Down the Frozen River

Tag: Mighty Ducks

  • Game of the week: February 11-17

    Did you think I’d forgotten? We still need a Game of the Week! Let’s take a look at this edition’s options:

    NHL SCHEDULE: February 11-17
    TIME (ALL TIMES EASTERN) VISITOR HOST NATIONAL BROADCAST(S)/
    Result
    Monday, February 11
    7 p.m. Pittsburgh Philadelphia 4-1
    7 p.m. Los Angeles Washington 4-6
    10 p.m. San Jose Vancouver 7-2
    Tuesday, February 12
    7 p.m. Chicago Boston 3-6
    7 p.m. New York Islanders Buffalo Sabres 1-3
    7 p.m. Dallas Florida 3-0
    7 p.m. Washington Columbus 0-3
    7:30 p.m. Carolina Ottawa 4-1
    7:30 p.m. Calgary Tampa Bay 3-6
    8 p.m. New Jersey St. Louis 3-8
    8 p.m. Detroit Nashville 3-2
    8 p.m. Philadelphia Minnesota 5-4
    8 p.m. New York Rangers Winnipeg Jets 3-4
    9 p.m. Toronto Colorado 5-2
    10 p.m. Arizona Vegas 5-2
    Wednesday, February 13
    8 p.m. Edmonton Pittsburgh 1-3
    10:30 p.m. Vancouver Anaheim 0-1
    Thursday, February 14
    7 p.m. Calgary Florida 2-3 (SO)
    7 p.m. New York Islanders Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0
    7:30 p.m. Ottawa Detroit 2-3
    7:30 p.m. Dallas Tampa Bay 0-6
    8 p.m. Montréal Nashville 1-3
    8 p.m. Colorado Winnipeg 4-1
    8:30 p.m. New Jersey Chicago 2-5
    9 p.m. St. Louis Arizona 4-0
    10 p.m. Toronto Vegas 6-3
    10:30 p.m. Vancouver Los Angeles 4-3 (SO)
    10:30 p.m. Washington San Jose 5-1
    Friday, February 15
    7 p.m. New York Rangers Buffalo Sabres 6-2
    7:30 p.m. Edmonton Carolina 1-3
    8:30 p.m. New Jersey Minnesota 5-4 (OT)
    10 p.m. Boston Anaheim 3-0
    Saturday, February 16
    1 p.m. Detroit Philadelphia 5-6 (OT)
    1 p.m. Calgary Pittsburgh 5-4
    3 p.m. St. Louis Colorado 3-0
    7 p.m. Toronto Arizona 0-2
    7 p.m. Ottawa Winnipeg 4-3 (OT)
    7 p.m. Montréal Tampa Bay 0-3
    7 p.m. Edmonton Oilers New York Islanders 2-5
    8 p.m. Dallas Carolina 0-3
    8:30 p.m. Columbus Chicago 5-2
    10 p.m. Nashville Vegas 1-5
    10 p.m. Vancouver San Jose 2-3
    10:30 p.m. Boston Los Angeles 4-2
    Sunday, February 17
    12:30 p.m. New York Rangers Pittsburgh Penguins NBC, SN, TVAS
    3 p.m. St. Louis Minnesota NBC, SN
    6 p.m. Buffalo New Jersey  
    6 p.m. Philadelphia Detroit NBCSN
    7 p.m. Montréal Florida RDS, SN
    9 p.m. Washington Anaheim ESPN+

    With the trade deadline looming just around the corner, it’s been another exciting week in the NHL. After all, another edition of the Battle of the Keystone State was waged on Monday, followed the next day by two more rivalries featuring Arizona, Boston, Chicago and Vegas.

    Tuesday also saw the Blue Jackets and Capitals reignite last season’s First Round playoff bout, with Columbus winning 3-0 in what just might be a preview of another playoff series to come this April.

    As for the biggest player homecoming on this week’s calendar, that title belongs to F Chris Wagner of the Boston Bruins. Wagner spent four seasons with the Ducks (2014-18), appearing in 133 games and registering 12-12-24 totals. He was shipped to the Islanders at last season’s trade deadline before signing with the Atlantic Division’s current second-best team – not to mention his hometown club – this offseason. His Bruins beat Anaheim 3-0 on Friday.

    Today is Hockey Day in America, but DtFR is holding off on the celebration until this evening before the Capitals-Ducks game to take in D Scott Niedermayer‘s jersey retirement ceremony.

    Niedermayer may have only spent five seasons in Anaheim, but there’s no doubt he plays an integral role in the Ducks’ history. He joined the then Mighty Ducks in 2005-06 after 13 seasons and three Stanley Cups in New Jersey, signing as an unrestricted free agent to a four-year, $27 million contract to join forces with RW Teemu Selanne, F Andy McDonald and brother F Rob Niedermayer and serve as their captain.

    Named a First Team All-Star for the second consecutive season and finishing second in Norris Trophy voting behind D Nicklas Lidstrom, Niedermayer and his 13-50-63 totals was just the addition the Mighty Ducks needed on their blue line to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2003’s trip to the Stanley Cup Final – you know, the one where Niedermayer’s Devils beat Anaheim in Game 7. Despite qualifying as the six seed, the Mighty Ducks took advantage of a wildly unpredictable Western Conference playoff to advance all the way to the Conference Finals before falling in five games to Edmonton.

    For a champion like Niedermayer, falling short in the Conference Finals was unacceptable, as he elevated his game to even better 15-54-69 totals during the 2006-07 season to notch career-highs in all three statistics as well as propel the Ducks (the new and less-mighty edition) all the way to the West’s second seed.

    Though that impressive effort was good enough to earn Niedermayer his third-consecutive First Team All-Star selection, he still had his eye on a fourth Stanley Cup. Despite registering only 3-8-11 marks in the Ducks’ 21 postseason games (second-best among Ducks defensemen despite playing two more games than D Chris Pronger), Niedermayer’s two game-winners (one was the series-clincher against Vancouver in double-overtime, the other the overtime winner in Game 1 of the Western Finals) and his power play goal to force overtime against the Red Wings in Game 5 of the Conference Finals was enough to win him the Conn Smythe Trophy and Anaheim’s first title in any sport since the Angels’ 2002 World Series win. The Ducks’ lone Stanley Cup is still the city’s most recent title.

    The remaining three years of Niedermayer’s tenure in Anaheim paled in comparison to his first two. The Ducks didn’t make it past the Conference Semifinals in 2008 or 2009 (in fact, they lost in the first round the season after winning the Stanley Cup) and failed to qualify for the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs; Niedermayer didn’t win anymore hardware, nor did he reach the 60-point plateau again.

    However, Niedermayer’s mission when he signed with Anaheim had been accomplished. He’d won his fourth title without the help of his dominant Devils teammates, and he’d helped his brother earn his first ring. He’d helped the Ducks to a then franchise-record 48 wins

    And it is for that championship and his career-defining seasons that the Hall of Famer is being honored tonight. Having already seen his No. 27 hoisted to the Prudential Center rafters, he’ll receive that same recognition tonight at Honda Center.

    Unfortunately for the Ducks faithful, The Pond’s good vibes might find a quick end after Niedermayer’s ceremony. After all, the 22-27-9 Anaheim Ducks are riding an infamous 3-16-4 skid that dates all the way back to December 18. This torrid run has seen the Ducks drop all the way from a playoff position to fourth-to-last in the NHL, earning Randy Carlyle an early offseason.

    It comes as no surprise that a squad that has struggled as much as the Ducks is finding almost no success in any phase of the game. Anaheim’s offense has ranked dead last in the NHL since December 18, accounting for only 1.52 goals per game in that time – a full six-tenths of a goal worse than Dallas.

    Of course, even when the Ducks were having success earlier in the season, offense was in no way their game. They were averaging only 2.57 goals per game through their first 35 outings – a mark that would rank 29th among teams’ current season averages.

    Instead, the biggest reason for this decline is the breakdown on the defensive end. In their past 23 games, the Ducks have allowed an average of 3.7 goals per game, the second-worst mark in the NHL in that time (fellow Pacific Division member Edmonton’s 3.92 goals against per game takes credit for worst in the league since December 18). However, only one facet of the defense is truly at fault.

    Whether it is 1-1-0 G Kevin Boyle or 4-2-1 G Ryan Miller that receives the nod tonight (17-19-8 G John Gibson and 0-5-0 G Chad Johnson are both on injured reserve with respective back and head injuries) is still unknown.

    Despite his rookie status behind a porous defense (more on that in a moment), Boyle has been far from the problem for the Ducks lately, as he boasts a .955 save percentage and 1.51 GAA for his short, three-game NHL career. Meanwhile, Miller has only recently been cleared to resume action. If he were to take to the crease tonight, it would be his first appearance since December 9 – a 6-5 shootout home victory over the New Jersey Devils that he did not finish.

    For what it’s worth, Miller is riding a personal two-game win streak and three-game point streak.

    As mentioned before, what makes the youngster’s solid stats even more impressive is he’s getting absolutely no help from his skaters. Since December 18, Anaheim has allowed a whopping 32.91 shots against per game – the seventh-worst mark in the league in that time.

    Making the trip to Orange County are the 32-19-7 Washington Capitals, the Metropolitan Division’s second-best team.

    In their last six games, the Caps have managed a solid record of 4-1-1 – more than good enough to hold on to their current position in the standings against the middling Metro teams. In particular, this surge has been spearheaded by Washington’s dominant offense, which has been rattling off 3.67 goals per game since February 5 – the (t)seventh-best mark in the league in that time.

    Leading this attack has been none other than Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Capitals’ top-line center. In his past six outings, Kuznetsov has registered dominant 5-6-11 totals, including an amazing 2-2-4 performance against the Ducks’ arch-rivals in D.C. on Monday. On the season, Kuznetsov now has 15-39-54 marks in 52 appearances.

    Joining Kuznetsov in averaging a point per game over this run are fellow first-liner W Alex Ovechkin (2-7-9 totals) and second-liners F T.J. Oshie (3-4-7) and LW Jakub Vrana (3-3-6).

    Washington has also boasted a decent effort on the defensive end, allowing only three goals per game during this six-game run – the (t)12th-best mark in the NHL in that time. Despite managing only a .908 save percentage and 2.99 GAA for the season, 20-14-4 G Braden Holtby has been on a tear lately, boasting a .917 save percentage and 2.51 GAA for his last four starts.

    It’s hard to see a way the Ducks escape with a win tonight. Washington has been rolling lately, and the Ducks offense in particular simply do not have an answer for the Caps’ attack. Unless C Ryan Getzlaf can add at least four points to his total tonight, Washington should pull back within three points of New York for the Metro lead.

  • Game of the week: October 15-21

    It’s time for another DtFR Game of the Week!

    First and foremost, let’s take a look at all the games I neglected earlier this week:

    NHL SCHEDULE: OCTOBER 15-21
    TIME (ALL TIMES EASTERN) VISITOR HOST NATIONAL BROADCAST(S)/
    Result
    Monday, October 15
    7:30 p.m. Los Angeles Toronto 1-4
    7:30 p.m. Detroit Montréal 3-7
    7:30 p.m. Dallas Ottawa 1-4
    8 p.m. Minnesota Nashville 2-4
    Tuesday, October 16
    7 p.m. Dallas New Jersey 0-3
    7 p.m. Colorado New York Rangers 2-3 (SO)
    7 p.m. Florida Philadelphia 5-6 (SO)
    7 p.m. Vancouver Pittsburgh 3-2 (OT)
    7:30 p.m. Carolina Tampa Bay 2-4
    8 p.m. Arizona Minnesota 1-2
    8 p.m. Edmonton Winnipeg 5-4 (OT)
    10 p.m. Buffalo Vegas 1-4
    Wednesday, October 17
    7 p.m. St. Louis Montréal 2-3
    7 p.m. New York Rangers Washington 3-4 (OT)
    9:30 p.m. Boston Calgary 2-5
    10 p.m. New York Islanders Anaheim 1-4
    Thursday, October 18
    7 p.m. Pittsburgh Toronto 3-0
    7 p.m. Colorado New Jersey 5-3
    7 p.m. Philadelphia Columbus 3-6
    7:30 p.m. Detroit Tampa Bay 1-3
    8 p.m. Vancouver Winnipeg 1-4
    8:30 p.m. Arizona Chicago 4-1
    9 p.m. Boston Edmonton 2-3 (OT)
    10:30 p.m. New York Islanders Los Angeles 7-2
    10:30 p.m. Buffalo San Jose 1-5
    Friday, October 19
    7 p.m. Florida Washington 6-5 (SO)
    8 p.m. Minnesota Dallas 3-1
    9 p.m. Nashville Calgary 5-3
    saturday, October 20
    1 p.m. New Jersey Philadelphia 2-5
    1 p.m. Colorado Carolina 3-1
    3:30 p.m. Buffalo Los Angeles 5-1
    4 p.m. Arizona Winnipeg 3-5
    7 p.m. St. Louis Toronto 4-1
    7 p.m. Montréal Ottawa 3-4 (OT)
    7 p.m. Detroit Florida 4-3 (OT)
    7 p.m. Chicago Columbus 4-1
    8 p.m. Tampa Bay Minnesota 4-5 (OT)
    10 p.m. Boston Vancouver 1-2 (OT)
    10 p.m. Anaheim Vegas 1-3
    10 p.m. Nashville Edmonton 3-0
    10:30 p.m. New York Islanders San Jose 1-4
    SunDay, October 21
    7 p.m. Tampa Bay Chicago NHLN, TVAS
    7 p.m. Calgary New York Rangers SN1
    8 p.m. Buffalo Anaheim

    This schedule was a little bit fuller than last week’s offerings, as there’s a solid 44 games I had to choose from as compared to last week’s 42.

    While there were certainly some worthy candidates in terms of rivalries (Detroit at Montréal, Edmonton at Winnipeg, New York at Washington, New Jersey at Philadelphia and Montréal at Ottawa all took place this week) and player returns (D Marc Methot made his first trip back to Ottawa since being selected during the Vegas expansion draft and later traded to the Stars, four former Blackhawks – five if you include RW Marian Hossa – returned to the Madhouse on Madison as members of the Coyotes and C Tyler Bozak wore white in Toronto for the first time in his career playing for St. Louis), one game sticks out above all the rest even though I’m more concerned about what will be hanging above the ice than what will be taking place on it.

     

    Without a doubt, the Ducks are having one of the better and more unexpected starts to the season. Meanwhile, the Sabres are trying their hardest to keep pace with the rest of the white-hot Atlantic Division that enters the day with five teams in playoff position (an extremely important accolade in October, to be sure).

    But what really drew me to tonight’s tilt is the pregame festivities involving LW Paul Kariya, as his No. 9 is going to be retired and sent where it belongs – hanging above the Honda Center ice opposite RW Teemu Selanne‘s No. 8.

    The fourth-overall pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, Kariya joined the then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim just in time for the 1994-95 season (well, if it had started on time, that is), signing a three-year deal on August 31, 1994.

    Though the Mighty Ducks struggled before Selanne was brought on board via trade during the 1995-96 season, that’s not to say Kariya – who just celebrated his 44th birthday on Tuesday – was playing poorly. He posted 18-21-39 totals his 47-game debut season, earning a spot on the All-Rookie Team and finishing third in Calder voting behind Quebec’s C Peter Forsberg and Washington’s G Jim Carey.

    Oh yeah, speaking of that 1995-96 campaign, Kariya’s second season ended with him boasting career-best numbers in goals (50, three of which were overtime game-winners – an Anaheim single-season record) and points (108) after a full 82-game schedule. That dominant performance earned him his first of three First All-Star Team accolades, his first of back-to-back Lady Byng Trophies and his first of seven appearances at the All-Star Game.

    I guess he never heard of the sophomore slump.

    Named the Mighty Ducks’ third captain in franchise history during the offseason (a title he held for a franchise-record eight years), Kariya barely missed a second-straight season hitting the 100-point plateau in 1996-97 as a result of missing 13 games with an upper-body injury and unrelated concussion, but a 44-55-99 performance in 69 games played qualifies as the best season of his career on a points-per-game standpoint. The 1.43 points per game he managed narrowly beats out his 1.41 in 1997-98 – another season hampered by concussion, as well as a contract dispute that lasted into December, limiting him to only 22 games played. Additionally, his +36 for the 1996-97 campaign is still an Anaheim single-season record.

    Of course, the most important mark about the 1996-97 season for Kariya is not only his dazzling performance, but also the fact that Anaheim qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The Mighty Ducks fought past the Phoenix Coyotes in seven games before getting swept by the eventual champion Red Wings in the second round of their postseason debut. Kariya posted 7-6-13 marks in those 11 games, including the overtime game-winning goal in Game 6 against Phoenix that forced Game 7.

    To be certain, the most productive years of Kariya’s career were his first seven campaigns. In all, he played 442 regular season games for the Mighty Ducks from 1995-2001, managing 243-288-531 totals to average 1.2 points per game – not to mention his 8-9-17 marks in 14 career playoff games to that point.

    However, that’s not to say the captain still wasn’t a guiding hand on his team. Kariya managed 57-81-138 totals in his final two seasons with the Mighty Ducks, and he led Anaheim all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2002-03 where his squad lost a hard-fought, seven-game series to the New Jersey Devils.

    That Game 7 proved to be Kariya’s last with Anaheim, as he and Selanne both headed for the supposedly greener pastures of Denver (the Avs, of course, fell in the second round in Kariya and Selanne’s only season with the club) for the 2003-04 season. Kariya played five more seasons after that – two with Nashville and three with St. Louis – before retiring during the 2011 offseason as a result of the six concussions he sustained over the course of his 16-year, 15-season professional career.

    Having been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last summer, there are few awards left to be bestowed upon Karyia (provided he doesn’t get involved in coaching or management). However, this one will surely elicit quite the response from one of the greatest to have ever worn the eggplant and jade.

    Of course, once the ceremony is complete, there’s still a hockey game to be played. Both of tonight’s squads were in action last night, with Buffalo besting Los Angeles 5-1 at Staples Center and Anaheim falling in Vegas 3-1.

    The 4-4-0 Sabres entered today’s action in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, but only one point behind Ottawa for fifth place in the Atlantic Division and the second wild card.

    Gotta love early season standings.

    Perhaps the brightest spot for Buffalo so far this season has been the outstanding play of 2-0-0 G Linus Ullmark, who has allowed only one goal in his two starts and boasts a .982 save percentage and .5 GAA that is best in the league among netminders with at least 33 minutes played.

    While his emergence as a potential star is an encouraging sign for a franchise that has missed the playoffs for seven-straight seasons, the fact that he was the goalie in net for Buffalo yesterday up the road in Tinseltown has all signs pointing towards 2-4-0 G Carter Hutton manning the posts this evening.

    Whether he’s being compared to Ullmark or his performance last season, Hutton is already drawing the ire of Upstate New Yorkers. Having signed a three-year, $2.75 million AAV contract this summer after posting a dominating .931 save percentage and 2.09 GAA with the St. Louis Blues last season, Hutton has managed only a .906 save percentage and 3.27 GAA so far this year.

    Considering his offense has averaged only 2.25 goals per game thus far into the season (the fifth-worst mark in the NHL despite F Jeff Skinner‘s hat trick yesterday), Hutton is going to need to improve in a hurry if the Sabres want to stay in playoff contention much longer.

    That being said, it should be acknowledged that Buffalo hasn’t exactly played incredible defense in front of Hutton. The Sabres’ 32.63 shots against-per-game is 12th-worst in the league, and that number climbs to 33.67 when Hutton is in net.

    Considering former defenseman Phil Housley is the team’s head coach and the fact that the organization took D Rasmus Dahlin with the first overall pick, surely that number has to improve sooner or later? Right?

    Consider me a doubter of Housley’s until it does.

    One final note I have about the Sabres is in regard to their special teams. It was only a few seasons ago that Buffalo’s power play – led by C Jack Eichel – was among the most dangerous in the league. However, that has not been the case this season, as the Sabres’ 13.3 percent success rate with the man-advantage has been eighth-worst in the league through the first few weeks of the season. The penalty kill has also struggled, as Buffalo’s 69.2 kill percentage is third-worst in the NHL.

    The Sabres have a lot of problems to figure out, but the best way to fix the special teams while they’re still on the road just might be to avoid the penalty box all together.

    Did you hear that, RW Kyle Okposo? Stay out of trouble!

    As for tonight’s hosts, the 5-2-1 Ducks have yet to see too many troubles so far this season, as they’re leading the division despite many fans and pundits pegging San Jose and Vegas as the Pacific’s powerhouses.

    But how are they doing it?

    Just like Buffalo, Anaheim’s best player to start the season has been none other than its goaltender, 4-2-1 G John Gibson. The 2016 Jennings Trophy winner (o.k., he shared it with G Frederik Andersen, now of the Toronto Maple Leafs) has been dynamite right out of the gates this season, as he has a solid .949 save percentage and 1.91 GAA to show for his first seven starts of the season.

    However, to continue the comparisons to Buffalo, Gibson was also in net last night against the Golden Knights, so it looks like it could be none other than 1-0-0 G Ryan Miller, the winner of the 2010 Vezina Trophy, manning the crease this evening against his former club.

    Though he is clearly the backup in Anaheim, Miller is in no way any easier to score upon than Gibson. With two appearances so far this year, Miller has a .946 save percentage and 1.51 GAA – all this despite a Ducks defense that allows an average of 37 shots against per game, the worst in the NHL.

    Despite the backups being the logical starters tonight, this game has all the makings of a goaltending duel considering the struggles of both offenses and defenses. If that is the case, I’ll certainly take the Ducks to successfully honor Kariya and earn two points tonight. Miller is undoubtedly better than Hutton this year, and he has the benefit of special teams that will easily dominate the Sabres.

  • Pour One Out for the Sentry

    We’ve had 24 hours to get accustomed to the jerseys the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens will be wearing at the upcoming Scotiabank NHL100 Classic and I’ve finally gathered my thoughts.

    First, I didn’t even remember that we’ll be getting our first taste of outdoor hockey this season next month as the Senators host the Canadiens at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa on December 16th.

    I mean, I haven’t been caught up in all of the rumors surrounding the looks of the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres at the upcoming 2018 Winter Classic or anything, but I did check out the logos for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals for the 2018 Stadium Series game to be played in Annapolis, Maryland– okay, maybe we have too many outdoor games a year.

    But with the ongoing centennial celebration of the league’s 100th anniversary of existence, it’s totally worth having an extra outdoor game or two for the calendar year that is two-thousand seventeen.

    And for the most part, these outdoor jerseys have been pretty good, like Montreal’s for the upcoming NHL100 Classic.

    Okay that’s not bad. The Habs are the visiting team, so they’ll be wearing white, nothing new there. Oh look! Some silver in the logo instead of white, I get what they’re going for, also the silver stripe on the sleeves is similar to the Detroit Red Wings Centennial Classic look from New Year’s Day. Plus there’s that whole 24 Stanley Cups nod and that saying from the locker room and all. Not bad, not bad at all– let’s take a look at the Sens.

    Dear Gord what is that!

    Please let this be a dream! Somebody wake me up. Unless this is a reference to the Silver Sens (you know, back when the previous NHL franchise in Ottawa was good and wasn’t boring), why is the Original O’s logo in silver?

    Kidding aside, I appreciate the current Senators franchise’s love for the good ol’ days of the team that once existed in Canada’s capital until economic hardship forced them to move to St. Louis for a season prior to folding.

    This would have been a great chance for adidas Hockey to really make a bold fashion statement (better than when they revealed the adizero jerseys and everyone freaked out over Nashville’s gold standard) with a barber pole stylized jersey for the Senators, reminiscent of the very first game in National Hockey League history. Instead, we get this:

    Ignoring the logo, another red Senators jersey prolongs the blight of the franchise’s current identity crisis– stuck somewhere between the past (Os for days) and the present (that Roman Senator guy).

    It’s worth noting that I’ve had my gripes with Ottawa’s current design, as their jersey didn’t translate well onto the adizero sweaters, let alone changing the number fonts from what they had to the font of the popular alternates they had last season without doing much else to their aesthetic. I had high hopes for what should be another outdoor classic, but these jerseys are adidas’s first official miss by my count.

    Maybe in 20 years when we all look back on the craze of several outdoor games in a single season, let alone calendar year, they’ll become a hot commodity like how some fans would do anything for a Mighty Ducks jersey. I’m talking about the one from the movies, which were terrible, by the way. Or maybe they’ll be long forgotten by then, like some of the prolific scorers (Frank McGee) on the original Ottawa Senators.

    Either way, let’s take this outside and celebrate 100 years of NHL hockey.

  • January 7 – Day 84 – Larsson is back in town

    It’s the first Saturday of the New Year, and there’s no better way to celebrate than with hockey.

    You’ll notice we’ll celebrate anything around here, and we always celebrate the same way.

    There’s a dozen games being played today, so odds are good your favorite team is in action. Everything starts at 1 p.m. with a pair of contests (Tampa Bay at Philadelphia [NHLN/SN1] and Winnipeg at Buffalo), followed three hours later by Minnesota at Los Angeles (NHLN), the last day game. The usual 7 p.m. starting time brings with it five games (the New York Rangers at Columbus [NHLN], Boston at Florida, Montréal at Toronto [CBC/TVAS], Washington at Ottawa [CITY/TVAS2] and Edmonton at New Jersey [SN]), with a another pair of games waiting an hour before dropping the puck (the New York Islanders at Arizona and Dallas at St. Louis). The West Coast gets involved at 10 p.m. with Vancouver at Calgary (CBC/SN), with Detroit at San Jose – this evening’s nightcap – waiting half an hour before getting green lit.

    Short list:

    • Montréal at Toronto: It’s Original Six rivalry night in the Queen City!
    • Edmonton at New Jersey: Welcome back, Adam Larsson. Welcome back.
    • Dallas at St. Louis: Last season, these clubs met up in the Western Semifinals. The Stars may have been the higher seed, but it was the Blues competing for a Stanley Cup Finals berth.
    • Vancouver at Calgary: What’s better than a rivalry? A rivalry on the second-half of a home-and-home matchup. Tensions will be high.

    One of the bigger trades of the offseason has helped put the Oilers solidly in playoff position. The beneficiary? A certain defenseman…

    Unknown-5New Jersey Devils Logo

     

    Born in Skellefteå, Sweden, this defenseman made his way to the USA in 2011 after being drafted fourth-overall in that year’s NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey.

    Lou Lamoriello was drawn to Larsson after two successful World Championships. Playing with the Junior Crowns in 2010 at both the World Junior Championships and the IIHF World U18 Championships, he won bronze and silver medals, respectively.

    He got five good seasons in with the Devils, playing a total of 274 games. Although he only notched 69 points during that time, he performed his primary responsibility – keeping shots off his goaltender’s net – to a t. Headlined by his career 163 block campaign last season, he blocked 425 shots for Jersey.

    Thanks to a trade only four days after the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Larsson now wears blue and orange instead of red and black. On the way to Edmonton, he passed Taylor Hall, the player traded from the Oilers to New Jersey. Since joining Edmonton, Larsson has only improved. He already has 119 shot blocks this season, and is on pace for 125 more.

    Larsson and the 20-13-7 Oilers come to Newark in control of the third-best record in the Pacific Division. The defenseman has been a big help, but theme of the Oil‘s success has been their high-flying offense that has scored 113 goals, tied for the eighth-most in the NHL.

    Have you heard of Connor McDavid? He’s kind of good at hockey. He’s already notched 45 points this season and is one of seven players to average more than a point per game. Even though only 14 of those points have been goals, but linemates Leon Draisaitl and Patrick Maroon join McDavid with 14 goals. 42 between the three of them is an impressive number made dangerous as opposing goaltenders don’t know who the final shot will come from.

    The power play has also been a strength for Edmonton, as their 20.9% conversion rate is tied for the ninth-best mark in the league. Draisaitl has been the main man in this situation, notching 15 power play points. Most of those have been his 8 man-advantage goals, another statistic in which he leads the club.

    Playing host tonight are the 16-17-7 Devils, the second-worst team in the Metropolitan Division. The main problem in New Jersey has been their struggling offense that has managed only 91 goals, tied for the fourth-fewest in the NHL.

    Although it doesn’t look like it’s going to yield a return to the playoffs, today’s featured trade has worked out equally as well for the the Devils. Hall leads the team with 25 points, although P.A. Parenteau has the goalscoring lead with a dozen tallies. Where Jersey has struggled is finding others to score the puck. Only three skaters have 10 or more tallies, which is far from enough to compete in the deep Metropolitan.

    Part of the problem is that the Devils severely struggle on the power play. Even with Kyle Palmieri‘s team-leading nine power play points, Jersey has converted only 12.8% of their man-advantage opportunities. Once again, it’s the fact that there’s not a true standout completing plays. Hall leads the team with only four power play goals.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Edmonton‘s McDavid (31 assists among 45 points [both most in the league]) and Cam Talbot (19 wins [tied for third-most in the NHL], including three shutouts [tied for fifth-most in the league]) & New Jersey‘s Andy Greene (79 blocks [leads the team]) and Damon Severson (17 assists [leads the team]).

    I know the Devils are playing on home ice, but I don’t see any way Edmonton doesn’t win their second-straight game. McDavid is just too good.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Babe Pratt (1916-1988) – For eight of his dozen seasons, this Hall of Fame defenseman played for the Rangers en route to two Stanley Cup titles. A year after joining Toronto during the 1942-’43 season, he won the Hart Trophy on a career-high 57 points.
    • Mike Liut (1956-) – A fourth-round pick by St. Louis in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, this goaltender played 13 seasons in the NHL. Selected to the All Star Game in 1980-’81, he was also the recipient of the Pearson Trophy that season on a 33-14-13 record.
    • Guy Hebert (1967-) – Another St. Louis goaltending selection, Herbert was picked in the eighth-round of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. He ended up playing most of his 10-season career in Anaheim, notching a career 191-222-56 record.
    • Donald Brashear (1972-) – Although undrafted, this left wing played an impressive 16 seasons – most of which in Vancouver. He was most known as an enforcer, earning a career 2634 minutes in the sin bin.
    • Alex Auld (1981-) – The 40th-overall pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by Florida, this goaltender appeared in 10 NHL seasons, spending most of his time in Vancouver. By the time his career was complete, he set a 91-88-32 record.

    A Vancouver 4-2 victory over the Flames in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day was worth more than a rivalry victory. It moved the Canucks into playoff position.

    Calgary got things going quickly, scoring only 78 seconds into the game compliments of Third Star of the Game Michael Frolik‘s (Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk) wrister. The Canucks leveled with 9:11 remaining in the first period when Michael Chaput (Jack Skille) buried his first goal of the season. 2:18 later, Loui Eriksson (Second Star Markus Granlund and Alexander Edler) gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead with a wrister.

    The eventual game-winning goal was struck with 22 seconds remaining in the second period. Thanks to a too many men on the ice penalty, Granlund (Bo Horvat and Jayson Megna) took advantage of the power play to set the score at 3-1.

    3:18 into the third frame, Granlund (Nikita Tryamkin) deflected an insurance goal into net for the Canucks. Calgary tried their best to get back into the game, but they could only manage a power play wrist shot from Frolik (Backland and Mark Giordano) with 1:43 remaining in regulation.

    First Star Ryan Miller earns the victory after saving 44-of-46 shots faced (95.7%), leaving the loss to Brian Elliott, saving nine-of-13 (69.2%).

    The Canucks‘ victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 47-26-13, favoring the home sides by 14 points.

  • 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.

  • December 17 – Day 66 – Vesey vs. Nashville

    A total of 10 games are on tap today, more than enough for us hockey addicts. The action starts at 2 p.m. with two matinees (Philadelphia at Dallas and Arizona at Minnesota), but the excitement really starts at 7 p.m. when five contests drop the puck (Pittsburgh at Toronto [CBC], New Jersey at Ottawa [SN360], Anaheim at Detroit, Montréal at Washington [CITY/NHLN/TVAS] and Buffalo at Carolina). Another pair get underway at 8 p.m. (Chicago at St. Louis and the New York Rangers at Nashville), with tonight’s nightcap – Tampa Bay at Edmonton (CBC/SN360) – getting green lit two hours later.

    Short list:

    • Anaheim at Detroit: These days, Detroit fans probably need the reminder of the glory days, and this old rivalry might do the trick.
    • Chicago at St. Louis: In case it was ever in question, these towns don’t like each other.
    • New York at Nashville: Ah, the drama.

    I know there’s some good rivalries on , but since this is the only trip the Blueshirts will take to the Music City, we’ll follow the Jimmy Vesey saga to its conclusion.

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    Vesey is just like you and me. He graduated from college (Harvard, so I guess he’s not exactly like you and me…) and was eager to look for a job. But, he had already been drafted by the Predators in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Sounds like a great situation, right? Immediate employment out of school! It’s everyone’s dream!

    It was actually better than that. David Poile, the Predators‘ general manager, did not want to send Vesey to Milwaukee to play in the AHL. His plan was to have Vesey participating with the Predators as soon as possible for their playoff run.

    Turns out, Vesey wasn’t too interested in being told where to go. The Crimson graduate showed his smarts – like you do with an Ivy League education – and played the NHL’s CBA like a fiddle. Drafted in 2012 and not singing a contract by 2016, Vesey had the right to decline the contract and become a free agent.

    As you might expect, that rubbed the Predators organization the wrong way, but they realized they had to get something out of the situation. Poile shipped Vesey off to Buffalo, where he again declined the Sabres‘ offers. As made evident by his eighth-most points by a forward in Madison Square Garden, the rookie has laid down roots with the Rangers.

    Those Blueshirts have an impressive 21-10-1 record that is good enough for second in both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference. Besides signing Vesey, New York added tons of offensive talent this offseason, and that has yielded 108 goals, the second-highest scoring average in the NHL.

    It seems the points leader in Manhattan changes game by game. Going into tonight’s contest in Nashville, Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller co-lead the offense, each with 22 points to their credit. Of course, the most dangerous Ranger as far as a netminder is concerned is Michael Grabner, who has lit the lamp a team-leading 13 times.

    As one might expect, that success has carried into the power play, where the Rangers‘ 21.9% success rate is tied for seventh-best in the league. An incredible six players top the Blueshirts with six power play points apiece, but once again a goalies’ biggest concern is the final goalscorer. Rick Nash, Brandon Pirri and Vesey all have four man-advantage goals to their credit to account for 57% of New York‘s extra-man tallies.

    If the Predators were planning on taking advantage of New York‘s penalty kill they have another think coming. The Blueshirts refuse to yield a goal on 86.9% of opposing power plays, the third-best rate in the NHL. Kevin Klein gets this accolade, as his 13 shorthanded blocks are tops in Manhattan.

    The Vesey-less Predators have had more bad than good happen to them this season (Vesey no doubt being one of the first line items), as their 13-12-4 record is good enough for only fifth place in the Central Division. On the ice, their biggest issue has been their goaltending that has allowed 84 goals already this year – at only 29 games played, that’s the 10th-highest rate in the league.

    12-8-4 Pekka Rinne has started between the pipes for Nashville in all but five games, and has notched a .916 save percentage and 2.5 GAA in that time – the (t)18th and (t)20th best efforts, respectively, in the NHL among the 42 goaltenders with a dozen or more appearances.

    The Preds are a defensive-minded team, made apparent by their 29.9 shots-against average that ranks 13th-lowest in the team. Mattias Ekholm takes most of the credit for that, as his 54 shot blocks are the most on the squad. That being said, a total of four skaters (Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi and P.K. Subban) have 40 or more blocks, so it has certainly been a team effort.

    That defensive presence breaks down on the penalty kill though. Nashville ranks 10th-worst in the league at nullifying their penalties, successful only 80% of the time. This has been where Josi has shined, with a team-leading 13 shorthanded blocks to his name.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Nashville‘s Matt Irwin (+9 [leads the team]), Ryan Johansen (21 points [leads the team]) and James Neal (12 goals [leads the team]) & New York‘s Hayes (+15 [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]), Grabner (+18 [tied for second-best in the league]) and, should he play, Antti Raanta (1.67 GAA on a .941 save percentage [both second-best in the league]).

    Since Nashville‘s defense and goaltending will not be good enough to handle the Rangers‘ offense, this boils down to the Predators‘ breaking though New York‘s tough defense and keeping up on the scoreboard. I don’t think it will happen, and Vesey will be able to laugh himself to back to Manhattan with another two points for his club.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Ken Hitchcock (1951-) – Hitch got his first head coaching job in the NHL in 1996, and he’s been involved in almost every season since. This season marks his sixth and final with the St. Louis Blues, who he got to the Western Finals a season ago. The highlight of his career came in 1999, when his Dallas Stars hoisted the Stanley Cup.
    • Frantisek Musil (1964-) – More commonly known by Frank, this defenseman was the 38th-overall pick in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. That being said, he played 335 of his 797 games in Calgary and notched a +93 over his 14-season career.
    • Craig Berube (1965-) – After going undrafted, this left wing had a physical 17-season career, spending most of his days in Washington. By the time he hung up his skates, he notched 159 points to go with his 3149 penalty minutes. Currently, he spends his days in Chicago as the head coach of the AHL’s Wolves.
    • Vincent Damphousse (1967-) – Although drafted sixth-overall in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft by Toronto, this center played most of his 18-season careeer with the rival Canadiens. He hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1993, his first campaign playing in hometown Montréal.
    • Samuel Pahlsson (1977-) – Drafted by Colorado in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, this center played eight of his 11 seasons in Anaheim, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2007.  He finished his career with 199 points.
    • Matt Murley (1979-) – Some draft picks don’t pan out. Murley is one of those. Although a second-round pick by Pittsburgh in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, he only played 62 total games in the league.
    • Erik Christensen (1983-) – Another center, Christensen played seven NHL seasons after being drafted by Pittsburgh in the 2002 Entry Draft. By the time his NHL career was through, he’d notched 163 points after playing with five different clubs.

    The 4-2 score is misleading, as the Sharks had control of yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day from the get-go, scoring three goals in the first period in Montréal.

    Aided by a Paul Byron hooking penalty, the Sharks got on the board only 6:50 into the contest when Second Star of the Game David Schlemko (Mikkel Boedker and Joonas Donskoi) buried a power play wrist shot to give the Sharks an early lead with his first goal of the season. That lead doubled 3:10 later when Patrick Marleau (First Star Joe Thornton and Third Star Brent Burns) score another power play wrister. Finally San Jose scored in a five-on-five situation, as Timo Meier (Schlemko and Donskoi) scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game with 6:42 remaining in the first period, made only better by the fact that it was the eventual game-winner. The Sharks‘ 3-0 lead lasted them into intermission.

    The only tally of the second period was the fourth-straight by San Jose. Melker Karlsson (Micheal Haley) takes credit with a backhanded shot at the 6:44 mark.

    Montréal tried their hardest in the third period to stage a comeback. In the span of 3:20, Brian Flynn (Tomas Plekanec and Zach Redmond) and Jeff Petry (Michael McCarron and Daniel Carr) both lit the lamp once each to pull the Habs within two scores, but they were unable to do anymore damage.

    Martin Jones earns another victory after saving 26-of-28 shots faced (92.9%), while Carey Price takes the loss, saving 14-of-18 (77.8%). He was replaced following Karlsson’s goal by Al Montoya, who saved all five shots he faced.

    Just like the home sides did last week, the road teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series are on quite a little streak. They’ve won their last five contests to pull themselves within seven points of the hosts, who still have a 36-22-10 record.

  • December 13 – Day 62 – Darling division leaders

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

    Short list:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Hockey Birthday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • November 27 – Day 46 – Brassard was a Blueshirt

    The long weekend is coming to an end, but not before we get six more games in. Today’s action gets started at 1 p.m. with two contests (Nashville at Winnipeg and Tampa Bay at Boston), followed two hours later by Arizona at Edmonton (SN). Whether you consider 6 p.m. a matinee or an evening game, it marks the start of Florida at Carolina. An hour later Ottawa visits the New York Rangers (NHLN/TVAS), trailed by Calgary at Philadelphia half an hour after. All times eastern.

    I know it will be the sixth time in the last eight days that we’ve featured one of these two teams, but Derick Brassard is making his first trip back to Madison Square Garden of the year.

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    Brassard found his way to the Big Apple at the 2013 trade deadline during his sixth season with Columbus, the club that drafted him. The center played 254 games with the Rangers over his four campaigns, notching 174 points, plus an additional 44 over 59 playoff appearances.

    His two most successful seasons so-far were played on this surface. In 2014-’15 he notched a career-high 60 points, which he missed by only two points in his 27-goal campaign a season later.

    Coming off that 2015-’16 season, the Rangers shipped him off to the Canadian capital in exchange for Mika Zibanejad and a 2018 second round pick. It’s a trade that has worked out well for both clubs, as each skater ranks top-six in points for their new squad.

    Ottawa enters tonight’s game with a 13-7-1 record and riding a three-game winning streak, the best active in the Eastern Conference. They’ve made it to second-best in the Atlantic Division by allowing only 51 goals, the ninth-fewest in the NHL.

    A defensive breakdown always starts with the goaltender, in this case the 11-4-1 Craig Anderson. He’s reached that mark with a .932 save percentage and 2.15 GAA, the ninth and (t)12th-best effort among the 41 netminders with eight or more appearances.

    Those numbers are even more impressive given how taxed he is. The Sens‘ blueline allows 31.1 shots to reach the cage a night, the ninth-highest average in the league. Erik Karlsson‘s 64 blocks are impressive, but he has 20 more deflections than Cody Ceci and Dion Phaneuf, who tie for second-most. I’ve been saying it all season, and I’ll say it again: the blueline has to improve if Ottawa doesn’t want to face the same fate as they did last year (read: no playoffs).

    Anderson has continued his success on the penalty kill, as opponents’ power plays have been rejected 85.2% of the time – the eighth-best effort in the NHL.

    The power play is Ottawa‘s Achilles heel, as their 10% success rate is second-worst in the NHL. Mike Hoffman and Karlsson have been the skaters leading the extra-man charge with four power play points to their credit, and Hoffman leads the team with two man-advantage goals.

    Hosting Ottawa this evening are the 15-6-1 Rangers, the best club in the Metropolitan Division. Offense has been the name of the game in New York, as their 85 goals is best in the league by 17 tallies.

    After 22 games, Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller tie for the Blueshirt scoring lead with 19 points apiece. That being said, it’s been Michael Grabner who has scored the most goals – two more, in fact, than Hayes. In all, 22 skaters have gotten involved in the scoring, an incredible total.

    As you’d probably expect, the success has continued to the power play where New York ranks sixth-best with a 21.5% success rate. This is really where the Rangers cashed in on their trade with Ottawa: Zibanejad leads the club with five power play points. That being said, those are all assists, leaving Rick Nash and Brandon Pirri to score three extra-man goals apiece to co-lead the squad.

    The Rangers‘ success doesn’t stop there, though. The penalty kill has been equally as impressive, nullifying 86.2% of their infractions to rank sixth-best in the NHL.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include New York‘s Dan Girardi (+12 [tied for fifth-best in the league]), Grabner (+20 [leads the NHL] on 12 goals [tied for second-most in the league]), Hayes (+16 [third-best in the NHL]) and Miller (+13 [fourth-best in the league]) & Ottawa‘s Anderson (11 wins [tied for second-most in the NHL] including two shutouts [tied for fifth-most in the league]).

    It looks like it’s another game where Vegas doesn’t have a favorite. I don’t feel very comfortable with that pick, as the Rangers are arguably playing the best hockey in the league right now. I think they can handle the Senators tonight, especially playing at Madison Square Garden.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Pierre Mondou (1955-) – This center was the 15th-overall pick in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft by Montréal. He played eight seasons and nine postseasons with the club, totaling 616 total games played. Two of those playoff appearances ended with him hoisting the Stanley Cup.
    • Chad Kilger (1976-) – Selected fourth-overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by Anaheim, this right wing spent most of his 714 games in Toronto.

    They needed a shootout, but the Penguins bested New Jersey 4-3 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    The only goal of the first frame belonged to the visiting Devils. Second Star of the Game Mike Cammalleri (Kyle Palmieri) takes credit for the tally struck only 3:33 after taking the ice that gave Jersey a 1-0 lead.

    Mike Sullivan didn’t seem to like that very much, as Pittsburgh quickly took the lead in the second frame. 1:23 after returning to the ice, the Pens found themselves tied after a Jake Guentzel (First Star Evgeni Malkin and Trevor Daley) wrister. 1:15 later, Tom Kuhnhackl‘s (Malkin and Steven Oleksy) first goal of the season put Pittsburgh ahead. That lead lasted only 1:22 before Vernon Fiddler buried an unassisted, shorthanded backhander to level the game at two-all. The final score of the frame was struck with 41 seconds remaining before the 10-minute mark. Cammalleri (Pavel Zacha and John Moore) takes credit again, this time with a power play slap shot, to give Jersey a 3-2 lead going into the third frame.

    With 14 seconds remaining in regulation, who else than Third Star Sidney Crosby (Bryan Rust and Malkin) to come to the rescue for the Pens? His late wrister leveled the score to force three-on-three overtime, which proved to be scoreless.

    The shootout featured a lot of saves. A lot of saves. Pittsburgh took the first attempt…

    1. Malkin opened the shootout to a Keith Kinkaid save.
    2. P.A. Parenteau went next, only to be saved by Matthew Murray.
    3. Crosby? Kinkaid.
    4. Cammalleri? Yup, you guessed it. Murray said “no way.”
    5. Leave it to a defenesman to bury a goal. Kris Letang beats Kinkaid to force a miss-and-lose scenario for New Jersey.
    6. Travis Zajac gave it his best effort, but Murray sealed the Penguins‘ victory.

    Murray earned the win after saving 27-of-30 (90%) leaving the shootout loss to Kinkaid, who saved an incredible 46-of-49 (93.9%).

    Pittsburgh‘s DtFR Game of the Day victory sets the series record at 26-15-7, favoring the home squads by eight points.

  • November 10 – Day 29 – Great Stars of fire

    The bartender just walked by. He asked if anybody wanted another hockey game. Considering how good yesterday was, I got a whole round for tonight. Hope that’s okay.

    In all seriousness, we have quite a selection of games this evening, starting with three at 7 p.m. (Columbus at Boston, Minnesota at Pittsburgh and Anaheim at Carolina), followed half an hour later by four more (Los Angeles at Montréal [RDS/SN360], Vancouver at Detroit, the New York Islanders at Tampa Bay and San Jose at Florida). St. Louis at Nashville drops the puck at 8 p.m., and tonight’s co-nightcaps get underway an hour later (Dallas at Calgary and Winnipeg at Arizona). All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Los Angeles at Montréal: Tom Gilbert played the last two seasons in The City of Saints, but now he works in The City of Angels.
    • New York at Tampa Bay: It’s a rematch of the Eastern Conference Semifinals from last year.
    • St. Louis at Nashville: Carter Hutton heads back to Nashville, where he played the previous three seasons, and with a chance to play to boot.
    • Dallas at Calgary: Jiri Hudler spent four seasons in the Saddledome, but now he wears white in that building.

    We haven’t watched the Stars yet this season, so let’s head to Alberta with them.

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    Hudler joined Calgary before the 2012 season via free agency, and the center’s impact was noticed immediately in the lockout-shortened season as he notched 27 points.

    His final full season with the Flames was easily the best campaign of his career. In 78 games played during the 2014-’15 season, he narrowly missed averaging a point a game with 76 to his credit.

    This was also the season that Calgary qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2009. Although his club fell in the Western Conference Semifinals, it was no fault of Hudler’s. He continued his success with eight points in 11 games, split evenly between goals and assists.

    Following his career year, Hudler was awarded the Lady Byng Trophy, the first Flame since Joe Mullen of the 1989 Stanley Cup winning team to earn the honor.

    He was traded from Calgary to Florida at last year’s trade deadline, but was not offered another contract this off-season. He signed with Dallas in August, only 21 days before the start of the season. He has not had the start to the season that he would’ve liked, with no points, or even a shot, to show for an hour’s work. He has been facing an illness so severe that he was placed on injured reserve, but he has the chance to be activated this evening.

    Those Stars enter the night riding a 4-6-3 record, a far cry from their expectations entering this campaign. While the goaltending is on par with last season’s (be careful, I don’t want you to read that as good), it has been Dallas‘ offensive drought that has caused their current predicament.

    So far this season, the Stars have managed only 33 goals in 13 games, the 11th-worst scoring average in the game. Dallas‘ struggles can’t be pinned on Tyler Seguin, who has 14 points to his credit evenly split between goals and assists, but the rest of the team – including great forward like Jamie Benn – has yet to break the 10-point mark.

    While I wasn’t planning on thoroughly discussing Dallas‘ defense, there’s one major pitfall that must be acknowledged: the penalty kill. The Stars‘ 75% kill rate ranks fourth-worst in the league. When paired with a team that struggles to keep the puck out of their own net at even-strength, they are not doing themselves any favors by committing 52 penalties – four per game!

    The Flames play tonight’s game with the same record as the Stars but with the added note of riding a two-game losing skid. That’s where the similarities end though, as Calgary‘s inability to prevent the opposition from scoring is putting them in quite a hole.

    Having already allowed 50 goals against this season, the Flames give up an average of 3.57 tallies against per game – tied for the third-worst rate in the NHL with Philadelphia. The blame rests solely on the goaltenders, who have been under no more or less pressure than the average netminder in the league in terms of shots faced per game. Brian Elliott has started nine games so far this season for a 3-6-0 record. In those games, he’s saved a poor 88.7% of shots faced for a whopping 3.33 GAA to rank worst and third-worst in the league, respectively, among the 24 goalies who have appeared in as many contests.

    Offensively, the Flames badly need to focus on one important aspect of their game: the power play. Successful on only 8.3% of attempts, Calgary ranks dead last in the NHL in the category. On the bright side, it means that most of their goals have come against more difficult conditions, so at least they have that going for them.

    Ahh, Caddyshack.

    Continuing the thread of special teams, you would be wise to assume the Flames‘ penalty kill is equally as bad as their power play given the goaltending situation. For those who had second-to-last in the league, you win bonus points, as the Flames have stopped 72.4% of opposing extra-man advantages to rank better than only Chicago‘s horrendous efforts on the kill.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Calgary‘s Michael Frolik (nine points on five goals [both lead the team]) and Dallas‘ Seguin (seven goals [tied for sixth-most in the league]).

    Las Vegas favors the home team with a -125, but I don’t like that the NHL’s most potent offense last season is coming to town to face one of the worst goaltending situations. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that the Stars start getting things pulled together against a prone opponent.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Don Saleski (1949-) – This right wing was the 64th overall selection in the 1969 NHL Entry Draft. He ended up playing 543 games in the league, all but 67 of which were with the team that drafted him: the Philadelphia Flyers, including the 1973-’74 and ’74-’75 Stanley Cup winning teams.
    • Mike Leclerc (1976-) – On the opposite wing, Leclerc was drafted 55th overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by Anaheim. He ended up playing 341 games over his career, 85.3% of which were with the club that drafted him.
    • Kristian Huselius (1978-) – Another left winger like Leclerc, Huselius was drafted 47th overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by Florida, the club he spent 38.8% of his career with.

    The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in the first overtime game in our Game of the Day series since October 28.

    Columbus struck quickly last night, scoring both their regulation goals within the opening 5:30. Second Star of the Game Boone Jenner (Scott Hartnell and Cam Atkinson) takes credit for the first goal with a snap shot only 1:23 after the opening puck drop. 4:06 later, Brandon Saad (Ryan Murray and Third Star Jack Johnson) scored a snapper of his own to give the Jackets a 2-0 lead, which held into the first intermission.

    Anaheim‘s comeback began with 2:39 remaining in the second period when Rickard Rakell (Cam Fowler and Josh Manson) scored his fourth goal of the season. It was the lone tally of the second period, meaning Columbus still had a one-goal lead going into the final 20 minutes of play.

    That lead lasted only 1:25 after resuming play before Nick Ritchie (Joseph Cramarossa) scored a wrap-around to level the score for the Ducks.

    Three-on-three overtime lasted only 1:21 before First Star Zach Werenski (Alexander Wennberg and Saad) scored the winner with a wrister.

    Sergei Bobrovsky earns the victory after saving 30-of-32 shots faced (93.75%), while John Gibson takes the overtime loss saving 15-of-18 (83.3%).

    With that victory, Columbus improves the home squads’ record in the DtFR Game of the Day series to 18-10-3, favoring the homers by nine points over the roadies.

  • October 20 – Day Nine – Rematch, Vol. I

    Get ready for a wild ride tonight, because there’s going to be a lot of hockey action tonight. Pucks start dropping at 7 p.m. eastern (New Jersey at Boston, Anaheim at Philadelphia and San Jose at Pittsburgh), followed half an hour later by another trio of games (Arizona at Montréal [RDS/SN360], Colorado at Tampa Bay and Washington at Florida). Toronto visits Minnesota at 8 p.m., followed 30 minutes later by Los Angeles at Dallas. 9 p.m. marks the beginning of two games (Carolina at Calgary and St. Louis at Edmonton) followed by this evening’s nightcap an hour later: Buffalo at Vancouver (SN360). All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Anaheim at Philadelphia: With the Flyers‘ first home game of the season, it’s the first time they’re sporting their new threads honoring their 50th anniversary.
    • San Jose at Pittsburgh: You know, it’s just a Stanley Cup rematch. No big deal (or, as the kids put it, NBD).
    • St. Louis at Edmonton – Traded only five days before the season, Nail Yakupov returns to Edmonton, where he spent his first four seasons.

    Let’s get real. There’s only two Stanley Cup rematches a year. This being the first one, we have to give it our attention. Sorry Philly and Yakupov.

    UnknowntIMcw8ylThe San Jose Sharks enter the night with a 3-1-0 record, with their lone loss occurring three days ago in Madison Square Garden, falling 7-4 to the Rangers.

    Other than that lone blemish, the Sharks have picked up right where they left off a few months ago. San Jose has scored exactly as many goals as they’ve given up (12), but excluding the score-fest in New York, the Sharks are +3, which would tie them for the third best mark in the league. Defenseman Brent Burns has led the Sharks‘ scoring, notching three goals and five assists for eight points.

    Their opposition also only has only one regulation loss on their record, due in part to playing goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury two times in as many days and three times in four days. That’s far from the only reason though. They failed to find the back of the net once against Montréal Tuesday 4-0.

    Similar to San Jose, if you exclude their lone debacle of the season, the Penguins would have a +1 goal differential on the season. Matt Cullen, Evgeni Malkin and Conor Sheary have all scored one goal and two assists for three points on the young season, but Sheary is currently questionable after sustaining a bruise around his eye in Montréal.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s contest include Pittsburgh‘s Fleury (two wins [tied for seventh-most in the league] on a .914 save percentage [ninth-best in the NHL]) and San Jose‘s Burns (eight points [leads the NHL] on five assists [tied for the league-lead] and three goals [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]), Martin Jones (two wins [tied for third-most in the league]), Joe Pavelski (four assists [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]) and Joe Thornton (five assists [tied for the league-lead]).

    Bets look to be off with most books in Vegas, which should only prove the expected quality of this game. The only reason I give the Penguins the edge in this contest is due to them having home ice. Then again, seeing that banner might give San Jose just the motivation they need. We’ll have to watch and see.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Mikhail Shtalenkov (1965-) – The Russian goaltender spent seven seasons in the NHL, most of which were spent with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.  He had a career save percentage of 89.8%.
    • Colin Wilson (1989-) – This marks Wilson’s eighth professional season, all of which spent with the Nashville Predators. Last season, the center scored his 200th NHL point on March 24 against the Canucks.

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day was our second 5-4 overtime thriller of the season. Go figure that one included Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs too, and just like last time, it was the home squad – the Winnipeg Jets in this case- that rose to the occasion in sudden death.

    Mike Babcock and the Leafs will be kicking themselves after this one. They scored both goals in the first frame, starting with Connor Carrick‘s (James van Riemsdyk and Mitchell Marner) 6:46 after dropping the puck. Third Star of the Game Nazem Kadri (Morgan Rielly and Milan Michalek) takes credit for the second tally with 3:48 remaining in the frame.

    Three more goals were scored in the second period, and two belonged to Toronto. William Nylander‘s (Matthews and Nikita Zaitsev) wrister found the back of Michael Hutchinson‘s net 6:47 after resuming play, followed eight seconds later by a goal from Kadri (Nylander and Leo Komarov) to set the score at 4-0. Tyler Myers (Second Star Mark Scheifele and Shawn Matthias) scored the Jets’ first goal with 6:56 remaining in the frame before the squads returned to their dressing rooms.

    As good as the Maple Leafs‘ first period was, Winnipeg’s third was better. Only a minute after returning to the ice, First Star Patrik Laine (Dustin Byfuglien and Scheifele) pulled the score to 4-2 with a wrister. Scheifele (Josh Morrissey and Drew Stafford) followed that 5:05 later with his third score of the season to pull the Jets within one.  55 seconds before what could have been the final horn, Laine (Nikolaj Ehlers) struck again with a snap shot to force three-on-three overtime.

    Overtime lasted only 2:40 before Laine (Byfuglien) completed the first hat trick of his career with a wrister past Frederik Andersen to secure the victory.

    Hutchinson earns the victory after saving 36-of-40 (90%), while Andersen takes the overtime loss, saving 29-of-34 (85.3%).

    With that victory, Winnipeg improves the home team’s record to 7-3-1 in the DtFR Game of the Day series, leading the roadies by four points.