Down the Frozen River

Tag: Vladimir Tarasenko

  • Dallas at St. Louis – Game 3 – Steen headlines St. Louis’ 6-1 victory

    CJhyiLmKUnknown-1

     

     

     

    Three goals in the second period proved to be too much for the Stars, as St. Louis won 6-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

    Until approximately the 2:15 mark, the beginning of the game took place almost entirely in the neutral zone before the Blues finally registered a shot on net.  Any momentum they tried getting off those attempts ended though, but it wasn’t due to anything the Stars did – the same pane of glass damaged in Game 7 of the Chicago series proved to be an issue.

    In fact, that delay in play actually benefited Dallas, who quickly fired two quick shots following the return to play.  Soon after, they scored the first goal of Game 3 – a Colton Sceviour wrister at the 4:44 mark.  His second tally of the postseason was assisted by Jason Spezza (his sixth helper of the playoffs) and Johnny Oduya.

    Fifty-seven seconds later, First Star of the Game Alexander Steen leveled with a wrister of his own, assisted by Paul Stastny and Troy Brouwer.

    Scottie Upshall committed the first penalty of the night when he hi-sticked Oduya in front of Antti Niemi’s net with 6:52 remaining in the period.  Dallas entered the night 0 for seven on the power play in the Western Semifinals, and once again the Blues completed the kill.

    Thirty-seven seconds after completing the kill, Vernon Fiddler and the Stars returned the favor by committing a slashing penalty against Jaden Schwartz, which St. Louis converted not even half a minute later when Third Star David Backes connected on a tip-in to give the Blues a 2-1 lead, assisted by Kevin Shattenkirk and Second Star Vladimir Tarasenko.

    The Stars almost tied the game again with 1:19 remaining in the period when Jason Demers collected the rebound of an Elliott save, but the puck hit the crossbar and did not cross the red line, leaving the Blues with the one-goal differential going into the dressing room.

    Not only did St. Louis end the frame with the lead on the scoreboard, but they were also winning the dot (58%), blocked shots (eight to four), takeaways (three to two) and, most importantly for their game, hits (19 to eight).

    2:34 after returning to the ice for the second period, Brouwer scored his third goal of these playoffs on a wrister, assisted by Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo (his sixth helper of the postseason).  That tally is the one that chased Niemi, who was replaced by Kari Lehtonen for the remainder of the game.

    St. Louis continued the onslaught 1:16 later when Tarasenko scored a wrister assisted by Patrik Berglund and Robby Fabbri (his seventh helper of the playoffs).

    Jamie Benn began taking his frustrations out Blues skaters, and was sent to the box after tripping Bouwmeester at the 4:47 mark.  The ensuing power play did not go St. Louis‘ way, so the score remained at 4-1 when Benn returned to the ice.

    The Blues returned to the power play at the 8:47 mark when two Stars (Demers and Fiddler) were sent to the box, but it was a five-on-four due to Ryan Reaves also earning two minutes in the sin bin for responding with a roughing penalty of his own against Fiddler.  St. Louis‘ power play fell to one for three in the game as they were unable to score with the advantage.

    Those penalties are just one example of how Fiddler and the Stars have been trying to get under Reaves’ skin since he has entered the series.  Known for being an aggressive enforcer, When he entered play, an opposing physical Dallas skater was usually quick to follow, and almost every stoppage was followed by a skirmish along the boards.  Even when Fiddler wasn’t on the ice, Reaves was still a focus for the Stars, hoping for any attempt to get their first power play goal of the series.

    Antoine Roussel made his fourth trip to the penalty box in the last two games for a delay of game penalty, and the Blues made sure to make him pay.  Only 10 seconds after the infraction at the 17:53 mark, Steen scored his second goal of the night with a power play wrister to set the score at 5-1, assisted by Tarasenko and Schwartz.

    Bouwmeester earned himself a break with 63 seconds remaining in the second period when he tripped Spezza in the corner, but the period ended with the Blues leading 5-1.

    After two periods, the Blues still led on shots (26-19), as well as face-offs (59%), blocks (12 to five), takeaways (seven to four) and hits (28-17).

    St. Louis killed the remaining 57 seconds of the power play at the beginning of the third period to continue their streak of penalty kills at eight straight over the Stars.

    Benn committed the first penalty of the final period at the 9:07 mark when he cross checked Pietrangelo, and the Blues followed suit 3:35 later when Colton Parayko was caught roughing Radek Faksa.  Dallas ended their power play 41 seconds early when Cody Eakin hooked Shattenkirk.  After all of that, neither team altered the 5-1 score.

    Reaves finally got tired of the Stars late in the third and scrapped with Curtis McKenzie with three minutes to go.  After his bout, he blew a kiss to the Dallas bench before heading to the dressing room, probably not making many friends in the process.

    Backes’ fifth goal of the playoffs and second of the game was a shorthanded wrister, due to a Brouwer slash against Faksa, with 1:54 remaining in the game to seal the deal at 6-1.  He was assisted by Carl Gunnarsson.

    Elliott earns the win after saving 25 of the 26 shots he faced (96.2%), while Niemi takes the loss, saving nine of 12 (75%).  The goaltending questions continue for Dallas, as Niemi’s replacement saved 24 of 27 (88.9%) for no decision.

    After taking a 2-1 lead in the series, the Blues will once again host the Stars Thursday at 8 p.m. eastern.  That contest can be viewed on CBC, NBCSN or TVAS.

  • St. Louis at Chicago – Game 4 – Shaw’s penalty overshadows his three point night, Blues win 4-3

    Unknown-2Unknown-1

     

     

     

    The Blues arrived in Chicago tied with the Blackhawks in their Quarterfinal series.  With two impressive road wins, they come home to St. Louis with the opportunity to punch their ticket to the Semis after winning 4-3 in Game 4.

    The only goal of the first period was an absolute rifle from First Star of the Game Vladimir Tarasenko on Corey Crawford’s glove side, assisted by Jori Lehtera and Jaden Schwartz with 5:58 remaining in the frame.

    Although the Notes had the lead on the scoreboard, it was actually the Blackhawks who led the period in shots with 14, but St. Louis countered by continuing their physical ways with a solid 17 hits in the opening frame.

    By deflecting an initial slap shot from Marian Hossa (who was set up by Erik Gustafsson) into net, Andrew Shaw leveled game for the Hawks at the 9:12 mark.  Third Star Duncan Keith struck again 3:57 later on the power play to give Chicago the lead, assisted by Shaw and Patrick Kane.  With 2:29 remaining in the period, Tarasenko struck again to take advantage of an Andrew Ladd interference penalty with a power play wrister assisted by Alexander Steen and Kevin Shattenkirk.  As the last goal of the period, the game entered the second intermission tied at two-all.

    After two, Chicago still led the game with 28 shots to St. Louis‘ 15, but the Notes had a 20 hit lead on the home Hawks.

    A minute and a second after play resumed, Keith was caught holding Lehtera.  35 seconds later, Schwartz earned the Blues their second lead of the night with a power play wrister assisted by David Backes and Shattenkirk.  Steen waited 3:10 before increasing the Blues‘ lead to two goals.  It was a sweet steal on a pass in Chicago‘s defensive end that he fired over the surprised Crawford’s glove.

    Keith pulled Chicago back within a goal with 5:20 to go in regulation with a wrister, assisted by Artemi Panarin and Shaw.

    The game effectively ended with 2:04 remaining in regulation when Shaw was called for interference against Jay Bouwmeester.  Before making his way to the box, Shaw was seen choosing two particular fingers to convey a message to the referee, and they certainly weren’t thumbs up.  Following the horn, Shaw initiated a scrum with Pietrangelo in Second Star Brian Elliott’s end, and he continued to fight even after the referee was making every attempt to separate the two.

    These actions in addition to some choice words that, if I’m to trust my lip reading abilities, were homosexual slurs directed at the official, Shaw may be receiving at least a fine from the league, if not a suspension.  It is a shame that he allowed the Blues to get to him so much, as he had one of the best games of the night for the Blackhawks before all the debauchery.

    Elliott earns the win after saving 39 of the 42 shots he faced (92.9%), while Crawford takes the loss, saving 16 of 20 (80%).

    With that win, the Blues return to St. Louis with a 3-1 series lead and the opportunity to punch their ticket to the Western Semifinals on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. eastern.  That contest can be viewed on NBCSN, SN or TVAS.

  • Elliott Backstops Blues to 3-2 Win in Game 3, St. Louis Leads Series 2-1

    By: Nick Lanciani

    Unknown-1The St. Louis Blues emerged victorious at the United Center on Sunday, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2. Blues goaltender, Brian Elliott stopped 44 shots on 46 shots against, picking up the win with a .957 SV%, while Chicago’s Corey Crawford turned aside 33 pucks on 36 shots against in the loss with a .917 SV%.

    Jaden Schwartz’s third period power play goal proved to the game winner as St. Louis toppled Chicago on road ice.

    Entering Sunday, David Backes had a two-game point streak with 1-1-2 totals in the first two games of the series. Backes has now extended his point streak to three games with an assist on Schwartz’s game winning goal.

    Also heading into Game 3, the Blackhawks scratched Brandon Mashinter in favor of Richard Panik and Dale Weise, while the Steve Ott returned to the lineup from an injury that occurred on December 5th for the Blues. Crawford became Chicago’s all-time franchise playoff leader in wins with his 46th career playoff victory after Game 2, surpassing legendary Blackhawks goaltender Tony Esposito. Game 3 was the 371st consecutive sellout at United Center, including postseason games.

    Viktor Svedberg and Kyle Brodziak took penalties 1:49 into the first period in Game 3 and gave Chicago an early power play. Svedberg was in the box for a roughing minor, while Brodziak received a roughing double minor, which was served by Robby Fabbri.

    St. Louis had 5 shots on goal before the Blackhawks could even record their first shot on goal, yet a slap shot from Brent Seabrook at the point beat Elliott almost 30 seconds into the Blackhawks power play, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead at 2:18 of the first period. Seabrook’s goal was assisted by Jonathan Toews (2) and Patrick Kane (3).

    Next, St. Louis’ Jay Bouwmeester served time in the penalty box for hooking Artemi Panarin at 3:41 of the first period and promptly returned to the box for having played the puck before fully exiting the sin bin at 5:46. It’s a real interference rule, look it up.

    Unknown-2In keeping with the trend, Svedberg went to the box for catching Vladimir Tarasenko with a high stick at 12:04 of the first period and gave the Blues a power play.

    All it took was seven seconds of a man advantage for St. Louis defenseman, Colton Parayko to tie the game, 1-1, with a power play goal (his first of the playoffs) that was assisted by Alex Pietrangelo and Fabbri.

    At 19:31 of the first period, Joel Edmundson and Andrew Shaw exchanged pleasantries, sending Edmundson to the box for cross checking and Shaw for slashing. The matching minors would carry over into the second period for a little over the first minute and a half.

    After one, the game was tied 1-1, with the Blackhawks leading in shots on goal (10-9), faceoff wins (17-10), giveaways (4-3) and takeaways (2-1). The Blues led in hits (16-12) and blocked shots (10-3) after twenty minutes of play.

    Sixty-four seconds into the second period Artem Anisimov put Chicago ahead 2-1 with some help from Panarin.

    Aside from the numerous saves Crawford made in the chaos of the first six minutes of the second period, the only other major event was Chicago’s last power play of the afternoon at 9:38 of the 2nd. Scottie Upshall was sent to the box for tripping Andrew Shaw, but the Blackhawks were unsuccessful to convert on the power play. With forty minutes in the books, Chicago was leading 2-1 and outshooting the Blues 34-22.

    The Blackhawks had a .774 win percentage (tied for 5th in the NHL) in the regular season when scoring first, but regular season stats ultimately mean nothing in the playoffs.

    A little over five minutes into the third period, Patrik Berglund scored for St. Louis to tie the game, 2-2. Kevin Shattenkirk (1) and Robby Fabbri (2) picked up assists on Berglund’s goal. Patrick Kane took a four-minute double minor penalty for high sticking at 11:51 of the 3rd and put St. Louis on the power play.

    Vladimir Tarasenko found David Backes who tossed the puck over to Jaden Schwartz, who in turn, capitalized on the power play with a goal. Schwartz’s goal put the Blues ahead 3-2 with plenty of time for Chicago to throw everything left at the net, including the kitchen sink. Ultimately, the Blackhawks pulled Crawford in exchange for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as the Brian Elliott and the Blues sealed the deal.

    After sixty minutes of play, the Blues were victorious and led in hits (40-36), faceoff wins (42-41) and went 2/3 on the night on the power play. Chicago finished Game 3 leading in shots on goal (46-36), giveaways (12-9) and blocked shots (19-13), and went 1/4 on the man advantage on the night.

    The St. Louis Blues now have a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4.

    Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday night at 9:30 PM EST at the United Center and can be seen on NBCSN in the United States, as well as Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.

  • Chicago at St. Louis – Game 2 – Keith returns to level the series for the Hawks

    Unknown-2Unknown-1

     

     

     

    Duncan Keith doesn’t play in Game 1, the Blues take advantage to take a series lead.  He plays Game 2, and now the Hawks have home ice advantage, winning 3-2.

    A scoreless, highly defensive first period had many thinking Game 2 would be similar to the first.  Only nine combined shots were fired in the opening frame, with Chicago firing only two, even though both sides had a power play opportunity each.

    Second Star of the Game (although I would argue he is not deserving of the honor due to his involvement in a future play) Vladimir Tarasenko finally scored the first regulation goal of the series at the 15:20 mark of the second period on a wrister from between the dots, assisted by Jaden Schwartz and Jori Lehtera.  The Blues‘ lead didn’t last long though, as Keith’s slap shot, assisted by Third Star Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews with five seconds remaining in the period, leveled the game.

    Similar to the period before, the third was more than half complete before the third goal was scored.  Before that happened though, Tarasenko committed a slashing penalty on Andrew Shaw, earning him a two minute break in the sin bin.  With seven seconds remaining on the power play, and 4:19 remaining in regulation, Shaw himself made Vladi pay, assisted by Brent Seabrook and Kane to give Chicago the lead.  They scored an insurance goal on an empty net with 1:26 remaining when Artemi Panarin tipped-in Keith’s initial attempt, and it proved to be necessary as Kevin Shattenkirk connected on a slap shot off a David Backes face-off win, but with only two seconds remaining in the game.

    First Star Corey Crawford earns the leveling win after saving 29 of 31 shots faced (93.5%), while Brian Elliott takes the loss after saving 26 of 28 (92.9%).

    The squads will board planes tonight or tomorrow and make their way to Chicago for Game 3, which will take place at 3 p.m. eastern on Sunday.  It may be viewed on NBC, SN or TVAS.

  • April 9 – Day 177 – It used to be the final game of the season…

    The Blue Jackets surprised me by beating the Sabres 4-1 in Buffalo in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Only one goal was struck in the first period, belonging to the Jackets.  Matt Calvert is the guilty party, assisted by Brandon Dubinsky (his 31st helper of the season) and Ryan Murray to a power play wrister with 1:15 remaining in the frame.

    Buffalo leveled at the 13:37 mark of the second period on a Third Star of the Game Sam Reinhart power play tip-in, assisted by Jack Eichel (his 31st helper of the season) and Matt Moulson.  Second Star Nick Foligno takes credit for the game winning snap shot 1:39 later, assisted by Boone Jenner (his 19th helper of the season) and Josh Anderson.  The first of Columbus‘ two insurance goals found the back of the net with 2:35 remaining in the period, a Dalton Prout wrister assisted by William Karlsson (his 11th helper of the season).

    The final goal of the game was struck at the 5:11 mark courtesy of First Star Brandon Saad, assisted by Alexander Wennberg and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

    Joonas Korpisalo earns the victory after saving 34 of 35 shots faced (97.1%), while Jason Kasdorf takes the loss, saving 26 of 30 (86.7%).

    Columbus ends the two game winning streak by home sides, setting the DtFR Game of the Day series at 82-46-19, favoring the home sides by 40 points.

    Every single team is in action today.  Yes, that includes your favorite team, your arch rivals, playoff teams, non-playoff teams… all of ’em.  The action starts nice and early at half past noon eastern with two games (Ottawa at Boston [RDS/SN1] and Detroit at the New York Rangers), with Pittsburgh at Philadelphia (NBC/SN1) dropping the puck at 3 p.m. eastern.  Anaheim at Colorado (SN1) is the next game to get underway, starting at 5:30 p.m. eastern, before five games drop the puck at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern (Calgary at Minnesota [CITY], Tampa Bay at Montréal [TVAS/SN], Carolina at Florida, Toronto at New Jersey [CBC] and Chicago at Columbus), trailed half an hour later by Buffalo at the New York Islanders (BELL TV).  The next two games start at 8 p.m. eastern (Washington at St. Louis [NHLN] and Nashville at Dallas), with two more getting underway two hours later (Edmonton at Vancouver [CBC] and Winnipeg at Los Angeles [SN]).  Finally, after all that, Arizona at San Jose gets started at 10:30 p.m. eastern, this evening’s nightcap.

    A little under half of today’s games are divisional rivalries (Ottawa at Boston, Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, Tampa Bay at Montréal, Nashville at Dallas, Edmonton at Vancouver and Arizona at San Jose), and three are between playoff qualifiers (Detroit at New York, Washington at St. Louis and Nashville at Dallas).  Tampa at Montréal is also a rematch of one of last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals.

    There are some great games on the docket this evening, but the one that could be very meaningful is Washington–St. Louis, as T.J. Oshie makes his return to Scottrade Center.

    Washington Capitals LogoUnknown-1

     

     

     

     

    With the 24th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, the St. Louis Blues selected T.J. Oshie from the University of North Dakota.  He joined the club during the 2008-’09 season, playing in 57 regular season games and scoring 39 points.  He followed that effort with 48 points the following season, including 30 assists.

    His breakout season was 2011-’12, when he played in almost every regular season game to score 54 points, including 35 assists.  That success carried into the postseason, as he scored three points before falling to the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Semifinals.  Excluding the lockout shortened 2013 season, Oshie has continued his success each season, leading to his personal-best 60 point season in 2013-’14 season.

    This July, Oshie was shipped to Washington in exchange for Troy Brouwer, Pheonix Copley and a third-round pick in this year’s Entry Draft.  In that first year, Oshie has tickled the twine 26 times, the most in his career.

    His 55-17-8 Washington Capitals have clinched the President’s Trophy.  They’ve earned that position by playing both the second best offense and defense.

    Like you’d expect, the entire offense revolves around Alex Ovechkin.  His 389 shots has led the Caps to firing the puck 2450 times, with a solid 9.9% finding the back of the net for 247 goals (led by Ovechkin’s 47 tallies), the second most in the NHL.  Washington also has a very strong power play, successful on 22.36% of attempts for 55 extra man tallies (led by Ovechkin’s 19 power play goals), the fourth best rate in the league.

    Led by Karl Alzner’s 202 blocks, Washington has allowed only 2284 shots to reach 47-9-7 Braden Holtby and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.1% for only 190 goals against, the second most in the NHL.  Once again, Washington‘s special teams rank fourth best, neutralizing 84.8% of their infractions for 38 power play goals against.

    Washington enters tonight’s game on a three game losing skid, with their most recent being Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Penguins.

    The 49-23-9 St. Louis Blues currently sit in second in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.  They’ve gotten there by playing the fourth best defense, paired with the 14th best offense.

    Led by Alex Pietrangelo’s 134 blocks, St. Louis has allowed 2391 shots to reach 23-7-6 Brian Elliott and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.5% for 196 goals against, the fourth fewest in the NHL.  The penalty kill has also been spectacular, killing 85.04% of their infractions for 41 power play goals against, the third best rate in the league.

    Led by Vladimir Tarasenko’s 289 shots, the Blues have fired the puck 2454 times, with 8.9% finding the back of the net for 223 goals (led by Tarasenko’s 39 tallies), the 14th most in the league.  It’s another strong special team unit, as the Blues have found success on 21.79% of their power plays for 51 extra man goals (led by Tarasenko’s dozen power play tallies), the sixth best rate in the league.

    St. Louis enters the game riding a three game winning streak, with their most recent being Thursday’s 2-1 overtime victory in Chicago.  As the Blues are tied with the Stars for the division and conference lead, a win, or even an overtime loss, paired with a Stars loss will propel them to first place, but a Dallas win ensures that they keep home ice until the Stanley Cup Finals.

    St. Louis has already made their visit to Washington, which they thoroughly enjoyed, winning 4-0.

    Some players to keep an eye on include St. Louis‘ Elliott (two GAA [leads the league] and .932 save percentage [leads the league]), Colton Parayko (+29 [fifth best in the league]) and Tarasenko (39 goals [fourth most in the league]) & Washington‘s Holtby (47 wins [leads the leauge], 2.22 GAA [seventh best in the league] and .921 save percentage [tied for ninth best in the league), Evgeny Kuznetsov (56 assists [fourth most in the league] and 76 points [tied for eighth most in the league]) and Ovechkin (47 goals [leads the league]).

    On paper, Washington should win this game.  They should easily be able to shut down St. Louis‘ offense.  But, the thing that gives the Blues a chance, beyond even their home ice, is that they still have something to play for.  It’s for that reason that I think St. Louis will make every effort to win.

  • April 1 – Day 169 – No time for April Fools

    It wasn’t what I expected, but the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Rangers 4-3 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    First Star of the Game Patrick Brown opened the scoring at the 11:05 mark of the first period with the first goal of his career, assisted by Second Star Jeff Skinner (his 22nd helper of the season) and Ron Hainesy.  That was the only tally of the first, so Carolina took their 1-0 lead into the intermission.

    New York leveled only 1:36 after returning to the ice with a Mats Zuccarello wrister, assisted by Derek Stepan (his 27th helper of the season) and Dan Boyle.  3:27 later, they took the lead with a Rick Nash wrister, assisted by J.T. Miller and Ryan McDonagh (his 24th helper of the season).  Carolina returned the favor at the 13:27 mark with a goal from Third Star Justin Faulk (his 16th tally of the season), assisted by Sergey Tolchinsky (his first point of his NHL career) and Ryan Murphy.  The Rangers took another lead with 2:42 remaining in the period with a Chris Kreider power play wrister, assisted by Stepan and Keith Yandle (his 40th helper of the season).  The 3-2 Rangers lead held into the second intermission.

    Carolina leveled the game again at the 4:22 mark, courtesy of Skinner (his 27th tally of the season), assisted by Murphy and Brown.  The only insurance goal belongs to Victor Rask, a power play snap shot with 9:06 remaining in regulation.

    Cam Ward earns the win after saving 24 of 27 shots faced (88.9%), while Henrik Lundqvist takes the loss, saving only 24 of 28 (85.7%).

    The fourth straight home win sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 78-43-18, favoring those home squads by 39 points over the roadies.

    We’ve got five games on the schedule this evening, starting at 7:30 p.m. eastern with Minnesota at Detroit (NHLN).  8 p.m. eastern brings with it two games (Boston at St. Louis and Chicago at Winnipeg), followed an hour later by Washington at Colorado.  Finally, our nightcap, Vancouver at Anaheim, drops the puck at 10 p.m. eastern.

    Almost half of today’s games are divisional rivalries (Chicago at Winnipeg and Vancouver at Anaheim), while only Boston at St. Louis is between playoff qualifiers.

    I’m most interested in the Boston–St. Louis game because of the potential impact on the standings possible in both conferences.

    UnknownUnknown-1

     

     

     

     

    This will be Boston‘s 19th appearance in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 7-10-1 record, with their most recent being their 5-2 loss in Madison Square Garden on March 23.  St. Louis has been featured 16 times before tonight’s game, and their 5-4 overtime victory in Dallas on March 12 set their season series at 9-6-1.

    The 40-29-8 Boston Bruins currently rank third in the Atlantic Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference.  To get there, they’ve played the fourth best offense in the NHL paired with the 14th worst defense.

    Led by Patrice Bergeron’s 263 shots, Boston has fired the puck an incredible 2436 times, with 9% finding the back of the net for 223 goals (led by Brad Marchand’s 35 tallies), fourth most in the NHL.  Part of that success has been due to the power play, who’s 20.64% success rate, good for 45 extra man goals (led by Bergeron’s 11 power play tallies) ranks ninth best in the league.

    Even with Dennis Seidenberg’s 243 blocks, the Bruins have allowed 2335 shots to reach 29-22-7 Tuukka Rask and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 91.6% for 209 goals against, the 14th most in the league.  The penalty kill slightly steps up their game, neutralizing 81.96% of their infractions for the 14th best rate in the league, allowing 46 extra man goals in the process.  Further improving on that rate, Boston has also scored nine shorthanded goals, led by Marchand’s four power play goals.

    Boston‘s last game was Tuesday, a 2-1 loss in New Jersey.  The Bruins are in desperate need of a win this evening, as anything short of a win paired with a Detroit victory forces the B’s out of playoff position.

    The 46-22-9 St. Louis Blues are the second best team in the Central Division as well as the Western Conference.  To get there, they’ve played the fifth best defense paired with the 15th worst offense.

    Even with Alex Pietrangelo’s 131 blocks, St. Louis has allowed 2280 shots to reach 21-7-6 Brian Elliott and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.5% for only 186 goals against, the fifth fewest in the NHL.  The penalty kill has been even better than the overall defense, preventing 85.06% of opposing power plays to score, allowing only 39 power play goals in the process.

    Led by Vladimir Tarasenko’s 273 shots, the Notes have fired the puck a solid 2324 times, with 8.6% finding the back of the net for 206 goals (led by Tarasenko’s 36 tallies), the 15th fewest in the league.  The Blues‘ biggest strength has been their power play, as their 22.02% success rate ranks fourth best in the NHL, good for 48 extra man goals (led by Tarasenko’s 12 power play tallies).

    The Blues enter tonight’s game riding a five game winning streak, with their most recent being Tuesday’s 3-1 win over the Avalanche.  With a win tonight, they pull back into a tie with Dallas for the top spot in both the division and the conference, but will not move into first place due to a regulation+overtime wins tiebreaker.

    St. Louis has already made their yearly visit to Boston, when they won 2-0 on December 22.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Boston‘s Marchand (35 goals [seventh most in the league]) & St. Louis‘ Elliott (1.92 GAA [leads the league] and .935 save percentage [leads the league]), Colton Parayko (+26 [tied for eighth best in the league]) and Tarasenko (36 goals [tied for fourth most in the league]).

    These teams are a very interesting and even match for each other.  Both teams’ strengths correspond with the others, and neither’s weaknesses are fully exploited with the exception of Boston‘s poor penalty kill.  Given that, St. Louis‘ hot streak and their home ice, I’m picking the Blues to win this one.

  • March 12 – Day 149 – Keep it in the Central

    Dallas used a three-goal second period in yesterday’s Game of the Day to beat the Blackhawks 5-2.

    Only one goal was scored in the first period, and it belonged to the Stars.  First Star of the Game Jason Spezza’s power play wrister found the back of the net after 11:08 of play, assisted by Jamie Benn (his 42nd helper of the season) to give the Stars the beginning of a lead they would not yield.

    Only 1:09 into the second, Dallas doubled their lead on a Second Star Antoine Roussel wrister, assisted by Alex Goligoski (his 27th helper of the season) and Ales Hemsky.  3:57 later, a Tyler Seguin wrister, which ended up being the game winner, crossed the goal line to set the score at 3-0 (his 33rd tally of the season), assisted by Spezza.  Forty-two seconds after the midway point of the game, Benn tipped a power play shot into goal, assisted by Patrick Eaves and Seguin (his 37th helper of the season).  The Hawks got one goal back only 2:19 later with a snap shot from Teuvo Teravainen, who was assisted by Tomas Fleischmann and Erik Gustafsson (his 12th helper of the season), setting the score at 4-1 going into the second intermission.

    Hemsky improved the Stars‘ advantage to 5-1 with 4:31 remaining in regulation, assisted by Johnny Oduya (his 15th helper of the season) to the empty netter, but Fleischmann’s scored with 59 seconds remaining on the clock, returning the spread to three goals.  He was assisted by Dale Weise and Niklas Hjalmarsson (his 18th helper of the season).

    Kari Lehtonen earns the win after saving 21 of 23 shots faced (91.3%), while Corey Crawford takes the loss, saving 16 of 20 (80%).  He was replaced after Benn’s tip-in goal in the second period by Scott Darling, who saved all 10 shots he faced.

    Dallas‘ win sets the DtFR Game of the Day series at 66-38-15, favoring the home teams by 29 points over the roadies.

    As usual, there’s a ton of games occurring this Saturday, with the action starting at 1 p.m. eastern with two games (the New York Islanders at Boston and Carolina at Buffalo), followed an hour later by the New York Rangers at Detroit (NHLN).  Four games drop the puck at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern (Colorado at Winnipeg, Minnesota at Montréal, Toronto at Ottawa and Philadelphia at Florida).  St. Louis visits Dallas at 9 p.m. eastern (NHLN), and two games trailing an hour later (Nashville at Vancouver and Arizona at Edmonton).  Finally, this evening’s co-nightcaps get going at 10:30 p.m. eastern (New Jersey at Los Angeles and Washington at San Jose).

    Four of today’s games are divisional rivalries (Colorado at Winnipeg, Toronto at Ottawa, St. Louis at Dallas and Arizona at Edmonton), and another set of four are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (New York at Boston, New York at Detroit, St. Louis at Dallas and Washington at San Jose).

    Although today marks the first return of Colin Greening and Milan Michálek to the Canadian Tire Centre since being traded on February 9, the game that most attracts my attention is St. Louis at Dallas, as the winner takes the lead in both the Central Division and the Western Conference!

    Unknown-1CJhyiLmK

     

     

     

     

    Tonight’s game will be St. Louis‘ 16th in the DtFR Game of the Day series, where they own a 8-6-1 record.  Their most recent appearance in the series was Sunday, a 4-2 victory in Minnesota.  Dallas‘ win last night set their series record at 6-0-4 in 10 contests under our observation.

    The 40-20-9 St. Louis Blues are currently second best in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.  It has been their defense that has gotten them there, as the Notes allow the eighth fewest goals in the league, which has been necessary to cover up for scoring only the 11th fewest goals in the NHL.  A more in-depth analysis of the Blues‘ game can be found within Sunday’s article.

    St. Louis is riding a five game winning streak, with their most recent being yesterday’s 5-2 win over the Ducks.  With a regulation win this evening, they would move a point ahead of the Stars for the division and conference lead.

    Based on record alone, the 41-20-8 Dallas Stars are the class of the Central Division and Western Conference.  They’ve gotten there by scoring the most goals in the league, but some games have stayed tighter due to giving up the eighth most scores in the NHL.  A more in-depth analysis of Dallas‘ game can be found within yesterday’s article.

    Yesterday’s win over the Blackhawks was important, as it propelled the Stars into the top position in the division and conference, but the Blues are challenging for that exact spot this evening.  Dallas will retain the lead even with an overtime/shootout loss, but they would certainly prefer to have a three point lead in the standings.

    St. Louis has already won the season series 3-1-0, but their lone loss to the Stars this season did occur at the American Airlines Center.  These squads most recently met February 16 and played to a 2-1 overtime winner for the Blues in St. Louis.

    Some players to keep an eye on include Dallas‘ Jamie Benn (75 points [second most in the league], 33 goals [tied for fourth most in the league] and 42 assists [tied for eighth most in the league]), John Klingberg (43 assists [seventh most in the league]) and Tyler Seguin (70 points [tied for third most in the league] and 33 goals [tied for fourth most in the league]) & St. Louis‘ Jake Allen (five shutouts [tied for second most in the league], 2.24 GAA [eighth best in the league] and .923 save percentage [tied for eighth best in the league]), Colton Parayko (+22 [tied for eighth best in the league]) and Vladimir Tarasenko (32 goals [sixth most in the league]).

    I think that the Blues are fully capable of earning two points in Dallas this evening, as even their offense should be able to find success against the Stars‘ defense.

  • March 6 – Day 143 – A streak must end!

    The Anaheim Ducks started from the bottom, now they’re here: the top of the Pacific Division, as they beat won in Los Angeles 3-2 in yesterday’s Game of the Day.

    Anaheim‘s first goal wasn’t scored until 23:16 of play had passed, courtesy of a Ryan Kesler wrister, assisted by Second Star of the Game Jakob Silfverberg.  7:58 later, First Star Milan Lucic capitalized on a Cam Fowler slashing penalty, scoring a wrister for his 15th tally of the season, assisted by Vincent Lecavalier and Jonathan Quick.  With 4:03 remaining in the second period, the Ducks scored their second goal off a David Perron power play tip-in, assisted by Fowler and Sami Vatanen (his 28th helper of the season), giving them a 2-1 lead they would keep into the intermission.

    2:24 after resuming play, the Ducks scored their eventual game winner, a Silfverberg power play wrister, assisted by Rickard Rakell (his 19th helper of the season) and Hampus Lindholm.  It became the winner due to Drew Doughty’s power play wrister finding the net only 1:03 later, assisted by Lucic and Anze Kopitar (his 36th helper of the season), but the Kings were unable to level the score before the final horn.

    Third Star Frederik Andersen earns the win after saving 32 of 34 shots faced (94.1%), while Quick takes the loss, saving 19 of 22 (86.4%).

    After the second straight road win in the DtFR Game of the Day series, the record stands at 64-36-13, favoring the home squads by 32 points over the roadies.

    Hope you enjoy matinee games, because a majority of this Sunday’s games are just that.  Four games drop the puck at 5 p.m. eastern (Detroit at Chicago [NHLN], Dallas at Ottawa, Pittsburgh at New Jersey and the New York Islanders at the New York Rangers).  Edmonton at Winnipeg gets started at the usual time of 7 p.m. eastern, followed an hour later by this evening’s nightcap, St. Louis at Minnesota (NBCSN).

    Half of today’s games are divisional matchups (Pittsburgh at New Jersey, Islanders at Rangers and St. Louis at Minnesota), and another set of three feature teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (Detroit at Chicago, Islanders at Rangers and St. Louis at Minnesota).  St. Louis at Minnesota is also a rematch of one of last season’s Western Conference Quarterfinals.

    As usual, I try to choose the game that qualifies for the most of those lists, and today is no exception.  Off to the State of Hockey!

    Unknown-1Unknown-2

     

     

     

     

    Tonight’s game will be St. Louis‘ 15th appearance in our series where they own a 7-6-1 record.  Their most recent showing under our supervision was February 27, a horrendous five goal shutout loss in Nashville.  Minnesota has been featured eight times before tonight’s game, and own a 5-3-0 record in such games.  Their most recent showing in the series was this Tuesday, a 6-3 victory over the Avalanche to propel them into a playoff position.

    The 37-20-9 St. Louis Blues currently sit in third place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.  To get to that position, they’ve played the ninth best defense in the league, but they’ve been held back by the 11th worst offense.

    So far this season, the Notes have allowed only 1966 shots to reach 20-13-3 Jake Allen and co., of which they’ve collectively saved 92.5% for 162 goals against, the ninth fewest in the league.  St. Louis intensifies their efforts on their second ranked penalty kill, neutralizing 86.34% of their infractions for 31 power play goals against.

    Even with Vladimir Tarasenko’s team leading 236 shots, the Blues have fired the puck 1970 times, with only 8.2% finding the back of the net for 166 goals (led by Tarasenko’s 30 tallies), 11th fewest in the league.  Although the overall success hasn’t been there for the Blues, the offensive special team has also been a force to be reckoned with, scoring on 21.81% of opportunities, good for 41 power play goals (led by Tarasenko’s dozen), the sixth best rate in the NHL.

    The Blues are currently riding a two game win streak, with their most recent being a 4-3 marathon shootout victory in Ottawa on Tuesday.  A St. Louis win paired with a Dallas loss pulls the Blues into a tie with the Stars for second place, but Dallas would still own the regulation+overtime win tiebreaker.

    The 31-25-10 Minnesota Wild currently occupy fifth place in the Central Division and eighth in the Western Conference, good enough for the second wildcard.  To get to that position, they’ve played the 10th best defense, paired with the 15th worst offense.  A more in-depth analysis of their play can be found within Tuesday’s article.

    Minnesota is currently riding a three game winning streak, with their most recent being 2-1 victory in Toronto on Thursday.  A win by the Wild is doubly effective, as it would not only pull them within four points of Nashville, who is currently leading them for the top wildcard spot, but it would also improve their lead over Colorado, the team chasing them for the second wildcard spot, to four points.

    Minnesota currently leads the season series 2-1-1, but it was St. Louis who won the last meeting exactly a month ago 4-1.  These squads also met in the playoffs last year, where the Wild beat the Blues four games to two in the Western Quarterfinals.

    Some players to keep an eye on in this evening’s game include Minnesota‘s Devan Dubnyk (four shutouts [tied for fifth best in the league]) & St. Louis‘ Allen (five shutouts [tied for second most in the league]) and Tarasenko (30 goals [sixth most in the league]).

    Both squads enter this evening’s game well rested and riding a win streak.  Seeing as Minnesota is playing host and has the better offense of the two, I think it will be the Wild taking two points this evening, but I don’t think it’s too far fetched that it won’t require overtime or a shootout.

  • February 27 – Day 135 – Goin’ Country

    Tampa Bay only needed one goal to win in New Jersey in yesterday’s Game of the Day, but they scored four to ensure the victory.

    Alex Killorn provided the game-winner, a wrister after 15:36 of play.  He was assisted by Second Star of the Game Steven Stamkos (his 22nd helper of the season) and Ryan Callahan.

    The first of two insurance goals in the second period found the back of the net at the 13:02 mark, courtesy of a Third Star Ondrej Palat wrister assisted by Tyler Johnson (his 16th helper of the season).  Stamkos scored his 27th goal of the season with 1:06 remaining in the second, assisted by Anton Stralman and Ryan Callahan.  The 3-0 Bolt lead held into the second intermission.

    The final goal of the game was struck at the 11:12 mark, scored by Matthew Carle, who was assisted by Palat and Andrej Sustr (his 14th helper of the season).

    First Star Ben Bishop earns the win after saving all 21 shots he faced, while Cory Schneider takes the loss after saving only 32 of 36 (88.9%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 60-33-12, favoring the home squad by 31 points over the roadies.

    We’ve got an exciting lineup of games taking place today, as 18 teams are in action.  The first puck drop is at 1 p.m. eastern, when Arizona visits Philadelphia.  Three games get started at 3 p.m. eastern (St. Louis at Nashville, Winnipeg at Pittsburgh and Florida at Columbus), followed an hour later by the New York Rangers at Dallas (NHLN).  Toronto visits Montréal at the usual starting time of 7 p.m. eastern, trailed an hour later by Detroit at Colorado (NBC), the last outdoor game of the season.  When the clock strikes 10 p.m. eastern, the Ottawa at Calgary game will commence, trailed an hour later by this evening’s nightcap, Buffalo at Los Angeles.

    Two of tomorrow’s games are divisional rivalries (St. Louis at Nashville and Toronto at Montréal), while three are between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs (St. Louis at Nashville, New York at Dallas and Detroit at Colorado).  The Arizona at Philadelphia game is also the first return of Nicklas Grossmann back to the Wells Fargo Center since being traded in June.

    The game that sticks out most from those lists is the St. Louis–Nashville game, as win by the Predators would pull them within six points of the third-place Blues.

    Unknown-1Unknown

     

     

     

    Tonight’s game will be St. Louis‘ 14th in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 7-5-1 record.  Their most recent showing in the series was Monday’s 6-3 loss on home ice to the Sharks.  Nashville won their most recent game in the series, a 3-1 victory in Chicago on Thursday.  That win set their series record at 3-3-1.

    The 35-19-9 St. Louis Blues currently sit in third place in both the Central Division and the Western Conference.  It has been the defense that has earned that position, as it ranks ninth-best in the league, because the offense’s 157 goals is the 11th-fewest.  A more in-depth analysis of the Notes‘ game can be found within Monday’s post.

    St. Louis is currently riding a two-game losing skid, with their most recent being a 2-1 home loss to the Rangers on Thursday.  With a win this afternoon, the Blues pull into a tie with Chicago for second place in the division, but remain in third due to losing the games played tiebreaker.

    The 30-21-11 Nashville Predators currently occupy fourth-place in the Central Division and sixth in the Western Conference, good enough for the top wildcard spot.  They’ve achieved that position by playing a balanced game, with the 13th-best defense and the 14th-best offense.  A more in-depth analysis of Nashville‘s game can be found within Thursday’s article.

    The Preds are currently riding a three-game winning streak, with their most recent being their 3-1 victory in Chicago on Thursday.  While a win would pull them within six points of the Blues for third place, it more importantly maintains at least a three point lead over the Avalanche in the race for the higher wildcard spot.

    St. Louis has already won the season series 4-0-0 (winning the most recent meeting 1-0 on February 2), and given their current streak, will be very interested in completing the season sweep.  That being said, the Predators are playing some of the best hockey they’ve played all season, so they will not go down easily.

    Some players to keep an eye on in this afternoon’s game include Nashville‘s Roman Josi (44 points, 14 of which were power play assists, and 145 blocks [all lead the team]) and Shea Weber (11 power play goals and 133 hits [both lead the team]) & St. Louis‘ Jake Allen (five shutouts [tied for second-most in the league] and 2.17 GAA [seventh-best in the league]) and Vladimir Tarasenko (29 goals [sixth-most in the league]).

    Similar to their last meeting, I’m predicting a low scoring game.  The Blues‘ defense will easily take care of Nashville‘s scoring threats, but will probably find it difficult to score themselves.  That being said, I think the Blues can complete the season sweep.

  • February 22 – Day 130 – Theme from Jaws

    Yesterday’s Game of the Day between the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers was a showing of excellent goaltending, as the only goal of the game was scored after 61:59 of play by the Blueshirts.

    It came courtesy of Kevin Klein on a wrister assisted by Kevin Hayes (his 18th helper of the season) and Chris Kreider.

    Henrik Lundqvist earns the win after saving all 22 shots he faced, and Jimmy Howard takes the overtime loss after saving all but one of his 30 shots faced (96.7%).

    The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at 58-30-12, favoring the home squads by 33 points over the roadies.

    Only four games are being played this Monday, and half of them drop the puck at 7 p.m. eastern (Columbus at Boston and Arizona at Washington), followed half an hour later by Nashville at Montréal.  This evening’s night cap drops the puck at 8 p.m. eastern when San Jose visits St. Louis (NBCSN).

    None of tonight’s games are divisional rivalries, and San Jose–St. Louis is the only contest between teams currently qualifying for the playoffs.  Because of that, we head to the Scottrade Center!

    Unknown-3Unknown-1

     

     

     

     

    If these logos were emojis, this song is what they would be trying to communicate.

    Tonight’s game is San Jose‘s sixth in the Game of the Day series, where they own a 3-2-0 record, and their first since beating the Stars 4-3 in overtime in the Tank on January 16.  St. Louis has been featured a dozen times before this evening’s game, and own a 7-4-1 record in the series, with their most recent being a 2-1 overtime winner against the Stars on Tuesday.

    The 31-21-5 San Jose Sharks currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference.  To get to that position, they’ve played a top-10 offense paired with the 13th-best defense.

    Led by Brent Burns’ 249 shots, the Sharks have fired the puck an incredible 1714 times, with 9.6% finding the back of the net for 168 goals (led by Joe Pavelski’s 26 tallies), seventh-most in the NHL.  Much of that success can be attributed to San Jose‘s power play, which capitalizes on 22.16% of opposing penalties for 43 extra-man goals (led by Pavelski’s eight).

    The defense has been no slouch themselves, as the Sharks have allowed only 1574 shots (led by Burns’ 114 blocks) to reach 28-16-3 Martin Jones and co., of which they’ve saved 91% for 154 goals against, 13th-fewest in the league.  Probably the biggest holes in San Jose‘s game has been their penalty kill, which neutralizes a 15th-worst 80.47% of penalties for 33 power play goals against.

    The Sharks‘ last result was a 5-2 loss in Carolina on Friday that ended their three-game win streak.  Should San Jose earn the win this evening, they will close the gap between them and second place Anaheim to one point.

    The 35-17-9 St. Louis Blues currently occupy third place in the Central Division and the Western Conference.  They play the seventh-best defense in the league, but it is paired with an offense that has scored 14th-fewest goals.  A more in-depth analysis of St. Louis‘ game can be found within last Tuesday’s post.

    St. Louis is currently riding a best in the league five-game win streak, with their most recent being a 6-4 victory in Arizona on Saturday.  Should the Blues earn the win this evening, they will jump the Stars for second place in both the Central and Western Conference by a point, although Dallas will have two fewer games played, by virtue of losing a regulation+overtime wins tiebreaker with the Blackhawks.

    These squads have only met up once this season, with San Jose winning 3-1 in St. Louis on February 4.

    Some players to keep an eye on in tonight’s game include San Jose‘s Jones (five shutouts [tied for second-most in the league] and 28 wins [tied for fourth-most in the league]), Pavelski (26 goals [seventh-most in the league] and 54 points [tied for ninth-most in the league]) and Joe Thornton (39 assists [tied for fifth-most in the league]) & St. Louis‘ Jake Allen (five shutouts [tied for second-most in the league], 2.17 GAA [tied for sixth-best in the league] and .924 save percentage [tied for eighth-best in the league]) or Brian Elliott (.931 save percentage [leads the league] and 2.06 GAA [tied for best in the league]), Colton Parayko (+22 [tied for fourth-best in the league]) and Vladimir Tarasenko (28 goals [sixth-most in the league]).

    Ah, the point of the post has come where I have to make a prediction.  It is well documented across this site my allegiance to the Notes, which is what makes this prediction even more difficult.  Frankly, I think San Jose is fully capable of beating St. Louis regardless of location, made evident on February 4, but the Blues are one of, if not the hottest team in the NHL right now.  Based solely on stats, I am leaning towards the Sharks taking their second win in the season series.