March NHL Game Thread

MoGator71

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Since it's March...
 
The Flyers had their typical nice bounce-back effort after an epic shitshow, following up a 7-3 stinker at home vs. San Jose with a nice 4-2 win over the Rangers. Dan Carcillo seems to be fitting in nicely over there, he was especially pesty/chirpy today but didn't really draw any penalties. He did get run pretty good by Zac Rinaldo.
 

Blacken

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Such is the power of Twitter that I'm actually finding myself pretty pissed off at the Canucks for starting Lack over Luongo in the Heritage Classic.
 

Greg29fan

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This is absolutely the stupidest outdoor game yet - two of the best teams in the league and all their skill is neutralized by the weather.
 

catomatic

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Um, MAF looked fairly awful tonight. So did the team Pitt team D—I think Emrick said something about 10 odd-man rushes given up. Plus Ca Change. The balance of league power looks much the same.
 

Greg29fan

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The Penguins were never going anywhere anyways.  Bruins are a far superior team, far superior coached.  Heck, the Pens may not even get that far.
 

Pumpsie

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Jaromir Jagr scored his 700th goal and 1,040th assist today.  He's 42 years old and he leads the team in goals, assists and shots on net. He's a +21.  The closest two Devils players are his linemates, Travis Zajac (+5) and Dainius Zubrus (+4) and the only reason they're second and third on the team is BECAUSE they're Jagr's linemates. 

To top it off, the guy has missed almost 6 full NHL seasons because he played in the KHL and because of work stoppages. Unreal.
 

MoGator71

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I feel like Jagr has kind of slipped under the radar a bit re: where he is on the all time scoring lists. Almost like Ron Francis sneaking up the assist leader board. And it's funny because they're 2 completely different players. Jagr is so flashy, while there was never anything flashy about Francis' game. Pretty sure with Jagr it's the time in Washington and the KHL, it seems like he's missed so much time that you're really surprised to see him where he is. 
 
He was never getting 1000 more points and catching Gretzky, and obviously bolting to the KHL was his choice, but just giving him the ~2 seasons he lost to 3 lockouts he'd easily be #2 all time. 
 
Fake edit: And he got me again, I pointed out his Caps tenure as "lost" time, and he was a point per game player in Washington. 
 

TFP

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And Ward with a great no look pass to give WASH the lead back.

What a horrific play by Ovechkin on that shortie too.
 

TFP

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Brutal hit from behind by Orlov on Brayden Schenn. Just exploded through his humbers and drove his head into the glass. 5 minute major upcoming.
 

TFP

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A bomb of a one timer from Voracek makes in 4-3. Still a lot of PP time left.
 

MiracleOfO2704

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cshea said:
NBC: It's "Hockey Day in America" Let's show the Heritage Classic in Canada!!! 
 
On top of that, rather than using an American crew, it's Gord Miller and Brian Englbom, better known as the TSN A crew.
 

veritas

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Some popular twitterers found Nick Schultz' brother's account, [twitter]ripper5505[/twitter] and have been retweeting tons of greatness.
 
https://twitter.com/mlse
https://twitter.com/mc79hockey
 
A few highlights before he deletes them:
 
 
All I want for Christmas. For my brother to play on a team that doesn't make me want to drive into oncoming traffic after watching them play.
 
If Yak gave the puck away like Ebs just did he wouldn't see the ice unless it was in his vodka. Yet Ebs keeps getting tossed over the boards
 
I wonder if the scout who thought Belov could play in the NHL still has a job? I know the GM does, but that is a story for another day
 
15 scratched, the next day the BMX'er apologizes, says it won't happen again. Fast forward a week, 15 scratched again. Told this time it is
 
Heaven forbid you'd actually yell at any of the players Eakins. You are paid to do this, at least pretend to be a coach. What a damn shame
 
Talk about putting a band aid on a cut from a chain saw, nice trade MacT you big talker. Maybe you should have wore a helmet when you played
 
My concept of the Chinese language is equivalent to Sam Gagne's concept of the Centre position in his own end. #thestickcheckwizard
 
It's a good thing Petrydish had the invisible man covered at the top of the circles on that goal. And one of the two guys 15 covers scores
 
 

kenneycb

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That one potentially doesn't look as bad as others.  I need to see more to see if it was a blatant boarding penalty or if it was more of a gliding to body the guy on the boards.  His elbow goes a little high but I feel like that's more because of the unexpected follow through as the Preds guy bends down and messes up the point of contact and he kinda just rides his back up.  Certainly need to see a more complete picture of the hit to get context.
 

TSC

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kenneycb said:
That one potentially doesn't look as bad as others.  I need to see more to see if it was a blatant boarding penalty or if it was more of a gliding to body the guy on the boards.  His elbow goes a little high but I feel like that's more because of the unexpected follow through as the Preds guy bends down and messes up the point of contact and he kinda just rides his back up.  Certainly need to see a more complete picture of the hit to get context.
Watch his left leg.
 

MoGator71

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So Tom Wilson has been blowing up Brayden Schenn and others all season, but when Luke Schenn puts a clean hit on a Cap he wants to fight? I'm really starting to dislike this guy. Granted I'd love him as a Flyer...he's like a jumbo Zac Rinaldo which is actually a little scary.
 

TFP

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Not to mention that at the beginning of the clip, Wilson blew up Schenn behind the net. I agree, that's bullshit for him to go after Schenn like that.
 
Solid left there from Schenn though.
 

MoGator71

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I wonder if Oates pushed them at all to go out and start taking the body a little more. At that point in the game Mike Green had already been run a few times, along with a couple other ones (Brouwer I think?). 
 
There's been a lot of nastiness with Caps-Flyers this year. They had a brawly preseason game that I didn't see, the blowout in Philly with the Ray Emery shenanigans, a couple of nasty Wilson hits on Brayden Schenn, the Orlov hit on Schenn on Sunday, and then last night's festivities. I wouldn't mind seeing the Rangers implode and leave us with a Flyers-Caps first round matchup. 
 

ForceAtHome

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I agree that Wilson didn't need to jump in there and start something with Luke Schenn. I'm never really a fan of that, especially on a clean hit. If there is any defense, he was protecting a non-tough guy (Ryan Stoa) making his NHL debut last night. It was also an awkward hit, although clean, that easily could have been perceived to Wilson from across the ice as dirty. Wilson, to his credit, didn't start fighting with Luke Schenn at first because Schenn couldn't get up. Wilson wasn't looking to jump him as many of these retaliatory fights begin. He easily could have taken a few cheapies there and likely blown up Schenn's face in the process, but it wasn't until Schenn got up and agreed to throw them that they began fighting.
 
In my opinion, Simmonds was the least classy player in all of that. He was the third man in twice. How he wasn't called for that is beyond me. He also instigated that entire second wave when he gave Stoa (still tangled on the ice) a shot to the face that prompted Erskine to come in to protect his guy. Lecavalier and Erskine got to shoving, and right when they were beginning to go, Simmonds (and Brayden Schenn) jumped Erskine in a 3-on-1. Then, when things finally separate and Erskine and Lecavalier are mid-fight, Simmonds grabs Erskine from behind which allows Lecavalier a punch at the head of a defenseless player. If the tables were turned and a Capital grabbed Lecavalier from behind while Erskine unloaded on his face, there would be outrage.
 

ForceAtHome

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Just saw that Erskine is out now with an "undisclosed upper-body injury." If that's a head injury/concussion because Simmonds held him in place while Lecavalier clocked him in the head... classy. Erskine has a history of concussions as well.
 
In other Caps news, Kuznetsov's contract in the KHL was officially terminated today. Hopefully he's in the lineup by the end of next week.
 

MoGator71

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ForceAtHome said:
Just saw that Erskine is out now with an "undisclosed upper-body injury." If that's a head injury/concussion because Simmonds held him in place while Lecavalier clocked him in the head... classy. Erskine has a history of concussions as well.
 
In other Caps news, Kuznetsov's contract in the KHL was officially terminated today. Hopefully he's in the lineup by the end of next week.
 
Yea, the reports were that he's coming. Could be a nice addition.
 
I'm not sure what Simmonds was doing there. He isn't generally a dirty player and all I can figure is he maybe wanted to step in for Lecavalier who isn't really a fighter, but Vinny continued to engage. I'd hate to think Simmonds was thinking something along the lines of "I'll hold him, you swing". That whole thing was kind of awkward, I think because of how Luke and Stoa were tangled up. Wilson steps in and the rest of the Flyers look at it as 2 Caps on their guy when it really wasn't. Then everything escalated. 
 

Greg29fan

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Absolute insanity the Canucks didn't trade Edler, Kesler, and a whole bunch of other guys and blow it up.  Team is predictably folding their tents.
 

ForceAtHome

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cshea said:
The Vancouver disaster keeps on rolling, they're down 4-0 in the 2nd to Dallas. Hard to see Torts and Gillis lasting much longer.
 
Bobby Lou chimes in from South Beach:
 
Seguin factored on all four of those goals as well (2+2). He jumped to 62 points in 61 games, putting him inside the top-10 in scoring.
 

ForceAtHome

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Greg29fan said:
Absolute insanity the Canucks didn't trade Edler, Kesler, and a whole bunch of other guys and blow it up.  Team is predictably folding their tents.
 
Kesler and Edler are both signed for multiple seasons after this. Given the the weak returns found on the market at the deadline, they may have figured it's better holding. They can still deal these guys over the offseason or next deadline when cap space is less of an issue. No harm in holding Kesler an extra two months if you can net more in return. I think the jury is still out with respect to these non-deals.
 

catomatic

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ForceAtHome said:
 
Seguin factored on all four of those goals as well (2+2). He jumped to 62 points in 61 games, putting him inside the top-10 in scoring.
Is 62 points and only +11 a mildly damning ratio, or no?
 

ForceAtHome

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catomatic said:
Is 62 points and only +11 a mildly damning ratio, or no?
 
I don't think so. Seguin just scored again to complete the hat trick and make it a 5 point night. That puts him up to +14 on the season, which trails only linemate Jamie Benn (+15) and Valeri Nichushkin (+17), who spent a lot of time on their line as well.
 
The thing is, Dallas had an even goal differential on the season coming into the game. They're not a great team and that's going to reflect in the +/- numbers. For comparison, the Bruins are second best in the NHL at +57 goals as a team. They're, on the whole, going to have strong numbers across the board. Looking quickly, Seguin appears to have excellent Corsi numbers, a great penalty differential, tough quality of competition, and a very good +/- for his team. None of that is terribly shocking if you've seen Seguin play though.
 
It doesn't show or say that Seguin has been a defensive stud, but he's at minimum more than making up for it with his offense. Guys like Garbutt, Horcoff, Fiddler, and Peverley are on the ice for for fewer 5-on-5 goals/60 perhaps indicating they're better defensive stoppers. But they score so much less that a lot of them have negative differentials. Benn and Seguin, while on the ice for more goals against, are still each over +1 goal per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 due to extremely high scoring rates. Jamie Benn is 4th in the NHL in 5-on-5 GF/60 and Seguin is 19th. (And these stats are before Seguin's 5 point night is factored in.) They are flat out producing.
 

Dalton Jones

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Guy's going to be a scoring machine on teams that never win anything.
 

catomatic

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ForceAtHome said:
 
I don't think so. Seguin just scored again to complete the hat trick and make it a 5 point night. That puts him up to +14 on the season, which trails only linemate Jamie Benn (+15) and Valeri Nichushkin (+17), who spent a lot of time on their line as well.
 
The thing is, Dallas had an even goal differential on the season coming into the game. They're not a great team and that's going to reflect in the +/- numbers. For comparison, the Bruins are second best in the NHL at +57 goals as a team. They're, on the whole, going to have strong numbers across the board. Looking quickly, Seguin appears to have excellent Corsi numbers, a great penalty differential, tough quality of competition, and a very good +/- for his team. None of that is terribly shocking if you've seen Seguin play though.
 
It doesn't show or say that Seguin has been a defensive stud, but he's at minimum more than making up for it with his offense. Guys like Garbutt, Horcoff, Fiddler, and Peverley are on the ice for for fewer 5-on-5 goals/60 perhaps indicating they're better defensive stoppers. But they score so much less that a lot of them have negative differentials. Benn and Seguin, while on the ice for more goals against, are still each over +1 goal per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 due to extremely high scoring rates. Jamie Benn is 4th in the NHL in 5-on-5 GF/60 and Seguin is 19th. (And these stats are before Seguin's 5 point night is factored in.) They are flat out producing.
Very illuminating, thank you. No schadenfreude content, though…… 
 

ForceAtHome

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catomatic said:
Very illuminating, thank you. No schadenfreude content, though…… 
 
To give some context, after Crosby's poor night and Seguin's huge evening, Crosby is just +7 while Seguin is +14 on the season. And this is with Pittsburgh as a team at +43 goals and Dallas at just +5. I think that says all you need to know about how +/- is imperfect.
 
Of the 17 players with 60 or more points this season, just six are ahead of Seguin in +/-. All six players ahead of Seguin are from one of just three teams: Anaheim (Getzlaf, Perry), San Jose (Pavelski, Thornton), and Chicago (Sharp, Toews). Anaheim, San Jose, and Chicago are all top-6 in the NHL in goal differential. The next players on the scoring list ahead of Seguin in +/- are Kunitz and Krejci. Pittsburgh or Boston are both top-5 in goal differential.
 
Speaking of team goal differential, look at the top-23 individuals in +/- this year. Every player is from Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago, Anaheim, Los Angeles, St. Louis, or San Jose. That's 7 of the top-8 goal differential teams (Colorado is 7th and not represented in the top-22).
 
Out of the 19 teams with an equal or worse goal differential compared to Dallas, just three forwards (aside from his linemates) have a better +/- than Seguin this season: Jagr, Zetterberg, and Turris. It's an imperfect way of looking at things, but it makes it clear that Seguin has been extremely valuable to Dallas this year.
 

Greg29fan

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You're being very kind calling Sid's night poor and not disgraceful or atrocious or some other JulE6 word.
 

Greg29fan

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kenneycb said:
Are you ever happy? I read all your posts in a Debbie Downer tone with the sad trombone afterwards.
 
Losing a two goal lead and watching the best player in the game put up a -5 and act like he doesn't give a shit (as shown above) tends to annoy me.  
 
The Sharks did the same stuff the Bruins always do to Pittsburgh (out-physical them, put them back on their heels, and then commence beating their brains in).  And the Penguins organization doesn't seem to give a shit given we have the same head coach who got his pants pulled down and the same soft as Charmin bottom six that couldn't win a battle against the French Army.
 

Fred in Lynn

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ForceAtHome said:
In my opinion, Simmonds was the least classy player in all of that. He was the third man in twice. How he wasn't called for that is beyond me. He also instigated that entire second wave when he gave Stoa (still tangled on the ice) a shot to the face that prompted Erskine to come in to protect his guy. Lecavalier and Erskine got to shoving, and right when they were beginning to go, Simmonds (and Brayden Schenn) jumped Erskine in a 3-on-1. Then, when things finally separate and Erskine and Lecavalier are mid-fight, Simmonds grabs Erskine from behind which allows Lecavalier a punch at the head of a defenseless player. If the tables were turned and a Capital grabbed Lecavalier from behind while Erskine unloaded on his face, there would be outrage.
I'm a little surprised Simmonds didn't get tossed, too, but none of Schrader, Eddie, or Pierre touched on the history between Erskine and Simmonds, going back to last year when Erskine concussed Simmonds with a dirty elbow to the head (he got three games for it). Those two were chatting it up the whole first period before that little melee, and were doing just that after Schenn hit Stoa. I have no idea why Erskine went at Lecavalier instead.