#like it’s bad enough to comment on every post to make it about shayne when he has nothing to do with the content

[iamchickenhearmesquawk]

So glad court spoke made that boundary clear but it shouldn’t have to be said cause wtf why do so many people think it’s ok to speculate on if they’re pregnant at all, let alone in her OWN comment section where she can see???

Also it almost feels npc to be like “oh female person is married? PREGNANT WHEN”

[smoshyourheadin]

spencer agnew enemies to lovers one bed trope

The Start Of Something

pairing: spencer agnew x f!reader

a/n: GUYS IM SO SORRY I KEEP POSTING SO SLOW I HAVE NO MOTIVATION MY BAD THIS IS LIKE RLLY BAD AND RUSHED LMAO I DONT LIKE IT i have better stuff otw i promise (also anon ily for this!!) requests are open <3

working at smosh is pretty great. you’ve been working there about two years now as a producer on smosh games, and you’ve made some darn good videos. the people are amazing, it’s so fun working with literal comedians all day. damien is so kind, shayne is so smart, courtney is so witty, ian is so… morbid? either way, everyone there is family to you. the one thing you don’t like however? spencer.

it all started during your first big project at smosh. you and spencer were both assigned to lead a new series of board af. excited to prove yourself, you put in countless hours to make sure everything was perfect. however, spencer, being spencer, dismissed your detailed plans, opting instead for a spontaneous approach, leading the episodes to be messy, and all around bad quality.

every day at the office is a battlefield. Spencer’s snide comments about your meticulousness clash with your jabs about his unpredictability.

“nice color-coded schedule you got there,” spencer says with a smirk as he passes your desk. “did you plan your bathroom breaks too?”

you roll your eyes, not missing a beat. “at least i won’t forget to show up to work on time, unlike some people.”

he scoffs and walks away, and you smirk to yourself because of how annoyed he gets.

you grew up in a structured environment, where planning and precision were key to success. your parents, both engineers, drilled into you the importance of preparation and hard work. spencer, on the other hand, thrived in chaos. raised in a floridian household with artists for parents, he learned to ‘embrace’ spontaneity and creativity, when in reality he’s just a lazy piece of shit, and this fundamental difference in your upbringings is your reasoning for the friction.

the entire smosh crew is buzzing with excitement for the upcoming vid con. however, ian and anthony made a slight mistake: not enough rooms. as luck would have it, you’ve been assigned to share a room with spencer, and, of course, there’s only one bed.

“great,” you mutter, staring at the single bed. “this is just perfect.”

spencer shrugs. “we’re adults. we can handle this. or are you upset this’ ruined your plans?”

you shove him off, tongue in cheek, and put your bags down.

“yeah, well, i guess we’ll just have to make do,” you reply, mustering a half-hearted smile as you unpack.

that night, as you both lie awkwardly side by side, you can’t help but talk. the conversation starts stilted but gradually, you begin to share your perspectives. you explain how his disregard for plans made you feel undervalued. spencer admits he never realized how much effort you put into your work and how his actions might have come across.

after that night, some subtle changes begin to occur between you both. one day, you catch spencer glancing your way with what seems like concern when you’re stressed. you find yourself defending his unconventional methods when others criticize him.

one day, you witness spencer dealing with a personal crisis - a call from his dad that leaves him visibly shaken. as you’re the only person who saw him, you offer him a shoulder to lean on. that day, you see a side of him that’s vulnerable and human, softening your attitude further, almost affectionate toward him.

as you start getting along better, both of you struggle with your growing feelings. you’re plagued by internal conflict, denying what’s becoming increasingly obvious. spencer starts bringing you coffee in the mornings, and you find yourself lingering in conversations with him to try and stay in his company.

a crisis at smosh forces you both to confront your true feelings. a huge chunk of footage from shayne’s turn on tntl is accidentally deleted, and the blame game begins. in the heat of the argument, spencer snaps, “why do you hate me so much?”

the words hang in the air, and you both freeze. finally, you confess, “i don’t hate you. i don’t think i ever hated you. i think i was just scared that my efforts would never be enough.”

spencer steps closer, his eyes softening. “i didn’t realize. i thought you just… hated me.”

you break. hot tears sting your face, and you bring your hoodie sleeves to your eyes to prevent your mascara from running. he wraps you in a hug, and you sob into his shoulder.

in the end, you and spencer are inseparable. the crew notices the change, teasing you both about your newfound closeness, especially angela who you used to complain to about him. you’re all lovey dovey now, finding joy in each other’s company and embracing the weird balance you bring to each other’s lives.

[thrashermaxey]

Injury Ward: Malkin, Byfuglien, Pacioretty, Raanta, Krieder & Pavelski

  Here’s this week’s latest in the world of injury updates! If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a message on Twitter @BrennanDeSouza.

  Nick Ritchie – Is not travelling with the team as they continue their tour of Western Canada through Calgary on Friday and Edmonton on Saturday. He hasn’t been practicing either, so it’s hard to imagine him making an impact in fantasy leagues for the rest of this season.

  Ryan Getzlaf – Has been practicing and is currently travelling with the team as their road trip brings them to Calgary on Friday and Edmonton on Saturday. I get the feeling that Getzlaf will return from an upper-body injury in one of those two games.

  Antti Raanta – He’s been sidelined for about four months with a knee injury, and will finally start practicing with the team at some point this week. Darcy Kuemper has been excellent in Raanta’s absence, sporting a 25-19-7 record alongside a 2.40 GAA and .922 SV%. I’d expect Kuemper to close out the regular season, but if the Coyotes make the playoffs, it sounds like Raanta could be an option.

  Torey Krug – It’s possible he returns from a concussion on Wednesday against the Rangers. Krug has 48 points in 59 games this season – a 66-point pace.

  Marcus Johansson – Should be back in the lineup on Wednesday against the New York Rangers. Considering he was a game-time decision for Monday’s clash with the Lightning (meaning he was already close to a return), he should be good to go on Wednesday now that he’s had a couple of extra days off.

  Rasmus Ristolainen – An illness kept him off the ice for Tuesday’s matchup with the Senators. Buffalo plays three more games this week; Thursday against the Red Wings, Saturday against the Islanders and Sunday against the Blue Jackets. I’d be surprised if Ristolainen didn’t play in at least two of those three games, but it’s more likely that he plays in all three. Ristolainen needs just one more point to record his fourth-straight 40-point season.

  Sam Bennett – While he probably won’t be in the lineup on Wednesday against the Stars, it sounds like Bennett will return on Friday against the Ducks or Sunday against the Sharks. He has recently resumed practicing as he recovers from an upper-body injury. Calgary has already clinched a playoff spot, so while he could play immediately if the remaining regular season games were more important, the team is happy to let him return to full health.  

  Mikko Rantanen – Out for an “extended period”, meaning he won’t be in the lineup on Wednesday when the Avalanche take on the Golden Knights. Colorado is clinging to the second wild-card spot in the West and is playing some of their most crucial games of the season. I get the feeling Rantanen would be in the lineup if this were just a minor injury, let’s hope it’s not too serious.

  Gabriel Landeskog – Has been shooting the puck and participating in some team drills. At this point, it looks like he’s about two weeks away from a return. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’ll be back in time to have an impact on your fantasy hockey championship or the end of the NHL regular season.

  Mats Zuccarello – He’s been able to stickhandle for the past week which is a great sign considering he broke his arm about a month ago. He’s still dealing with a bit of pain when he shoots the puck, but he continues to increase the intensity of his stickhandling every day as he returns to full health. He has been making great progress and is currently travelling with the team through Western Canada –  a trip that sees the Stars face the Flames on Wednesday, Oilers on Thursday and Canucks on Saturday.

  Zach Parise – The Wild hope to see Parise return at some point this weekend, either on Friday against the Golden Knights or Sunday against the Coyotes. Minnesota has a tough schedule to close out the season and will need all hands on deck if they’re going to qualify for postseason action.

  Paul Byron – Was knocked down by an uppercut from MacKenzie Weegar of the Panthers as the two dropped the gloves on Tuesday in Montreal. Byron appeared dazed as he stumbled to the locker room after the fight and did not return to the game. While early speculation leads me to believe that Byron suffered a concussion during the fight, it’s officially being called an upper-body injury by the team.

  {youtube}ogwMLxx4Yg4{/youtube}

  Sami Vatanen – Missed both Monday’s game against the Sabres and Tuesday’s team practice because he was sick. An illness kept Vatanen out of the lineup for a few weeks earlier in the month, but we don’t know if this is related to that.

  Chris Kreider – Has missed the past two games with a lower-body injury and his status remains day-to-day. The Rangers face the Bruins on Wednesday night, so we should get an update on Kreider’s status shortly after this article is posted. As I write this, he hasn’t yet been ruled out of Wednesday’s game.

  Kris Letang – Is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and hasn’t been practicing. Coach Mike Sullivan declined to comment on whether this injury was related to the on that Letang suffered in late February when he was wrestled to the ice by Shayne Gostisbehere of the Flyers. As you can tell from the video below, it appears that Letang might have injured his neck on the takedown from Gostisbehere. The fact that he had surgery on his neck in 2017 to repair a herniated disc makes this situation all the more concerning. Again, this injury might have nothing to do with the last one, but it is worth mentioning since Letang only played three games in between absences.

  {youtube}3siVkZSIfYs{/youtube}

  Evgeni Malkin – Has been skating and is making good progress as he recovers from an upper-body injury. The Penguins haven’t lost in regulation during this five-game stretch without Malkin and have no reason to rush him back considering they’ve almost secured a playoff spot.

  Joe Pavelski – The Sharks are considered contenders for the Stanley Cup this season and will need a healthy lineup to achieve that goal, so they’re understandably being cautious with Pavelski’s recovery from a lower-body injury. San Jose’s captain has been participating in some on-ice drills and it’s possible that he returns on Thursday against the Blackhawks. The team has lost all four games they’ve played during this stretch without Pavelski and are currently riding a six-game losing streak.

  Erik Karlsson – The team still hopes for Karlsson to get back in the lineup before the regular season ends, but he’s no longer skating every day. While the team hasn’t officially announced that Karlsson has suffered a setback in his recovery from a groin injury, it’s hard to imagine that this was a planned part of his rehab. He had been skating every day and all of a sudden coach Pete DeBoer announces he won’t be skating every day going forward? If he were progressing well, wouldn’t he be skating more and more in an attempt to get back into form for the playoffs?

  Ondrej Palat – Suffered an upper-body injury on Monday against the Bruins. While we don’t know the exact nature of the injury and how long he’ll be out, we do know that he isn’t dealing with a concussion.

  Jake Gardiner – Has been skating but not taking contact as he continues to recover from a back injury. The Leafs play six more games before the end of the regular season and I think they’ll try to get Gardiner back in the lineup for at least one of those games, so he doesn’t go into the playoffs completely cold. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’ll return soon enough to have an impact on your fantasy hockey championship this year.

  Max Pacioretty – Went down awkwardly on this play as his legs bent at angles that no legs should ever have to experience. Fortunately, the injury wasn’t as bad as it originally appeared and his status remains day-to-day.  

  Marc-Andre Fleury – Hasn’t been practicing but could join the team in Colorado for Wednesday’s matchup with the Avalanche. Malcolm Subban has posted a 3-1 record in Fleury’s absence but gave up three goals in three of those four games (the fourth game being a shutout).

  Michal Kempny – Is dealing with a long-term injury that could keep him out for the rest of the season. The team is waiting on test results to determine whether or not Kempny will need surgery for his lower-body ailment.

  Laurent Brossoit – Has been progressing well from a lower-body injury but whether or not he participates in Wednesday’s practice hasn’t yet been decided.

  Josh Morrissey – Is still on target for a return in early April, but we don’t know exactly when he’ll be back.

  Dustin Byfuglien – The aim is for Big Buff to participate in Wednesday’s practice, which will give the coaching staff a better idea of when exactly he’ll be ready for a return to the lineup.

    from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/injury-ward/injury-ward-malkin-byfuglien-pacioretty-raanta-krieder-pavelski/

[flauntpage]

Juggle Trouble: Seven Takeaways from Ducks 6, Flyers 2

After the Flyers’ 6-2 loss to Anaheim yesterday, Dave Hakstol said he would “evaluate it all and get better from it.”

Maybe that’s because the Ducks blew up his mad science experiment.

Look, I know it’s proper form to have a nice lede to a story. To write something that really draws in the reader and keeps them wanting more.

And that’s fine when the team is winning, or if it loses a game or two.

But for a game like this, where it was painfully obvious on MONDAY that the Flyers were starting from a disadvantage against a very good Anaheim team because of a peculiar coaching decision?

I don’t want to come across as spitting fire. The team had a clunker. And if they have one every nine games and go 5-3 in the other eight, that’s a 91-point pace. Steal another point here or there and you are a playoff team. So this isn’t Armageddon.

But if I can identify a bad hockey idea 24 hours before the coach, that’s not good.

So, there’s no time for cute and fluffy introductions at times like this. Flyers fans want answers. And while I may not have all of them, I’m not going to waste time getting to them.

So, to the takeaways…

  1) Lessons in Bad Coaching Decisions

Once it was learned that Andrew MacDonald would miss four-to-six weeks with a lower-body injury (he took a puck to his right knee… and was on crutches in the press box last night), Dave Hakstol decided that rather than just plug in his replacement he would completely shuffle the defensemen into three brand new pairs.

It was a real head-scratcher. Shayne Gostisbehere and Robert Hagg had been excellent together through eight games. Why break them up?

Hakstol had a couple of options: keep Travis Sanheim on the third pairing with Brandon Manning and move Radko Gudas to the top unit with Ivan Provorov, or play Gudas with Manning, since they’ve played together before, and see what Sanheim looks like with Provorov.

He chose Door Number 3.

A former coach had Dry Island, which didn’t go over well with some players. This coach ended up with Zonk Island, which I know kind of went over like a lead balloon in the locker room.

I mean, on Monday Gostisbehere himself said it would be a challenge to juggle all the defensemen.

“I’ve never played with [Gudas] before,” he said. “We just got to feel each other out right now. I’m sure there’ll be some growing pains but let’s hope the mistakes aren’t magnified too much.”

Well, the Ducks brought the world’s largest magnifying glass with them to the Wells Fargo Center.

It made no sense to make these changes, which I outlined on Twitter before the game started:

I didn't get a chance to write this b/c… well… @Eagles happened, but I'm not liking the idea to switch up all 3 D-pairs to replace AMac

— AntSanPhilly (@AntSanPhilly) October 24, 2017

My issues w/ Hak's D juggling: 1. Ghost/Hagg have been excellent together. no need to split them….

— AntSanPhilly (@AntSanPhilly) October 24, 2017

2. Gudas is a risk-taker in a different way than Ghost, and playing them together forces the other to be more self-conscious than usual…

— AntSanPhilly (@AntSanPhilly) October 24, 2017

3. This has created two brand new pairs of one Lefty and one Righty who have either never played together or only in one preseason game.

— AntSanPhilly (@AntSanPhilly) October 24, 2017

So… Considering I think there'll be some defensive growing pains… and the Ducks are depleted defensively… I'll take the Over tonight.

— AntSanPhilly (@AntSanPhilly) October 24, 2017

NOTE: I don’t know why degenerate hockey gamblers would want to read any other site.

But Hakstol is a very certain individual. He was adamant this would work. Also from Monday:

“The entire group is pretty versatile,” he said. “We like them the way had them [in practice]. There’s different roles that each unit has… There is some familiarity between the pairs. It’s mostly pairing guys who we feel will be a successful combination together.”

On Family Feud, Dave would get all three strikes and give the Duck family a chance to steal.

And steal they did.

It was amazing that the score was tied after the first period and that the Flyers had out-shot the Ducks 12-6 as Anaheim had dominated play.

And they did so because the Flyers just couldn’t get the puck out of the zone.

Were it not for 12 blocked shots by the Flyers in the first period, this game could have been an even bigger rout.

But the second period is where it all unraveled.

“We felt like we were OK after the first period,” Gostisbehere told me after his post game media scrum. “But then in the second period it went off the rails. We had too many turnovers and too many mistakes and it cost us.”

Yes it did.

Like here:

Montour blows by the defense and makes it 2-1 Ducks. http://pic.twitter.com/0MAObxYT7y

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) October 25, 2017

A lot goes wrong here.

First, both Sanheim and Manning are too far out of position. They are way too far to the right side of the ice with the play coming from the other side. And they aren’t back enough, leaving them no angle on a fast play coming at them.

But apparently, that’s a new concept:

“I should have been back a little further,”  Manning said. “It’s something we have changed this year. Before you know it our D-men were up in the middle and as a defenseman you try to keep a tight gap and stay close to your guys, so for me I got to be the safety there and back a little bit further, but at the same time that’s a D-man coming 100 miles an hour, think it’s a tough play for everyone in that situation.”

Secondly, Travis Konecny, who was already having a bad night after turning the puck over on the Ducks’ first goal, was the forward with defensive support and he got caught too wide as Brandon Montour blew by him.

The rest was history.

And it wasn’t just these guys.

Provorov had his worst game since maybe a minus-4 night in his fourth game last season against Chicago with two giveaways that led to Anaheim goals.

Hagg missed coverage on Rickard Rakell after Ryan Getzlef took a puck away from Jordan Weal behind the net for another Ducks goal.

All told, the Flyers had 14 giveaways. Seven were credited to defensemen.

“We just weren’t sharp,” Hakstol said. “When we are good, we are sharp, close, tight support, making confident plays with the puck in those tight areas. We didn’t tonight. Bottom line. We didn’t.”

When the third period started, Hakstol again juggled the D-pairs.

So in the third period Hak decides to go to the D-pairs he should have started the game with: 9-6 53-8 23-3#TooLittleTooLateCoach

— AntSanPhilly (@AntSanPhilly) October 25, 2017

“I think we just went back to some comfortability level,” Gostisbehere said. “I mean I played with Hagg and Manning has played with Gudas before, I don’t know about Sanheim and Provoov, but I think just to get some familiarity together…

“I don’t know what’s going to go on [moving forward], but I think as a team we could have played a lot better tonight.”

When you juggle unnecessarily, Hak, you can get burned:

  2) Goaltending conundrum

Once again, the Flyers have goaltending woes. Pick a year out of the hat. Any year. There’s 50 of them to choose from. You have a handful of Parents, a couple Lindberghs, one Froese and a couple Hextalls in there that would be considered a winner, but you have about a 75-80% chance of picking a season where goaltending left you feeling like this:

Was hoping to not use this too often http://pic.twitter.com/wNaJICW7GY

— andrew panaccio (@nacho11083) October 25, 2017

And here we are, nine games into the season, and we’re talking about it again. Already.

Brian Elliott has started six games. He’s won four, so it’s a bit unfair to call him a disaster. But when he’s been off, he’s been really off – and last night was one of those games.

He faced 25 shots and only made 19 saves. His goals against average has now ballooned to 3.33. His save percentage has plummeted to .886.

And then there are goals where he looks like this:

Getzlaf makes it 5-1. Brutal goal given up by Elliott. http://pic.twitter.com/0Sq7NJ6967

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) October 25, 2017

I was talking to an NHL scout last Saturday at the Edmonton game about the Flyers goaltenders. In the interest of full disclosure, he’s not high on either Elliott or Michal Neuvirth.

But here’s what he said about Elliott:

“The knock on the guy his entire career has been that he doesn’t position his feet properly all the time and it leads to bad goals.”

See above.

The fans are screaming for Neuvirth – and he has looked good in his three starts so far – but he is a streaky goalie. You love him when he’s hot and you go crazy when he’s not.

But, at this point, Hakstol might be willing to give Neuvirth a couple starts in a row. If nothing else, it allows Elliott to clear his head and see if he can’t get himself right in practice. And, maybe Neuvirth stays on a hot streak and plays well enough to stay as the primary guy for a while.

However, the situation is as it always seems to be – there’s no true No. 1 goalie on the roster.

  3) How about some ice in your whine?

After the game was over several Flyers complained about the ice conditions:

“We noticed the ice is pretty bad right now,” said Sean Couturier, who scored both Flyers goals. “We know it and we have to make better decisions. We have to play [and be] conscious of that. Right now we are risking, making risky plays.”

Asked about what’s wrong with the ice, here’s what the captain had to say:

“I don’t know but we’ll look into it,” said Claude Giroux. “It’s just a little different. We don’t know what was the issue, but at the same time it’s fair for both teams. We’ll look into it. I don’t really want to comment on it because I don’t know what’s going on.”

And then there was Ghost:

“I thought the ice was horrendous tonight,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on, we’re just sticking to it, but it’s not an excuse or anything, it’s just something that we gotta deal with and hopefully it’ll get better.

“[Last game] it wasn’t as bad, but that’s the worst it’s ever been in my career here.”

So, while the rest of the writers went to listen to coach speak from Hakstol, I went to seek out answers about the ice.

I mean, to be fair to the Flyers Ice Crew, they are frequently at the top or near the top of the rankings of all NHL arenas when it comes to ice conditions.

So, this had to be an anomaly, right?

I hunted down a Wells Fargo Center source who I knew would have the answers, and he told me the arena pre-game was at 80% humidity because of the weather outside.

He said it’s actually been an issue for most of the home stand, and that they have been trying to manage it, but today, after the rain, it got really humid and it was impossible to correct in time for the game.

So, the ice was choppy, sloppy and slushy.

“The one thing we can’t control is the weather,” he said. “You don’t always think that an indoor venue can be affected by the weather outside, but it can considerably. We need it to turn to real October temperatures soon so it can feel like Fall.”

With La Nina coming – meaning a mild winter, that might not be the case.

I will give credit to Hakstol though for addressing this in his press conference and basically telling his players to stop carping about the ice, because a 6-2 loss can’t be blamed on the ice.

“Number one, it’s the same for both teams,” he said. “We are not going to fall back on that. There are a lot of things that come before any of those types of things.

“We have to look in the mirror. Right from square one. We have got to be better. We had the chance to make this a hell of a home stand here to start that year. We slipped. 3-2 on the home stand. It’s an average run.”

The Flyers head to Ottawa and Toronto for two games before coming back home next Monday.

I’m gonna bring a parka, because I guarantee the air condition will be on full blast in the Center on Monday night.

  4) Nolan Patrick injured

Here’s what happened:

Patrick heads to locker room after taking this hit. #Flyers @AntSanPhilly @CrossingBroad http://pic.twitter.com/JnSKXIA0WX

— Tyler Trumbauer (@tylertrumbauer) October 25, 2017

The hit is clean. It’s shoulder to shoulder. The impact is hard – head against glass. Patrick had to be helped down the tunnel by a member of the Flyers training staff.

Ron Hextall called it an upper body injury and said we’ll know more today.

But, you don’t have guys helping you walk if it’s a shoulder injury. Patrick got his bell rung. He’s likely being monitored for a concussion. Whether the Flyers announce that publicly or not, we’ll wait and see (I’m betting no), but I think there’s a better than 50-50 chance that Patrick misses Thursday’s game, if not more than that.

Injury aside, Patrick has been on a bit of a roller coaster as a rookie so far. There have been flashes of brilliance that gets everyone excited about him – after all he was the No. 2 pick in the draft – but he’s still just 19 and a bit of a deer in headlights at times – like losing the puck battle against Edmonton Saturday that resulted in the Oilers’ only goal.

And it seems that the “fourth line” centered by Scott Laughton is getting more ice time than Patrick’s of late, meaning Patrick is really playing limited minutes.

It is highly unlikely (although with the Flyers I will never say anything is 100% certain unless I know it to be) that he will be sent back to Junior hockey. The Flyers would have to do that before he returns to the lineup, or else he has to stay on the roster all season. And he’s too young to play in the AHL (stupid rule that we’ll get into sometime but is driven by money in Canada), so he’s likely to stay here.

But, we all know how Giroux and Gostisbehere struggled last year coming off similar injuries to what Patrick had surgery for this past summer (sports hernias). It takes a while to really recover 100 percent from those.

So, we may not see the real Nolan Patrick for some time, but I’m betting the Flyers give him a breather here for a few games – definitely if he’s concussed, and maybe even if he’s not.

  5) Roster Moves?

I think something is coming. There’s no way the Flyers go on the road to Canada with just these six defensemen – especially after last night’s performance. Somebody will be called up. Who, is the big question. Will it be Sam Morin, who made the team out of camp, but didn’t play in the first four games before being sent down?

Or will it be a depth guy like Mark Alt, who can come up and be an emergency guy if needed?

I’ll throw in one wild card for ya – how about Mark Friedman?

He was impressive in training camp and opened some eyes. Maybe getting him into practice with the big club on a road trip gives you a little more intel on him. Just a thought.

And if Patrick is hurt, do they need a forward?

Jori Lehtera, who was again not noticeable, can play center – and he’s actually a better center than he is a winger, so he can move into that role.

That would mean that either Taylor Leier (likely) or Matt Read (unlikely) would move in on the wing. They were both healthy scratches yesterday.

But, the Flyers have a history of rewarding guys playing well in the minors.

So what about the possibility of calling up left wing Danick Martel? In seven games for the Phantoms, he has seven goals and three assists for 10 points and is a plus-10. If Read isn’t a guy that you think is going to help much, maybe you give Martel a shot.

The Flyers could waive Read again. He won’t be claimed because of his salary. Again, this is just a thought.

  6) Math Happens

I don’t ever want to disavow any research that can be valuable for analysis of hockey, so please don’t take what I’m about to say as that.

But this game was a living, breathing example of why you can’t be a slave to hockey analytics.

If you were to go purely by the analytics, the Flyers were a Corsi plus-6.

Now, to be fair to the stat geeks, normally, when you take more shots than the other team, it is indicative of you controlling the puck more and in turn, mathematically, you are getting a higher percentage of chances at the net.

But, as is the case with dealing with any odds, there is a gambling element attached to it – and in this case, you just rolled snake eyes.

Make no mistake, the Ducks dominated this game. They dictated tempo. They were a better forechecking team. They were a better back-checking team. They seemed faster, even if they weren’t. They beat the Flyers to a pulp.

Like so:

Ask and you shall receive @AntSanPhilly. #Flyers @CrossingBroad http://pic.twitter.com/fDAWEPpxxP

— Tyler Trumbauer (@tylertrumbauer) October 24, 2017

Use the analytics to give you perspective. But use your eyes to see reality. They will never lie to you like the numbers do sometimes.

  7) Loose Pucks

Here are some tidbits from around the rink last night:

Couturier scored two goals and now has six on the season. He didn’t score his sixth goal last season until New Year’s Day. The most he’s ever scored in a season is 15 in 2014-15. He didn’t get his sixth that season until December 11th. He’s well on his way to a career-best.

His second goal was a milestone goal for all involved. It was Couturier’s 200th point in the NHL. Picking up assists were Sanheim (his first NHL point) and Jake Voracek (his 500th NHL point). That may have never happened before, and it may never happen again.

Another interesting thing about Couturier in this one, he has been talking to assistant equipment manager Harry Bricker for the last few days about changing his skate blades. Couturier told me Bricker put new blades on his skates just prior to the Anaheim game. Maybe that’s why he was able to deal with the bad ice better than his teammates and score a pair of goals.

Speaking of Voracek, he now has 12 points this season, all assists. His 12 points have him tied for fourth in the NHL. Right now, both he and Washingtons Evgeny Kuznetsov are among the top four scorers in the league and neither has a goal. Go figure.

The Ducks scored a power play goal in the second period when Nick Ritchie popped one in on a rebound. As good as the Ducks are it was just their second power play goal of the season.

It was the Flyers’ first loss this season to a team not coached by a former Flyers coach. The other three came against Peter Laviolette (two to Nashville) and John Stevens (Los Angeles).

Juggle Trouble: Seven Takeaways from Ducks 6, Flyers 2 published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Rinne Staying In Nashville, Pominville a Plenty (Nov 4)

Rinne Staying In Nashville, Pominville a Plenty, plus more…

The Juuse Saros era in Nashville will just have to wait a little longer, if it happens at all. On his 36th birthday, Pekka Rinne has signed a two-year, $10 million extension to remain with the Predators. This contract could potentially keep Rinne in Nashville for the rest of his career. With a $5 million per season cap hit, the defending Vezina Trophy winner appeared to take a hometown discount to stay in Nashville. So this puts the Preds in a great position to continue to be serious Stanley Cup contenders for the next few seasons.

Both Rinne and Saros are now locked up until the end of the 2020-21 season, which would make Rinne 38 and Saros 26 by the time both contracts end. So if you’ve been stashing Saros in the hopes that Rinne would not be re-signed, this is a bit of a blow. Unless he is traded, Saros should continue to be one of the league’s top backups and at least a streaming option every time he starts.

Rinne’s start on Saturday capped off what was an amazing day. Rinne stopped all 26 shots he faced in backstopping the Preds to a 1-0 win over Boston. Despite his recent stint on the IR, Rinne has picked up right where he left off last season (regular season-wise, anyway) with a 1.63 GAA and .948 SV%.

Brad Marchand was doing Brad Marchand things in this game, at least the things that don’t involve scoring. From this sequence below, he racked up 14 minutes in penalties while receiving a dose of his own medicine. Having said that, if high-sticking penalties are now being reviewed, then why wasn’t this one?

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As one commenter in the YouTube video said, too bad they cut it off before Jack Edwards lost his mind.

Jaroslav Halak continued to further his cause to be the Bruins’ starting goalie (at least for now), stopping 39 of 40 shots in the loss. Tuukka Rask might have to take a seat for a while longer as the Bruins will likely continue with the hot goalie. The B’s do play home back-to-backs next weekend against Toronto and Vegas, so expect Rask to draw at least one start next week if you need him.

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It was raining goals in Buffalo on Saturday afternoon.  

Everyone gets a goal! #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/O8FubSyYst

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 3, 2018

Jason Pominville won’t ever forget his 1000th game, not just for the pregame ceremony but also for what happened on the ice. Pominville scored two goals and added an assist while taking six shots on goal. This isn’t just a one-off for Pominville either. After a slow start that saw him record just one point over his first seven games, Pommer is scorching hot with 13 points (7g-6a) over his last seven games. As long as his linemates are Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner, Pominville deserves to be added in many formats.

Pominville can be a very streaky scorer, though. Last season he scored 11 points over his first nine games and ended the season with six points over his last seven games. But during a stretch in January and February, Pominville went 17 games without a point. You will probably need to bench him or drop him outright once the signs of another dry spell appear.

Jeff Skinner also scored two goals and added an assist. He’s also on a hot streak with 16 points (9g-7a) over his last ten games. Going back to his Carolina days, it’s all about linemates with Skinner, and for some reason he doesn’t always have the most ideal ones. But when he has them he is definitely a fantasy force.

Eichel also recorded three points, all in the form of assists. That was only two goals shy of Elias Pettersson’s output last night. For more context on what I mean by that, you can follow me on Twitter. Or read my previous Ramblings. If you didn’t think I make the right decision on trading Pettersson for Eichel one for one (hello, Cam Robinson), I will mention that this is a non-keeper league with no money involved. So I only have to live with my decision for the rest of the year and I don’t jeopardize my kids’ college fund in any way. Or maybe it won’t be that bad of a decision. We’ll see. This kind of thing makes the game more fun and discussion livelier, though.

It wasn’t all good for the Sabres on Saturday, though. Rasmus Dahlin left the game in the second period after blocking a shot. According to Sabres’ coach Phil Housley, Dahlin will make the trip to Manhattan where the Sabres face the Rangers on Sunday.

For the Senators, Craig Anderson was exposed to only the first three Sabres’ goals, but he lasted less than a period as you might expect given the score of this game. Anderson’s .909 SV% isn’t as terrible as it looks if you consider that the Senators now face more shots per game (38.7) than anyone, even the Ducks (37.8). So like I’ve said with John Gibson, keep an eye on a possible wear-and-tear injury with Anderson, who starts nearly every game for the Sens. Or as the old cliché goes, he’s a goalie that sees more rubber than a tire factory worker.

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With another two goals on Saturday, Morgan Rielly has matched his goal total from each of the last two seasons in just 14 games. Well on his way to a career year, Rielly leads all blueliners in both goals (6) and points (18). What’s more, neither he nor Jake Gardiner has taken a single penalty this season.

His owners may have cringed at the fact that he was facing the high-flying Penguins in Pittsburgh, but those brave enough to start Frederik Andersen were rewarded with a 31-save shutout. Usually Andersen is known for slower starts, but his save percentage is now up to .924. Andersen has allowed two goals or fewer in each of his last five starts, so he’s managed to find his groove.

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Thomas Greiss earned a shutout of his own, stopping all 35 shots he faced in a 3-0 shutout of the Devils. That’s five wins in a row for the Islanders, including two in a row for Greiss. We’re only a month into the season, but the Islanders now sit in first place in the Metropolitan Division.

With two assists, Josh Bailey’s point streak is now at eight games, with 11 points over that span. He’s scoring at over a point-per-game pace (15 points in 13 games), which seems to resemble last season. Considered a potential bust by many, Bailey seems to be doing just fine without you know who.

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Sean Monahan and the Flames have been clutch in the third period over their last few games. With another two goals on Saturday, Monahan now has two points in each of his last four games and a six-game point streak overall. He’s been a red-hot Flame.

Now a fixture on Monahan’s line, Elias Lindholm recorded three assists on Saturday. He’s on a five-game point streak of his own and is scoring at a point-per-game pace in Calgary. On his way to a career year and being used in all situations (ES/PP/SH), Lindholm has skated at least 20 minutes over five of his last six games. Needless to say, the trade from Carolina to Calgary has helped his fantasy value.

The Blackhawks had to make do without Duncan Keith for most of this game, after he was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for this early first-period hit on Dillon Dube (15 PIM total). The Flames’ rookie forward was forced to leave the game as well. Expect the NHL to review this hit.

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Without Keith, other blueliners had to step up in terms of icetime. One in particular was Brent Seabrook, who logged 26:48 with one assist and four blocked shots. Henri Jokiharju and Erik Gustafsson each logged just over 25 minutes as well.

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Another two goals for Timo Meier, including the overtime winner over Philly on Saturday. With 11 goals on the season, Meier is now tied for the league lead with four other players. Meier has recorded points in 10 of his last 11 games and appears to be on the verge of a true breakout. Even though his goal-scoring pace might cool off a little (23.9 SH%), the signs were there. Meier took over 200 shots last season while scoring 21 goals, and he’s been on a solid scoring unit with Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl.

Couture assisted on Meier’s overtime winner. He’s now on a nine-game point streak where he has recorded 14 points (5g-9a). Both Meier and Couture took five shots on goal in this game.

Nothing from Shayne Gostisbehere again on Saturday. He now has just a single assist over his last eight games. It could be time to make a buy-low offer on him from an impatient owner.

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If you took Adam’s advice from the most recent Looking Ahead column and added Dustin Brown right away, you were rewarded. In just his third game back from injury, Brown scored a shorthanded goal and added two assists with a plus-3 while dishing five hits in the Kings’ 4-1 win over Columbus. Brown now has four points over those three games. He’s a must-add in many standard Yahoo leagues (which now include hits by default), as he has been credited with 14 hits over those three games. And yes, he is skating with Anze Kopitar.  

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One more shutout shoutout. This one to Marc-Andre Fleury posted his second shutout of the season, stopping all 34 shots he faced in the Golden Knights’ 3-0 win over Carolina.

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Finally, if you want to hear me talk and not just read my words here, you can hear me on the Tampa Bay Lightning Power Play radio show, as I’m interviewed by Nick Alberga (who you may know from Sportsnet radio). I’m on today (Sunday) from 9-9:30 a.m. ET, then again from 12-12:30 p.m. ET and 3-3:30 p.m. ET. If you do, you’ll hear me answer some burning fantasy questions from Nick.

You might also even get to hear my younger son scream in the background. My older son was trying to block him from running into my office room while I took the call. I have to give credit to Nick, though, who was totally cool about the whole thing. Let’s just say I’m glad I wasn’t doing a video interview! Otherwise something like this might have happened.

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For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/rinne-staying-in-nashville-pominville-a-plenty-nov-4/