Down the Frozen River

Tag: NY Isles

  • December 23 – Day 72 – Kyle Okposo-ing the Isles

    It’s here you guys. The last day of hockey until Tuesday. Get your tears out now.

    I know, the world couldn’t get any worse. We just need to enjoy tonight while it lasts.

    Fortunately, there’s a dozen games for us to choose from for our last night of hockey for the next 6810 minutes. The action starts at 7 p.m. with five contests (Buffalo at the New York Islanders, Minnesota at the New York Rangers, New Jersey at Pittsburgh [TVAS], Tampa Bay at Washington [SN1] and Montréal at Columbus [RDS]), followed half an hour later by another pair of games (Detroit at Florida and Boston at Carolina). 8:30 p.m. brings with it the puck drop of two more games (Colorado at Chicago and Los Angeles at Dallas), with another duo of matches waiting until the top of the hour (Vancouver at Calgary and Toronto at Arizona). Finally, Edmonton at San Jose, acting as this evening’s nightcap, gets green lit at 10:30 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Buffalo at New York: Kyle Okposo played nine seasons wearing blue and orange, but he traded the orange for gold this offseason.
    • Boston at Carolina: Both John-Michael Liles and Riley Nash used to call PNC Arena home, combining for almost 400 games for the Hurricanes.
    • Vancouver at Calgary: No notable returns here. Just a good, old-fashioned rivalry.

    Since Okposo has had such an impact on both his clubs, we’ll take in his warm reception this evening at the Barclays Center.

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    Okposo’s time with New York began in as the seventh-overall selection in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, and by 2008 he was consistently earning regular playing time.

    Although he notched 52 points in his 2009-’10 campaign, Okposo’s career really took off in 2013-’14. He buried 27 goals that year en route to a 69 point season – both career-highs (the 42 assists he notched that season, also a career high, was tied last season) – for the best point-mark on the club.

    His next season was derailed by a detached retina (yes, like the retina in your eyeball) and its associated surgery. In 2015-’16, he got right back on track, equaling that 42 assist-mark from 2013-14 and scoring the puck on his own 22 times, the third-most on the squad.

    This offseason, Okposo took advantage of his recent success to test the free agency market, and ended up in Buffalo on a seven-year, $42 million contract. He’s had an immediate impact, as his nine tallies are tops on the team.

    Although he was one of many to leave the Islanders in a tough spot, New Yorkers should provide a warm welcome to their old friend.

    Okposo’s new club enters tonight’s game with a 12-12-8 record, good enough for only seventh-place in the Atlantic Division. Although the defense and goaltending has been phenomenal, the offense has not done enough to earn the Sabres more victories.

    That offense has managed only 69 goals so far this season, the second-fewest in the NHL. Although defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen leading the team with 23 points is not entirely a bad thing, it must be alarming for general manager Tim Murray given that 60.16% of his salary cap is being spent on forwards. As stated before, Okposo has lit the lamp the most on the team, scoring nine times.

    Although the offense as a whole has struggled, the power play has certainly not. Scoring 22.8% of the time, the Sabres are the fourth-best team in the league with the man-advantage. Ristolainen has taken the lead in this department as well with 13 power play points to his credit, but it has been Matt Moulson who has finished many of those plays, scoring seven times.

    Just as good as Buffalo is at scoring with the extra man, they are equally as unimpressive when defending against it. The Sabres have stopped only 74.7% of opposing power plays, the second-worst rate in the league. Although Josh Gorges (16) and Ristolainen (14) both have decent amounts of shorthanded blocks to their credit, they are the only two skaters with more than eight. I’m pretty sure I’ve said it before, but the penalty kill needs to be more of a priority for the Sabres if they want to take the next step towards returning to the playoffs.

    Playing host this evening are the 12-14-6 Islanders, the worst team in the Eastern Conference. It is my opinion that the reason they haven’t found success yet is due to their struggles on the defensive end, as their 99 goals allowed ends up being the third-highest scoring-against average (3.09) in the NHL.

    Three goalies have taken their try at New York‘s crease this season, but most of the time it is 5-8-5 Jaroslav Halak. Through 19 appearances, he’s earned a .907 save percentage and 3.13 GAA, the (t)31st and 43rd-best effort among the 49 goalies with nine or more appearances this season.

    While this is no doubt one of Halak’s worst performances of his career, he can’t shoulder all the blame. His defense is not doing him any favors by allowing 33.3 shots-per-game to reach his crease per night, the second-highest average in the NHL. While Calvin de Haan has certainly been impressive with his team-leading 95 shot blocks, he is the only skater with more than 70 to his credit.  Just like I said for Buffalo, this is an aspect of New York‘s game that needs to change immediately if they want any hope of saving their quickly disappearing season.

    As would be expected, those struggles have sneaked into the penalty kill, where the Islanders rank sixth-worst after neutralizing only 78.7% of opposing power plays. Once again, de Haan has been very productive with his 19 shorthanded blocks, but the rest of the club needs to step up to take pressure off Halak.

    Unfortunately, the bad news continues on the power play, where New York‘s 13.5% success rate is the third-worst mark in the league. Both Nick Leddy and John Tavares have six man-advantage points to their credit, and the power play goal scoring title is currently shared between Anders Lee and Tavares, both with three tallies on their resume.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Buffalo‘s Anders Nilsson (.933 save percentage [tied for fourth-best in the league]), should he play, and New York‘s Dennis Seidenberg (+11 [leads the team]).

    Vegas has marked the Islanders a -133 favorite to win tonight’s game, but I’m not so certain the spread should be even that large. I’ll side with the Isles simply because they’re playing at home and the Sabres played last night in Buffalo while tonight’s hosts were resting.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Vadim Sharifijanov (1975-) – Last Saturday, we talked about draft picks that don’t pan out. Let’s revisit that real quick. This right wing was the 25th-overall pick in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey, but he ended up playing only 92 games in the league.
    • Scott Gomez (1979) – Another Devils draft pick, this center was selected 27th-overall in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Although he spent most of his 16 seasons in Jersey, Gomez played with seven different clubs en route to two All Star selections, two Stanley Cups and the 2000 Calder Trophy.
    • T.J. Oshie (1986-) – The 24th-overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by St. Louis, he played seven seasons with the Blues before being traded to Washington before last season. Of course, he’s most known for his six shootout attempts at the 2014 Winter Olympics to give Team USA a 3-2 victory over Russia.

    It’s been a long time since we’ve had a blowout like yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, as Columbus whipped the Penguins 7-1 at Nationwide Arena.

    It looked like Pittsburgh was off to a good start, as Sidney Crosby (Ian Cole and Conor Sheary) buried a snap shot only 2:39 into the contest, but that lead lasted only 10:22 before Cam Atkinson (Nick Foligno and Alexander Wennberg) scored a power play snap shot. That one-all tie held into the second period.

    William Karlsson (Sam Gagner and Josh Anderson) takes credit for the winning tally with 9:45 remaining in the second frame, and 2:05 seconds later First Star of the Game Scott Hartnell buried the first of six insurance goals. The Jackets took their 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

    It was the third period where things really went awry for Pittsbrugh. Starting only 2:44 after returning to the ice, Hartnell (Gagner and Jack Johnson), Second Star Brandon Saad (Wennberg), Boone Jenner (Brandon Dubinsky and Seth Jones) and Hartnell again (Dubinsky and Saad) combined for the Columbus onslaught to ensure their 11th-straight victory.

    Sergei Bobrovsky earns the victory after saving 25-of-26 shots faced (96.2%), while Matthew Murray managed to save only 17-of-23 (73.9%) in the loss. He was replaced following Jenner’s goal by Marc-Andre Fleury, who saved four-of-five (80%) for no decision.

    Columbus‘ victory is the third straight by a home team, setting the DtFR Game of the Day series at 40-23-11 in favor of the hosts, who lead the visitors by nine points.

  • December 12 – Day 61 – Not just a rivalry these days

    Bad news: You had to go back to work today.

    Good news: There’s hockey on tonight!

    Don’t get too excited though, there’s only two games. The action starts at 7 p.m. when Arizona visits Pittsburgh (TVAS), followed half an hour later by Boston at Montréal (NHLN/RDS/SN). Both times eastern.

    As sexy as the Coyotes–Penguins matchup is, I think we all know we have to turn our attention to The Metropolis.

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    The 15-12-2 Bruins come to Montréal in command of third place in the Atlantic Division. They’ve been able to find that success by allowing only 69 goals so far this season, tying for the seventh-fewest in the NHL.

    Every good defense starts with a good goalie, and the Bruins are no different. 14-5-2 Tuukka Rask has earned his impressive record on a .93 save percentage and 1.85 GAA, the eighth and fifth-best rates in the league, respectively, among goaltenders with 11 or more appearances.

    Although his numbers have been impressive, Rask doesn’t get all the credit. He faces only 27 shots-per-game, the fourth-lowest rate in the league. Rookie Brandon Carlo and Captain Zdeno Chara have headed that charge with their 46 and 44 blocks, respectively. Last season, the Bruins allowed 30.4 shots per game to tie for 11th-most, and Rask did not play to the standard we’ve come to expect.

    In other words, goalies: be thankful for your bluelines!

    Not surprisingly, Boston‘s penalty kill has also been very strong, refusing 87.2% of opposing power plays. The rookie has been just as important when a man down as he is at even-strength, notching a club-high 15 shorthanded blocks.

    Where the Bruins need to improve is on their own power play, where they find the back of the net only 13.9% of the time. David Krejci, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak are the three man-advantage kings, each with five power play points on their season resume, but Pastrnak has been the most impressive. He has four extra man goals.

    Third in the division is good, but first is better – especially when it coincides with first in the league. That’s the position the 19-6-3 Canadiens find themselves in, and you won’t find any complainers in that dressing room. Just like Boston, the Habs have found much of their success by keeping the opposition off the board.

    The man between the pipes more often than not for the Canadiens has been 16-3-1 Carey Price, who’s .94 save percentage and 1.79 GAA are both the fourth-best efforts in the NHL among goalies with 10 or more appearances.

    So both teams keep their opponents from scoring? What makes them different? We’ve already determined that Boston uses an excellent combination of goalie and defense. On the other hand, Montréal prefers to lean hard on Price.

    The Habs defense has allowed 30.7 shots to reach Price per night, the 13th-most in the NHL. What’s alarming is to think if they’d not made the trade with Nashville for Shea Weber, who leads his new club with 60 blocked shots.

    In conclusion: Price>Rask this season, but Boston‘s defense>Montréal‘s.

    Fortunately for Montréal, their offense – specifically the power play – is able to cover up for the lack of defense. Even with Weber’s 10 power play points – including a club-leading seven power play goals – the Canadiens have converted 21.6% of their man-advantages, the eighth-best effort in the league.

    These teams last met a little under a month ago on this surface, and the Habs won 3-2. That victory improved Montréal‘s record to 2-0 against the Bruins on the season.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Boston‘s Pastrnak (18 goals [second-most in the NHL] for a +15 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) and Rask (three shutouts [tied for second-most in the NHL] among 14 wins [tied for third-most in the league] on a 1.85 GAA [fifth-best in the NHL] and a .93 save percentage [ninth-best in the league]) & Montréal‘s Nathan Beaulieu (+13 [10th-best in the NHL]), Price (16 wins [tied for most in the league] on a 1.79 GAA and a .94 save percentage [both fourth-best in the NHL], plus two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league]) and Weber (+18 [second-best in the NHL]).

    The consensus in Vegas is that Montréal is a -150 favorite to win tonight’s game. They’re hard to pick against, given that they’ve already won the first two meetings with their most hated rivals and they have home ice. I like the Habs to win tonight, but it should be a well-contested contest.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Billy Smith (1950-) – Who knew goaltenders could be strikers? OK, maybe that’s a slight over-exaggeration, but this longtime Islander was the first netminder to bury a goal. Oh yeah, he also won four Stanley Cups.
    • Colin White (1977-) – Another multi-Cup winner, this defenseman was the 49th-overall selection in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey. He played 743 games over 11 seasons with the Devils, plus a 54-game stint in San Jose.

    With two goals in the third period, Edmonton was able to defend home ice against the visiting Jets in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, winning 3-2.

    The lone tally of the first period belonged to the Jets. With 5:10 remaining in the opening frame, Third Star of the Game Mathieu Perreault (Bryan Little and Jacob Trouba) buried a wrister to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead.

    Second Star Oscar Klefbom (Tyler Pitlick and Patrick Maroon) and the Oilers struck back only 1:53 after returning to the ice with a snap shot, but the tied game lasted only 10:07 before Chris Thorburn (Marko Dano) scored a snapper of his own to reclaim a 2-1 lead for Winnipeg.

    Edmonton once again returned from intermission with a vengeance, as First Star Mark Letestu (Connor McDavid and Milan Lucic) buried a power play snap shot to once again tie the game at two-all. But this time, Winnipeg did not have an answer. They could not muster another tally. Instead, it was Letestu who scored the winning goal, earning Edmonton second place in the Pacific Division for the next couple days.

    Cam Talbot earns the come-from-behind victory after saving 29-of-31 shots faced (93.5%), while Connor Hellebuyck takes the loss, saving 27-of-30 (90%).

    The home teams did it! They won all of this week’s DtFR Game of the Days. That streak improves their record to 36-19-8, which is 15 points better than the roadies.

  • December 9 – Day 58 – The Tank empties into The Pond

    You made it through another week of work, so you deserve to watch some hockey. Washington at Buffalo gets things started at 7 p.m., followed half an hour later by a pair of contests (Columbus at Detroit and St. Louis at New Jersey). 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of Edmonton at Minnesota, with the New York Rangers visiting Chicago (NHLN) 30 minutes later. San Jose at Anaheim (SN) acts as this evening’s nightcap, getting underway at 10 p.m. All times eastern.

    Short list

    • New York at Chicago: It’s an Original Six matchup between two of the top teams in the league.
    • San Jose at Anaheim: This rivalry may not have existed 25 years ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching.

    It’s been a long time since we’ve checked in on the Ducks, so let’s head out to the Honda Center!

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    The reigning Western Conference Champion San Jose Sharks are well on their way to making their second-straight playoff appearance, as their 15-10-1 is third-best in the Pacific Division. They’ve gotten to that position by playing some good goaltending and even better defense, yielding only 55 goals so far this season – the third-fewest in the NHL.

    Martin Jones has only had three days off, but that hasn’t affected him much. He has a 13-9-1 record with a .92 save percentage and 2.04 GAA to rank (t)14th and seventh-best among the 36 netminders with 12 or more appearances.

    An impressive GAA paired with a less-impressive save percentage is almost always due to an impressive defense. San Jose is definitely one of those cases. Led by Justin Braun and Brent Burns‘ co-leading 48 blocks, the Sharks‘ blueline has allowed only 25.8 shots to reach Jones’ crease per game, the best rate in the league.

    Hosting that strong defense this evening are the 13-9-5 Ducks, the club sitting in fourth place in the Pacific Division. Anaheim is a well-rounded team, but I’m more impressed by their offense that has scored 72 goals this season, a total that ties them for 14th in scoring.

    Ryan Kesler has been the man in charge of the Ducks offense so far this season, leading the club with his 23 points as well as his 12 goals. But, it hasn’t been just him. Captain Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry join Kesler in the 20+ point club.

    One of the main reasons for this success has been the Ducks‘ opportunistic play. Kesler’s 11 power play points has led Anaheim to converting 22.1% of their man-advantages, the sixth-best rate in the league. The incredible center has completed a lot of those attacks, taking credit for seven of the 19 extra-man tallies.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Anaheim‘s Getzlaf (20 assists [tied for second-most in the league]) and San Jose‘s Jones (13 wins [tied for fourth-most in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for seventh-most in the league], on a 2.04 GAA [ninth-best in the NHL]).

    Vegas has marked Anaheim a -112 favorite, but I like the underdog in tonight’s contest. San Jose has a superior defense going against a slightly above-average offense. Unfortunately, I’ve been wrong in my last few picks, so we’ll have to see if it’s the Ducks or Sharks that are grateful I’ve sided with NorCal.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Germain Gagnon (1942-2014) – This left wing may have only played five seasons, but he played for four different clubs in that relatively short amount of time. Although he appeared on three Chicago teams, he played most of his 259 games for the Islanders.
    • Pit Martin (1943-2008) – 1101 games were played over 17 NHL seasons by this center, most of which with the Blackhawks. Although he never won a Stanley Cup, he did claim the 1970 Masterton Trophy.
    • Dana Murzyn (1966-) – Hartford selected this defenseman fifth-overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, but he spent most of his days in Vancouver. After playing his amateur days in Calgary, he joined the Flames in 1988 and played on the 1989 Stanley Cup winning team.
    • Petr Nedved (1971-) – Nearly half of this center’s career was spent playing with the Rangers, but he was drafted second-overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by Vancouver. By the time his NHL days came to a close, he’d played for seven teams.

    For the second time in four days, and coincidentally the same statecommonwealth, goaltending took the night off in the DtFR Game of the Day in favor for a barn-burner as Philadelphia beat Edmonton 6-5.

    Only one goal was struck in the first period, and it belonged to the visiting Oilers. Third Star of the Game Leon Draisaitl (Jesse Puljujarvi and Kris Russell) scored a snap shot 4:39 into the game to give Edmonton an early lead.

    That lead doubled 4:35 into the second period when Connor McDavid (Draisaitl and Milan Lucic) buried a power play snap shot, but Philly reeled them in when Mark Streit (Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov) buried a slap shot 7:56 later to set the score at 2-1. The Flyers leveled the score with 6:36 remaining in the frame when Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Andrew MacDonald and Chris VandeVelde) scored his first goal of the season with a snapper. Philadelphia scored again 19 seconds later to take their first lead, courtesy of a flying First Star Claude Giroux (Second Star Jakub Voracek) slap shot. The Oilers didn’t like that very much, so Andrej Sekera (Mark Letestu and McDavid) buried a shorthanded slap shot to tie the game at three-all going into an exciting final period.

    As crazy as the second period was, the third was even more wild. With goals from Benoit Pouliot (Draisaitl and Sekera) and Oscar Klefbom (Jordan Eberle and Drake Caggiula) at the 3:07 and 5:12 marks respectively (Klefbom’s was on the power play), the Oilers had a strong 5-3 lead. But it would end up not even yielding a point. A Voracek (Shayne Gostisbehere and Giroux) power play snap shot pulled the Flyers back within a goal at the 6:31 mark, followed 5:40 later by a Giroux (Radko Gudas and Voracek) snap shot to tie the game. The game stayed tied until 89 remained – that’s when Michael Raffl (Voracek and Streit) buried his game-winning snap shot.

    Steve Mason took the victory after saving 28-of-33 shots faced (84.8%), leaving the loss to Jonas Gustavsson, saving 25-of-31 (80.6%).

    Philadelphia‘s home victory is the fourth-straight in the DtFR Game of the Day series. They join with previous home teams to set the hosts’ record at 33-19-8 in that series, leading the visitors by nine points.

  • December 6 – Day 55 – On either end of the spectrum

    It’s another busy Tuesday in the NHL! Per usual, the action gets started at 7 p.m. with four games (Edmonton at Buffalo, Vancouver at New Jersey, the New York Rangers at the New York Islanders [SN1] and Florida at Philadelphia), trailed an hour later by three more (Montréal at St. Louis [RDS], Colorado at Nashville [TVAS] and Detroit at Winnipeg). Two contests (Arizona at Chicago and Calgary at Dallas) share nightcap responsibilities, and they fulfill that duty quickly dropping the puck at 8:30 p.m. All times eastern.

    • New York at New York: In addition to being bitter rivals, the Rangers barely held off the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division a season ago.
    • Calgary at Dallas: Jyrki Jokipakka played the last two seasons in the American Airlines Center, but tonight he wears white with the visitors.

    Since the defenseman never played a full season in Dallas, I think we need to tune in to the Battle of New York.

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    Yes, I’m as disappointed as you that this is probably definitely a cover. Not only did I check it by ear, but Shazam also won’t recognize this cut of the track. Dang you, Taylor Swift, and your restrictive and inconvienent, yet probably well-informed distrust of music streaming sites!

    Anyways, the Rangers enter tonight’s game with a 17-8-1 record and have the opportunity to surpass Montréal for the best mark in the Eastern Conference should the Habs fall. They’ve gotten to that position riding their incredible offense that has struck 95 goals already this season, far-and-away the most in the league.

    For most teams, 19 points should not be leading the club. Unless that club is the Rangers, which has two 19-point scorers, followed by an 18-pointer, three 17-pointers, etc. You get the idea. Those two leaders with 19-points are Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller. Both those skaters’ impacts have been evenly split between goals and assists, which leaves the scoring lead open to Michael Grabner, who has already lit the lamp 13 times this season.

    Effectively, the easiest thing to say about New York‘s offense is this: Almost. Every. Single. Skater. Is. A. Weapon. You have been warned, Brooklyn.

    Part of the reason for that success has been a successful power play. The Rangers‘ 22.7% conversion rate ranks sixth-best in the NHL. Led by Rick Nash‘s team-leading four extra-man goals and six power play points, the Blueshirts have struck 17 man-advantage goals already this season.

    The other special team has also been very good. The Rangers‘ penalty kill ranks ninth-best, stopping their opposition 85.1% of the time. Kevin Klein gets to take a lot of credit for the success, as he leads the team with 13 shorthanded blocks.

    As good as the Rangers have been, the Islanders have been bad. In fact, they are the worst team in the conference, due almost entirely to their lackluster offense, capable of only 61 goals so far this year – the seventh-fewest in the league.

    Nineteen seems to be the magic number in the Big Apple, as that’s exactly how many points Captain John Tavares has as well. Unfortunately for him, he’s not backed by a bunch of others with similar totals. Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson have tied for second-most productive, but with only 15 points on their resumes. Three skaters lead the Isles with six goals: Anders Lee, Nelson and Tavares.

    Not surprisingly, the power play hasn’t treated the Boys from Brooklyn any better. Their 11.6% success rate with the man-advantage is the worst in the league. Equally expected, Tavares has taken the lead on this department of play as well, as his five power play points is best on the team, as do his two man-advantage tallies.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include the Islanders‘ Dennis Seidenberg (+12 [tied for ninth-best in the league]) & the Rangers‘ Grabner (+19 [best in the NHL] on 13 goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]), Hayes (+16 [third-best in the NHL]) and Henrik Lundqvist (12 wins [tied for sixth-most in the league]) or Antti Raanta (.931 save percentage [tied for sixth-best in the NHL]).

    I pick New York to win this game.

    In all seriousness, there should be no way the Rangers lose this game. Vegas has marked the Islanders a +120 underdog, and I think that’s far too narrow a margin. It won’t pay out much, but if you’re the gambling type you should definitely pick the Blueshirts.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Matt Niskanen (1986-) – The 28th-overall pick of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by Dallas, this defenseman is currently in his third season with Washington. So far this season, his nine points is second-most among the Capitals‘ defensive corps.

    If you like offense and goal-scoring, yesterday’s Game of the Day was for you, as Pittsburgh beat the visiting Senators 8-5.

    Hopefully this summary won’t be too long-winded.

    First Star of the Game Bryan Rust (Second Star Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang) opened the scoring for Pittsburgh only 1:45 into the game, but their lead lasted only 6:33 before Kyle Turris (Ryan Dzingel and Chris Wideman) leveled for the Senators. The Penguins regained the lead only 27 seconds before Sidney Crosby (Conor Sheary and Ian Cole) regained the lead with a wrist shot. 6:16 before the first intermission, Erik Karlsson (Mark Stone) buried a wrist shot to tie the game at two-all.

    A minute after returning to the ice, Stone’s (Dion Phaneuf and Karlsson) power play backhander gave the Sens their first lead of the game, which doubled 6:08 later when Mike Hoffman (Karlsson and Stone) scored a power play snap shot. Matt Cullen (Rust) set the score at 4-3 with a shorthanded backhander only 80 seconds later, and Third Star Phil Kessel (Justin Schultz and Cole) tied the game with 5:47 remaining in the second period. Schultz (Malkin and Kessel) scored a goal of his own 24 seconds later to give the Penguins a 5-4 lead that held into the second intermission.

    Malkin (Kessel) takes credit for the eventual game-winning goal with a backhander only 1:05 after retaking the ice. Ottawa could manage only one more goal in the game, courtesy of a Phaneuf (Turris and Karlsson) wrister at the 6:17 mark. Rust scored both insurance goals, the first a penalty shot and the second an empty-netter assisted by Chris Kunitz and Brian Dumoulin.

    Matthew Murray takes credit for Pittsburgh‘s victory, saving 17-of-18 shots faced (94.4%). He replaced starter Marc-Andre Fleury, who saved 12-of-16 (75%) before being replaced after Hoffman’s lead-taking goal 7:08 into the second period. Fleury, of course, earned no decision.

    Craig Anderson takes the loss after saving 36-of-43 shots faced (83.7%). He was replaced by ex-Penguin Mike Condon with 7:24 remaining in regulation (the score was then 7-5), who was the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker before Rust’s third goal. Condon saved both shots he faced and, just like Fleury, he earned no decision.

    The Penguins‘ victory increases the home sides’ lead over the roadies to four points in the DtFR Game of the Day series, advancing their record to 30-19-8.

  • December 4 – Day 53 – Frans will be Frans

    For a Sunday, we have a good sampling of games to watch. Montréal visits Los Angeles (RDS) at 3 p.m., followed two hour later by Tampa Bay at Carolina. The final round of matinee games drops the puck at 6 p.m. with two contests (Philadelphia at Nashville [TVAS] and Detroit at the New York Islanders), with Winnipeg at Chicago (SN) waiting until the usual 7 p.m. starting time. Two games share the role of nightcap tonight (Anaheim at Calgary [SN360] and Minnesota at Edmonton [SN1]), dropping the puck at 9:30 p.m. All times eastern.

    Up until this season, every single game of Frans Nielsen‘s career was spent wearing blue and orange. This afternoon, he’ll dress in the Barclays Center’s visitor’s locker room for the first time.

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    Way back in 2002, New York drafted an 18-year-old that would become the first Dane to play in the NHL. Of course, Nielsen’s career is not marked simply by that.

    His tenure with the Islanders was a successful one.  From the time he made his NHL debut in the 2006-07 to last season, he was the third-leading scorer for the Isles, including 230 assists to tie for second-most for the club in that time span.

    Nielsen has continued that success in Motown, as his 14 points ties for for second-most for the Red Wings.  Interestingly, he’s taken more of a goal scoring role with his new team, as his six goals are second-most on the team.

    Detroit comes to the Barclays Center with an 11-11-3 record, sitting in seventh place in the Atlantic Division. While their new center seems to be a good pickup, the Wings still struggle to score the puck, as their 58 goals ties for eighth-fewest.

    Henrik Zetterberg has headlined Detroit‘s offense so far this season with 17 points to his credit, but it’s been sophomore Dylan Larkin completing many of the plays – his eight goals is tops in the Motor City. To put those efforts in perspective, Zetterberg’s 17 points tie for 56th in the league, and Larkin ties for 37th.

    As would be expected from the low production, the power play has also suffered. Successful on only 14.9% of opportunities, the Wings are 10th-worst with the man-advantage in the NHL. This has been where Nielsen has truly shone, as his six power play points are a club-best. However, they’ve all be assists, and four skaters (Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, Larkin and Thomas Vanek) have two extra-man tallies for the clubhouse lead. Unfortunately, Abdelkader and Helm find themselves on the Wings‘ injured reserve, which has done nothing to help a sputtering offense.

    Hosting Nielsen and the Wings this evening are the 9-10-4 Islanders, the worst team in the Eastern Conference. They’ve earned that position by scoring only 58 goals, tying them for eighth-fewest in the NHL.

    Don’t tell Captain John Tavares that he’s not supposed to be racking up the points, as he already has 18 to lead his club. In addition, his six goals ties him with Brock Nelson for the scoring-lead in Brooklyn, but once again those numbers need to be put in perspective. 18 points is good enough to only tie for 45th-best in the league, and six goals ties for 84th.

    If Detroit‘s power play is bad, New York‘s is definitely worse. Scoring on only 11.8% of man-advantages earns the Islanders second-worst in the NHL, and worst in the conference. Tavares has been the biggest threat with five power play points, two of which are goals.

    Before we go any further, we need to clear something up. Not everybody is going to be a Sidney Crosby or Patrik Laine goal scorer (their 16 goals are the league benchmark), nor are many going to match Connor McDavid‘s impressive 34 points. I get that. But it’s the fact that these skaters for both clubs – Larkin, Nelson, Tavares and Zetterberg – are the ones leading their respective clubs. If they’re the best the club has to offer, what does that mean for the guys behind them?

    And that, my dear children, is how you get anemic offenses.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Detroit‘s Zetterberg (12 assists among 17 points [both lead the team]) and New York‘s Tavares (12 assists among 18 points [both lead the team]).

    In a game that I would have assumed to be a pick-’em, Vegas has marked the home Isles as the -145 favorite. The main reason I’ll stick with the odds-makers’ prediction is that Detroit not only played yesterday, but had to travel from Pittsburgh, while New York hasn’t played in three days and is riding a three-game winning streak.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Montréal Canadiens (1909-) – The oldest active hockey club in the world predates their own league.
    • Alex Delvecchio (1931-) – This center played an incredible 1549 games over 24 seasons with Detroit, hoisting the Stanley Cup three times. Fats was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977.
    • Rick Middleton (1953-) – Nifty played right wing for 1005 games over his 14-season career, most of which with Boston. Although he never won a title, he was thrice named an All-Star.
    • Dave Taylor (1955-) – Another right wing, he was drafted by Los Angeles in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft. He played 1111 games over his 17-season career, and his number 18 hangs in the Staples Center’s rafters.
    • Jassen Cullimore (1972-) – Although the 29th-overall selection in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by Vancouver, this defenseman spent most of his days in Tampa Bay – including that team that won the 2004 Stanley Cup.

    I expected a tight contest in yesterday’s Game of the Day, and that’s what we got when Boston beat Buffalo 2-1.

    The lone goal of the first period was struck with 5:50 remaining in the frame, belonging to David Krejci (Brandon Carlo and David Backes) and the Bruins.

    Patrice Bergeron (Second Star of the Game David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand) doubled Boston‘s score 7:44 into the third frame with a backhander. Third Star Evander Kane (Sam Reinhart) buried his first goal of the season 1:28 later, but the Sabres could not manage another tally to complete the comeback.

    First Star Tuukka Rask saved 35-of-36 (97.2%) shots faced to earn the victory, leaving the loss to Robin Lehner, who saved 31-of-33 (93.9%).

    Even though Boston won, the home teams still have a three-point lead over the visitors in the DtFR Game of the Day series with their 29-19-7 record.

  • November 18 – Day 37 – Another Friday brawl in New York?

    For a Friday, we have quite a few games on the schedule.

    Thanks, Pharrell.

    Anyways, three games find their start at the usual 7 p.m. (Pittsburgh at the New York Islanders [SN/TVAS], Detroit at Washington and the New York Rangers at Columbus), with Montréal at Carolina (RDS) waiting half an hour before beginning their festivities. This evening’s nightcap is Chicago at Calgary, which drops the puck at 9 p.m. All times eastern.

    I know we’ve already featured both these teams this week, but their rivalry game in Brooklyn is the only fixture that really catches my eye.

    pittsburgh_penguins_logoNew York Islanders Logo

     

    Just in case you aren’t familiar with this rivalry, I’d like to present you with this:

    Total, you just witnessed almost six hours-worth of penalties. Bonus material: one of my favorite hockey bouts, the Rick DiPietro v Brent Johnson scrap they were talking about:

    For those unfamiliar with this fight, the right-handed Johnson throws one left hook – one- on DiPietro, and breaks his cheekbone. It goes without saying that these teams have a history of not playing nicely with one another. Whether that plays out in fisticuffs or goals remains to be seen.

    After the textbook Penguin-demolition by the Washington Capitals Wednesday night, Pittsburgh enters tonight’s game with a 10-4-2 record. While it wasn’t on display in that game, Pittsburgh‘s strength continues to be their high-flying offense that has lit the lamp 48 times.

    Evgeni Malkin has statistically been the lead man of the Penguins‘ offense with 15 points to his credit. That being said, Sidney Crosby has been the one burying most of the goals, scoring 10 goals in as many games played after missing six contests due to his presesason concussion.

    The Steel City is home to the fifth-best power play in the league, successful on 23.6% of their attempts. Phil Kessel has been the man in charge on the man-advantage, responsible for nine power play points, including six assists. Patric Hornqvist has been the one completing most of the plays, potting four power play goals.

    Just like the Penguins, the last time New York was featured in our Game of the Day series was their last game played – a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of the Lightning. They have a 5-8-3 record for worst in the Eastern Conference, with most of the responsibility, in my opinion, falling on the defense and goaltending.

    The Islanders have allowed 51 goals so far this season, with most of those coming against 3-5-3 Jaroslav Halak. He has a .904 save percentage and 3.09 GAA to his credit, which ranks 15th and 12th-worst among all goalies with six or more appearances.

    While his performance has been poor, it could be argued that he’s being worked a little bit more than the average goaltender. OK, a lot more. Be it Halak or Thomas Greiss in net, the Isles allow an average of 31.7 shots against per night, the seventh-highest in the league. Johnny Boychuk continues to deserve credit for his 43 blocks – the second-highest total in the league – but he is the only Islander with more than 40 shot blocks to his credit. While blocks are not always the answer, New York‘s defense needs to improve to limit opposing opportunities in a hurry.

    As you might expect, the Isles‘ penalty kill is not exactly admirable either. They’ve negated their own infractions only 79.7% of the time, which ties with Los Angeles for seventh-worst in the league. Part of the reason they haven’t been able to find success is because they’re on the penalty kill more often than they should be. They allow 3.8 opposing power plays per night, well over the league average of 3.2. That extra effort not only exhausts the team for future kills, but also during even-strength play as well.

    Part of the reason the offense hasn’t been able to find success is they haven’t capitalized on their best opportunities. New York has scored on only 10.4% of their power plays, the fourth-worst rate in the NHL. Captain John Tavares has three power play points to his credit, but only he and Brock Nelson have more than one point on the man-advantage.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include New York‘s Dennis Seidenberg (+10 [leads the team]) and Tavares (five goals for 12 points [both lead the team]) & Pittsburgh‘s Crosby (10 goals [tied for second-most in the league]) and Matthew Murray (.951 save percentage [leads the NHL] for a 1.62 GAA [third-best in the league]).

    Vegas has a +138 next to the Islanders, which might be generous. If my estimations are correct, New York‘s chances of earning even a point out of this one are slim. But hey, it is a rivalry game, so anything can happen.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Jocelyn Lemieux (1967-) – St. Louis selected the right wing 10th overall in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, but he actually spent a majority of his career with the rival Blackhawks. Nowadays he is working for RDS, so keep an eye out for him in the Canadiens–Hurricanes broadcast!

    St. Louis held serve at home in yesterday’s Game of the Day, besting San Jose 3-2 on a deciding power play.

    The Sharks opened the scoring at the 6:16 mark of the first period with a Logan Couture (Joonas Donskoi and Joel Ward) wrister to set the score at 1-0. That lead lasted only 4:22 before First Star of the Game Jaden Schwartz (Alex Pietrangelo) leveled with a wrister of his own. The 1-1 score held into the first intermission.

    8:45 after resuming play, Schwartz potted his second goal of the night on another wrist shot, but once again a lead didn’t last long. Kevin Labanc (Joe Thornton and Justin Braun) scored the first goal of his NHL career only 19 seconds later to set the score at 2-2. With 4:04 remaining in the second frame, Second Star David Perron (Third Star Paul Stastny and Robby Fabbri) capitalized on a Mikkel Boedker interference penalty to score the eventual game-winner.

    Jake Allen earned the victory after saving 29-of-31 shots faced (93.5%), forcing Martin Jones to take the loss, saving 22-of-25 (88%).

    The second-straight home victory in the DtFR Game of the Day series sets the record at 23-12-4, favoring the home squads by a dozen points over the roadies.

  • November 12 – Day 31 – Fixing Florida

    It’s Saturday, so you know what that means: lots of hockey!

    Exactly.

    Like always, we get glued to our televisions at 7 p.m. when eight pucks are dropped (Detroit at Montréal [SN/TVAS], San Jose at Tampa Bay, the New York Islanders at Florida, Buffalo at New Jersey, Minnesota at Philadelphia, Toronto at Pittsburgh [CBC/CITY/NHLN], Washington at Carolina and St. Louis at Columbus), followed an hour later by two more (Boston at Arizona and Anaheim at Nashville). Finally, the New York Rangers visit Calgary at 10 p.m. (CBC/SN1) to act as our nightcap. All times eastern.

    Short List:

    • New York at Florida: It’s a rematch of an Eastern Conference Quarterfinal a season ago between two teams still searching for their identity.
    • Detroit at Montréal: Original Six alert.
    • Anaheim at Nashville: Another 2015-’16 Quarterfinal rematch, but this one is in the Western Conference.
    • New York at Calgary: If Josh Jooris weren’t on injured reserve, this would be his first return to the Saddledome since leaving the Flames. Guess he’ll have to wait until next year.

    In a peculiar way, I’m drawn to the Eastern rematch from a season ago. Not only have we not featured the Panthers yet this season, but I want to get to the bottom of why they are not finding the success they were projected to have.

    New York Islanders LogoFlorida_Panthers_logo_2016

     

    Probably the best explanation of the 5-7-2 Islanders is that they’re 1-2-2 in their last five game played. While the offense has been only average in comparison to the rest of the league, it has been the defense and goaltending that has been the major pitfall.

    Jaroslav Halak has started nine games so far this season to earn a 3-4-2 record on a .903 save percentage and 3.03 GAA, which rank 25th and 26th-worst in the league, respectively, among all goaltenders to play this season. While these numbers are far from good, the skaters in front of him have not been providing him much help. Even thought Johnny Boychuk, Dennis Seidenberg, Calvin de Haan and Thomas Hickey all have 32+ blocks to their credit, the Islanders have allowed 432 shots against, well over the league average.

    One of the major reasons for the high shots against totals given the great efforts by those four blueliners is New York‘s inability to avoid the power play. Even though he hasn’t played since last Saturday due to a broken right thumb, Travis Hamonic leads a club that averages 10:55 in the box (tied for 10th-most in the NHL) with 23 penalty minutes. As would be expected by the taxed special team, the Isles have been burned by opposing power plays and allowed a goal on 24.1% of opposing attempts, the worst effort in the Eastern Conference.

    Brooklyn is also home to one of the worst power plays in the league, as the Isles are successful on only 10.5% of their attempts.

    Hosting them this evening are the 6-7-1 Florida Panthers, a team that has been only average this season. Unlike tonight’s opponent, what has probably been most impressive about them has been their defense and goaltending.

    Roberto Luongo has started nine games this season to earn a 4-5-0 record on a .917 save percentage and 2.36 GAA to rank 12th and 15th-best, respectively, among goaltenders with seven or more starts to their name.

    Part of the reason he and James Reimer have been able to find their success has been the blue line playing in front of them. Even though Michael Matheson leads the club with only 16 blocks, Florida has allowed only 401 shots to reach net, six fewer than the league average.

    As stated before, these squads met up last year in the opening round of the Atlantic Division’s playoff bracket. After the clubs split the first four games, the Islanders won two double-overtime games in a row to advance to the Eastern Semifinals. It truly was an upset seeing as the Panthers were not only the Atlantic champion, but they had won the regular season series against New York 2-1-0.

    Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Florida‘s Jon Marchessault (seven goals [tied for eighth-most in the league]) and New York‘s John Tavares (11 points on five goals [both lead the team]).

    Florida is marked a -150 favorite by Vegas, and that’s a line I definitely agree with. Their offense should be more than capable of scoring on the Islanders‘ week defense.

    Hockey Birthday

    • Denis DeJordy (1938-) – This goaltender played 316 games over his 11 NHL seasons, 62.7% of which were with Chicago. He earned a 124-128-51 career record, and won the 1966-’67 Vezina trophy.
    • Mark Hunter (1962-) – This right wing was the seventh overall selection in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by Montréal, but he spent  34.7% of his playing days in St. Louis. He hoisted the Stanley Cup once in his career, with the 1988-’89 Calgary Flames. Nowadays, he’s an assistant with the Maple Leafs.
    • Bryan Little (1987-) – The 12th overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by AtlantaWinnipeg, this right wing has appeared in 614 games with the franchise. He scored a career-best 64 points in his 2013-’14 campaign.
    • Adam Larsson (1992-) – This defenseman was the fourth overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey. He was the Devil sent to Edmonton this off-season in the trade for Taylor Hall.

    I picked Philadelphia to beat Toronto in last night’s Game of the Day. I got embarrassed, as the Leafs won 6-3 on a four-goal third period.

    Toronto earned a 1-0 lead only 2:54 into the contest when Nazem Kadri (Star of the Game Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev) scored a wrister, but Philly pulled even 1:05 later when Wayne Simmonds (Claude Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere) capitalized on a power play opportunity. The Flyers pulled ahead only 26 seconds after drawing even when Travis Konecny‘s (Radko Gudas and Michael Del Zotto) backhand found the back of the net. The final goal of the period wasn’t registered until only 52 seconds remained in the frame. Rielly (Mitch Marner and James van Riemsdyk) takes credit for the power play score with his first goal of the season to set the score at 2-2.

    The Flyers returned to the ice intent on imposing their will, made evident by Mark Streit getting caught for tripping Zach Hyman and earning a seat in the sin bin two minutes into the frame. Philly responded well though, as Simmonds (Sean Couturier) scored a shorthanded snapper 53 seconds later to take a 3-2 lead. It was the lone score of the second period.

    4:03 into the third period, Martin Marincin (Rielly and Kadri) scored his first goal of the season with a slap shot to pull the Leafs into a 3-3 tie. Another first goal of the season proved to be the eventual game-winner, as Hyman (Auston Matthews and Connor Carrick) scored a snap shot 4:31 later to take the lead. The Leafs didn’t look back, as they scored two insurance goals, courtesy of Leo Komarov and Marner (Rielly and Tyler Bozak), to secure the victory.

    Frederik Andersen earned the victory after saving 30-of-33 shots faced (90.9%), while Steve Mason saved 17-of-23 in the loss (73.9%).

    Toronto‘s victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 19-11-3, favoring the home squads by nine points over the roadies.

  • November 1 – Day 20 – The Great Dane

    We’re trying out our new DtFR mirror technology. I can only assume that a night with no hockey that aligned with the one night of the year when your neighbors give out free candy has you looking something like this.

    Simmer down, kiddo.

    Anyways, hockey’s one-day vacation has us feeling all types of withdrawals. Thank goodness we get a healthy serving of games today, starting with two at the usual time of 7 p.m. (St. Louis at the New York Rangers and Dallas at Columbus), followed half an hour later by four more (Boston at Florida [TVAS], Carolina at Ottawa [RDS2], Tampa Bay at the New York Islanders [NBCSN] and Edmonton at Toronto). 8 p.m. brings with it two puck drops (Buffalo at Minnesota and Washington at Winnipeg), with Calgary at Chicago trailing by 30 minutes. Nashville at Colorado finds its start at 9 p.m. At 10 p.m. the San Jose at Arizona (NBCSN) game starts, followed 1800 seconds later (that’s 30 minutes, guys) by Anaheim at Los Angeles, tonight’s nightcap. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Tampa Bay at New York: Last year, the Lightning defeated the Islanders in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in five games.
    • San Jose at Arizona: Mikkel Boedker spent eight seasons in Glendale before being traded away to Colorado at the deadline last season.
    • Anaheim at Los Angeles: You might have heard about this one. They call it the Freeway Face-Off. It’s kind of a big deal.

    Eight seasons is a long time, and I don’t feel like we’ll have many reasons to go watch Arizona this season, so I’m drawn to the late game in the desert.

    UnknownUnknown-3

     

    Danish right wing Boedker was drafted eighth overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Coyotes. He jumped right into the league that season, scoring 11 goals under head coach Wayne Gretzky, which tied him for sixth-most on the squad.

    Boedker’s best campaign with Arizona was in 2013-’14 when he tied Radim Vrbata for the second-most points on the team with 51. But, as has been par for the course for the Coyotes since 2011-’12, it did not yield any playoff action.

    Last season, Boedker shed his brick red sweater for a burgundy Avalanche uniform after being traded on February 29. It was all for naught though, as Boedker found himself on the golf course following the regular season for his fourth season in a row.

    This offseason he joined a San Jose Sharks who knows a little bit about the playoffs, coming off a Stanley Cup run that fell just a series short a season ago. He has little to show for his work on San Jose‘s second line, notching a lone goal.

    The 6-3-0 Sharks have played a more defensive game this season, allowing only 21 goals against – three fewer than the league average. Martin Jones has a .916 save percentage for 2.15 GAA, but he is getting a lot of help from his defensive corps. Four skaters (Justin Braun, Brent Burns, Paul Martin and Joe Pavelski) have 15 or more blocks to their credit, and their efforts have resulted in only 25.2 shots against per game, the second-fewest shots against per game in the league.

    The 2-6-0 Coyotes would have to be classified as an offensive club, due to the fact that they definitely don’t play defensive hockey. They’ve scored 24 goals this season – on par with the rest of the league – led by Brad Richardson‘s seven points. That being said, it is Oliver Ekman-Larsson getting a lot of the accolades with a team-leading five goals to his credit.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include Arizona‘s Max Domi (six assists [leads the team]), Ekman-Larsson (five goals [leads the team]) and Richardson (seven points [leads the team]) & San Jose‘s Burns (seven assists [tied for third-most in the league]), Jones (five wins [tied for third-most in the NHL]), Pavelski (11 points [tied for third-most in the league] on seven assists [tied for third-most in the NHL]) and Joe Thornton (seven assists [tied for third-most in the league]).

    Vegas marks Arizona with a +150 in almost every book, meaning that the Sharks are favored.

    I’d say that’s a very safe bet.

    Hockey Birthday:

    • Al Arbour (1932-2015) – Arbour won eight total Stanley Cups: four as a player (two of which were with Toronto) and four in a row as head coach of the New York Islanders.
    • Phil Myre (1948-) – This goaltender played 14 seasons in the NHL for six different teams. Four years after being drafted fifth overall in the 1966 NHL Entry Draft, he was on the 1970-’71 Montréal Stanley Cup winning team .
    • Tie Domi (1969-) – A right wing that played 16 NHL seasons as an enforcer, Domi is most remembered for his 11 campaigns in Toronto. Maybe son Max will give him a goal for his birthday.
    • Matt Moulson (1983-) – This left wing is in his third season with Buffalo. Two seasons ago he struck 41 points, the second-best effort on the squad that year.

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

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

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

    Short list:

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

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

    UnknownNew York Islanders Logo

     

     

     

     

     

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

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

    As I said, he likes to hit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Hockey birthday:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • October 29 – Day 18 – Battle of the Keystone State

    We’ve got quite a few games on schedule today, which is exactly how we like it. The lone matinee takes place at 1 p.m. when Florida meets Buffalo. The usual starting time of 7 p.m. brings four games with it (Toronto at Montréal [CBC/CITY/TVAS], Boston at Detroit, Tampa Bay at New Jersey and Pittsburgh at Philadelphia [NHLN]), followed by a couple more an hour later (Los Angeles at St. Louis and Dallas at Minnesota). Colorado at Arizona drops the puck at 9 p.m. and Washington at Vancouver (CBC) follows suit an hour later. Finally, this evening’s nightcap gets started at 10:30 p.m.: Nashville at San Jose. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Florida at Buffalo: In addition to being an Atlantic Division game, Mark Pysyk returns to his home stadium of the last four seasons: KeyBank Center.
    • Boston at Detroit: It’s an Original Six and divisional rivalry, which in-and-of itself will make it worthy of promotion (you know how they do). What intrigues me most is that the Wings edged the Bruins by a tiebreaker last season to qualify for the second wild card spot. Don’t think Boston has forgotten their golf scores while the Wings were losing to Tampa.
    • Toronto at Montréal: Similar to the sex appeal of an Original Six contest in Boston at Detroit, but without the playoff implications (either last season or this one).
    • Pittsburgh at Philadelphia: It’s the first staging of the Battle of the Keystone State, a rivalry some consider one of the fiercest in the NHL.
    • Dallas at Minnesota: Ooh, our first rematch of last season’s playoffs of the night. The Stars beat the Wild in six games in the Western Quarterfinals.
    • Nashville at San Jose: Another rematch, but this one a round later. The Sharks obviously won this one a season ago, but only by one game.

    The Battle of the Keystone State is too attractive a matchup to miss, especially since everything is building towards their February 25 meeting at Heinz Field. To Philly we go!

    pittsburgh_penguins_logoPhiladelphia Flyers LogoThese teams don’t need any introduction. They’ve been meeting up for the last 49 years, as they both entered the league at the “Next Six” expansion. In fact, tonight’s game is only 10 days later on the calendar than that fateful first meeting in ’67 that Philadelphia won 1-0.

    The 5-2-1 Penguins enter tonight’s game on a two-game winning streak, most recently beating the Islanders 4-2. They’re an interesting team, as they have scored fewer goals than the league average and given up more goals than the league average, yet their efforts have earned them an early lead in the Metropolitan Division.

    Offensively, Pittsburgh is led by Evgeni Malkin and his eight points. He is joined by Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel as the only three players to score three goals so far this season. They’ll be called on this evening to lead the charge in earning Marc-Andre Fleury his sixth victory of the season.

    The 3-4-1 Flyers lost their last game 5-4 when they hosted the Coyotes. They’re definitely an offensive-minded team, scoring 27 goals already this season. The flurry of goals is due to Philadelphia being home to a power play successful 26.5% of the time, the fifth-best mark in the NHL.

    Philly is led by their fearless captain Claude Giroux‘ nine points, but it’s been Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds doing the dirty work with five goals apiece.

    As would be expected by those familiar with these team’s histories, Philadelphia easily has the all-time series at 151-96-30, but things have been evening out since the Penguins‘ coming-of-age party in the ’90s, as the Flyers have only a 84-76-11 edge since January 1, 1990.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Philadelphia‘s Giroux (nine assists [leads the NHL]) and Simmonds (five goals [fifth-most in the league]) & Pittsburgh‘s Fleury (five wins [second-most in the NHL]).

    The Flyers have a +110 next to their name in Vegas, so the Penguins are projected to win this one even as the visitors. Fleury has been good enough to win most of his games, but he’s given up a minimum of two goals a night on already 464 minutes of work. Pittsburgh‘s forwards will need to keep up with the Flyers tonight, or they could be in for a long game.

    Hockey Birthday:

    • Al Suomi (1913-2014) – He may have only played five games in the NHL, but because of it he’s believed to be the first alumnus of the league to reach 100 years of age.
    • Denis Potvin (1953-) – The captain of the great New York Islanders teams of the 80s that won four Stanley Cups in as many years. He was selected first overall in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft by the only club he ever played for, logging 1060 games over his 15-year career. Florida fans will be well aware of the ex-defenseman’s birthday, as he is the color commentator for their local broadcasts.
    • Mike Gartner (1959-) – One of the all-time greats, this right wing played 1432 games over his 19-year career, over half of which were in Washington, the team that selected him fourth overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. He’s tied with Jaromir Jagr for the most consecutive 30+ goal seasons , and adds two more like-seasons to set the all-time record at 17. The Capitals have retired his #11 and he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.
    • Joel Otto (1961-) – An undrafted center that ended up playing almost 950 games, Otto spent most of his time in Calgary, helping them to a Stanley Cup in 1989.
    • Eric Messier (1973-) – This defenseman played eight seasons in the NHL, racking up 385 games with Colorado and another 21 with Florida before a wrist injury brought his career to a close.
    • Eric Staal (1984-) – 909 games the second pick of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft played with Carolina, including winning one Stanley Cup.  After a stint after last year’s trade deadline with the Rangers, Staal is now playing his first season in Minnesota.

    They needed overtime, but the Chicago Blackhawks beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    It was actually the Devils that drew first blood when P.A. Parenteau (Devante Smith-Pelly and Yohann Auvitu) scored a power play wrister with 4:28 remaining in the first period.

    Chicago drew even with a power play score of their own 6:38 after resuming play in the second period when Artemi Panarin (Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook) found gold on a wrister.

    New Jersey took another lead 4:06 into the third period when Third Star of the Game John Moore (Kyle Palmieri and Taylor Hall) found the back of the net, but the Hawks drew even again with 2:11 remaining in regulation when Second Star Marian Hossa‘s (Richard Panik and Jonathan Toews) wrister tickeled the twine.

    Overtime lasted only 1:15 before First Star Artem Anisimov (Panarin and Duncan Keith) found the back of the net with a wrister to earn the Blackhawks the extra point.

    Corey Crawford earns the victory after saving 30-of-32 (93.8%) shots faced, while Keith Kinkaid saved only 26-of-29 (89.7%) to take the overtime loss.

    Even though the road Blackhawks took the victory, home teams still own a 11-6-3 record in the DtFR Game of the Day series to lead visitors by four points.