Down the Frozen River

Tag: Luke Glendening

  • January 25 – Day 102 – Red and blue aren’t just election rivals

    Tuesday’s gone, but Wednesday is here – and brings with it some more hockey games. Toronto at Detroit (SN) gets things started at 7 p.m., followed an hour later by Philadelphia at the New York Rangers (NBCSN/TVAS). We move west of the Mississippi River at 9:30 p.m. with Vancouver at Colorado (SN360), with tonight’s nightcap – Edmonton at Anaheim – starting half an hour later. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Toronto at Detroit: Simply calling this an Original Six game is an insult to years of deep rivalry.
    • Philadelphia at New York: Just like other teams in their respective towns, the Flyers and Rangers have a history of not getting along.

    As much as I dislike featuring the same team two days in a row, Detroit has another big game tonight against the Maple Leafs. Time to break out the red sweaters, boys! You’ve got some rivals coming to town!

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    To put things simply, if the Bruins and Canadiens didn’t have their deep playoff history, this would be the rivalry everyone in hockey would look forward to.

    Ever since the Red Wings were formed, these clubs have clashed both on the ice as well as in the stands, as Detroit and Toronto are separated by only 210 miles. They’ve faced one another 23 times in the playoffs – including seven meetings in the Stanley Cup finals – with the Wings owning a one-playoff game advantage with a 59-58 record.

    Toronto enters tonight with a 22-14-9 record and in possession of the second wildcard in the Eastern Conference, their best positioning in the standings in a long time. They’ve found that success by playing well on the offensive end to score 139 goals in 45 games – the sixth-best rate in the league.

    When half of your team’s top-six scorers are rookies, the rebuild looks like it is in good shape. That’s the case in Toronto, as youngster Mitch Marner leads his club with 39 points. The same goes for goalscoring, as first-overall pick Auston Matthews owns that title for the Leafs with his 22 tallies.

    Just as Detroit struggles without a reliable power play, Toronto excels with their impressive man-advantage. Led by William Nylander, yet another rookie, and his 15 power play points, the Maple Leafs score on 24.1% of their extra-man opportunities – the second-best rate in the NHL. Nazem Kadri takes credit for the most man-advantage goals on the club with 10 to his credit.

    Toronto has also found great success with their other special team, refusing to yield a goal on 85.2% of opposing power plays – the fourth-best rate in the league. Roman Polak gets to take a lot of the credit with his club-topping 24 shorthanded blocks.

    Boston, Philadelphia and Toronto have been alternating between playoff qualification and ninth in the Eastern Conference for the last couple of weeks, and that trend could continue tonight. A loss by Toronto opens them up to falling out of the playoff bracket, while earning only a point would improve them into third place in the Atlantic Division, replacing the Bruins.

    Things haven’t quite been going 20-19-9 Detroit‘s way – especially lately, as they’ve fallen in overtime in their last three games. For the first time in ages, the Wings find themselves in second-to-last in the Atlantic Division and third-to-last in the Eastern Conference, yet they enter play tonight trailing the second wildcard by only four points.

    The main reason for their struggles has been their uninspiring offense, which has managed only 117 goals – the seventh-fewest in the league. That being said, Captain Henrik Zetterberg has done all he can to fight that trend with his team-leading 33 points, as have Dylan Larkin and the injured Thomas Vanek, who co-lead the team with a dozen tallies.

    One of the biggest reasons for the Wings‘ lack of offensive success ranks 30th in the league. Detroit is home to the worst power play in the league, converting only 11.3% of their opportunities. Frans Nielsen has tried his hardest to resolve that issue, but his club-leading eight power play points simply aren’t cutting it. Neither are Larkin and Vanek’s three man-advantage goals.

    A win tonight would not pull the Wings into playoff position, but it can propel them all the way from 14th to 10th. Even if they continue their recent trend of forcing overtime before losing, they make a significant climb up the table, advancing into 11th.

    These clubs have only met once this season, and it was not under usual circumstances. On New Year’s Day, Detroit and Toronto celebrated the 100th anniversary of the NHL by playing the Centennial Classic at BMO Field (home pitch of Toronto FC). The Leafs won that game 5-4 in overtime.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Detroit‘s Luke Glendening (108 hits [leads the team]) and Zetterberg (33 points, including 24 assists for a +9 [all lead the team]) & Toronto‘s Frederik Andersen (20 wins [10th-most in the NHL]) and Matthews (22 goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]).

    Vegas has marked the Wings a +116 underdog in tonight’s game, and that might be giving Joe Louis Arena a little too much credit. Toronto has proven they have the ability to compete with some of the best teams in the league, and they’ll want to ensure they maintain their position in the standings with a victory tonight. I don’t see the Leafs falling this evening.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Chris Chelios (1962-) – Drafted 40th-overall by Montréal in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, this defenseman pulled managed simply a Hall of Fame career over 26 seasons. He played most of his games with Chicago, but spent more seasons in Detroit. Regardless of if he’s remembered more as a Hawk or Wing, he played in 11 All Star games and hoisted just as many Stanley Cups as Norris Trophies: three.
    • Esa Tikkanen (1965-) – Edmonton picked this left wing in the fourth-round of the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, and he returned them with four Stanley Cups. He won his fifth and final in 1994 with the Rangers.
    • Randy McKay (1967-) – A sixth-round selection by Detroit in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, this right wing spent most of his career in New Jersey. He won two Stanley Cups over his 15-season career, both with the Devils.
    • Jared Cowen (1991-) – Although drafted by Ottawa ninth-overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, this blueliner currently finds himself out of a job after losing his grievance hearing with Toronto and subsequently being cut. He has 249 games played over six seasons of experience.

    For the third time in four days, the DtFR Game of the Day required more than 60 minutes to determine a winner. That winner last night proved to be the Boston, who beat the Red Wings 4-3 in overtime.

    Of the three regulation periods, the first was the busiest. It got off to a quick start when Kevan Miller (Tim Schaller and Dominic Moore) scored his first goal of the season only 3:39 after the initial puck drop. The Bruins‘ lead lasted only 7:20 until Andreas Athanasiou (Third Star of the Game Mike Green and Niklas Kronwall) leveled with a snap shot. First Star Brad Marchand (Ryan Spooner and Second Star David Pastrnak) reclaimed the lead for Boston with 2:26 remaining in the period with his power play wrister, setting the score at 2-1 going into the first intermission.

    The second period absolutely belonged to the Red Wings, beginning with Green’s (Zetterberg and Gustav Nyquist) tip-in at the 6:25 mark to level the match. With 9:09 remaining in the period, Tomas Tatar (Zetterberg) provided Detroit its first lead with a strong wrister.

    The game was tied again at the 8:20 mark of the final frame, courtesy of Marchand (Patrice Bergeron and Torey Krug). As neither team was able to break the draw, the game advanced into the five-minute three-on-three overtime period.

    That extra time nearly resulted in a shootout if not for Pastrnak’s (David Krejci and Brandon Carlo) slap shot with 47 seconds remaining. That tally earned the Bruins the extra point in the standings.

    Tuukka Rask earned the victory by saving 23-of-26 shots faced (88.5%), leaving the overtime loss to Jared Coreau, who saved 45-of-49 (91.8%).

    Home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series are now on a two-game winning streak thanks to Boston‘s victory. Hosts now own a six-point advantage over the visitors with their 54-34-16 record in the series.

  • Drouin and Kucherov Take Over Game 4

    The Tampa Bay Lighting defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in game 4 of the series. Tampa now has a stranglehold on Detroit with a 3-1 series lead. Nikita Kucherov and Jonathan Drouin had 3-point nights, as Drouin had 3 assists and Kucherov had 2 goals and an assist. Tampa had a great night on special teams going 3/5 on the powerplay. Unknown-1

    The first period started when just five minutes into the game Justin Abdelkader took a holding penalty. On the Powerplay Tampa was able to open the scoring as Nikitia Kucherov his 4th of the playoffs off a one-timer. Jonathan Drouin and Tyler Johnson picked up assists on the goal. Petr Mrazek was keeping Detroit in the game making a lot of really good saves. The momentum began to switch and Detroit started using their speed, but couldn’t seem to beat Ben Bishop.

    In the second period Tampa retook momentum with a strong forecheck that seemed to keep Detroit pinned in their zone. Drouin was having a great night on the forecheck as he was playing the pest role, picking the pockets of the D-men. No surprise, the pressure caused Detroit to take another penalty as Riley Sheahan took a slashing penalty. Kucherov struck again on the powerplay after a great pass by Jonathan Drouin, extending Tampa’s lead to 2-0.

    With 7 minutes left in the period, Cedric Paquette took his 3rd penalty of the game. Right after the penalty expired, Darren Helm capitalized on a lucky bounce to cut the lead in half, and picking up assists on the goal were Brendan Smith and Luke Glendening. Detroit wasn’t done yet, though. With less than 10 seconds left in the period, Gustav Nyquist scored his first of the playoffs. Riley Sheahan made a great pass over the D-man to Nyquist, who put it by Bishop. Unknown-1

    Detroit started the 3rd period much better than the first two periods, and was outshooting Tampa 6-2 early. Detroit thought they had taken the lead as Larkin hit the crossbar with a backhand. The red hot Tampa powerplay unit got another chance as Jonathan Ericsson took a crosschecking penalty. On that powerplay, Jonathan Drouin had another great pass to find Ondrej Palat for the tip in and gave Tampa the lead, 3-2. They were able to see the game out and take the 3-1 lead in the series.

    The next game between the Red Wings and the Lightning will be Thursday, April 21 at 7pm Eastern time at Amalie Arena.

  • November 6 – Day 31 – Hooray, it’s a divisional rivalry…

    The Minnesota Wild tried valiantly to level score with a two-man advantage, but were unable to put their third tally past First Star of the Game Pekka Rinne and fell 3-2 to the Nashville Predators.

    The Predators waited 36:06 before opening the evening’s scoring.  Mike Fisher earned the honors after taking an assist from Shea Weber and firing a snap shot past Dubnyk.  That score lit a fire under the Wild though, as Second Star Marco Scandella scored a power play goal, assisted by Ryan Suter and Mikko Koivu, only 1:30 later to level the score, which held into the second intermission.

    It may have taken over half an hour for Nashville to score their first goal, but it only took 12 seconds into the third period to score their second, notched by Third Star Roman Josi.  Minnesota leveled the score again 6:39 later when Matt Dumba fired a power play slapshot after being assisted by Jared Spurgeon and Jason Zucker.  The final goal of the evening was Cody Hodgson’s first of the season, scored at the 14:39 mark.

    Minnesota‘s Devan Dubnyk earned his third loss of the season (7-3-1 overall) after saving 21 of 24 (87.5%) while Nashville‘s Pekka Rinne saved 27 of 29 (93.1%) to improve his record to 7-1-2.

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 18-8-4, favoring the home squad by 14 points.  Minnesota‘s perfect record in the Game of the Day series falls to 3-1-0, while Nashville earned their first win in their first appearance.

    Today’s schedule features six matchups, so it’s a slight break before Saturday.  Detroit at Toronto (TVAS), Chicago at New Jersey and Dallas at Carolina all begin the festivities at 7 p.m. eastern.  Beginning at 9 p.m. eastern are two more games (the New York Rangers at Colorado and Pittsburgh at Edmonton [SN]), followed an hour later by tonight’s nightcap: Columbus at Anaheim.

    The Wings–Leafs game is the only divisional rivalry being played tonight, and there are no games between two teams currently qualifying for the playoffs.  Although this matchup has already been featured this season, we’ll watch Round Two of the Babcock Series.

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    An Original Six game is always fun, right?

    The 6-5-1 Detroit Red Wings currently sit in fifth place in the Atlantic Division and and ninth in the Eastern Conference, both due to losing a tiebreaker against the Boston Bruins.  They enter the game on a two-game winning streak, with their most recent victory coming against the Lightning, whom they beat 2-1 on Tuesday.

    The season has not started the way the Wings would have liked, to the point that many (including us at DtFR) are beginning to wonder if the incredible steak of 24 straight Stanley Cup playoff appearances may be in jeopardy.

    Beginning with the offense, we find a squad that has only put 306 shots on goal for 30 tallies (9.8%).  Since that shot percentage leads the league average by .7%, if might be argued that the Wings could find more offensive success if they found a better way to get pucks on goal (quite the Maddenism, I know), but I’m not convinced that would fix many problems in Motown.

    The power play is close to being on par with the rest of the league, as they have the average eight goals to their credit, but have earned two more opportunities than most teams, putting their 19.05% below the league average by .95%.

    If you had to pick an end of the ice the Wings have been better on, you’d have to lean towards the goaltending.  They’ve allowed only 31 goals so far this season on 386 shots (92.7% save rate).  Both Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek have three wins apiece, but they’ve had to work overtime as their leading shot blocker has been Luke Glendening (17), a CENTER.

    Continuing with the average theme, Detroit‘s penalty kill is in the same boat.  They’ve given up eight goals, just like the average team, but they’ve had to defend against four more opportunities.  Again, a .71% advantage over the league average is not enough for me to believe that this team has what it takes to be a real threat this season.

    Luckily for Detroit, average just might cut it tonight against the 2-8-2 Toronto Maple Leafs.  Neither the offense nor the defense has been turning many heads in Hogtown, as they sit in last place in both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.  They enter tonight’s game after losing to the Jets 4-2 on Wednesday.

    Beginning with the offense, we find a team that has notched only 26 tallies on 362 shots (7.2%).  Worse than that has been the power play, as they’ve only accounted for five goals with a man-advantage.  To their credit, they’ve only been on the power play 35 times, but a 14.29% success rate does not bode well, regardless of Toronto‘s opponent.

    On the other end of the ice, the Leafs have given up 40 goals so far this season, seven more than the league average.  One 363 shots faced, James Reimer and co.’s 90.4% save percentage trails the league average by one percent.  Luckily for the defense, Morgan Rielly (who deserves a raise based on this stat alone) leads the team with 20 blocks for his goaltenders, but it hasn’t been enough to keep pressure off the netminders.

    Even worse has been the penalty kill.  Ten goals have been given up by the Leafs‘ special teams for a kill rate of 76.19%, yet another stat that trails the league average.

    Babcock has been quoted as saying this was going to be a painful rebuild.  If I were Toronto, I’d be looking for some Advil, and if they’re nice, they should probably share some with any friends they have in Michigan, as neither team looks to have much optimism for this season at minimum.

    Toronto is expected to lose with a +111 line, which is further supported by statistics and the Wings beating the Leafs 4-0 when they met almost a month ago at the Joe (you can read a quick-and-dirty recap of it here).  Expect the Wings to get out of Toronto with a win.