Down the Frozen River

Tag: Silfverberg

  • January 8 – Day 85 – Are Wild Ducks much different than the domestic variety?

    Happy Sunday to you. As you might guess, us here at Down the Frozen River encourage you to sit back and watch some hockey.

    The action starts at 5 p.m. with two matinee games (Boston at Carolina and Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh [NHLN/SN360[), followed an hour later by Philadelphia at Columbus. The usual starting time of 7 p.m. brings with it a pair of contests (Nashville at Chicago and Edmonton at Ottawa [SN/TVAS]), with tonight’s nightcap – Minnesota at Anaheim (NBCSN) – waiting 60 minutes before dropping the puck. All times eastern.

    Short list:

    • Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh: It took seven games for the Penguins to advance past the Lightning to the Stanley Cup finals a season ago.
    • Minnesota at Anaheim: Bruce Boudreau makes his return to the Pond.

    It’s been a while since we’ve made our way out to the Honda Center, and today’s contest should be fantastic. To Anaheim!

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    Let’s start with Boudreau getting fired from Washington on November 28, 2011, his first head coaching gig in the NHL. He had led the Capitals to four-straight Southeast Division titles, but no playoff success. It’s a theme that follows Gabby, so much that he should probably take up a career in soccer. He’s very successful in the regular season, but never got Washington past the Eastern Semifinals.

    He never had a chance to collect on unemployment, as only two days later he had traversed the country to Orange County to take over as the Ducks‘ skipper, the quickest turnaround for a coach in NHL history. Barring that initial 2011-’12 season when he was hired, Boudreau got all his Ducks in a row and returned them to glory once again. Starting with the 2012-’13 season, he again went four-straight years with a division title.

    Uh oh, we’ve seen that before…

    Unfortunately for Anaheim and Boudreau, even though they made it to the Western Conference Finals in 2015, they made zero trips to the Stanley Cup Finals – not to mention the most important piece of hardware the the league.

    Making matters worse, all the Ducks‘ season-ending games were on the very surface they’re playing tonight. Four straight years the Ducks hosted a Game 7 at the Honda Center, and four-straight years they cleaned our their lockers the next morning.

    Bob Murray, Anaheim‘s GM, ain’t about that life, so two days later Boudreau was again on the job search. That’s how he wound up in the State of Hockey, where he is well on his way to creating another dominant team. Recently, they were involved in the fabled game against Columbus (who would’ve thought that phrase would exist five years ago?) that featured two teams with 12-game or better winning streaks. The Wild simply hope he can keep that success up into the postseason.

    Boudreau and his 24-9-5 Wild have full command of second place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference. They’ve been able to find that success by playing some phenomenal goaltending, allowing only 82 goals so far this season, the second-fewest in the NHL.

    20-7-3 Devan Dubnyk has done more than his share to get Minnesota into their current position. He has a season .939 save percentage and 1.82 GAA, easily the best effort in the league.

    Dubnyk’s play has been beyond impressive since his defense has done little to help him out. Even with Jared Spurgeon‘s team-leading 68 blocks, the Wild have allowed 30.7 shots to reach their netminder per game, the 11th-highest average in the league.

    Even without the help, Dubnyk keeps pucks out of his net regardless of the circumstances. Minnesota is the home of the fifth-best penalty kill in the NHL, preventing 85.5% of opposing power plays to score. Spurgeon is joined by Mikael Granlund for the mark of best shorthanded defenseman, as both have 10 penalty kill blocks to their credit.

    Playing host this evening are the 21-12-8 Ducks, the second-best club in the Pacific Division. Winners of their last three games, and point-earners in their last seven, they’ve found that success on an impressive offense that has already scored 110 goals this season, the 13th-highest total in the league.

    Ryan Kesler has been the man in charge of the offense, notching 34 points in 41 games. That being said, the man striking fear in goaltenders across the Pacific is Rickard Rakell, the proud owner of 16 goals in only 30 games. He hasn’t netted a puck yet this calendar year, which should worry Dubnyk.

    Much of that success has been on the back of an intimidating power play. The Ducks score on 22.7% of their opportunities, the fourth-best mark in the NHL. Kesler has been just as productive on the man-advantage as he is at even-strength. He’s notched 15 power play points so far this season, just short of his entire point total. Seven of those points have been power play goals, the highest total in Anaheim.

    Some players to keep an eye on this evening include Anaheim‘s Ryan Getzlaf (25 assists [most on the team]), Kesler (34 points [most on the team]), Rakell (16 goals [most on the team]), Nick Ritchie (133 hits [most on the team]), Jakob Silfverberg (+12 [best on the team]) and Sami Vatanen (74 blocks [most on the team]) & Minnesota‘s Dubnyk (1.82 GAA on a .939 save percentage [both lead the NHL], including five shutouts [tied for most in the league] for 20 wins [tied for second-most in the NHL]), Granlund (+20 [tied for seventh-best in the league]), Mikko Koivu (+20 [tied for seventh-best in the NHL]), Spurgeon (+21 [tied for fifth-best in the league]), Ryan Suter (+23 [tied for the NHL lead]) and Jason Zucker (+23 [tied for the league lead]).

    I like Anaheim to win tonight’s very competitive match, even if I don’t have statistics to back my claims. Anaheim is rolling right now with their seven-game point streak. Pair that with some home cooking on The Pond, and I see a Ducks winner no matter how good Minnesota is.

    Thanks to First Star of the Game Mark Letestu‘s overtime slap shot, the Oilers were able to escape New Jersey with a 2-1 victory in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

    The game’s first goal actually belonged to the Devils, compliments of a backhander from Third Star Miles Wood (Travis Zajac and Steven Santini) at the 9:44 mark of the first period. New Jersey‘s lead lasted a full 33:49 before Edmonton pulled even.

    With his first goal of his career, rookie Matthew Benning (Andrej Sekera and Anton Lander)  takes credit for that game-tying tally. As neither team was able to breakthrough for a winning goal in regulation, this game advanced into three-on-three overtime.

    Letestu (Oscar Klefbom and Connor McDavid) struck with 61 seconds remaining before a shootout with a fantastic slap shot. He was aided by a Zajac slashing penalty against McDavid that forced a four-on-three power play.

    Cam Talbot earns the victory after saving 19-of-20 shots faced (95%), leaving the loss to Second Star Cory Schneider, who saved 41-of-43 (95.3%).

    Edmonton‘s road victory sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 47-26-14 in favor of the hosts. Home teams lead the visitors by 13 points.

  • Nashville at Anaheim – Game 7 – Rinne stands tall, Preds advance

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    Pekka Rinne saved all but one of his shots faced to lead his Predators to a Game 7 2-1 victory in Anaheim.

    Colin Wilson scored the first goal of the night at the 6:19 mark on an unassisted backhander.  Mattias Ekholm started the play in Nashville‘s defensive zone.  After collecting the puck along the near boards, he flipped it through the neutral zone to Wilson at the far blue line.  Mike Fisher entered the zone with him and split the defensemen while trying to collect a pass from Wilson, but the trio ended up skating past, leaving Wilson the opportunity to collect, advance towards the crease and score over Frederik Andersen’s glove hand.

    Probably the most impressive feat of the period was actually Anaheim‘s defense, as they held the Predators off the board even through two overlapping penalties that caused a 40 second 5-on-3.

    No, it continued to be the even-strength goal chances that bit the Ducks.  With 4:07 remaining in the frame, Paul Gaustad scored his first goal of the playoffs after assists from Shea Weber and Viktor Arvidsson.  As Anaheim was unable to score in the remainder of the frame, Nashville took a two-goal lead into the dressing room.

    Arguably the strongest measure of Nashville‘s early success is the face-off dot, as they were victorious on 63% of puck drops.

    The first real opportunity of the second period was for the Ducks on a delayed penalty against Roman Josi, but David Perron was unable to both corral the puck and put it past First Star of the Game Rinne.  The ensuing power play only yielded three shots, including a Jamie McGinn attempt that ricocheted off the crossbar of a wide open net.  Nashville actually committed three penalties during the frame, but the Ducks were not able to capitalize.

    Once again, it was the Predators defense that stood tall.  Through two periods, Nashville had 18 blocks to their credit to Anaheim‘s nine, meaning that Rinne had faced only 22 shots.  In total, Josi had a game-leading seven blocks by the time the clock read zero.

    Second Star Ryan Kesler finally got the Ducks on the board at the 1:45 on a carryover power play from the second.  His slap shot was assisted by Jakob Silfverberg and Hampus Lindholm.  It was a tic-tac-toe play, as Lindholm passed to Silfverberg behind the net, who immediately centered the puck into the crease for Kesler to score, but that was all the Ducks had in them as they lost 2-1.

    It didn’t help that they didn’t play very aggressively.  The game almost effectively ended on a delayed penalty against the Ducks, as the Predators worked the clock for almost an entire minute before the play was ruled dead.  Although they put up a good fight during the remaining minute or so, Rinne continued his stellar night to secure the win.

    Rinne ended the night saving 36 of 37 shots faced (97.3%), while Andersen takes the loss, saving 18 of 20 (90%).

    With that win, Nashville earns a spot in the Western Conference Semifinals and a date with the San Jose Sharks.  That series will begin at 10:30 p.m. eastern on Friday, April 29.  Those games can be watched on NBCSN, SN or TVAS.

  • Nashville at Anaheim – Game 2 – Smith leads the Preds to a two-game lead

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    On Craig Smith’s two point night, the Nashville Predators have taken a two-game lead over the Anaheim Ducks by winning 3-2 before making the trip to Music City.

    Andrew Cogliano opened the scoring with 5:40 remaining in the opening frame with an unassisted backhander, but they couldn’t hold that lead into the intermission, as Mattias Ekholm, assisted by Colin Wilson and Smith, leveled the score on a backhander with 56 seconds remaining in the frame.

    Both sides certainly had their opportunity to find more offense, as a total of five penalties were committed for three power plays (favoring Nashville by a lone advantage).

    Smith liked being involved in the scoring, so he gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at the 9:55 mark on a wrister, assisted by Filip Forsberg and Third Star of the Game Roman Josi.  Josi passed the puck to Forsberg, who pulled the net behind John Gibson’s net.  As Smith advanced towards the crease, Forsberg put the puck on his stick, allowing Smith to find the left post.  Things leveled out following that tally, as neither team was able to effect that score.  With 2:30 remaining in the second period, David Perron was sent to the box for interference against Ryan Ellis, which proved to be costly, as Shea Weber’s slap shot, assisted by Josi and Forsberg, found the back of Gibson’s net at the 19:21 mark to set the differential at two tallies, and proved to be the eventual game winner.

    With 2:42 remaining in regulation, Second Star Nate Thompson’s backhander, assisted by Jakob Silfverberg and Cogliano made things interesting, as he connected to pull the Ducks within a goal.  But, even with the extra attacker from pulling Gibson, Anaheim was not able to defend their home ice and level the game.

    Although this was a fun, tight game to watch according to the scoreboard, the true story was being played out along the boards.  79 total hits were thrown in the game, with the majority (47) thrown by the losing Ducks, who also sat in the box three times as long as Nashville.

    First Star Pekka Rinne earns the victory after saving 27 of 29 shots faced (93.1%), while Gibson takes the loss, saving 24 of 27 (88.9%).

    These teams will meet up again in Nashville on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. eastern.  That contest can be viewed on SN360, TVAS2 or USA.

  • November 9 – Day 34 – Out of Necessity, Vol. 3

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day between the Dallas Stars and the Detroit Red Wings ended pretty close to how I think many expected it to, as the Stars won 4-1.

    Dallas didn’t wait too long to get their first score on the board.  Assisted by First Star of the Game John Klingberg and Tyler Seguin, Patrick Sharp scored a power play goal only 7:22 into the game.  The eventual game winner was scored almost eight minutes later (7:57, to be precise) by Valeri Nichushkin (his first of the year) after being assisted by Third Star Jordie Benn and Jyrki Jokipakka.  With only 27 seconds remaining in the period, Detroit got back within a goal after Second Star Gustav Nyquist notched a power play tally, assisted by Niklas Kronwall and Mike Green.  The 2-1 score held well into the third period before things started falling apart in the Joe.

    Only down a goal, Detroit pulled goaltender Petr Mrazek (Jimmy Howard started, but took a knee to the head at the 7:09 mark of the third), but Seguin, assisted by Sharp and Klingberg, made the Wings pay with an empty netter at the 18:52 mark.  Seventeen seconds later, Vernon Fiddler sent a puck over the glass, giving the Wings a power play, so they again pulled Mrazek to have a two-man advantage.  Yet once again, it was the Stars who scored, as Jamie Benn assisted Cody Eakin to a shorthanded empty netter, Dallas‘ fourth goal of the evening.

    Kari Lehtonen improved his record to 6-1-0 after saving 21 of 22 (95.5%), while Howard’s record falls to 3-3-1 after saving 20 of 22 (90.9%).  Since the final two Stars goals were empty netters, Petr Mrazek technically shut Dallas out in his 11:06 played after saving both shots he faced, earning a no-decision.

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 19-9-5, favoring the home squad by 13 points over the roadies.

    If you’ve been following along with us all season, you already know what’s coming based on the title of this post.  There’s a whopping… *insert_drumroll_here.mp3*… one game being played tonight!  *insert_cymbal_crash_and_cool_instrumental_vamp_here.mp3*  Yes, the entire attention of the NHL will be turned to The Pond tonight when the Anaheim Ducks host the Arizona Coyotes at 10 p.m. eastern.

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    This is Arizona‘s first appearance in the DtFR Game of the Day series, while Anaheim is making their third.  The last time they were featured, they fell in overtime in the United Center after playing all of regulation to a scoreless tie.

    The 6-6-1 Arizona Coyotes enter tonight’s game in fourth place in the Pacific Division and 10th place in the Western Conference.  Their most recent game was a 4-1 thumping from the New York Rangers at Gila River Arena on Saturday.  So far this season, the Coyotes have been a better defensive team, but both ends of the ice are still sub-par in comparison to the rest of the league.

    One of the few things Arizona has gotten right all season has been keeping opposing shots off Mike Smith.  Led by Zbynek Michalek’s  26 blocks, only 395 shots have required a save.  The defense may continue to be asked for more though, as Smith and his backup, Anders Lindback, have saved only 90.6% of those shots combined, allowing 38 goals so far this season.

    That being said, the penalty kill has been fairly successful this season.  On 50 opposing attempts, only eight goals have been scored, giving them a 84% kill rate that exceeds the league average by a decent bit (2.81% as of Sunday morning).

    On the other end, the offense has only put 371 shots on goal (led by Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s 45), of which only 35 have completed their journey in the back of the net.

    A major shortcoming of the Coyotes‘ is their power play.  Although they’ve earned a considerable 53 attempts, they’ve only managed to score six times.  That power play rate of 11.32% is made even worse due to the fact that the Coyotes have allowed a whopping four shorthanded goals already this year.  The special teams need to be a point of focus should Arizona want to take advantage of a weak division.

    The 5-7-2 Anaheim Ducks enter the game on a four-game win streak, last beating the San Jose Sharks 1-0 in The Tank on Saturday.  They currently sit at fifth in the Pacific Division and 11th in the Western Conference, and are beginning to resemble the Ducks we expected to see this season.

    Defense, specifically goaltending, has been the name of the game in Anaheim, as they’ve only allowed 33 goals so far this season.  Even though Frederik Andersen and his backup, Anton Khudobin, have faced 442 shots combined, they’ve saved a strong 93% of those attempts.  Add that in with Kevin Bieksa’s 28 blocks, and you find a team that plays as sound a defense as possible.

    Even on the penalty kill, the Ducks have found ways to keep the opposition off the board.  On 48 attempts, opponents have scored only four power play goals.  If you’re doing the math in your head, the number you’ve come to is not wrong: the Ducks are killing 91.67% of their penalties, a rate that exceeds the league average by over 10%.

    The offense has had a tough time getting started this year, as they’ve only managed 393 shots so far (led by Jakob Silfverberg’s 32, even though he has yet to score).  They’ve scored on 5.3% of those attempts for a measly 22 goals, but half of those goals have come during their four-game win streak, which should probably make their division rivals a little worried.

    A spot where Anaheim still needs to improve is the power play.  On 42 attempts, only five pucks have found the back of the net for a lowly 11.9% success rate.  Again, it seems like Anaheim has finally started getting their skates under them, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see these numbers begin to climb in the next few weeks.

    Last season, the Ducks won the season series 3-0-2, but were only 1-0-1 at the Honda Center.

    Some players to watch in this one include Anaheim‘s Andersen (.935 save percentage [seventh in the league] and 2.03 GAA [tenth in the league]) and Arizona‘s Martin Hanzal (12 assists [tied for fifth in the league]).

    Based on the statistics, their current winning streak, and the fact that they’re playing at home, I expect the Anaheim Ducks to take care of business in this one and move into fourth place in the division.