Down the Frozen River

Tag: Patrick Marleau

San Jose at St. Louis – Game 2 – Martin and the Sharks level the series with a 4-0 victory

With the combined efforts of Second Star of the Game Martin Jones and Paul Martin’s three blocks, the Sharks shutout the Blues 4-0 in St. Louis to level the Western Conference Finals at a game apiece.

The Sharks struck quickly, as Tommy Wingels scored a wrister only 2:07 into the contest, assisted by Dainius Zubrus and Justin Braun (his fourth helper of the playoffs). Heading back towards the blue line along the far boards, Wingels pass to Braun, who dumped back into the zone to Zubrus. Zubrus advanced to the far face-off dot and found the attacking center, who scored on Brian Elliott’s stick side. Elliott made the initial save on Wingels’ attempt, but was unable completely contain the trickling puck that proved to be the winning tally.

It was only the second shot faced by Elliott, but it foretold the way the night would go for the Notes.

With 8:34 remaining in the frame, David Backes was charged and found guilty of tripping Tomas Hertl in the Sharks‘ attacking zone. His sentence: two minutes in the sin bin. The Blues continued the trend they set in the first game with their fourth straight penalty kill against the Sharks, allowing only three shots against.

Almost immediately after Backes returned to the ice (12 seconds later, to be exact), Chris Tierney returned the favor by tripping Kevin Shattenkirk, but the Notes‘ power play was equally successful as San Jose‘s, failing to score on three shots on goal. Due in part to that, the contest entered the first intermission with San Jose leading 1-0.

The game certainly began favoring the Sharks, made evident by their tally, but the Blues started getting their skates under them to get the game to be more of back-and-forth, even affair. The Sharks led the frame’s shot totals (10 to nine), but the Blues actually led in face-off wins (60%), blocks (seven to two), takeaways (seven to three) and hits (14 to 11).

After resuming the back-and-forth nature in the second, Third Star Logan Couture was caught holding Jori Lehtera at the 4:45 mark. Fortunately for him and his squad, San Jose earned their second straight penalty kill of the night to keep the Notes off the board.

A second after completing the kill, the Sharks went to the power play on a Troy Brouwer slashing penalty against First Star Brent Burns. Burns took offense to that and made him pay only 18 seconds later with a wicked snap shot, assisted by Joe Pavelski (his sixth helper of the playoffs) and Couture. This play was especially lopsided, as Alexander Steen was in the process of returning from the bench with a replacement stick. Just before receiving a hit from Steen (on his way to the bench) at the blue line, Burns passed across ice to Patrick Marleau, who dumped into the zone to Couture. Couture centered into the center of the zone for Pavelski, who found the crashing Burns at the left face-off dot to set up his snapper that set the score at 2-0.

The Sharks got their third attempt at the power play at the 8:03 mark when the wily Steve Ott interfered with Pavelski along the far boards. Luckily for the Blues, they were able to complete this kill to maintain the score differential at two tallies.

Patric Berglund took a rough hit into the open door jam at the completion of that kill that forced him to the dressing room. He did return to the ice with a little over four minutes remaining in the frame.

Once again, only one goal was struck in the period, and this frame was decidedly more in San Jose‘s favor even though Brouwer had a great opportunity stopped by the goal post. They led the period in shots (nine to six) and giveaways (one to three), while the Blues had face-offs (52%), blocks (14 to six), takeaways (eight to five) and hits (30 to 20) to their credit.

Off a face-off only 32 seconds into the third period, Marleau hi-sticked Carl Gunnarsson and drew blood, earning him a double minor. San Jose was once again up to the challenge, making their fourth kill of the night. They were further rewarded at the five minute mark when Jay Bouwmeester slashed Joe Thornton, but were unable to take advantage.

As would be expected, the Blues certainly increased their offensive pressure in the third period. With 8:24 remaining in the frame, the Notes had already notched eight shots on goal to San Jose‘s three.

Those attempts came to a grinding halt at that mark though, as Brouwer took his second seat in the penalty box of the night for hi-sticking Martin. Just like the first time, Burns made him pay, this time with a slap shot assisted by Marleau and Couture (his 12th helper of the postseason). The play looked like a basketball “extra pass” motion wrapping around the three-point arc. Couture collected a pass along the near boards and passed to Marleau at the point, who found Burns waiting outside the far face-off circle, scoring over Elliott’s glove hand.

Ex-Blue Roman Polak gave the Blues some life with 6:41 remaining when he interfered with Backes, made even worse for San Jose when Martin slashed Brouwer, giving St. Louis 24 seconds of 5-on-3. After Polak served his complete time, Ken Hitchcock summoned Elliott to the bench for an extra attacker for a 6-on-4 advantage, but it wasn’t enough to get the Notes on the board.

Elliott remained on the bench to give the Blues a 6-on-5, but it was not the Notes that took advantage. With 19 seconds remaining, Zubrus scored his first goal of the postseason setting the score at the 4-0 final.

Jones earns the shutout victory after saving all 26 shots he faced, while Elliott takes the loss, saving 20 of 23 (87%).

The series now leveled at a game apiece, the action relocates to the SAP Center. Game 3 takes place Thursday at 9 p.m. eastern and may be viewed on CBC, NBCSN or TVAS.

May 17, 2016
Couture’s 3-Point Night Leads Sharks to 2016 Western Conference Final

By: Nick Lanciani

The San Jose Sharks thumped the Nashville Predators 5-0 in Game 7 of their 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round matchup.

Logan Couture had a three point night and Joe Pavelski scored the game winning goal while Martin Jones made 20 saves on 20 shots faced en route to the shutout victory on Thursday night at SAP Center in San Jose.

Jones became the fourth Sharks goaltender in franchise history to record a playoff shutout and became the first San Jose goalie to do so in a Game 7. Not only that, but it was the first Game 7 of Jones’s career.

Pekka Rinne made 21 saves on 26 shots against for a .808 SV% in the loss and was pulled in the third period after the Sharks scored their fifth goal of the evening. Rinne’s replacement, Carter Hutton, notched one save on one shot on goal in 16:06 TOI.

With the win, San Jose advanced to the Western Conference Final and will face the St. Louis Blues in the next round of the playoffs. It is the Sharks first appearance in the Western Conference Final since 2011 and their fourth overall (2004, 2010, 2011 and 2016).

Entering Thursday night it was the 13^th playoff game in 25 days for the Nashville Predators, who were 3-0 when facing elimination this postseason until Thursday’s outcome. It was just the second Game 7 in Predators franchise history, with their first Game 7 having been a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on road ice in Round One of this year’s playoffs.

Sharks forward, Matt Nieto, was out of the lineup for Game 7 due to an undisclosed injury. As a result, Tommy Wingels was inserted into the lineup for the first time in two games after being a healthy scratch. San Jose entered the night 3-0 at home in the series and finished 4-0 at home in the series, while Nashville fell to 0-8 in all-time playoff games at SAP Center. Peter Laviolette’s five straight Game 7 winning streak was snapped and his record as a head coach in Game 7s fell to 5-2 (1-1 with Nashville) with the 5-0 outcome.

Viktor Arvidsson took the game’s first penalty at 8:22 of the first period for sending the puck over the glass. Arvidsson’s delay of game minor gave San Jose their first power play of the night and it didn’t take them long to capitalize on the man advantage. Joe Pavelski wristed one past Rinne for his 9^th goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs and gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 9:02 of the first period. Patrick Marleau (5) and Joe Thornton (8) picked up the primary and secondary assists on Pavelski’s goal.

The goal was just Pavelski’s 2^nd career Game 7 goal and tied a Sharks postseason record for most goals in a playoff year with nine.

It was apparent in the first eight minutes that the Sharks were grabbing momentum of Game 7 when they had already fired numerous shots on goal before Nashville got their first shot on Jones.

In keeping with the home ice, home crowd fueled momentum; Joel Ward received a pass from Melker Karlsson that sent him in on a breakaway towards Rinne. Ward deked and slid the puck underneath Rinne’s five-hole to give San Jose a 2-0 lead at 16:51 of the period. Karlsson (1) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (7) assisted on Ward’s goal— his 3^rd in five-career Game 7s.

To finish off the first period, Shea Weber took an interference minor that would extend into the second period for 38 seconds.

After twenty minutes of play the Sharks led 2-0 on the scoreboard and outshot the Predators 17-3. San Jose also lead in faceoff wins (15-7) and takeaways (5-0), while Nashville led in hits (16-14) and giveaways (8-5).

Both teams blocked seven shots in the first period and Nashville has yet to see time on the man advantage, while the Sharks were 1/2 on the power play.

Logan Couture extended his two-game point streak to three games with a quick goal 36 seconds into the second period that put San Jose on top 3-0. Couture capitalized on a Shea Weber mishap (that seemed to be a theme of the night) and put his seventh goal of the playoffs through Rinne’s five-hole. With two assists in the third period, Couture not only extended his point streak, but added to his already five goals and three assists (now make that six goals and five assists) in the series.

His 11 points in the series passed Igor Larionov’s 1994 Sharks franchise record of ten points in a single postseason series.

Fed up with his own play and Nashville’s general lack of effort, Mattias Ekholm went undisciplined at the end of the second period and cross checked Tommy Wingels. Ekholm received a minor penalty that would be served in its entirety to start the third period.

But it didn’t take long for San Jose to capitalize on their third chance on the power play as Joe Thornton sent a backhanded puck in the twine 32 seconds into the third period. Thornton’s 3^rd goal of the playoffs was assisted by Couture (9) and made it 4-0 Sharks.

In keeping with the hometown momentum, San Jose pressured the Predators early in the third, resulting in another goal at 3:54 of the period. Joonas Donskoi sent the puck to Couture who then found Patrick Marleau for a snap shot that beat Rinne and made it 5-0 Sharks in the third period. Marleau’s 4^th goal of the playoffs was enough to chase Rinne from the net, but not before Rinne swung his stick twice at the net to break it and a third time as he threw it behind him, before skating off the ice to be replaced by Hutton.

Marleau’s goal was assisted by Couture (10) and Donskoi (5).

At 14:34 of the third, Justin Braun took the Sharks first penalty of the night for interfering with Colin Wilson. Nashville was unable to amount anything on their only power play of the night and Jones and the Sharks went on to hold the 5-0 lead through the end of the game.

With the shutout, Wilson’s seven-game point streak had been snapped, along with his 4-5-9 totals in that span and James Neal’s four-game point streak came to an end as well for the Preds.

San Jose finished the night leading in shots on goal (27-20), takeaways (10-4) and blocked shots (22-12). Nashville ended the night leading in hits (46-31), faceoff wins (32-31) and giveaways (21-12). The Sharks went 2/3 on the power play, while the Predators went 0/1.

While Couture had a three-point night and Marleau, Thornton and Vlasic each had two-point nights, top Nashville defensive pair, Weber and Roman Josi finished the night as minus-3’s.

Despite trailing in shots on goal in periods one and two (17-3 and 6-5, respectively), Nashville outshot San Jose 12-4 in the third period.

With the series outcome, the team that scores first in Game 7s improved to 123-42 (.745) all-time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (4-0 this postseason). San Jose improved to 8-0 when Pavelski records at least a point and the home team won all seven games in the series, which was just the fourth such occurrence in the last 20 years (with the other times being the 2013 Conference Semifinals between Los Angeles and San Jose, the 2003 Stanley Cup Final between New Jersey and Anaheim and the 2002 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between Toronto and the New York Islanders).

For the seventh straight season, a team from California will be playing in the Western Conference Final. San Jose played in the WCF in 2010 and 2011 against the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks, respectively, while Los Angeles took on the then Phoenix Coyotes in 2012 and the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2014. The Anaheim Ducks played the Blackhawks in 2015 and San Jose is once again back in the Western Conference Final in 2016.

Game 1 of the 2016 Western Conference Final is scheduled for Sunday night at 8:00 PM EST in St. Louis at Scottrade Center and will be televised on NBCSN in the United States and CBC and TVA Sports in Canada. The St. Louis Blues have home ice advantage and play host to San Jose in Games 1 and 2, as well as 5 and 7 if necessary. The Sharks will host the Blues at SAP Center in Games 3 and 4, and Game 6 if necessary.

May 13, 2016
Pavelski leads the way (again) as Sharks top Predators 5-1 in Game 5

By: Nick Lanciani

Joe Pavelski picked up the game-winning goal on a two-goal night in the San Jose Sharks 5-1 victory over the Nashville Predators at SAP Center in Game 5 on Saturday night.

Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture and Melker Karlsson had the other goals for the Sharks and Mike Fisher had the lone goal for Nashville.

Martin Jones made 24 saves on 25 shots against for a .960 SV% en route to the win, while Pekka Rinne made 23 saves on 27 shots faced for a .852 SV% before being replaced by Carter Hutton for the final three minutes of the game. Hutton allowed one goal on two shots on net in his 3:01 of ice time.

With the win, San Jose now has a 3-2 series lead over Nashville heading into Game 6 on Monday night at Bridgestone Arena. The Sharks are one win away from advancing to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2011. Meanwhile, the Predators fell to 0-7 at SAP Center in their all-time Stanley Cup Playoff matchups with San Jose.

Marleau kicked off the scoring at 10:47 of the first period with his 3^rd goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Joonas Donskoi picked up his first of two assists on the night. Marleau’s goal gave San Jose a 1-0 lead, but Mike Fisher soon answered with a game tying goal of his own less than five minutes later. Fisher found the back of the net on a backhand shot that beat Jones for his 5^th goal of the postseason, assisted by James Neal (3) and Colin Wilson (8) at 15:40 of the first period.

But the game wouldn’t stay tied at 1 for long.

Joe Pavelski received a pass from Joe Thornton and fired home a slap shot behind Rinne for what would be the eventual game winning goal. Pavelski’s 7^th goal of the playoffs was assisted by Thornton (5) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (5) at 17:21 of the opening frame and gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

After twenty minutes of play San Jose was leading in shots on goal (13-11), giveaways (8-6) and takeaways (5-1). Nashville led in hits (15-11) and blocked shots (12-5), while both teams split faceoff wins 11-11 and had yet to see special teams opportunities.

Just thirty-five seconds into the second period, Logan Couture found himself on a breakaway and sent one past Rinne on the backhand to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead. Couture’s 5^th goal of the playoffs was his 7^th point of the series and put him one point shy of leading in postseason scoring across the NHL with 5-8-13 totals thus far in two rounds. Donskoi picked up the assist (his fourth of the playoffs) on the goal.

Marleau, Pavelski and Couture rank 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd respectively, in Sharks all-time playoff goal scoring and each forward had at least one goal on Saturday night.

Brenden Dillon was charged with the game’s first penalty as he was sent to the box for interference 10:31 into the 2^nd period. The Predators were unable to convert on their first power play opportunity of the night and the Sharks were therefore successful on their first penalty kill of the game.

Roman Josi had the most time on ice of any player in Game 4 (49:42 TOI) and was called for a tripping minor at 19:13 of the second period after he tripped up Couture.

Nine seconds on the power play was all it took for Pavelski to find the twine for the second time of the night and his 8^th goal of the postseason. Pavelski’s power play goal gave San Jose a 4-1 lead and was assisted by Marleau (4) and Thornton (6).

Ryan Johansen received a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct with less than 15 seconds remaining in the second period and gave the Sharks a short power play before Joel Ward caught Paul Gaustad with a high stick and drew some blood. Ward was sent to the box with a double minor for high sticking and the Sharks and Predators would see some 4-on-4 action to end the 2^nd period and begin the 3^rd period.

Not much happened in the third period until Johansen tried to mix things up with Pavelski and Thornton roughed up Barret Jackman. Johansen was given a roughing minor and a 10-minute misconduct, while Thornton received two minutes for slashing Jackman and Mike Ribeiro ascertained a 10-minute misconduct himself at 16:01 of the third period.

Almost a minute later, Anthony Bitetto put the Sharks on a 4-on-3 power play after Bitetto tripped Nick Spaling. By then the Predators had tried just about anything and soon replaced Rinne in goal with Hutton for the last three minutes or so.

None sooner had the Predators swapped goalies than San Jose capitalized on the goalie change and Melker Karlsson squeaked one past Hutton to make it 5-1 with about 50 seconds left in the game. Chris Tierney (1) and Justin Braun (3) picked up the assists on Karlsson’s 2^nd of the postseason.

The Sharks finished the night leading in shots on goal (29-25), hits (40-37), giveaways (22-17), takeaways (13-2) and blocked shots (18-16) while the Predators ended the night leading in faceoff wins (32-27). Nashville went 0/3 on the power play and San Jose went 1/3 on the man advantage after sixty minutes of play.

With the 5-1 victory on home ice in Game 5, San Jose now holds a 3-2 series lead— with a chance to eliminate Nashville from the Second Round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs— heading to enemy territory for Game 6 on Monday night at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 9:00 PM EST and the game will be televised on CNBC in the United States and on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.

May 8, 2016
Mike Fisher’s Triple OT Winner Evens the Series

By Colby Kephart

The Nashville Predators beat the San Jose Sharks by the score of 4-3 in triple overtime at Bridgestone Arena in Game 4 of their 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff Second Round matchup. The goalies were a huge story of the game as Pekka Rinne stopped 44 out of 47 shots for a .936 save percentage.

Martin Jones stopped 41-45 shots, 18 of those came in the overtime periods. Mike Fisher had a two goal night for the Predators and Brent Burns also had a two goal night in a losing effort for the Sharks.

Heading into Game 4, Colin Wilson was on a 4 game point streak and it only took 41 seconds for the streak to continue. A Mattias Ekholm shot from the front squeaked past Martin Jones and Wilson was there to push it into the empty net. It was Wilson’s 4^th goal of playoffs and gave his team a 1-0 lead. It was also Nashville’s first shot of the game and it raised a few questions for San Jose.

The Sharks answered those questions as Logan Couture found Brent Burns busting into the zone along the boards. Burns fired a shot that caught Pekka Rinne by surprised and beat him high glove side. This was Burns 3^rd goal of the playoffs and 12th point. Just like Nashville it was also San Jose’s first shot of the game. I was picturing a high scoring game after this but the play began to slow down.

The game was tied until halfway through the period when Roman Josi made a pass to James Neal who ripped a shot at Jones. It bounced off his pads to Mike Fisher who made no mistake to hit the back of the net. It was Fisher’s 3^rd goal of the playoffs and gave his team a 2-1 lead. Nashville was able to keep the lead heading into the break.

The 2^nd period started with Nashville skating well and creating chances. James Neal had a great one early in the period as he tried to step around Rinne and his shot deflected away. 12:09 into the period Roman Josi took a bad interference call that gave San Jose a chance on the powerplay.

Just as the powerplay expired, Joonas Donskoi took a slap shot from the top of the circle. It bounced off Ryan Ellis’s skate and squeaked past Rinne into the net. Nashville challenged the goal, claiming the play was offside on its entry. It looked like the goal would be disallowed, but the ref’s saw otherwise and called it a good goal. I am not sure if it was the fact they are looking at a small tablet or they saw something I didn’t see, but either way good goal.

With the goal, momentum began to switch as San Jose started creating more chances. Logan Couture had a great look in front of the net but Rinne was able to stand tall and make the save. The game was tied at 2 going into the intermission.

The 3^rd period started with a power play that carried over from the 2nd for Nashville. Things got better for Nashville as Brent Burns took a delay of game penalty, giving them a 5 on 3 powerplay for a few seconds but they weren’t able to do anything with it.

This seemed to spark San Jose as they began to have more of the puck. The Predators became undisciplined as they took 2 penalties only 3 minutes apart. On the Sharks second power play of the period they finally broke the deadlock. Joe Thornton won a faceoff back to Couture, who slid the puck to Burns, who then hammered it from the point past Rinne for his second goal of the game.

Nashville realized a 3-1 hole in the series would be dangerous and started to fight back. A shot from the point rang the post, much to Jones’s relief. The fans tried to get their team going making a lot of noise and it worked with just under 5 minutes left in the game. A shot by Ryan Ellis rebounded off of Jones to the stick of Neal who leveled the game at 3. It was Neal’s 4^th goal of the playoffs and his second point of the game. The place erupted as overtime was needed to settle Game 4.

Overtime started with the Predators pushing early as they jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in shots. Jones was not to beaten however as he stood tall. The Sharks had a great chance as Joel Ward tried a wraparound to beat Rinne, but Rinne and Ellis robbed Ward and Donskoi on a second chance opportunity. Nashville answered with a chance of their own as Ryan Johansen got the puck in the slot and hit the post about 5 minutes into overtime. Joe Pavelski thought he had the winner as he scored a goal after running into Rinne. The ref’s ruled the goal illegal, however, as it was disallowed due to goaltender interference.

Nine minutes into the overtime, Nashville was given a great chance as Marc-Edouard Vlasic took a penalty for delay of game. The Predators threw everything at net on the power play as Josi, Neal and Craig Smith had great looks but Jones was able to turn them aside and kill off the penalty. Neither team could find a break in the first overtime, so a second overtime was needed.

The second overtime was all San Jose and Rinne. San Jose had a lot of great chances from Tomas Hertl to Joe Pavelski, Rinne was there to keep Nashville in the game. Nashville was outshot 9-3 in the period. One shot attempt that wasn’t part of that shots on goal total was a Paul Martin slap shot that hit the crossbar. Shea Weber took a penalty with 2 minutes left in the period and the Predators penalty kill unit stepped up and bailed out Rinne by clearing the puck out of the zone a few times. The Preds survived the PK and forced a third overtime.

The 3^rd overtime was similar to the 2nd as goalies were the story of the period. Patrick Marleau had a great chance early with a wraparound, but Roman Josi got his stick in the way to block it. A minute into the third overtime period, it became Nashville’s longest game in franchise history. Rinne needed to be huge again as his captain, Shea Weber, took another bad penalty. He was able to stay tall and 11 minutes into the period Nashville got the break they wanted. Ekholm’s shot from the point was stopped by Jones and rebounded to Mike Fisher, who scored a goal that was as beautiful as his wife. It was his second goal of the game and evened the series at 2-2.

The next game will be Saturday May 7^th at the Shark Tank in San Jose at 10 pm.

May 6, 2016
An All Around Team Effort Helps Nashville Earn a Giant Win at Home.

The Nashville Predators took down the San Jose Sharks easily by the score of 4-1 after scoring four straight unanswered goals. Nashville played a great all-around game and easily won in front of their home crowd. This loss was San Jose’s first road loss of the playoffs.

The Predators looked to use home ice advantage in their favor to get back in the series. They even had Tennessee Titans superstar quarterback Marcus Mariota appear before the game on the ice to get the crowd pumped up. Nashville made a major lineup change prior to Game 3. Preds center Mike Ribeiro was a healthy scratch after having only one point and a minus-three in nine playoff games this year. Nashville replaced Ribeiro with rookie Pontus Aberg who made his NHL debut tonight. Aberg recorded 40 points, 25 of them goals, in 73 games with their AHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals.

Nashville applied major pressure early and just 1:11 into the game the pressure resulted in the game’s first penalty. Sharks winger Melker Karlsson took down Preds star Roman Josi with a hook and earned a two-minute trip to the sin bin. This sent the Predators to their awful man advantage. Nashville is a horrendous 2/31 on the PP in the playoffs. The penalty resulted in no big chances as they only managed 2 shots and San Jose killed it off.

The games first goal came with 6:47 remaining in the first period. This goal resulted from pure skill and speed. San Jose vet Patrick Marleau kicked the puck to himself at his own blue line but kicked it so far even I thought the play was going to result in nothing. I and probably every fan in the arena was wrong. Marleau was able to split Predators defender, Shea Weber, and Roman Josi and beat them to the puck in the Preds zone. Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne tried to come out and perform a diving poke check but completely missed the puck after Marleau pulled the puck back onto his stick. Marleau then had a wide open net and slammed the puck home to open up the Sharks tab. This goal was the first 1st-period goal of the series between these two teams.

With a little of five minutes left in the first period, Predators D-man Anthony Bitetto crossed check Sharks center Joe Thornton. After the penalty was called, a major scrum ensued which resulted in a roughing minor for Sharks defender Brent Burns and Predators defender Barret Jackman. These two calls canceled each other out and sent San Jose to their first PP of the game from the Bitetto cross-check call. The Preds were able to kill this PP of with poise. Then with 55 seconds left in the first, Preds winger Viktor Arvidsson gets the call for slashing Sharks defenseman Brendan Dillon sending San Jose to their second PP of the game and the first period ended with them on the man advantage.

The second period started with the Sharks on the power play. Nashville was once again up to the task and didn’t allow a shot and killed off the penalty. Then just 2:19 into the second period, San Jose youngster Joonas Donskoi received a four-minute high-sticking call after he caught Preds winger James Neal up high. Nashville went to their second manpower advantage of the game, looking for some major momentum and even a goal to tie the game.

That is exactly what Nashville did thanks to a very good power play. Predators Mattias Ekholm gathered the puck on the left-hand side, skated the puck across the blue line and drove right into the slot. Ekholm spotted Preds winger James Neal low on the right-hand side and fed him a nifty pass. Neal took the pass and HAMMERED a one-timer from almost the goal line and beat San Jose goalie Martin Jones high short side to tie the game up at 1-1 on the power play.

Nashville would then get another glorious chance to take the lead just 3:21 later. Predators defender Roman Josi corralled the puck high in the left-hand slot and ripped a wrister looking to beat Jones high glove side. Martin Jones had other plans and robbed Josi with a stellar glove save to keep the game knotted at 1 goal a piece.

San Jose went back on the penalty kill after Sharks winger Matt Nieto hooked Preds Ryan Johansen. Nashville went back to the power play for the third time looking to take the lead again. Sadly, their power play did not last long because Nashville winger Craig Smith caught Sharks winger Nick Spalling with a stick up high and we then played 4 on 4 hockey.

Just 44 seconds later of four aside hockey, Nashville would take the lead thanks to Shea Weber. Predators Ryan Johansen carried the puck in on the right side and tried dancing around the defenseman. Johansen got the puck poked right off his stick and went right to Shea Weber sitting in the slot. Weber unleashed a HOWITZER of a slap shot that beat Martin Jones high glove side and went bar down to give them a 2-1 lead. This goal was Weber’s 13th career playoff goal, tieing the franchise record for goals in the playoffs with David Legwand (no longer on the team).

San Jose went back on the power play with their fourth chance of the game. This time, Nashville defenseman Barret Jackman got called for hooking Sharks defender Brent Burns. The Sharks look to tie the game up on their power play which is usually very strong. San Jose managed to fire four shots on Pekka Rinne, but Rinne was very effective and shut down every opportunity. The second period would end with Nashville up 2-1, but San Jose still looking to tie the game.

Just like the second period started, the third period started with the Sharks back on the power play for 21 seconds. Nashville killed off that penalty once again, especially thanks to Pekka Rinne and blocked shots. The two teams would then trade a couple of decent scoring chances, but again, the duo of Rinne and Jones would turn them away.

Then with 13:51 left in the third period, Predators youngster Colton Sissons went on a mini breakaway looking to score. Sissons would then get knocked off the puck and taken down. He went flying into the post banging his knee right off the post. Sissons would then need help to get off the ice and went right into the locker room. Hope he can return quickly!

Then just 46 seconds later the Predators would strike again to go up 3-1 with 13 minutes remaining. Nashville winger Colin Wilson grabbed the puck on the goal line and slid a beautiful pass to pinching defender Ryan Ellis. He then threw a snap shot on net that was immediately saved by Jones’ left pad. The puck went off the boards and right to Wilson who was sitting in the same spot. Wilson corralled the loose puck on the goal line and shot it off the right post and in to give the Preds their first two-goal lead of the series. Wilson now has points in four straight games.

San Jose would then start applying some more pressure in the hope of getting back into the game. Although, once again Pekka Rinne was able to stone the Sharks on back to back chances to keep his team’s two-goal lead.

With 8:52 left in the contest we would get more 4 on 4 hockey. Nashville D-man Roman Josi collects a slashing call against Sharks center Joe Thornton and Joe Thornton getting two minutes for slashing Roman Josi right back. San Jose looked to take a page out of Nashville’s book and score a goal while playing 4 on 4 just like the Preds did earlier in the game, but this never happened.

Nashville winger Craig Smith would then be sent on a mini breakaway off a nice pass. San Jose D-man Brenden Dillon would slash Smith on his BA causing his shot to go wide. This sent the Preds to their fifth PP of the game looking to convert for another goal. Just 47 seconds into the power play, Mike Fisher would have another amazing chance to add to the lead. Fisher got the puck in the high slot and fired a laser that was calmly gloved down by Jones to still give his team a glimmer of hope.

Then 1:48 into the Predators fifth power play, Nashville would strike again. Preds winger Filip Forsberg, who was in the right-hand corner, passed the puck up to Preds D-man Roman Josi at the point. Josi passed the puck right back to Forsberg who grabbed the puck, curled back and drove right to the top of the right faceoff circle. Forsberg then rifled a NASTY wrist shot that, once again, beat Martin Jones high glove side and went bar down to increase the lead to 4-1. This would end up being the final score of the game as the Predators would hold on for a huge win.

Nashville’s goalie Pekka Rinne would end the game saving 24 out of 25 shots for a .963 SV%. While San Jose’s tendy Martin Jones would save 21 out of 25 shots for a measly .840 SV%.

Nashville would lead faceoffs (35-26), hits (37-28), and giveaways (6-5). San Jose would lead in shots (27-25) and penalty minutes (14-12). The teams would tie in blocked shots (19-19). The Sharks went a terrible 0/4 on the power play and the Predators went 2/5.

Nashville would earn a huge win and also a huge momentum builder with tonight’s win. Thier win would cut San Jose’s series lead to 2 games to 1. These two teams will meet again on Thursday night at 9 pm back here in Nashville, Tennesee. The game can be seen on CNBC, SN, or TVAS2.

May 4, 2016
Sharks Win 6-3, Eliminate Kings in 5 Games

By: Nick Lanciani

The San Jose Sharks remained perfect against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center this year, including both the regular season and the postseason, defeating the Kings 6-3 in Game 5 and winning the best-of-7-game series 4-1.

Martin Jones made 19 saves on 22 shots faced for an .864 SV% en route to the victory, while LA’s Jonathan Quick saved just 22 shots of the 27 he faced for an .815 SV% in the loss. Entering Friday night, Los Angeles was trailing 3-1 in a series for the 14^th time in franchise history. Of the 13 prior occurrences, the Kings were only able to come back and win the series twice, once in 2014 vs. San Jose and the other time versus the Edmonton Oilers in 1989.

Joonas Donskoi kicked off the goal scoring frenzy at 1:08 of the first period to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead. Logan Couture picked up his first of three assists on the night on Donskoi’s first goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

At 2:45 of the period, Luke Schenn interfered with Tomas Hertl and was sent to the penalty box, giving San Jose their first power play of the night, which quickly turned into a 5-on-3 advantage 16 seconds after Schenn’s penalty, due to Dustin Brown having tripped Shark’s goaltender, Martin Jones. Despite the two-man advantage, the Sharks were unable to score on the power play.

Chris Tierney picked up his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal at 11:21 of the first period with some help from Brent Burns, who like Couture, also went on to have a three-assist night. Tierney’s goal made it 2-0 San Jose with lots of time left in both the first period and in the game.

Sharks forward, Joel Ward was penalized for tripping Trevor Lewis at 16:27 of the opening frame, but San Jose’s penalty kill was able to avert a power play goal from the Kings.

After one, it was 2-0 San Jose. The Sharks were leading in shots on goal (13-4), hits (12-10), takeaways (1-0) and blocked shots (9-3), while Los Angeles was controlling the faceoff dot (14-12). Both teams had committed four giveaways each after twenty minutes of play.

The second period opened up to Matt Nieto making it 3-0 Sharks a little after four minutes into the period. Nieto’s first goal of the playoffs was assisted by Ward and Couture at 4:05 of the period. Shortly thereafter, Patrick Marleau was granted a penalty shot for being denied a scoring opportunity with 14:29 to go in the 2^nd. Despite his moves, Jonathan Quick stood tall and denied Marleau of a penalty shot goal that would’ve given the Sharks a four-goal lead.

Just as it was looking like the Sharks might finally exercise some demons from the past, Anze Kopitar tipped one by Jones at 7:44 of the 2^nd for his 2^nd of the series, assisted by Dwight King (1) and Drew Doughty (1) to make the Kings trail by two.

Jeff Carter quickly followed up at 11:26 of the 2^nd period with his 2^nd of the postseason to cut San Jose’s lead to one. Jake Muzzin and Tyler Toffoli picked up the helpers on Carter’s goal.

Carter’s goal meant that Los Angeles was trailing 3-2 with plenty of time left to be a threat.

Nearly five minutes later, Kris Versteeg tied the game, 3-3, with his first goal of the playoffs, assisted by Kyle Clifford and Muzzin. The celebration was short lived, rather, nearly ruined when Trevor Lewis put San Jose on the power play at 17:26 of the second period after slashing Hertl. The Sharks did not score on the man advantage and the game went into the second intermission tied at 3.

San Jose held a slim lead in shots on goal (23-18) and dominated blocked shots (20-8), while Los Angeles had taken control of hits (27-24), faceoff wins (29-23) and giveaways (12-10). Both teams had one takeaway after forty minutes of play and the Sharks were 0/3 on the power play, while Los Angeles was 0/1.

There were no penalties in the third period, however there were still lots of goals.

Donskoi continued to set the heroic tone for San Jose almost four minutes into the third period with what would be the game-winning goal. Burns and Couture picked up the assists.

It wasn’t until 12:24 of the 3^rd that the Sharks would score again when San Jose captain, Joe Pavelski beat Quick on a shot to the back of the twine. Burns and Paul Martin got the assists on Pavelski’s 5^th goal of the postseason and the Sharks were now in command of the game with a two-goal lead.

With about four minutes left in the game, Darryl Sutter signaled for Quick to vacate the Kings’ net and utilize an extra attacker, but it was ultimately to no avail. Shortly after Joe Thornton iced the puck aiming for LA’s empty net, Melker Karlsson received a pass from Marleau and put the puck at the back of the net for his the empty net goal that sealed the deal on the series. Karlsson’s first of the series gave San Jose a 6-3 lead at 19:38 of the third period.

The Sharks defended the Kings last ditch efforts on their season and emerged victorious once again on road ice at Staples Center this (post)season.

San Jose finished with six goals on the scored board in what was the highest scoring game of the series and recorded 28 shots on goal compared to Los Angeles’s three goals on 22 shots on goal. The Kings finished the night leading in hits (39-30), faceoff wins (41-29) and giveaways (16-11), while the Sharks led in blocked shots (29-11). Both teams finished the night unsuccessful on the power play and with one takeaway each.

San Jose will now wait for the winner of the Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators series to end and then face its winner in the Second Round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Los Angeles will face many tough questions this offseason after a disappointing Game 5 loss and overall disappointing postseason performance based on how they got into the playoffs in the first place. They’ll also face the decision of whether or not to resign pending unrestricted free agent, Milan Lucic, who is sure to attract some attention from several teams around the league.

In any case, the fourth installment of San Jose vs. Los Angeles was yet another epic in the storied history of California hockey.

April 23, 2016
Sharks Top Kings 3-2, San Jose One Win Away From Advancing

By: Nick Lanciani

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Wednesday night on home ice at SAP Center in San Jose, California in Game 4 of their First Round playoff matchup. Martin Jones made 26 saves on 28 shots against for a .929 SV% en route to the win while Jonathan Quick made 26 saves on 29 shots against with a .897 SV% in the loss.

With no score after twenty minutes of play, San Jose and Los Angeles went into the second period scoreless. The Sharks were leading in shots on goal (11-8) and faceoff wins (9-8), while the Kings led in hits (21-16), giveaways (5-3) and blocked shots (8-7) after the first period. Neither team had an opportunity on the power play.

Brent Burns kicked off the scoring in the second period for the Sharks on the power play 2:09 into the period to give San Jose a 1-0 lead. Burns’ slap shot was assisted by Joel Ward (3) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (1).

Matt Nieto was subsequently called for tripping at 2:33 of the period, thus giving the Kings their first power play opportunity of the night. Los Angeles was unable to convert on the power play and could not capitalize on another power play 5:26 into the second period, when San Jose’s Joel Ward caught Drew Doughty with a high stick.

At 8:42 of the 2^nd, Los Angeles defenseman, Rob Scuderi tripped Sharks forward, Tomas Hertl and was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Almost a minute later, San Jose captain, Joe Pavelski fired one home on the power play for San Jose’s 2^nd goal of the night and 2^nd goal on the power play of the night. Pavelski’s fourth goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs was assisted by Joe Thornton (2) and Patrick Marleau (2) at 9:21 of the 2^nd period.

With the Sharks leading 2-0 late in the period, Luke Schenn was called for roughing Thornton, giving San Jose their third power play of the night. The penalty kill expired for Los Angeles at 19:30 and for the first time on Wednesday night, the Kings successfully killed off a penalty.

After two periods of play, San Jose led Los Angeles 2-0.

Just past the 90-second mark in the third period, Jamie McBain caught Joonas Donskoi with a high stick, sending the Sharks on their fourth power play of the night.

All San Jose needed was six seconds before Marleau beat Quick to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead with his first goal of the playoffs and San Jose’s 3^rd power play goal of the night.

Logan Couture picked up his 2^nd assist of the postseason and Burns picked up his 3^rd assist of the playoffs on Marleau’s goal at 1:40 of the 3^rd period.

But uneasiness quickly settled in as Kings forward, Trevor Lewis tipped in a shot past Jones at 2:49 of the period to cut the Sharks lead to two. Luke Schenn and Kris Versteeg both picked up their first assists of the postseason on Lewis’ 2^nd goal of the series.

Schenn continued the hot hands and scored at 6:44 of the 3^rd period to bring the Kings to within one goal of the Sharks, trailing 3-2, on his first of the series. Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik picked up the assists on Schenn’s tally.

Despite an onslaught of Los Angeles opportunities and the Kings pressing in every sense of the word, the Sharks held them off and sealed the 3-2 victory on home ice to give them a 3-1 series lead heading into Game 5. San Jose finished the night leading in shots on goal (29-28), faceoff wins (29-28), giveaways (17-13), takeaways (7-6) and blocked shots (25-18), while Los Angeles finished the game leading in hits (46-35).

The Sharks were 3/4 on the power play in Game 4 with all three of their goals having been on the man advantage and the Kings were 0/2 on the power play on Wednesday.

Kings defenseman, Alec Martinez, missed his third game in a row due to injury and has yet to be officially ruled out for Game 5.

Game 5 is scheduled for Friday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, where the San Jose Sharks have the chance to eliminate the Los Angeles Kings on the road and advance to the Second Round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

April 21, 2016
Pavelski, Couture, Sharks Up 2-0 in Series Versus Kings

By: Nick Lanciani

Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Martin Jones led the way for the San Jose Sharks to their 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night in Game 2 of their 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round One matchup. The Sharks now have a 2-0 series lead, having won both games on the road at Staples Center, before heading home to the SAP Center for Game 3.

Jones made 26 saves on 27 shots against, yielding a .963 SV% en route to the win, while Jonathan Quick made 21 saves on 23 shots faced in the loss with a .913 SV%.

Saturday night was the first game back from injury for Los Angeles Kings forward, Marian Gaborik, while it was the first game that defenseman, Alec Martinez missed with an undisclosed injury. Jamie McBain was inserted on LA’s blueline in Martinez’s place and Gaborik wound his way up in the top-six forwards, while Milan Lucic was bumped down to the Kings’ third line. Game 2 was also San Jose’s 16^th consecutive playoff game against Los Angeles.

Pavelski kicked off the scoring at 3:37 of the first period with his 3^rd goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Pavelski’s tally was assisted by Brent Burns and Joe Thornton and gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead that they would hold until the first intermission.

By the end of twenty minutes of play, San Jose was outshooting Los Angeles 7-5 and leading in blocked shots (7-6), while the Kings were leading in hits (17-16), faceoffs (15-10) and giveaways (5-1). Both teams were tied in takeaways (0-0) and were unsuccessful on the power play (San Jose was 0/2, while Los Angeles was 0/1).

The second period saw more domination of the pace of the game from the Sharks as both teams swapped chances, but Jones and Quick stood tall in goal. Tyler Toffoli and Lucic took penalties at 8:14 of the second period and were sent to the penalty box for roughing and charging, respectively.

Thirty-seconds was all it took for San Jose to score on the ensuing 5-on-3 power play opportunity as Couture found Quick way out of position and was able to snap the puck home with ease. Couture’s goal gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead and was assisted by Pavelski and Patrick Marleau. The Kings were clearly shaken by the goal, but could not find a way to try to take back the momentum that was fully tilted in San Jose’s favor.

What seemed to be a rarity on the night, next occurred with under nine minutes to go in the 2^nd. Tommy Wingels was flying up ice on a breakaway and Quick remained square to the shooter, instead of getting out of position— outside of the crease— thereby denying Wingels and providing a huge save in what might have otherwise all but sealed the deal for the Sharks.

San Jose took a couple more penalties as the second period went on at 12:18 (Matt Nieto for hooking) and 18:17 (Nick Spaling for holding), but the Kings were powerless on the power play, unable to convert on either opportunity.

At the end of forty minutes of play, the fans at the Staples Center began to grow restless, with the Sharks beating the home-team Kings, 2-0, and leading in shots on goal (16-14).

San Jose also led in takeaways (2-0) and blocked shots (16-13), while Los Angeles had a 28-16 faceoff win advantage, despite leading in giveaways (6-3). Hits were even at 31-31 and the Sharks were 1/4 on the power play after two, while the Kings were 0/3.

The third period began with a bit of a slow start, but the Kings were starting to press, given that they were down by two and in the final twenty minutes of play, unless they had anything to do about it.

Nick Spaling was sent to the box for tripping Los Angeles defenseman, Drew Doughty, at 10:59 of the 3^rd, but once again the Kings were unable to convert on the power play as less than a minute later, Jeff Carter was sent to the penalty box for slashing at 11:28 of the period.

Yet the result of a slashing minor against Melker Karlsson at 14:06 of the third period resulted in a Los Angeles power play that sparked some high intensity desperation back into the game. In a frenzy of bodies and pucks loose in front of the net and with Martin Jones out of position in the crease, Vincent Lecavalier was able to find the puck and send it home with a backhand on the power play at 14:59 of the 3^rd.

Lecavalier’s goal cut the Sharks lead in half to 2-1 and was assisted by Jake Muzzin and Tanner Pearson.

With about 90 seconds left in regulation, Kings head coach, Darryl Sutter, pulled Quick for an extra attacker but the effort was ultimately for naught. The Sharks downed the Kings 2-1 on road ice trailing in shots (27-23), hits (47-40), faceoff wins (41-27) and giveaways (14-7) to Los Angeles. San Jose finished the game leading in blocked shots (28-17) and takeaways (2-0). Both teams were 1/5 on the night on the power play.

Jones became the 2^nd goalie in Sharks history to win his first 2 career playoff starts— the other being Wade Flaherty on May 17, 1995 and May 19, 1995. Per Elias Sports, San Jose also took a 2-0 series lead in a best-of-7 format via two road wins for the 3^rd time in franchise history (with the previous two times being the 1995 Western Conference Quarterfinals and the 2013 Western Conference Quarterfinals).

The series now shifts to the SAP Center in San Jose, California on Monday night at 10:30 PM EST for Game 3 and can been seen on NBCSN nationally in the United States and on CBC and TVA Sports in Canada.

April 17, 2016
TRADE: Canes’ Eric Staal dealt to Rangers

By: Nick Lanciani

The Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers completed a trade early on Sunday afternoon in which forward Eric Staal was sent to the Rangers. The Hurricanes acquired forward Aleksi Saarela, a second round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and a second round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft in return.

Staal is a 31-year-old center who has spent his entire career (until now) with the Hurricanes for the last 12 seasons. In 909 career NHL games with Carolina he had 775 points (322 goals, 453 assists) and 678 penalty minutes.

He leaves the Hurricanes as the team’s all-time leader since 1997 in games played (909), goals (322), assists (453), points (775), hat tricks (13), penalty minutes (674), power play goals (105), shorthanded goals (16) and game winning goals (47). Staal ranks second to Ron Francis in franchise history in goals, assists, points and power play goals. He ranks first in franchise history, dating back to 1979, in shorthanded goals and hat tricks.

The center led the Hurricanes with 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) during their 25 game run to the 2006 Stanley Cup championship and is the franchise’s all-time leader in playoff scoring with 43 points.

At 6’4″, 205-pounds, Staal is one of only two NHL players to register at least 30 assists and 50 points in ten consecutive seasons from 2005-2006 to 2014-2015 (the other being Martin St. Louis) and he is one of seven players to have tallied 50 or more points in at least ten different seasons since entering the league in the 2003-2004 season. Along with Jarome Iginla and Patrick Marleau, Staal is the only other NHL player to have skated in at least 900 games with at least 300 goals, 400 assists and 700 points since the start of the 2003-2004 regular season.

He currently ranks second in the NHL in shots on goal with 3,033 shots since 2003-2004. Steal played an important role in leading Carolina to the 2009 Eastern Conference Final and led the Hurricanes with 10-5-15 totals in 18 Stanley Cup Playoffs games in 2009.

The Thunder Bay, Ontario native has played in 63 games this season with 10-23-33 totals and 32 penalty minutes. He skated in his 900th career NHL game on February 7th in Montreal and became the third player to play in at least 900 games with the Whalers/Hurricanes franchise (the other two were Ron Francis and Glen Wesley, by the way).

Steal served as Carolina’s captain for parts of the last seven seasons after being named the 13th captain in franchise history on January 20, 2010. He was captain of Team Staal at the 2011 NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh and was the 2008 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player in Atlanta. He’s a four time All-Star (2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011) and was selected by the Hurricanes in the first round (2nd overall) at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

On an international scale, Staal has represented team Canada at the IIHF World Championship, IIHF World Junior Championship and Winter Olympics. He is a member of the “Triple Gold Club”, as a winner of the gold medal at the 2007 IIHF World Championship, Olympic gold medalist in 2010 and a Stanley Cup champion in 2006. Staal has also won a silver medal with Canada at the 2008 IIHF World Championship and registered three assists in eight games while serving as Canada’s captain at the 2013 IIHF World Championship.

The Hurricanes retained half (50%) of Staal’s remaining salary, as he is a pending UFA.

Saarela is a 19-year-old forward who currently plays in the Finnish elite league, SM-liiga, leading Assat Pori in goals (18) and ranking second in points (31) through 46 games played.

The native of Helsinki, Finland won a gold medal with his Finnish teammates at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship and amassed 4-3-7 totals in seven games in the tournament.

He was drafted by the New York Rangers in the third round (89th overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. In four seasons with Lukko Rauma and Assat Pori in Finland’s top league, Saarela has 47 points (25 goals, 22 assists) in 156 career games.

Eric Staal will likely join his brother, Marc, and his new teammates on Monday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden. The Hurricanes will move on without Staal during Sunday afternoon’s matinee against the St. Louis Blues in Raleigh.

February 28, 2016
Colby’s Corner: Incompletes

At the midway point of the season, a lot of people want to give out grades. Well, due to our busy schedules and the fact that we skipped a podcast, I am going to discuss the teams I think deserve an incomplete and why. So, while all of you are handing out grades, consider these teams for incompletes.

First up

The Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators are 11^th in the Eastern conference with 50 points. This is a team who had a strong run at the end of last season, and with help from goalie Andrew Hammond, snuck into the playoffs. The team is currently only three points out of a wildcard playoff spot again.

The Senators are a streaky team and I personally don’t think you can insult the team with a C rating. Obviously, Ottawa’s biggest player is defenseman Erik Karlsson and he is living up to it as he leads the team in points with 51 in 48 games played. This man is a beast, and they play him like it too. There have been a few games this season where Karlsson has played over 30 minutes in a game; that’s more than half the game! From a coach’s perspective, it has to be great to have a player who can play at all times.

However, if you look closer, this could be part of the issue. A stat that scares me for this team is Erik Karlsson’s plus-minus rating: it’s only even. This man is responsible for about 40% of Ottawa’s goals, and he’s been on the ice for 51 goals against average. To me this means his partner on D isn’t correct. Now, people will argue that if he would stay home and not play so offensively, or if he would play less, maybe his plus minus would be better. This may be true, but he is also without a doubt their best player. You play the best player as much as possible as long as he can handle it, which Karlsson can.

Now, with the trade deadline around the corner, you have to wonder what trades the Senators might be considering. If I were them, I would be looking for some defensive help, and, more specifically, a partner for Karlsson. Some big names out there for D help would be Kevin Shattenkirk and Travis Hamonic.

To finish with Ottawa, I would tell people not to write them off yet, by any means. They have a lot of winnable games coming up, including my Buffalo Sabres at the end of the month. If their coach can figure out his D-pairs, I would say Ottawa has the ability to go on a run similar to Florida and jump into the division spots.

Next up

The Vancouver Canucks

Not going to lie to you, I have never been a fan of the Canucks, but this team has surprised me a little bit this year. I felt the Canucks would have a rough year, but they are currently 8^th in the Western conference with 51 points. They are in the 3^rd division spot in the Pacific. Now, we all know the Pacific division is the weakest in the league, but I think it would be wrong to give Vancouver a grade when they have 2 players who have played in all 49 games this season. This stat tells you that nothing is set in Vancouver, and they have had many injury problems this season.

The Sedin twins are leading the way in points, like usual, as Daniel has 43 and Henrik has 37. It seems the twins have started using their twin powers again, and thus have this team in a playoff position. Ryan Miller, the current #1 goalie in Vancouver, just missed 10 games with an injury, and that may not be a lot, but when Jacob Markstrom is your backup, it doesn’t help in the winnable games.

Another advantage Vancouver might have going down the line is their young kids. Bo Horvat and Jake Virtanen are kids who will get better with the more games they play. If both of these kids can continue to improve, I feel the Canucks will be in the playoffs, and if Miller can stay healthy, they might be looking at the second division spot.

If I were the GM of Vancouver, I would not be big sellers, but I would be looking for a veteran center to help them in the final push for the playoffs. A name that could come up could be Patrick Marleau, who at the start of the season requested a trade.

Other teams who don’t deserve grades would be the Edmonton oilers, Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs.

These teams all knew they would have a rough year before the midway point. Edmonton lost Connor McDavid early and had the same team as last year. The Sabres weren’t going to go from last to playoffs this soon, as many as some hoped. Toronto fans should know by now the rebuild is in full effect. Toronto should be hoping for Auston Mathews and hope for a Stamkos miracle, but that’s for another post.

January 23, 2016