Down the Frozen River

Tag: Mark Stone

  • Sick Hands Sunday – Hoffman and Jones Both Go On a Tear to Capture All The Glory For This Week’s Title.

    Hey everyone, I’m back again for a new week of Sick Hands Sunday! Sorry, that I’m getting this week’s article out a day late, I was traveling all day back from Pittsburgh. But here I am, I can’t wait to get another version out to all my fans for you all to enjoy! This week was a little easier to pick the winner so let’s get right into it!

    For the forward position of the article, once again it was pretty easy to pick the winner! So if it keeps going like this picking the winner is going to be easy from here on out and I will love it. I decided to go with Senators left winger Mike Hoffman who registered seven points (4G, 3A) in just four games. In all four games, he had at least one point and had four total power play points in four games as well. Here is how Hoffman did game by game:

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    Hoffman drives into the offensive zone with the puck (Julie Oliver/Postmedia)

    In Hoffman’s first game he tallied an assist in a 2-0 win over the powerhouse New York Rangers. Hoffman’s assist came on the Mark Stone‘s power-play goal to stretch their lead to 2-0 after two periods. Hoffman picked up the puck, skated down the left-hand boards, and threw a pass to the streaking Stone right in the slot. Stone received the pass and quickly fired the pass over Antti Raanta‘s blocker for the goal. Here’s the beautiful pass below:

    In Hoffman’s second game of the week, he recorded four points, including a hat trick and an assist in a 5-4 loss against the struggling Buffalo Sabres. Hoffman’s first goal came off a juicy rebound from a point shot, the puck was kicked back into the slot by Sabres goalie Robin Lehner. He jumped right on the loose puck and slammed it into the back of the net to bring the Sens within a goal at 2-1. Here’s his first of the night:

    With Hoffman’s second of the night, it was a beauty. The play started with Stone bringing the puck down the left-hand side and throwing a cross-ice pass over to Erik Karlsson who skated down to the right-hand dot. Karlsson then dished an amazing pass to Hoffman who was making a B-line right to the front of the net. All Hoffman had to do was redirect the puck into the wide-open net, and he did to bring the Sens back to within a goal at 4-3 at the end of period two.

    For Hoffman’s third and final goal, it was an absolute rocket! Hoffman received a great pass from teammate Dion Phaneuf right into his wheelhouse. Hoffman let the one-timer go and the shot trickled past Sabres goalie Anders Nilsson. That goal capped off a highly impressive night from the young man, but it wasn’t enough as the Sens could not complete the comeback. You can see all his goals in full time down below including the final goal:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GPDrrKFg98

    The Senators then took on the Flyers where Hoffman recorded a power play goal in a 3-2 OT loss. The play all started by Kyle Turris cycling the puck down to Mark Stone below the goal line at the side of the net. Stone spotted Hoffman all alone standing at the side of the net and rifled a pass over to Hoffman who then fired the slap shot into the wide open net to open the scoring at 1-0. You can see his goal below:

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    Jones makes one of his 31 saves during the 2-1 win over Montreal. (Getty Images)

    Hoffman added an another assist in their 2-0 win over the Florida Panthers to round off the week on a high note. Now let’s move on to the goalie portion of the week! For the winner of this week, I decided to go with Sharks goalie Martin Jones who had a stellar week in the net! Jones started three of the Sharks games during the week going 3-0 in that span only letting in three goals finishing with an amazing .962 SV% and a 1.00 GAA. Jones was on fire and no one could score. He is turning his season around after a slow start and boosted his stats up to 13-8-1 with a 1.99 GAA and a .924 SV%. Down below you can see Jones’ absolute larceny on Alex Galchenyuk with a sprawling glove save.

    The Honorable Mention goes to Connor McDavid and Steve Mason I will see you guys next Sunday for another recap of the best player of the week! (Thanks to the Ottawa Senators’ Twitter for the videos of the goals!)

  • November 22 – Day 41 – Where were you in 1917?

    Guess what: yesterday was Monday. You know what that means: it’s Tuesday.

    Now that we’re on the same page, let’s get to why we’re really here: to watch hockey. The action gets underway at the usual 7 p.m. starting time with a couple games (St. Louis at Boston [NBCSN/SN] and Carolina at Toronto), followed half an hour later by two more (Ottawa at Montréal [RDS/RDS2] and Philadelphia at Florida [TVAS]). After those games are over, the New York Islanders at Anaheim (SN) gets green-lit at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    There’s a couple good games this evening, but the one I’m more excited for is happening north of the border.

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    It may not officially have been these Senators that played the Canadiens in the first-ever NHL game in 1917, but since Ottawa returned to the league in ’92, this rivalry has also returned to form, specifically with two playoff meetings in three seasons. Although words were exchanged in both those series, things truly came to a point when P.K. Subban broke Mark Stone‘s wrist with a slash in the 2015 Eastern Quarterfinals. In Game 1. The defenseman may have moved on this off-season, but something tells me Stone has a particularly bad taste in his mouth every time he this red sweater.

    Ottawa enters the Bell Centre with a 10-7-1 record, pinning them in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. What worries me about the Senators this season is that they have a lot of trouble finding scoring, managing only 37 goals so far this season.

    As has been true the last four seasons, defenseman Erik Karlsson leads the Sens in scoring with 14 points, but Kyle Turris has been the one completing Karlsson’s plays with a team-leading eight goals. While the leaders’ numbers aren’t necessarily poor, it’s the fact that only 16 skaters have gotten involved in the scoring this year, leaving the Senators with the second-fewest goals in the league.

    It’s probably no coincidence that Ottawa also ranks second-worst in the league on their power play, successful on only 9.4% of their attempts.

    While offense has been an issue, the Sens have found success defensively, specifically on the penalty kill. Ottawa is home to the third-best kill, neutralizing 88.5% of their infractions.

    Playing host this evening are the league-leading 14-3-2 Canadiens. They’ve certainly been impressive to earn that standing, but I’ve especially liked their offensive efforts, as their 60 goals ties for third-most in the NHL.

    Alex Galchenyuk has been nearly unstoppable so far this campaign, notching 19 points to average a point-per-game. Impressive. Maybe even more impressive, three different skaters (Paul Byron, Galchenyuk and Shea Weber) have notched seven goals, which ties for the club-lead.

    Montréal‘s power play has certainly been something to see as well. Ranking fifth-best in the league, the Habs have found success on 22.8% of their man-advantages, led by Weber’s eight power play points.

    Some players to watch this evening include Montréal‘s Galchenyuk (19 points [tied for seventh-most in the league] for a +12 [tied for eighth-best in the NHL]), Carey Price (11 wins [tied for the league lead] on 1.58 GAA and a .95 save percentage [both third-best in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for fifth-most in the league]) and Weber (+16 [third-best in the NHL]) & Ottawa‘s Craig Anderson (two shutouts [tied for fifth-most in the league] among eight wins [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]).

    I think we’ve got another game with no line, but something tells me I didn’t look in the right spot today. While I do respect Ottawa‘s defense, Montréal is easily the superior team in tonight’s contest. Plan on the Habs defending home ice and earning two points.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Albert Leduc (1902-1990) – How convenient that a defenseman that played for both of today’s featured clubs was born today? Most of his time was spent with the Habs, where he hoisted the Stanley Cup twice.
    • Jacques Laperriere (1941-) – Another Canadien defenseman, Laperrière hoisted the Cup five times and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.
    • Yvan Cournoyer (1943-) – You guessed it, another Hab. Cournoyer played right wing for 16 seasons, and won the Cup eight times in the process. He also won the 1973 Smythe Trophy with 15 goals to go with his 10 assists in 17 playoff games.

    Colorado keeps surprising me. They’ve been featured in the DtFR Game of the Day series twice. I’ve picked against them twice. Yet they’ve come away from both those games with four total points.

    Columbus opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period. Exactly nine minutes after beginning the game, First Star of the Game Cam Atkinson (Brandon Dubinsky and Brandon Saad) gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead with a tip-in tally.

    The Avalanche pulled even 3:05 into the second period with a Tyson Barrie (Mikko Rantanen and Carl Soderberg) slap shot. The nine minute mark seems to be magic in Nationwide Arena, but not always for the home side. Erik Johnson (Nathan MacKinnon and Fedor Tyutin) scored his first goal of the year to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.

    Columbus scored their game-tying goal by the skin of their teeth, waiting until only seven seconds remained in regulation before Atkinson (Sam Gagner and Zach Werenski) buried a snap shot to force overtime.

    In his first game back after missing four with a concussion, Third Star Matt Duchene (Johnson) picked up right where he wanted with a snap shot 1:49 after beginning the three-on-three overtime period to earn the Avs a road victory.

    Second Star Semyon Varlamov earns the victory after saving a whopping 40-of-42 shots faced (95.2%), leaving the overtime loss to Curtis McElhinney, saving 24-of-27 (88.9%).

    With our second-straight game that extended beyond regulation, the DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 24-12-7, favoring the home clubs by 11 points over the roadies.

  • December 18 – Day 72 – First trip to Canada since my return from hiatus!

    It took two goals in the third period, but the Blues were able to hold home ice to beat the Predators and spoil Third Star of the Game Barret Jackman’s homecoming in last night’s Game of the Day.

    Nashville struck first with a power play goal at the 7:14 mark of the first period.  Filip Forsberg and Shea Weber assisted Roman Josi to the Predators‘ lone goal of the night to set the score at 1-0, which held into the first and second intermissions.

    Only 2:38 into the third period, St. Louis leveled the score thanks to Second Star David Backes’ 10th goal of the season, assisted by Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk.  The draw held until the 14:40 mark, when Alexander Steen and Paul Stastny assisted First Star Vladimir Tarasenko to his 20th tally of the season, setting the score at its 2-1 final.

    15-7-2 Jake Allen earned the win after saving 27 of 28 (96.4%), while Pekka Rinne’s record falls to 12-9-6 after saving 31 of 33 (93.9%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 26-10-6, still favoring the home squad by 24 points.  Before anyone points it out, yes, I’m aware that this does not line up with yesterday’s record – This should be the correct record.

    Today’s schedule includes six games, with the first three starting at 7 p.m. eastern (Boston at Pittsburgh [TVAS], Tampa Bay at Washington and Florida at Carolina), with two more following half an hour later (San Jose at Ottawa [RDS] and Vancouver at Detroit [SN]).  Finally, the nightcap gets its start at 8 p.m. eastern when the New York Rangers visit Winnipeg.

    None of tonight’s matchups involve divisional rivalries, and San Jose at Ottawa represents the only game between two playoff qualifiers.  Sounds like reason enough to me to head up to the Canadian Tire Centre!

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    The 16-14-1 San Jose Sharks currently sit in second place in the Pacific Division, but seventh in the Western Conference, utilizing a defensive-first game plan.  They played last night in Toronto, where they won 5-4.

    So far this season, 13-10-1 Martin Jones and the Sharks have given up only 832 shots against (due in part to Brent Burns’ team-leading 64 blocks), a total well below the league average, and those efforts are reflected in their 79 goals against.  Even on the penalty kill, the Sharks have been tough to score on.  They’ve given up only 17 goals on 94 opportunities for a 81.91% kill-rate that slightly exceeds the league average.

    It has been the offense that has been letting the Sharks down this season made evident by only 880 shots on goal so far this year (led by Burns’ 132).  As can be expected from that total, San Jose has only managed 77 goals this season, led by Joe Pavelski’s 14.

    A portion of their offense that especially needs work is the power play.  On 96 opportunities, San Jose has only scored 17 times, for a 17.71% success rate that slightly trails the league average.  If the Sharks want to keep up with the Kings in their division, they need to improve their offensive proficiency.

    The 16-11-5 Ottawa Senators were most recently featured in the Game of the Day series on Wednesday.  You can read a quick summary of their squad here.  Their last game played was that Wednesday game in Washington, where they fell 2-1.

    Some players to watch in today’s game include Ottawa‘s Craig Anderson (14 wins [tied for sixth in the league] and two shutouts [tied for seventh in the league]), Mike Hoffman (17 goals [tied for fourth in the league]), Erik Karlsson (28 assists [tied for league lead] and 35 points [tied for fourth in the league]) and Mark Stone (21 assists [tied for sixth in the league]) & San Jose‘s Jones (three shutouts [tied for fifth in the league] and 14 wins [tied for sixth in the league]) and Pavelski (15 goals [tied for seventh in the league] and 31 points [tied for ninth in the league]).

    Especially since they are playing at home, I expect the Sens to be able to win tonight’s matchup.

  • December 16 – Day 70 – National Capitals

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day between the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers was a good one, as the 4-2 score was not indicative of the competitive play.

    The Blueshirts opened the scoring by notching the only tally of the first period, a snap shot at the 5:04 mark from Second Star of the Game Mats Zuccarello, assisted by Keith Yandle and First Star Rick Nash.

    Almost exactly 20 game minutes later, Taylor Hall fired a wrister after being assisted by Leon Draisaitl and Teddy Purcell to tie the game for Edmonton.  The draw lasted only 2:42 before Third Star Dylan McIlrath scored his first goal of the season, assisted by Yandle and Dominic Moore to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.  Jordan Eberle scored a wrister to knot the game again, assisted by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but the Oilers could not maintain the tie into the third period, as Nash scored on a power play with only 39 seconds remaining, assisted by Zuccarello and Derick Brassard, giving the Blueshirts a 3-2 lead that they would not yield.

    Jesper Fast tacked on an empty netter late in third period, assisted by Dominic Moore and Viktor Stalberg to set the score at the 4-2 final.

    Henrik Lundqvist (15-6-3) earned the win by saving 18 of 20 (90%), while Anders Nilsson’s record falls to 10-8-1 after saving only 17 of 20 (85%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 23-10-5, favoring the home side by 19 points.

    After a busy Tuesday, Wednesday has only two games on the schedule.  The evening gets started at 7 p.m. eastern when Ottawa visits Washington (TVAS/SN), and is followed an hour later by Pittsburgh at Boston (NBCSN).

    Neither of today’s matchups are divisional rivalries, but the Ottawa–Washington game is between two teams currently qualifying for the playoffs.  That game will be the one to focus on today.

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    The 16-10-5 Ottawa Senators currently sit in third place in the Atlantic Division and sixth place in the Western Conference.  To establish this position, they’ve needed to employ a strong offense behind Mike Hoffman to cover their defensive deficiencies.

    That offense has fired the puck 866 times so far this season (led by Hoffman’s 86) for a total of 94 goals (led by Hoffman’s 17), connecting on 10.9% of attempts.  An especially strong point of the offense has been their efforts on the power play, scoring 19 goals (led by Hoffman’s four tallies) on 95 attempts, giving them a 20% success rate.

    The offensive power has been necessary to cover up for issues on the other end of the ice.  Four different goalies have taken their place between the pipes, but 14-9-3 Craig Anderson has taken the lion’s share of the minutes (1,543 of 1,881 available minutes, or 82%).  Anderson and co. have saved 91.8% of 1049 shots for 90 goals against, but within that stat the problem is found, as the save percentage is actually better than the league average.  Although Erik Karlsson has a team-leading 60 blocks, the defense is giving up far too many shots.  If Ottawa wants to be a real threat to the Cup this season, they will need to bolster the blue line.

    The 21-6-2 Washington Capitals were featured in Monday’s Game of the Day.  You can read more about them here. If you don’t want to read the summary, just know that Washington is pretty good.

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Ottawa‘s Anderson (14 wins [tied for fifth in the league] and two shutouts [tied for seventh in the league]), Hoffman (17 goals [fourth in the league] and 30 points [tied for ninth in the league]), Karlsson (27 assists [tied for league lead] and 34 points [fifth in the league]) and Mark Stone (21 assists [tied for fifth in the league]) & Washington‘s Braden Holtby (19 wins [leads the league], 1.87 GAA [leads the league] and .933 save percentage [tied for fourth in the league]), Evgeny Kuznetsov (+15 [tied for second in the league]) and Alex Ovechkin (+13 [tied for seventh in the league]).

    The major hole in this game is represented by Ottawa‘s defense.  Although the offense may be able to cover this hole most nights, Washington‘s defense will not let that happen.  Expect the Caps to hold home ice for the win.

  • October 11 – Day Five – Out of Necessity, Vol. 1

    Last night’s game of the night between St. Louis and Minnesota ended in a 3-2 win for the Wild.  The Blues tied the game at one-all at the 2:49 mark of the second period, a score that held for 13 minutes.  The Wild took a 2-1 lead at the 15:15 mark with a power play goal by Zach Parise, his fourth goal, tying him for the league lead in the young season.  Twenty-one seconds later, Charlie Coyle scored his second goal of the match, the eventual game-winner.

    St. Louis out-shot the Wild 32-19, but Devan Dubnyk held his ground by stopping 93.8% of shots faced to earn the win.

    Today’s Game of the Day is quite the tough decision.  On the schedule tonight is Montréal at Ottawa (7 p.m. eastern, NHL Network/SN1) and… oh… nobody else… guess that makes things easier!

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    Similar to last night’s game, this matchup is both a divisional rivalry and a rematch from last year’s conference quarterfinals.  Last season, Montréal won the Atlantic Division, 11 points better then the Wild Card Sens.  That being said, Ottawa won the regular season series 3-1 before falling in six games to the Habs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Currently, there is a four-way tie for the division lead between the Bolts, Habs, Sens and Wings at four points apiece, therefore the winner of this game will own the division for a night.  You know, ‘cuz that’s important without even a full week played in the season.

    Some players to keep a watch on include Ottawa‘s Mark Stone (three assists, tied for fifth in league) and Kyle Turris (three goals, tied for fourth in league; four points, tied for seventh in league) and Montréal‘s Alex Galchenyuk (three assists, tied for fifth in league), Andrei Markov (+4 Corsi rating, tied for sixth in league) and P.K. Subban (+4 Corsi rating, tied for sixth in league).

    The Sens are favored in tonight’s game at -124.