Down the Frozen River

Tag: Phil Kessel

  • Washington at Pittsburgh – Game 3 – Murray saves 49, earns 2-1 series lead

    Washington Capitals LogoPittsburgh Penguins LogoFirst Star of the Game Matt Murray saved 47 of 49 shots faced (95.9%) to earn a 3-2 Game 3 victory.

    The first major occurrence of the game was actually an injury to Bryan Rust.  Only 19 seconds into his opening shift, he blocked a shot hard enough to require him to head to the dressing room.  He did not return for even the second period.

    Although Washington fired four shots on goal in the first 6:37 of play, it was the Penguins who scored the first goal – on their first shot on net, in fact.  Patric Hornqvist is the responsible party with his tip-in on Trevor Daley’s initial attempt, with another assist from Conor Sheary.  Shear collected a deflected Sidney Crosby shot from the far corner to Daley at the point.  Daley fired a slap shot from the blue line that Hornqvist tipped past Braden Holtby.

    Exactly a minute later, Tom Kuhnhackl completed a breakaway attempt by Matt Cullen and Kris Letang (his sixth assist of the postseason) with a scoring wrister to give the Pens an early 2-0 lead.  After receiving the first pass off the face-off, Letang connected with Cullen on a long pass from the defensive zone to the offensive zone.  Cullen crossed a pass across the crease for Kuhnhackl to redirect into net past Holtby’s left skate.

    The Capitals continued their mini-implosion when Justin Williams committed an interference penalty against Derrick Pouliot, but Pouliot returned the favor with a hooking penalty against Jay Beagle with about half a minute remaining on the penalty to end the power play.  When Washington received their 90’ish seconds of the man-advantage, they were as effective as the Penguins, leaving the score at 2-0 when the sin bins completely emptied.

    Letang threw a questionable late hit on or near Marcus Johansson’s head with 4:19 remaining in the period that was generously ruled only a two-minute interference call, but Letang did seem to leave his feet.  Luckily for Pens fans, the penalty kill once again stood tall to neutralize the Caps‘ ensuing power play.  Unlike Rust, Johansson did return to the game before the second period.

    Daniel Winnik took offense to Letang’s hit, so with 1:51 remaining in the frame, he slashed the defenseman, giving the Pens a power play for the remainder of the period.  Just like Pittsburgh‘s first man-advantage, they ended it early when Phil Kessel knocked T.J. Oshie’s stick out of his hands with a slash.

    Although Pittsburgh was leading on the scoreboard, Washington had the lead in shots (14-9, respectively), face-off winning percentage (59%-41%, respectively) and hits (19-nine, respectively).  The quickest stat to attribute Pittsburgh’s success was their four takeaways, especially compared to the Caps‘ goose egg.

    Washington would return to the ice with a 1:13 power play after nine seconds of four-on-four hockey.  With another kill, the Penguins‘ set their penalty kill rate at 89.7%, the fourth best of the playoffs.

    The lone penalty of the second period belonged to Justin Williams at the 6:30 mark, a tripping call against Eric Fehr.  But, just like all the other power plays in the contest, the score was the same 2-0 after those two minutes.

    With 4:57 remaining in the second period, Second Star Carl Hagelin fired a pure wrist shot after assists from Nick Bonino (his eighth helper of the playoffs) and Kessel to set the differential at three goals, which held to the final horn of the frame.  Kessel intercepted a Capitals pass near the blue line and passed into the crease to Bonino.  Bonino had to move to Holtby’s glove side to control the puck and took advantage of the aggressive goaltender advancing out of the crease to squeeze the puck into the crease, allowing Hagelin to finish the score.

    Once again, the Capitals led the period’s shot totals by eight attempts, but the Penguins took advantage of the face-off dot (54%), blocks (11 to five, respectively) and takeaways (six to two).  Washington proved to bring the heat along the boards, as through only 40 periods, they had accumulated 41 hits on the home team.

    Washington finally got on the board at the 8:02 mark of the final frame with a wrister from Third Star Alex Ovechkin, who was assisted by Matt Niskanen and Nicklas Backstrom (his sixth helper of the postseason).  After the Penguins cleared the puck to the neutral zone, Niskanen brought the puck back past the blue line before passing to the trailing Ovechkin, who fired his top shelf wrister over Murray’s glove shoulder.

    Hagelin committed the first penalty of the final period with a tripping penalty against John Carlson at the 6:41 mark.  Just like they had all night, Murray and the Penguins‘ penalty kill completed their fourth infraction neutralization.

    With a little over two minutes remaining, Holtby was called to the bench for an extra attacker.  It paid off with 54 seconds remaining in regulation when Williams scored his first goal of the playoffs, a wrister assisted by Ovechkin and Carlson (his sixth helper of the postseason), but the Caps were unable to level.

    Holtby ended the night with the loss, saving 20 of 23 (87%).

    Game 4 between these squads will occur Wednesday at 8 p.m. eastern.  That game can be viewed on CBC, NBCSN and TVAS.

  • Pittsburgh at Washington – Game 1 – Oshie’s hat trick gives Capitals one game lead

    Pittsburgh Penguins LogoWashington Capitals LogoT.J. Oshie scored the final three Capitals goals, including the overtime winner, to lead Washington to a 4-3 Game 1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    A little over 10 minutes into the game (10:13, to be exact), Andre Burakovsky fired a writer after assists from Jason Chimera and John Carlson (his fourth helper of the playoffs) to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead, which held into the first intermission.

    Washington certainly deserved the lead after one period, as they fired 15 shots to the Penguins‘ nine.  In addition, they were also more physical along the boards, notching 10 more hits than the visitors.

    Ben Lovejoy leveled the game 40 seconds after the midway point with a wrist shot of his own, assisted by Second Star of the Game Nick Bonino (his sixth helper of the playoffs) and Carl Hagelin.  57 seconds later, an Evgeni Malkin backhander, assisted by Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang (his fifth helper of the playoffs), gave Pittsburgh their first lead of the series.  It wouldn’t last long though, as First Star Oshie scored an unassisted wrister at the 12:10 mark to level the game at two-all.

    Just as Washington statistically dominated the first period, Pittsburgh returned serve in the second, as they fired 17 shots to the Caps‘ seven.  Pittsburgh also outhit Washington 14-12.

    Oshie turned his second period goal into a scoring streak for himself and the Capitals, as 3:23 after returning to the ice he scored on a backhander assisted by Alex Ovechkin.  Bonino leveled 5:19 later on a wrister, assisted by Hagelin and Kessel (his fourth helper of the postseason) to set the score at three-all, which held to the end of regulation.

    Overtime was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams firing at least six shots, but it lasted only 9:33 before Oshie completed his hat trick with a wrap-around winner, his fourth tally of the postseason.

    Braden Holtby earns the win after saving 42 of 45 shots faced (93.3%), while Matt Murray takes the loss, saving 31 of 35 (88.6%).

    These squads will be back at it this Saturday at 8 p.m. eastern.  That contest can be viewed on CBC, NBC or TVAS.

  • Miller and Brassard lead the Rangers in game 2

    The New York Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 4-2 in game 2. The Rangers were lucky that, Henrik Lundqvist was able to keep his playoff streak of 112 in this game. The Penguins also got a boost as Evgeni Malkin returned to their lineup after missing a lot of time due to injury.  

    New York Rangers LogoThe first period saw chippy play from the opening whistle with Chris Kreider and Patric Hornqvist pushing one another before the game even started. This was a sign of things to come as the Rangers were throwing their weight around.

    The Rangers ended the period outhitting the Penguins 22-4. Both teams exchanged chances the best chance of the period went to Derek Stepan, who got a breakaway to only see it turned aside by Jeff Zatkoff.

    The second period saw the first goal of the game 3 minutes in as Pittsburgh forward, Phil Kessel scored. The game stayed like this and a big glove save on Rust got the Rangers into the game. Keith Yandle scored on a backdoor play from Derick Brassard and J.T. Miller picked up the assists on the play.

    Pittsburgh Penguins LogoThe Rangers continued as they capitalized on a lucky bounce and Brassard put one past Zatkoff. The Penguins challenged the play for offside and they lost on a very close call. 

    J.T. Miller continued his strong night with his 3rd assist of the night coming on a backdoor play to Mats Zuccarello with about 3 minutes left in the second period.

    The 3rd period saw the Rangers continue strong play as Chris Kreider got his first goal of the playoffs. Derick Brassard picked up his 3rd point of the game with an assist on the goal.

    The Penguins weren’t going to be blown out as Kessel struck on the powerplay again to cut the lead back down two. Evgeni Malkin picked up an assist on the goal earning his first point of the playoffs in his first game.

    J.T. Miller and Derick Brassard both had 3 point nights and were the game changers in my eyes. I joked around in saying J.T. Miller thought he was a point guard tonight creating the plays and racking up the assists. The Rangers were able to hunker down and not allow another goal

    Game 3 will be New York Tuesday April 19th at MSG with the series tied at 1-1.

  • Hornqvist’s Hat Trick Helps Penguins Win 5-2, Take 1-0 Series Lead on Rangers

    By: Nick Lanciani

    Pittsburgh Penguins LogoPatric Hornqvist tallied a hat trick in the midst of a 4-point night and 5-2 victory for the Pittsburgh Penguins over the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Quarterfinals matchup. Antti Raanta suffered the loss for the Rangers, having made 16 saves on 19 shots for a .842 SV% in 39:54 time on ice.

    Wednesday night’s action was Jeff Zatkoff’s first career NHL playoff appearance and first career Stanley Cup Playoff win. He made 35 saves on 37 shots on goal for a .946 SV%. Zatkoff had a .896 SV% in his last five appearances during the regular season, dating back to January 18th. He took to the ice for warmups with Tristan Jarry as his backup as Marc-Andre Fleury was unavailable due to his ongoing recovery from a concussion.

    New York Rangers goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, was injured late in the 1st period, after receiving a stick in the eye from his teammate and defenseman, Marc Staal. Lundqvist stayed in the game until the end of the period and made 10 saves on 11 shots against for a .909 SV% through 20 minutes.

    During this final minute of play in the first, Patric Hornqvist (1) went hard to the net and received a pass from Conor Sheary (1) and sent the puck past Lundqvist to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead with 17.6 seconds to go in the period. Kris Letang (1) picked up the secondary assist on the goal.

    The second period was similar in nature to the first period in that both teams swapped a couple of power play opportunities. Pittsburgh’s special teams weren’t able to capitalize on consecutive penalties to Rangers forwards, Chris Kreider and Dominic Moore, at nine seconds into the period and at 10:02, respectively. Meanwhile, New York’s power play was powerless on Trevor Daley’s tripping penalty with 8:14 to go in the 2nd.

    At 18:56 of the second period, Sidney Crosby snapped a quick wrist shot past Raanta on a breakaway to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Crosby’s first goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs was assisted by Hornqvist (1).

    After forty, the Penguins were leading 2-0 on the scoreboard, but trailing 21-18 in shots on goal to the Raners.

    Pittsburgh began the third period playing a little catch-up hockey after amassing six penalty minutes just 2:08 into the period. Karl Hagelin was given a four minute double minor penalty for high sticking Rangers forward, Kevin Hayes, while Pittsburgh defenseman, Ian Cole, was sent to the box with a two minute minor for interfering with Eric Staal in front of Zatkoff.

    New York Rangers LogoNew York was quick to capitalize on their 5-on-3 advantage, with Derek Stepan scooping up a power play goal on the rebound and cut the Penguins lead in half. Stepan’s first of the playoffs was assisted by Rick Nash (1) and Derick Brassard (1). But the Penguins were quick to answer back in a hurry, notching a short-handed goal scored by Tom Kuhnhackl (1) on a two-on-one from Nick Bonino (1) and Kris Letang (2). The goal was Kuhnhackl’s first career Stanley Cup playoff goal and gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead.

    Patric Hornqvist followed up with a power play goal at 8:02 of the third period with his second of the night, assisted by Phil Kessel (1) and Sidney Crosby (1). Hornqvist poked the puck into the net before Raanta could figure out that it had slid behind him and gave the Penguins a 4-1 lead. Rangers head coach, Alain Vigneault, used his coach’s challenge to review the goal for goaltender interference, but the call on the ice was upheld after Hornqvist had clearly allowed Raanta a chance to play the puck.

    With lots of time left in regulation, Stepan netted his second of the night at 10:11 of the third, pulling the Rangers to within two once again. Dan Boyle picked up an assist on the goal. New York had been outshooting Pittsburgh 34-27 at the time of Stepan’s goal to trail 4-2.

    Finaly, Patric Hornqvist completed his first career playoff hat trick with under three minutes to go in regulation on an empty net goal. The goal was assisted by Crosby and Trevor Daley. Hornqvist became the first Penguins player to score a hat trick in the team’s playoff opener and the first player to do so for any team since Alexander Mogilny did so with the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 9, 2003, per the NHL’s public relations department.

    After 60 minutes of play, the Pittsburgh Penguins rejoiced in a 5-2 win and a 1-0 series lead over the New York Rangers.

    This is the seventh time- third straight season in a row- that the Rangers and the Penguins have met in the postseason. New York was 1-2-1 in four games against Pittsburgh during the regular season. Having earned their only win in a 3-0 shutout by Henrik Lundqvist on February 10 at CONSOL Energy Center.

    Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM EST in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and can be seen on NBC, before the series heads up to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for Game 3.

  • March 27 – Day 164 – The Pens have risen

    I picked the Lightning to beat the Panthers in yesterday’s Game of the Day.  Florida‘s five goals proved me wrong.

    Tampa Bay took the initial lead only 5:52 after play on a Tyler Johnson power play wrister, assisted by Nikita Nesterov and Ondrej Palat (his 20th helper of the season).  7:44 later, Vincent Trocheck leveled the score after an assist from Jussi Jokinen, his 41st helper of the season.  Third Star of the Game Jaromir Jagr gave the Panthers a lead they would not yield on the power play with 1:58 remaining in the period, assisted by Aleksander Barkov and Second Star Jonathan Huberdeau (his 36th helper of the season).  The 2-1 score held into the intermission.

    Only one goal was scored in the second frame, and it belongs to Florida.  With 4:07 remaining in the period, Jiri Hudler gave the Panthers their third goal, the game-winner, assisted by Alex Petrovic and Nick Bjugstad (his 17th helper of the season).

    The score became 4-1 4:02 after resuming play from the second intermission after a Huberdeau wrister, assisted by Barkov and Jagr (his 33rd helper of the season).  Tampa finally scored their second goal with 3:12 remaining in regulation when Steven Stamkos connected on a power play wrister for his 36th tally of the season, assisted by Brian Boyle and Nesterov.  Jokinen closed the scoring for the evening with 25 seconds remaining, a shorthanded wrister on an empty net for his 17th goal of the season.

    First Star Roberto Luongo earns the win after saving 33 of 35 shots faced (94.3%), while Andrei Vasilevskiy takes the loss, saving 22 of 26 shots faced (84.6%).

    Florida‘s win sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 74-43-17, favoring the home sides by 33 points over the roadies.

    After such a busy Saturday, we need a little break, but the Easter Bunny still brought along three games for our viewing pleasure.  The action starts at 5 p.m. eastern when New Jersey visits Carolina, followed by Pittsburgh at the New York Rangers at 7:30 p.m. eastern (NBCSN/TVAS).  Finally, Chicago visits Vancouver at 8 p.m. eastern (SN) to round the evening out.

    Two of today’s games are divisional rivalries (New Jersey at Carolina and Pittsburgh at New York), and Pittsburgh at New York is the only game between playoff qualifiers.

    In addition to the reasons listed above, we’ll head to Madison Square Garden as it is also a rematch of one of last season’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

    Pittsburgh Penguins LogoNew York Rangers Logo

     

     

     

     

     

    This will be Pittsburgh‘s 15th appearance in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 6-7-1 record, with their most recent being March 19’s 4-1 win in Philadelphia.  New York has been featured 20 times before tonight’s game, and they own a 11-7-2 record in such instances.  Their last time featured, they beat the visiting Bruins 5-2 on Wednesday.

    The 41-25-8 Pittsburgh Penguins currently occupy third in the Metropolitan Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference.  To get to that position, they’ve played the fifth best defense in the league, paired with the 11th best offense.

    Led by Ian Cole’s 106 blocks, the Penguins have allowed 2175 shots to reach 32-17-6 Marc-Andre Fleury and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.1% for 182 goals against, the fifth fewest in the league.  That success has carried into the penalty kill, where the Pens have successfully defended 83.77% of opposing power plays for only 37 extra man goals against, the seventh best rate in the league.  Further improving on that rate, they’ve also scored six shorthanded goals (led by Eric Fehr’s three shorties), one more than the league average.

    Led by Phil Kessel’s 236 shots, Pittsburgh has fired the puck a whopping 2408 times, with 8.3% finding the back of the net for 204 goals (led by Sidney Crosby’s 31 tallies), the 11th most in the NHL.  The biggest hole for the Pens continues to be their power play, as their 17.45% success rate, good for 41 power play goals (led by the injured Evgeni Malkin’s 11 extra man tallies), the 12th worst in the league.

    Pittsburgh‘s last game was yesterday’s 7-2 victory in Detroit.  With another road win tonight, Pittsburgh would pull within at least three points of second place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The 43-24-8 New York Rangers currently rank second best in both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference.   To get this far, they’ve played the sixth best offense, paired with the 14th best defense.  A more in-depth analysis of the Blueshirts‘ game can be found within Wednesday’s article.

    The Blueshirts have won their last two games, with their most recent victory being Wednesday over the Bruins.  Should the Rangers hold home ice for the win, they will improve their lead over Pittsburgh to six points for second in the division.

    Pittsburgh currently leads the season series 2-1-0, but this final game could level the series at .500.  These squads met last season in the first round of the playoffs, where the Rangers won the series 4-1.

    Some players to keep an eye in tonight’s game include New York‘s Henrik Lundqvist (33 wins [tied for fifth most in the league], .922 save percentage [tied for seventh best in the league] and four shutouts [tied for seventh most in the league]) and Ryan McDonagh (+28 [fourth most in the league]) & Pittsburgh‘s Crosby (77 points [third most in the league], 46 assists [tied for seventh most in the league] and 31 goals [tied for ninth most in the league]), Fleury (five shutouts [tied for third most in the league] and 33 wins [tied for fifth most in the league]), Chris Kunitz (+31 [leads the league]) and Olli Maatta (+27 [tied for fifth best in the league]).

    Although New York enters tonight’s home game riding a winning streak, I’m still leaning towards the Penguins, who have been riding a tremendous surge in the past couple months.

  • March 13 – Day 150 – Yup, Pittsburgh-New York again

    They needed overtime, but the Blues beat the Stars 5-4 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Troy Brouwer scored St. Louis‘ first goal at the 8:47 mark of the first period with a snap shot, assisted by Robby Fabbri (his 16th helper of the season) and Paul Stastny, but the Stars leveled the game 2:19 later with a Cody Eakin backhander, assisted by Jamie Benn (his 43rd helper of the season) and Kris Russell.  The one-all score held into the intermission.

    Only 1:37 after resuming play, the Blues again took a lead, this time off a Vladimir Tarasenko wrister (his 33rd tally of the season), assisted by Jay Bouwmeester and Third Star of the Game Alex Pietrangelo, but once again Dallas leveled quickly, as Second Star Jason Spezza’s wrister (his 27th tally of the season), assisted by Tyler Seguin and Russell, found the back of the net 1:01 later.  The Notes took control of the final 10 minutes of the second period, scoring two goals.  The first crossed the goal line at the 10:19 mark, compliments of a First Star Kevin Shattenkirk wrap-around shot (his 11th tally of the season), assisted by Stastny and Jaden Schwartz.  With 46 seconds remaining in the frame, Shattenkirk scored his second of the night on a slap shot, assisted by Schwartz and Tarasenko (his 28th helper of the season).  The 4-2 score held into the second intermission.

    Dallas responded to the Blues‘ two unanswered goals in the second with two of their own in the third, the first of which came courtesy of Spezza at the 6:02 mark, assisted by Ales Hemsky and Alex Goligoski.  The lone power play goal of the night found the back of the net with only 1:12 remaining in regulation off a Benn tip-in, assisted by Seguin (his 39th helper of the season) and Goligoski.  Neither team was able to break the tie before regulation, so the game moved into three-on-three overtime.

    It took only 2:11 of overtime before Pietrangelo’s wrister, assisted by Stastny (his 28th helper of the season) and Fabbri, found the back of the net for the Blues‘ winner.

    Jake Allen earns the win after saving 34 of 38 shots faced (89.5%), while Antti Niemi takes the overtime loss, saving 31 of 36 (86.1%).

    After St. Louis‘ win, the DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 66-38-16, favoring the home teams by 28 points over the roadies.

    With such a busy hockey Saturday, you probably need a rest.  But, luckily for us, the people in charge of NHL scheduling are addicted to the game just as much as us and can’t just take a day off, so they gave us three games to watch today.  The first of those games, Pittsburgh at the New York Rangers, drops the puck at 12:30 p.m. eastern on NBC.  Game Two gets started at 3 p.m. eastern between Tampa Bay at Columbus, and this evening’s nightcap, Toronto at Detroit (NBCSN) goes underway at 7:30 p.m. eastern.

    Two of today’s games are between division rivals (Pittsburgh at New York and Toronto at Detroit), but Pittsburgh at New York is the only game between teams currently qualifying the playoffs.

    In addition to qualifying for both of those groups, the Pittsburgh–New York game is also a rematch of one of last season’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchups, so you know we’re watching that one!

    Pittsburgh Penguins LogoNew York Rangers Logo

     

     

     

     

     

    This afternoon’s game will be Pittsburgh‘s 13th in the DtFR Game of the Day series, where they own a 4-7-1 record.  Their most recent appearance in such games was March 3, a 4-1 home victory over these Rangers.  New York was featured again the day later in their 3-2 victory in Washington, their 18th showing in the series which set their record in such games at 10-6-2.

    The 35-24-8 Pittsburgh Penguins are currently the fourth best team in the Metropolitan Division and eighth best in the Eastern Conference, good enough for the second wild card.  To get to that position, the Pens have played the ninth best defense, paired with the 14th best offense.

    Even with Kris Letang’s team-leading 94 blocks, the Penguins have allowed 2030 shots to reach 28-16-6 Marc-Andre Fleury and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.2% for 170 goals against, the ninth fewest in the league.  Pittsburgh‘s defense especially clamps down when short a man, defending 83.65% of their penalties, allowing only 34 power play goals against, the sixth best rate in the NHL.  Further improving on that rate, the Pens have also scored six shorthanded goals this season (led by Eric Fehr’s three shorties), one more than the league average.

    The offense had a slow start to the season, but has grown throughout the season to become what we typically expect from Pittsburgh.  Led by Phil Kessel’s 221 shots, the Penguins have fired the puck 2188 times, of which 8.3% have found the back of the net for 183 goals (led by Sidney Crosby’s 28 tallies), the 14th most in the league.  The biggest struggle for the Pens seems to be the power play, as they are successful on only 18.31% of attempts, earning 39 extra man goals (led by the injured Evgeni Malkin’s 11 power play tallies), the 13th worst rate in the league.

    Pittsburgh‘s last game was Friday, a 3-2 victory in Columbus.  As long as the Penguins do anything better than losing in regulation, they will move ahead of Detroit for the first wildcard position, but Pittsburgh would prefer to earn two points to pull within two points of the Islanders for the final division qualifier.

    The 39-22-7 New York Rangers currently occupy second place in the Metropolitan Division and third in the Eastern Conference.  To get to that position, the Rangers have played the seventh best offense, backed by the 12th best defense.

    Even with Derick Brassard’s 150 shots, the Blueshirts have only fired the puck 1925 times, but 9.8% have found the back of the net for 192 goals (led by Brassard’s 24 tallies), the seventh most in the NHL.  Just like the Penguins, New York‘s offensive special team has not been indicative of their scoring success, as they are successful on only 18.23% of attempts, good for 33 power play goals (led by Brassard’s seven extra man tallies), the 14th worst rate in the league.

    Dan Girardi’s 162 blocks have helped lead the Blueshirts to allowing only 1990 shots to reach 31-17-4 Henrik Lundqvist and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92% for 173 goals against, the 12th fewest in the league.  The biggest hole in New York‘s game has been their penalty kill, whose 77.39% kill rate that has allowed 45 power play goals ranks fourth worst in the league.

    The Rangers‘ most recent game was a 3-2 overtime loss in Detroit yesterday.  Currently, the Blueshirts have only a three point lead over their Brooklyn-based rivals, but a win today would improve that spread to five points.

    The season series is currently tied 1-1-0, but this is the first visit by the Penguins to Madison Square Garden this campaign.  The last time these teams met was 10 days ago, when the Penguins beat the Rangers 4-1.  Last postseason, these two squads met in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, where the Rangers easily took care of the opposition in five games before eventually falling in the Eastern Finals.

    Some players to keep an eye on in this afternoon’s game include New York‘s Lundqvist (31 wins [fifth most in the league], four shutouts [tied for fifth most in the league] and .923 save percentage [tied for seventh best in the league]) & Pittsburgh‘s Crosby (67 points [sixth most in the league] and 28 goals [10th most in the league]), Fleury (five shutouts [tied for second most in the league] and 28 wins [tied for seventh most in the league]), Chris Kunitz (+28 [tied for second best in the league]) and Olli Maatta (+26 [tied for fourth best in the league]).

    We’ve covered both of the previous games between these two squads, and both times I predicted the Rangers to win.  While the Blueshirts are the better team overall, their poor special team play, specifically the penalty kill, always allows other teams the chance to beat them.  Should Pittsburgh get under New York‘s skin, this one could go the way of the visitors.

  • March 3 – Day 140 – Double down on the Blueshirts

    Brooks Laich’s return to Washington was almost a successful one, as the Toronto Maple Leafs fell to the Capitals by only a score of 3-2.

    Washington scored two of their three goals in the first period, all in the span of 28 seconds.  Taylor Chorney’s first goal of the season was also the Caps‘ first of the night, scored at the 18:15 mark.  His wrister was assisted by T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov (his 46th helper of the season).  Alex Ovechkin doubled Washington‘s lead with a slap shot (his 41st tally of the season), assisted by Nicklas Backstrom and Oshie.

    The lone goal of the second period pulled the Maple Leafs back within a goal, scored at the 1:37 mark courtesy of Nikita Soshnikov’s first tally of the season, assisted by Nazem Kadri (his 23rd helper) and Matt Hunwick.

    Toronto leveled the score at two-all only 8:16 into the third period, courtesy of a Colin Greening snap shot, assisted by Peter Holland (his 17th helper of the season) and Connor Carrick.  The Capitals‘ winner found the back of the net at the 9:31 mark when Matt Niskanen scored on the power play, assisted by Backstrom (his 43rd helper of the season) and Oshie.

    Philipp Grubauer earns the win after saving 27 of 29 (93.1%), while Jonathan Bernier takes the loss, saving 20 of 23 shots (87%).

    Washington‘s win is the second in the row for home squads, setting the season record at 63-34-13, 34 points better than the roadies.

    It’s a busy Thursday in the greatest hockey league in the world, as 24 teams are in action this evening.  Eight of those teams drop the puck at 7 p.m. eastern (the New York Rangers at Pittsburgh [NHLN], Chicago at Boston, Calgary at Buffalo and Edmonton at Philadelphia), followed half an hour later by two more games (Tampa Bay at Ottawa and Minnesota at Toronto).  8 p.m. eastern brings with it the beginning of two games (New Jersey at Nashville and the New York Islanders at Winnipeg), with another couple trailing an hour later (Florida at Colorado and Anaheim at Arizona).  San Jose at Vancouver drops the puck at 10 p.m. eastern, and this evening’s nightcap, Montréal at Los Angeles, gets its start at 10:30 p.m. eastern.

    Four of tonight’s games are between divisional rivals (New York at Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay at Ottawa, Anaheim at Arizona and San Jose at Vancouver), and two are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (New York at Pittsburgh and Chicago at Boston).  The New York–Pittsburgh game is also a rematch of one of last season’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

    New York Rangers LogoPittsburgh Penguins Logo

     

     

     

     

     

    Tonight’s game is New York‘s 17th in the DtFR Game of the Day series, where they own a 9-5-2 record.  Their most recent in the series was February 21, a 1-0 overtime win over the Red Wings.  Pittsburgh has been featured 11 times before tonight, and own a 3-7-1 in such games.  Their most recent was February 24, a 5-1 beat down in Boston.

    The 37-20-6 New York Rangers currently occupy second in both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference.  To get to that position, they’ve played the sixth best offense in the league, paired with the ninth best defense.

    Although he is still out on injury, Rick Nash’s 149 shots still leads the Blueshirts, who have only 1822 to their credit.  A solid 9.7% of those attempts have found the back of the net for 180 goals (led by Derick Brassard’s 22 tallies), sixth most in the league.  The most impressive part about New York‘s game is that most of that success has occurred at even strength, as their 17.44% success rate, good for only 30 power play goals, ranks seventh worst in the league.

    Led by Dan Girardi’s 148 blocks, the Blueshirts have allowed only 1864 shots to reach 31-16-4 Henrik Lundqvist and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.1% for 159 goals against, the ninth fewest in the league.  Yet again, the Rangers‘ special teams let them down, as their 77.78% kill rate is fifth worst in the league.

    New York is currently riding a three game win streak, with their most recent being a 2-1 victory over the Blue Jackets on Monday.  While a win tonight would pull the Rangers within 16 points of the Capitals, it more importantly has the opportunity to increase their lead over the Islanders to seven points.

    The 32-22-8 Pittsburgh Penguins currently sit in fourth in the Metropolitan Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference, good enough for the second wildcard position.  They’ve achieved that position by playing the 10th best defense, paired with the 14th worst offense.

    Even with Kris Letang’s 90 blocks, the Pens have allowed 1900 shots to reach 26-14-6 Marc-Andre Fleury and co., of which they’ve saved 92.2% for 160 goals against, 10th fewest in the league.  When a man down, Pittsburgh‘s defense has improved their play, killing 83.51% of their penalties for only 32 power play goals against, the seventh best rate in the league.

    Led by Phil Kessel’s 201 shots, the Penguins have fired the puck 2035 times, but only 8.1% have found the back of the net for 167 goals (led by Sidney Crosby’s 25 tallies), 14th worst in the league.  That lack of success has followed Pittsburgh to the power play, as their 18.18% success rate, good for only 36 goals (led by Evgeni Malkin’s 10 extra man tallies) is 13th worst in the league.

    Pittsburgh‘s most recent game was a 3-2 loss in Washington on Tuesday.  With a win today, Pittsburgh does not improve their position in the standings, but they do draw within a point of Detroit for the first wildcard position.  That being said, a loss does put them at risk of having only a one point lead over the ninth place Flyers.

    The Penguins and Rangers have met only once this season, a three goal shutout victory in Pittsburgh for the Blueshirts.  They also met in the playoffs last season, where New York won 4-1.

    Some players to keep an eye on include New York‘s Lundqvist (31 wins [tied for third most in the league], four shutouts [tied for fifth most in the league] and .924 save percentage [tied for eighth best in the league]) and Pittsburgh‘s Crosby (60 points [tied for eighth most in the league]), Fleury (five shutouts [tied for second most in the league] and 26 wins [tied for eighth most in the league]), Chris Kunitz (+25 [third best in the league]) and Olli Maatta (+23 [tied for sixth best in the league]).

    To be honest, even with the Pens having home ice for the night, they have no business beating the Rangers.  I expect a relatively easy New York win.

  • TRADE: Phaneuf sent to Sens in nine player deal

    By: Nick Lanciani

    With the trade deadline approaching on February 29th, I figured it’d be a good idea to recap the deals that are made before then and give you my two cents. So to start, thank you to the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs for giving me the first major trade before the deadline to write about while I’m in between classes.

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    On Tuesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs sent captain Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators in a large nine-player trade. Toronto also sent forwards Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey and Ryan Rupert, as well as defenseman Cody Donaghey to the Senators in exchange for defenseman Jared Cowen and forwards Milan Michalek, Colin Greening and Tobias Lindberg. The division rival Sens also included their 2nd round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft as part of the deal.

    This trade seemed inevitable, but comes as a bit of a surprise in its quick occurrence. The Senators have been known to have inquired about Phaneuf’s availability in the past, however given how the Phaneuf trade rumor mill had been relatively quiet in the public eye this season, it’s not surprising to be surprised.

    That all might sound like a bunch of nonsense, and in a way it was supposed to not make sense, but listen folks, the Maple Leafs don’t have much hope for the rest of this season. They’ve got room to wheel and deal and have plenty of pieces to offer this season approaching the trade deadline.

    While Toronto shipped Phil Kessel to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the offseason, many were left wondering when the next domino to fall would come in a potential Phaneuf trade, given how Kessel and Phaneuf were high priority assets to move.

    Now the time has come.

    Dion Phaneuf joins the 25-23-6 overall (56 points) Ottawa Senators who are currently sixth in the Atlantic Division, trailing the New York Islanders by four points in the race for the second wild card position for the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Phaneuf is expected to be paired alongside Cody Ceci on Wednesday night as the Senators take on the Detroit Red Wings.

    Phaneuf, 30, has a lengthy term left on his contract at $7 million AAV through the 2020-2021 season. He’s had 3-21-24 totals so far in 51 games with Toronto this season. Given the youth movement in Ottawa over the last few seasons, he should start picking up more assists and see plenty of time on ice, easing the pressure on the Senators largely young presence on the blue line.

    It’s not that the Senators are inexperienced on the back end of the game, with captain Erik Karlsson leading the charge as the Sens best defenseman (even if he is an offensive defenseman). Plus Ottawa has strength in Ceci, Marc Methot, and Patrick Wiercioch (notice, I didn’t say skill, I just said strength- as in these guys can push around the opposing team, but might not be superstars on their own or when they’re caught on a rush).

    Ottawa has a developing presence on the blue line that’s seen some impressive performance at times from Mark Borowiecki, Chris Wideman, Erik Claesson and company and Phaneuf is only going to bring in more experience to help mold the youth movement into a force to be reckon with.

    Phaneuf was a finalist for the Norris Trophy in the 2007-2008 season, a member of the NHL All-Star Rookie Team in 2006, an NHL First All-Star Team member in 2008, and has been part of three All-Star Game appearances in 2007, 2008 and 2012. He was a ninth overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames where he scored a career high 20 goals as a rookie in the 2005-2006 season.

    On January 31, 2010, Phaneuf was traded to Toronto in a seven-player trade. He had 120 goals and 424 points in 801 regular season games in his career split between Toronto and Calgary.

    Frattin is a 28-year old forward who has spent the entire 2015-2016 regular season with the Toronto Marlies in the American Hockey League, scoring nine goals, 13 assists and 22 points in 47 games. He had 22-26-48 totals in 59 AHL games last season. In 135 career NHL games, Frattin has 17-18-35 totals split between the Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets.

    If a change of scenery can help him now, then what went wrong before?

    Bailey is a 24-year old forward who has 4-14-18 totals in 38 games for the Marlies this season. He has one career NHL goal in six games with the Maple Leafs last season.

    Rupert is a 21-year old forward who has split the year between the Marlies and the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, combing for 9-8-17 totals in 36 games.

    Donaghey is a 19-year old defenseman who has spent the year with the Halifax Mooseheads and the Moncton Wildcats in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He has 5-17-22 totals in 36 games this season in the Q.

    Perhaps the more surprising elements of the deal were what the Senators gave up in Cowen, Michalek and Greening. Cowen is yet to enter his prime as a defenseman, however had a chance to become the leader of the younger blue liners in Canada’s capital. Cohen’s 6’5″, 238 pound build could prove to be a crucial part to Toronto’s defense if they can find a way to better utilize his size than the Senators did.

    He’s 25-years old and has just four assists in 37 games this season, but could see time with Morgan Rielly or other younger defenseman and turn out to be a puck moving, shut-down, pair. It seems as though the Senators tried to rush his development too quickly before fully understanding what they had before them.

    With Mike Babcock as Toronto’s head coach and his plethora of knowledge from the way he ran Detroit’s brick wall defense over the years, Cowen might finally get his chance to come into his own and shine.

    Cowen was the ninth pick overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft for Ottawa and had 15-31-46 totals in 249 career games with the Senators.

    Michalek is a 31-year old forward who can contribute both directly on the scoresheet and indirectly with his presence and puck movement on the ice. His 6-4-10 totals in 32 games this season mirror those of a typical glue guy on any NHL roster.

    Michalek had a career high 35 goals for Ottawa in the 2011-2012 season and was a 20+ goal scorer in four consecutive seasons for the San Jose Sharks and Senators from 2006-2010. He was the sixth overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft and had 206-232-438 totals in 729 regular season games for San Jose and Ottawa.

    Greening, 29, is another glue guy that had been buried in the AHL this season, having scored seven goals and 13 points in 41 games for the Binghamton Senators. He had 38-49-87 totals in 256 games for Ottawa over appearances in the last six seasons.

    Lindberg is a 20-year old forward who has 5-17-22 totals in 34 games for the baby Senators his first professional season in the AHL. He was the 102nd overall pick of the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He had 32-46-78 totals in 67 games last season for the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League.

    Again, the Senators face the Red Wings on Wednesday in what will be Phaneuf’s debut with his new team. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs play the Flames on Tuesday night.

     

  • January 5 – Day 87 – The reigning champs visit the City of Champions

    The Arizona Coyotes survived an exciting third period to earn a 3-2 victory in Vancouver last night in out Game of the Day.

    The first goal of the game didn’t come until 26:55 had passed, and it was First Star of the Game Shane Doan who broke the tie with his 14th tally of the season, assisted by Connor Murphy and Brad Richardson, an ex-Canuck as of this offseason.  Vancouver leveled the score again at the 13:41 mark with a slapshot form Bo Horvat, but the tie lasted only 19 seconds before Tobias Rieder and Louis Domingue assisted Laurent Dauphin to his first career NHL goal.  The Coyotes‘ 2-1 lead held into the second intermission.

    The eventual game-winner was a power play goal only 1:13 into the third from Doan, assisted by Rieder and Antoine Vermette.  The Canucks tried to stage a comeback with a goal at the 4:41 mark of the third from Second Star Daniel Sedin, who took a puck to the face earlier in the game and lost a few teeth, but were unable to get a third puck past Domingue.

    Domingue improves his record to 4-2-2 after saving 35 of 37 (94.6%), while Jacob Markstrom’s record falls to 4-5-3 after saving 26 of 29 (89.7%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 34-17-6, favoring the home squad by 24 over the roadies.

    There’s a total of eight games being played in the NHL this evening, and most of them will end before your bedtime!  The action gets started at 7 p.m. eastern when the first five games drop the opening pucks (Washington at Boston [TVAS], Florida at Buffalo [BELL TV], Dallas at the New York Rangers, Chicago at Pittsburgh [SN1] and Minnesota at Columbus), followed half an hour later by Montréal at Philadelphia (NBCSN/RDS).  8 p.m. eastern brings with it the start of the Winnipeg at Nashville game, while this evening’s nightcap, Tampa Bay at Calgary, will begin at 9 p.m. eastern.

    Two of tonight’s games are divisional rivalries (Florida at Buffalo and Winnipeg at Nashville), while another two are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Washington at Boston and Dallas at New York).

    Tonight also marks Rob Scuderi’s first return to Pittsburgh since being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks.  Because this is his only trip back to the city he played eight seasons in (barring a Stanley Cup Finals series) this year, lets take a look at the game in the City of Bridges.

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    Tonight marks Chicago‘s Game of the Day series-leading 11th appearance, in which they host a 5-4-1 record.  Their most recent showing in the series was a two-goal shutout victory over the Jets on December 11.  Pittsburgh has been featured five times before tonight, and currently owns a 3-2-0 record in such games.  Their most recent was a 4-1 loss to the Capitals on home ice on December 14.

    The 23-13-4 Chicago Blackhawks currently sit in third place in the Central Division and fourth in the Western Conference.  They may have started the season slowly, but the Hawks have refined their game to be strong on both ends of the ice, only slightly favoring their offensive end.

    With the puck on their stick, the Blackhawks do what every good team does: shoot.  They’ve put a total of 1231 shots on net so far this season (led by Patrick Kane’s 141), of which 8.9% have found the back of the net for 110 goals (led by Kane’s 23).  An especially potent facet of their offense has been the power play, where they’ve scored on 23.58% of attempts for 29 goals (led by Kane’s 12), both numbers well over the league averages.

    The Chicago defense has also been very strong this season.  They have allowed 1188 shots on net (Trevor van Riemsdyk has a team-leading 78 blocks), but 20-10-2 Corey Crawford and co. have collectively saved 92.1% for only 97 goals against.  They’ve especially clamped down on the penalty kill, where they have allowed only 21 goals on 113 attempts for at 81.42% kill rate that leads the league average by .66%.  In addition to making kills, the special teams have also gotten four scores of their own.

    The Hawks are currently riding a three-game win streak, with their most recent being a three-goal shutout victory over the Senators on Sunday.

    The 19-15-4 Pittsburgh Penguins currently sit in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division and 10th in the Eastern Conference.  Although the offense is picking up, the Pens are still a very defensive-minded team.

    Even though Ian Cole has a team-leading 70 blocks, 1198 shots have still made their way to 14-10-2 Marc-Andre Fleury and co., who have collectively saved 92.7% (1.1% better than the league average) for only 90 goals against.  The Pens have been just as good on the penalty kill, if not better.  Although Pittsburgh has provided the opposition 126 opportunities, they’ve only been scored on 20 times for a 84.13% kill rate that leads the league average by 3.37%.

    Offensively the Penguins haven’t been as fortunate, although it is not for lack of effort.  Led by Phil Kessel’s 121 shots, the Pens have put 1225 shots on net, but only 90 have found the back of the net (led by Evgeni Malkin’s 18) for a 7.3% success rate.  Just like the total offense, the power play has also performed below average.  On 129 opportunities, Pittsburgh has only converted 18.6% (.64% below league average) for 24 goals (led by Malkin’s eight).

    The Penguins are currently riding a win-streak of their own, as they are victorious in their last two.  Their most recent game was a 5-2 victory over the Islanders on Saturday.

    With the 134th pick in the 1998 entry draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins selected Rob Scuderi, a Boston College product from Syosset, N.Y. in Nassau County.  It took until the 2003-’04 before he saw time with the senior club, and earned a full-time position in the 2006-’07 season.  Following the 2008-’09 season that witnessed the Penguins winning their third Stanley Cup (and, subsequently, him being the first ever Long Islander to have his name engraved on the Cup), he signed with the Los Angeles Kings, where he won his second Cup during the 2011-’12 season.  He signed again with the Penguins before the 2013-’14 season where he has remained until December 14, when he was traded to Chicago for Trevor Daley.

    After playing in exactly 460 games with the Penguins, probably his most productive season was with the championship team, as he set career highs in assists (15), blocks (164), points (16), takeaways (26) and +/- (+23).

    Some players to watch in tonight’s game include Chicago‘s Crawford (six shutouts [leads league] and 20 wins [third in the league]) and Kane (57 points [leads league], 34 assists [leads league], 23 goals [tied for second in the league] and +18 [fourth in the league]) & Pittsburgh‘s Fleury (.927 save percentage [tied for ninth in the league]) and Malkin (18 goals [tied for seventh in the league] and 37 points [10th in the league]).

    It is hard to pull against Chicago in this one, as their defense should be able to easily neutralize Pittsburgh‘s offense.

  • Numbers Game: Look to the Rafters- Pittsburgh Penguins

    By: Nick Lanciani

    What will retired numbers look like around the league in the future? While there’s only a finite set of numbers to utilize on the back of a jersey, many teams choose to retire (or honor) some numbers based on extraordinary circumstances, dedication to the organization, or legendary status.

    With that in mind, I explore what each team around the NHL might do in the coming seasons. Feel free to speak your mind and drop us a line in the comments or tweet to @DtFrozenRiver using #DTFRNumbersGame.

    For each team, I thought of former and current players that should have their numbers retired now or once they hang up the skates.

    Pittsburgh Penguins LogoPittsburgh Penguins

    Current Retired Numbers- 21 Michel Briere, 66 Mario Lemieux

    Recommended Numbers to Retire

    87 Sidney Crosby

    To say the Pittsburgh Penguins will never retire Crosby’s number 87 sweater after his career is over is like saying penguins can fly.

    71 Evgeni Malkin

    The same goes for Malkin, as long as the relationship between the club and player never goes sour.

    81 Phil Kessel

    That’s right, I’m calling it. The Penguins will retire Phil Kessel’s number 81 one day. Not only am I crazy for making this declaration before he even touches the ice in a Pittsburgh sweater, but, well on second thought, that’s pretty much the only reason why I’m crazy. Kessel can score, that’s a fact. And anyone that plays alongside Crosby or Malkin is automatically made ten times better (if you’re not the one scoring, you’re the one passing the puck to Sid the Kid or Geno).

    So that’s why I think his number will see the rafters in Pittsburgh in the future, aside from the fact that he’s finally found an organization he can settle in for longer than ever before. *I wrote this before the season started, as things are right now, his Pittsburgh venture is about as memorable as Colby Armstrong’s days in the Steel City.*

    14 Chris Kunitz

    Kunitz may be the first beneficiary of the Crosby-Malkin affect, as he is closest to retirement, but while he has been superb for the Penguins, his number 14 likely won’t rest alongside Michel Briere’s number 21 and Mario Lemieux’s number 66.

    29 Marc-Andre Fleury

    If he lets more beach balls by him, then all bets are off. Otherwise, Fleury’s the best goaltender Pittsburgh has seen in a long time, but is that enough to put number 29 out of commission after his career is over?

    58 Kris Letang

    Letang will likely be around for a long time in Pittsburgh and given the fact that he’s their best defenseman, there’s a good chance number 58 will see immortality above the ice at the Consol Energy Center. His health issues aside, Letang is one remarkable player in all of his resilience and persistence in the game. Including his health, Letang is superhuman.

    9 Pascal Dupuis

    As a player, Dupuis was committed to the Penguins through and through. He might not have been the greatest there ever was, but he’s certainly worthy of receiving the distinction of having his number retired by Pittsburgh. Best of luck to Dupuis in his transition to the front office aspect of the game within the organization.