Down the Frozen River

Tag: Raanta

February 16 – Day 120 – Battle in the Big Apple
Congratulations! At game time tonight, there’s only one more day of work before the weekend! To celebrate, I’d recommend hockey.

You have a wide selection of games to choose from this evening, as 16 teams are in action this evening. Per usual, contests start at 7 p.m. with three games (the New York Rangers at the New York Islanders [TVAS], Ottawa at New Jersey [RDS] and Winnipeg at Pittsburgh), followed half an hour later by Colorado at Buffalo (NBCSN). Two games drop the puck at 8 p.m. (Vancouver at St. Louis [SN/SN360] and Dallas at Minnesota), with Philadelphia at Edmonton waiting an hour before getting underway. Finally, Arizona at Los Angeles – tonight’s nightcap – gets the green light at 10:30 p.m. All times eastern.

Short list:
- New York at New York: The situation has certainly changed since the last time these rivals met.
- Dallas at Minnesota: Remember last season’s Western Conference Quarterfinals? The Stars beat the Wild in six games.
The Battle of New York has some huge short-term implications on the standings. Pair that pressure with the rivalry and we should have a good game on our hands.

The 37-18-1 Rangers aren’t back to Madison Square Garden yet! After going to Columbus and beating the Blue Jackets 3-2 for their sixth-straight victory, the Blueshirts complete their two-game road trip with a stop at the Barclays Center in possession of fourth place in both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference. When they’re at their peak – and they are right now – the Rangers are an offensive-minded team, as they’ve scored 190 goals so far this season, the third-most in the league.

The man leading that charge is none other than J.T. Miller, a fifth-year left wing from the Plymouth Whalers. Although he’s one of four Rangers with at least 40 points to his credit, he tops the club with his 46. Many of those points have been assists though, and that’s where Michael Grabner, the right wing on the Blueshirts‘ third line, comes into play. Grabner has buried the puck 26 times this season to lead the team.

Yes, you read that correctly: third line. No matter who is on the ice, the Rangers are potent.

Playing host this evening are the 25-20-10 Islanders, the sixth-best team in the Metropolitan and 10th in the East. The main reason the Isles find themselves on the outside of playoff contention is due to their defense, which has allowed 162 goals in 55 games – the sixth-worst rate in the NHL.

17-10-3 Thomas Greiss has been charged with manning the crease more often than not this season, and for good reason: his .918 season save percentage and 2.55 GAA are the best on the team. And those are solid numbers even when compared to the rest of the league. He ranks (t)16th and (t)19th, respectively, against the 50 other netminders with at least 15 appearances this season.

No, the goals are not on Greiss’ head. Instead, I point the finger at an Islanders defense that allows 32.4 shots to reach his crease per game, the fourth-worst effort in the NHL. Although Calvin de Haan has been an absolute shot blocking machine (his 141 blocks not only lead the team, but are also fourth-most in the league), he is the only blueliner with more than 110 blocks to his credit. If Garth Snow thinks it’s in the card for his club to qualify for the playoffs, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Isles make a move for another defenseman.

Although the Isles‘ offense as a whole has been adequate this season, one part of their game that still needs to improve is the power play. Even with Captain John Tavares‘ team-leading 14 power play points, the Islanders only convert 16% of opponents’ penalties into goals – the sixth-worst rate in the NHL. Anders Lee has been the final man responsible for most of the limited success the Islanders have found this season, as he’s buried seven goals with the man-advantage, one more than Tavares.

Although these clubs are separated by only a half-hour train ride, this is only the third time this season they’ve met. It’s been an even series so far, as both teams have won a game and lost one in regulation. The last time they met was December 6, when the Islanders beat the Rangers 4-2 on this surface.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include the Islanders‘ Josh Bailey (27 assists [leads the team]), Dennis Seidenberg (+18 [best on the team]) and Tavares (46 points [leads the team]) & the Rangers‘ Grabner (26 goals [tied for sixth-most in the league] for a +28 [tied for sixth-best in the NHL]) and Henrik Lundqvist (26 wins [tied for seventh-most in the league]) or Antti Raanta (2.32 GAA [10th-best in the NHL]).

By the narrowest of margins, Vegas has marked the Islanders to win tonight’s game with a -105 line. Unfortunately for them, that’s not the way I see this game going. The Rangers are red-hot right now, and that offense will be more than enough to overpower the Isles‘ miserable defense.

Hockey Birthday
- Lanny McDonald (1953-) – If for nothing else, this right wing deserved to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame for his mustache alone, but four All-Star appearances and the 1989 Stanley Cup don’t hurt. He was drafted fourth-overall by Toronto in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, but he spent most of his 16-year career in Calgary.
Although Detroit tried valiantly with the sixth attacker, they were unable to break First Star of the Game Carter Hutton, who earned a two-goal shutout victory for the Blues in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

With St. Louis‘ first shot of the game, Second Star Ivan Barbashev (Kenny Agostino and Carl Gunnarsson) takes credit for the game-winning goal. He buried his wrist shot 2:06 after the beginning of play.

The only goal in the game was an unassisted wrister by Jaden Schwartz on an open net with 11 seconds remaining on the clock.

Hutton earns the shutout victory after saving all 25 shots he faced, leaving the loss to Third Star Petr Mrazek, who saved 27-of-28 (96.4%).

The Blues‘ victory is the third-straight by the road team in the DtFR Game of the Day series, which pulls visitors within two points of the 62-42-18 hosts.

*Also, don’t tell anybody, but St. Louis just swept it’s five-game road trip.*
February 16, 2017
February 13 – Day 117 – Blueshirts… Blue Jackets… Blue Everything!
There may only be two games happening today, but one of them is going to be absolutely fantastic. The action starts at 7 p.m. eastern when the New York Rangers visit Columbus (NBCSN/SN/TVAS), followed 90 minutes later by Arizona at Calgary.

You get one guess at which one we’re going to feature.

The 20-somethings will remember this blue song…

…while the 30-something crowd might enjoy a little LeAnn Rimes.

Regardless of your preference, I think the message is clear: blue is the color of the day.

The 36-18-1 Rangers may be wearing white tonight, but they’re the Blueshirts all the same, complete with a five-game winning streak. Currently occupying fourth place in both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference, offense is the name of the game in Manhattan, as the Rangers have managed 187 goals this season – the third-most in the league.

Calling J.T. Miller the standout forward is almost an insult to the rest of the Rangers‘ attackers, as four players have 40 or more points to their credit. That being said, Miller does lead the team by contributing to 45 tallies this season. Of course, most of those are assists, meaning someone has to be scoring those passes… That’s where linemate Michael Grabner comes into play: he leads the team with 26 tallies.

Playing host this evening is 35-14-5 Columbus, the second-best team in the Metropolitan. Although they’ve been exemplary on both ends of the ice, the Blue Jackets have been most impressive at keeping the opposition off the scoreboard, as they’ve yielded only 132 goals this season – the third-fewest in the NHL.

Every good defense starts with a good goalie, and Columbus is no different. 30-11-3 Sergei Bobrovsky has been the man to beat this year with his .926 season save percentage and 2.17 GAA. Respectively, those stats rank (t)third and fourth-best in the league against the 38 other netminders with at least 22 appearances.

For those wondering, last year’s Vezina Trophy winner – Braden Holtby – currently has a .926 season save percentage and 2.02 GAA. Yes, he’s better than Bobrovsky, but only by the skin of his teeth.

Yet I’d argue Bobrovsky has had a better season than Holtby so far, mostly due to the defenses playing in front of them. Washington has a fantastic defense, which takes pressure off Holtby. Meanwhile, Columbus‘ blueline is only average, as they allow 30.1 shots-per-game to reach Bobrovsky’s crease – only the (t)13th-best in the league. Jack Johnson has been at the head of that effort with his team-leading 89 shot blocks.

The Blue Jackets are no slouch on the other end, though – especially when they have the man-advantage. Led by Alexander Wennberg‘s 20 power play points, Columbus has buried 23.3% of their power play opportunities, which ties for the second-best rate in the NHL. Power play linemates Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno have shared scoring responsibilities, as both have nine goals with the extra man.

It’s rare the Penguins pull for New York, but that’s the case this evening. Should the Rangers win in regulation, Pittsburgh advances past Columbus for second place in the Metropolitan Division due to winning the three-way games-played tie with the Jackets and Blueshirts (Columbus would still lead the Rangers with a game in hand). Meanwhile, a Jackets victory of any variety leaves the Eastern standings as they are – for a night, anyways.

This is the fourth game in a five-game series between these teams. Currently, Columbus has a 2-1-0 series lead over the Rangers, thanks to a 6-4 victory at Madison Square Garden the last time these clubs met on the last day of January.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Columbus‘ Atkinson (27 goals [fourth-most in the league]) and Bobrovsky (30 wins [second-most in the NHL] on a 2.17 GAA [fifth-best in the league] and a .926 save percentage [tied for fifth-best in the NHL], including three shutouts [tied for eighth-most in the league]) & New York‘s Grabner (26 goals [tied for fifth-most in the NHL] for a +28 [tied for sixth-best in the league]) and Henrik Lundqvist (26 wins [tied for seventh-most in the NHL]) or Antti Raanta (2.34 GAA [tied for ninth-best in the league]).

With a great goaltender, a killer power play and home ice to boot, it’s hard to argue with a -135 line in favor of the Blue Jackets. While the Blueshirts will certainly not lose easy, I think Columbus wins tonight.

Hockey Birthday
- Gaston Gingras (1959-) – Picked by Montréal 27th-overall in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, this defenseman played 10 seasons in the NHL. Not only did he spend most of his days with the club that selected him, he also won his lone Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1986.
- Marc Crawford (1961-) – This left wing was selected by Vancouver in the fourth-round of the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. Every single one of his 176 games in the league were in a Canucks sweater.
- Mats Sundin (1971-) – The first overall pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by Quebec, this Hall-of-Fame center played 18 seasons – most of which with Toronto. He was selected to eight All Star games and notched 1349 career points.
- Niklas Backstrom (1978-) – Although he currently plays for HIFK, this netminder spent 10 seasons in the NHL, almost all of which with Minnesota. He most recently played for Calgary, making three starts last season.
Rivalries are supposed to be tight games. That wasn’t the case last night in the DtFR Game of the Day, as Boston won a four-goal shutout against the hated Canadiens.

Those that bet on Adam McQuaid (Third Star of the Game Peter Cehlarik and Torey Krug) scoring not only the first goal of the game, but also the game-winner, are currently a whole lot richer. He buried his snap shot 8:57 into the game for the lone tally of the first period.

The Bruins truly took control of this contest in the second period with two goals courtesy of Second Star Zdeno Chara (Ryan Spooner and Brad Marchand) at the 5:08 mark in a shorthanded situation, followed almost exactly 10 minutes later by David Krejci (David Backes and Cehlarik) on the power play.

Five minutes into the third, Frank Vatrano (Krejci and David Pastrnak) took credit for the final Boston goal to set the 4-0 final score.

First Star Tuukka Rask saved all 25 shots he faced to earn the victory, leaving the loss to Carey Price, who saved 32-of-36 (88.9%).

Boston‘s victory is the first shutout in the DtFR Game of the Day series since February 6, and expands the 62-39-18 home teams’ lead over visitors in the series to eight points.
February 13, 2017
January 4 – Day 81 – Metropolitan Mayhem
Time to get back to Wednesday night hockey. To make up for the lighter schedule on Monday, there’s quite a few more games than usual tonight, starting at 7 p.m. with Winnipeg at Florida (SN1). 8 p.m. marks the puck drop of two more games (Montréal at Dallas [RDS/SN360] and the New York Rangers at Philadelphia [NBCSN/TVAS]), with another two contests waiting until 10 p.m. (Arizona at Vancouver and Colorado at Calgary). Finally, Detroit at Anaheim – this evening’s nightcap – drops the puck at 10:30 p.m. All times eastern.

Short list:
- New York at Philadelphia: A rivalry made only more heated by the ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division.
- Colorado at Calgary: Joe Colborne makes his first return to the Saddledome after spending the last three seasons there.
- Detroit at Anaheim: Nothing reminds Red Wings fans of days gone by like a former rivalry.
Nothing personal, Colborne, but that game in Philly is going to be way too good to miss!

Eagles–Giants. Knicks–Sixers. Mets–Phillies.

It’s not just tonight’s teams that don’t like each other. It’s a city vs. city rivalry that brings out the best – or worst, depending on your opinion! – in these towns.

Wearing white tonight are the 26-13-1 Rangers, the third best team in both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference. As has been the case all season, the name of the game in New York has been offense, and they’re very good at that. They’ve scored 134 goals, the most in the league.

Derek Stepan has been at the helm for much of that effort, notching a team-leading 30 points, including 14 points in the last 13 games. That being said, it’s been Chris Kreider who has struck the most fear in opposing goaltenders, burying 15 goals to be the most dangerous scorer for the Blueshirts.

Much of the reason for the Rangers‘ scoring success has been their power play, which ranks fourth-best in the league after converting 22.9% of their opportunities. Ryan McDonagh takes over in these situations, as his nine power play points are tops on the team, but similar to Stepan, he’s been a better facilitator than goalscorer. On the man-advantage, that role is shared by four skaters – Kreider, injured Rick Nash, Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Vesey – that have all lit the lamp four times apiece on the power play.

New York has also been strong on the penalty kill, neutralizing 83.9% of their penalties to rank ninth-best in the NHL. Every Rangers skater has a role, and the penalty kill seems to be Kevin Klein‘s assignment, as his 15 shorthanded blocks are tops in Manhattan.

Clad in orange, the 20-14-5 Flyers play host this evening at the Wells Fargo Center. Similar to New York, offense has been the key to Philly‘s success, as their 112 tallies ties for fifth-most in the league.

Jakub Voracek sweaters have been flying (see what I did there?!?) off the shelves in Philadelphia, as the right wing’s 35 points are the best in town. Then again, Wayne Simmonds has never been hotter. He’s already scored 17 times this season, the most on the club. If he keeps this pace up, he’ll have buried 36 goals by the time the season is complete, four more than last year’s career-high.

The power play has been ticking on Broad Street. The Flyers convert 21.7% of their opportunities, the sixth-best effort in the NHL. This is where Captain Claude Giroux takes command of the ship, already notching 16 power play points this season. Just like Voracek (stop me if you’ve heard something like this today…), Giroux has been a fantastic facilitator, setting up both Brayden Schenn and Simmonds for eight extra-man goals apiece.

New York and Philadelphia have met up only once before this season, a game we featured here at Down the Frozen River. The day after Thanksgiving, the Rangers survived a two-goal surge by the Flyers to win 3-2. Henrik Lundqvist was in net for that victory, winning in-front of 19,981 Philly fans, the biggest crowd the Rangers performed before all November – home or away.

Some players to keep an eye on include New York‘s Lundqvist (16 wins [tied for eighth-most in the league]) or Antti Raanta (2.28 GAA [10th-best in the NHL]) and Philadelphia‘s Simmonds (17 goals [ninth-most in the league]).

Vegas has marked the Flyers a slight favorite at -115, but I’m not willing to take that bet. New York‘s potent offense is playing against a suspect goaltender, not to mention a weak penalty kill. I have the Rangers winning.

As much as Third Star of the Game Shea Weber tried to hog the attention in to his return to Nashville, it was First Star Max Pacioretty that provided the overtime goal to give the Canadiens a 2-1 victory in yesterdays DtFR Game of the Day.

It was actually the host Predators who got on the board first. With 54 seconds remaining in the second period, Kevin Fiala (Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi) buried a backhander to give Nashville a 1-0 lead going into the third frame.

Weber (Alexander Radulov and Torrey Mitchell) didn’t take too kindly to that, so he leveled the game 4:26 after returning to the ice. Neither club could break the one-all tie, so the game advanced into three-on-three overtime.

With half a minute remaining before the shootout, Pacioretty (Radulov and Nathan Beaulieu) ended the game with a wrister.

What makes Pacioretty’s performance even more impressive is that he took a puck to the foot at this morning’s skate that hurt so much he had to be helped from the ice. Who fired that puck, you ask? Weber, obviously!

Carey Price earns the victory after saving 23-of-23 (95.7%), leaving the overtime loss to Second Star Pekka Rinne, who saved 41-of-43 (95.3%).

Montréal‘s victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 46-24-13, favoring the home squads by 16 points over the roadies.
January 4, 2017
December 18 – Day 67 – Battle of the Hudson River
There’s only six more days of hockey left before the Christmas break! Start cramming hockey pucks now, starting with Los Angeles at Boston (SN) at 1 p.m., followed by Colorado at Winnipeg at 3 p.m. and Columbus at Vancouver at 4 p.m. The usual 7 p.m. starting time brings with it two puck drops (San Jose at Chicago [NHLN] and Ottawa at the New York Islanders [SN/TVAS]), trailed 30 minutes later by tonight’s nightcap: New Jersey at the New York Rangers. All times eastern.

The Devils may not be having the success they’d like this season, but nothing can lift a team’s spirits more than a victory over a nearby rival. Let’s follow the Rangers back to Madison Square Garden for the Battle of the Hudson River!

Separated by only 10 miles, this rivalry was sparked the minute the Colorado Rockies moved to Meadowlands Arena in 1982. Since then, these clubs have met 267 times total, with the Rangers leading both the all-time series at 122-110-27-8, and the more competitive playoff series at 18-16.

Nothing details this rivalry better than their dominance in the 90s than counting trophies. New York‘s Stanley Cup victory in 1994 is widely known, as it was their first title in 54 years. But don’t let it be forgotten who they played in the Eastern Conference Finals. You guessed it, it was their old pal Jersey. The Rangers needed seven games to best the Devils before advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals to beat Vancouver.

Although they didn’t have to go through the Blueshirts (they have Philadelphia to thank for that, even though they don’t get along with that club either), it was the Devils‘ turn to take home Lord Stanley a year later. They bested Detroit in a quick four games that year to earn the franchise’s first title.

My, how things have changed since those days. Entering tonight’s game in seventh-place in the Metropolitan Division, the 12-12-6 Devils would beg for success like that, especially given their five-game losing skid. Although the defense and goaltending have not been phenomenal this season, the main reason for Jersey‘s struggles have been on the scoring end of the ice where they’ve managed only 70 goals – the fourth-fewest in the NHL.

With a team-leading 23 points, Travis Zajac has been involved in nearly a third of the Devils‘ scores. That being said, Mike Cammalleri holds the clubhouse goal-scoring lead having lit the lamp nine times so far this campaign.

Between the two of them and Taylor Hall, who has eight goals among 20 points with his new club, they have scored 35.7% of the Devils‘ goals. In short, the Devils need to find a way to get more skaters involved in scoring. No other players have more than 17 points to their credit, which is a striking number given the fact that Zajac only ties for the 36th-most points in the league. This entire offense needs a reboot, but it is going to have to be a team-effort.

Not unexpectedly, the Devils have also struggled on the power play. Their 14.9% conversion rate is eighth-worst in the NHL, but that can’t be blamed on Hall. He already has seven power play points to his credit, as well as four power play goals to lead the squad in both categories. Unfortunately for the Devils, that only ties for the 61st-best effort with the man-advantage in the league, which considerably takes the wind out of Hall’s sails.

Jersey might have been struggling on the power play, but they still find great success on the penalty kill. Led by Captain Andy Greene‘s 19 shorthanded blocks, the Devils have refused to yield a goal to 83.2% of opposing power plays, tying them for the ninth-best rate in the league.

Unfortunately for New Jersey, the odds of them snapping their losing skid are bleak, as they face the second-best team in the Metropolitan Division: the 22-10-1 Rangers, who are riding a two-game win streak thanks to last night’s shootout victory in Nashville. As has been the case all year, the Blueshirts are making headlines with their powerful offense that has already notched 109 tallies this season – the most in the NHL.

Like I said yesterday, you have to keep an eye on the club scoring title in Manhattan. Currently, the king of the dressing room is Kevin Hayes, who has 23 points to his credit. Similarly, Michael Grabner is not the sole lead-goalscorer anymore. He’s been joined by Rick Nash, as they both have 13 tallies apiece.

Currently rating ninth-best, New York has had a solid power play this season as they’re successful on 21.4% of attempts. Six skaters have headed that effort, but Nash, Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Vesey deserve special credit as they each have four goals with the man-advantage, tying for a team-high.

The Blueshirts have been even more impressive on the penalty kill, where their 87.3% success rate is third-best in the NHL. Kevin Klein‘s 13 shorthanded blocks have been the most impressive effort on the squad, but 14 of New York‘s 26 skaters have notched at least one block on the penalty kill. This entire club has bought in on both ends of the ice, and Alain Vigneault should be proud.

Tonight’s contest is the second time these teams have met this season. Only a Sunday ago, Madison Square Garden hosted the Devils to a five-goal shutout Rangers victory.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include New Jersey‘s Cammalleri (nine goals [leads the team]), Kyle Palmieri (57 hits [leads the team]), Kyle Quincey (+5 [leads the team]) and Zajac (15 assists among 23 points [both lead the team]) & New York‘s Grabner (+18 [tied for second-best in the league]), Hayes (+16 [tied for eighth-best in the NHL]) and, depending on who plays, Henrik Lundqvist (14 wins [tied for eighth-most in the league]) or Antti Raanta (1.67 GAA on a .941 save percentage [both second-best in the NHL], including two shutouts [tied for eighth-most in the league]).

New York is favored at almost every casino in Vegas, and for good reason. All facets of the game are going their way these days, which is the exact opposite of what you can say about Jersey. Expect the Rangers to put a similar beat-down on their rivals as they did last weekend.

Hockey Birthday
- Jean Pronovost (1945-) – This right wing played 998 games over 14 seasons, most of which with Pittsburgh. By the time his career was done, he’d notched 774 points and been selected for four All Star games.
- Dan Cleary (1978-) – The 13th-overall pick in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by Chicago, this left wing has played most of his 17+ year career with Detroit, where he was a member of the Stanley Cup winning 2008 Red Wings team. He still plays in Detroit‘s system with Grand Rapids, and made 17 appearances with the senior team in the 2014-15 season.
Third Star of the Game Vesey’s return to Nashville – if you can call it that – went exactly as he would have liked, as his Rangers beat the Predators 2-1 in a shootout in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

Only one goal was struck in the first period, and it belonged to Nash (Hayes and Nick Holden) and the Rangers. Nash’s wrister was his 13th goal of the year.

It stood as the would-be winner until Second Star Mike Fisher buried an unassisted wrister of his own 9:22 into the second frame to level the score at one-all. As neither side was able to break the tie with the remaining 35:38, which included five minutes of three-on-three play, the important bonus point was awarded in a shootout.

As home team, the Predators elected to shoot first…
1. …and sent Ryan Johansen into the fray. Lundqvist was not about to let that into his net.
2. Wonder boy himself, Vesey’s shot was pure to give the Rangers a 1-0 shootout lead.
3. Next up for Nashville, Craig Smith did even worse than Johansen – he missed the cage.
4. Mats Zuccarello ended the shootout almost as quickly as it began, scoring on First Star Juuse Saros.
Lundqvist earns the victory after saving 31-of-32 shots faced (96.9%), while Saros takes the shootout loss, saving 26-of-27 (96.3%).

Another road victory in the DtFR Game of the Day series pulls the roadies within six points of the hosts, who have a 36-22-11 record.
December 18, 2016
December 17 – Day 66 – Vesey vs. Nashville
A total of 10 games are on tap today, more than enough for us hockey addicts. The action starts at 2 p.m. with two matinees (Philadelphia at Dallas and Arizona at Minnesota), but the excitement really starts at 7 p.m. when five contests drop the puck (Pittsburgh at Toronto [CBC], New Jersey at Ottawa [SN360], Anaheim at Detroit, Montréal at Washington [CITY/NHLN/TVAS] and Buffalo at Carolina). Another pair get underway at 8 p.m. (Chicago at St. Louis and the New York Rangers at Nashville), with tonight’s nightcap – Tampa Bay at Edmonton (CBC/SN360) – getting green lit two hours later.

Short list:
- Anaheim at Detroit: These days, Detroit fans probably need the reminder of the glory days, and this old rivalry might do the trick.
- Chicago at St. Louis: In case it was ever in question, these towns don’t like each other.
- New York at Nashville: Ah, the drama.
I know there’s some good rivalries on , but since this is the only trip the Blueshirts will take to the Music City, we’ll follow the Jimmy Vesey saga to its conclusion.

Vesey is just like you and me. He graduated from college (Harvard, so I guess he’s not exactly like you and me…) and was eager to look for a job. But, he had already been drafted by the Predators in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Sounds like a great situation, right? Immediate employment out of school! It’s everyone’s dream!

It was actually better than that. David Poile, the Predators‘ general manager, did not want to send Vesey to Milwaukee to play in the AHL. His plan was to have Vesey participating with the Predators as soon as possible for their playoff run.

Turns out, Vesey wasn’t too interested in being told where to go. The Crimson graduate showed his smarts – like you do with an Ivy League education – and played the NHL’s CBA like a fiddle. Drafted in 2012 and not singing a contract by 2016, Vesey had the right to decline the contract and become a free agent.

As you might expect, that rubbed the Predators organization the wrong way, but they realized they had to get something out of the situation. Poile shipped Vesey off to Buffalo, where he again declined the Sabres‘ offers. As made evident by his eighth-most points by a forward in Madison Square Garden, the rookie has laid down roots with the Rangers.

Those Blueshirts have an impressive 21-10-1 record that is good enough for second in both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference. Besides signing Vesey, New York added tons of offensive talent this offseason, and that has yielded 108 goals, the second-highest scoring average in the NHL.

It seems the points leader in Manhattan changes game by game. Going into tonight’s contest in Nashville, Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller co-lead the offense, each with 22 points to their credit. Of course, the most dangerous Ranger as far as a netminder is concerned is Michael Grabner, who has lit the lamp a team-leading 13 times.

As one might expect, that success has carried into the power play, where the Rangers‘ 21.9% success rate is tied for seventh-best in the league. An incredible six players top the Blueshirts with six power play points apiece, but once again a goalies’ biggest concern is the final goalscorer. Rick Nash, Brandon Pirri and Vesey all have four man-advantage goals to their credit to account for 57% of New York‘s extra-man tallies.

If the Predators were planning on taking advantage of New York‘s penalty kill they have another think coming. The Blueshirts refuse to yield a goal on 86.9% of opposing power plays, the third-best rate in the NHL. Kevin Klein gets this accolade, as his 13 shorthanded blocks are tops in Manhattan.

The Vesey-less Predators have had more bad than good happen to them this season (Vesey no doubt being one of the first line items), as their 13-12-4 record is good enough for only fifth place in the Central Division. On the ice, their biggest issue has been their goaltending that has allowed 84 goals already this year – at only 29 games played, that’s the 10th-highest rate in the league.

12-8-4 Pekka Rinne has started between the pipes for Nashville in all but five games, and has notched a .916 save percentage and 2.5 GAA in that time – the (t)18th and (t)20th best efforts, respectively, in the NHL among the 42 goaltenders with a dozen or more appearances.

The Preds are a defensive-minded team, made apparent by their 29.9 shots-against average that ranks 13th-lowest in the team. Mattias Ekholm takes most of the credit for that, as his 54 shot blocks are the most on the squad. That being said, a total of four skaters (Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi and P.K. Subban) have 40 or more blocks, so it has certainly been a team effort.

That defensive presence breaks down on the penalty kill though. Nashville ranks 10th-worst in the league at nullifying their penalties, successful only 80% of the time. This has been where Josi has shined, with a team-leading 13 shorthanded blocks to his name.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Nashville‘s Matt Irwin (+9 [leads the team]), Ryan Johansen (21 points [leads the team]) and James Neal (12 goals [leads the team]) & New York‘s Hayes (+15 [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]), Grabner (+18 [tied for second-best in the league]) and, should he play, Antti Raanta (1.67 GAA on a .941 save percentage [both second-best in the league]).

Since Nashville‘s defense and goaltending will not be good enough to handle the Rangers‘ offense, this boils down to the Predators‘ breaking though New York‘s tough defense and keeping up on the scoreboard. I don’t think it will happen, and Vesey will be able to laugh himself to back to Manhattan with another two points for his club.

Hockey Birthday
- Ken Hitchcock (1951-) – Hitch got his first head coaching job in the NHL in 1996, and he’s been involved in almost every season since. This season marks his sixth and final with the St. Louis Blues, who he got to the Western Finals a season ago. The highlight of his career came in 1999, when his Dallas Stars hoisted the Stanley Cup.
- Frantisek Musil (1964-) – More commonly known by Frank, this defenseman was the 38th-overall pick in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. That being said, he played 335 of his 797 games in Calgary and notched a +93 over his 14-season career.
- Craig Berube (1965-) – After going undrafted, this left wing had a physical 17-season career, spending most of his days in Washington. By the time he hung up his skates, he notched 159 points to go with his 3149 penalty minutes. Currently, he spends his days in Chicago as the head coach of the AHL’s Wolves.
- Vincent Damphousse (1967-) – Although drafted sixth-overall in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft by Toronto, this center played most of his 18-season careeer with the rival Canadiens. He hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1993, his first campaign playing in hometown Montréal.
- Samuel Pahlsson (1977-) – Drafted by Colorado in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, this center played eight of his 11 seasons in Anaheim, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2007. He finished his career with 199 points.
- Matt Murley (1979-) – Some draft picks don’t pan out. Murley is one of those. Although a second-round pick by Pittsburgh in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, he only played 62 total games in the league.
- Erik Christensen (1983-) – Another center, Christensen played seven NHL seasons after being drafted by Pittsburgh in the 2002 Entry Draft. By the time his NHL career was through, he’d notched 163 points after playing with five different clubs.
The 4-2 score is misleading, as the Sharks had control of yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day from the get-go, scoring three goals in the first period in Montréal.

Aided by a Paul Byron hooking penalty, the Sharks got on the board only 6:50 into the contest when Second Star of the Game David Schlemko (Mikkel Boedker and Joonas Donskoi) buried a power play wrist shot to give the Sharks an early lead with his first goal of the season. That lead doubled 3:10 later when Patrick Marleau (First Star Joe Thornton and Third Star Brent Burns) score another power play wrister. Finally San Jose scored in a five-on-five situation, as Timo Meier (Schlemko and Donskoi) scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game with 6:42 remaining in the first period, made only better by the fact that it was the eventual game-winner. The Sharks‘ 3-0 lead lasted them into intermission.

The only tally of the second period was the fourth-straight by San Jose. Melker Karlsson (Micheal Haley) takes credit with a backhanded shot at the 6:44 mark.

Montréal tried their hardest in the third period to stage a comeback. In the span of 3:20, Brian Flynn (Tomas Plekanec and Zach Redmond) and Jeff Petry (Michael McCarron and Daniel Carr) both lit the lamp once each to pull the Habs within two scores, but they were unable to do anymore damage.

Martin Jones earns another victory after saving 26-of-28 shots faced (92.9%), while Carey Price takes the loss, saving 14-of-18 (77.8%). He was replaced following Karlsson’s goal by Al Montoya, who saved all five shots he faced.

Just like the home sides did last week, the road teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series are on quite a little streak. They’ve won their last five contests to pull themselves within seven points of the hosts, who still have a 36-22-10 record.
December 17, 2016
December 13 – Day 62 – Darling division leaders
Welcome to Tuesday night hockey. As usual, it’s a busy night, and the action gets started at 7 p.m. with four contests (Los Angeles at Buffalo, Washington at the New York Islanders, Chicago at the New York Rangers [NBCSN/SN/TVAS] and Vancouver at Carolina). Two more games drop the puck half an hour later (San Jose at Toronto and Arizona at Detroit), while another pair waits until the top of the hour (St. Louis at Nashville and Florida at Minnesota). Anaheim at Dallas finds its start at 8:30 p.m., and this evening’s nightcap – Columbus at Edmonton – gets green-lit at 9 p.m. All times eastern.

Short list:
- Washington at New York: A Metropolitan Division rivalry that began in the 1980s.
- Chicago at New York: An “Original Six” matchup, and the only time this regular season that the Hawks visit Manhattan.
Chicago at New York would be a phenomenal game even if it weren’t an old-school rivalry. The history between both franchises only adds to this contest.

I don’t know how they keep slipping through the cracks, but the Blackhawks haven’t been featured in the DtFR Game of the Day series since their 2-1 shootout victory over Florida on November 29.

Their play has been far from the reason for their absence, as their 18-8-4 record is best in the Western Conference. Although Chicago is home to a long list of excellent goalscorers, they’ve found much of their success by keeping opponents off the scoreboard. The Hawks have yielded only 69 goals this season, tying for seventh-fewest in the league.

While Corey Crawford is still the lead netminder in the Windy City, an emergency appendectomy on December 3 has forced him to the Blackhawks‘ injured reserve list. Enter 6-2-2 backup Scott Darling, whose .929 save percentage and 2.12 GAA is 11th and 12th-best effort, respectively, among the 58 goalies with five or more appearances.

For those wondering, I wouldn’t bet on Lars Johansson making his first-ever NHL start, even though Darling has played every second of Chicago‘s last five games (Darling is 2-2-1 in those games). We’ll break down New York‘s offense in a minute, but a quick summary: they’re one of the best in the league. Not the best way to introduce him to the NHL family.

Crawford, and now Darling, deserve much of the success for Chicago‘s defensive prowess, as the blueline playing in front of them has been nothing to write home about. The Hawks‘ goalies face an average of 30.8 shots-per-game, tying for the 11th-most in the NHL. That being said, that critique does not apply to Niklas Hjalmarsson, whose 64 blocks not only lead the squad, but ties for sixth-most in the entire league.

Due in large part to the overall effort of the defense, Chicago‘s penalty kill has struggled mightily this year. The Hawks allow opposing power plays to score 27.3% of the time, the absolute worst in the NHL. Other than Hjalmarsson’s 16 shorthanded blocks, no other defenseman has more than 10 to his name.

Hosting the Hawks this evening are the 20-9-1 Rangers, who currently occupy second place in the Metropolitan Division, arguably the toughest division in hockey. As mentioned before, they’ve played the best offense in hockey, scoring 105 goals in 30 games.

That 3.5 goals-per-game average is led by J.T. Miller and his 22 points. Although that effort is only good enough to tie him for 33rd-best in the league, it’s the fact that four skaters for the Rangers have 20 or more points to their credit. Adding to that depth has been Michael Grabner, who – although he only has 17 points – has buried 13 goals already this season, the most on the team.

Like I said, Johansson wants no part of this game, and Darling probably doesn’t either!

As would be expected, New York‘s power play has been very successful as well. Converting 22.6% of their opportunities, the Blueshirts rank fifth-best in the league. Again, what makes this man-advantage so frightening is that goaltenders have no idea where the pressure is coming from. A whopping six skaters have six power play points to their credit, including Rick Nash, Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Vesey, each of whom have four extra-man tallies.

The winning ways don’t stop when down a man. Madison Square Garden also houses the fourth-best penalty kill, as the Rangers refuse to allow the opposition to score on 85.9% of power play opportunities. Kevin Klein takes much of the credit in that department, as his 13 shorthanded blocks are most on the club.

The Rangers have already made their yearly trip to the United Center, where they won 1-0 game last Friday thanks to a Nick Holden overtime winner. Darling was in net for Chicago in that game, so perhaps he knows the secret that has eluded so many other teams to slowing down an offense that has so far been better than last year’s Stars and Capitals.

Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Chicago‘s Darling (.929 save percentage [10th-best in the NHL]), Marian Hossa (15 goals [tied for fourth-most in the league]) and Patrick Kane (20 assists [tied for fifth-most in the NHL]) & New York‘s Kevin Hayes (+16 [tied for third-best in the league]), Grabner (+19 [best in the NHL]) and, should he play, Antti Raanta (1.65 GAA [second-best in the league] on a .943 save percentage [third-best in the NHL]).

The Rangers are marked -145 favorites to win tonight’s game, and I think you’d be crazy to bet against them. In addition to simply being an incredible team overall (potentially the best team in hockey), they have an impressive 11-4-1 record at home and are riding a three-game winning streak. Although it won’t be an easy win, I am confident in a Blueshirt victory.

Hockey Birthday
- Doug Mohns (1933-2014) – This seven-time All-Star played an impressive 22 seasons, most of which with the Boston Bruins. By the time his career was over, he’d notched 710 points, including 462 assists.
- Bob Gainey (1953-) – The eighth-overall pick in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft, he played his entire NHL career with the club that drafted him: the Habs. By the time his playing days were through, he was a five-time Stanley Cup winner, four-time Selke winner, and the recipient of the 1979 Smythe Trophy. As you might expect with a resume like that, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992 and his number 23 was retired in 2008.
- Sergei Fedorov (1969-) – Another Hall-of-Famer (Class of 2015), this center was drafted 74th-overall by Detroit in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. After 18 seasons, he’d won three Stanley Cups, two Selke Trophies, and the 1994 Hart and Pearson Trophies.
- Bates Battaglia (1975-) – This left wing may have been drafted by Anaheim in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, but he never played for the Mighty Ducks. Instead, he spent most of his days in Carolina, where he notched 150 of his career 198 points.
- Dan Hamhuis (1982-) – The 12th-overall pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft is currently in his first season with Dallas. Most of his playing days have been spent with the Central Division rival Predators, where he played 483 games.
They may have needed overtime, but Boston finally earned their first win of the season against the bitter rival Canadiens, winning 2-1 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

Sixty-five seconds remained in the second period before the first goal was struck. Austin Czarnik (Adam McQuaid and Third Star of the Game Ryan Spooner) takes credit with only the third goal of his career. His wrister gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation.

Desperation time was on the horizon in Montréal, but the Habs avoided making the decision to pull their netminder when Paul Byron (Torrey Mitchell and Andrei Markov) netted a backhander with 3:12 remaining on the clock. As neither team could break the knotted game, they settled to play three-on-three overtime.

Spooner (Torey Krug and Czarnik) apparently had enough of overtime, or he simply doesn’t like shootouts. Either way, he scored a wrister with 100 seconds remaining in overtime to earn the Bruins the extra point.

First Star Tuukka Rask earned the victory after saving 30-of-31 shots faced (96.8%), leaving the overtime loss to Second Star Carey Price, saving 27-of-29 (93.1%).

The DtFR Game of the Day series still favors the hosts, as their 36-19-9 record is 14 points better than the roadies’ efforts.
December 13, 2016
December 6 – Day 55 – On either end of the spectrum
It’s another busy Tuesday in the NHL! Per usual, the action gets started at 7 p.m. with four games (Edmonton at Buffalo, Vancouver at New Jersey, the New York Rangers at the New York Islanders [SN1] and Florida at Philadelphia), trailed an hour later by three more (Montréal at St. Louis [RDS], Colorado at Nashville [TVAS] and Detroit at Winnipeg). Two contests (Arizona at Chicago and Calgary at Dallas) share nightcap responsibilities, and they fulfill that duty quickly dropping the puck at 8:30 p.m. All times eastern.
- New York at New York: In addition to being bitter rivals, the Rangers barely held off the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division a season ago.
- Calgary at Dallas: Jyrki Jokipakka played the last two seasons in the American Airlines Center, but tonight he wears white with the visitors.
Since the defenseman never played a full season in Dallas, I think we need to tune in to the Battle of New York.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I pick New York to win this game.

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

Hockey Birthday
- Matt Niskanen (1986-) – The 28th-overall pick of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by Dallas, this defenseman is currently in his third season with Washington. So far this season, his nine points is second-most among the Capitals‘ defensive corps.
If you like offense and goal-scoring, yesterday’s Game of the Day was for you, as Pittsburgh beat the visiting Senators 8-5.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Penguins‘ victory increases the home sides’ lead over the roadies to four points in the DtFR Game of the Day series, advancing their record to 30-19-8.
December 6, 2016
November 25 – Day 44 – Broadway vs Broad Street
Get out of your turkey coma or home from your Black Friday shopping, because we have tons of hockey to keep an eye on today! The action gets started early at 1 p.m. with the New York Rangers at Philadelphia (NBC), followed three hours later by a trio of contests (Chicago at Anaheim [NHLN/SN], the New York Islanders at San Jose and Pittsburgh at Minnesota). 5 p.m. marks the puck drop of Buffalo at Washington, trailed an hour later by Winnipeg at Nashville (TVAS). 7:30 is the starting time for three matchups (Calgary at Boston, Columbus at Tampa Bay and Detroit at New Jersey), followed an hour later by Vancouver at Dallas. Finally, tonight’s nightcap, Edmonton at Arizona, drops the puck at 9 p.m. All times eastern.

There’s only one rivalry today, so lets head to Philly!

All NBC has done for the last week plus is promote this game, so it’d better be good. I think it will be, as these are the top-two offenses in the NHL, combining for 149 total scores.

The 14-6-1 Rangers are the best team in the Atlantic Division. As hinted at before, the offense has led the way with 82 goals to their credit, tops in the league.

Who better to headline the red, white and blue than two Americans? Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller pair to co-lead the forwards, both with 18 points to their credit. Most of those points have been assists, so Michael Grabner has picked up the slack by scoring the puck a dozen times, best in the Big Apple.

Whether that success as sparked the power play or vice versa, the Rangers are seventh-best playing against a short-handed team. They’re successful on 22.2% of their attempts and were led by Mika Zibanejad and his five power play points before the center broke his leg Sunday. That leaves Chris Kreider, Rick Nash, Brandon Pirri and Derek Stepan to lead the charge with four power play points apiece, with Nash and Pirri scoring three man-advantage goals apiece.

Winning ways lends itself to more winning ways. New York‘s penalty kill is also pretty envious, successfully defending 86.2% of their infractions to rank sixth-best in the NHL.

Hosting them this afternoon are the 9-9-3 Philadelphia Flyers. Even though the offense has been good, Philly has been held back by their lackluster goaltending that has allowed 70 goals already this year, the second-most in the league.

The Flyers‘ netminder is 5-7-0 Steve Mason, who has a .893 save percentage and 3.04 GAA to his credit – the fifth and 13th-worst, respectively, marks among the 44 goaltenders with seven or more appearances to their credit.

Unfortunately for Mason, he must take credit for his numbers, because the defense playing in front of him has been fairly good. Led by Radko Gudas‘ 44 blocks, Philly‘s blueline has allowed only 27.7 shots against per game, the sixth-fewest in the league.

Making matters worse, Michal Neuvirth injured his groin severely enough on November 11 to send him to the injured reserve list. Backup Anthony Stolarz has yet to see NHL ice in his young career, but does have a 36-33-11 record over his three AHL seasons. While I don’t expect him to see time today, he will need to be called on soon to give Mason rest.

As would be expected, Philadelphia‘s penalty kill has suffered the same fate as at even-strength. Successful on only 80.3% of their kill attempts, Philly ranks eighth-worst in the NHL when down a man.

Instead, they’ve put all their special teams efforts into the power play. Led by Claude Giroux‘ 10 power play points, the Flyers score on 25.7% of their man-advantages to rank second-best in the league. Don’t let Giroux’ efforts distract you from Wayne Simmonds though, as he’s scored five of the Flyers‘ 19 power play goals.

The rivalry between these clubs is almost as long as the Flyers‘ existence. Philadelphia is, of course, the first expansion team to hoist the Stanley Cup, but history was actually made the series before they earned the hardware. A “Second Six” club had never beat an Original Six franchise until Philly bested the Blueshirts in the semifinals of the 1974 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Whether that makes Boston‘s defeat in the Finals more or less painful is still up for discussion.

All-time, this series is knotted at 151-151-37, but Philadelphia has the playoff series advantage, winning six of 11 postseason meetings. That being said, the Rangers won the most recent playoff meeting in the 2014 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals with a 2-1 Game 7 victory.

Some players to keep an eye on this afternoon include New York‘s Dan Girardi (+12 [tied for fourth-best in the league]), Grabner (+19 [best in the NHL] on 12 goals [tied for second-most in the league]), Hayes (+15 [third-best in the NHL]), Captain Ryan McDonagh (+12 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) and, on the off-chance he plays, Antti Raanta (.934 save percentage [tied for ninth-best in the NHL]) & Philadelphia‘s Simmonds (10 goals [tied for seventh-most in the league]).

Even though they’re on the road, Vegas favors the Rangers in today’s contest. I’m comfortable with that pick. Since both teams have potent offenses, it boils down to a goalie dual: Henrik Lundqvist vs Mason. I’ll take the Swede any day.

Hockey Birthday
- Eddie Shore (1902-1985-) – A defenseman that spent all but 10 of his 550 NHL games with Boston, he hoisted the Stanley Cup twice. Visitors to the TD Garden can see his No. 2 hung in the rafters.
- Gilbert Delorme (1962-) – The 18th-overall selection in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by Montréal, this defenseman played 541 games over his nine-year career with five different clubs.
- Magnus Arvedson (1971-) – This left wing played seven NHL seasons, most of which with Ottawa. He had a phenomenal sophomore season, notching 47 points.
- John-Michael Liles (1980-) – Another defenseman, he was traded to Boston at last season’s deadline from Carolina. That being said, most of his NHL days have been spent in Colorado.
Ottawa has been featured three times in the DtFR Game of the Day series, and with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Bruins, they improve their series record to 3-0-0.

With 11 seconds remaining in the first period, David Pastrnak (Matt Beleskey and Brad Marchand) capitalized on a power play opportunity with a backhander to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

The Senators pulled even with 6:37 remaining in the second period with a First Star of the Game Mark Stone (Mike Hoffman and Dion Phaneuf) wrister. It was the lone goal of the middle frame, setting up an exciting third period.

Only 6:28 after returning to the ice, Ottawa notched their winning goal with a Chris Wideman wrister, and an insurance goal 3:48 later from Second Star Kyle Turris (Bobby Ryan) sealed the Sens‘ victory.

Third Star Craig Anderson notches another victory after saving 19-of-20 shots faced (95%), leaving Tuukka Rask with the loss, saving 23-of-26 (88.5%).

Ottawa‘s home victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 25-14-7, favoring the hosts by nine points over the roadies.
November 25, 2016
November 23 – Day 42 – Do Penguins even like apples?
In anticipation of tomorrow’s holiday, we have tons of hockey on the schedule today, so let’s jump right in. Six games drop the puck at 7 p.m. (Winnipeg at Minnesota [SN360], Detroit at Buffalo, Toronto at New Jersey [SN1], Pittsburgh at the New York Rangers, St. Louis at Washington and Calgary at Columbus), followed half an hour later by Philadelphia at Tampa Bay (NBCSN), and Dallas at Nashville (TVAS) gets underway a 8 p.m. to finish the first wave of games. The West Coast gets involved at 10 p.m. with three contests (Chicago at San Jose [NBCSN], Edmonton at Colorado and Vancouver at Arizona), followed 30 minutes later by tonight’s nightcap, the New York Islanders at Los Angeles. All times eastern.

There’s at least six games that could qualify for the Game of the Day, but only one is a rematch from last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. Back to Manhattan for the second time in four days!

We all remember how the Penguins‘ postseason ended, but New York painfully recalls how it began. Their playoffs ended almost as quickly as they began, as the Pens won their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchup in five games on a combined score of 21-10.

Offense has been the name of the game for the 11-5-3 Penguins, notching 54 goals en route to second place in the Metropolitan Division.

Phil Kessel is a nice guy that tries hard and loves the game. Phil Kessel is a Stanley Cup champion. Phil Kessel for president. It’s all been said before, but for good reason: the second-year Penguin leads his club in points with 18. The goal-scoring title still belongs to Captain Sidney Crosby at 12 tallies though, currently a tally behind his goal-per-game rate.

That offense has translated well to the special teams, as Pittsburgh ranks fourth-best in the NHL with a 23.4% success rate on the power play. This has been where Kessel has shined, as half his points have been with the man-advantage. Similarly, Crosby leads the squad with five power play goals.

Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, these 14-5-1 Rangers are not the ones they played seven months ago. Those Blueshirts averaged only 2.8 goals per game, but this year’s edition scores 4.05 tallies per contest, far and away the highest rate in the league.

Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller have been at the forefront of the assault, both notching 18 points apiece. Hayes’ have been evenly distributed between goals and assists, while the left wing has 10 assists to his name. Michael Grabner has been the goal sniper for the club with a dozen notches on his stick.

Madison Square Garden is home to the eighth-best power play in the league, as the Blueshirts are successful on 21.7% of attempts. The injured Mika Zibanejad was lead the Rangers in that department with five power play points, but a broken leg has forced him to hand that mantle off to Brandon Pirri and Derek Stepan, who each have four points. Pirri has been the more impressive of the two on the man-advantage, as he’s scored three power play goals.

New York‘s penalty kill has also been pretty darn good, nullifying 85.5% of their opposition’s extra-man advantages to rank seventh-best in the league.

This game is actually the second in a home-and-home series. These squads just met Monday at PPG Paints Arena, where the Blueshirts won 5-2.

While watching tonight, make sure to keep an eye on New York‘s Dan Girardi (+14 [tied for fourth-best in the NHL]), Grabner (+19 [best in the league] on 12 goals [tied for most in the NHL]), Hayes (+17 [second-best in the league] on 18 points [tied for second-most in the NHL], including nine goals [tied for seventh-most in the league]), Nick Holden (+13 [tied for sixth-best in the NHL]), Henrik Lundqvist (nine wins [tied for sixth-most in the league]) or Antti Raanta (.938 save percentage [eighth-best in the NHL] for 2.04 GAA [tied for ninth-best in the league]), Ryan McDonagh (+14 [tied for fourth-best in the NHL]) and Miller (+13 [tied for sixth-best in the league]) & Pittsburgh‘s Crosby (12 goals [tied for most in the NHL]), Kessel (14 assists [tied for third-most in the league]) and Matthew Murray (1.68 GAA [fifth-best in the NHL] on a .945 save percentage [sixth-best in the league]).

The Rangers have a -130 next to their name, and I don’t question that in the least. They’ve been one of the best stories in the NHL so far and, better than that, they’ve been one of, if not the best team in the league. Home ice, a strong penalty kill, and an incredible offense all adds up to a Blueshirt victory.

Hockey Birthday:
- Saku Koivu (1974-) – Selected 21st-overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by Montréal, this Finnish center captained the squad for 10 seasons, which ties Jean Beliveau for longest in club history, and was the first European to take the job. He won the Masterton and King Clancy Trophies once each.
- Colby Armstrong (1982-) – Another 21st-overall selection, but this time in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by Pittsburgh. This right wing played 476 games in eight seasons, most of which with the organization that drafted him. He notched 209 points over the course of his career.
- Nicklas Backstrom (1987-) – The fourth-overall pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft has played his entire career with Washington, leading the franchise all-time in assists.
- Gabriel Landeskog (1992-) – The captain of the Avalanche was the second-overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Playing left wing, he notched the 150th assist of his career on November 11.
Heading into last night’s game, Montréal had a perfect record in their DtFR Game of the Day series. After a run-in with the rival Senators, they can’t say that anymore.

Things opened looking like a defensive standoff, as there wasn’t a goal scored in the first period. That all changed 26 seconds into the second frame when Shea Weber (Second Star of the Game Andrei Markov) buried a power play slap shot to give the Habs a 1-0 lead. It lasted only 4:56 before First Star Mike Hoffman (Mark Stone and Erik Karlsson) returned the favor with a golden power play snap shot to level the score. Montréal once again took the lead at the 7:39 mark with a wrister from Alexander Radulov (Alex Galchenyuk and Markov), but the Sens were up to the challenge once again when Derick Brassard (Hoffman and Stone) buried a backhand with 4:05 remaining in the frame to tie the score at 2-2.

Again Montréal tried to pull away in the third period with a Galchenyuk (Markov and Weber) power play slap shot 2:08 into the third period, but for the third time Ottawa pulled even, this time on a Stone (Hoffman and Brassard) wrister 1:05 after Galchenyuk’s tally. The Sens took their first lead with 14:23 remaining in regulation with a Karlsson (Zack Smith) wrister to set the score at 4-3, which proved to be the winning score.

Third Star Craig Anderson earns the victory by saving 36-of-39 shots faced (92.3%), while Carey Price saved 19-of-23 (82.6%) in the loss.

The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 24-13-7, favoring the home sides by nine points over the roadies.
November 23, 2016
November 20 – Day 39 – Here come some cool cats
It’s a Sunday, but don’t despair: you have five NHL games to watch, starting with Columbus at Washington (SN) at 12:30 p.m. 5 p.m. marks the beginning of Winnipeg at Carolina, followed two hours later by Florida at the New York Rangers. 7:30 brings with it the start of Calgary at Detroit (NHLN/SN/TVAS), followed half an hour later by Los Angeles at Anaheim. All times eastern.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bets are off for this game!

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

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

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

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

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

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