March NHL Game Thread

[MoGator71]

 
For what it's worth, Backstrom has centered Ovechkin for over half the season. Though, considering how little they've produced together at 5-on-5, I'm not sure that's even relevant. Still, we're talking about a 26-year-old who has been at a point per game for his career (483 points in 483 games). There's only six active players in the NHL over 500 points at a point per game: Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, Jagr, Selanne, Spezza. Backstrom is in elite company.
 
As for Oates, he damn near refuses to play guys on their off wing. Oates is the reason Ovechkin is no longer a LW and he wouldn't let 11-year NHL vet Martin Erat play on his normal RW. Oates is very particular about having handedness of defensemen match up as well, further emphasizing Washington's need for a LH shooting defenseman.

 
I wonder how much if at all that contributed to Erat not really working out in DC. I'm trying to think back to Oates' playing career and whether he played much with guys who played their off-wing. Obviously the guys I associate him with are right-shot RWs Cam Neely and Brett Hull. The only really prominent off-wing guy he might have played with is Shanahan, though if memory serves Shanny played mostly with Nelson Emerson. I think he was teammates with Jagr for a year but I don't remember if they played on the same line or not.
 
I get not wanting guys to do it. I look at the Flyers roster and all the RWs they have and I feel like the roster "works" better if Jake Voracek plays LW. But at some point you have to play guys at their natural position. Would be funny if the Caps signed Vanek and Oates told him to play right.

 

[Greg29fan]

The thing about Bylsma is... he ain't gonna have Crosby and Malkin for his entire career.

 
Hopefully he'll only have them for a few more weeks.

 

[MoGator71]

Flyers with a quick start vs. Dallas, 2-0 after 1. Wayne Simmonds got his 13th PPG, he's tied for 2nd in the league. The Flyer PP has looked very good lately, not necessarily scoring every time but they've created consistent quality chances on almost every PP.
 

 
Hopefully he'll only have them for a few more weeks.

 
I was waiting for that.
 
Is that a possibility? My sense is that he's completely safe but I don't pay nearly as much attention to the Pens as you do.

 

[Greg29fan]

Is that a possibility?

 
Maybe if they get humiliated again, but then it all needs to be blown up.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Pens losing 2-0

 

[Ed Hillel]

And fuck me, it's 2-2.

 

[Ed Hillel]

And now a 5 on 3 for Pitt.
 
Well, that escalated quickly.
 
3-2 Pitt, 3 goals in 150 seconds. GJGE, Hockeytown USA.

 

[McDrew]

Detroit scores 2 in just over 2 minutes halfway through the third to go up 4-3. 

 

[timlinin8th]

Detroit scores 2 in just over 2 minutes halfway through the third to go up 4-3. 

And now its tied again. Both teams have given up on playing D.

 

[Salem's Lot]

David Legwand just butt ended Malkin right in the balls. Five and game. Probably a Shanaban too.

 

[Greg29fan]

5 minute power play with that talent and they get zip

 

[The Napkin]

this will be interesting...

 

[timlinin8th]

this will be interesting...

Looks like yet another puck in off a Pitt player.... Oof

 

[Salem's Lot]

And it goes off Scuderi with .4 seconds left for a Detroit win. Very entertaining game.

 

[Greg29fan]

Three own goals.  Penstown

 

[TSC]

Interesting night around the NHL last night.

Here's the Legwand butt-end to Malkins balls:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs7eDv54iwE
 
Ales Hemsky did this:
 

 

 
Nate Prosser from the Wild got 5 and a game for this (note he's the one GETTING hit):
 

 
James Neal went James Nealing:
 

 

[TFP]

Holy shit how did Prosser get ejected for THAT?? Seriously?

 

[TSC]

There was also a real nice flop by Pacioretti before a fight in the MTL/CLS game.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYRIZ5H0Cik

 

[PedroSpecialK]

He's one of the less likable players in the game. Owner of a sweet 0-1-1 stat line in 4 games in Sochi to boot.

 

[The Napkin]

$5000 for both Legwand and Neal. So yeah.

 

[MoGator71]

That was an epic dive by Max Pac but he could do so much more...next time I expect the Claude Lemieux roll with a half twist.
 
Also Legwand should have been suspended forever for that shit. Sacktapping someone is on the same level as biting and spitting. 10 for the sacktap and 5 for making me defend a Penguin.

 

[Fred in Lynn]

That was an epic dive by Max Pac but he could do so much more...next time I expect the Claude Lemieux roll with a half twist.
 
Also Legwand should have been suspended forever for that shit. Sacktapping someone is on the same level as biting and spitting. 10 for the sacktap and 5 for making me defend a Penguin.

I'm a firm believer that that punishment should be primarily based on the act, not the outcome, so for that it wouldn't be inappropriate for Legwand to get something. However, the NHL doesn't do it that way, and I'm not so sure Malkin's reaction was accurately reflecting his level of pain from the spear.

 

[MoGator71]

That's probably true. Between his pants and jock Legwand scoring a direct drop-him-where-he-stands shot without really looking is pretty unlikely. But I really can't imagine that Malkin or any Penguin would embellish something like that. OK, maybe I could.

 

[SawxSince67]

Not to excuse the nutshot on any level, but Malkin had just raked his stick up the back of Legwand's head while knocking his helmet off...this is probably what precipitated the shot to the nads...still a douchebag move.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs7eDv54iwE

 

[TSC]

Oh Palat. What a goal.

 

[MoGator71]

That was ridiculous. Been a good week for those, Hemsky the other night too.
 
Great game between the Flyers and Blues this afternoon. The Blues look a lot like the Bruins, big fast deep and physical. The Flyers have won 5 straight now (Pens x2, Hawks, Stars, Blues) and are playing as well as anybody. 

 

[Greg29fan]

Malkin had this sick little roof daddy backhand too - lots of talent and skill on the ice today.
 

 

[richgedman'sghost]

 
Assuming Chicago makes the playoffs this year (a lock), Quenneville coached NHL teams will have made the playoffs in 16 of 17 seasons. The only miss would be the '06-'07 Avalanche who finished with 95 points and just one point out of the playoffs. That's impressive.
 
Another guy who flies a bit under the radar is Bruce Boudreau. He was the fastest NHL coach to both 200 and 300 wins. Dan Bylsma beat his pace to 200 wins last year, and is on track to be fastest to 300 wins as well. Considering Bylsma's age (43), as long as he stays in the coaching game for a while, he should end up extremely high on the all-time coaching wins list. Other than Bruins coach Tom Johnson (just three seasons, 1970-73), Bylsma and Boudreau have the best winning percentage of all time.

Not to derail the thread, but do you think the value of the accomplishment of 700 wins will be diminished by the relatively new scoring system in the NHL? I am not a true hockey historian but hasn't it only been the last 10 years that the shootout system was developed? Every game has to end in either a win or a loss. A lot of the great old time coaches such as Toe Blake, Al Arbour etc were hurt by the fact that there were so many ties in previous eras.  I am not saying that Quenneville is not a great coach just that the modern era coaches obviously have an advantage when it comes to total wins. Simply judging a modern  coach by the number of wins he has can be misleading I think.   I know I'm not saying anything that you don't already know,  but I  just wanted to make sure it was taken into consideration.  I would say that Coach Q would be one of the top 2 coaches in the game right now.

 

[Blacken]

Calgary just beat Edmonton, in Edmonton.





8-1.

:buddy: :buddy: :buddy: :buddy: :buddy: :buddy: :buddy: :buddy:

 

[ForceAtHome]

Caps pull off a huge win in San Jose. It's their first win there since 1993! Both Caps goals were flukey deflections, including an own goal thanks to the San Jose defense. But, when it came time for the shootout, Kuznetsov delivered again (2-for-2 now) and Backstrom must have taken his Zyrtec as the Caps prevailed on his sweet move. Taking 5 of 6 points in Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose is huge. Of course, the Caps return home to the Kings and Bruins, so the road isn't getting much easier easier.
 
The Caps are still climbing an uphill road to the playoffs, but at least they haven't made the road any steeper. As of right now, they're just a point behind Toronto for a wild card and even with Detroit for the other wild card though the Wings have two games in hand.
 
Halak and Holtby (tonight) have been excellent the last few games for Washington.

 

[jcaz]

The Leafs lose again, this time to the Habs at the ACC.  I felt a little dirty rooting for the Canadiens, but watching the Leafs slide potentially right out of the playoffs is far too much fun.  The Leafs have massive holes in goal and on D, but the Canadian / Toronto media continue to think they are a top 4 team in the conference.  It's laughable.

 

[MoGator71]

I'm not sure who's record is more artificially inflated...Toronto with all their shootout wins or Detroit with all their loser points. I don't hate the Leafs the way a lot of people do but they're not nearly as good as their supporters insist. But then again after Boston and Pittsburgh (when healthy) there's a big logjam of teams and it's really a tossup who's better than who. 

 

[TSC]

Toronto is 11th in the East with only 27 ROW. They've also given up the 4th most goals in the East. They are not a good team.

 

[cshea]

Toronto can actually fall out of the playoffs today with a loss in New Jersey and a Columbus win on Long Island. 
 
Also Blues/Pens on NHL network now. Good afternoon tilt. 

 

[MoGator71]

That was a fun game.

Columbus had a costly loss on Long Island today. Tough to watch the Caps beat San Jose and the Flyers beat St. Louis, then let a winnable game with the Isles get away.

 

[cshea]

Leafs down 3-1 after 2 in New Jersey. They are in complete free fall. 

 

[MiracleOfO2704]

Leafs down 3-1 after 2 in New Jersey. They are in complete free fall. 

And the Devils hold on for the 3-2 win.

Invest in Kevlar underwear, Randy.

 

[SidelineCameras]

It's not every day that both the Penguins and the Blackhawks get shut out at home.

 

[mikeford]

That Toronto team is super bad. My god.

 

[Haunted]

The Leafs lose again, this time to the Habs at the ACC.  I felt a little dirty rooting for the Canadiens, but watching the Leafs slide potentially right out of the playoffs is far too much fun.  The Leafs have massive holes in goal and on D, but the Canadian / Toronto media continue to think they are a top 4 team in the conference.  It's laughable.

Wasn't Bernier supposed to fix this?  His GAA isn't great but he has a respectable save %...

 

[cshea]

Bernier has played well, but he's been hurt the past few weeks. Reimer has been in net for the free fall. It's ugly up there. There was a recent episode where Carlyle called out Reimer, Reimer's agent then fired back with a shot at the Leafs defense, and more recently Reimer's wife has been getting harassed by fans on twitter. Fun times.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

I heard about that. It sounds like Carlyle is setting up Reimer to be the scapegoat for their season. Ugly ugly ugly.

 

[Haunted]

Yeah, nothing spells the doom of a team like the backup goalie.
 
What a clown show.

 

[cshea]

It's not hard to figure out what the Leafs problem is. They're 25th in shots for with 28/g and dead last in shots agains at 36/g. You're not going to win a lot of games with that differential. Most advanced metrics hate them as well. They're 5-on-5 Fenwick close rate is -14.2, second to last in the league only ahead of Buffalo. Their Corsi differential is -17.5, again only ahead of Buffalo. They are not good, and are actually overachieving to even be in the playoff race.

 

[Red Right Ankle]

They are 5th in shooting percentage, so it is possible they were getting more productivity out of the shots they were taking whether because of skill or pure luck.  They also have a really efficient PP - 7.43 goals per 60 minutes, good for 5th in the league despite having one of the lower TOIs for PP in the league.  That might have been helping them to overperform as well.

 

[jcaz]

Reimer didn't make it through 2 minutes of the second period when he gave up the third goal, on the 10th shot.  He's awful.  Carlyle's been trashing him publicly, which doesn't help either. 
 
Phaneuf and Gunnarsson are the only D that have positive +/-.  The remainder of the D are woeful.  The Leafs top line - Bozak, Kessel and JVR have 76, 44, and 56 points - and combined they are a -2.  David Clarkson - signed through 2020 - is making $5.25M/yr to put up 4G 6A, and a -12 in 51 games. 

 

[MoGator71]

Kings are in town tonight. Surprised that this is Jeff Carter's first game back in Philly; Richards was back once already. Carter is getting boo'd. 

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Kings are in town tonight. Surprised that this is Jeff Carter's first game back in Philly; Richards was back once already. Carter is getting boo'd. 

 
"Booooooooo you didn't negotiate a NTC into your extension" 

 

[Fred in Lynn]

Kings are in town tonight. Surprised that this is Jeff Carter's first game back in Philly; Richards was back once already. Carter is getting boo'd. 

Idiots. Not sure why you'd boo him. Lecavalier just hit both posts and the crossbar on one shot.

 

[Fred in Lynn]

 
"Booooooooo you didn't negotiate a NTC into your extension" 

He did, just like Richards. Homer punched their tickets just a week before extensions with said NTCs were to kick in.