the Notes have found their success with the puck on their stick, scoring 103 goals, tying them for the 11th-best offense.

    Easily the best forward on the team, right wing Vladimir Tarasenko has a club-leading 39 points to his credit in 37 games. 16 of those have been goals which, you guessed it, is also the best mark in St. Louis.

    The power play has been a point of pride for St. Louis, as their 21.6% success rate is tied for seventh-best in the NHL. Who else to lead that effort than Tarasenko, who has 15 man-advantage points already on his resume. That being said, it’s actually been Kevin Shattenkirk who’s buried more power play goals. His six extra-man goals are top on the team.

    If the power play has been good, the penalty kill has been great. St. Louis rejects 86% of opposing power plays, the fourth-best effort in the NHL and tops in the Western Conference. Captain Alex Pietrangelo has been at the head of that effort, as you’d expect a leader to be. His 17 shorthanded blocks are tops on the team.

    Just like yesterday’s featured game – both by DtFR and the NHL – this matchup is not by accident. Although probably more known for the baseball rivalry between the Cardinals and Cubs, these towns do not like each other. Like, at all. While the Cubbies have had more recent success on the diamond, it was these very Blue Notes that expelled the Blackhawks in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. Something tells me that was only fuel on an already brightly burning fire.

    Some players to keep an eye on this afternoon include Chicago‘s Crawford (.928 save percentage [tied for seventh-best in the league]), Patrick Kane (26 assists [tied for third-most in the NHL] among 37 points [tied for eighth-most in the league]) and Artemi Panarin (38 points [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) & St. Louis‘ Tarasenko (39 points [fourth-most in the league], including 16 goals [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]).

    As usual, the way to beat the Blues is by eliminating Tarasenko. Chicago has been able to do that in two of their three meetings with St. Louis, including their most recent meeting – a 6-4 victory down the road at Scottrade Center on December 17. Vegas has marked St. Louis a -124 favorite, but road teams have won four of the last six outdoor games. I’m biased, but I believe the Notes can hold off the Hawks for a victory today.

    Hopefully today’s game is able to be played, because there’s a couple good games that deserve to be watched tomorrow.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Glen Harmon (1921-2007) – This defenseman may have only played nine seasons in the NHL, but he was named to two more All Star teams and hoisted two more Stanley Cups than a lot of players who play double the time. He played all nine seasons in Montréal.
    • Robbie Ftorek (1952-) – Although undrafted, this forward played eight seasons in the NHL (he also spent five seasons in the WHA), most of which with the Rangers. By the time his NHL career was complete, he’d notched 227 points. He also won a silver medal with Team USA at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics.
    • Mattias Norstrom (1972) – Drafted 48th-overall by the Rangers in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, this defenseman played 14 seasons in the league, most of which in Los Angeles. He was the Kings‘ captain from 2001 until he was traded during the 2007 season.
    • Brian Boucher (1977-) – This goaltender was drafted 22nd-overall by Philadelphia in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, and he played most of his 13-year career with the Flyers. Although he never hoisted a Stanley Cup or was named to an All Star game, he holds the modern NHL record for longest shutout streak at 332:01 (that’s over 5.5 hours!).

    If you like offensive surges, the Centennial Classic was the game for you, as Toronto won 5-4 in overtime against the arch-rival Red Wings.

    Although it ended up being high scoring, this contest stayed scoreless until the 5:33 mark of the second period. Third Star of the Game Anthony Mantha (Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Tatar) takes credit for the lone goal of the frame, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead.

    Toronto returned to the ice with a bad taste in their mouth, scoring four straight goals. Leo Komarov (Jake Gardiner and William Nylander) takes credit for the first, only 1:23 after resuming play. Next up was Mitchell Marner (Morgan Rielly and James van Riemsdyk), who buried his snap shot exactly seven minutes later. Second Star Connor Brown (Zach Hyman and Connor Carrick) set the score at 3-1 with his wrister at the 9:34 mark, First Star Auston Matthews (Brown and Hyman) completed the surge only 2:31 later.

    Down 4-1, the Wings needed a mighty surge, and they got one. Jonathan Ericsson (Mantha and Xavier Ouellet) got it started with 6:06 remaining in regulation with his first goal of the season. Dylan Larkin (Zetterberg and Tatar) pulled Detroit within a goal with 1:46 remaining, and Mantha (Zetterberg and Thomas Vanek) completed the comeback with only two ticks left on the clock, forcing three-on-three overtime.

    A game like this doesn’t deserve to end in a shootout. Whether you believe that or not, Matthews (Gardiner and Brown) did, as he buried his winner with 80 seconds remaining in overtime to earn Toronto the bonus point.

    Frederik Andersen takes earns the win after saving 33-of-37 shots faced (89.2%), leaving the overtime loss to Jared Coreau, who saved 23-of-28 (82.1%).

    Although not on their usual surface, Toronto‘s home victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 45-24-12, favoring the hosts by 15 points.

  • December 13 – Day 62 – Darling division leaders

    Welcome to Tuesday night hockey. As usual, it’s a busy night, and the action gets started at 7 p.m. with four contests (Los Angeles at Buffalo, Washington at the New York Islanders, Chicago at the New York Rangers [NBCSN/SN/TVAS] and Vancouver at Carolina). Two more games drop the puck half an hour later (San Jose at Toronto and Arizona at Detroit), while another pair waits until the top of the hour (St. Louis at Nashville and Florida at Minnesota). Anaheim at Dallas finds its start at 8:30 p.m., and this evening’s nightcap – Columbus at Edmonton – gets green-lit at 9 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Washington at New York: A Metropolitan Division rivalry that began in the 1980s.
    • Chicago at New York: An “Original Six” matchup, and the only time this regular season that the Hawks visit Manhattan.

    Chicago at New York would be a phenomenal game even if it weren’t an old-school rivalry. The history between both franchises only adds to this contest.

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    I don’t know how they keep slipping through the cracks, but the Blackhawks haven’t been featured in the DtFR Game of the Day series since their 2-1 shootout victory over Florida on November 29.

    Their play has been far from the reason for their absence, as their 18-8-4 record is best in the Western Conference. Although Chicago is home to a long list of excellent goalscorers, they’ve found much of their success by keeping opponents off the scoreboard. The Hawks have yielded only 69 goals this season, tying for seventh-fewest in the league.

    While Corey Crawford is still the lead netminder in the Windy City, an emergency appendectomy on December 3 has forced him to the Blackhawks‘ injured reserve list. Enter 6-2-2 backup Scott Darling, whose .929 save percentage and 2.12 GAA is 11th and 12th-best effort, respectively, among the 58 goalies with five or more appearances.

    For those wondering, I wouldn’t bet on Lars Johansson making his first-ever NHL start, even though Darling has played every second of Chicago‘s last five games (Darling is 2-2-1 in those games). We’ll break down New York‘s offense in a minute, but a quick summary: they’re one of the best in the league. Not the best way to introduce him to the NHL family.

    Crawford, and now Darling, deserve much of the success for Chicago‘s defensive prowess, as the blueline playing in front of them has been nothing to write home about. The Hawks‘ goalies face an average of 30.8 shots-per-game, tying for the 11th-most in the NHL. That being said, that critique does not apply to Niklas Hjalmarsson, whose 64 blocks not only lead the squad, but ties for sixth-most in the entire league.

    Due in large part to the overall effort of the defense, Chicago‘s penalty kill has struggled mightily this year. The Hawks allow opposing power plays to score 27.3% of the time, the absolute worst in the NHL. Other than Hjalmarsson’s 16 shorthanded blocks, no other defenseman has more than 10 to his name.

    Hosting the Hawks this evening are the 20-9-1 Rangers, who currently occupy second place in the Metropolitan Division, arguably the toughest division in hockey. As mentioned before, they’ve played the best offense in hockey, scoring 105 goals in 30 games.

    That 3.5 goals-per-game average is led by J.T. Miller and his 22 points. Although that effort is only good enough to tie him for 33rd-best in the league, it’s the fact that four skaters for the Rangers have 20 or more points to their credit. Adding to that depth has been Michael Grabner, who – although he only has 17 points – has buried 13 goals already this season, the most on the team.

    Like I said, Johansson wants no part of this game, and Darling probably doesn’t either!

    As would be expected, New York‘s power play has been very successful as well. Converting 22.6% of their opportunities, the Blueshirts rank fifth-best in the league. Again, what makes this man-advantage so frightening is that goaltenders have no idea where the pressure is coming from. A whopping six skaters have six power play points to their credit, including Rick Nash, Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Vesey, each of whom have four extra-man tallies.

    The winning ways don’t stop when down a man. Madison Square Garden also houses the fourth-best penalty kill, as the Rangers refuse to allow the opposition to score on 85.9% of power play opportunities. Kevin Klein takes much of the credit in that department, as his 13 shorthanded blocks are most on the club.

    The Rangers have already made their yearly trip to the United Center, where they won 1-0 game last Friday thanks to a Nick Holden overtime winner. Darling was in net for Chicago in that game, so perhaps he knows the secret that has eluded so many other teams to slowing down an offense that has so far been better than last year’s Stars and Capitals.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Chicago‘s Darling (.929 save percentage [10th-best in the NHL]), Marian Hossa (15 goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]) and Patrick Kane (20 assists [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) & New York‘s Kevin Hayes (+16 [tied for third-best in the league]), Grabner (+19 [best in the NHL]) and, should he play, Antti Raanta (1.65 GAA [second-best in the league] on a .943 save percentage [third-best in the NHL]).

    The Rangers are marked -145 favorites to win tonight’s game, and I think you’d be crazy to bet against them. In addition to simply being  an incredible team overall (potentially the best team in hockey), they have an impressive 11-4-1 record at home and are riding a three-game winning streak. Although it won’t be an easy win, I am confident in a Blueshirt victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Doug Mohns (1933-2014) – This seven-time All-Star played an impressive 22 seasons, most of which with the Boston Bruins. By the time his career was over, he’d notched 710 points, including 462 assists.
    • Bob Gainey (1953-) – The eighth-overall pick in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft, he played his entire NHL career with the club that drafted him: the Habs. By the time his playing days were through, he was a five-time Stanley Cup winner, four-time Selke winner, and the recipient of the 1979 Smythe Trophy. As you might expect with a resume like that, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992 and his number 23 was retired in 2008.
    • Sergei Fedorov (1969-) – Another Hall-of-Famer (Class of 2015), this center was drafted 74th-overall by Detroit in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. After 18 seasons, he’d won three Stanley Cups, two Selke Trophies, and the 1994 Hart and Pearson Trophies.
    • Bates Battaglia (1975-) – This left wing may have been drafted by Anaheim in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, but he never played for the Mighty Ducks. Instead, he spent most of his days in Carolina, where he notched 150 of his career 198 points.
    • Dan Hamhuis (1982-) – The 12th-overall pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft is currently in his first season with Dallas. Most of his playing days have been spent with the Central Division rival Predators, where he played 483 games.

    They may have needed overtime, but Boston finally earned their first win of the season against the bitter rival Canadiens, winning 2-1 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Sixty-five seconds remained in the second period before the first goal was struck. Austin Czarnik (Adam McQuaid and Third Star of the Game Ryan Spooner) takes credit with only the third goal of his career. His wrister gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation.

    Desperation time was on the horizon in Montréal, but the Habs avoided making the decision to pull their netminder when Paul Byron (Torrey Mitchell and Andrei Markov) netted a backhander with 3:12 remaining on the clock. As neither team could break the knotted game, they settled to play three-on-three overtime.

    Spooner (Torey Krug and Czarnik) apparently had enough of overtime, or he simply doesn’t like shootouts. Either way, he scored a wrister with 100 seconds remaining in overtime to earn the Bruins the extra point.

    First Star Tuukka Rask earned the victory after saving 30-of-31 shots faced (96.8%), leaving the overtime loss to Second Star Carey Price, saving 27-of-29 (93.1%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series still favors the hosts, as their 36-19-9 record is 14 points better than the roadies’ efforts.

  • November 29 – Day 48 – Rowe says it’s Tommy Time!

    Welcome to the last Tuesday of November. I know, it’s not very momentous on its own, but the NHL is helping out with a dozen hockey games to watch. The action starts at – you guessed it – 7 p.m. with a couple of games (Carolina at the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay at Columbus), followed half an hour later by three more (Boston at Philadelphia [NBCSN/TVAS], Buffalo at Ottawa [RDS2] and Dallas at Detroit). New Jersey at Winnipeg starts at 8 p.m., with Florida at Chicago waiting 30 minutes before beginning. 9 p.m. marks two puck drops (Nashville at Colorado and Toronto at Edmonton [NBSCN]), with tonight’s tri-nightcap getting green lit at 10 p.m. (Minnesota at Vancouver, Montréal at Anaheim [RDS] and Arizona at San Jose). All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Carolina at New York: Last season, Viktor Stalberg played in Madison Square Garden on the regular. Tonight, he’s just visiting.
    • Buffalo at Ottawa: A rivalry game, with the chance to be made more special by the return of Jack Eichel.
    • Florida at Chicago: Tom Rowe coaches the first NHL game of his career.

    Stalberg will return to Manhattan again, and rivals will be rivals, but you only make your coaching debut once. Let’s see what Rowe’s got.

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    Rowe’s carer in the NHL began after being drafted 37th-overall in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. By the time he hung his skates up the last time, he’d played 357 career games with three different franchises, most of which with Washington, the club that drafted him. His best season was the third of his career, when he scored 31 goals and notched another 30 assists to become the first-ever American to bury 30 or more tallies in a season.

    Rowe had been a coach at multiple levels, but he took his first head coaching job in a senior-level league in 2012 when he took command of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, replacing Brad McCrimmon who died in the Lokomotiv plane crash. He led a team of all new players to a 24-18-0 season.

    He only kept the job for a year before returning to the States to begin his tenure with the Panthers‘ organization. He took the same job he had with Lokomotiv, but with the San Antonio Rampage in the AHL. He stuck with the team in their move to Portland before being promoted mid-season to associate general manager on New Year’s Day 2016. By the time he departed Portland, he’d amassed an 88-66-17 record.

    If only normal people not involved in sports could get promotions as quick as Rowe. He was associate GM for only four-and-a-half months before replacing Dale Tallon as the man in-charge.

    That brings us to Sunday’s move. Gerard Gallant entered PNC Arena as head coach of the then 11-9-1. By the time he exited, he added another loss, had a pink slip in hand and was in search of a job.

    It turns out, Rowe already had a new coach in mind: himself. It seems to be the trend in Miami of late, as Dan Jennings did the same thing with the Marlins for most of the 2015 season. If the baseball team in town is any indication, the future doesn’t look bright for the Panthers.

    That being said, Jennings had one specific thing playing against him: no managerial experience. Rowe has been a consistent winner, so it will be interesting to see how the Panthers‘ season unfolds.

    Rowe completely takes over a 11-10-1 Florida club that sits in fifth in the Atlantic Division. Statistically, they’ve been simply average this season, scoring 55 goals (19th-best) against 57 allowed ([t]15th-best). Given their rankings against the league on those numbers, we’ll pin the poor start to the season on the offense.

    Of the Panthers‘ 55 goals, center Jon Marchessault has been involved in 17 of them to lead the team. 10 of those points have been goals, which also is tops in the dressing room. Perhaps that is the biggest problem for Florida: goal distribution. Aaron Ekblad and Vincent Trocheck tie for second-place in the goal-scoring race, but with only six tallies apiece.

    Not surprisingly, the power play has been especially poor for the Panthers. They’ve been successful on only 14.7% of their attempts to rank 10th-worst in the NHL. Leading the team’s special team is – you guessed it – Marchessault, as he has three power play goals among six points.

    Hosting them this evening is the best team in the Western Conference – the 14-6-3 Chicago Blackhawks. As usual in an even-numbered Stanley Cup year, they’ve been led by their impressive offense which has notched 65 goals – second-most in the conference and seventh-most in the league.

    Who else to front the Hawks‘ attack than right wing Patrick Kane? The former first pick has 23 points to his credit, 21.7% of last season’s total a little over a quarter of the way through this year’s campaign. He hasn’t always been the goalscorer, though. That title goes to Marian Hossa, who has 11 tallies on his resume.

    Every team has a weakness, and the Windy City‘s is the penalty kill. The Blackhawks rank dead-last in the NHL, stopping the opposition’s man-advantage only 70.8% of the time. Niklas Hjalmarsson may have a dozen shorthanded blocks to his credit, but more Hawks need to get involved to avoid another early playoff exit.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Chicago‘s Corey Crawford (two shutouts [tied for sixth-most in the NHL] among 10 wins [tied for eighth-most in the league]), Hossa (11 goals [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]), Kane (23 points [tied for fourth-most in the league] on 15 assists [tied for fourth-most in the NHL]) and Artemi Panarin (21 points [tied for eigth-most in the league]) & Florida‘s Aleksander Barkov (12 assists [leads his team]), Derek MacKenzie (52 hits [leads his team]), Alex Petrovic (+8 [leads his team]) and Mark Pysyk (30 blocks [leads his team]).

    Chicago is marked by Vegas with a -135 next to their name, a line they’ve certainly earned. Rowe is not going to solve all the Panthers‘ plane ride from Raleigh to Chicago, so I am leaning towards the Hawks continuing their great season.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Neal Broten (1959-) – A center drafted 42nd-overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars, he played 17 NHL seasons and hoisted the Stanley Cup once with the 1994-’95 Devils. Of course, he may be even more remembered for being a part of the Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid. Either way, he was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000, two years after his No. 7 was raised to the Stars‘ rafters.
    • Brad May (1971-) – The 14th-overall pick in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, May played 18 seasons in the league – most of which with Buffalo, the club that drafted him. He won the Stanley Cup in 2006-07 with Anaheim.
    • Pavol Demitra (1974-2011) – This left wing won the 1999-00 Lady Byng Trophy while skating for the Blues, the team he spent most of his 16 seasons with. He was one of the 44 people that died in 2011 Lokomotiv plane crash.
    • Tanner Glass (1983-) – A scrapper currently skating for Hartford in the Rangers‘ system, he’s played in the past nine NHL seasons. Most of his time was spent in Vancouver, where he helped the Canucks qualify for the 2010-11 Stanley Cup Finals.

    For the second time in the last three days, the DtFR Game of the Day has required more than 60 minutes to declare a winner. This time, it was host St. Louis beating the Stars 4-3 in overtime.

    With 6:24 remaining in the opening frame, Third Star of the Game Robby Fabbri (Robert Bortuzzo and Jori Lehtera) gave the Notes a 1-0 lead with a wrister to beat Antti Niemi.

    Only 4:17 into the second period, that lead doubled when Alex Pietrangelo (Patrik Berglund and Colton Parayko) scored a power play backhander. Dallas returned the differential to one with 3:39 remaining in the period with a Second Star Jamie Oleksiak (Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin) wrister.

    The Stars must have received quite the motivational speech during intermission, as Benn (Julius Honka and Jason Spezza) buried a power play wrister to level the game at two-all. 11:25 later, St. Louis took the lead again with a First Star David Perron (Jaden Schwartz and Jay Bouwmeester) wrister. That lead nearly lasted to the final horn, but not before Oleksiak (Honka and Benn) buried a slap shot with with Niemi pulled. To three-on-three overtime we went.

    The extra period lasted only 3:24 before Vladimir Tarasenko (Lehtera and Kevin Shattenkirk) scored a wrister to end the game.

    Jake Allen earned the victory after saving 18-of-21 shots faced (85.7%), forcing Niemi to take the overtime loss, saving 27-of-31 (87.1%).

    The Blues‘ win sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 27-16-7, favoring the home squads by seven points over the roadies.

  • November 19 – Day 38 – The rivalry that predates the NHL

    Saturdays aren’t just for college football. They also offer tons of hockey.

    Tampa Bay at Philadelphia (SN) get things started at 1 p.m., followed three hours later by New Jersey at Los Angeles. The usual starting time of 7 p.m. brings with it five contests (Edmonton at Dallas [CITY], Winnipeg at Boston [SN], Pittsburgh at Buffalo, Toronto at Montréal [CBC/NHLN/TVAS] and Florida at Ottawa [SN1/TVAS2]), with three more dropping the puck an hour later (San Jose at Arizona, Nashville at St. Louis and Colorado at Minnesota). Chicago at Vancouver (CBC/SN) acts as this evening’s nightcap, getting underway at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Toronto at Montréal: They might have faced each other more than any other teams in the NHL, but that never takes away from another game played.
    • Chicago at Vancouver: Another rivalry… well, kind of. When the Canucks were having a little more success, they had a knack for running into the Blackhawks for three straight postseasons. It created some very contested regular season games.

    It’s been over a week since we’ve been to eastern Canada, so let’s head up to the Bell Centre.

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    The rivalry between these sides predates any of us, hearkening back to tensions between the English and French immigrants to Canada. It has only evolved over the years, including the formation of the NHL and the Leafs, multiple expansions, Toronto departing for the Campbell Conference and finally rejoining the Canadiens in the same division.

    This year’s Maple Leafs enter with an 8-6-3 record. The offense has been incredible for Toronto this year, but it has been absolutely horrendous defense and goaltending that has held them back from greatness by allowing 58 goals, the second-most in the league.

    Frederik Andersen has started in net 15 times this season for a 8-4-3 record. To get there, he’s set a .907 save percentage for a 3.16 GAA, the 15th and sixth-worst effort in the NHL among goaltenders with at least eight appearances.

    While those numbers leave much to be desired – especially after a 2.3 GAA a season ago – not all of the responsibility rests on Andersen’s shoulders. Even with Morgan Rielly‘s team-leading 35 blocks, the Leafs‘ defense has allowed 33.9 shots against per game, the worst rate in the league.

    Interestingly, Toronto‘s penalty kill does not suffer the same fate of their even-strength defense. Only eight power play goals have been scored on the Maple Leafs for a 84.6% kill rate, the 10th-best in the NHL.

    Last season, the Leafs‘ power play was second-worst in the league. A year later, they rank 10th-best, successful on 21.3% of attempts. 20-year-old William Nylander has been a big part of that turnaround, as he has seven extra-man points to his credit, including three power play goals to lead the club.

    Hosting them this evening are the 13-3-2 Montréal Canadiens. Even though they’ve only earned one point in their last three games, the Habs are still the best team in the NHL, due in part to their strong offense.

    The Canadiens‘ 58 goals are the third-most in the league, and much of that success has involved Alex Galchenyuk‘s stick. He has a team-leading 18 points to his credit to average a point-per-game.

    Most of those points are assists though. Defenseman Shea Weber has been the man completing Galchenyuk’s plays, scoring seven goals already this season to lead his club.

    As you’d expect, that offensive success has carried to the power play. Successful on 23.1% of attempts, the Habs rank sixth-best in the league with the man-advantage. Weber takes the charge on the power play too, with seven extra-man points to his credit.

    These two have already met up once this season, with the Habs taking a 2-1 victory on this surface. It’s been a while since the Leafs have beaten Montréal, as the Habs are riding an 10-game winning streak against one of their biggest rivals.

    That’s not to mention “recent” playoff results either. The Habs have swept the Leafs 8-0 in their last two postseason meetings, but those were in 1978 and ’79.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Montréal‘s Galchenyuk (18 points [tied for seventh-most in the NHL] for a +11 [tied for seventh-best in the league), Carey Price (10 wins [tied for most in the NHL] on a .948 save percentage [second-best in the league] and 1.63 GAA [third-best in the NHL], good for two shutouts [tied for fourth-most in the league]) and Weber (+15 [tied for second-best in the NHL]) & Toronto‘s Matt Martin (76 hits [leads the team]), Rielly (35 blocks and 10 assists [both lead the team]) and James van Riemsdyk (17 points on eight goals [both lead the team]).

    Montréal enters with a -170 advantage, and they’ve deserved it with their play so far this season. Given the potency of their offense paired with Toronto‘s struggling defense, it should be the Canadiens‘ 11th-straight victory over the Leafs.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Dennis Hull (1944-) – The Silver Jet was a left wing, playing 14 seasons. Most of those were with Chicago, where he scored 298 goals.
    • Reggie Lemelin (1954-) – Lemelin played 15 NHL seasons, most of which were with the Flames organization. The goaltender won the Jennings Trophy in the 1989-’90 season, allowing only 108 goals in 43 games.
    • Petr Sykora (1976-) – The 18th-overall selection in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey, the right wing played in six Stanley Cup Finals, winning one with the 2000 Devils and another with the 2009 Penguins.
    • Patrick Kane (1988-) – He was the first pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and I’d say he was worth it. Kane has won three Stanley Cups in his time with Chicago, not to mention a Calder, Hart, Lindsay, Ross and Smythe as well.

    In our fourth overtime game in the last seven days, Pittsburgh bested the rival Islanders 3-2.

    Only one goal was struck in the first period, and it belonged to the visiting Penguins. Sidney Crosby (First Star of the Game Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz) took advantage of a Brock Nelson charging penalty to bury a power play snapper with 4:41 remaining in the frame.

    New York struck back only 1:51 after returning from intermission. With Evgeni Malkin getting caught for roughing, Nelson (Ryan Strome and John Tavares) capitalized on the man-advantage to score a wrister. Only 43 seconds later, Second Star Anthony Beauvillier won a one-on-one matchup with Matthew Murray with a wrister to give New York a 2-1 lead. That lead didn’t hold until the second intermission though, as Trevor Daley (Phil Kessel and Kunitz) scored a slap shot with 6:05 remaining to level the score at two-all. That tie held not only to the intermission, but to the end of regulation to force three-on-three overtime.

    84 seconds was all it took for Letang (Crosby) to end overtime with a wrist shot and earn the victory.

    Murray earned the victory after saving 20-of-22 shots faced (90.9%), forcing Jaroslav Halak to take the overtime loss, saving 32-of-35 (91.4%).

    With that result, the DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 23-12-5, favoring the home teams by 11 points over the roadies.

  • November 7 – Day 26 – Buffalo-Boston bout

    We’ve got three games on the schedule this evening, and they’ll all be played at almost the same time. Two games drop the puck at 7 p.m. (Buffalo at Boston [SN/TVAS] and Vancouver at the New York Islanders (NHLN]), with Tampa Bay at Florida going underway half an hour later. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Buffalo at Boston: Over 40 years this rivalry has been waged, including eight playoff series. Not only does it rage in the TD Garden this evening, but also at DtFR headquarters.
    • Tampa Bay at Florida: Round two of the Governor’s Cup goes down tonight.

    Given that Boston and Buffalo are tied on points, we’ll catch their game in the City on a Hill.

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    The Sabres entered the league in 1970, and the rivalry has only intensified since. Boston has a 156-141-29 all-time advantage over the Sabres for a well-contested series in addition to their eight postseason meetings.

    They last met in the playoffs during the 2009-’10 season in the Eastern Quarterfinals, with Boston winning the series 4-2. That victory gave the Bruins a 6-2 series record against Buffalo in the playoffs, but they were upset a round later that year by Philadelphia.

    The Sabres enter tonight’s game with a 5-4-2 record. While they have had some offensive struggles with Nicolas Deslauriers, Jack Eichel and Evander Kane finding themselves on the injury report, Buffalo has stood strong on the defensive end, allowing only 24 goals against – the fourth-best mark in the league.

    Robin Lehner has started eight games for Buffalo this year, accounting for a 4-3-1 record on a .929 save percentage and 2.14 GAA. Given the defense playing in front of him, those numbers are very good. The Sabres defense has allowed 334 shots to reach their goaltenders already this season, which breaks down into 30.4 shots against per game.

    Should the Sabres want to continue improving (odds are good that they do), more than Josh Gorges and Rasmus Ristolainen, who have 22 and 20 blocks respectively, need to contribute to alleviate pressure on their goaltender. Zach Bogosian has blocked the third-most shots so far this season, and only has 15 to his credit.

    The special team Buffalo is most proud of has been their power play, which accounts for 32% of their goals. The Sabres have been successful on 22.22% of their attempts, which ranks as the ninth-best effort in the NHL, and half of their eight power play goals have been scored by Matt Moulson.

    Boston enters the night with a 6-5-0 record, a position I feel they are fortunate to be in. Defense and goaltending has been the strength of the Bruins, if you could call an end of the ice that has allowed 32 goals in 11 games a strength. The offense has been even poorer, scoring only 25 times.

    Last season, Boston was home to the fifth-most potent offense in the NHL, scoring 236 goals to average 2.88 per game. Almost a month into the season, the Bruins average only 2.27 goals per game to rank fifth-worst. Brad Marchand has done a good job to lead the team with 13 points, trailed closely behind by David Pastrnak‘s 10, but the remaining Bruins have yet to break the five-point mark.

    If the Bruins don’t figure their offense out, at least they can hang their caps on having the 10th best penalty kill in the league. Allowing eight extra-man tallies against, they’ve killed 83.33% of their penalties.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Boston‘s Marchand (nine assists [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]), Pastrnak (seven goals [tied for fourth-most in the league] and a +11 [tied for sixth-best in the NHL]) and Tuukka Rask (six wins [tied for fourth-most in the league], including a shutout [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]) & Buffalo‘s Anders Nilsson (1.95 GAA [10th-best in the league] on a .937 save percentage [10th-best in the NHL]), Kyle Okposo (five goals [leads the team]) and Ristolainen (eight assists [leads the team]).

    Boston has been marked by Vegas with a -160 advantage, but I think they’re wrong. I’m picking the upset due to Buffalo‘s defense being more than able to contain the Bruins‘ anemic offense.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Michel Picard (1969-) – This left wing played 166 games over nine seasons in the NHL with six teams, 36.7% of which were in St. Louis from 1997-’99. Nowadays, he’s an amateur scour for the Blues.
    • Mike Commodore (1979-) – The 42nd overall selection in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, this defenseman played 484 games over 11 seasons, mostly with Carolina, the team he won his lone Stanley Cup with.
    • Pascal Leclaire (1982-) – The eighth overall pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, and first goaltender selected, Leclaire played 173 games over seven seasons to total a 61-76-15 record. Most of those games were played with the team that drafted him: the Columbus Blue Jackets.

    With two goals in the second period, the Anaheim Ducks beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    The Ducks found the scoreboard first, and didn’t wait long to do it. 2:29 after beginning the game, First Star of the Game Clayton Stoner (Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf) scored a wrister to give Anaheim the lead. With 3:45 remaining in the period, Calgary drew even when Alex Chiasson (John Gaudreau and Sean Monahan) found the back of the net for the Flames. The one-all score held into the first intermission.

    The Ducks were quick starters again in the second period, waiting only 3:18 before Second Star Ryan Kesler (Perry and Getzlaf) scored the game-winning wrister.

    Andrew Cogliano (Jakob Silfverberg and Josh Manson) and Kesler (Perry and Getzlaf) scored the two insurance goals for Anaheim to secure the victory.

    Third Star Jonathan Bernier earns the victory after saving 25-of-26 shots faced (96.2%), while Chad Johnson takes the loss after saving 17-of-21 (81%).

    Anaheim‘s victory on the Pond pads the home squads’ lead in the DtFR Game of the Day series, setting the homers’ record at 15-10-3 to lead the roadies by four points.

  • October 28 – Day 17 – Sticking with Scrappers

    There may be fewer games than yesterday, but that’s not to say Friday is a slouch, as we’ve got six matchups to choose from. Two games get us started at 7:30 p.m. (Chicago at New Jersey and the New York Rangers at Carolina [TVAS]), with two more following at 9 p.m. (Winnipeg at Colorado and Ottawa at Calgary [RDS2]). Finally, at 10 p.m., our final two contests go underway (Edmonton at Vancouver [SN1/SN360] and Columbus at Anaheim). All times eastern.

    With the season not even being three weeks old yet, I’m in the business of giving everybody some love. In essence, I guess what I’m saying is let’s head to Newark!

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    Enter right wing Jordin Tootoo. A little bit of a journeyman, Chicago is the fourth team he’s played for in his now 13-season career.

    Most recently, he was a member of his opposition this evening. He played 134 games over two seasons with the Devils, easily his second-longest tenure with an NHL club.

    Similar to Steve Ott, yesterday’s subject of the Game of the Day, Tootoo plays the role of agitator and enforcer. While playing at The Rock, he spent 174 minutes in the sin bin (1.3 minutes, or 77.9 seconds per game), 58.6% of which were last season.

    In his defense, life in Jersey wasn’t always about being a nuisance. During the 2014-15 season, he found the back of the net 10 times en route to a 15 point season – the second-most goals he’s ever scored in a season since his junior days in Brandon.

    He’s appeared in every game this season for the 3-3-1 Blackhawks, a team that scores as many goals as they give up – 25. Part of the problem for the numerous scores against them has been a pitiful penalty kill. Their 46.1% kill rate ranks worst in the league, trailing the Nashville Predators by 22.1%.

    For those wondering, the average kill rate in the league entering Thursday’s action was 79.97%. Chicago has been atrocious.

    Offensively, the Hawks are lead by center Artem Anisimov and his nine points. That being said, it has been Richard Panik scoring the goals, with a team-leading six to his credit.

    Life has been treating Jersey only slightly better, as they’re sitting at 3-2-1 for an early third place in the Metropolitan Division.

    Defense and goaltending have by far been the name of the game for the Devils, as Cory Schneider has allowed only 12 pucks to get past him this season. Saving .936 percent of his shots faced for a solid two GAA, he’s played every second of the season so far. That is, up until tonight. Keith Kinkaid takes the crease this evening for his first game since April 7, a 4-2 loss on home ice to Tampa Bay.

    Last season, the Devils ranked dead last in the NHL with only 182 goals to their credit, and this season has been more of the same. Taylor Hall has done his part, leading the team with five goals for six points, but more players than Travis Zajac will have to contribute if the Devils want to make the run at the playoffs Schneider deserves.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Chicago‘s Anisimov (nine points [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]), Patrick Kane (six assists [tied for fifth-most in the league] and a +7 [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]) and Panik (six goals [tied for the league lead]) & New Jersey‘s Hall (five goals [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]).

    Bets look to be off the table at most establishments in Sin City, but sportsbook.com still has a line posted at -110 in favor of the Devils. If only Jersey had somebody on their team that could ensure the Hawks would head to the penalty box… Huh. Since that’s not the case, I worry for Kinkaid’s safety against an offense that has scored six goals in their past two games. I’m taking the Hawks.

    Hockey Birthday:

    • Martin Skoula (1979-) – This Czech defenseman played 10 seasons in the NHL with six different teams, but 383 of his 776 games were with Colorado, the team that drafted him 17th in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Three years later, he hoisted the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche.
    • Jack Eichel (1996-) – Buffalo‘s wonder-boy from Boston University scored 56 points in his rookie year, 24 of which were goals to lead the team. Hopefully he’ll return to the ice soon.

    After an eight-round shootout, the Detroit Red Wings extended their all-time record over the St. Louis Blues to 146-136-37.

    Kevin Shattenkirk (Patrik Berglund) opened the scoring at the 22:31 mark of this game, but the Red Wings leveled again with 6:06 remaining in the second period with a Second Star of the Game Frans Nielsen (Darren Helm and Alexey Marchenko) backhander to set the score at one-all, the score that held through the remainder of regulation and overtime. And off to the shootout they went.

    1. Alexander Steen: bingo, Blues up a score.
    2. Nielsen saved by Third Star Jake Allen.
    3. Vladimir Tarasenko straight-up missed the cage.
    4. Gustav Nyquist found the back of the net to tie the shootout.
    5. Shattenkirk: saved by First Star Petr Mrazek.
    6. Dylan Larkin: saved by Allen.
    7. David Perron: third-straight save.
    8. Andreas Athanasiou: mixing it up with a miss.
    9. Nail Yakupov: Mrazek says “No way, bruh.”
    10. Tomas Tatar gets the same memo from Allen.
    11. Robby Fabbri learns that not just Jesus saves.
    12. Riley Sheahan gets some of the same medicine.
    13. Berglund finds Mrazek.
    14. Helm can’t score either.
    15. Dmitrij Jaskin can’t get it done.
    16. Henrik Zetterberg scored so he could go to bed. Wings win 2-1.

    Mrazek earns the victory by saving 31-of-32 shots faced (96.9%), while Allen’s 26-of-27 (96.3%) is only good enough for a shutout loss.

    Detroit‘s victory earned the road teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series another two points, but the homers still have a five-point advantage with a 11-6-2 record.

  • Chicago at St. Louis – Game 7 – Brouwer and the Blues advance

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    With a 3-2 win in the Scottrade Center Monday night, the Blues are off to Dallas after eliminating the arch-rival Chicago Blackhawks.

    Exactly a minute into the game, Jori Lehtera redirected a Jay Bouwmeester shot into the back of Corey Crawford’s net to give the Blues a one-goal lead.  Bouwmeester’s initial shot from the blue line was assisted by Jaden Schwartz.

    The Notes doubled their lead with 6:17 remaining in the opening period with a slap shot from Colton Parayko, assisted by Patrik Berglund and Alexander Steen.  Steen dug the puck out of the corner and passed to Berglund at the near face-off dot.  Berglund dumped off to the rookie, who fired from almost on the blue line to give the Blues their second goal.

    Marian Hossa pulled the Blackhawks back within a goal with a slap shot with 1:30 remaining in the frame.  His third goal of the series was assisted by Richard Panik.  The offensive threat began in the Hawks‘ defensive zone when Schwartz blows an edge and ends up on his back.  Panik collected the puck in the neutral zone and made the cross-ice pass to Hossa just before he crossed the blue line.  Hossa fired his slapper from just outside the right face-off circle.

    Just like they have all series, St. Louis made certain to make their presence along the boards known, as they led the Hawks in hits, 20 to seven.

    Thanks to a Kevin Shattenkirk hooking penalty causing the first power play of the game, Andrew Shaw leveled the game with a wrister assisted by Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith, the only tally of the period.  Keith started the play at the blue line, passing to Toews who quickly dumped to Shaw along the goal line to Second Star of the Game Brian Elliott’s stick side.  In what was probably an attempted pass to Patrick Kane on the opposite side of the crease, Shaw’s puck hit Bouwmeester’s leg as he was sprawled on the ice and trickled past Elliott’s left skate.

    Just as Chicago had the only goal in the second, St. Louis had the lone tally of the third to break the tie and win the series.  The series-clinching goal belongs to First Star Troy Brouwer, his first of this postseason, assisted by Third Star Robby Fabbri and Paul Stastny.  The play starts on Erik Gustafsson’s stick, as he is working to advance the puck into the neutral zone before Fabbri throws a full body check to break possession.  Alex Pietrangelo collected the puck and dumped it back into the offensive zone, where Stastny collected.  Working hard to maintain possession, he finally finds Fabbri in the far face-off circle, who dumps to Brouwer waiting in the crease.  Brouwer’s initial shot finds the right post, and the second was a fan, but the third time was indeed the charm, finding the back of Crawford’s net.

    Elliott earns his first Game 7 win in his first Game 7 appearance, saving 31 of 33 shots faced (93.9%), while Crawford takes the loss, saving 23 of 26 (88.5%).

    As the lower seed, a maximum of only three games will be played in St. Louis next round when they face the Dallas Stars.  No date or time has been released for when that series will begin in North Texas.