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  • Game Recap – 1/15/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Nashville Predators

    Game Recap – 1/15/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Nashville Predators

    Washington Capitals (27-13-5 59pts) v. Nashville Predators (27-16-4 58pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    To start this game, there was some good pace between both the Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators, but it would be the Predators who would strike first when they pick off a pass from Tom Wilson to Alex Ovechkin and Mattias Ekholm sends Viktor Arvidsson streaking into the Capitals zone for the first goal of the game. The Capitals would respond well with a couple shifts, but their aggressiveness caused them to give up a few too many odd man rushes and the Predators would capitalize as Nick Bonino would score to make it 2-0 on a 2-1 break with Colton Sissons. The rest of the period would show some more good back and forth, but the Predators were very good at creating odd man rushes, and breaking up the Capitals plays in the offensive zone.

     

    To start the second period, the Predators would strike fast as Arvidsson would deflect a PK Subban point shot for his second goal of the game. Then some frustration would boil over as Jakub Vrana would get called for Slashing in the neutral zone behind the play to give the Predators the first powerplay of the game. Once the penalty was killed the Capitals would surge with a really strong shift that featured Wilson almost scoring but getting the post instead, and eventually drawing a penalty against the Predators for their first powerplay of the game. On the powerplay the Capitals would make the penalty killers move around and scramble, and then it would be a point blast from John Carlson that would go wide on purpose for Nicklas Backstrom to tip in for the powerplay goal. The Capitals would keep that fire burning as they would dominate at 5 on 5 for the next few shifts, and draw another tripping penalty on the Predators to go back on the powerplay. However, a horrible zone entry by Backstrom would result in Ryan Johansen chipping the puck up to Arvidsson who would score his second breakaway goal for the hat trick. Then on a one on one play into the zone, despite Jonas Siegenthaler’s best efforts, Rocco Grimaldi would make a really good move and an even better backhand shot to beat Pheonix Copley to make it 5-1. Then in the wanning seconds of the second period, Nick Bonino would tip in a point from Mattias Ekholm to make it 6-1.

     

    The 3rd period happened. Cool if we don’t talk about it? Yea… Thanks for understanding.

     

    Lineups:

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie

    Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly

    Dmitrij Jaskin — Nic Dowd — Travis Boyd

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen

    Brooks Orpik — Jonas Siegenthaler

    Pheonix Copley

    Braden Holtby

    Scratched: Devante Smith-Pelly, Chandler Stephenson, Madison Bowey

    Injured: Christian Djoos (thigh)

     

    Nashville Predators:

    Filip Forsberg — Ryan Johansen — Viktor Arvidsson

    Kevin Fiala — Colton Sissons — Craig Smith

    Calle Jarnkrok — Nick Bonino — Austin Watson

    Ryan Hartman — Frederick Gaudreau — Rocco Grimaldi

    Roman Josi — P.K. Subban

    Mattias Ekholm — Ryan Ellis

    Dan Hamhuis — Yannick Weber

    Juuse Saros

    Pekka Rinne

    Scratched: Zac Rinaldo, Matt Irwin, Anthony Bitetto

    Injured: Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Kyle Turris (lower body)

     

    First Period:

    Predators Goal – 3:45 – Viktor Arvidsson (15) from Mattias Ekholm (29) and Filip Forsberg (9)

    Predators Goal – 10:33 – Nick Bonino (10) from Colton Sissons (12)

     

    End of 1st – WAS – 0       NAS – 2

    Shots              08                09

    Faceoffs         10                07

    Hits               09                  05

    PP                 0/0                 0/0

     

    Second Period:

    Predators Goal – 1:21 – Viktor Arvidsson (16) from PK Subban (14) and Ryan Johansen (33)

    Capitals Penalty – 1:55 – Jakub Vrana 2 minutes for Slashing

    Predators Penalty – 6:01 – PK Subban 2 minutes for Tripping

    Capitals PPG – 7:07 – Nicklas Backstrom (12) from John Carlson (37) and Alex Ovechkin (19)

    Predators Penalty – 11:41 – Calle Jarnkrok 2 minutes for Tripping

    Predators SHG – 12:08 – Viktor Arvidsson (17) from Ryan Johansen (34)

    Predators Goal – 14:57 – Rocco Grimaldi (4) from unassisted

    Predators Penalty – 16:08 – Austin Watson 5 minute major for Fighting

    Capitals Penalty – 16:08 – Tom Wilson 5 minute major for Fighting

    Capitals Penalty – 17:05 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Hooking

    Predators Goal – 19:54 – Nick Bonino (11) from Mattias Ekholm (30) and Ryan Hartman (7)

     

    End of 2nd – WAS – 1        NAS – 6

    Shots               18                 20

    Faceoffs          17                 21

    Hits                 17                  10

    PP                   1/2                  0/2

     

    Third Period:

    Capitals Penalty – 4:54 – John Carlson 2 minutes for Slashing

    Predators Goal – 7:56 – Calle Jarnkrok (8) from Kevin Fiala (20)

    Capitals Penalty – 7:56 – John Carlson 2, 10, and Game for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

    Predators Penalty – 15:24 – PK Subban for Misconduct

    Capitals Penalty – 15:24 – Tom Wilson for Misconduct

    Capitals Goal – 16:11 – TJ Oshie (14) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (30) and Jakub Vrana (11)

    Capitals Penalty – 18:58 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Slashing

     

    End of 3rd – WAS – 2         NAS – 7

    Shots              28                   29

    Faceoffs        30                    28

    Hits               27                     12

    PP                 1/2                    0/5

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (27-14-5 59pts) v. NY Islanders (26-15-4 56pts)

    Nashville (28-16-4 60pts) v. Winnipeg (30-14-2 62pts)

  • Gameday Preview – 1/15/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Nashville Predators

    Gameday Preview – 1/15/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Nashville Predators

    Washington Capitals (27-13-5 59pts) v. Nashville Predators (27-16-4 58pts)

     

    Time: 8p EST

    Station: NBC Sports Washington, Fox Sports Tennessee, and SportsNet

     

    Preview:

    The Washington Capitals head to Nashville for the second game of their back to back as they take on the Predators. The Capitals who are struggling are looking to turn the tide and do so against the Predators. Biggest question is will the Capitals come to play, or will they go through the motions like they did last night against St. Louis?

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Projected Lineup:

    Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Brett Connolly — Lars Eller — Travis Boyd

    Chandler Stephenson — Andre Burakovsky — Devante Smith-Pelly

    Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Brooks Orpik — Madison Bowey

    Braden Holtby

    Pheonix Copley

    Scratched: Nic Dowd, Jonas Siegenthaler, Dmitrij Jaskin

    Injured: Christian Djoos (thigh)

     

    Keys to the Game:

    1. Play motivated

    The Capitals need to come out and play with some urgency because lately they look like they’ve been going through the motions, and that’s not good enough. The Capitals need to play motivated and play their game seriously and not lackadaisically.

     

    2. Stop being predictable

    The Capitals right now are very predictable with how they are playing and teams are exploiting that to their benefit. The Capitals need to mix it up, especially on the powerplay, and challenge the Predators.

     

    Nashville Predators:

    Projected Lineup:

    Filip Forsberg — Ryan Johansen — Viktor Arvidsson

    Kevin Fiala — Colton Sissons — Craig Smith

    Calle Jarnkrok — Nick Bonino — Austin Watson

    Ryan Hartman — Frederick Gaudreau — Rocco Grimaldi

    Roman Josi — Ryan Ellis

    Mattias Ekholm — P.K. Subban

    Dan Hamhuis — Matt Irwin

    Juuse Saros

    Pekka Rinne

    Scratched: Anthony Bitetto, Zac Rinaldo, Phillip Di Giuseppe

    Injured: Yannick Weber (undisclosed), Kyle Turris (lower body), Miikka Salomaki (upper body)

     

    Keys to the Game:

    1. Force the play

    The Capitals have been struggling at all aspects of the game lately and the Predators will need to exploit that to their advantage.

  • January 15th, 2019  —  News and Notes

    January 15th, 2019 — News and Notes

    These are your news and notes for Tuesday, January 15th, 2019.

     

    There were six contests in action yesterday.

     

     

     

    Colorado 6, TORONTO 3

    Colorado Avalanche’s Carl Soderberg would record a hat trick and in doing so would become the fourth player to have a hat trick in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history against the Maple Leafs.

     

    Colorado would go on to win the contest by the score of 6-3.
    https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/1085003568422273024

    The Maple Leafs were down 3-2 at the end of the 2nd period but a comeback would not be in the cards as Toronto would fall to the Avalanche 6-3.

    Steve Gardiner, TXHT’s Toronto Maple Leafs writer, has your recap of the games events at the following page…

    St. Louis 4, WASHINGTON 1

    Washington Capitals F Alex Ovechkin would score his 33rd goal of the season and would tie Dave Andreychuk for 14th place all time on the NHL’s goal list and score his 237th power-play goal.  With the power-play goal, he now has sole possession of sixth place.

     

    Washington would end up falling flat, allowing the Blues to score four unanswered goals and the Capitals would fall to the Blues by the score of 4-1.

     

    Washington’s Brooks Orpik would also go on to play in his 1,000th NHL game in this contest.

     

    St. Louis Blues David Perron would score his 16th goal on the season and in doing so he would become the first player to have at least a point in at least 11 consecutive games since Alexander Steen.

    TXHT has your full recap of this contest between the Blues and the Capitals at the following page.

     

    NEW JERSEY 8, Chicago 5

    The New Jersey Devils exploded for eight goals and would go on to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks by the score of 8-5.  The Devils are 4-1-0 in their last five home contests.

     

    Chicago’s Brent Seabrook would score his 100th career goal in this contest.

     

     

     

    Montreal 3, BOSTON 2 (OT)

     

    The Montreal Canadiens would face off against their rival, the Boston Bruins, and would come away with the 3-2 win in overtime.

     

    Montreal’s Jeff Petry would score the game winner, just 15 seconds into the overtime frame.

     

     

    PHILADELPHIA 7, Minnesota 4

    The Philadelphia Flyers would face off against the Minnesota Wild and they would come away with the 7-4 win.

     

    The Flyers James van Riemsdyk would net a hat trick and Wayne Simmonds and Nolan Patrick would both have two goals each in the contest.

     

    Stats graphic in the contest between the Flyers and Wild

     

     

     

    EDMONTON 7, Buffalo 2

    Edmonton’s Milan Lucic would have two goals in the contest and help the Edmonton Oilers crush the Buffalo Sabres 7-2.  This would be Lucic’s first multi-goal game in nearly two years.

    Edmonton goaltender Mikko Koskinen would have 41 saves in the game, good for a .953 save percentage.  Five other skaters would score in an overall good offensive effort for the Oilers.

     

    There are 10 games on the NHL schedule today…

     

     

     

    For more news, notes, information, and stats…

  • Colorado Avalanche vs Toronto Maple Leafs – 14/1/2019 – Game Day Preview & Recap

    Colorado Avalanche vs Toronto Maple Leafs – 14/1/2019 – Game Day Preview & Recap

    Gameday Preview:  Colorado vs Toronto Maple Leafs

    Time: Saturday, January 14th,  2019

    Toronto: 28-14-2 for 58 points

    Colorado: 20-17-8 for 48 points

    The Toronto Maple Leafs look to come back from a close loss and a game full of giveaways and jump back into the winning column against the struggling Colorado Avalanche

    Top Scorers/Goalie Matchup

    Mitch Marner –58 points (17 goals 41 assists)
    John Tavares – 50 points (29 goals 21 assists) 54% on face-offs
    Morgan Rielly – 46 points (13 goals 33 assists)
    Auston Matthews – 39points (20 goals 19 assists) 53% on Face-offs)

    Mikko Rantanen – 68 points (20 goals 48 assists)
    Nathan MacKinnon– 66 points (26 goal 40 assist)
    Gabriel Landeskog- 51 points (27 goal 24 assists)
    Tyson Barrie – 32 points (5 goal 27 assists)

    Frederik Andersen
    20-9-1 2.50GAA .923SV%

    Philipp Grubauer
    9-5-3 3.29GAA .895SV%

    Lineups:

    Toronto:

    Andreas Johnsson – Auston Matthews – Kasperi Kapanen

    Mitch Marner – John Tavares – Zach Hyman

    Patrick Marleau – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander

    Connor Brown – Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier

     

    Morgan Rielly  – Ron Hainsey

    Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev

    Travis Dermott – Igor Ozhiganov

     

    Frederik Andersen

    Michael Hutchinson

     

    Scratched: Justin Holl & Martin Marincin

    Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back), Garrett Sparks (Concussion), Tyler Ennis (Leg)

    Suspension: None

     

    Colorado:

    Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen

    JT Compher – Alexander Kerfoot– Colin Wilson

    Matthew Nieto – Carl Soderberg – Matt Calvert

    Tyson Jost – Sheldon Dries – Sven Andrighetto

     

    Samuel Girard – Erik Johnson

    Ian Cole – Tyson Barrier

    Ryan Graves – Mark Barberio

     

    Philipp Grubauer

    Semyon Varlamov

     

    Scratched: None

    Injuries: Vladislav Kamenov, Nikita Zadorov

    Suspension: None

     

    Keys to Winning against Colorado:

    1. Hard Forecheck
      1. The defence ha been a weak spot for the Avalanche, attack them hard and furious
    2. Puck Possession
      1. Hem the big line of the Avs in their own zone so they can’t hurt you
    3. Johnsson, Kapanen, Matthews
      1. They built a great game in Boston they need to continue

    Gameday:

    First Period:

    Colorado Penalty – 06:47 – Nikita Zadorov, 2 minutes for Hooking

    Leafs Penalty – 19:20 – Travis Dermott, 2 minutes for Holding

     

    End of 1st – COL –0        TOR – 0

    Shots             12                  6

    Faceoffs     7/18              11/18

    Hits               8                     4

    PP                 0/1                 0/1

     

    Analysis

    Leafs played slow and sloppy in the first period. They couldn’t get a solid forecheck going.

     

    Need to Do:

    Get on the forecheck hassle the weak defence of Colorado

    Second Period:

    Leafs Goal–02:14 – Igor Ozhiganov (3), assisted by Morgan Rielly (34) and Auston Matthews (21)

    Leafs Goal–03:28 – Kasperi Kapanen (15), assisted by Andreas Johnsson (11)

    Colorado Goal–06:33 – Gabriel Landeskog (28), assisted by Tyson Barrie (28)

    Colorado Goal–09:56 – Mikko Rantanen (21), unassisted

    Colorado Penalty – 12:40 – Nikita Zadorov, 2 minutes for Boarding

    Colorado SH Goal–14:29 – Carl Soderberg (13), unassisted

    Toronto Penalty – 19:59 – John Tavares, 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 2nd – Colorado– 3          TOR – 2

    Shots              25                    12

    Faceoffs       14/36              22/36

    Hits              16                      8

    PP                 0/2                  0/2

     

    Analysis:

    Leafs come alive in the 2nd but once again thanks to the Jake Gardiner and giveaways the Leafs end up down at the end of the period.

     

    Need to Do:

    Buckle up defensively

     

    Third Period:

    Toronto Goal–06:00 – Mitch Marner (18), assisted by Travis Dermott (11) and Auston Matthews (22)

    Colorado Penalty – 06:20 – Nathan MacKinnon, 2 minutes for Roughing

    Toronto Penalty – 06:20 – Zach Hyman, 2 minutes for Roughing

    Colorado Goal–11:45– Carl Soderberg (14), unassisted

    Colorado Goal–17:09 – Matt Calvert (7), assisted by JT Compher (9), Colin Wilson(6)

    Colorado EN Goal–18:12 – Carl Soderberg (15), assisted by Ian Cole (9),

     

    End of 3rd – COL– 6       TOR – 3

    Shots             38                   20

    Faceoffs     21/54                33/54

    Hits               25                       13

    PP                0/2                    0/2

     

    Analysis:

    Leafs blow a 2-0 lead and look like a team that is struggling hard.

     

    Next Up:

    Colorado (21-17-8 50pts) vs Ottawa (17-24-5 39pts)

    Toronto (28-15-2 58pts) at Tampa (35-9-2 72pts)

  • Game Recap – 1/14/2019 – St. Louis Blues v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 1/14/2019 – St. Louis Blues v. Washington Capitals

    St. Louis Blues (19-20-4 42pts) v. Washington Capitals (27-12-5 59pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    After a slow start to the game, the Washington Capitals would get an opportunity when St. Louis Blues defender Vince Dunn would be called for boarding Brett Connolly, and after a sloppy start to the powerplay it would be Alex Ovechkin scoring his 33rd of the season on the powerplay to give the Capitals the 1-0 lead. After that powerplay goal, it would become an uneventful period for the Capitals as they would be forced into their own zone for a good amount of the second half of the period. It should also be noted that when the Capitals scored it was their second shot of the game after the Blues already had 7 on Pheonix Copley.

     

    To start the period it would be the Blues tying the game at one a piece when Ivan Barbashev snuck one glove slide along the post to beat Copley. However, the wound would be opened wider as Vince Dunn would shoot the puck that would take three weird bounces before going in, and then Ryan O’Reilly would be called for Tripping, but as soon as the penalty ended the Capitals would play poorly in their zone and David Perron would extend his point streak when he scored to give the Blues a 3-1 lead.

    This period would see the Capitals generate some chances, but nothing substantial before the end of the 2nd period.

     

    For the third period we would see about the same, plus a Blues powerplay goal by Vladimir Tarasenko to ice the game for the Blues over the Capitals 4-1.

     

     

    Lineups:

    St. Louis Blues:

    Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

    Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

    Pat Maroon — Oskar Sundqvist — Jordan Kyruo

    Jordan Nolan — Ivan Barbashev — Sammy Blais

    Joel Edmundson — Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn — Robert Bortuzzo

    Jake Allen

    Jordan Binnington

    Scratched: Robby Fabbri, Mackenzie MacEachern, Carl Gunnarsson

    Injured: Tyler Bozak (upper body), Alexander Steen (shoulder), Robert Thomas (upper body)

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Brett Connolly — Lars Eller — Andre Burakovsky

    Chandler Stephenson — Travis Boyd — Devante Smith-Pelly

    Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Brooks Orpik — Madison Bowey

    Pheonix Copley

    Braden Holtby

    Scratched: Nic Dowd, Dmitrij Jaskin, Jonas Siegenthaler

    Injured: Christian Djoos (thigh)

     

    First Period:

    Blues Penalty – 6:14 – Vince Dunn 2 minutes for Boarding

    Capitals PPG – 7:50 – Alex Ovechkin (33) from Dmitry Orlov (11) and Travis Boyd (9)

     

    End of 1st – STL – 0       WAS – 1

    Shots              14                07

    Faceoffs         08                07

    Hits               07                  07

    PP                 0/0                 1/1

     

    Second Period:

    Blues Goal – 3:18 – Ivan Barbashev (6) from unassisted

    Blues Goal – 5:11 – Vince Dunn (4) from Vladimir Tarasenko (14) and Jaden Schwartz (16)

    Blues Penalty – 5:22 – Ryan O’Reilly 2 minutes for Tripping

    Blues Goal – 8:00 – David Perron (16) from Vince Dunn (15) and Ryan O’Reilly (27)

    Blues Penalty – 15:00 – Pat Maroon 2 minutes fro Roughing

    Capitals Penalty – 15:00 – Tom Wilson 2 minutes for Roughing

     

    End of 2nd – STL – 3        WAS – 1

    Shots               28                 20

    Faceoffs          20                 14

    Hits                 16                  19

    PP                   0/0                  1/2

     

    Third Period:

    Capitals Penalty – 2:01 – Matt Niskanen 2 minutes for Hooking

    Blues Penalty – 3:07 – Vladimir Tarasenko 2 minutes for Holding

    Blues Penalty – 9:26 – Alex Ovechkin 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Blues PPG – 10:24 – Vladimir Tarasenko (15) from Ryan O’Reilly (28) and Alex Pietrangelo (12)

     

    End of 3rd – STL – 4         WAS – 1

    Shots              37                   29

    Faceoffs        33                    22

    Hits               22                     26

    PP                 1/2                    1/3

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (27-13-5 59pts) @ Nashville (27-16-4 58pts)

    St. Louis (20-20-4 44pts) @ NY Islanders (25-15-4 54pts)

  • NHL and NWHL Player of the Week announcements

    NHL and NWHL Player of the Week announcements

    The NHL announced the Three Stars of the Week for the week ending January 13th, 2019

     

     

    The First Star of the week went to Calgary Flames defenceman Mark Giordano.

     

    Giordano had an eight point week (three goals and five assists) over a four game period.

    Calgary would also have a perfect week for the now Western Conference leading Flames.  Giordano would have a three assist night (third on the season and fifth in his career) in the Flames 5-3 win over the Avalanche on January 9th.

    In a contest that took place last night, Giordano would play in his 800th NHL career game, Giordano would score twice and have an assist and help the Flames rout the Arizona Coyotes 7-1.

    Giordano has 47 points in 45 games played this season, had a rating of +7 on the week and has a rating of +36 on the season, the best for all players in the NHL.

     

     

    The Second Star of the Week went to St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington.

     

    Binnington in three games played this week stopped 74 of the 76 shots he faced and would finish the week with a perfect record of 3-0-0.

     

     

    Binnington made his first NHL start last Monday (January 7th) earning recording a shutout in the Blues 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Binnington would record 25 saves in that contest and he became the 35th goaltender in NHL history to have a shutout in his first NHL start and the second to record a shutout in an NHL debut since Rich Parent on January 26th, 1999 when the Blues faced off against the San Jose Sharks.

     

     

    In the next two contests, Binnington would only allow one goal each. The Blues would go on to defeat the Montreal Canadiens by the score of 4-1 on January 10th, recording 28 saves. In the next contest on January 12th, the Blues would defeat the Dallas Stars with a 3-1 win. Binnington in that contest would have 21 saves.

     

     

     

    The Third Star of the Week would go to Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel.

     

     

    Jake Guentzel would have five goals in three games and help the Pittsburgh Penguins get two victories which included their 10th win in the past 12 for a record of (10-2-0).

     

    Guentzel had one assist in the 5-1 the Penguins had over the Florida Panthers on January 8th.  He also recorded a hat trick in the Penguins 7-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks, which would also be the second on the season.  Guentzel would close out the week scoring both of the Penguins goals in the 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on January 12th.

     

    Guentzel leads all scores on the Penguins with 23 goals in 45 games played. In the past six contests, he has seven goals and three assists.

     

     

    NWHL

     

    The NWHL announced today that Minnesota Whitecaps forward Amy Menke has been named the NWHL Player of the Week presented by VEDA.

    Menke had two goals and three assists between the two contests for the Whitecaps over the weekend.  First in Minnesota’s 5-4 loss to the Boston Pride on Saturday night, Menke would have one goal and assisted on a goal scored by Kendall Coyne Schofield.  Menke in the Whitecaps 4-1 win over the Connecticut Whale yesterday had one goal and two assists in the first period. Menke’s second goal of the weekend would come in the second period.  Menke currently has seven points (4-3-7) in her first NWHL season.

  • Gameday Preview – 1/14/2019 – St. Louis Blues v. Washington Capitals

    Gameday Preview – 1/14/2019 – St. Louis Blues v. Washington Capitals

    St. Louis Blues (19-20-4 42pts) v. Washington Capitals (27-12-5 59pts)

     

    Time: 7p EST

    Station: NBC Sports Washington and Fox Sports Midwest

     

    Preview:

    The Washington Capitals and the St. Louis Blues are facing off for the 2nd and final time this season in a matter of two weeks. When these two faced off last on January 3rd it would be the Blues dominating the Capitals 5-2 in St. Louis. The Capitals will look to avenge that loss and return to their winning ways after their defeat to Columbus the other night. Meanwhile the Blues will be looking for their third straight victory.

     

    St. Louis Blues:

    Projected Lineup:

    Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

    Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

    Pat Maroon — Oskar Sundqvist — Jordan Kyruo

    Jordan Nolan — Ivan Barbashev — Sammy Blais

    Joel Edmundson — Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn — Robert Bortuzzo

    Jake Allen

    Jordan Binnington

    Scratched: Robby Fabbri, Mackenzie MacEachern, Carl Gunnarsson

    Injured: Tyler Bozak (upper body), Alexander Steen (shoulder), Robert Thomas (upper body)

     

    Keys to the Game:

    1. Force the play

    The reason the Blues were 5-2 victors over the Capitals on January 3rd is because they forced the play upon the Capitals. If they play with the same formula, and not deviate from their gameplan the Blues will have a very solid chance of sweeping the season series against the Capitals for the first time since 2014-15.

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Projected Lineup:

    Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Brett Connolly — Lars Eller — Andre Burakovsky

    Chandler Stephenson — Travis Boyd — Devante Smith-Pelly

    Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Brooks Orpik — Madison Bowey

    Pheonix Copley

    Braden Holtby

    Scratched: Nic Dowd, Dmitrij Jaskin, Jonas Siegenthaler

    Injured: Christian Djoos (thigh)

     

    Keys to the Game:

    1. Play Strong, Rise above

    The Capitals need to play a strong game against everyone from this point out, and it needs to start tonight against the Blues. The Capitals need to rise above and force the play upon their opponents in their own zone.

  • January 14th, 2019  —  News and Notes

    January 14th, 2019 — News and Notes

    Today is Monday, january 14th, 2019, and these are your news and notes.

     

    There were six games that took place yesterday.

     

    CAROLINA 6, Nashville 3

     

    Carolina Hurricanes Sebastian Aho would go on to record a hat trick in the contest and Nashville Predators Filip Forsberg would go on to have a two goal performance in the Carolina’s 6-3 win.

    Aho would be the fourth player in the franchise history of the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes to begin their career with the franchise and  have three seasons with at least 20 goals.

     

    Justin Williams would also extend his goal scoring streak to five games and be the sixth player to do this at the age of 37 or older.

     

    WINNIPEG 4, Anaheim 3 (OT)

    The Winnipeg Jets would win this contest with 11 seconds left to take down the Anaheim Ducks 4-3.  Winnipeg’s Bryan Little would score his 10th goal on the season with this game winner.

    Winnipeg Jets Patrik Laine would join a rare company when he scored his 25th goal on the season.

     

    He would be the seventh player in League history to have at least three 25 goal seasons before their 21st birthday.

     

    COLUMBUS 7, NY Rangers 5

     

    Before the contest between both teams, Rick Nash, who had played for both franchises in his career, participated in the ceremonial puck drop.

     

     

    Columbus would go on to win its third game in four days in this contest when they went on to defeat the New York Rangers by the score of 7-5.

     

     

    NY ISLANDERS 5, Tampa Bay 1

    The New York Islanders faced off against the Tampa Bay Lightning and would win the contest 5-1.  With the Islanders win, they would snap the Lightning’s 12 game win streak against Metropolitan division opponents.

     

    NY Islanders goaltender Thomas Griess would go on to have a 26 save performance in this contest to extend the hot streak that the Islanders have been on.  The team has won eight out of their last ten contests.

    The Lightning now has a record of 35-9-2 on the season, good for 72 points.

     

    VANCOUVER 5, Florida 1

    Vancouver’s Loui Eriksson would open up the scoring in the second period for the Canucks when he scored his eighth goal in the season, giving Vancouver the 1-0 lead at the 12:32 mark.

    Late in the third period, Brock Boeser and Jay Beagle would both score empty net goals, sealing the 5-1 win for the Canucks.

    Eriksson had a four-point night to top all scorers for points in the game.

     

    CALGARY 7, Arizona 1

    The Calgary Flames would take on the Arizona Coyotes last night and the Flames would drub the Coyotes, winning the contest by the score of 7-1.

    Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk and Mark Giordano would score twice in the contest and Johnny Gaudreau would score a goal and have an assist in the contest.

    Arizona’s lone goal would come on a power play from Jordan Oesterle late in the second period.  Arizona cold never get out of the box and would fall behind early.

    With this contest, the Flames would hold onto their best record in the Western Conference and now has a record of 30-13-4 (64 pts) Arizona has a record of 20-22-3 (43 pts).

     

    https://twitter.com/NHLFlames/status/1084696525958144000

     

    Today’s Schedule of Games…

     

     

     

    NWHL

     

    Saturday in the two NWHL contests…

     

    BOXSCORE: Buffalo Beauts 5, Metropolitan Riveters 1

     

     

    For the first time since the 2018 Isobel Cup Final last March, the Buffalo Beauts and Metropolitan Riveters faced off and the Beauts would walk away with a dominant 5-1 win over the Riveters at HarborCenter yesterday afternoon in the NWHL Twitter Game of the Week.

    Buffalo’s Hayley Scamurra would score twice and by doing so would tie teammate Maddie Elia for the lead in NWHL goals with nine on the season.

     

    BOXSCORE: Boston Pride 5, Minnesota Whitecaps 4

     

     

    In the contest between the Boston Pride and the Minnesota Whitecaps, The Pride went on to defeat the Whitecaps by the score of 5-4.

    This was a contest for the battle for first place overall in the NWHL standings and this contest was playded before a sold out crowd at the Warrior Ice Arena.

    This was the first contest since the Pride announced the new partnership with the NHL’s Boston Bruins.

    The scoring in this contest would be fast and furious as the Whitecaps would open up the scoring in the first period when Minnesota’s Kendall Coyne Schofield would score at the 3:25 mark.  Then Boston would even the score just 35 seconds later when Kaleigh Fratkin scored her second goal on the season.

    Then at the 6:24 mark, Boston’s Amanda Pelkey would score her fourth goal on the season.  Almost two minutes later, Minnesota’s Amanda Menke would even the score at 2 a piece.  After that, the Pride would score three unanswered goals to give the Pride a 5-2 lead at the end of the first period.

    The second and third periods were quiet on the scoring front for the Pride but the Whitecaps would score a goal in each period.  However, that would not be enough as the Minnesota Whitecaps would fall to the Pride in their first game on the weekend.

     

     

    Yesterday’s action in the NWHL…

     

    BOXSCORE: Minnesota Whitecaps 4, Connecticut Whale 1

     

     

    After falling to the Boston Pride 5-2 on Saturday night, the Minnesota Whitecaps would have a dominant performance against the Connecticut Whale and would defeat the Whale by the score of 4-1.

    Minnesota’s Janna Curtis would open up the scoring for the Whitecaps with her goal at the 6:58 mark in the first period, her sixth on the season.  Then about six minutes later, Hannah Brandt would score a goal on the power play to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead.

    Minnesota goaltender Amanda Leveille would once again have a contest with great saves and would register 26 saves in the contest.

    Amy Menke would have a great game, registering two assists before getting a goal of her own about halfway through the second period.

    Despite having four minutes of power play time in the third period, the Whale would not convert on the chances given and would fall to the Whitecaps.

     

    Upcoming games in the NWHL:

     

    • January 19: Connecticut Whale at Minnesota Whitecaps (Twitter Game of the Week)
    • January 20: Boston Pride at Metropolitan Riveters; Connecticut Whale at Minnesota Whitecaps
    • January 26: Boston Pride at Buffalo Beauts (Twitter Game of the Week)
    • February 2: Buffalo Beauts at Metropolitan Riveters (Twitter Game of the Week); Connecticut Whale at Boston Pride
  • Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs – 12/1/2019 – Game Recap

    Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs – 12/1/2019 – Game Recap

    Toronto Maple Leafs (28-13-2 58pts) v, Boston Bruins (26-15-4 56 pts)

    Lineups:

    Toronto:

    Andreas Johnsson – Auston Matthews – Kasperi Kapanen

    Mitch Marner – John Tavares – Zach Hyman

    Patrick Marleau – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander

    Connor Brown – Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier

     

    Morgan Rielly  – Ron Hainsey

    Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev

    Travis Dermott – Igor Ozhiganov

     

    Michael Hutchinson

    Kasimir Kaskisuo

    Scratched: Justin Holl & Martin Marincin

    Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back), Frederik Andersen (Flu), Garrett Sparks (Concussion), Tyler Ennis (Leg)

    Suspension: None

     

    Boston:

    Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk – David Krecji– David Backes

    Danton Heinen – Jakob Forback-Karlsson – Ryan Donato

    Sean Kuraly – Noel Acciari – Chris Wagner

     

    Zdeno Chara – Charlie MacVoy

    Torey Krug – Brandon Carlo

    Matt Grzelcyk – Kevan Miller

     

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

     

    Scratched: None

    Injuries: Urho Vaakanainen, Joakim Nordstrom

    Suspension: None

     

    Gameday:

    First Period:

    Bruins Goal – 18:21 – David Krejci (9) from Sean Kuraly (7) and Zdeno Chara (2)

    Leafs Penalty – 19:38 – John Tavares, 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 1st – BOS –1        TOR – 0

    Shots              9                  15

    Faceoffs     9/19              10/19

    Hits               9                     9

    PP                 0/1                 0/0

     

    Analysis

    Leafs came out with a relentless forecheck but a bad goal at the end of the period off a turnover by Nikita Zaitsev led to the Bruins to a 1-0 lead.

     

    Need to Do:

    Continue the forecheck, need to get keep the Bruins in the defensive zone.

     

    Second Period:

    Leafs Penalty – 02:40 – Andreas Johnsson, 2 minutes for Hooking

    Leafs Goal–07:37 – Andreas Johnsson (10), assisted by Kasperi Kapanen (12) and Auston Matthews (20)

    Bruins Penalty – 08:59 – Kevan Miller, 2 minutes for Holding

    Leafs PP Goal–09:30 – Mitch Marner (17), assisted by Nazem Kadri (17) and Kasperi Kapanen 2 (13)

    Bruins Goal–14:47 – Sean Kuraly (5), assisted by Chris Wagner (4) and Noel Acciari (3)

    Bruins Penalty – 16:10 – Patrice Bergeron, 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Bruins Goal–19:45 – David Pastrnak (26), assisted by Sean Kuraly 2 (8)

     

    End of 2nd – BOS– 3          TOR – 2

    Shots              19                    26

    Faceoffs       18/38              20/38

    Hits              10                      9

    PP                 0/2                  1/2

     

    Analysis:

    Leafs come alive in the 2nd but the Zaitsev/Gardiner defensive pairing puts them back behind again.

     

    Need to Do:

    Need a big third.

    Third Period:

     

    No Scoring

     

    End of 3rd – BOS– 3       TOR – 2

    Shots             29                   31

    Faceoffs     28/58                30/58

    Hits               29                       28

    PP                0/2                    1/2

     

    Analysis:

    Matthews had one open net to tie the game and missed the net. Leafs played a good game but a very bad night by the Zaitsev / Gardiner pairing led to all the goals.

     

    Next Up:

    Colorado (20-17-8 48pts) vs Toronto (28-14-2 58pts)

    Montreal (24-17-5 53pts) at Boston (26-15-4 56pts)

  • January 13th, 2019 — News and Notes

    Today is Sunday, January 13th, 2019, and these are your news and notes.

    Today’s news and notes will be very short and quick.

    There were 12 games that took place in the NHL yesterday.

     

    NEW JERSEY 3, Philadelphia 2

    https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1084219722361651201

     

    NY Rangers 2, NY ISLANDERS 1

     

     

    Tampa Bay 5, BUFFALO 3

     

    Buffalo Sabres Rasmus Dahlin would register his 20th assist in the contest and making him one of seven players in NHL history to have at least 20 assists before their 19th birthday.

     

    Boston 3, TORONTO 2

     

     

     

     

     

     

    MONTREAL 3, Colorado 0

    In the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche, Montreal would win their 3,500th game in franchise history.

     

    Columbus 2, WASHINGTON 1 (OT)

     

     

     

     

    Detroit 5, MINNESOTA 2

    Detroit Red Wings Tyler Bertuzzi would score a hat trick and play a key role in the Red Wings 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild last night.

     

    Vegas 4, CHICAGO 3 (OT)

    Vegas D Shea Theodore would score the first game-winner in franchise history in the contest to give the Golden Knights the  win.

     

    St. Louis 3, DALLAS 1

     

     

     

    SAN JOSE 4, Ottawa 1

    The San jose Sharks would win this contest by the score of 4-1 and would also mark the 1,000th game in defenceman Brent Burns career.

     

     

     

    Arizona 3, EDMONTON 2

     

     

    LA KINGS 5, Pittsburgh 2

     

     

     

     

     

     

    NWHL

     

     

    In the NWHL yesterday…