Down the Frozen River

Tag: Neal

  • April 2 – Day 165 – Gigantic goalies

    After the final game is complete this evening, we will be officially in the final week of the 2016-17 NHL regular season. It is officially crunch time.

    This Sunday’s action gets started at 12:30 p.m. with Boston at Chicago (NBC/TVAS). After that, we have staggered starts every hour, on the hour. 3 p.m. marks the puck drop of the New York Islanders at Buffalo (SN), followed an hour later by Nashville at St. Louis. Carolina at Pittsburgh (NHLN) gets underway at 5 p.m., and a trio of games (Colorado at Minnesota, Dallas at Tampa Bay and Washington at Columbus) follows suit 60 minutes later. 7 p.m. marks the puck drop of San Jose at Vancouver (SN), half an hour before Philadelphia at the New York Rangers (NBCSN). More of the West Coast gets involved at 9:30 p.m. with Anaheim at Calgary (SN1), an hour before tonight’s nightcap: Arizona at Los Angeles.

    Short list:

    • Boston at Chicago: For those that love Original Six battles, this is, if my count is correct, the second-to-last one of the year.
    • Nashville at St. Louis: The difference between third in the Central Division and the second wild card is nonexistent.
    • San Jose at Vancouver: A 10-year veteran of the Canucks, Jannik Hansen now makes his home in San Jose.
    • Philadelphia at New York: The Flyers are still hanging around in the playoff hunt, but they’ll need to beat another rival to stay alive.

    Call me biased, but there’s no way we’re not heading to Scottrade Center for this important Central Division matchup.

     

    8-3-2. That’s the 40-27-11 Predators‘ record since March 7. Though it’s not the best run in that stretch of time, it’s still been more than enough to all but punch Nashville‘s third-straight ticket into the playoffs. Currently occupying the second wild card, it has a 10-point advantage on the Kings.

    In fact, all the Preds need to do is avoid a regulation loss and they will be among the 16 teams playing after next Sunday’s regular season finale.

    Of course, Smashville has bigger ideas in mind than simply eliminating Los Angeles. Third place in the Central Division is held by their opponent this afternoon, who leads the Predators with only one-fewer game played.

    To surge past the Notes, the Predators will probably employ the same tactic that has been the backbone of their recent winning ways: goaltending.

    Wait, I thought Nashville was an offensive team… Well, that’s true. On the season as a whole, the Predators have notched 2.92 tallies-per-game, the ninth-best scoring rate in the NHL. Yet since early March, the Preds have allowed only 28 goals against, which #ties for sixth-fewest in that time.

    In short, 31-18-8 Pekka Rinne has been excellent of late. Already among the league’s better goaltenders on a normal day, his .931 save percentage and 1.97 GAA of late are far superior to his season-long averages of .917 and 2.44. In fact, since March 7, he’s posted the eighth and (t)sixth-best marks, respectively, among the 32 goalies with at least seven appearances in that time.

    Rinne can’t save everything though. That becomes brutally apparent when a Predator takes a seat in the penalty box. Over the past month, Rinne has saved only 32-of-41 power play shots against (78%), which ties for the 11th-worst power play save percentage in that time span.

    But take notice of how many shots he’s faced. 41 is a lot. In fact, it’s tied for 14th-most in the league since early March. Therein lies Smashville‘s penalty kill problem. P.K. Subban leads the team with five shorthanded shot blocks, especially when paired with his two shorthanded takeaways.

    But yes, only five blocks on the penalty kill in his last 13 games. And yes, he leads the team with that measly total over this stretch.

    The penalty kill needs to be a bigger priority for this team, and it needs to see improvements in a hurry. Over the past month, Nashville is sixth-worst in the NHL when down a man, neutralizing only 74.3% of its infractions.

    Special teams seem to be a struggle for David Poile’s club this season, because the power play actually manages to be worse than the penalty kill. The Predators tie with Colorado (remember, being compared to the Avalanche in any way this season is a recipe for disaster) for the second-worst man-advantage in the NHL since March 7, converting only 11.4% of opportunities.

    Of that limited success, much of it has been off James Neal‘s stick. He’s scored three of Nashville‘s four power play goals in the past month, an impressive effort given the mire he’s been surrounded by.

    Can you pick the best team in the league since March 5? Here’s a hint: they’ll be wearing blue today.

    That’s right, it’s the 42-28-7 Blues. Having gone 11-1-2 since then, the Notes tie Carolina with 24 points in that time – on two fewer games.

    Similar to Nashville‘s surge over the past month, this streak is a direct result of improved play in the crease by Jake Allen. He’s gone 30-19-5 all season, but 8-1-2 of that has come in the past 29 days.

    Among goalies with at least four appearances in the past month, Allen is second only to Sergei Bobrovsky in his play. In the month of March, Allen posted an excellent .953 save percentage and 1.35 GAA, making him almost impenetrable to opposing offenses.

    What definitely sets him apart from Rinne is the Blues‘ success on the penalty kill. While the Predators are prone to giving up power play goals, St. Louis has successfully neutralized 86.5% of their infractions in the past month, the fifth-best rate in the NHL.

    St. Louis‘ power play has also been having a run of success this month. Led by Alex Pietrangelo and his five power play points, the Notes have converted 21.2% of their power plays since March 5, the 10th-best mark in the league.

    As you’d might guess, Vladimir Tarasenko has potted a couple of those tallies, but what makes the Blues truly dangerous is the fact that six different players have scored a power play goal in the past month. Unpredictability is a dangerous weapon, and St. Louis has employed it well.

    As far as the season series is concerned, this game is meaningless since the Predators have already won three of the previous four meetings. The last time they met was December 30, and it was Nashville‘s most dominant victory in the series. Jusse Saros led the way by saving all 25 shots he faced for a 4-0 shutout at Scottrade Center, the site of today’s matchup.

    Some players to keep an eye on during today’s game include Nashville‘s Ryan Johansen (47 assists [ninth-most in the league]) and Rinne (31 wins [10th-most in the NHL]) & St. Louis‘ Allen (four shutouts [tied for ninth-most in the league]) or Carter Hutton (2.34 GAA [10th-best in the NHL]) and Tarasenko (36 goals [fifth-most in the league]).

    According to the odds-makers in the desert, St. Louis is a -135 favorite to win this afternoon. I have to agree. Where the Blues will truly dominate today is in special teams situations. The Predators‘ best shot at pulling off the upset is keeping both penalty boxes empty.

    It needed overtime, but Edmonton was able to hold home ice and best the Ducks 3-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day to improve into first place in the Pacific Division.

    The first period nearly escaped scoreless, but First Star of the Game Connor McDavid (Patrick Maroon and Adam Larsson) had other plans. He buried a wrist shot with 49 seconds remaining in the frame to give the Oilers a 1-0 going into the first intermission.

    That didn’t seem to sit well with Ryan Getzlaf (Jakob Silfverberg and Cam Fowler) over the break, as he took advantage of Matt Hendricks being sent to the sin bin by scoring a power play slap shot 3:27 into the second period. That tied the game at one-all, the same score that read going into the second intermission.

    8:53 into the final frame, Patrick Eaves (Antoine Vermette and Silfverberg) provided Anaheim its first lead of the night. It was the result of another power play, this time a slashing penalty by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. But what goes around, comes around. With 1:58 remaining in regulation, Third Star Milan Lucic (Leon Draisaitl and McDavid) scored a power play tally of his own to level the game at two-all and force overtime.

    Three-on-three play didn’t last long before Draisaitl (McDavid) ended it. After only 1:26 of overtime play, the third-year pro buried a wrister to win the game for Edmonton.

    Cam Talbot took the victory after saving 16-of-18 shots faced (88.9%), leaving the overtime loss to Second Star John Gibson, who saved 34-of-37 (91.9%).

    The 84-58-25 home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series are now riding a three-game winning streak. That’s important as the series comes to a close, as it gives them a three-point advantage on the roadies.

  • January 17 – Day 94 – Making up like a country song

    Welcome to Tuesday hockey, one of the seven best days for the sport in the week. There’s nine games on the schedule this evening, starting with two at 7 p.m. (Dallas at the New York Rangers [SN/SN1/TVAS] and Carolina at Columbus) and Buffalo at Toronto half an hour later. 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of another pair of contests (Ottawa at St. Louis [RDS] and New Jersey at Minnesota), and another pair get underway an hour later (Chicago at Colorado [NBCSN] and Florida at Calgary). The final pair of games – Nashville at Vancouver and Tampa Bay at Anaheim (SN/SN1) – drop the puck at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Buffalo at Toronto: It’s the Battle of the QEW this evening, one of the Sabres‘ fiercest rivalries.
    • Nashville at Vancouver: For the last three seasons, Yannick Weber played for the Canucks, but he returns tonight wearing a white sweater.

    Since I highly underestimated Cody McLeod‘s debut for Nashville, I feel I owe the Predators a feature. Looks like Weber 2.0 is our lucky guy.

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    After playing the first five seasons of his professional career with the Canadiens, Weber made like a pioneer of old and headed west for brighter futures. He landed in Vancouver before the 2013-14 season.

    His first season with the Canucks was not one that turned league heads, but it was important for him personally. He had a goal of proving to Montréal that he was worthy of being kept, and he made that known by notching a then career-high of six goals.

    He followed that up in 2014-15 with his most impressive campaign to date, lighting the lamp 11 times and notching a career-best 21 points.

    With last season being a significant step back for the defenseman, Weber once again found himself looking for a new club. He found his way to Nashville, where he’s playing on the third blueline pairing and notching a season +8, easily the best mark of his career.

    Yannick and his Predators come into tonight’s game with a 20-16-7 record, the fourth-best mark in the Central Division and ninth in the Western Conference thanks to winning their last three games. On the outside looking in, the main concern for the Preds has been their offense that has scored only 118 goals, the 13th-fewest in the league.

    Ryan Johansen has been the biggest weapon in Nashville, as he has a team-leading 30 points. That being said, it’s been James Neal that has been the most dangerous to goaltenders with his club-leading 14 goals.

    Nashville‘s offensive struggles aren’t for a lack of effort. They’ve averaged 31 shots-per-game, the seventh-most in the NHL. Unfortunately Roman Josi, the man who accounts for nearly three shots per night, has a miserable 4% shot percentage – easily the worst mark of his successful career. If and when he finds his rhythm again, the Preds will surely be able to make some noise as they try to qualify for the postseason.

    Playing host this evening are the 20-19-6 Canucks, the sixth-best team in the Pacific Division and 10th in the Western Conference, and it’s almost funny that the Canucks‘ last three games have ended as overtime losses.

    Just like the Predators, Vancouver has struggled to score the puck this season, accounting for only 107 goals in 45 games – the sixth-worst scoring rate in the league.

    Bo Horvat has tried his hardest to keep the Canucks alive in the playoff race, as both his 30 points and 13 goals lead the club. Unfortunately, that goal total only ties for 50th against the rest of the NHL, which is probably most telling of Vancouver‘s situation.

    Much of the reason for the Canucks‘ struggles is due to their miserable power play. Successful on only 13.4% of attempts, they rank fourth-worst in the league. Both Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin lead the team with a whopping nine power play points. D. Sedin has been the most dangerous with the man-advantage, as he also tops the club with five man-advantage goals.

    The struggles continue on the penalty kill, where the Canucks‘ 79.8% success rate is ninth-worst in the NHL. Even though he’s only played 31 games, Alexander Edler has been the leading shot blocker when down a man, with 18 shorthanded blocks to his credit.

    For those like me who are already keeping tabs on the playoff races, this is certainly an important game – if only for a night. The biggest impact occurs if Nashville earns a victory. In that case, they for sure move into eighth place in the Western Conference and surpass Los Angeles for the second wildcard. But, if the Panthers win in regulation in Calgary, the Predators take control of seventh in the conference and the top wildcard.

    Although the Canucks can’t move into playoff position tonight, they can certainly continue their climb up the standings. A regulation win moves them past Nashville into ninth place and into a tie with Los Angeles, but the Canucks lose the games played tiebreaker to remain on the outside looking in.

    These clubs have only met once so far this season, and it was only a week ago in Nashville. Although the Predators did pull away with a 2-1 victory, they needed to overtime to do it.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Nashville‘s Matt Irwin (+15 and 83 hits [both lead the team]) and Johansen (23 assists among 30 points [both lead the team]) & Vancouver‘s Horvat (13 goals among 30 points [both lead the team]) and Nikita Tryamkin (84 hits [leads the team]).

    Home ice does not always result in favoritism by Vegas, as Vancouver is the projected underdog a +110. Given the nice run the Predators are on right now, I have to side with the oddsmakers.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Busher Jackson (1911-1966) – Although he may not have been a role model off the ice, he was certainly one of the better players of his day. The Hall of Famer played 15 seasons in the NHL, most of which in Toronto where he hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1932. By the time his career was through, he had scored 241 goals.
    • Jacques Plante (1929-1986) – The man of hockey legend, this goaltender had difficulty keeping control of all the hardware he earned over his career. Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978, he was an eight-time All Star, seven-time Vezina winner (record for the trophy), six-time Stanley Cup winner (all with Montréal) and the 1962 Hart Trophy winner.
    • Sylvain Turgeon (1965-) – Hartford selected this left wing second-overall in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, and he quickly produced. He scored 72 points his rookie season, the second-best campaign of his career. He played most of his dozen seasons with the Whalers and played in one All Star game.
    • Jeremy Roenick (1970-) – Everyone’s favorite center-turned-analyst was drafted eighth-overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by Chicago, where he played most of his career. By the time his 20-season career was through, the nine-time All Star had scored 1216 points.
    • Aaron Ward (1973-) – Although drafted fifth-overall by Winnipeg in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, he never suited up for the Jets. Instead, this defenseman played most of his 15 seasons in Detroit where he won one of his two Stanley Cups.

    If offense is your thing, you missed the game of the season in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day. A combined 15 goals were scored in 60:34 of play, with Conor Sheary earning Pittsburgh an 8-7 victory over the Capitals.

    With so many goals, it’s going to be much easier just giving the game summary in list form.

    *Warning: Be prepared for an obnoxious second period.*

    First Period:

    1. 7:06 – Andre Burakovsky (Daniel Winnik) – Caps lead 1-0
    2. 17:09 – Nicklas Backstrom (T.J. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin) – Caps lead 2-0

    Second Period:

    1. 1:17 – Justin Williams (Evgeny Kuznetsov and Marcus Johansson) – Caps lead 3-0
    2. 6:28 – First Star of the Game Evgeni Malkin (Trevor Daley and Justin Schultz) – Caps lead 3-1
    3. 7:12 – Sheary (Second Star Sidney Crosby and Daley) – Caps lead 3-2
    4. 8:55 – Nick Bonino (Schultz and Phil Kessel) – Tied 3-3
    5. 13:47 – Bryan Rust (Daley and Olli Maatta) – Pens lead 4-3
    6. 14:37 – Malkin (Jake Guentzel and Schultz) – Pens lead 5-3
    7. 15:07 – Brett Connolly (Taylor Chorney and Andre Burakovsky) – Pens lead 5-4
    8. 16:54 – SH – Third Star Lars Eller (Nate Schmidt and Oshie) – Tied 5-5
    9. 17:19 – PP – Malkin (Patric Hornqvist and Crosby) – Pens lead 6-5

    Third Period:

    1. 5:55 – Crosby (Sheary and Rust) – Pens lead 7-5
    2. 9:29 – PP – Oshie (Ovechkin and Matt Niskanen) – Pens lead 7-6
    3. 14:38 – Eller (Dmitry Orlov and Niskanen) – Tied 7-7

    Overtime

    1. :34 – Sheary (Crosby and Schultz) – Pens win 8-7

    Matthew Murray holds on for the victory after saving 21-of-28 shots faced (75%), leaving the overtime loss to Philipp Grubauer, who saved eight-of-11 (72.7%). He came into the game in relief of starter Braden Holtby, who saved 21-of-26 (80.8%) before being pulled following Malkin’s second goal. Holtby obviously earned no-decision.

    In addition to ending their own losing skid and Washington‘s winning streak, Pittsburgh also broke the three-game trend of road victories in the DtFR Game of the Day series. The series record now favors the home squads by five points with their 50-32-14 record.

  • January 3 – Day 80 – Remember Weber

    It’s back to normal in the NHL with seven contests going down this evening. The action starts at 7 p.m. with four games (New Jersey at Carolina, Buffalo at the New York Rangers [NBCSN], Toronto at Washington [TVAS] and Edmonton at Columbus), followed half an hour later by Winnipeg at Tampa Bay. 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of Montréal at Nashville (RDS), with tonight’s nightcap – Los Angeles at San Jose (NBCSN) – waiting until 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Montréal at Nashville: Shea Weber played 11 seasons in the Music City, but he was traded this offseason to the Canadiens.
    • Los Angeles at San Jose: Another edition of the Battle for California.

    It seems like every time the Kings and Sharks meet up, another big matchup takes place the same night. Tonight is no different.

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    Do you remember when you moved for the first time? You’d lived your entire life in the same town around a lot of the same people. Everything was familiar. You could walk to your friend’s house blindfolded.

    Welcome to the life of Weber. He was drafted 49th overall by the Predators in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, and by the 2006-’07 he had a full-time locker in Nashville‘s dressing room.

    Since then, he was named captain before the 2010-’11 season and made four trips to the All-Star game (well, three trips and one in Bridgestone Arena, the Predators‘ home surface). He earned those accolades by twice leading the Preds in assists, points and blocks (2012-’13 and ’13-’14).

    While he only minutely regressed following those impressive seasons, he was traded to Montréal this summer in exchange for P.K. Subban. Assuming an alternate captain role with his new club, he’s continued to be one of the best offensive blueliners in the NHL. His nine goals are most on the team and tied for second-most in the league, and his blocks are tops in the Habs‘ dressing room.

    One part of his game he’s vastly improved since joining the Habs has been his +/- effort. Regardless of how much stock you put in the statistic, it’s easy to say a positive number is certainly more desired. During Weber’s most successful scoring seasons, he was sacrificing his play on the defensive end to the point he gave up more goals than he created. Nowadays in Montréal, he’s maintaining his offensive production while still keeping a +16 rating, the second-best mark of his career.

    Weber and the Habs come to Athens of the South with a 22-9-6 record, the best mark in the Atlantic Division. They’ve found that success by playing some impressive defense, allowing only 85 goals so far this season – the fifth-best mark in the league.

    Manning the crease for most of the season has been 18-5-4 Carey Price, the netminder whose .93 save percentage and 2.07 GAA ranks fourth and seventh-best in the NHL.

    It’s a scary combination for opposing offenses when you pair a solid defense with an exemplary goaltender, and that’s the situation the Preds are in this evening. The Habs allow an average of only 29.8 shots-per-game to reach Price’s net, the 12th-lowest average in the league. Weber’s 78 blocks leads the club, but a total of three defensemen have 64 or more shot blocks to their credit.

    Playing host this evening are the 16-14-6 Predators, the fifth-best team in the Central Division. Nashville‘s offense has plagued them this season, managing only 101 goals, tying them for 15th-fewest in the NHL.

    Ryan Johansen has been involved in 27 of those scores for the clubhouse scoring lead, but James Neal has buried the most goals at 14. Neal’s effort ties him for 20th in the league, but the Predators have struggled to find scoring beyond him, Viktor Arvidsson and Mike Fisher. Those three skaters combine for 34 tallies, over a third of the Preds‘ goals.

    If only the Predators had more power play opportunities, as that is when they are most effective. Successful on 20.3% of their man-advantages, Nashville is 10th-best in the league in that situation. Who else to lead that effort than the great facilitator Johansen? His 13 power play points are tops on the club. One of his line-mates with the extra man is Fisher, whose five man-advantage goals leads the Preds.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Montréal‘s Price (18 wins [tied for fifth-most in the league] on a .93 save percentage [fourth-best in the NHL] and a 2.07 GAA [seventh-best in the league], including two shutouts [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]) and Nashville‘s Johansen (27 points, including 20 assists [both lead the team]).

    Vegas gives a slight edge – -115, to be exact – to the home team, but I’m not very comfortable with that prediction. The Predators are going to be unable to break through Price, and the Habs are no joke offensively. I expect Montréal to get out of Nashville with two points.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Bobby Hull (1939-) – The Golden Jet’s career spanned 23 seasons (most with Chicago), and all he did was win trophies. The Hall of Famer was a 12-time All Star, winning the Ross Trophy thrice, the Hart twice, the 1965 Byng and the 1961 Stanley Cup. His number nine has been retired by both Arizona (the new home of the original Jets) and Chicago.
    • Cory Cross (1971-) – Most players selected in the now-extinct Supplemental Draft never saw an NHL arena. This defenseman wasn’t most players, playing half his dozen seasons in Tampa Bay.
    • Reto Berra (1987-) – Drafted by St. Louis in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, this goaltender has made 64 appearances over his three-season career, most of which in Colorado.
    • Matt Frattin (1988-) – Another fourth round selection, Toronto selected this right wing from North Dakota in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Although he’s played most his games with the Leafs, he’s currently under contract with Stockton.

    A dominant third period performance by First Star of the Game Vladimir Tarsenko gave St. Louis a 4-1 victory in the 2017 Winter Classic, yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    Only one goal was scored in the first period, and it was the Blackhawks‘ lone tally. Michal Kempny (Artemi Panarin and Third Star Duncan Keith) takes credit with his slap shot only 62 seconds into the game.

    The same goes for the second period, but it was the Blues that earned the goal. Patrik Berglund‘s (Jay Bouwmeester and Alexander Steen) wrister at the 7:45 mark leveled the score at one-all.

    St. Louis broke the draw with 7:55 remaining in regulation, courtesy of Tarasenko’s (Robby Fabbri) tip-in goal. Only 1:53 later, Tarasenko (Jori Lehtera and Fabbri) struck again for the Notes‘ first insurance tally. Steen sealed the game with 74 seconds remaining by burying a wrister into Chicago‘s empty net.

    Second Star Jake Allen earns the victory after saving 22-of-23 shots faced (95.7%), while Corey Crawford takes the loss, saving 31-of-34 (91.2%).

    St. Louis‘ victory at Busch Stadium is the second straight for home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, setting the season record at 46-24-12, 17 points better than the visitors.

  • 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.

  • March 17 – Day 154 – New York. Nashville. Nice.

    No one can stop the Flyers!  …Or, at least not the Blackhawks, as they fell on home ice 3-2 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    They may have lost, but the Hawks scored a rare shorthanded goal at the 8:18 mark of the first period compliments of a Marian Hossa snap shot, assisted by Artem Anisimov and Niklas Hjalmarsson (his 19th helper of the season).  Philadelphia leveled with 1:12 remaining in the frame with a Ryan White power play slap shot (his ninth tally of the season) after assists from Andrew MacDonald and Sean Couturier, which held into the intermission.

    Chicago took another lead 4:58 after resuming play with a goal from Jonathan Toews, assisted by Patrick Kane’s 52nd helper of the season.  Once again, Philly leveled the game, this time with a Second Star of the Game Brayden Schenn snapper at the 13:02 mark, assisted by First Star Claude Giroux (his 41st helper of the season) and Wayne Simmonds.

    The lone goal of the third was the Flyers‘ game winner, compliments of Radko Gudas with 10:07 remaining in regulation, assisted by Couturier (his 22nd helper of the season) and Michael Raffl.

    Third Star Michal Neuvirth earns the win after saving 24 of 26 shots faced (92.3%), while Scott Darling takes the loss, saving 26 of 29 (89.7%).

    It’s a wild Thursday schedule, and not just because Minnesota is playing.  Three games drop the puck at 7 p.m. eastern (Minnesota at New Jersey, Carolina at Pittsburgh and Detroit at Columbus) to get the night going, followed half an hour later by Florida at Toronto.  The New York Islanders visit Nashville at 8 p.m. eastern, and the Tampa Bay at Dallas game gets started 30 minutes later.  10 p.m. eastern brings with it San Jose at Arizona, which is an appetizer for this evening’s nightcap, the New York Rangers at Los Angeles, at 10:30 p.m. eastern on NHLN.

    Three of tonight’s games are divisional rivalries (Carolina at Pittsburgh, Florida at Toronto and San Jose at Arizona), and another set of three are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (New York at Nashville, Tampa Bay at Dallas and New York at Los Angeles).

    We haven’t caught the Predators in a while, so I’m going to be selfish and make us catch their game!

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    This will be New York‘s seventh appearance in the Game of the Day series where they own a 2-3-1 record.  Their most recent showing under our observation was Monday in their 3-2 victory over the Panthers.  Nashville has played eight games before tonight’s in our series, but not since their 5-0 beat down on the Blues on February 27 to set their series record at 4-3-1.

    The 38-21-9 New York Islanders currently occupy third place in the Metropolitan Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference.  To get tot that position, they’ve played the fifth best defense in the league, backed by the ninth best offense.  A more in-depth analysis of their game can be found within Monday’s article.

    The Isles‘ most recent game was their 2-1 shootout loss in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.  A win tonight paired with a Rangers loss would propel them past the Blueshirts for second in the division, but a loss could allow Pittsburgh to pull within a point of the final division qualifying spot.

    The 35-22-13 Nashville Predators currently sit in fourth place in the Central Division and sixth in the Western Conference, good enough for the top wildcard spot.  To get to that position, they’ve played the 10th best offense, paired with the 11th best defense.

    Led by James Neal’s 219 shots, the Preds have fired the puck an incredible 2136 times, with 8.8% finding the back of the net for 192 goals (led by Filip Forsberg’s 28 tallies), the 10th most in the league.  The scoring special team has followed suit, finding success on 19.03% of man-advantages for 43 power play goals (led by Shea Weber’s dozen extra man tallies), the 12th best rate in the league.

    The defense is just a step behind.  Led by Roman Josi’s 169 blocks, Nashville has allowed only 1905 shots to reach 28-19-10 Pekka Rinne and co., of which they’ve collectively saved only 91.1% for 179 goals against, the 11th fewest in the NHL.  The biggest hole for the Predators has been their penalty kill, as they’ve only defended 80.19% of their infractions for 42 power play goals against, the 10th worst rate in the league.  Although it is a poor kill rate, Nashville does help neutralize that with six shorthanded goals, one more than the league average.

    Nashville‘s most recent game was their 3-2 victory in Edmonton on Monday.  With Chicago‘s loss, a win by Nashville pulls them within three points of the third place Blackhawks.

    Nashville has already made their yearly visit to Brooklyn, where they fell 4-3 on October 15.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Nashville‘s Neal (+22 [tied for eighth best in the league]) and Rinne (four shutouts [tied for fifth most in the league] and 28 wins [10th most in the league]) & New York‘s Thomas Greiss (.928 save percentage [tied for second best in the league] and 2.25 GAA [ninth best in the league]).

    Although it is a road game, I feel that the Isles are the better team in this contest and should be able to pull off the win.

  • February 25 – Day 133 – The Predator becomes the prey

    Although the scoring differential was a bit larger than I had predicted, the Boston Bruins did in fact beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in yesterday’s Game of the Day, by a score of 5-1.

    The first and only goal of the first period came at the 16 minute mark, courtesy of a First Star of the Game David Pastrnak wrister.

    The winner was another Pastrnak wrister, this time 3:12 after resuming play, his eighth tally of the season.  Only 55 seconds later, Tom Kuhnhackl earned a tip-in goal, assisted by Oskar Sundqvist and Trevor Daley (his 15th helper of the season), to get the differential back to a single score.  The 2-1 score held into the second intermission.

    Although Boston already had the game-winning goal in their back pocket, it was really three goals in under five minutes in the third period that ended this game, the first of which was scored at the 10:34 mark courtesy of a Jimmy Hayes tip-in, assisted by Ryan Spooner (his 30th helper of the season) and Third Star Adam McQuaid.  The second of the period found the back of the net at the 14:26 mark with a Landon Ferraro snap shot, assisted by Dennis Seidenberg (his 10th helper of the season), followed 1:01 later by Brad Marchand’s wrister (his 31st goal of the season), assisted by Torey Krug and Patrice Bergeron.

    Second Star Tuukka Rask earns the win after saving 41 of 42 shots faced (97.6%), while Marc-Andre Fleury takes the loss by saving 24 of 29 (82.8%).

    After the second home in in a row, the homers have a 35 point lead over the roadies, as the DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 60-31-12.

    It’s an exciting Thursday in the NHL, with 10 games taking place.  The first two drop the puck at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern (Minnesota at Philadelphia and New Jersey at Columbus), followed half an hour later by another couple of games (Carolina at Toronto and Arizona at Florida).  The third pairing of games drop the puck at the 8 p.m. eastern mark (the New York Rangers at St. Louis and Nashville at Chicago [NBCSN]).  The remaining four games all start by themselves, starting with Winnipeg at Dallas at 8:30 p.m. eastern, then the New York Islanders at Calgary half an hour later.  Ottawa at Vancouver begins at 10 p.m. eastern, and Edmonton at Los Angeles, acting as this evening’s nightcap, starts at half past 10.

    Four of tonight’s games are between division rivals (New Jersey at Columbus, Nashville at Chicago, Winnipeg at Dallas and Edmonton at Los Angeles), and two are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (New York at St. Louis and Nashville at Chicago).  Lastly, Nashville at Chicago is also a rematch of one of last season’s Western Conference Quarterfinal matchups.

    Seeing as it qualifies for all three of those groups previously listed, it is hard to take our attention off the Predators–Blackhawks game!

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    Tonight’s game is Nashville‘s seventh in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 2-3-1 record.  Their most recent showing under our observation was a 4-3 overtime loss in Tampa Bay on February 12.  Chicago has been featured a series-high 19 times, and own a 10-6-2 record in such games.  Their most recent game in the series was February 17, a 5-3 victory in Madison Square Garden.

    The 29-21-11 Nashville Predators currently occupy fourth place in the Central Division and seventh in the Western Conference, good enough for the top wildcard spot (which some could argue is very advantageous, seeing as they would avoid their highly competitive division foes until the Conference Finals).  The Predators have played a solid game to get them to that position, allowing the 13th-fewest goals and scoring the 15th-most.

    Thanks in part to Roman Josi’s team-leading 144 blocks, only 1617 shots have made their way to 22-18-9 Pekka Rinne and co., of which 90.8% have been saved for only 157 goals against, 13th-fewest in the NHL.  That effort slacks slightly on the penalty kill, as the Preds‘ 79.68% kill rate ranks 12th-worst, allowing 38 power play goals against.  That number is slightly improved though, when taking into account Nashville‘s six shorthanded goals.

    Led by James Neal’s 191 shots, Nashville has fired an incredible 1848 shots, and 8.4% have found the back of the net for 159 goals (led by Filip Forsberg’s 23 tallies), 15th-most in the league.  That offense has been spearheaded by the Predators‘ power play, with a 19.7% success rate for 39 goals (led by Shea Weber’s 11 extra-man tallies), which ranks 12th-best in the league.

    Nashville is currently riding a two-game win streak, with their most recent being a 3-2 victory in Toronto.  While potentially drawing within eight points of third place in the division is nice, a win this evening more importantly separates the Predators from the Avalanche by three points for the top wildcard spot.

    The 38-19-5 Chicago Blackhawks currently sit in second place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.   To get to that position, they’ve played a top-five offense paired with a top-10 defense.

    Patrick Kane leads the way for the Hawks, accounting for 219 of the team’s 1913 shots, 9.1% of which have found the back of the net for 176 goals (led by Kane’s 35 tallies), fourth-most in the league.  The squad’s potency only increases when they have the man-advantage, as they connect on 22.63% of their opportunities for 43 power play goals (led by Kane’s 14 extra man goals), the second-best success rate in the league.

    The defense is only a step behind.  Even with Trevor van Riemsdyk’s 115 blocks, 1911 shots have found their way to 32-15-3 Corey Crawford and co., 92.5% of which they’ve saved for only 148 goals against (seventh-fewest in the league).  The biggest whole in Chicago‘s game is their penalty kill, which neutralized 79.89% of their penalties for 35 power play goals against, 13th-worst in the league.  That being said, the Hawks‘ seven short-handed goals do make that rate a little bit more manageable.

    Chicago‘s most recent game was a 6-1 loss in Minnesota on Sunday.  In addition to securing second place for another day, a win also has the chance to propel Chicago to the top of the division and conference should Dallas lose in regulation.  A loss does put the Hawks at risk for falling to third, should the Blues beat the Rangers.

    Chicago has already won the season series, going 3-1-0 in the four previous games played.  These squads last met January 19 in Music City, where the Hawks won 4-1.

    This game is also another rematch of one of last season’s Western Quarterfinals.  As we know, Chicago won that series and every other one they were a part of en route to a Stanley Cup championship, but it did take the Hawks six games to defeat Nashville.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Chicago‘s Crawford (seven shutouts [leads the league], 32 wins [second-most in the league] and .928 save percentage [tied for third-best in the league]), Kane (84 points [leads the league], 49 assists [second-most in the league], 35 goals [second-most in the league] and +21 [tied for sixth-best in the league]) and Artemi Panarin (57 points [seventh-most in the league]) & Nashville‘s Josi (44 points, 14 of which are power play assists, and 144 blocks [all lead the team]), Neal (+16 and 191 shots [both lead the team]) and Weber (11 power play goals and 133 hits [both lead the team]).

    Sometimes life isn’t fair.  For the Nashville Predators and their fans, this evening is one of those times.  The Chicago team they are facing is, plainly, just too good.  Nashville should consider themselves lucky if they escape the United Center with even a point.

  • February 12 – Day 120 – Wild card showdown

    Even though they gave up two goals in the third period, the Dallas Stars‘ four-goal first period was enough for two points in yesterday’s Game of the Day in Chicago.

    Only 3:19 into the game, First Star of the Game Patrick Eaves scored the first goal of the Stars‘ night with a slap shot, assisted by Jamie Benn (his 34th helper of the season) and Patrik Nemeth.  6:25 later, Second Star John Klingberg backhanded a nasty goal, basically from the goal line, assisted by Ales Hemsky (his 13th helper of the season).  Eaves scored his second of the night at the 16:26 mark with a wrister, assisted by Tyler Seguin (his 31st helper of the season), followed 3:18 later by Eaves’ third and final tally of the evening, assisted by Seguin and Klingberg (his 36th helper of the season).  Dallas‘ 4-0 lead held to the first intermission, and continued through the second period.

    Chicago finally got on the board 32 seconds after resuming play in the third period when Duncan Keith fired a slap shot, assisted by Third Star Jonathan Toews (his 18th helper of the season) and Andrew Shaw.  The Hawks continued the comeback at the 7:48 mark when Patrick Kane slap shot found the back of the net for his 33rd tally of the season, assisted by Toews, but Chicago could not score another goal and fell 4-2.

    Kari Lehtonen earns the win after saving 44 of 46 (95.7%), while Corey Crawford takes the loss after saving only 14 of 18 (77.8%).  He was replaced after only one period of play by Scott Darling, who saved all 14 shots he faced.

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 53-27-10, favoring the home squads by 34 points over the roadies.

    A busy Thursday yields to a busy Friday, which is just the way we like it.  The action begins at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern with three games (Montréal at Buffalo, Los Angeles at the New York Rangers [NHLN] and Pittsburgh at Carolina), followed half an hour later by another set of three (Colorado at Detroit, Nashville at Tampa Bay and St. Louis at Florida).  Finally, Calgary at Arizona, this evening’s nightcap, drops the puck at 9 p.m. eastern this evening.

    Almost half of tonight’s games are divisional rivalries (Montréal at Buffalo, Pittsburgh at Carolina and Calgary at Arizona), with four games being contested between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Los Angeles at New York, Colorado at Detroit, Nashville at Tampa Bay and St. Louis at Florida).

    The game that attracts my attention the most is the Predators–Lightning game, as both squads are currently only wildcard qualifiers that especially need to solidify and/or improve their position in the standings.

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    This will be Nashville‘s sixth appearance in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 2-3-0 record.  Their most recent showing in the series was February 2, a 1-0 loss on home ice to the Blues.  Tampa Bay has been featured nine times before this evening’s game, and own a 5-3-1 record in such games.  Their most recent was a 6-3 victory over the Penguins last Friday.

    The 25-21-8 Nashville Predators currently sit in fifth in the Central Division and eighth in the Western Conference, good enough to qualify them for the second wild card position.  Even though they are qualifying for the playoffs, they play only an average game that slightly favors those offensive end.

    Led by James Neal’s 169 shots, the Preds have fired a solid 1650 shots, of which 8.4% have found the back of the net for 141 goals (led by Neal’s 19 tallies), 14th-most in the league.  Part of the reason for Nashville‘s mediocre offense has been the equally mediocre power play, which ranks only 12th-best in the league.  The special team has connected on 19.44% of attempts for 35 extra man tallies (led by Shea Weber’s 10 power play goals).  Fortunately, Nashville has only allowed one short-handed goal this season, so at least they aren’t giving up goals when they aren’t cashing in on prime opportunities.

    Led by Roman Josi’s 127 blocks, the Preds have allowed only 1420 shots to reach 20-18-7 Pekka Rinne and co., of which they’ve collectively saved only 90.4% for 145 goals against. 14th-most in the league.  Again, that ranking is a reflection of the Predators‘ lack of success on the penalty kill, which is seventh-worst in the league, killing only 78.44% of opposing attempts for 36 extra man goals against.  Those special teams numbers are slightly improved, though, when taking Nashville‘s five shorties into account, one more than the league average.

    Nashville‘s most recent game was a 5-3 loss to the Capitals on Tuesday.  A win today paired with a Colorado loss propels the Predators into the first wildcard position, which is preferable to playing the Blackhawks in the first round of the playoffs.

    The 29-20-4 Tampa Bay Lightning currently sit in fourth in the Atlantic Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference, good enough for the first wildcard position.  They play one of the best defenses in the league, but it is paired with only an average offense.

    Victor Hedman may have only 92 blocks to his credit to lead the team, but only 1483 shots have found their way to 21-15-3 Ben Bishop and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.1% for only 130 goals against.  That success has continued on the penalty kill, where Tampa ranks 11th-best in the league, killing 81.99% for only 29 power play goals against.

    Steven Stamkos leads the charge with 149 shots to help lead the team to their 1543 total attempts, of which 9.1% have found the back of the net for 142 tallies, 13th-most in the league.  The power play is almost a direct mirror of that, as they’ve scored on 18.68% of attempts for 34 power play tallies (led by Stamkos’ 10 extra man goals).

    The Lightning have lost their last two games, with their most recent being a 4-2 loss in Montréal on Tuesday.  A win tonight propels the Bolts past Boston for third in the division and, should Detroit lose, all the way into second.

    As these teams represent opposing conferences, this is the second and final meeting between them this regular season.  The Lightning visited Nashville on October 20 to fall 5-4 in a shootout.  Judging from that score and both teams’ positions in the standings, this should hopefully be a competitive game.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Nashville‘s Josi (38 points, including 12 power play assists, and  127 blocks [all lead the team]) and Tampa Bay‘s Bishop (2.07 GAA [tied for third-best in the league] and 21 wins [tied for ninth-most in the league]).

    Not only will Tampa Bay be at home for this evening’s game, I believe that they are easily a better team than the Predators, and I expect them to get the win.

  • February 2 – Day 110 – If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, we get two more months of hockey

    Let’s start the second half of the season with a bang!  A whopping 12 games are being played tonight, with five starting at 7 p.m. eastern (Toronto at Boston [TVAS], the New York Rangers at New Jersey, Minnesota at the New York Islanders, Montréal at Philadelphia [RDS] and Ottawa at Pittsburgh [RDS2]), with Florida at Washington (NBCSN) starting half an hour later.  8 p.m. eastern brings with it two games (St. Louis at Nashville [SN1] and Dallas at Winnipeg), and 9 p.m. eastern has three more (Chicago at Colorado, Columbus at Edmonton and Los Angeles at Arizona).  Finally, San Jose at Anaheim, this evening’s nightcap, drops the puck at 10 p.m. eastern.

    Over half of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (Toronto at Boston, New York at New Jersey, St. Louis at Nashville, Dallas at Winnipeg, Chicago at Colorado, Los Angeles at Arizona and San Jose at Anaheim), and four are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Florida at Washington, St. Louis at Nashville, Chicago at Colorado and Los Angeles at Arizona).

    I have three reasons for choosing today’s Game of the Day.  You choose which one you most agree with.

    1. It’ll be my little way of honoring the All-Star Game.
    2. Judging by the standings, it should be the most competitive game of those listed in both groups above.
    3. It’s my birthday, so I can do whatever game I want.

    (.Gif posted by D I O S)

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    Tonight’s game is St. Louis‘ 11th in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 5-4-1 record.  Their most recent appearance was a two-goal shutout loss in Chicago on January 24.  Nashville has been featured four times before tonight’s game, with their most recent also being a loss in Chicago, but they played a more respectable 3-2 game.  They own a 2-2-0 record in the series overall.

    The 28-16-8 St. Louis Blues are currently third-best in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.  So far this season, their defense ranks 13th best in goals against, while the offense has the 15th most goals scored.

    Even with Alex Pietrangelo’s team-leading 98 blocks, the Blues have allowed 1540 shots to reach 18-10-3 Jake Allen and co.  Fortunately for St. Louis, they’ve had some solid goaltending, as the group has collectively saved 92.5% for only 125 goals against.  The penalty kill has also been exceptionally strong (third-best in the league), as they’ve killed 85.21% for only 25 goals against.

    Led by Vladimir Tarasenko’s 184 attempts, the Notes have fired the puck 1551 time, 8.1% of which have found the back of the net for 126 tallies (led by Tarasenko’s 25 goals).  The Blues also have the 11th-best power play in the league, successful on 19.58% of attempts for 28 extra-man tallies (led by Tarasenko’s eight).

    Before the All-Star Break, the Blues were riding a two-game losing skid that they intend to end after nine days of rest.  A win tonight has the potential to pull St. Louis within a point of the Stars, pending Dallas‘ result in Winnipeg.

    The 24-18-8 Nashville Predators currently sit in fifth place in the Central Division and seventh in the Western Conference, good enough for the second wildcard spot.  The Predators host the 15th best offense in the league, paired with the 15th-worst defense, as measured by goals scored and against, respectively.

    Led by James Neal’s 158 attempts, Nashville has fired 1538 shots so far this season, 8.3% of which have found the back of the net for 127 goals (led by Neal’s 18).  The offense also hosts the eighth-best power play, successful on 20.37% of attempts for 33 goals (led by Shea Weber’s nine extra-man tallies).  This special team has also done well to prevent opposing short-handed goals, allowing only one so far this season.

    Led by Roman Josi’s 121 blocks, the Predators have allowed only 1326 shots to reach 19-15-7 Pekka Rinne and co., but Nashville‘s struggles haven’t lied in the defenders.  Collectively, the goaltenders have saved only 90.7% of shots for 130 goals against.  The penalty kill has also struggled, killing only 79.08% (sixth-worst in the league) for 32 power play goals against.  The effects of the special teams have been slightly improved though, with four short-handed goals to their credit.

    The Preds entered the break strong, winning their last four games, all on the road.  A solid start to the last two months of the season is exactly what Nashville needs, as they are in the midst of a tough wildcard battle between themselves, Colorado and Minnesota.  A win tonight has the potential to propel the Predators past the Avalanche into the first wildcard spot, but they’ll need Colorado to lose, either in regulation or overtime, for that to happen.

    With a  3-0-0 record in the season series, St. Louis has already won the best of five against the Predators this year.  Their last meeting was December 29 in the Gateway to the West, by far the best showing for Nashville against the Blues this season, as they managed to get the game to overtime before ceding the 4-3 OT victory.

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Nashville‘s Josi (35 points, 25 of which have been assists, and 121 blocks [all lead the team]), Neal (18 goals on 158 shots, 15 of which have been at even-strength, and a +15 [all lead the team]), Mike Ribeiro (17 even-strength assists [leads the team]) and Weber (nine power play goals and 106 hits [both lead the team]) & St. Louis‘ Allen (five shutouts [second-most in the league]) or Brian Elliott (.927 save percentage [tied for eighth-best in the league]), Colton Parayko (+18 [tied for seventh-best in the league]) and Tarasenko (25 goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]).

    After the break, it is tough to get a gauge on how these teams are going to perform, but I’ll get a slight edge to Nashville for playing with their streak on home ice.

    *Disclaimer: Blues-bias is now on, because, you know, birthday privileges and stuff.*

    Screw that.  Go Blues.  Basically, at the end of the day, what we’re looking for is me singing this (video uploaded by patokaman)…

    Instead of this (video uploaded by ZoSO282).

  • January 12 – Day 94 – Country meets Chi-Town

    The New York Rangers scored the game-winning goal with only 1:42 remaining in regulation to secure the 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins.

    The first goal of the game was not scored until 29:04 courtesy of Third Star of the Game Jimmy Hayes, assisted by Ryan Spooner (his 20th helper of the season) and Zdeno Chara.  The Bruins‘ one-goal lead held into the second intermission.

    New York didn’t wait long to level the score after returning from the dressing room, 35 seconds to be exact.  Derick Brassard scored the leveler, assisted by Second Star Mats Zuccarello (his 16th helper of the season) and Ryan McDonagh.  The Rangers‘ late game-winner was courtesy of First Star Jesper Fast, assisted by Keith Yandle (his 21st helper of the season) and Kevin Klein.

    Henrik Lundqvist’s record improves to 19-11-4 after saving 32 of 33 (97%), while Tuukka Rask’s falls to 14-12-4 after saving 28 of 30 (93.3%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 37-19-8, favoring the home squads by 24 points.

    After a light Monday schedule, we jump back into the swing of things with eight games tonight.  The action gets started at the usual 7 p.m. eastern starting time with two matchups (Columbus at the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh at Carolina [TVAS]), followed an hour later by three more (New Jersey at St. Louis, Buffalo at Minnesota [BELL TV] and San Jose at Winnipeg).  Nashville at Chicago gets started at 8:30 p.m. eastern, followed 30 minutes later by the co-nightcap games (Tampa Bay at Colorado [NBCSN] and Edmonton at Arizona).

    Four of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (Columbus at New York, Pittsburgh at Carolina, Nashville at Chicago and Edmonton at Arizona), while New Jersey at St. Louis and Nashville at Chicago are the only games where both teams are currently qualifying for the playoffs.  Lastly, the Preds–Hawks game is a rematch of one of the Western Conference Quarterfinals from a season ago.

    As has become the norm for games that qualify for all three groups, lets focus in on tonight’s game in the United Center.

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    Tonight’s game will be Nashville‘s fourth appearance in the DtFR Game of the Day series, where they host a 2-1-0 record.  Their most recent showing was a 2-1 loss in St. Louis on December 17.  Chicago has been featured 12 times before tonight, with this game breaking their tie with the Rangers for most appearances in the series.  They own a 7-4-1 record when the focus of our attention, with their most recent game being a 6-3 win over the Avalanche on Sunday.

    The 19-16-7 Nashville Predators currently occupy fifth place in the Central Division and seventh in the Western Conference, qualifying them for the final wild card position.  Overall, they play a balanced game, but have been slipping of late, losing their last three by a combined score of 13-4.

    Nashville is a tough team to figure out offensively, as they seem to be doing all the right things for success.  So far this season, they’ve shot the puck 1300 times (led by James Neal’s 129 attempts), with 8.1% finding the back of the net (only slightly below the league average of 8.8%) for 105 goals (led by Neal’s 15 tallies).  Even the power play has been at least average, with the squad connecting on 19.57% of attempts for 27 goals (led by Shea Weber’s eight goals).  Going along with the special teams play, it is probably not a good thing that the best note associated with the power play is that they’ve only given up one short-handed goal this season.

    On the other end, the Preds have allowed only 1117 shots (a total below the league average, thanks in part to Roman Josi’s team-leading 111 blocks), but 90.3% have snuck past 16-13-6 Pekka Rinne and co. for 114 goals.  A significant problem for the defense has been their penalty kill.  Nashville kills only 75.4% of opposing attempts, allowing 31 goals.

    As stated before, the Preds are currently riding a three-game losing skid, with their most recent showing being a four-goal shutout loss in Arizona on Saturday.

    The 27-13-4 Chicago Blackhawks currently sit in second place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference, trailing Dallas by four points.  Although they play well on both ends of the ice, they definitely a much more offensive-minded team.

    The Blackhawks have attempted a significant 1308 shots so far this season (led by Patrick Kane’s 161 shots), of which 9.1% have found the back of the net for 125 goals (25 courtesy of Kane), third-most in the league.  That success continues to the power play, where the Hawks have scored on 22.9% of their opportunities for 30 goals (led by Kane’s 13).

    The defense has been good, just not quite as good as the offense.  Led by Trevor van Riemsdyk’s 87 blocks, Chicago has allowed 1308 shots against, 92.3% of which are collectively saved by 23-10-2 Corey Crawford and co., for only 104 goals against, ninth-best in the league.  Probably the most glaring aspect of Chicago‘s game has been their penalty kill, where they only kill 81.97% of attempts (yes, it’s still better than the league average!) for 22 goals against.

    Of all the teams for Nashville to try to get their groove back against, Chicago would have to be near the bottom of the list, as the Hawks have won their last seven games, with their most recent being Sunday’s Game of the Day against the Avalanche, which they won 6-3.

    These two teams met last year in the Western Conference Quarterfinals, with the Hawks winning the series 4-2 on their way to the Stanley Cup.  The series included two incredibly exciting games, as the first meeting needed two overtime periods after the Preds scored three-straight goals to knot the game at three-all.  Thanks to Duncan Keith, the Blackhawks won 4-3.  Three games later, two overtime periods was not enough, as the Hawks won 3-2 in triple overtime with a Brent Seabrook one-timer.

    The story has already been continued this season, as this is the third of five meetings.  Each team’s home arena has seen a home-team blowout victory in a home-and-home series, with Chicago winning 4-1 on December 8 before heading to Nashville, where the Predators won 5-1 two days later.

    Some players to watch include Chicago‘s Crawford (six shutouts [leads the league], 23 wins [tied for second-best in the league] and .926 save percentage [tied for ninth-best in the league]) and Kane (62 points [leads the league], 37 assists [leads the league], 25 goals [tied for second-most in the league] and +19 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) & Nashville‘s Josi (111 blocks and 31 points [both lead team]) and Neal (129 shots, 15 goals, 12 at even-strength, and +11 [all lead team]).

    The Predators are in desperate need of a win, but I think it’s too tough a task for a road team in the United Center.  The Hawks should win this one, with the potential for their second-straight blowout.

  • December 10 – Day 64 – Return from hiatus

    Hello again friends!

    As you may have noticed, I was forced into a month long writing hiatus due to a major project for school, for which I am extremely sorry.  For those that care, you will be pleased to know that (1) I completed my senior project and (2) I think it went marvelously!  Due to that, I may be a little rusty in delivering my Game of the Day, and I hope you forgive me as I work out the rust.

    That being said, there’s been a lot of hockey happening between then and now, and I’m not in the ‘Hockey in the Last Month’ business.  Let’s take a look at what today’s Game of the Day is!

    Tonight’s schedule includes a total of seven games, with three (Montréal at Detroit [RDS], Ottawa at Tampa Bay [RDS2] and Washington at Florida) beginning at 7:30 p.m. eastern.  Three games get started half an hour later (Philadelphia at St. Louis, Chicago at Nashville and Columbus at Winnipeg), followed an hour later by Buffalo at Calgary (SN360), tonight’s nightcap.

    Three of tonight’s matchups are divisional (Montréal at Detroit, Ottawa at Tampa Bay and Chicago at Nashville), while two are between two teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Montréal at Detroit and Chicago at Nashville).  Since one of last year’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinals was between Chicago and Nashville, we’ll focus in on Bridgestone Arena.

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    Currently, Chicago lays claim to the final divisional spot in the Central Division’s playoff bracket and fourth place in the Western Conference with a 15-9-4 record (34 points).  They are currently riding a two-game winning streak, with their last game being a 4-1 victory against these same Predators in the United Center only two days ago.

    So far this season, Chicago has employed strong play on both sides of the ice.  By pairing four more goals scored than the league average with four goals against than the league average, the Hawks have moved their way past the Preds and Wild into the third divisional spot.

    An especially strong point of the offense has been the all-important power play.  Chicago has scored 20 power play goals (led by Patrick Kane) so far this season (three more than the league average), as well as earned two more opportunities than the league average.  Both of these numbers combine to yield the Hawks a 21.98% power play rate, which exceeds the league average by almost 2.75%.

    Even when down a man, Chicago has been better than the rest of the NHL.  So far this season, they’ve tallied three shorties (two of which belong to Artem Anisimov), which leads the league average by a goal.

    While all of these goals are great, the real reason the Blackhawks have been successful has been their forwards putting pucks on goal.  They’ve registered a total of 851 shots so far this season (98 of which belong to Kane), which leads the league average by 35 shots.  Because of this, their 9.2% shot percentage slightly exceeds the league average.

    On the other end of the ice,  Corey Crawford (13-7-2) and co. have kept a few more goals out  of net than their average league counterpart – four, to be exact.  Aided by Trevor van Riemsdyk’s 53 blocks, they’ve only allowed 70 goals so far this season by saving 91.6%of the 826 shots they’ve faced.

    On the other end of the ice is a 14-9-5 Nashville team that currently occupies the lesser of the two wildcard positions.  Nashville‘s game has focused more so on the defensive end of the ice, but they’ve been struggling of late to keep the puck out of the back of their own net, made evident by the 13 goals they’ve given up in their last four games played.

    As it currently stands, Pekka Rinne (11-7-5) and co. have given up 74 goals, exactly the league average.  One of the main reasons this number has been so high, especially on a goalie as strong as Rinne, has been the lack of success on the penalty kill.  22 of Nashville‘s goals against have come when a man down, even though they’ve given up three less opportunities than the average NHL team.  Due to this, their kill rate is below the 80.74% league average, which is only hurting this team’s chances of being a strong force in the Central Division and the Western Conference as a whole.

    Offensively, there’s been a lot of bad puck luck happening to the Predators this year.  They’ve put 881 shots on net so far this season (led by James Neal’s 89), well over the league average, but they only have 71 goals to show for their efforts (led by Neal’s 10 tallies).  One of the main things keeping Nashville together this season has been their success on the power play.  So far this season, the Predators have notched 20 power play goals (led by Shea Weber’s eight tallies) on only 86 attempts, giving them a strong success rate of 20.83%.

    Tonight’s game between these two squads is the second in a five-game season series.  Game 1 just occurred only a couple days ago.  That game witnessed the Hawks taking a 4-1 victory at the United Center, with Andrew Shaw notching the game-winner on a power play during the 15th minute of the second period, assisted by Teuvo Teravainen and David Rundblad.  A total of seven Blackhawks were mentioned on the score sheet that night, and they will intend to do the same in Nashville this evening.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Chicago‘s Crawford (13 wins [tied for fourth in the league] and two shutouts [tied for sixth in the league]), Kane (43 points [leads the league], 26 assists [leads the league], 17 goals [second in the league] and +13 [tied for sixth in the league]) and Artemi Panarin (19 assists [tied for seventh in the league] and 28 points [tied for eighth in the league]) and Nashville‘s Roman Josi (79 blocks, 21 points, 14 assists and one shorty [all stats lead team]), Neal (89 shots and 10 goals [both lead team]) and Weber (64 hits and eight power play goals [both lead team]).

    Even though Nashville has been a much better home team than road team this season, I still expect Chicago to win this matchup, mostly (1) because of the way Nashville has been skidding recently (3-5-2 in their last 10 games played) and (2) my belief that Chicago is simply the better team so far this season.