Down the Frozen River

Tag: Panthers

January 7 – Day 84 – Larsson is back in town
It’s the first Saturday of the New Year, and there’s no better way to celebrate than with hockey.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hockey Birthday
- Babe Pratt (1916-1988) – For eight of his dozen seasons, this Hall of Fame defenseman played for the Rangers en route to two Stanley Cup titles. A year after joining Toronto during the 1942-’43 season, he won the Hart Trophy on a career-high 57 points.
- Mike Liut (1956-) – A fourth-round pick by St. Louis in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, this goaltender played 13 seasons in the NHL. Selected to the All Star Game in 1980-’81, he was also the recipient of the Pearson Trophy that season on a 33-14-13 record.
- Guy Hebert (1967-) – Another St. Louis goaltending selection, Herbert was picked in the eighth-round of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. He ended up playing most of his 10-season career in Anaheim, notching a career 191-222-56 record.
- Donald Brashear (1972-) – Although undrafted, this left wing played an impressive 16 seasons – most of which in Vancouver. He was most known as an enforcer, earning a career 2634 minutes in the sin bin.
- Alex Auld (1981-) – The 40th-overall pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by Florida, this goaltender appeared in 10 NHL seasons, spending most of his time in Vancouver. By the time his career was complete, he set a 91-88-32 record.
A Vancouver 4-2 victory over the Flames in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day was worth more than a rivalry victory. It moved the Canucks into playoff position.

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

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

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

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

The Canucks‘ victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 47-26-13, favoring the home sides by 14 points.
January 7, 2017
December 29 – Day 75 – Gretzky game
The last Thursday of 2016 is a busy one in the NHL. A dozen games will take place this evening, starting with two at 7 p.m. (Boston at Buffalo and New Jersey at Washington [NBCSN]) and another pair half an hour later (Toronto at Tampa Bay [TVAS] and Montréal at Florida [RDS]). 8 p.m. brings with it four contests (Chicago at Nashville, the New York Islanders at Minnesota, Columbus at Winnipeg and Detroit at Ottawa [RDSI]), and Colorado at Dallas gets underway 30 minutes later. Lastly, it’s a trifecta of nightcaps (Anaheim at Calgary [SN360], Los Angeles at Edmonton and the New York Rangers at Arizona) when 9 p.m. rolls around to close out the night.

Short list:
- Boston at Buffalo: Nothing like a little rivalry to get the blood pumping.
- Montréal at Florida: Al Montoya will get the start in net against the club he played 45 games over two seasons with.
- Los Angeles at Edmonton: Another rivalry, although it’s nowhere near as Great as it once was (See what I did there? Sneaky.).
Sorry Montoya, but the potential for a good game in Alberta is too great for us to pass up. Off to the brand-new Rogers Place!

Of course, this rivalry exists/used to exist entirely because of the trade that shipped Wayne Gretzky from the Oilers to the Kings, but it takes new life this year as both teams are currently in playoff position. Of course, that could change if things don’t go the Kings‘ way and either Dallas, Nashville or Winnipeg win this evening.

The Kings make the trip to Edmonton with a 17-14-4 record, good enough for fifth place in the Pacific Division and, more importantly, eighth in the Western Conference – aka the second wildcard! They’ve found that success by playing one of, if not the best defense in the league, allowing only 83 goals – the sixth-fewest in the NHL.

Thanks to Jonathan Quick‘s groin injury in the first game of the season, it has been 15-9-3 Peter Budaj taking most of the starts in Los Angeles. Over that time, he’s accrued a .919 save percentage and 2.04 GAA – the 19th and sixth-best efforts, respectively, among the 44 netminders with 14 or more appearances.

An okay save percentage paired with an excellent GAA is always indicative of a stellar defense, and Tinseltown is no different. Led by Derek Forbort‘s 77 shot blocks and second-in-command Alec Martinez‘ 72, the Kings allow only an average of 25.8 shots to reach Budaj’s net per night, the best in the league by nearly a full shot.

As expected, they continue that effort on the penalty kill, where their 84.2% kill rate is tied for seventh-best in the league. Although the same two culprits are responsible for this charge, Martinez’ 19 shorthanded blocks are five more than Forbort’s.

Unfortunately, the power play hasn’t been able to hold up its end of the bargain. Successful on only 15.7% of opportunities, the Kings tie for ninth-worst in the league. Jeff Carter leads the team with only eight power play points, but that overshadows an impressive six power play goals (ties for 11th-most in the NHL).

Playing host this evening are the 18-12-6 Oilers, the second-best team in the Pacific. Offense is the name of the game in The Big E, as the Oil‘s 103 tallies ties for seventh-most in the NHL.

You get two guesses as to who has the most points in Edmonton. Something tells me you only needed one of those guesses. Captain Connor McDavid‘s 42 points are not only tops in Edmonton, but also the tie with Sidney Crosby for most in the entire league. That being said, it has been Leon Draisaitl who has buries the most pucks for the Oil, with 14 to his credit. He narrowly beats out McDavid’s 13.

Just like Los Angeles, what goes well during even-strength action shines especially bright during special teams. Edmonton‘s 21.2% conversion rate on the power play is eighth-best in the NHL. Draisaitl truly shines here, partially because he and McDavid are both on the first power play unit. The elder center has 14 man-advantage points on his resume already this year (two more than McDavid and Milan Lucic), and also has an impressive eight power play goals (tied for second-most in the league).

These clubs have already met once this season, and the Kings came out on top. They squared off in the Staples Center on November 17 to a 4-2 LA victory. Budaj took credit for the win, and Carter’s shorthanded second period wrister was the deciding score.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Edmonton‘s McDavid (29 assists [most in the league] among 42 points [tied for the NHL lead]) and Cam Talbot (three shutouts [tied for fourth-most in the league] among 17 wins [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) & Los Angeles‘ Budaj (four shutouts [tied for second-most in the league] and a 2.04 GAA [sixth-best in the NHL] for 15 wins [tied for eighth-most in the league]) and Carter (19 goals [tied for second-most in the NHL]).

Vegas likes Edmonton to win tonight at -130, and I do too. Not only are the Oil playing at home sweet home, their penalty kill is more than up to the task of squelching the Kings‘ poor power play. I’d even go so far to say that Mark Letestu, who opened the season with two shorthanded goals, could notch his fourth penalty kill point tonight. Who knows?

Hockey Birthday
- Nels Stewart (1902-1957) – When the Montreal Maroons won the 1926 Stanley Cup, it was this Hall of Fame center who was in the middle of most of the scoring. A two-time Hart Trophy winner, he scored a team-high 34 goals in 36 games played that season.
- Filip Kuba (1975-) – A Florida-pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, this defenseman played most of his 14 seasons in Minnesota. In 2004, his fourth season with the Wild, he earned a roster spot at the All-Star game.
- Pierre Dagenais (1978-) – You know you’re wanted when the same team drafts you twice. That’s what happened to this left wing, as New Jersey selected him in both the 1996 and 1998 NHL Entry Drafts. He only played 25 games for the Devils; most of his short NHL career was spent in Montréal.
Notching the first hat trick of his NHL career, First Star of the Game Robby Fabbri led St. Louis past the Flyers in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day series, winning 6-3.

It was actually Wayne Simmonds (Travis Konecny and Brayden Schenn) and Philadelphia getting on the board first, as the right wing tipped-in the puck only 3:25 into the contest. The Notes leveled with 4:59 remaining in the first with a Kevin Shattenkirk (Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko) power play slap shot. With a dozen seconds remaining before the first intermission, Fabbri (Second Star Colton Parayko) notched his first goal of the night with a power play wrister, giving the Notes a 2-1 lead.

Only 4:32 after returning to the ice, Nick Cousins (Ivan Provorov and Konecny) leveled the game for Philly with the lone goal of the second period.

It was an evening of quick starts for the Flyers, as they took a 3-2 lead only 4:13 into the third period with a Schenn (Shayne Gostisbehere and Simmonds) power play slap shot. That lead lasted only 100 seconds before David Perron (Parayko) pulled St. Louis even. 1:20 after that, Third Star Scottie Upshall (Joel Edmundson and Alex Pietrangelo) provided the tally that proved to be the game-winning shot. Those that are good at math know that set the score at 4-3, leaving the final two goals to Fabbri to complete his hatty. He scored at even-strength with 4:59 remaining (Patrik Berglund and Dmitrij Jaskin), and on an empty net (Jaskin and Paul Stastny) with 2:56 remaining to earn the accolade.

Carter Hutton earned the victory after saving 17-of-20 shots faced (85%), leaving the loss to Steve Mason, saving 19-of-24 (79.2%).

The Notes‘ victory means the home sides in the DtFR Game of the Day series have earned at least a point in the last six matchups, setting the series record at 42-23-12 and improving their lead over the roadies to a dozen points.
December 29, 2016
December 28 – Day 74 – Get ready for goals
Wednesday night hockey. What more could you ask for? The action you’ve been waiting all day for starts at 7 p.m. with two contests (Toronto at Florida [SN] and Carolina at Pittsburgh), followed half an hour later by Montréal at Tampa Bay (RDS/SN360). Philadelphia at St. Louis drops the puck at 8 p.m. (NBCSN), preceding tonight’s nightcap – Los Angeles at Vancouver (SN) – by two hours. All times eastern.

Although Florida and Toronto are separated by only a point in the standings, the game that attracts the most attention this evening is happening in the Gateway to the West.

Philadelphia comes to Mound City with a 20-12-4 record, good enough for fifth-place in the Metropolitan Division, and it has been their offense that has led the way.

The Flyers have buried the puck an impressive 106 times, the fourth-highest goal title in the league. Jakub Voracek can take credit for a lot of that success, as his 35 points are tops on the team. That being said, it’s been fellow right wing Wayne Simmonds who has personally lit the lamp the most times, with 16 goals.

As might be expected with such a potent offense, the Flyers‘ power play has been mighty impressive. They score on 22% of their man-advantage opportunities, the sixth-best mark in the NHL. That effort has been headed by Captain Claude Giroux and his 15 power play points, but Simmonds has once again been the final goalscorer, with eight extra-man goals to his credit.

Playing host this evening are the 18-12-5 Blues, the third-best club in the Central Division. Just like the Flyers, offense has been the name of the game in St. Louis, as the Notes have notched 97 goals so far this season – tying for 11th-most in the NHL.

Pull your favorite video game off the shelf. That guy on the front? Yeah, he’s pretty good for the Blues. Vladimir Tarasenko‘s 38 points is easily the best effort on the club. 16 of those have been goals, which is also the highest total in St. Louis by four tallies.

Just like Philly, the Blue Notes are also pretty good on the man-advantage. They’ve scored 21.3% of their power play opportunities, the seventh-best mark in the league. Who else to lead that charge than Tarasenko? He has 14 power play points on his resume this season, but it’s actually been Kevin Shattenkirk scoring most of the power play goals, with five to his credit.

The penalty kill has also been very impressive for the Notes. Rejecting opposing power plays 87.4% of the time, St. Louis is second-best in those regards. Captain Alex Pietrangelo is the headliner here, notching 14 shorthanded blocks so far this year.

Some players to keep an eye on include Philadelphia‘s Simmonds (16 goals [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) and Voracek (24 assists [tied for fifth-most in the league] among 35 points [tied for sixth-most in the NHL]) & St. Louis‘ Jake Allen (16 wins [seventh-most in the league]) and Tarasenko (38 points [fourth-most in the NHL], including 16 goals [tied for fifth-most in the league]).

Vegas has already marked this game in the Blues‘ favor, placing a -140 next to their name, and I have to side with the wise folks in the desert this time. St. Louis provides an interesting challenge with their strong penalty kill, and are more than capable of keeping up with any other club offensively. Home ice should seal the deal for a Blues victory.

Hockey Birthday
- Terry Sawchuk (1929-1970) – This Hall of Fame goaltender played almost all of his 21 seasons in Detroit, where he won the 1951 Calder and three of his four Stanley Cups. He was an 11-time All Star and four-time Vezina winner.
- Harry Howell (1932-) – A longtime Ranger, this defenseman played 21 total seasons in the NHL en route to a Hall of Fame career. The seven-time All Star and 1967 Norris winner’s number three was retired in 2009.
- Ray Bourque (1960-) – The eighth-overall pick in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft by Boston, this defenseman is the model for all defensemen who like to get involved on the offensive end. He owns the NHL record for goals, assists and points by blueliners, most of which with the Bruins. That being said, he won his only Stanley Cup title with Colorado in 2001.
- Rob Niedermayer (1974-) – A right wing drafted fifth-overall by Florida in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, Niedermayer played NHL 17 seasons, scoring 469 points in the process. He hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2007 with Anaheim.
- Curtis Glencross (1982-) – Although undrafted, this left wing has enjoyed nine seasons in the NHL, most of which in Calgary. He notched 242 points over his career, but also made sure to make a positive impact on his community off the ice.
Brent Burns takes credit for the Sharks stealing the bonus point on The Pond in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day series. San Jose beat Anaheim 3-2 in overtime.

The first goal of the game, and the only tally of the opening period, was struck at the 6:30 mark off Paul Martin‘s (Logan Couture and Mikkel Boedker) stick with a strong slap shot.

The Ducks leveled 8:22 into the second period when Ondrej Kase (Nick Ritchie and Antoine Vermette) buried a backhanded shot, but San Jose once again took the lead with a Melker Karlsson (Joel Ward and Burns) tally.

With 6:25 remaining in regulation, the orange-clad Ducks scored the overtime-forcing score, courtesy of First Star of the Game Jakob Silfverberg (Ryan Kesler and Andrew Cogliano).

Burns (Joe Pavelski and Second Star Joe Thornton) waited until 2:46 had ticked off the clock before burying his game-winning backhander to end the game in the Sharks‘ favor.

Third Star Martin Jones earned the victory after saving 34-of-36 shots against (94.4%), with John Gibson taking the loss, saving 22-of-25 (88%).

San Jose‘s road victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day Series at 41-23-12 in favor of the home squads, who lead the roadies by exactly 10 points.
December 28, 2016
December 21 – Day 70 – No love for Washington
If you’re looking for a busy hockey schedule, you’ve picked the wrong night. Only four teams will drop the puck this evening, starting at 8 p.m. eastern time with Washington visiting Philadelphia (NBCSN/SN/TVAS), followed 90 minutes later by Edmonton at Arizona.

The reasons for visiting Philadelphia are endless. It’s a rematch of one of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals from a year ago, but it also features two very good teams that are only qualifying for wild card spots.

Sometimes the standings are misleading. This is one of those times. Sure, Philadelphia might be only the fourth-best team in the Metropolitan Division, and Washington an even worse fifth. That is certainly true when compared to the Penguins, Rangers and Blue Jackets. Those teams have been the standard of the league this season, especially with the puck on their stick.

But try this one on for size. If our featured clubs joined the Atlantic Division, they’d claim second and third place, with the Capitals barely beating out now “fourth” place Ottawa on the three-fewer games played tiebreaker.

It gets even more ridiculous when compared to the struggling Western Conference. The Central Division is similar to the Atlantic in that these clubs would also be second and third-best, again with Washington beating out St. Louis on four-fewer games played.

The Pacific? Philly and the Caps both drop division-leading San Jose to third, with Washington once again leading on three-fewer games played.

I think I’ve made my points. The Metropolitan Division, and more specifically for our Game of the Day, Philadelphia and Washington are very good.

Let’s play another fun game and look ahead to the playoffs. Regardless of who claims the top-three spots in the Metropolitan, it looks to be almost certain that the two Eastern wild cards will be from that division. For the sake of our situation, let’s assume the order of the Metropolitan standings remain the same. Currently the second wild card, Washington holds an six-point lead over Tampa Bay and Florida.

For earning that spot, they earn the distinct privilege of playing the best team in the East (and, in my opinion, all of hockey – whether it is the Penguins or Rangers). Philadelphia gets to face the top-seeded Atlantic seed – again, let’s assume it will be Montréal like it is right now.

If I’m Philly, I’m loving this. After a difficult series against the Habs, the Flyers‘ road to the Eastern Finals appears easy, as they get to play the weaker Atlantic teams. That sounds awesome! So awesome, in fact, that Columbus, the current three seed facing the Rangers, could even grow jealous. I’ll be very intrigued to see how the chips fall between the three and five seeds in the Metropolitan Division this March and April.

Keeping all that in mind, this is even more fun given the bad blood between these teams. Washington‘s six game Quarterfinals victory is only fuel on a fire that has been burning since the ’80s, when the Caps swept the Flyers in three games in the first round of the 1984 playoffs. Since then, Washington has amassed a 3-2 playoff series record against the Flyers, but it’s been Philadelphia who has won the regular season series, going 123-94-19.

Tonight is the first time these clubs have met since April, and the Flyers will be looking to defend home ice after losing the deciding Game 6 on the surface.

The 19-8-3 Capitals come to town sporting an impressive defense. They’ve allowed only 64 goals this season, the third-fewest in the entire league.

Of course, most of that credit usually belongs to the goaltender, and 14-7-2 Braden Holtby is no different. He has a .925 save percentage and 2.08 GAA to his credit, the 11th and seventh-best effort among the 14 goaltenders with a dozen or more appearances on their resumes.

While he’s good on his own, part of the reason he’s found such success is because of the defense playing in front of him. Allowing only 28.1 shots against per night, Holtby faces the sixth-fewest pucks per night. That effort has been headlined by Karl Alzner, who has 52 shot blocks to his credit.

That success has continued even when the Caps are short a man. Led by Alzner’s 15 shorthanded blocks, Washington prevents opposing power plays from lighting the lamp 84% of the time, the seventh-best rate in the NHL.

The 19-11-4 Flyers play host this evening at the Wells Fargo Center, the home of the league’s third-most potent offense, having scored 104 goals already this season. They’ve been especially good of late, going 8-1-1 in their last 10 contests.

Jakub Voracek can take credit for many of those scores, as his 34 points the most on the team. For those not quick with math, he has the same number of points as the Flyers have games played. He’s one of 10 skaters who can truly claim an average of that caliber or better. Unfortunately for Voracek, he can’t claim the goal-scoring lead. That belongs to Wayne Simmonds, whose 16 tallies are five more than his.

As might be expected with such an explosive offense, the power play has truly been ticking. The Flyers are fifth-best in the league with the man-advantage, scoring 22.8% of the time. This has been Captain Claude Giroux‘ forte, as he leads the team with 15 power play points. That being said, the final scorer of those goals remains the same: Simmonds has eight extra-man goals.

The penalty kill has also been a point of pride for Philadelphia this year. They’ve refused to allow a goal on 82.8% of opposing opportunities, the 10th-best effort in the league. Ivan Provorov has been incredible under these circumstances, as his 19 shorthanded blocks not only lead the team, but are tied for fourth-most in the NHL.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Philadelphia‘s Simmonds (16 goals [tied for fourth-most in the NHL]) and Voracek (34 points, including 23 assists [both tied for sixth-most in the league]) & Washington‘s Holtby (2.08 GAA [seventh-best in the NHL] for two shutouts [tied for eighth-most in the league] among 14 wins [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]).

Although they have home ice to their advantage, Philadelphia is not the favorite to win tonight’s game. Don’t be alarmed though, Flyers fans: the line is only a +105. That being said, I’m sticking with Vegas tonight, because I trust the Capitals‘ offense to take advantage of Philly‘s defense with ease.

Hockey Birthday
- Frank Patrick (1885-1960) – Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950, this defenseman played most of his career in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association with the Vancouver Millionaires, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 1915.
- Joe Kocur (1964-) – A Red Wings pick in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, this right wing played 15 seasons in the league, 10 of which in Detroit. He won three Stanley Cups in his career, including two straight with the Wings in 1997 and ’98.
- Steve Montador (1979-2015) – 10 seasons this defenseman played in the NHL, playing most of his 571 games for Florida even though he spent more seasons in Calgary. His life met an early end due to CTE caused by cumulative concussions.
Our third shootout in four games gave Florida a 4-3 victory over Buffalo in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

Second Star of the Game Aleksander Barkov (First Star Jaromir Jagr and Jason Demers) waited to get the Panthers on the board until 3:51 remained on the clock in the first period. His backhander was the lone tally of the opening frame.

The second goal wasn’t until 12:14 had ticked off the clock in the second, and it also belonged to the home side. Keith Yandle (Barkov and Jagr) takes credit for the twine-tickling power play slap shot. Buffalo didn’t take too kindly to that, so Sam Reinhart (Rasmus Ristolainen and Ryan O’Reilly) scored a power play goal of his own to pull the Sabres back within a score. The game was tied with 3:05 remaining in the period when Evander Kane (Brian Gionta and Cody Franson) tipped-in the third and final goal of the second period.

Ristolainen (Reinhart) broke the knot with 7:41 remaining in regulation with a tip-in, but Nick Bjugstad (Barkov and Jagr [That was the 1887th point of his career tonight, tying Mark Messier for second all-time in 94 fewer games played.]) buried his first goal of the season with 3:51 remaining on the clock to force a scoreless three-on-three overtime period.

As the home team, Florida elected to go second in the shootout…
1. …forcing O’Reilly to take the first shot. Unfortunately for him, Third Star Roberto Luongo was not willing to yield a goal.
2. Vincent Trocheck took Florida‘s first shot, and it was pure. 1-0 Panthers.
3. Kyle Okposo tried to pull even with the Panthers, but to no avail. Luongo was once again there for the save.
4. He scored the first goal of the game, and the last (shh, don’t tell him it doesn’t technically count as a game-winner, or even a goal!). Barkov buries his shot to earn the bonus point for the Panthers.
Luongo earns the victory after saving 33-of-36 shots faced (91.7%), forcing Robin Lehner to take the shootout loss, saving 36-of-39 (92.3%).

That win gives the home teams a 38-23-11 record in the DtFR Game of the Day series to expand their lead to six points over the roadies.
December 21, 2016
December 20 – Day 69 – Getting Kul in Florida
As usual, you’d better have your remote ready for tonight’s onslaught of games, because there’s a bunch of good ones. As usual, the action starts at 7 p.m. with four games (the New York Islanders at Boston [SN], Nashville at New Jersey, the New York Rangers at Pittsburgh and Los Angeles at Columbus), followed half an hour later by another trio of contests (Anaheim at Montréal [RDS], Detroit at Tampa Bay [TVAS] and Buffalo at Florida). Colorado at Minnesota drops the puck at the top of the hour, and a pair of games (Ottawa at Chicago [RDS2] and St. Louis at Dallas) wait until 8:30 p.m. Winnipeg at Vancouver gets the West Coast involved at 10 p.m., with our nightcap – Calgary at San Jose – waiting 30 minutes before getting underway.

Short list:
- New York at Boston: Dennis Seidenberg called the TD Garden home for seven seasons, but he’s gotten a new start in Brooklyn.
- New York at Pittsburgh: An important duel in the Metropolitan Division is also a rematch of last season’s Eastern Quarterfinals.
- Detroit at Tampa Bay: Another Eastern Quarterfinals rematch, but last season’s success is still eluding both these clubs.
- Buffalo at Florida: Dmitry Kulikov is in the same homecoming boat as Seidenberg. He returns to his old stomping grounds of seven years with his new club.
- St. Louis at Dallas: Yet another rematch, but this matchup occurred in the Western Semifinals.
I’m torn between featuring Kulikov or Seidenberg, as both spent considerable portions of their careers in the building they’ll be playing in this evening. Since the game in the Sunshine State will probably be much more competitive, we’ll focus on Kulikov.

With the 14th-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Florida Panthers selected Dmitry Kulikov from Drummondville in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

That was the last the Voltigeurs saw of the defenseman, as he signed a contract with the Panthers the following September to begin play in the NHL only a month later.

Barring the 2012-13 lockout season, Kulikov has played at least 58 games in each of the remaining six seasons of his career. While he’s been unable to fully maintain his scoring reputation from his junior days (his 138 points are 75th-most among the 603 defensemen to appear in a game since he’s joined the league), he’s still been very effective for his club as the second-highest points earner among Panthers blueliners.

Leading that group of defensemen from 2009-’16 was Brian Campbell, whose 175 points were 37 more than the Russian’s in 84 fewer games (he joined Florida before the 2011-’12 season). Both skaters notched 28 goals during their tenure with the Panthers.

Kulikov began making his way to the KeyBank Center during this season’s draft. He and Vancouver‘s second round pick that was in the Panthers‘ possession was exchanged with Buffalo for Mark Pysyk, Buffalo‘s second round pick and St. Louis‘ third round pick then in possession of the Sabres.

It’s proven to be a tough transition for Kulikov. He has yet to even notch an assist this season, much less a goal, due in part to injuring his back during the preseason. He played 12 games before taking a leave of absence that left him out of the lineup for a month. Tonight’s game is only his fifth contest back in the lineup, and he’ll certainly want to score on the team that didn’t value him enough to keep him off the trading block.

The Sabres enter tonight’s game with a 12-11-7 record to sit in last place in the Atlantic Division. They’ve gotten in that position by playing some very poor offense that has scored only 65 goals – tying with Colorado for fewest in the NHL.

Hurling insults at the Sabres offense is a difficult thing to do given Jack Eichel was injured for nearly two months. That being said, the offense did not gel without him and has put the Sabres in a tough spot to start the season. Kyle Okposo, with his 22 points to lead the team, and Rasmus Ristolainen effectively carried the team on their backs, as they are the only two skaters with more than 18 points to their credit. Okposo especially deserves credit, as his nine tallies are the most on the team.

One part of Buffalo‘s game where they did not suffer during Eichel’s absence was their man-advantage. Led by Okposo and Ristolainen’s dozen power play points, the Sabres have converted 22.9% of their advantageous opportunities, the third-best rate in the league.

As good as the power play has been, the penalty kill has been the reverse. Even with Josh Gorges‘ 14 shorthanded shot blocks (which ties him for 22nd-most in the league), the Sabres have prevented their opposition from scoring only 73.6% of the time, the worst effort in the league.

Playing host this evening are the 14-13-5 Panthers, the fifth-best team in the Atlantic Division. Just like Buffalo, their struggles are found on the offensive end of the ice, where their 75 total goals are sixth-fewest in the NHL.

The similarities between tonight’s clubs continue. Just like the Sabres, Florida has two players who have stood out among a mediocre offense. Aleksander Barkov (22) and Jon Marchessault (20) are the only two players with more than 17 points to their credit so far this season. Marchessault has been especially impressive, as his 10 goals are also the best on the squad.

The power play has really suffered during this season’s scoring slump. Florida has only potted 14.8% of their man-advantage opportunities, the seventh-worst rate in the NHL. Marchessault has been active in this situation too. His seven power play points are most on the team.

Before we go any further, there’s one more matter we need to address: Marchessault, as great has he’s been, is currently listed on the Panthers’ injury report. He’s missed the last two games with a lower body injury, and hasn’t played since last Tuesday in Minnesota.

If anything has gone right for Florida, it’s been their defense – specifically their penalty kill. Successful on 86% of attempts, the Panthers are the fifth-best team when down a man, led by Michael Matheson‘s seven shorthanded blocks.

These squads have already met up once this season at the KeyBank Center. It was a very successful night for the Sabres, as they kept the Panthers off the board, compliments of Anders Nilsson, en route to a 3-0 victory. Johan Larsson‘s first goal of the season was the winner.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Buffalo‘s Nilsson (.933 save percentage [sixth-best in the league]) and Florida‘s Barkov (15 assists among 22 points [both lead the team]).

Florida has a -150 next to their name, which is bad news for the Sabres. It’s tough not to side with the Panthers given the fact that they’re at home. Regardless of who wins, you can certainly assume it will be a low-scoring affair.

Hockey Birthday
- Cory Stillman (1973-) – The sixth-overall pick in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by Calgary, this left wing played 1025 games over 16 seasons. He spent most of his days with the club that drafted him but won a Stanley Cup with both Tampa Bay (2004) and Carolina (2006).
- Andrei Markov (1978-) – This defenseman was selected by Montréal in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, and he’s played with the Canadiens ever since. Tonight could mark his 960th career game, provided his lower body injury sustained Sunday in Washington isn’t too severe.
It took a two-goal third period for the Ducks to knock-off the Maple Leafs, winning 3-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

It took 27:27 before Third Star of the Game Auston Matthews (Nikita Zaitsev and Zach Hyman) scored a tip-in goal to give Toronto a 1-0 advantage, but Anaheim was able to level with 1:59 remaining in the frame. Ryan Getzlaf‘s (Sami Vatanen and First Star Cam Fowler) snapper was aided by the fact that Zaitsev was serving two minutes in the penalty box for roughing.

The Ducks when right back to work upon returning from the second intermission. 1:21 after taking the ice for the third period, Nick Ritchie (Ondrej Kase) fired a wrister to give Anaheim a 2-1 lead. It lasted 10:21 before Nazem Kadri (Matt Hunwick) scored a wrister of his own to once again level the contest. With 6:52 remaining in regulation, Fowler (Ryan Kesler) buried a power play snapper to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead they would not yield.

Second Star John Gibson saved 33-of-35 (94.3%) shots faced for the victory, leaving the loss to Frederik Andersen, saving 25-of-28 (89.3%) in the loss.

Anaheim’s victory pulls the road teams within five points of the hosts in the DtFR Game of the Day series, who have a 37-23-11 record.
December 20, 2016
December 10 – Day 59 – Gudbranson is Badbranson when he’s playing against your team
Welcome to the weekend. It’s been waiting for you.

I know you have big plans for these 48 hours, but make sure to make some room for hockey. There’s quite a selection of games today, starting with Dallas at Philadelphia (SN1) at 1 p.m., followed three hours later by Ottawa at Los Angeles (RDS). Five games start at the usual 7 p.m. time (Toronto at Boston [CBC/NHLN], Colorado at Montréal [CITY/SN360/TVAS], Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, Vancouver at Florida [SN] and the New York Islanders at Columbus), trailed an hour later by Nashville at Arizona. The West Coast gets involved at 10 p.m. with Winnipeg at Calgary (CBC/SN) and tonight’s nightcap – Carolina at San Jose – drops the puck half an hour after. All times eastern.

Short list:
- Toronto at Boston: Everybody loves an Original Six matchup!
- Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay: Last season, it took seven games for the Penguins to best the Bolts in the Eastern Finals.
- Vancouver at Florida: The first five seasons of Erik Gudbranson‘s career was spent in Florida, but since this offseason he’s called British Columbia home.
- Winnipeg at Calgary: Tonight’s contest is the first meeting of the season between these rivals.
Since Gudbranson will only make one trip to the Sunshine State this season – barring an improbable Canucks–Panthers Stanley Cup Finals – we’ll follow Vancouver to the BB&T Center.

Welcome home Gudbranson. The defenseman was the third-overall selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, and he made his NHL debut only a season later. It was a quick introduction to the senior club, as skipping an introductory stop in San Antonio, Florida‘s AHL side.

Gudbranson made an immediate impact on the club, always playing 64 or more games for the Panthers (barring, of course, the 2012-’13 lockout). Over the course of his tenure in Florida, Gubdranson was known as a violent player – the most physical in the dressing room. He threw an impressive 754 hits while playing for the Panthers (the 11th-most among the 484 eligible over that time-span), including a hit season in 2014-15 where he landed 2.8 hits per game.

He also performed his primary duties well, blocking 344 shots before catching a plane to Canada, the third-most for the franchise during his tenure.

He found his way to Vancouver this summer in a trade that included a total of three 2016 draft picks (evenctually becoming Jonathan Ang and Adam Mascherin for Florida and Cole Candella for Vancouver) and Jared McCann joining the Panthers.

He joins a 12-13-2 Canucks club that currently occupies sixth place in the Pacific Division. Much of the reason his team hasn’t found success is not his fault, as it is the offense that has not been producing. Vancouver has notched only 62 goals so far this season, the fourth-fewest in the NHL.

As usual, the Sedins are doing all they can to keep the Canucks alive. Daniel Sedin leads the squad with 18 points, but brother Henrik Sedin is right behind with 17. Bo Horvat joins D. Sedin for the scoring lead, as they both have lit the lamp eight times.

Unfortunately for Vancouver, neither 18 points nor eight goals breaks the top-50 in scoring this season – yet those are the numbers leading their team. That’s not a good sign for the other forwards expected to produce scoring.

Much of those struggles can be attributed to a lackluster power play. Vancouver ties for the fifth-worst power play in the league, converting only 14.1% of opportunities. Once again, who else to lead the Canucks but the Sedins? They both have six man-advantage points for top in the clubhouse, but D. Sedin probably deserves more credit as he has three power play goals.

Impressively, Vancouver has certainly buckled down on their own end when facing the man-advantage. Their 84.9% ties for seventh-best in the NHL, and was led by Alexander Edler and his 10 shorthanded blocks before he broke a finger. The man of the hour is right behind, notching nine for second-most, and has been expected to assume the role Edler left behind.

Playing host this evening are the 12-12-4 Florida Panthers, currently the sixth-best team in the Atlantic Division. Similarly to Vancouver, it has been their offensive struggles that have held them back from greater success. The Panthers have notched only 64 goals this year, tying for fifth-fewest in the game.

Jon Marchessault has been the man in charge of that offense, as he’s notched 19 points this season and 10 goals – already the best mark of his NHL career after only 25 games – to lead the squad. Unfortunately for the Panthers, he has been sidelined for the past week, and his status is unknown for tonight’s game. In his stead, Florida turns to Aleksander Barkov, who has 18 points on his campaign, and the three goalscorers (Aaron Ekblad, Jaromir Jagr and Vincent Trocheck) that tie for second-most goals on the team with six apiece.

If the Canucks‘ power play is bad, the Panthers‘ is much, much worse. They tie for worst in the league, successful on only 13.5% of their attempts. Once again, that was Marchessault’s responsibility before he got hurt, as his seven points and three power play goals both led the team. Florida is left with Barkov (five power play points), Jagr (three goals among five points) and Keith Yandle (five power play points )to pick up the slack while their breakout star is healing his lower-body injury.

Fortunately, the penalty kill has been outstanding, negating 85% of their infractions for the sixth-best mark in the league. Michael Matheson has headed that department with seven shorthanded blocks to his name.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Florida‘s Barkov (13 assists [leads the team]) and Trocheck (72 hits [leads the team]) & Vancouver‘s Gudbranson (61 hits [leads the team]) and D. Sedin (18 points [leads the team]).

Vegas has marked Florida a -205 favorite this evening, but I think that’s a little strong given both teams play a similar style. If Marchessault can go, I think the Panthers can win, but without him I think the Canucks can pull off the road victory.

Hockey Birthday:
- Rob Blake (1969-) – Los Angeles drafted this defenseman in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, and he played 805 games over 14 seasons for the Kings. He was a member of the 2000-’01 Colorado club that hoisted the Stanley Cup, as well as on the coaching staff for the 2013-’14 champion Kings. His number 4 hangs in the Staples Center rafters for being a seven-time All-Star and winner of the 1998 Norris Trophy.
- T.J. Hensick (1985-) – A 2005 NHL Entry Draft selection by Colorado, he’s appeared in 112 senior-level games. His longest stint in the NHL was in 2008-’09, when he played 61 games for the Avs.
When your first goal of the season is a game-winner, you’re going to have a good night. Ask the Ducks, who beat San Jose 3-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

Anaheim got the scoring started relatively quickly, as Rickard Rakell‘s (Third Star of the Game Shea Theodore and Corey Perry) wrist shot found the back of the net only 4:44 after beginning play. With 4:54 remaining in the frame, the Ducks doubled their score with a wrister from Second Star Antoine Vermette (Theodore and Nick Ritchie), but Brent Burns (Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski) and San Jose reeled them back in with six ticks remaining in the frame, setting the score at 2-1 going into the first intermission.

The Sharks knotted the score at two-all 8:40 into the second period with a Kevin Labanc (Logan Couture and Joel Ward) snapper, only his third tally of the season. That score held to the end of the frame, setting up an exciting third and final period.

With 5:38 remaining in regulation, First Star Hampus Lindholm (Ritchie and Ryan Kesler) buried his first goal of the season to break the tie and earn the Ducks first place in the Pacific Division.

Jonathan Bernier earned the victory after saving 22-of-24 shots faced (91.7%), while Martin Jones takes the loss, saving 29-of-32 (90.6%).

This entire business week has been dominated by the home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series, as their fifth-straight victory gives them an 11-point advantage over the roadies for a 34-19-8 record.
December 10, 2016
December 5 – Day 54 – If there are emperor Penguins, are there any from the legislative branch?
Time to start another week the only way we know how: with more hockey. There’s four contests occurring this evening, all at 7 p.m. eastern: Florida at Boston (NHLN/SN/TVAS), Ottawa at Pittsburgh (RDS2), Buffalo at Washington and Arizona at Columbus.

The Steel City looks to be hosting the best game of the evening, so we’re off to PPG Paints Arena!

Ottawa comes to town sporting a 15-8-2 record, good enough for second place in the Atlantic Division. The reason they’ve been able to find such success is due totally to their goaltending that has allowed only 59 goals, tying for eighth-fewest in the NHL.

Craig Anderson has made 18 starts this season, and looks to be in line for another tonight after spending time with his wife during her cancer treatment. Even with something that could be a distraction (don’t get me wrong, life comes before sports), he’s still had a successful season so far, earning a 12-5-1 record with a .93 save percentage and 2.2 GAA – the sixth (tied) and 14th-best efforts among the 42 netminders with nine or more appearances.

That effort has been necessary for most of the season, but the Senators‘ defense has been improving. Last time we featured Ottawa, they were allowing the ninth-most shots-against average, but they now rank only 13th-worst, allowing 30.8 shots-against-per-game. As usual, that defensive effort has been led by Captain Erik Karlsson, who’s 73 blocks is tops in the Canadian capital.

The Senators‘ defense has continued its strong play even when disadvantaged. Ottawa ranks ninth-best in the NHL on the penalty kill, refusing to yield a goal 84.6% of the time. This is where Dion Phaneuf has taken command, as his 15 shorthanded blocks lead the club.

Unfortunately for Ottawa, the other special team has been nowhere near as competitive. Successful on only 12.6% of opportunities, the Senators‘ power play is third-worst in the league. Don’t tell Mike Hoffman though – his eight power play points are the most on the squad, as are his four man-advantage goals.

Winners of their last two games, the Penguins enter tonight’s game with a 15-7-3 record, good enough for second-place in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve earned that success by scoring 78 goals, the fourth-most in the NHL.

It’s finally happened. Even though he gave Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin a six-game head-start, Captain Sidney Crosby has taken the points lead in Pittsburgh, with 26 to his credit. 16 of those have been goals, which is seven more Malkin’s nine, the second-best goal-scorer on the squad.

Where the Pens still need to improve is on their penalty kill. Even though Ian Cole has 11 shorthanded blocks, to his credit, Pittsburgh ranks fifth-worst in the league at neutralizing their infractions, stopping only 78.4% of opponents’ power plays.

Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Ottawa‘s Anderson (three shutouts [tied for second-most in the NHL] among 12 wins [tied for sixth-most in the league] on a .93 save percentage [tied for eighth-best in the NHL]) & Pittsburgh‘s Crosby (16 goals [tied for league-lead] among 26 points [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]), Kessel (16 assists [tied for seventh-most in the league] among 24 points [tied for ninth-most in the NHL]), Malkin (16 assists [tied for seventh-most in the league] among 25 points [eighth-most in the NHL]) and Matthew Murray (2.02 GAA [sixth-best in the league]).

Pittsburgh is heavily favored to win tonight’s game, indicated by the -225 next to their name. Although Anderson is having his best season in Ottawa since his 2012-’13 campaign, the Penguins simply have too many weapons to overload him and his defense. Pittsburgh should win.

Hockey Birthday
- Kevin Haller (1970-) – This defenseman was the 14th-overall selection in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by Buffalo, but he played for six teams and seven franchises (he mad the trip from Hartford to Greensboro). His favorite days were probably spent in Montréal, where he hoisted the 1993 Stanley Cup.
- Olli Jokinen (1978-) – This center was the third-overall selection in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, but he spent far more of his time in Florida than with Los Angeles, the team that drafted him. Somehow, even though he played 17 seasons, he’s only made one playoff appearance.
- Niklas Hagman (1979-) – Another Fin, this left wing was a Florida selection in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. He played 770 games over his 10-season career and notched 301 points.
In our fifth game in the last nine days to require extra time, Detroit beat the Islanders 4-3 in overtime in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

Anders Lee (Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas) didn’t wait too long to get the home Isles on the board, burying a wrist shot only 5:16 into the game. The Wings drew even again 7:37 later when First Star of the Game Mike Green (Frans Nielsen) scored a scary slap shot from outside the face-off left circle. The 1-1 tie held into the first intermission.

The Red Wings notched the lone tally of the second period with 5:20 remaining in the frame. Green (Thomas Vanek) takes credit again, but this time with a wrister to give Detroit a one-goal edge.

The Islanders tried their hardest to score quickly each period, and they were successful two-of-three times. Third Star Johnny Boychuk scored only 1:52 after returning from the second intermission to once again level the game. With 6:54 remaining in regulation, Henrik Zetterberg (Jonathan Ericsson and Tomas Tatar) scored a tip-in goal, but that lead lasted only 2:33 before Josh Bailey (John Tavares and Dennis Seidenberg) leveled the score once more at three-all. This tie was unbroken in the remaining 4:21 of regulation and forced five minutes of three-on-three overtime.

Second Star Danny DeKeyser (Tatar and Zetterberg) needed only 1:02 of that extra period to bury a wrist shot, securing the bonus point for the visiting Red Wings.

Petr Mrazek earned the victory after saving 32-of-35 shots faced (91.4%), leaving the overtime loss to Jaroslav Halak, who saved 30-of-34 (88.2%).

Detroit‘s win pulls the road squads within two points of the homers in the DtFR Game of the Day series. It stands at 29-19-8.
December 5, 2016
November 29 – Day 48 – Rowe says it’s Tommy Time!
Welcome to the last Tuesday of November. I know, it’s not very momentous on its own, but the NHL is helping out with a dozen hockey games to watch. The action starts at – you guessed it – 7 p.m. with a couple of games (Carolina at the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay at Columbus), followed half an hour later by three more (Boston at Philadelphia [NBCSN/TVAS], Buffalo at Ottawa [RDS2] and Dallas at Detroit). New Jersey at Winnipeg starts at 8 p.m., with Florida at Chicago waiting 30 minutes before beginning. 9 p.m. marks two puck drops (Nashville at Colorado and Toronto at Edmonton [NBSCN]), with tonight’s tri-nightcap getting green lit at 10 p.m. (Minnesota at Vancouver, Montréal at Anaheim [RDS] and Arizona at San Jose). All times eastern.

Short list:
- Carolina at New York: Last season, Viktor Stalberg played in Madison Square Garden on the regular. Tonight, he’s just visiting.
- Buffalo at Ottawa: A rivalry game, with the chance to be made more special by the return of Jack Eichel.
- Florida at Chicago: Tom Rowe coaches the first NHL game of his career.
Stalberg will return to Manhattan again, and rivals will be rivals, but you only make your coaching debut once. Let’s see what Rowe’s got.

Rowe’s carer in the NHL began after being drafted 37th-overall in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. By the time he hung his skates up the last time, he’d played 357 career games with three different franchises, most of which with Washington, the club that drafted him. His best season was the third of his career, when he scored 31 goals and notched another 30 assists to become the first-ever American to bury 30 or more tallies in a season.

Rowe had been a coach at multiple levels, but he took his first head coaching job in a senior-level league in 2012 when he took command of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, replacing Brad McCrimmon who died in the Lokomotiv plane crash. He led a team of all new players to a 24-18-0 season.

He only kept the job for a year before returning to the States to begin his tenure with the Panthers‘ organization. He took the same job he had with Lokomotiv, but with the San Antonio Rampage in the AHL. He stuck with the team in their move to Portland before being promoted mid-season to associate general manager on New Year’s Day 2016. By the time he departed Portland, he’d amassed an 88-66-17 record.

If only normal people not involved in sports could get promotions as quick as Rowe. He was associate GM for only four-and-a-half months before replacing Dale Tallon as the man in-charge.

That brings us to Sunday’s move. Gerard Gallant entered PNC Arena as head coach of the then 11-9-1. By the time he exited, he added another loss, had a pink slip in hand and was in search of a job.

It turns out, Rowe already had a new coach in mind: himself. It seems to be the trend in Miami of late, as Dan Jennings did the same thing with the Marlins for most of the 2015 season. If the baseball team in town is any indication, the future doesn’t look bright for the Panthers.

That being said, Jennings had one specific thing playing against him: no managerial experience. Rowe has been a consistent winner, so it will be interesting to see how the Panthers‘ season unfolds.

Rowe completely takes over a 11-10-1 Florida club that sits in fifth in the Atlantic Division. Statistically, they’ve been simply average this season, scoring 55 goals (19th-best) against 57 allowed ([t]15th-best). Given their rankings against the league on those numbers, we’ll pin the poor start to the season on the offense.

Of the Panthers‘ 55 goals, center Jon Marchessault has been involved in 17 of them to lead the team. 10 of those points have been goals, which also is tops in the dressing room. Perhaps that is the biggest problem for Florida: goal distribution. Aaron Ekblad and Vincent Trocheck tie for second-place in the goal-scoring race, but with only six tallies apiece.

Not surprisingly, the power play has been especially poor for the Panthers. They’ve been successful on only 14.7% of their attempts to rank 10th-worst in the NHL. Leading the team’s special team is – you guessed it – Marchessault, as he has three power play goals among six points.

Hosting them this evening is the best team in the Western Conference – the 14-6-3 Chicago Blackhawks. As usual in an even-numbered Stanley Cup year, they’ve been led by their impressive offense which has notched 65 goals – second-most in the conference and seventh-most in the league.

Who else to front the Hawks‘ attack than right wing Patrick Kane? The former first pick has 23 points to his credit, 21.7% of last season’s total a little over a quarter of the way through this year’s campaign. He hasn’t always been the goalscorer, though. That title goes to Marian Hossa, who has 11 tallies on his resume.

Every team has a weakness, and the Windy City‘s is the penalty kill. The Blackhawks rank dead-last in the NHL, stopping the opposition’s man-advantage only 70.8% of the time. Niklas Hjalmarsson may have a dozen shorthanded blocks to his credit, but more Hawks need to get involved to avoid another early playoff exit.

Some players to keep an eye on tonight include Chicago‘s Corey Crawford (two shutouts [tied for sixth-most in the NHL] among 10 wins [tied for eighth-most in the league]), Hossa (11 goals [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]), Kane (23 points [tied for fourth-most in the league] on 15 assists [tied for fourth-most in the NHL]) and Artemi Panarin (21 points [tied for eigth-most in the league]) & Florida‘s Aleksander Barkov (12 assists [leads his team]), Derek MacKenzie (52 hits [leads his team]), Alex Petrovic (+8 [leads his team]) and Mark Pysyk (30 blocks [leads his team]).

Chicago is marked by Vegas with a -135 next to their name, a line they’ve certainly earned. Rowe is not going to solve all the Panthers‘ plane ride from Raleigh to Chicago, so I am leaning towards the Hawks continuing their great season.

Hockey Birthday
- Neal Broten (1959-) – A center drafted 42nd-overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars, he played 17 NHL seasons and hoisted the Stanley Cup once with the 1994-’95 Devils. Of course, he may be even more remembered for being a part of the Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid. Either way, he was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000, two years after his No. 7 was raised to the Stars‘ rafters.
- Brad May (1971-) – The 14th-overall pick in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, May played 18 seasons in the league – most of which with Buffalo, the club that drafted him. He won the Stanley Cup in 2006-07 with Anaheim.
- Pavol Demitra (1974-2011) – This left wing won the 1999-00 Lady Byng Trophy while skating for the Blues, the team he spent most of his 16 seasons with. He was one of the 44 people that died in 2011 Lokomotiv plane crash.
- Tanner Glass (1983-) – A scrapper currently skating for Hartford in the Rangers‘ system, he’s played in the past nine NHL seasons. Most of his time was spent in Vancouver, where he helped the Canucks qualify for the 2010-11 Stanley Cup Finals.
For the second time in the last three days, the DtFR Game of the Day has required more than 60 minutes to declare a winner. This time, it was host St. Louis beating the Stars 4-3 in overtime.

With 6:24 remaining in the opening frame, Third Star of the Game Robby Fabbri (Robert Bortuzzo and Jori Lehtera) gave the Notes a 1-0 lead with a wrister to beat Antti Niemi.

Only 4:17 into the second period, that lead doubled when Alex Pietrangelo (Patrik Berglund and Colton Parayko) scored a power play backhander. Dallas returned the differential to one with 3:39 remaining in the period with a Second Star Jamie Oleksiak (Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin) wrister.

The Stars must have received quite the motivational speech during intermission, as Benn (Julius Honka and Jason Spezza) buried a power play wrister to level the game at two-all. 11:25 later, St. Louis took the lead again with a First Star David Perron (Jaden Schwartz and Jay Bouwmeester) wrister. That lead nearly lasted to the final horn, but not before Oleksiak (Honka and Benn) buried a slap shot with with Niemi pulled. To three-on-three overtime we went.

The extra period lasted only 3:24 before Vladimir Tarasenko (Lehtera and Kevin Shattenkirk) scored a wrister to end the game.

Jake Allen earned the victory after saving 18-of-21 shots faced (85.7%), forcing Niemi to take the overtime loss, saving 27-of-31 (87.1%).

The Blues‘ win sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 27-16-7, favoring the home squads by seven points over the roadies.
November 29, 2016
November 20 – Day 39 – Here come some cool cats
It’s a Sunday, but don’t despair: you have five NHL games to watch, starting with Columbus at Washington (SN) at 12:30 p.m. 5 p.m. marks the beginning of Winnipeg at Carolina, followed two hours later by Florida at the New York Rangers. 7:30 brings with it the start of Calgary at Detroit (NHLN/SN/TVAS), followed half an hour later by Los Angeles at Anaheim. All times eastern.

Short list:
- Florida at New York: Keith Yandle and Dylan McIlrath bring their new friends back to The World’s Most Famous Arena.
- Los Angeles at Anaheim: Game 2 of the Freeway Face-off goes down tonight!
It’s been close to a month since we’ve focused on the Rangers, so let’s head to the Big Apple.

Yandle’s tenure with the Blueshirts began at the 2014-’15 trade deadline after playing nine seasons with the Coyotes. Though his time in Manhattan was not extremely long, his impact was certainly felt – he notched 58 points over 103 games to average over half a point-per-contest.

He joined that Rangers club that narrowly missed the Stanley Cup Finals by losing a Game 7 to Tampa Bay. During that playoff run, he notched 11 points – the fourth-best effort of the team.

McIlrath was drafted 10th-overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Rangers, but he only played 38 games with the club before making his way south. Last season was certainly “The Undertaker’s” most impressive as he earned four points in his 34 games played in addition to taking on Wayne Simmonds in a scrap.

Both players were traded to the Panthers, but at different times. Yandle came into the season knowing he would be playing in the Sunshine State, as his rights were traded in the offseason and he signed with his new squad soon after. McIlrath joined Florida only a dozen days ago in a swap for Steven Kampfer and a late 2018 draft pick.

Their Panthers are 9-8-1 coming into tonight’s game, good enough for fifth place in the Atlantic Division. Overall I believe they’re a good team, but they’ve been held back early this season by a slightly below-average offense.

So far this season, Florida has struck 49 goals to average 2.72 per game. Leading the charge has been Jon Marchessault with his 14 points, with eight of those being goals. 21 different players have been involved in the scoring this season, including an assist from Roberto Luongo against Toronto in late October.

Playing host this evening are the 13-5-0 Rangers, who lead the Metropolitan Division by a point. Although the defense and goaltending has been great this year, that success is 100% – maybe even more – due to their incredible offense.

74 goals have been scored this season by the team in blue. Think about that. 74 goals in 18 games. For those bad with math, that’s 4.11 scores per game, almost three-quarters of a goal more than second place. They’ve been led by J.T. Miller and his 17 points, but it’s been Michael Grabner who’s finished the strikes with 11 goals to his credit.

Much of that success can be attributed to New York playing the fifth-best power play in the league. They’ve been successful on 23.2% of their attempts, with Mika Zibanejad leading the extra-man charge with five power play points on his resume.

The penalty kill has been no slouch either. New York has neutralized 85.7% of their infractions to rank eighth-best in the NHL.

Some players to keep an eye on include Florida‘s Marchessault (14 points, including eight goals [both lead the team]), Alex Petrovic (+8 [leads the team]) and Yandle (eight assists [leads the team]) & New York‘s Kevin Hayes (+15 [third-best in the NHL]), Nick Holden (+13 [fifth-best in the league]), Grabner (+17 [best in the NHL] with 11 goals [third-most in the league]), Henrik Lundqvist (nine wins [tied for third-most in the NHL]) or Antti Raanta (.938 save percentage [eighth-best in the NHL] for a 2.05 GAA [ninth-best in the league]) and Miller (+14 [fourth-best in the league]).

Bets are off for this game!

Hopefully this game lives up to it. That being said, I’m not too concerned about the Rangers taking this game. The Panthers played last night in Ottawa while the Blueshirts were dormant in their homes. I expect New York to pull within two points of Montréal for the Eastern Conference lead.

Hockey Birthday
- John Van Boxmeer (1952-) – This defenseman was the 14th overall selection in the 1972 NHL Entry Draft by Montréal, but he’s more known for his 294 games over four seasons in Buffalo. The Sabres qualified for the playoffs every season he was with the club.
- John MacLean (1964-) – Drafted sixth in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft by New Jersey, MacLean played right wing for 18 seasons. He won one Stanley Cup in his career with the team that drafted him in 1995.
- Max Pacioretty (1988-) – This left wing has played each and every one of his 500 games with Montréal, the team that drafted him 22nd-overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
Montréal‘s fifth-straight victory in the DtFR Game of the Day series was a 2-1 win over the rival Maple Leafs.

Only one goal was struck in the first period, and it caused cheers among the Bell Centre faithful. Paul Byron (Third Star of the Game Shea Weber and First Star Alexander Radulov) scored a backhand with 4:15 remaining in the opening frame to give the Habs a 1-0 victory.

Only 32 seconds into the second period, the Canadiens doubled their lead with an Alex Galchenyuk (Radulov and Weber) power play wrister. It proved to be the game-winner, as William Nylander (Leo Komarov and Auston Matthews) capitalized on a Leafs power play 8:15 later with a wrister of his own, but it proved to be Toronto‘s lone tally of the night.

Second Star Carey Price earned the victory after saving 31-of-32 shots faced (96.9%), while Frederik Andersen takes the loss saving 27-of-29 (93.1%).

The Habs‘ victory sets the Game of the Day series at 24-12-5, favoring the home sides by 13 points over the roadies.
November 20, 2016
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.

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 ~~Atlanta~~Winnipeg, 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 12, 2016