Down the Frozen River

Tag: Matthews

  • January 13 – Day 90 – Ready for an Original Six game?

    It’s finally Friday, so sit back and watch some hockey after that stressful business week. The action gets started at 7 p.m. with two games (Toronto at the New York Rangers and Chicago at Washington [NHLN]), followed half an hour later by two more (the New York Islanders at Florida and Buffalo at Carolina). Columbus at Tampa Bay (SN/TVAS) drops the puck at 8 p.m., trailed an hour later by tonight’s co-nightcaps (New Jersey at Calgary and Winnipeg at Arizona).

    Short list:

    • Toronto at New York: It’s another Original Six game this evening, this one taking place at Madison Square Garden.
    • New York at Florida: Last postseason, the Islanders upset Florida in the Eastern Quarterfinals before falling to Tampa Bay.

    Don’t tell anybody, but Toronto is only four points out of playoff position, and tonight’s game in the Big Apple will be a good test to see if they’re capable of acting  on the opportunity.

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    The Leafs make their lone trip of the season to Manhattan with an 18-13-8 record. The main problem for Toronto has been their defense and goaltending, which has allowed 111 goals against – only the 15th-fewest in the league.

    With the exception of six games, 17-9-7 Frederik Andersen has always been the man in charge of the crease for the Maple Leafs this season. So far, he’s saved .918 percent of shots faced for a 2.69 GAA, which ties for 18th and 27th-best among the 44 goalies with 17 or more appearances.

    While Andersen has been far from impressive, he can’t shoulder the entire blame. The Leafs have allowed an average of 32.6 shots-per-game to reach Andersen’s crease, tied for the fourth-worst in the league. Morgan Rielly has given all he can and more to Toronto, as he leads the club with 67 shot blocks.

    If the Leafs truly want to make a playoff push, I’d expect them to be active at the trade deadline to bring in a quality defenseman.

    Although the Leafs have tied for the seventh-best effort on the penalty kill with a 83.6% kill rate (led by Roman Polak‘s 16 short-handed blocks), percentages can be deceiving. Toronto averages 11:35 penalty minutes per game, the second-highest in the NHL, and Andersen has struggled mightily. He’s allowed 19 power play goals to slip past him, which ties for the seventh-most in the league.

    Fortunately, Toronto has been very successful on the power play. Led by William Nylander and his 15 power play points, the Maple Leafs bury the puck 22.4% of the time with the man-advantage, the seventh-best rate in the league. Nazem Kadri has been the one responsible for most of those situational goals, with eight to his credit (tied for the fourth-most in the NHL).

    You know you’re in a tough division when you’re riding a two-game winning streak and have the fifth-best point percentage in the NHL, yet you’re still only in a wild card spot. That’s the position the 28-13-1 Rangers find themselves in, although that can change with a win tonight, as they could take advantage of Pittsburgh‘s two-game losing skid and jump into third place in the division. As they have been all season, they’ll be led by their dominant offense that has accounted for a league-leading 144 points.

    Although it’s more than a two-headed assault, the main pair getting a lot of the praise right now in New York are Kevin Hayes and Derek Stepan, both of whom have an impressive 31 points to their credit. Of course, they’ve mostly been facilitators. The striker on this team is still Michael Grabner with his 19 tallies.

    As you might expect, the Blueshirts‘ power play is no slouch. In fact, they’re third best in the league, successful on 23.2% of their opportunities. Ryan McDonagh has been at the forefront of that effort with nine power play points, but hasn’t been the one scoring the goals. That duty has been shared by Chris Kreider, Rick Nash, Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Vesey, all of whom have four power play goals.

    Even the penalty kill has been impressive, refusing to yield to the opposition’s man-advantage 83% of the time, the 10th-best effort in the league. Kevin Klein gets to take a lot of responsibility for that ranking, as his 16 shorthanded blocks are tops on the club.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include New York‘s Grabner (+22 [fifth-best in the NHL]), Nick Holden (+20 [tied for seventh-best in the league]) and Henrik Lundqvist (18 wins [tied for eighth-most in the NHL]) & Toronto‘s Andersen (17 wins [10th-most in the league]) and Auston Matthews (21 goals [tied for third-most in the NHL]).

    Vegas has put a -137 next to the Rangers‘ name to indicate they’re the favorites this evening. It’s hard to argue with, given their success regardless of who they’re playing. Until Toronto can put together a full game on a regular basis, they will not be able to stand up to talented teams like New York.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Art Ross (1886-1964) – It’s nearly impossible to fully summarize all Ross did. The defenseman won two Stanley Cups as a player, and tacked on an additional three as a coach or general manager for Boston. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1949, and the yearly award for the season’s leading scorer is named in his honor.
    • Cesare Maniago (1939-) – This goaltender played 568 games over 15 seasons in the NHL, mostly with the North Stars. He completed his career with a 190-257-97 record on a 3.27 GAA.
    • Kelly Hrudey (1961-) – Another netminder, the Islanders drafted Hrudey 38th-overall in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. That being said, he spent most of his 15 seasons in Los Angeles en route to a 271-265-88 career record.
    • Nikolai Khabibulin (1973-) – Drafted in the ninth round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the original Jets, this goaltender would’ve been a steal 100 picks earlier. The Bulin Wall finished his 18-season career with a 333-334-97 record, four All Star selections and a 2004 Stanley Cup title while in Tampa Bay.
    • Sergei Brylin (1974-) – The 42nd-overall pick in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft played his entire career with the club that drafted him – New Jersey. During that time, he notched 308 points to win three Stanley Cups.
    • Marc Staal (1987-) – The middle Staal brother was the 12th-overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Rangers, and that’s where he’s played every since. Over his entire career, he’s notched a +40.
    • Connor McDavid (1997-) – In only 88 career games, the first pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by Edmonton has already notched 96 points. There’s no ifs about it: he will be the next superior player, if he’s not already.
    • Ivan Provorov (1997-) – The seventh-overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by Philadelphia, this defenseman has finally joined the Flyers this season. He’s made quite the impact, tying Shayne Gostisbehere with 19 points for most by a Philly blueliner.

    Talk about an evening of comebacks. First, Third Star of the Game Taylor Hall made his return to Edmonton. Then, the Oilers scored a game-tying goal with 7:24 remaining in regulation to force overtime, which they used to beat the Devils 3-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    The lone goal of the first period belonged to Travis Zajac (Kyle Palmieri and Michael Cammalleri) and the visiting Devils. He tipped-in his shot with 1:54 remaining in the frame to put New Jersey ahead going into intermission.

    Edmonton pulled the game back even almost immediately after returning to the ice. 16 seconds after the initial puck drop, Andrej Sekera (Second Star Leon Draisaitl and Adam Larsson) scored a snapper to tie the game at one-all. That draw lasted until 51 seconds remained in the second period, when Steven Santini (Hall and P.A. Parenteau) scored the first goal of his career. Once again, Jersey took a one-goal lead into the dressing room.

    As stated before, the Oilers tied the game with 7:24 remaining in regulation off a wrister from First Star Patrick Maroon (Draisaitl and McDavid). Neither side was able to break the knot, so the game advanced into three-on-three overtime.

    Only 1:50 into the five-minute period, Draisaitl (McDavid and Oscar Klefbom) ended the game in the home club’s favor with an impressive slap shot, his 16th goal of the season.

    Cam Talbot earned the victory after saving 16-of-18 shots faced (88.9%), leaving the loss to Cory Schneider, who saved 31-of-34 (91.2%).

    The Oilers‘ victory is the second-straight by a home club in the DtFR Game of the Day series, improving the hosts’ record to 49-29-14, 10 points better than the visitors.

  • January 1 – Day 78 – Centennial Classic

    Wake up, sleepyheads! I don’t care how late you stayed up! We’ve got to get this year started off right and the only way to do that is with hockey!

    The action starts at 3 p.m. with Detroit at Toronto (NBC/SN/TVAS) at Exhibition Stadium – you know, where the Argonauts and Toronto FC play. Ottawa at Washington (SN/TVAS) drops the puck at 7:30 p.m., followed half an hour later by tonight’s nightcap: Philadelphia at Anaheim (NHLN). All times eastern.

    All three games are going to be very exciting, but only one is a rivalry. Oh, and it’s also being played outside, which seems to get everybody excited. We’ll head up to Toronto just in case something cool happens.

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    BMO Field  – that’s the usual name of this facility – has certainly seen some special events this season. It was the site of TFC‘s MLS Eastern Conference-clinching effort, making them the first-ever Canadian participant in the MLS Cup. Unfortunately, they lost the scoreless title game to the Seattle Sounders in penalty kicks, earning the Sounders their first Cup.

    Also, the Argonauts… played football… sometimes.

    The same could also be played for today’s visitors. For 25-straight seasons, Detroit has played at least four games beyond their regular season schedule, but at 16-16-4, it looks like more than Joe Louis Arena will be coming to an end. The main culprit? A lackadaisical offense that has managed only 84 goals – the fifth-fewest in the NHL.

    The ‘C’ on Henrik Zetterberg‘s chest is important to him, and it shows in his play. He leads his club with 25 points, acting most of the time as a facilitator. The Wings‘ sniper is the same kid it was last year. Dylan Larkin has 10 tallies to his credit, most on the team.

    Yesterday we featured the best power play in the game. Today, Detroit represents the worst, successful on only 12% of opportunities. It’s with the man-advantage that Frans Nielsen truly shines, as his seven power play points are tops on the club. Larkin once again tops the Wings‘ goal chart with the extra man, but he shares the title with Thomas Vanek as both have lit the lamp three times.

    Although they’re nearly five kilometers (that’s three miles, Americans) from their usual surface, the 16-12-7 Maple Leafs play host this evening. Winners of their last four, they’re the fifth-best team in the Atlantic Division even though they’re tied for the 12th-most goals scored.

    Unfortunately in the Eastern Conference this year, 12th-most is not good enough to break into a playoff position, even when Toronto‘s defense/goaltending is even better than their offense. Star rookie Auston Matthews has been at the head of the Leafs‘ attack, notching 30 points in 35 games. 18 of those points have been goals, which is also the best mark on the squad.

    Defensively, the Leafs are at their best when down a man. They’ve properly defended 84.9% of opposing power plays, the sixth-best mark in the NHL. Zach Hyman and Roman Polak have both been at the head of that effort, with 14 shorthanded blocks apiece.

    Let us not forget that it was not randomly the Red Wings to visit Toronto this fine first day of 2017. This rivalry is as old as the league itself and has been played out in the Stanley Cup playoffs more than every other rivalry other than Boston-Montréal. Even though they haven’t faced since 1993 in that capacity, don’t think the animosity between these fan-bases has dwindled any since then.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Detroit‘s Jimmy Howard (.934 save percentage [tied for second-best in the league] for a 1.96 GAA [fourth-best in the NHL]) & Toronto‘s Frederik Andersen (.925 save percentage [ninth-best in the league] for 15 wins [tied for eighth-most in the NHL]) and Matthews (18 goals [fifth-most in the league]).

    Vegas has marked the Maple Leafs a -150 favorite, and I’d be shocked if the Wings pull even a point out of Hogtown. Although Howard is going to give his best shot, Toronto‘s offense is far superior to the Wings‘ and will be able to power the Leafs to victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Calum MacKay (1927-2001) – A Red Wing for six games, this left wing played most of his seven seasons in Montréal. He was an All Star selection and hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1953.
    • Dave Silk (1958-) – This right wing was the 59th-overall pick in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft by the Rangers, and he played most of his seven-season career with the club. Just like MacKay, Silk had a brief tenure in Detroit, but he’s most known for his gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games.
    • Bobby Holik (1971-) – The 10th-overall pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by Hartford, this center played most of his 18-season career in New Jersey. While there, he was twice named to the All Star team and also hoisted two Stanley Cups.
    • Jeff Carter (1985-) – This two-time Cup winning center was the 11th-overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by Philadelphia, the club he’s technically played most his games with. Of course, it looks like his tenure in Los Angeles will continue well beyond this season and we’ll forever remember him a King.
    • Gilbert Brule (1987-) – Columbus picked this center sixth-overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, and that’s who he spent most of his eight NHL seasons with. Nowadays, this Canadian is playing in Croatia with the Medveščak Zagreb in KHL.
    • Devin Setoguchi (1987-) – The eighth-overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by San Jose, this right wing is in his ninth NHL season, playing this year for Los Angeles.

    Columbus‘ winning streak extends to 15-straight, thereby ending Minnesota‘s at 12, after a 4-2 Blue Jackets victory in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    The first goal of the day was struck with 9:55 remaining in the first period, belonging to First Star of the Game Cam Atkinson (Brandon Dubinsky) and the Jackets. It was the lone tally of the first frame.

    3:29 after returning to the ice, Jack Johnson (Brandon Saad and Alexander Wennberg) doubled Columbus‘ lead to 2-0, and Atkinson (Ryan Murray and Markus Nutivaara) buried the eventual game-winning goal only 15 seconds later. The Wild finally got on the board with a power play wrister from Mikael Granlund (Third Star Jared Spurgeon and Mikko Koivu) at the 5:58 mark to set the score at 3-1, but Columbus had one more trick up their sleeve: a Seth Jones (Saad and Nick Foligno) snap shot with 2:25 remaining in the period to resume their three-goal lead.

    Only 24 seconds after resuming play in the third period, Jason Zucker (Granlund and Spurgeon) buried a backhand shot to set the score at 4-2, but the Wild were unable to pose anymore of a threat to lose their first contest since December 2.

    Second Star Sergei Bobrovsky earns the victory after saving 29-of-31 shots faced (93.5%), leaving the loss to Devan Dubnyk, who saved 21-of-25 (84%).

    The Jackets‘ road victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 44-24-12, favoring the home squads by 14 points over the roadies.

  • December 19 – Day 68 – Carlyle Cup

    It’s a’ight though, the NHL has you covered with five games to take your mind off going back to work. The action begins at 7 p.m. with two contests (Nashville at Philadelphia [TVAS] and Detroit at Carolina), followed half an hour later by Anaheim at Toronto. Edmonton visits St. Louis at 8 p.m., and tonight’s contest – Calgary at Arizona – drops thee puck an hour after that.

    We’ve featured tons of players returning to their old home arenas this season, but tonight the focus is the man behind Anaheim‘s bench: Head Coach Randy Carlyle.

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    Carlyle’s first stint with the Ducks began before the 2005 season, followed only a season later by Anaheim‘s first Stanley Cup victory. He held onto the job until November 30, 2011 when Bob Murray pulled the plug after a 7-13-4 start.

    He was only unemployed a little over three months before accepting the job in Toronto on March 2, 2012. He took over a 29-28-7 Leafs team that was only five points out of a playoff position, but he failed to spark the turnaround necessary to get the Leafs into the postseason.

    Carlyle managed that turnaround only a season later, qualifying his club for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in nine seasons. With a 4-1 lead in Game 7, the Leafs got within 10 minutes of advancing to the Eastern Semifinals, but the Bruins stormed back by scoring three goals in the final 10:42 of the third period to force overtime – including two goals in the final 1:22 – and then Patrice Bergeron sealed the victory to eliminate Toronto from contention.

    Since then, Carlyle’s club amassed a 59-52-11 before he was relieved of his duties on January 6, 2015. After a year and a half out of the game, he’s back where it all began to head the Ducks to a 16-11-5 record, good for second place in the Pacific Division. His team has found that success with a solid offense that has notched 90 goals already this season, the eighth-most in the league.

    It’s been all about the Ryans for the Ducks so far this year, as both Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler have 27 points to their credit to co-lead the squad. That being said, it’s been Rickard Rakell who has arguably been most impressive, as he has lit the lamp 14 times to lead the team, and in only 21 games.

    Much of that success is due to an impressive man-advantage. Anaheim is tied for the second-best power play in the league, finding success on 24.3% of their attempts. Kesler has truly been dominant with the extra man, as his 13 power play points and seven power play goals are both best on the squad.

    Carlyle’s ex-club wishes they were having such success. After a hot start to the season, the Leafs have regressed to where most expected them to be: seventh place in the Atlantic Division. At 12-11-7, Toronto has struggled more on their defensive end having allowed 86 scores for the 11th-highest goals-against average in the NHL.

    12-7-6 Frederik Andersen (yes, Ducks fans. That Frederik Andersen.) has been in net for all but seven of Toronto‘s games, and has earned a .919 save percentage and 2.63 GAA – the (t)18th and 25th-best effort, respectively, among the 43 goaltenders with 13 or more appearances.

    While Lou Lamoriello was certainly expecting more from Andersen when he traded for him, the goaltender cannot shoulder all the blame as his blueline allows a whopping 32.3 shots-per-game to reach his crease, the fourth-highest rate in the game. With his team-leading 52 blocks, Morgan Rielly has done all he can to help his goalie out, but he and Nikita Zaitsev are the only two defensemen who have more than 40 shot blocks to their credit. Andersen has already proven in the past that he is a capable goalie when he is not overworked, so Toronto‘s next step in their rebuild should be to improve their defensive corps.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Anaheim‘s Getzlaf (24 assists [second-most in the NHL]) and Rakell (14 goals [tied for seventh-most in the league]) & Toronto‘s Auston Matthews (14 goals [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]).

    Given Anaheim‘s proclivity to score is matched with Toronto‘s willingness to concede, I’m liking the Ducks to earn Carlyle a win in his old stomping grounds. Of course, that’s all provided Matthews doesn’t try to screw up another one of my predictions.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Doug Harvey (1924-1989) – 14 of Harvey’s 19 seasons were spent in Montréal, and he was not your average defenseman. A 13-time All Star, he hoisted six Stanley Cups with his seven Norris Trophies. He capped his career in 1973 when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Habs also retired his number two in 1985.
    • Eric Weinrich (1966-) – Another defenseman, Weinrich was drafted 32nd-overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey. He ended up playing 1157 games over 17 seasons with eight different teams. He spent most of his time in Chicago.
    • Matt Stajan (1983-) – A second-round pick by Toronto in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, this center is in the midst of his eighth season with Calgary. So far in his career, he’s notched 390 points, including 139 goals.

    It wasn’t the walk in Central Park I expected it to be for the Rangers, but they were able to defeat New Jersey 3-2 in the shootout in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Not a single score was struck until 24:37 had passed. Helped by a Marc Staal delay of game penalty, P.A. Parenteau (Kyle Palmieri and Damon Severson) got the Devils on the board with a power play tip-in. It was the lone goal of the second period.

    8:10 into the final frame, the Rangers leveled when Chris Kreider (Mats Zuccarello and Brady Skjei) buried a snap shot. With 9:28 remaining in regulation, the Devils again stole the lead when Miles Wood (Adam Henrique and Palmieri) buried a snapper of his own, but the Blueshirts once again leveled, this time via Derek Stepan (Ryan McDonagh and Kevin Klein) with only 73 seconds to spare in regulation.

    As neither team was able to break the tie in that time nor the five minute three-on-three overtime period, the game advanced to the shootout, where the Rangers elected to go first.

    1. Zuccarello made good on that decision when he scored, putting New York up 1-0.
    2. Parenteau tried to counter, but failed. His shot was saved by First Star of the Game Henrik Lundqvist.
    3. Jimmy Vesey was up next, but his attempt was rejected by Second Star Cory Schneider.
    4. Taylor Hall was called on next for the Devils, but his shot met the same fate Parenteau’s did.
    5. With the opportunity to win the game, Stepan tried to do too much and blatantly missed the net, leaving the door open for Jersey.
    6. Michael Cammalleri took advantage by beating Lundqvist to force the shootout to extra frames.
    7. Kevin Hayes must perform well under pressure, as he handled sudden death with ease. He improved the Rangers‘ shootout score to 2-1 to force the Devils into a miss-and-lose situation.
    8. Unfortunately, Severson did just that, failing to put his shot on frame.

    Lundqvist earned his second win in as many nights by saving 29-of-31 shots faced (93.5%), leaving the shootout loss to Scheider, saving 25-of-27 (92.6%).

    Not only was it our second-straight shootout contest, but it was the first home winner in the DtFR Game of the Day series since last Sunday. The home squads now have a 37-22-11, favoring them over the roadies by seven points.

  • November 11 – Day 30 – Flyers bring the air to Air Canada Centre

    For the first time in a while, we have a busy Friday schedule – something I think we can all enjoy. Per usual, the action gets started at 7 p.m. (New Jersey at Buffalo and Philadelphia at Toronto [TVAS]) with Los Angeles at Ottawa (RDS) trailing half an hour later. 8:30 p.m. marks the puck drop of Washington at Chicago and tonight’s co-nightcaps, Winnipeg at Colorado and Dallas at Edmonton, get underway at 9 p.m. All times eastern.

    Lauri Korpikoski might be making his first return to Edmonton, the city he represented a season ago, but I’m more interested in the Flyers–Leafs game.

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    6-6-2 Philly enters the contest on a two-game win-less skid, most recently falling 3-2 in a shootout to Detroit. The Flyers are a strong offensive team, but almost out of necessity as they’ve given up the second-most tallies in the league.

    The fault lies nowhere along the blue line. The Flyers‘ defense allows only 27.5 shots to make it to the cage per game, led by Radko Gudas‘ 22-block efforts.

    No, the goals against rest solely on the goaltending. Be it Steve Mason or Michal Neuvirth (they’ve both started seven games apiece) in net, they’ve combined for a measly .875 save percentage and 3.39 GAA.

    As expected, the goaltending struggles have extended into the penalty kill. Only 79.1% of opposing extra-man opportunities have been nullified by the Flyers, which ranks ninth-worst.

    To put things bluntly, it is these two players holding this squad back. Many fans thought Neuvirth, who turned 28 in March, could continue to improve and potentially take over the starting job, but it appears last season was simply a break from his usual performance. It will be interesting to see if they try to work the trade market to bolster the back-end of a strong skating team.

    The best way to accent how good Philadelphia has been on offense is their power play. They’ve been successful on 28.3% of attempts, the second-best rate in the league. Claude Giroux has led the way on the extra-man opportunities, notching nine points with six assists. Completing the plays has been Wayne Simmonds, who has buried four power play goals.

    Hosting them this evening are the 5-5-3 Toronto Maple Leafs. They’re another team that has struggled to keep the opposition from burying the puck at will.

    Frederik Andersen has a 5-3-3 record, which is almost impressive given the fact that he has a season .897 save percentage and 3.41 GAA. What gives him a little bit of a pass in comparison to Mason and Neuvirth is that Toronto does not have anywhere near the defense playing in front of him.

    The defense allows 33.3 shots against per game, and only Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev and more than 20 blocks, with 28 and 22 respectively. Based on what Andersen was able to achieve last season in Anaheim with a good defense, Toronto would be wise to make a concerted effort to build up their blue line as they try to climb the table in the future.

    Surprisingly, the Maple Leafs are capable of shoring up the defense when they want to, but apparently for only two minutes at a time. Their penalty kill ranks ninth-best in the NHL, an impressive stat given their play at even-strength.

    One facet of the Maple Leafs offense that has worked particularly well has been their power play. Led by William Nylander‘s seven power play points on three goals, Toronto has been successful on 22.9% of their extra-man opportunities to rank seventh-best.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Philadelphia‘s Giroux (11 assists [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) and Jakub Voracek (15 points [tied for eighth-most in the league]) & Toronto‘s Nylander (eight assists, half of which were on the power play, and three power play goals for 12 points [all lead the team]).

    Vegas has picked the Leafs to win with a -103 line, but I think Philly walks away with the victory in this one. Since neither team can keep the puck out of their own net, the Flyers offense should be able to best Nylander and Auston Matthews‘ efforts.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Harry Lumley (1926-1998) – Apple Cheeks (seriously, that was his nickname!) played 803 games over his 16 seasons. Most of his time was spent in Detroit‘s net, where he earned a 163-105-56 record and won the 1950 Stanley Cup.

    Just as I expected, Dallas took advantage of a Calgary team that has struggled to keep points off the board to earn a 4-2 victory in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Korpikoski (Radek Faksa) struck the first goal for the Stars on a snap shot with 7:29 remaining in the first period. That lead doubled 3:04 later when First Star of the Game Jamie Benn (John Klingberg and Faksa) buried a backhand. It was the final goal of the first period, so Dallas took a two-goal shutout lead into the dressing room for first intermission.

    Calgary returned with a vengeance in the second frame, scoring both their goals within 3:31 of returning to the ice. Second Star Johnny Gaudreau (Third Star Brett Kulak and Sean Monahan) takes credit for both goals, the first struck 1:33 into the period. 1:58 later, he (Kulak and Michael Frolik) tied the game at two-all with a tip-in goal, the final tally of the second period.

    Benn’s (Tyler Seguin and Antoine Roussel) power play wrister 7:20 into the final period proved to be the game-winning goal. Dallas‘ lone insurance goal was an empty-netter courtesy of Roussel (Justin Dowling) with 54 seconds remaining in regulation.

    Kari Lehtonen earns the victory after saving 29-of-31 shots faced (93.5%), leaving the loss to Brian Elliott, who saved 18-of-21 (85.7%).

    Dallas‘ victory is only the second by a road team in the DtFR Game of the Day series in the last six days. It pulls the roadies within seven points of the home squads, but the homers still have a 18-11-3 record.

  • November 3 – Day 22 – What does QEW mean to you?

    Thursdays are usually busy days, and today is no exception. We’ve got a dozen games to choose from, starting with four at 7 p.m. (Philadelphia at the New York Islanders, Toronto at Buffalo, Edmonton at the New York Rangers [SN360] and Winnipeg at Washington). Three more follow 30 minutes later (New Jersey at Florida, Boston at Tampa Bay and Vancouver at Ottawa [RDS]), and another pair of contests drop the puck at 8:30 p.m. (St. Louis at Dallas and Colorado at Chicago).  10 p.m. brings with it the beginning of Nashville at Arizona, and the final two games share nightcap responsibilities half an hour later: Pittsburgh at Los Angeles and Calgary at San Jose (SN360). All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Toronto at Buffalo: It’s the first installment of the season in the Battle of the Queen Elizabeth Way!
    • St. Louis at Dallas: The Blues and Stars met up last May for seven games, four of which were won by the Notes to send them to the Western Conference Finals.

    I’m drawn to both, so we’re just going to assume the answer is in the standings. Since the Atlantic rivals are separated by only a point, we’ll head to KeyBank Center.

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    The Maple Leafs and Sabres have played 206 times in their history prior to this evening, with Buffalo having a 115-73-18 advantage all-time – an impressive record for a team with no Stanley Cups to their record against a 13-time champion (shh, we don’t need to talk about how none of those titles have come since Buffalo entered the league in 1970).

    They’ve met one time in the playoffs. It was the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals, a series the Sabres won handily in five games before falling to Dallas in the Stanley Cup Finals.

    But it’s not the past meetings or playoff history that makes this rivalry interesting. It’s how far apart, or really how close, these teams are geographically. Center ice between both teams’ home arenas is less than 90 miles apart, allowing either fan-base to easily commute to the other arena. Expect a lot of Leafs fans in the stands tonight.

    Those Leafs enter tonight’s game with a 3-4-3 record. While their offense, led by youngsters Auston Matthews (10 points) and William Nylander (11 points), has certainly been strong, they have been held back by their defense and goaltending.

    Frederik Andersen has started eight of Toronto‘s 10 games, but he has only saved 89.1% of the shots he’s faced for 3.46 GAA – not what the Leafs expected when they traded a first round pick to Anaheim for him.

    Hosting them this evening will be the 4-3-2 Sabres, a team that has allowed only 21 goals this season – five fewer than the league average.

    In six starts, Robin Lehner is the proud owner of a .921 save percentage for a 2.34 GAA. Further improving those numbers is the fact that his defenders are keeping shots off his net. Led by Josh Gorges‘ 20 blocks, Buffalo‘s goaltending has only faced 272 shots, 10 fewer than the league average.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Buffalo‘s Ryan O’Reilly (eight points [leads the team]) and Rasmus Ristolainen (seven assists [leads the team]) & Toronto‘s Matthews (six goals [tied for third-most in the league]) and Nylander (seven assists [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]).

    At -120, Vegas favors Buffalo in tonight’s game, as does history: the Sabres have a 70-27-6 record against the Leafs in the Queen City, far superior to their 45-46-12 record in Toronto. I think the Sabres‘ defense is up to the task of beating Toronto‘s youngsters, and their forwards are more than capable of putting some pucks in the back of the net to secure the victory.

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day wasn’t a close one, as the Penguins scored their game winner in only 10:24 to eventually win 5-1 over the Ducks.

    Three goals were struck in the first period, beginning with Evgeni Malkin‘s (Phil Kessel and Chris Kunitz) slap shot 7:41 after the initial puck drop. 2:43 later, Matt Cullen (Tom Sestito and Eric Fehr) scored a slap shot of his own to give the Penguins a two-goal lead. Anaheim trimmed the differential back to one with 4:11 remaining in the opening frame on the power play when Third Star of the Game Cam Fowler (Sami Vatanen and Ryan Kesler) scored on another slap shot, setting the score at 2-1 going into the dressing room.

    Pittsburgh‘s first insurance goal was the lone score of the second period. Bryan Rust (Nick Bonino and First Star Kris Letang) scored his first goal of the season with a backhander with 3:18 remaining in the frame.

    The Pens struck quickly to open the final period, as Letang (Justin Schultz) scored a power play goal only 1:27 after resuming play. 5:47 later, Patric Hornqvist (Second Star Sidney Crosby and Carl Hagelin) stuck gold with a wrister to notch the Penguins‘ final tally.

    Matt Murray returns in style by saving 32-of-33 (97%) shots faced to earn his first victory of the season, while John Gibson takes the loss after saving 29-of-34 (85.3%). Jonathan Bernier entered the game for the final 8:40, but was not forced to make a save.

    Pittsburgh‘s road victory pulls the visitors within four points of the home squads, but the homers still have a 13-8-3 record in the DtFR Game of the Day series.

  • October 30 – Day 19 – For Martin, violence is always the answer

    Most Sundays, you’d assume there’s only going to be a few games on the schedule.

    This is one of the busiest Sundays we’ve seen in a while with eight games on tap. Starting with Buffalo at Winnipeg at 3 p.m., there are four matinees taking place. Two drop the puck at 5 p.m. (Florida at Detroit and Philadelphia at Carolina), with Toronto at the New York Islanders (SN1/SN360) starting an hour later. Two contests get underway at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. (Los Angeles at Chicago and Tampa Bay at the New York Rangers [NHLN/TVAS]) and Ottawa at Edmonton [RDSI] drops the puck at 9 p.m. Finally, Washington at Calgary, this evening’s nightcap, takes to the ice half an hour later. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Florida at Detroit: Jakub Kindl returns to Joe Louis Arena. His office used to be in the other dressing room the last seven seasons.
    • Toronto at New York: Another player who’s called this evening’s arena home for the seven previous seasons, Matt Martin makes his way to the Barclays Center.
    • Los Angeles at Chicago: No returns here, just a friendly little inter-divisional rivalry.

    Martin has seen far more playing time than his Floridian counterpart, so we’ll head to the Brooklyn.

    UnknownNew York Islanders Logo

     

     

     

     

     

    Left wing Martin entered the league during the 2009-10 season after being selected 148th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Since his 2010-11 rookie season (he only played five games the season before), Martin has become well-known for his physical play. Before last night’s game, he’d thrown 2048 hits in only 445 games played (over 4.6 hits per game).

    In fact, his physicality has already been etched into the NHL record books. Two seasons ago, Martin threw 382 hits. That’s eight more than he landed in 2011-12, which now ranks as the second-best effort.

    As I said, he likes to hit.

    Over the off-season, he joined a Toronto Maple Leafs squad that currently sits at 2-3-3, most recently falling in Montréal 2-1. Their strong suit this year has been with the puck on their stick, scoring 25 goals already this season (3.125 per game). They’re led by fearless rookie Auston Matthews, who has 10 points, including six goals. Both totals are team-bests.

    Part of that success has been due to their opportunistic power play. Successful on 24% of attempts, the Leafs are the ninth-best man-advantage in the league.

    So far this season, Martin has already landed 33 hits to average 4.125 a game. He’s behind schedule, but I’m sure he’d love to get back on pace against the club that didn’t resign him this off-season.

    3-5-0 New York is in the midst of a two-game losing skid, most recent of which was their 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Penguins Thursday night. If you had to pick a part of their game to highlight, it’d have to be their offense, where they’ve scored 22 goals in eight games – the league average.

    Brock Nelson takes a lot of credit for the Isles scoring with seven points to his credit. That being said, it’s been John Tavares who has been getting most of the praise a team-leading four scores.

    A major facet of the Islanders‘ game that is keeping them together is their penalty kill. Holding opponents scoreless on 86.7% of the time when they’re a man down, New York is tied with Tampa Bay for the eighth-best rate in the league.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include New York‘s Nelson (five assists for seven points [both lead the team]) and Tavares (four goals [leads the team]) & Toronto‘s Matthews (six goals [tied for the league-lead] for 10 points [tied for second-most in the NHL]) and William Nylander (10 points [tied for second-most in the league]).

    Bets look to be off tonight, so that’s usually a good sign. Since Toronto has yet to win on the road, I’m leaning towards the Islanders taking tonight’s victory. That being said, we’re not watching this game for scoring or anything like that. We’re watching to see how chippy Martin plays against his old teammates. If he plays like I think he will, this might be quite the exciting contest.

    Hockey birthday:

    • Andy Greene (1982-) – This longtime Devil is playing his 11th NHL season this year. The defenseman assumed captaincy last season following Bryce Salvador‘s retirement.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 in exactly the wild barn-burner I predicted.

    Second Star of the Game Jakub Voracek (Brandon Manning and Radko Gudas) opened the scoring for the Flyers 9:48 after the initial puck drop with a slap shot. 3:14 (PI TIME!) later, Wayne Simmonds (Brayden Schenn and Shayne Gostisbehere) doubled the home squads’s lead. The Penguins began their comeback at the 15:44 mark with a Third Star Sidney Crosby (Patric Hornqvist and Scott Wilson) wrister, follwed 43 seconds later by another Crosby (Hornqvist and Phil Kessel) tally, this time on a power play, to tie the score at two-all.  A dozen seconds after that, Matt Cullen (Tom Kuhnhackl) buried a wrap-around goal to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead that held into the first intermission.

    Twenty-two seconds before the midway point of the game, First Star Evgeni Malkin (Kessel and Chris Kunitz) struck Pittsburgh gold with a wrister to give the Penguins an insurance goal. Sparked by the man-advantage, Claude Giroux‘ (Simmonds and Gudas) first goal of the season pulled the Flyers back within a goal at the 13:16 mark, followed 2:12 later by a Voracek wrister that squared the game at four-all going into the second intermission.

    Only one goal was scored in the final frame, the Penguins‘ winner. Malkin (Olli Maatta) takes credit, his fifth tally of the year.

    Marc-Andre Fleury takes the victory after saving 38-of42 shots faced (90.5%), while Michal Neuvirth earns the loss by saving 12-of-14 (85.7%). He replaced Steve Mason during the first intermission, who earns no decision after saving 10-of-13 (76.9%) and, for lack of a better term, being bailed out by his forwards.

    Pittsburgh‘s win pulled the visiting squads within two points, but the home teams still own an 11-7-3 record in the DtFR Game of the Day series.

  • October 19 – Day Eight – Matthews vs. Laine

    There’s only two games on tap this evening, both of which are on national TV. The biggest problem? They’re both on at the same time. Toronto visits Winnipeg (SN) and Detroit visits the New York Rangers (NBCSN/TVAS) at 8 p.m. All times eastern.

    I know that Detroit at New York is an Original Six matchup, but if you’re not looking forward to Auston Matthews vs Patrik Laine, you’re crazy!

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    It may have been a week ago, but Matthews is still the talk of the hockey world. His four-goal debut is probably the best opening game of a career the game of hockey, and maybe even the entire world of sports has ever seen. So good was that one game, he is still tied for the league-lead in tallies after being shut out against the Bruins.

    So far this season, trends indicate that Matthews is bad luck for the Maple Leafs. Whenever the rookie scores, they fall in overtime. He doesn’t score? They win. If you’re a fan of one of the other 29 teams in the league, hope that Lou Lamoriello buys into my off-the-wall theory and ships his young star off to your club.

    Don’t hold your breath.

    In the blue corner is Finnish Laine and the Winnipeg Jets. In three games, he’s scored a goal and an assist. His point and goal totals might trail Matthews, but the fact that he has that apple proves that he shares better than the first pick.

    The Jets enter the night with a 1-2-0 record, their lone win against the Hurricanes in overtime on Thursday.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Toronto‘s Matthews (four goals [tied for league-lead]) and Winnipeg‘s Blake Wheeler (five points [tied for eighth-best in the NHL] on three goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]).

    I know Toronto is on the road, but I like them to win this game. They have a better penalty kill, and Frederik Andersen has allowed half a goal fewer per game on a better save percentage than Connor Hellebuyck. Offensively, they also have a  better shot percentage. I’m picking against Vegas again this evening, who favors Winnipeg at -125.

    Hockey Birthday

    Roy Worters (1900-1957) – This is my kind of guy. Worters was an NHL netminder for 484 games over 12 seasons, predominantly with the New York Americans, recording 66 career shutouts and being the first goaltender to win the Hart Memorial Trophy –  all at the height of 5′ 3″. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day was not simply won by the Montréal Canadiens: it was won by First Star of the Game Al Montoya. His perfect 36 saves on 36 shots earned him one of the first shutouts of the 2016-’17 season for a 4-0 victory.

    The winning goal belongs to Second Star Max Pacioretty (Jeff Petry) on his first tally of the season, a wrister from the stick-side face-off zone. He struck only 23 seconds into the contest, and it was the only score of the first frame.

    Third Star David Desharnais (Pacioretty) fired the only insurance goal of the second period with 7:53 remaining before the second intermission.

    Things really started to unravel for the Penguins in the final frame. Alexander Radulov (Alex Galchenyuk and Montoya) and Desharnais (Petry and Andrei Markov) both struck to double the Habs‘ lead and improve their record to 2-0-1 to open the Bell Centre.

    This game was selected to be featured because many expected Mike Condon to make his first start for the Penguins against his ex-team. Instead, it was Marc-Andre Fleury that played the game, and his drained energy level was apparent. He saved 28-of-32 (87.5%), barely better than his showing against Colorado.

    That win by the Canadiens sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 6-3-1, favoring the home squads by three points over the roadies.

  • October 16 – Day Five – What does Dylan Strome have to do with Buffalo at Edmonton?

    Washington‘s second appearance in the Game of the Day series didn’t need more than 60 minutes for them to earn their first win of the 2016-’17 campaign over the New York Islanders.

    First Star of the Game Daniel Winnik (John Carlson and Jay Beagle) opened the scoring 11:58 after beginning play by deflecting Carlson’s wrister past Third Star Thomas Greiss. 1:51 later, Ryan Strome (Brock Nelson and Johnny Boychuk) scored on a power play wrister to beat Second Star Braden Holtby to level the score at 1-1, which held into the first intermission.

    Winnik (Karl Alzner and Brooks Orpik) struck oil again 7:46 after returning to the ice with a wrister. It was the lone score of the final 40 minutes, giving the Capitals their first victory of the season.

    Holtby earns the win after saving 21-of-22 (95.5%), while Greiss saved 26-of-28 (92.9%) in the loss.

    Washington‘s victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 5-2-0, favoring the home sides by four points over the roadies.

    What a day yesterday, huh? Let your remote celebrate the Sabbath too, as there’s only three games to be played this evening. The action gets green lit at 6 p.m. when Anaheim visits the New York Islanders, followed an hour later by Buffalo at Edmonton (NHLN/SN1). Finally, Carolina at Vancouver gets its start at 10 p.m. (SN1). All times eastern.

    The one that really attracts me is Sabres at Oilers. I know this will be the third time we’ll feature Edmonton, but is anybody really complaining about watching Connor McDavid?

    Unknown-2Unknown-5As hinted at before, McDavid’s early success has only been eclipsed by Toronto‘s Auston Matthews – the man who replaced as the most recent No. 1 pick. Through two games, he’s already scored three times (tied for third-most in the league). Pair that with three more assists, and his six points ties Boston‘s Brad Marchand for best in the league. We certainly need more evidence, but every time the center takes the ice I begin to believe a little bit more in the return of the Oil.

    Detracting from this matchup is the condition, and ultimate absence of Buffalo‘s Jack Eichel. The second pick in last year’s NHL Entry Draft scored 24 goals last year en route to 56 points. Almost ironically, his second year has already started like McDavid’s rookie season. Last year, McDavid missed time early in the season. Now it’s Eichel’s turn, as he suffered a high ankle sprain on Wednesday. All I know is Dylan Strome, the third pick of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, had better be careful next year.  Something’s coming. Something bad.

    In all seriousness, Eichel and McDavid have only squared off once in three possible meetings, which is probably two fewer than the NHL’s marketing and promotions departments would have liked. That being said, it looks like ex-Islander Kyle Okposo will be making his Sabres debut this evening, with the possibility of ex-Panther Dmitry Kulikov also suiting up. So that’s exciting, right?

    Just so you know, in comparison to Eichel v McDavid, the answer is no.

    Some players to watch include Buffalo‘s Robin Lehner (.924 save percentage last season) and Matt Moulson (scored Sabres’ lone goal of the 2016-’17 season) & Edmonton‘s Leon Draisaitl (two goals [tied for sixth-most in the league] for four points [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]), McDavid (six points [tied for the league-lead] on three goals [tied for third-most in the NHL] and three assists [tied for third-most in the league], and +4 [tied for third-best in the NHL]), Kris Russell (three assists [tied for third-most in the league]) and Cam Talbot (two wins [tied for the league-lead]).

    When’s the last time you heard this one: the Oilers are going to win this game. Vegas has Edmonton favored at -175 minimum in their home contest. I’ve gone against the odds a couple times this season (and, I would also like to point out that I’ve been right both times), but this is not one of those games. Edmonton pulls off the victory.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Darius Kasparaitis (1972-) – The defenseman’s career may have found its start on Long Island, but Kasparaitis is most known for his time in Pittsburgh. Last year, he co-founded a Floridian real estate development company.
    • Paul Kariya (1974-) – This left winger was the fourth player selected in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, and with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim he played for nine seasons and 606 games. Oh, and he’s also a movie star. Check that footage from D3: The Mighty Ducks. Get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

  • March 2 – Day 139 – The best versus, Laich, literally the worst

    The Minnesota Wild took command of the third period with three goals to beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-3, replacing them as the second wildcard in the process.

    It was the road Avalanche who scored the first goal, only 33 seconds into the game on a power play slap shot from Jarome Iginla, who was assisted by Tyson Barrie (his 32nd helper of the season) and Mikkel Boedker.  10:04 later, the Wild leveled the score with a wrister from First Star of the Game Nino Niederreiter (his 13th tally of the season), assisted by Second Star Jason Pominville.  That goal opened the floodgates for Minnesota, as Pominville scored only 1:01 later with a wrister of his own, assisted by Niederreiter (his 19th helper of the season).  The Wild ended the period with a 3-1 lead, as Erik Haula scored with 2:12 remaining, assisted by Matt Dumba and Marco Scandella.

    Colorado‘s best period was the second, as they accounted for both goals scored in the frame.  The first of those tallies was Chris Bigras’ first of the season at the 3:25 mark, assisted by Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon (his 28th helper of the season).  The Avs leveled the game at three-all at the 12:33 mark with a Cody McLead wrister, assisted by Jack Skille and John Mitchell.

    Minnesota‘s game-winner found the back of the net 5:34 after resuming play from the second intermission, courtesy of Charlie Coyle, whose wrister was asssited by Third Star Zach Parise.  Coyle accounted for his own insurance goal, scored with 1:27 remaining in regulation on an empty net.  He was assisted by Ryan Suter (his 35th helper of the season) and Parise.  Niederreiter accounted for the final goal of the game, also an empty netter, with only 44 seconds remaining on the clock, assisted by Pominville (his 22nd helper of the season).

    Devan Dubnyk earns the win after saving 30 of 33 (90.9%), while Calvin Pickard takes the loss, saving  15 of 16 (93.8%).  He replaced Semyon Varlamov after a three-goal first period, saving only nine of 12 (75%).

    With Minnesota‘s win, the DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 62-34-13, favoring the home squads by 32 points over the roadies.

    There’s only three games on the schedule, with the action getting started at 7 p.m. eastern in Washington when Toronto pays the Capitals a visit.  8 p.m. eastern brings with it the Chicago at Detroit (NBCSN) puck drop, which is trailed by two hours by Montréal at Anaheim.

    Chicago–Detroit is the only game between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs, but the game that attracts my attention the most is actually Toronto at Washington, due to the return of longtime Capital Brooks Laich.

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    Washington Capitals LogoToronto has been featured in the Game of the Day series three times before tonight, with their most recent being a 2-1 overtime loss to the Red Wings on home ice on November 6 to set their series record at 0-2-1.  As you’d expect from the best team in the league, Washington has been featured a dozen times before tonight’s game, and own a 9-3-0 record in such games.  Their most recent in the series was February 18, a 3-2 overtime victory in Brooklyn.

    Laich joined the Washington Capitals in a mid-season trade during the 2003-’04 season from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Peter Bondra, himself another longtime member of the Caps‘ organization.  He received his first consistent time with the senior squad in the 2005-’06 season, scoring 21 points in 73 games.  His breakout offensive season came two years later in 2007-’08, when he began his streak of 16+ goals and 16+ assists (31+ points) for five straight seasons.

    Although not the squad’s captain, Laich served as the team representative during the 2012 lockout.  This was due to his long career with the organization (in fact, his tenure was the longest active in all of Washington‘s sports teams), which ended up lasting 12 seasons before being traded to the Leafs before the trade deadline due to cap issues.

    Laich’s 21-30-10 Toronto Maple Leafs currently rank worst in the NHL, much less the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, and should already be preparing Auston Matthews’ locker for next season.  If you could say the team is being led by anything, it would have to be their defense, which ranks eighth worst in the league, as the offense is third worst.

    Although the Maple Leafs haven’t played well overall this season, they have done a relatively decent job of keeping shots off the goalkeepers, as only 1871 pucks have found their way to 7-16-3 Jonathan Bernier and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 91% for 182 goals against, eighth most in the league.  In the grand scheme of things, Toronto‘s penalty kill hasn’t been too bad this season, as their 80.3% kill rate, allowing 40 power play goals against, ranks 13th worst in the league.

    The real problem for the Leafs has been their offense.  Led by Nazem Kadri’s 209 shots, the Leafs have fired the puck a solid 1908 times, but only 7.4% have found the back of the net for 147 goals (led by Leo Komarov’s 18 tallies), third fewest in the league.  The Maple Leafs‘ power play almost perfectly reflects that, as their 14.43% success rate, good for only 28 power play goals (led by P.A. Parenteau’s six extra-man tallies), is worst in the league.

    Toronto is currently riding a two-game losing skid, with their most recent being a 2-1 loss to the Lightning on Monday.  At this point in the season, the Leafs should not be concerned about what wins do for them, as they should be more worried about bettering their odds for the Matthews sweepstakes.

    The 46-12-4 Washington Capitals not only lead the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference, but they even lead the league by 13 points.  They’ve made it to that position by playing the best defense in the league, paired with the second best offense.

    Led by Karl Alzner’s 153 blocks, the Caps have allowed only 1760 shots to reach 39-7-3 Braden Holtby and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.3% for only 142 goals against, the fewest in the NHL.  That success has only slightly left them on the penalty kill, where their 83.94% kill rate, allowing only 31 power play goals, ranks fifth best.

    The offense, led by none other than Captain Alex Ovechkin, is only steps behind the defense.  Led by his 312 shots on goal, the Caps have fired the puck 1869 times, of which a whopping 10.6% have found the back of the net for 202 goals (led by Ovechkin’s 40 tallies), second most in the NHL.  Washington‘s power play is beyond deadly, successful on 23.71% of attempts for 46 extra man tallies (led by Ovechkin’s 16 power play goals), tops in the league.

    Washington played the Penguins last night, winning 3-2 on home ice.  With a win tonight, the Caps improve their lead in the division and conference to 18 points, and have the potential to improve their lead for the Presidents’ Trophy to 15 points.

    Washington currently leads the season series 2-0-0, but the Leafs did take them to a shootout in their first meeting in early November.  These squads more recently met on November 28 in Toronto, where the Caps earned a 4-2 victory.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Toronto‘s Kadri (22 assists and 209 shots [both lead the team]), Komarov (35 points,18 of which are goals, 13 at even strength and one short-handed, and 255 hits [all lead the team]), Parenteau (six power play goals and three game-winners [both lead the team]) and Morgan Rielly (17 even strength assists [leads the team]) & Washington‘s Nicklas Backstrom (41 assists [eighth most in the league]), Holtby (40 wins [leads the league], 2.22 GAA [tied for eighth best in the league] and .923 save percentage [10th best in the league]), Evgeny Kuznetsov (+30 [leads the league], 45 assists [tied for third most in the league] and 65 points [fifth most in the league]) and Ovechkin (40 goals [most in the league], +23 [tied for fifth best in the league] and 58 points [10th most in the league]).

    It doesn’t take much to determine that Washington should win this game easily.  The real question is the size of the goal differential.

  • January 26 – Day 108 – Lehner’s Sabres to Sens Town!

    With two goals in the second period, the Detroit Red Wings were able to beat the New York Islanders in Brooklyn 4-2 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    After Second Star of the Game Brock Nelson hooked Dylan Larkin, Brad Richards fired a power play goal after an assist from Pavel Datsyuk (his 18th helper of the season).  The Wings held the one-goal lead for only 5:36 though, as Nelson scored his 19th tally of the season off an assist from John Tavares to level the score, which held into the intermission.

    Third Star Justin Abdelkader was responsible for Detroit‘s second goal of the night at the 13:29 mark, after assists from Henrik Zetterberg (his 24th helper of the season) and Larkin.  1:11 later, the Wings had their game-winner courtesy of First Star Danny DeKeyser.  Detroit‘s 3-1 lead held into the second intermission.

    The Islanders tried to stage a comeback with a score at the 15:12 mark of the third, compliments of Mikhail Grabovski (his seventh tally of the season), assisted by Matt Martin and Brian Strait, but they could not manage to level the score.  The Wings‘ final goal of the evening was an empty netter from Luke Glendening, assisted by Darren Helm (his ninth helper of the season) and Kyle Quincey.

    Petr Mrazek’s record improves to 18-9-4 after saving 27 of 29 (93.1%), while Jaroslav Halak’s falls to 12-9-4, saving 22 of 25 (88%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 48-21-9, favoring the home squad by 38 points over the roadies.  Detroit‘s win was the first for the road squad in six games for our series.

    It’s a busy Tuesday in the greatest hockey league in the world!  The action starts at 7 p.m. eastern with two games (Anaheim at Boston [TVAS] and New Jersey at Pittsburgh), followed half an hour later by four more (Chicago at Carolina [NBCSN/SN1], Columbus at Montréal [RDS], Buffalo at Ottawa [BELL TV/RDS2] and Toronto at Florida).  Arizona at Winnipeg drops the puck at 8 p.m. eastern, followed by the co-nightcaps (Nashville at Vancouver and Colorado at San Jose [NBCSN/SN1]) at 10 p.m. eastern.

    A third of tonight’s games are divisional rivalries (New Jersey at Pittsburgh, Buffalo at Ottawa and Toronto at Florida), and only one, Colorado at San Jose, is between current playoff contenders.  Tonight also marks the first return of Bobby Farnham to Pittsburgh, David Legwand and Robin Lehner to Ottawa and Brad Boyes to Florida.

    Given how long he spent in the Canadian capital and that he should be starting this evening, lets give the nod to Lehner and the Sabres.

    Buffalo Sabres LogoUnknown-2

     

     

     

     

     

    Tonight marks Buffalo‘s third appearance in the Game of the Day series, a series in which they have yet to earn a point.  Their most recent game under our observation was a 2-1 loss in Colorado on Wednesday.  The Senators have been featured seven times before tonight, and own a 2-4-1 record in such games.  Their most recent was a 4-1 loss in Anaheim on January 13.

    Legwand and Lehner both joined the Sabres from the Senators this offseason in return for the New York Islanders‘ first-round pick (which Ottawa ultimately used to draft Colin White, who at the time, had yet to take the ice for Boston College).  Together, they’ve played a total of 49 games for the Sabres, but the organization is optimistic for Lehner’s future.

    So far this season, Lehner has started all four games he’s played, but he has yet to even get the Sabres to overtime (0-3-0 record), giving up eight goals in the process  (.934 save percentage).  During his five-season, 86-game career in Ottawa, he earned a 30-36-13 record with a .914 save percentage.  He is expected to start tonight’s game for Buffalo against his old team.

    The 19-26-4 Buffalo Sabres are currently last in the Atlantic Division, and second-to-last in the Eastern Conference and NHL, leading only Columbus, and only by a point at that.  Although their position in the standings would not indicate it, their defense is actually on par with the league average (as measured by goals against), but their offense is absolutely horrendous and is the main reason the squad is considering tanking instead of making a playoff push.  You can read a more in-depth analysis of their game on Wednesday’s post.

    The Sabres are currently riding a three-game losing skid, with their most recent being a 6-3 loss in Madison Square Garden last night.  A win tonight does have the chance to move Buffalo past Toronto in the standings, but at this point, Sabres fans might prefer to avoid winning as much as possible in hopes of a Jamie McGinn-Jack Eichel-Auston Matthews line.

    The 23-20-6 Ottawa Senators are currently sitting in sixth-place in the Atlantic Division and 11th in the Eastern Conference, three points out of a playoff spot.  To get them to that spot, they play one of the better offenses in the league, but the reason the Sens aren’t in the playoffs right now is due to their atrocious defense.

    Even with Erik Karlsson’s team-leading 136 shots, the Sens have only fired 1382 shots this season, of which a solid 9.6% have found the back of the net for 137 goals (led by Mike Hoffman’s 22 tallies), sixth-most in the league.  Interestingly, those numbers have not relied on the special teams, as Ottawa has only connected on 18.24% (technically below league average) for 27 power play goals, led by Hoffman’s six.  They’ve also only given up two short-handed goals.

    The defense is entirely to blame for Ottawa being out of the playoffs right now.  Even with Karlsson’s team-leading 99 blocks, Ottawa has allowed a whopping 1623 shots to reach 20-14-4 Craig Anderson and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 91.4% for 152 goals against, second-most in the league.  Part of that defense is the penalty kill, which has only killed 75.63% of opposing power plays for 39 extra-man goals against.  The only saving grace of the penalty kill has been the 10 (yes, 10) shorties to their credit, led by Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s five.

    Just like Buffalo, Ottawa‘s most recent game was against the Rangers, but the Sens won their game at home on Sunday with a three-game shutout.  A win this evening has the potential to move Ottawa into the “First Team Out” position in the Eastern Conference, but they will need Montréal and Pittsburgh to both lose for that to happen.

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Buffalo‘s Evander Kane (147 shots and 107 hits [both lead the team]), Ryan O’Reilly (40 points, of which 17 are goals, with 10 being at even-strength and seven being on the power play [all lead the team]) and Sam Reinhart (three game-winning goals [leads the team]) & Ottawa‘s Anderson (20 wins [eighth-most in the league] and three shutouts [tied for ninth-most in the league]), Hoffman (22 goals [tied for eighth-most in the league]) and Karlsson (41 assists [second-most in the league] and 51 points [fourth-most in the league]).

    I’m picking Ottawa to win this one, mostly because they won’t be as worried about their defense doing their best impression of Swiss cheese since Buffalo‘s offense usually can’t hit the broad side of a barn.  Lehner’s record should fall to 0-4-0.