#ron niemi

[germ-t-ripper]

20JUL24 Don't mess with the best.

[nickmaniwa]

Had a blast at ICW NHB & Paradigm yesterday. Getting to see old pals, meet new ones and reconnect with everyone.

[30pluspucklife]

There is a lack in puckbunny blogs that focus on some of the leagues most senior members. I am currently working on pulling together my sources so I can bring you the most accurate information on the silver foxes we all know and love. As always feel free to send in any information you may have <3 <3

[thepinerider]

Finding a Goalie for the Flyers

This summer there seems to be no secrecy in the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Michael Del Zotto and Nick Schultz will be gone, against fans' wishes it appears coach Dave Hakstol will be back and the goalie tandem for next year will not be Michal Neuvirth and Anthony...

Via: http://thehockeywriters.com/philadelphia-flyers-goaltending-options/

[holyjost]

TEAM LISTS OF UNPROTECTED PLAYERS [source] ANAHEIM DUCKS

FORWARDS: spencer abbott, jared boll, sam carrick, patrick eaves, emerson etem, ryan garbutt, max gortz, nicolas kerdiles, andre petersson, logan shaw, nick sorenson, nate thompson, corey tropp, chris wagner

DEFENSEMEN: nate guenin, korbinian holzer, josh manson, jaycob megna, jeff schultz, clayton stoner, sami vatanen

GOALTENDERS: jonathan bernier, jhonas enroth, ryan faragher, matt hackett, dustin tokarski

ARIZONA COYOTES

FORWARDS: alexander burmistrov, shane doan, tyler gaudet, peter holland, josh jooris, jamie mcginn, jeremy morin, mitchell moroz, chris mueller, teemu pulkkinen, brad richardson, garret ross, branden troock, radim vrbata, joe whitney

DEFENSEMEN: kevin connauton, jamie mcbain, zbynek michalek, jarred tinordi

GOALTENDERS: louis domingue

BOSTON BRUINS

FORWARDS: matt beleskey, brian ferlin, jimmy hayes, alex khokhlachev, dominic moore, tyler randell, zac rinaldo, tim schaller, drew stafford

DEFENSEMEN: linus arnesson, chris casto, tommy cross, alex grant, john-michael liles, adam mcquaid, colin miller, joe morrow

GOALTENDERS: anton khudobinn, malcolm subban

BUFFALO SABRES

FORWARDS: william carrier, nicolas deslauriers, brian gionta, derek grant, justin kea, matt moulson, cal o'reilly, cole schneider

DEFENSEMEN: brady austin, mathew bodie, zach bogosian, justin falk, taylor fedun, cody franson, josh gorges, dmitry kulikov

GOALTENDERS: anders nilsson, linus ullmark

CALGARY FLAMES

FORWARDS: brandon bollig, lance bouma, troy brouwer, alex chiasson, freddie hamilton, emile poirier, hunter shinkaruk, matt stajan, kris versteeg, linden vey

DEFENSEMEN: matt bartkowski, ryan culkin, deryk engelland, michael kostka, brett kulak, ladislav smid, michael stone, dennis wideman, tyler wotherspoon

GOALTENDERS: brian elliott, tom mccollum

CAROLINA HURRICANES

FORWARDS: bryan bickell, connor brickley, patrick brown, erik karlsson, danny kristo, jay mcclement, andrew miller, andrej nestrasil, joakim nordstrom, lee stempniak, brendan woods

DEFENSEMEN: klas dahlbeck, dennis robertson, philip samuelsson, matt tennyson

GOALTENDERS: daniel altshuller, eddie lack, michael leighton, cam ward

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

FORWARDS: kyle baun, andrew desjardins, marcus kruger, pierre-cedric labrie, michael latta, brandon mashinter, dennis rasmussen, jordin tootoo

DEFENSEMEN: brian campbell, dillon fournier, shawn lalonde, johnny oduya, ville pokka, michael rozsival, viktor svedberg, trevor van riemsdyk

GOALTENDERS: mac carruth, jeff glass

COLORADO AVALANCHE

FORWARDS: troy bourke, gabriel bourque, rene bourque, joe colborne, turner elson, felix girard, mikhail grigorenko, samuel henley, john mitchell, jim o'brien, brendan ranford, mike sislo, carl soderberg

DEFENSEMEN: mark barberio, mat clark, eric gelinas, cody goloubef, duncan siemens, fedor tyutin, patrick wiercioch

GOALTENDERS: joe cannata, calvin pickard, jeremy smith

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

FORWARDS: josh anderson, alex broadhurst, matt calvert, zac dalpe, sam gagner, brett gallant, william karlsson, lauri korpikosko, lukas sedlak, t.j. tynan, daniel zaar

DEFENSEMEN: marc-andre bergeron, scott harrington, jack johnson, kyle quincey, john ramage, jaime sifers, ryan stanton

GOALTENDERS: oscar dansk, anton forsberg, joonas korpisalo

DALLAS STARS

FORWARDS: adam cracknell, justin dowling, cody eakin, ales hemski, jiri hudler, curtis mckenzie, mark mcneill, travis morin, patrick sharp, gemel smith, matej stransky

DEFENSEMEN: mattias backman, andrew bodnarchuk, ludwig bystrom, nick ebert, justin hache, dan hamhuis, patrik nemeth, jamie oleksiak, greg pateryn, dustin stevenson

GOALTENDERS: henri kiviaho, maxime legace, kari lehtonen, antti niemi, justin peters

DETROIT RED WINGS

FORWARDS: louis-marc aubry, mitch callahan, colin campbell, martin frk, luke glendening, darren helm, drew miller, tomas nosek, riley sheahan, ben street, eric tangradi

DEFENSEMEN: adam almquist, jonathan ericsson, niklas kronwall, brian lashoff, dylan mcilrath, xavier ouellet, ryan sproul

GOALTENDERS: jared coreau, petr mrazek, edward pasquale, jake peterson

EDMONTON OILERS

FORWARDS: david desharnais, justin fontaine, matt henricks, roman horak, jujhar khaira, anton lander, iiro pakarinen, tyler pitlick, zach pochiro, benoit pouliot, henrik samuelsson, bogdan yakimov

DEFENSEMEN: mark fayne, andrew ference, mark fraser, eric gryba, david musil, jordan oesterle, griffin reinhart, kris russell, dillon simpson

GOALTENDERS: laurent brossoit, jonas gustavsson

FLORIDA PANTHERS

FORWARDS: graham black, tim bozon, jaromir jagr, jussi jokinen, derek mackenzie, jonathan marchessault, colton sceviour, michael sgarbossa, reilly smith, brody sutter, paul thompson, shawn thornton, thomas vanek

DEFENSEMEN: jason demers, jakub kindl, brent regner, reece scarlett, mackenzie weegar

GOALTENDERS: reto berra, sam brittain, roberto luongo

LOS ANGELES KINGS

FORWARDS: andy andreoff, justin auger, dustin brown, kyle clifford, andrew crescenzi, nic dowd, marian gaborik, jarome iginla, trevor lewis, michael mersch, jordan nolan, teddy purcell, devin setoguchi, nick shore

DEFENSEMEN: matt greene, vincent loverde, brayden mcnabb, cameron schilling, rob scuderi, zach trotman

GOALTENDERS: jack campbell, jeff zatkoff

MINNESOTA WILD

FORWARDS: brady brassart, patrick cannone, ryan carter, kurtis gabriel, martin hanzal, erik haula, zack mitchell, jordan schroeder, eric staal, chris stewart, ryan white

DEFENSEMEN: victor bartley, matt dumba, christian folin, guillaume gelinas, alexander gudbranson, gustav olofsson, nate prosser, marco scandella, mike weber

GOALTENDERS: johan gustafsson, darcy kuemper, alex stalock

MONTREAL CANADIENS

FORWARDS: daniel carr, connor crisp, jacob de la rose, bobby farnham, brian flynn, max friberg, charles hudon, dwight king, stefan matteau, torrey mitchell, joonas nattinen, steve ott, tomas plekanec, alexander radulov, chris terry

DEFENSEMEN: brandon davidson, alexei emelin, keegan lowe, andrei markov, nikita nesterov, zach redmond, dalton thrower

GOALTENDERS: al montoya

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

FORWARDS: pontus aberg, cody bass, vernon fiddler, mike fisher, cody mcleod, james neal, p.a. parenteau, adam payerl, mike ribeiro, miikka salomaki, colton sissons, craig smith, trevor smith, austin watson, colin wilson, harry zolnierczyk

DEFENSEMEN: taylor aronson, anthony bitetto, stefan elliot, petter granberg, brad hunt, matt irwin, andrew o'brien, adam pardy, jaynen rissling, scott valentine, yannick weber

GOALTENDERS: marek mazanec

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

FORWARDS: beau bennett, michael cammalleri, carter camper, luke gazdic, shane harper, jacob josefson, ivan khomutov, stefan noeson, marc savard, devante smith-pelly, petr straka, mattias tedenby, ben thomson, david wohlberg

DEFENSEMEN: seth helgeson, viktor loov, ben lovejoy, andrew macwilliam, jon merrill, dalton prout, karl stollery, alexander urbom

GOALTENDERS: keith kinkaid, scott wedgewood

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

FORWARDS: josh bailey, steve bernier, eric boulton, jason chimera, casey cizikas, cal clutterbuck, stephen gionta, ben holmstrom, bracken kearns, nikolay kulemin, brock nelson, shane prince, alan quine, ryan strome, johan sundstrom

DEFENSEMEN: calvin de haan, matthew finn, jesse graham, thomas hickey, loic leduc, scott mayfield, dennis seidenberg

GOALTENDERS: jean-francois berube, christopher gibson, jaroslav halak

NEW YORK RANGERS

FORWARDS: taylor beck, chris brown, daniel catenacci, jesper fast, tanner glass, michael grabner, marek hrivik, nicklas jensen, carl klingberg, oscar lindberg, brandon pirri, matt puempel

DEFENSEMEN: adam clendening, tommy hughes, steven kampfer, kevin klein, michael paliotta, brendan smith, chris summers

GOALTENDERS: magnus hellberg, antti raanta, mackenzie skapski

OTTAWA SENATORS

FORWARDS: casey bailey, mike blunden, alexandre burrows, stephane da costa, christopher didomenico, nikita filatov, chris kelly, clarke macarthur, max mccormick, chris neil, tom pyatt, ryan rupert, bobby ryan, viktor stalberg, phil varone, tommy wingels

DEFENSEMEN: mark borowiecki, fredrik claesson, brandon gormley, jyrki jokipakka, marc methot, patrick sieloff, chris wideman, mikael wikstrand

GOALTENDERS: mike condon, chris driedger, andrew hammond

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

FORWARDS: pierre-edouard bellemare, greg carey, chris conner, boyd gordon, taylor leier, colin mcdonald, andy miele, michael raffl, matt read, chris vandevelde, jordan weal, dale weise, eric wellwood

DEFENSEMEN: mark alt, tj brennan, michael del zotto, andrew macdonald, will o’neill, jesper pettersson, nick schultz

GOALTENDERS: steve mason, michal neuvirth

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

FORWARDS: josh archibald, nick bonino, matt cullen, jean-sebastien dea, carl hagelin, tom kuhnhackl, chris kunitz, kevin porter, bryan rust, tom sestito, oskar sundqvist, dominik uher, garrett wilson, scott wilson

DEFENSEMEN: ian cole, frank corrado, trevor daley, tim erixon, cameron gaunce, ron hainsey, stuart percy, derrick pouliot, chad ruhwedel, mark streit, david warsofsky

GOALTENDERS: marc-andre fleury

SAN JOSE SHARKS

FORWARDS: mikkel boedker, barclay goodrow, micheal haley, patrick marleau, buddy robinson, zack stortini, joe thornton, joel ward

DEFENSEMEN: dylan demelo, brenden dillon, dan kelly, paul martin, david schlemko

GOALTENDERS: aaron dell, troy grosenick, harri sateri

ST. LOUIS BLUES

FORWARDS: kenny agostino, andrew agozzino, kyle brodziak, jordan caron, jacob doty, landon ferraro, alex friesen, evgeny grachev, dmitrij jaskin, jori lehtera, brad malone, magnus paajarvi, david perron, ty rattie, scottie upshall, nail yakupov

DEFENSEMEN: robert bortuzzo, chris butler, morgan ellis, carl gunnarsson, jani hakanpaa, petteri lindbohm, reid mcneill

GOALTENDERS: jordan binnington, carter hutton

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

FORWARDS: carter ashton, michael bournival, j.t. brown, cory conacher, erik condra, gabriel dumont, stefan fournier, byron froese, yanni gourde, mike halmo, henri ikonen, pierre-luc letourneau-leblond, tye mcginn, greg mckegg, cedric paquette, tanner richard, joel vermin

DEFENSEMEN: dylan blujus, jake dotchin, jason garrison, slater koekkoek, jonathan racine, andrej sustr, matt taormina, luke witkowski

GOALTENDERS: peter budaj, kristers gudlevskis, jaroslav janus, mike mckenna

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

FORWARDS: brian boyle, eric fehr, colin greening, seth griffith, teemu hartikainen, brooks laich, brendan leipsic, joffrey lupul, milan michalek, kerby rychel, ben smith

DEFENSEMEN: andrew campbell, matt hunwick, alexey marchenko, martin marincin, steve oleksy, roman polak

GOALTENDERS: antoine bibeau, curtis mcelhinney, garret sparks

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

FORWARDS: reid boucher, michael chaput, joseph cramarossa, derek dorsett, brendan gaunce, alexandre grenier, jayson megna, borna rendulic, anton rodin, drew shore, jack skille, michael zalewski

DEFENSEMEN: alex biega, philip larsen, tom nilsson, andrey pedan, luca sbisa

GOALTENDERS: richard bachman, ryan miller

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

FORWARDS: jay beagle, chris bourque, paul carey, brett connolly, stanislav galiev, tyler graovac, garrett mitchell, liam o’brien, t.j. oshie, zach sill, chandler stephenson, christian thomas, nathan walker, justin williams, daniel winnik

DEFENSEMEN: karl alzner, taylor chorney, cody corbett, darren dietz, christian djoos, tom gilbert, aaron ness, brooks orpik, nate schmidt, kevin shattenkirk

GOALTENDERS: pheonix copley, philipp grubauer

WINNIPEG JETS

FORWARDS: marko dano, quinton howden, scott kosmachuk, tomas kubalik, jc lipon, shawn matthias, ryan olsen, anthony peluso, chris thorburn

DEFENSEMEN: ben chiarot, toby enstrom, brenden kichton, julian melchiori, paul postma, brian strait, mark stuart

GOALTENDERS: michael hutchinson, ondrej pavelec

[indykast-blog]

Nerd Street Presents Pro Wrestling is the home for Wrestling Nerds Radio Network MEGAPOD 2! The Powa Hour + The Indykast join forces to complain about how terribly unhealthy sodas are, interview Ron Niemi, Cheynamite, and RUN DOWN THE FULL WRESTLING SHOW CARD! http://bit.ly/MEGAPOD2 http://bit.ly/MEGAPOD2TV https://www.instagram.com/p/BxI_Pw5H8zu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1xxxo446f86du

[gzsportsreport-blog]

Penguins Add Niemi and Hunwick on First Day of Free Agency

Penguins Add Niemi and Hunwick on First Day of Free Agency

By: Zach Metkler, GZ Sports Report Writer Follow @GZSports_ZM After having 14-year goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury taken away by the Las Vegas Golden Knights in this year’s expansion draft and watching defensemen Trevor Daley and Ron Hainsey leave via free agency to join the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, respectively, the Penguins were in the market for adding pieces to replace the…

[germ-t-ripper]

20AUG22 We cute.

[saltytronglu-blog]

Finding Nemo

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

When Antti Niemi came to Montreal earlier this year, many assumed he’d just further the impending tank job that was on the horizon. He’d been run out of Pittsburgh, then run out of Florida after a disastrous start to the year.

Marc Bergevin claimed him off the waiver wire, and coming into last night’s game against Colorado, he had a 2-1-1 record along with a .929…

[thrashermaxey]

Fantasy Hockey Podcast: So Chabot Right Now

Hello! Welcome to another episode of the Keeping Karlsson Fantasy Hockey Podcast. We, Elan and Brian, will be your hosts for today. 

You know that rule about not investing too much in a goalie on draft day? Well, we've got plenty of real-world examples from the 2018-19 season so far that just offer more support for that maxim. Elan also has a new group of defenders to propose to also not invest much on draft day.

We also cover all the latest hot streaks, cold streaks, line changes and what-the-hecks around the NHL, and share with you what we'd do about them if we were you.

Join our Fanduel Weekly Listener League! Registration opens Tuesday around 10am ET. Head to fanduel.com/karlsson to get your spot.

Players discussed on this episode include Jake Allen, Chad Johnson, Jaden Schwartz, Matt Murray, Casey DeSmith, Patric Hornqvist, Jake Guentzel, Mike Smith, David Rittich, Matthew Tkachuk, Ben Bishop, Anton Khudobin, John Klingberg, Miro Heiskanen, Tuukka Rask, Jaroslav Halak, Carey Price, Antti Niemi, Max Domi, Jimmy Howard, Craig Anderson, Gump Worsley, Michel Belhumeur, Ron Low, Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot, Darcy Kuemper, Alex Goligoski, Corey Crawford, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane, Brock Boeser, Jake Virtanen, Nikolay Goldobin, Loui Eriksson, Derrick Pouliot, Ben Hutton, Erik Gudbranson, Victor Hedman, Mathieu Joseph, Max Pacioretty, Alex Tuch, William Karlsson, Ty Rattie, Mats Zuccarello, Pavel Buchnevich, Kevin Shattenkirk, Neal Pionk, Tyson Barrie, Sam Girard, Mat Barzal, Brock Nelson, Jordan Eberle, Nik Ehlers, Josh Morrissey, Dougie Hamilton, Anze Kopitar and more.

* * *

Like what you hear? Support us by telling a friend, subscribing to and reviewing Keeping Karlsson on iTunes, and following us on Twitter (@keepingkarlsson). 

  Even better, support us by becoming a patron of Keeping Karlsson! Patrons support future episodes of the show and get all kinds of perks in return, like an invite to the Keeping Karlsson Ultimate Patron Fantasy League (aka the KKUPFL), monthly Patroncasts, access to the secret patrons-only Facebook group, and weekly show scripts. 

  The Keeping Karlsson Fantasy Hockey Podcast is proudly presented by DobberHockey. 

  Thanks for listening!

{source}<iframe src="https://www.podbean.com/media/player/jpd83-9ed958?from=site&vjs=1&skin=1&fonts=Helvetica&auto=0&download=1" height="315" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player"></iframe>{/source}

      from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/brian-kom/fantasy-hockey-podcast-so-chabot-right-now/

[wweforums-blog]

Evolve 106 recap & review: I don’t think he likes you

The show starts just about ten minutes after the scheduled bell time with Lenny Leonard and “Hardcore Giant” Ron Niemi in the ring to talk up the card and to announce a double-header with Shine for their New York return on September 8. John “Bad Bones” Klinger vs. Josh Briggs Bad Bones in with the double knees from the jump... NOPE! Putting the pressure on, just dominating young Briggs, Falcon Arrow hits but it’s still only a nearfall! A suicide dive carries the offense on, up top, missile dropkick, a second dive... JOSH COUNTERS WITH A CHOKESLAM INTO THE APRON! Couple nearfalls under his belt, Briggs with a spinning side slam and it’s close but no cigar. Whip, Josh runs through a lariat and freight trains Klinge back down! Corner lariat, tells him he doesn’t like him, Mafia... Evolve 106 recap & review: I don’t think he likes you http://dlvr.it/QYKthM #WWE #News #Raw #SmackDown #NXT

[flauntpage]

Are the Flyers the Next Philly Team to Make an Unexpected Run? Thoughts After Another Successful Weekend

Sometimes there are warning signs in sports.

They aren’t always negative either. Take Jake Elliott’s 61-yard field goal. At the time, we were all talking about how lucky the Eagles were to win a game and that their coach was a buffoon.

But we should have taken it instead as a warning sign to the stars aligning for the Eagles in what will go down as the greatest season in Philadelphia sports history.

The Flyers have a little bit of that same charm going their way recently. Some of it is from good play. Some of it is pure luck. But good teams make their own luck.

So, Andrew MacDonald, Brandon Manning, and Jori Lehtera scoring goals in the same game was predicted by no one ever, yet it happened yesterday – in a game where the Flyers lost another goalie to injury and had to rely on an AHL-level backup to come in and play two great periods to earn his first NHL win.

And here are the Flyers, with points in eight straight games, just four points out of first place in the Metropolitan Division with two games in hand.

Charmed, I tell ya. Charmed.

Now, with the way the Pittsburgh Penguins are playing lately, I don’t think there’s any way the Flyers will catch them, but I’m the same guy who as recently as a couple weeks ago was arguing that the Flyers couldn’t sustain the way they were playing through the previous two months over the course of another nine weeks.

So far, they’ve proved me wrong, so what do I know.

And it’s curious how they’ve done it.

They’ve managed to somehow become the only team in the NHL with 10 guys with at least 10 goals. So much for this team not having depth, right? Remember when we were talking about how many games the Flyers had gone without getting a goal from a forward not named Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier or Jake Voracek?

And yet, they still really don’t have depth.

I mean, half of those guys are sitting on 10 goals right now. Two of them are the top pair defensemen in Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere.

The other three are:

Valterri Filppula – who  hasn’t scored in 13 games and has just one goal in his last 21 (By the way, the Flyers are  7-1-1 when Filppula scores and 14-3-4 when he registers at least one point.)

Michael Raffl – who only has one goal in his last 12 games and went the first 21 games this season without a point

Scott Laughton – who has started to chip in a little more lately with three goals in the last eight games, but is prone to prolonged scoring droughts (has two double-digit scoring droughts this year – 21 games and 10 games)

So, the perception that scoring depth suddenly exists on this team is a fallacy. But what isn’t misleading – and is the true reason behind the Flyers’ sustained scoring success – has been two lineup changes that have given the team a second scoring line.

Moving Travis Konecny to the top line and dropping Jake Voracek to the second line and moving him to the left wing (which he personally doesn’t like, but is doing it for the good of the team – and is thriving individually because of it) and promoting Nolan Patrick to the second line center has created two really good scoring units for the Flyers.

Here are the stats for the top six forwards before the changes (first 35 games) and since the changes (last 24 games):

PLAYER       FIRST 35 GAMES       LAST 24 GAMES       PPG DIFF.

Giroux          14-28-41 (1.17)          7-21-28 (1.17)              0

Couturier      16-15-31 (0.89)         13-15-28 (1.17)       +0.28

Konecny        4-6-10    (0.29)          11-13-24 (1.00)      +0.71

Voracek         8-36-44  (1.26)           3-18-21 (0.88)        -0.38

Patrick           2-5-7      (0.20)           4-4-8     (0.33)       +0.13

Simmonds     11-10-21 (0.60)          9-7-16   (0.67)       +0.07

  TOTAL            55-100-155 (4.42)      47-78-125 (5.20)   +0.78

Team Record       15-13-7                    15-6-3

  With the exception of the great boost for Konecny, it’s not an overwhelming difference, as collectively they are averaging 0.78 more points per game, but when you lose a lot of close games, which was the case, even during the 10 game losing streak, this subtle of a change can be the difference between winning and losing.

Combine that with better defensive play (for the most part), solid goaltending (again, for the most part) and the fact that the Flyers are suddenly an incredibly disciplined team (The Flyers did not allow a power play to their opponent in either game this weekend – both wins by the way – which had never happened before – or at least since NHL boxscores began tracking game-by-game power play opportunities in 1977. As a matter of fact, they have reduced the number of shorthanded situations per game from 3.17 in the first 35 games to 2.54 in the last 24) and you have the right recipe to swing 50/50 games in your favor more often than not.

And that’s how these Flyers have to play. They aren’t dominating teams in any games, nor are they being dominated. Most Flyers games are hanging in the balance late. So the subtle things you can do better can make a difference.

A slight uptick in scoring from your top two lines. A mild decrease in penalties. Marginally smarter defense when the opponent has the puck (opponent shots on goal per game are down from 30.9 in the first 35 games to 29.5 in the last 24 games).

That’s how you sustain success.

Now… it’s still not going to be easy. The schedule gets brutal in March, but if the Flyers can take advantage of their softer upcoming schedule (their next five games are against teams behind them in the standings) they can build enough of a cushion that if they revert back to .500 hockey (points percentage) they should be able to hang on to a spot.

A lot of that though will be determined by what happens with goaltending.

We know Brian Elliott is out of the lineup until the end of March. Michal Neuvirth, who wasn’t having all that great a game to begin with, seemed to hurt his lower body (again) on the Rangers’ third goal yesterday and was lifted from the contest.

Alex Lyon came in and played really well as the Flyers took advantage of an awful New York defense and an off day in goal by Henrik Lundqvist to earn the win.

But, if Neuvirth is going to be out for any length of time – even a few games – this should be the FINAL reminder (as if the Flyers didn’t have enough of them already) that Neuvirth is unreliable health-wise to go into the stretch run.

As such, the Flyers may not only add one goalie, but if Neuvirth is really hurt and out for an extended period, the Flyers could add two goalies before the trade deadline.

That’s right. Not one. Two.

Ron Hextall is still going bargain basement shopping, but teams know he is desperate at this point and might try to hijack a higher pick from him.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Red Wings offered the Flyers backup goalie Peter Mrazek for a third round pick and Hextall balked.

Might he come back around to that? Or is that too much for a guy who is making $4 million this year and is a restricted free agent who the Red Wings don’t view as a goalie of the future?

I don’t think he does. I’m told the Flyers aren’t in love with either of Detroit’s goalies (Jimmy Howard being the other who is signed through next season with a cap hit of $5.29 million).

Instead, I think he goes cheap rentals.

I’m told the team truly believes Elliott will be all right for the playoffs and will likely get a few games in beforehand.

The three names Hextall is most interested in are:

Antti Niemi – who won a Cup in Chicago, but is now 34, making just $700,000, has already played for three other teams this season (Pittsburgh, Florida and currently Montreal) but is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Chad Johnson – a little more pricey at $2.5 million against the cap, but he’s younger than Niemi (31), is also a UFA at the end of the season, and, was selected by Hextall when Hexy was the GM for Team Canada at the 2017 World Championships to be on the roster as a backup goalie.

Calvin Pickard – once considered to be a can’t miss goalie prospect, Pickard, still just 25, hasn’t lived up to the hype. And right now, he isn’t even in the NHL. But, he’s dominating in the AHL for the Toronto Marlies (Maple Leafs farm team) and was the go-to goalie Hextall selected for the World Championships last season.

The Flyers have had scouts in Buffalo and Toronto, making the short drive back and forth on the QEW to see the latter two players. Maybe Niemi will start against the Flyers tomorrow instead of Carey Price, to give Hextall an in-person look.

Any way you slice it, these three guys will come far cheaper than Mrazek. Also, the Flyers are flush with draft picks. They have all of their own picks for the next three years and have three extra in the 2018 draft – St. Louis’ first rounder, Arizona’s fifth rounder and Montreal’s seventh rounder. So, if Neuvirth is out for an extended period of time, the Flyers can get two guys if they need them without really affecting their stock of assets.

Get a goalie (or two) and get in the playoffs and anything can happen. They’re not as good as Tampa, or Pittsburgh, or maybe even Boston, but if the planets and stars align in the Flyers moon… well, who knows. Crazier things have happened – like an unknown rookie replacement kicker kicking a game-winning 61-yard field goal.

      Are the Flyers the Next Philly Team to Make an Unexpected Run? Thoughts After Another Successful Weekend published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[megadarkbouquettidalwavethings]

Highlights of Saturday’s NHL games

(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of National Hockey League games on Saturday:

Golden Knights 3, Capitals 0

Marc-Andre Fluery stopped 26 shots to pick up his first shutout of the season and lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-0 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

It was the eighth win in nine games (8-0-1) for the Golden Knights, who are tied with Tampa Bay for the most home wins in the NHL (15). Alex Tuch, Oscar Lindberg and William Karlsson all scored first-period goals for Vegas. That was all Fluery needed en route to the 45th career shutout of his career.

Braden Holtby had 25 saves for Washington, which fell out of first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Lightning 3, Wild 0

Dan Girardi, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov scored in the final 2:42 to lift Tampa Bay.

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and eighth of his career. The NHL-best Lightning enter the three-day break for Christmas with nine wins in the past 10 games and seven consecutive victories on home ice.

Alex Stalock, starting in net on consecutive nights, stopped 28 shots for the Wild.

Ducks 4, Penguins 0

John Gibson made 29 saves for his 13th career shutout, leading Anaheim to victory over his hometown team.

Ondrej Kase, Rickard Rakell, Andrew Cogliano and Cam Fowler staked the Ducks to a 4-0 lead through two periods. Anaheim finished a six-game road trip 3-2-1. Gibson improved to 2-3-0 versus the Penguins.

Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray gave up three goals on 13 shots before he was pulled for rookie Tristan Jarry, who stopped nine of 10 shots. The Penguins lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Islanders 5, Jets 2

Mathew Barzal collected his first NHL hat trick as New York cruised past Winnipeg.

Barzal (20 years, 211 days) scored twice in the first and once in the third to become the youngest Islanders player to record a hat trick since John Tavares did so at 20 years and 117 days on Jan. 15, 2011. Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for New York and Jaroslav Halak recorded 38 saves.

Tucker Poolman and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets, who ended a four-game road trip with three straight losses (0-2-1). Steve Mason made 24 saves.

Maple Leafs 3, Rangers 2

Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist in his first game back from a concussion as Toronto defeated New York.

William Nylander also had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs. Ron Hainsey had a goal and Morgan Rielly had two assists for Toronto. Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots to halt the Maple Leafs’ four-game road losing streak.

Jimmy Vesey and J.T. Miller had the Rangers’ goals. Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for New York.

Bruins 3, Red Wings 1

Patrice Bergeron scored twice as Boston won its fourth straight game.

Brad Marchand scored one goal and set up Bergeron’s winner 6:11 into the third, and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for the Bruins. Bergeron scored an empty-net goal in the closing seconds for his 10th goal of the season.

Frans Nielsen scored a short-handed goal and Jimmy Howard made 22 saves for the Red Wings, who haven’t won at TD Garden since April 14, 2014.

Oilers 4, Canadiens 1

Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist to lead Edmonton to its fourth straight victory.

Jujhar Khaira also had a goal and an assist for the Oilers. Ryan Strome and Milan Lucic also scored, Leon Draisaitl had three assists and Cam Talbot made 29 saves for Edmonton.

Antti Niemi made 31 saves for the Canadiens, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. Andrew Shaw scored for Montreal.

Devils 4, Blackhawks 1

Dec 23, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center Vladislav Namestnikov (90) is chased by Minnesota Wild left wing Jason Zucker (16) during the third period at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Cory Schneider made 39 saves, and Brian Boyle sparked a three-goal first period as New Jersey won its fourth straight game.

Schneider made 21 saves in the second period and withstood a flurry in the opening half of the period. He made five stops on Patrick Kane before allowing the Blackhawks wing’s 300th career goal late in the second.

The Devils scored three times in the first 13:22 to chase Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford for the second time this season. Kyle Palmieri scored a power-play goal and Pavel Zacha capped the three-goal outburst.

Sharks 2, Kings 0

Goalie Martin Jones stopped 28 shots for his 100th career victory while defeating his former team as San Jose topped Los Angeles.

Jones improved to 8-3-2 in his career against the Kings, the team he broke in with and for which he played two seasons, including 2014 when the Kings won the Stanley Cup. Jones collected his third shutout of the season and 18th of his career.

Marcus Sorensen scored his third goal in four games and Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks.

Stars 4, Predators 3 (SO)

Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin scored in the shootout, and Dallas killed off two penalties in overtime — including 31 seconds of a 5-on-3 — in defeating Nashville.

Ben Bishop made 29 saves to help the Stars win back-to-back games and extend a four-game point streak. Bishop stopped Filip Forsberg and Kevin Fiala in the shootout before Seguin scored in the third round.

Dec 23, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) shields the puck from Anaheim Ducks right wing Ondrej Kase (25) during the first period at PPG PAINTS Arena. The Ducks won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Juuse Saaros made 25 saves for the Predators, who lost their third straight game.

Blues 3, Canucks 1

Kyle Brodziak’s goal with 1:30 left in the second period stood up as the winner as St. Louis defeated Vancouver.

Brodziak gave the Blues a 2-1 lead as he squeezed a shot from a sharp angle between Jacob Markstrom and the post — while the crowd groaned. St. Louis ended a three game-losing streak, while the Canucks suffered their fourth straight loss.

Patrik Berglund and Alex Steen (empty-netter) also scored for the Blues. Rookie Brock Boeser tallied for Vancouver.

Blue Jackets 2, Flyers 1 (SO)

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the only goal in the shootout on his first NHL attempt as Columbus defeated Philadelphia.

Seth Jones scored in the opening period for the Blue Jackets, and Ivan Provorov answered with the tying goal in the second period for the Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 stops for Columbus and Brian Elliott finished with 35 saves for Philadelphia.

The Flyers’ Sean Couturier nearly won the game with 17 seconds remaining in the third period, but his shot bounced off the goal post.

Panthers 1, Senators 0

James Reimer made 38 saves to lead Florida over Ottawa.

The shutout was the 18th of Reimer’s career and fourth against Ottawa. The victory gave the Panthers a three-game winning streak for the first time this season. Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Florida.

Mike Condon, playing in place of No. 1 goaltender Craig Anderson (illness), made 37 saves for the Senators.

Hurricanes 4, Sabres 2

Defenseman Justin Faulk scored twice to snap a two-month scoring drought and Teuvo Teravainen matched a career high with three assists as Carolina defeated Buffalo.

The Hurricanes won for the fifth time in its last six games. Cam Ward also improved to 7-0-1 in his last nine appearances in net for Carolina. Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes.

The Sabres got second-period goals from Nathan Beaulieu — his first of the season — and Zemgus Girgensons.

Avalanche 6, Coyotes 2

Matt Nieto had a goal and an assist, and Colorado scored four goals in less than four minutes following a series of nasty mid-ice fights in its victory over Arizona.

Carl Soderberg began the flurry and J.T. Compher and Nail Yakupov followed by scoring on the same power play resulting from Coyotes center Zac Rinaldo’s match penalty as the Avalanche needed only 3:46 to turn a scoreless game into a 4-0 lead.

Soderberg finished with two goals and Alexander Kerfoot had a pair of assists. Semyon Varlamov turned aside 32 shots despite allowing two short-handed goals to Derek Stepan.

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[melindarowens]

Highlights of Saturday’s NHL games

Dec 23, 2017; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson (71) controls the puck ahead of Washington Capitals right wing Brett Connolly (10) during the third period of play at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

December 24, 2017

(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of National Hockey League games on Saturday:

Golden Knights 3, Capitals 0

Marc-Andre Fluery stopped 26 shots to pick up his first shutout of the season and lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-0 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

It was the eighth win in nine games (8-0-1) for the Golden Knights, who are tied with Tampa Bay for the most home wins in the NHL (15). Alex Tuch, Oscar Lindberg and William Karlsson all scored first-period goals for Vegas. That was all Fluery needed en route to the 45th career shutout of his career.

Braden Holtby had 25 saves for Washington, which fell out of first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Lightning 3, Wild 0

Dan Girardi, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov scored in the final 2:42 to lift Tampa Bay.

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and eighth of his career. The NHL-best Lightning enter the three-day break for Christmas with nine wins in the past 10 games and seven consecutive victories on home ice.

Alex Stalock, starting in net on consecutive nights, stopped 28 shots for the Wild.

Ducks 4, Penguins 0

John Gibson made 29 saves for his 13th career shutout, leading Anaheim to victory over his hometown team.

Ondrej Kase, Rickard Rakell, Andrew Cogliano and Cam Fowler staked the Ducks to a 4-0 lead through two periods. Anaheim finished a six-game road trip 3-2-1. Gibson improved to 2-3-0 versus the Penguins.

Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray gave up three goals on 13 shots before he was pulled for rookie Tristan Jarry, who stopped nine of 10 shots. The Penguins lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Islanders 5, Jets 2

Mathew Barzal collected his first NHL hat trick as New York cruised past Winnipeg.

Barzal (20 years, 211 days) scored twice in the first and once in the third to become the youngest Islanders player to record a hat trick since John Tavares did so at 20 years and 117 days on Jan. 15, 2011. Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for New York and Jaroslav Halak recorded 38 saves.

Tucker Poolman and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets, who ended a four-game road trip with three straight losses (0-2-1). Steve Mason made 24 saves.

Maple Leafs 3, Rangers 2

Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist in his first game back from a concussion as Toronto defeated New York.

William Nylander also had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs. Ron Hainsey had a goal and Morgan Rielly had two assists for Toronto. Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots to halt the Maple Leafs’ four-game road losing streak.

Jimmy Vesey and J.T. Miller had the Rangers’ goals. Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for New York.

Bruins 3, Red Wings 1

Patrice Bergeron scored twice as Boston won its fourth straight game.

Brad Marchand scored one goal and set up Bergeron’s winner 6:11 into the third, and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for the Bruins. Bergeron scored an empty-net goal in the closing seconds for his 10th goal of the season.

Frans Nielsen scored a short-handed goal and Jimmy Howard made 22 saves for the Red Wings, who haven’t won at TD Garden since April 14, 2014.

Oilers 4, Canadiens 1

Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist to lead Edmonton to its fourth straight victory.

Jujhar Khaira also had a goal and an assist for the Oilers. Ryan Strome and Milan Lucic also scored, Leon Draisaitl had three assists and Cam Talbot made 29 saves for Edmonton.

Antti Niemi made 31 saves for the Canadiens, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. Andrew Shaw scored for Montreal.

Devils 4, Blackhawks 1

Cory Schneider made 39 saves, and Brian Boyle sparked a three-goal first period as New Jersey won its fourth straight game.

Schneider made 21 saves in the second period and withstood a flurry in the opening half of the period. He made five stops on Patrick Kane before allowing the Blackhawks wing’s 300th career goal late in the second.

The Devils scored three times in the first 13:22 to chase Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford for the second time this season. Kyle Palmieri scored a power-play goal and Pavel Zacha capped the three-goal outburst.

Sharks 2, Kings 0

Goalie Martin Jones stopped 28 shots for his 100th career victory while defeating his former team as San Jose topped Los Angeles.

Jones improved to 8-3-2 in his career against the Kings, the team he broke in with and for which he played two seasons, including 2014 when the Kings won the Stanley Cup. Jones collected his third shutout of the season and 18th of his career.

Marcus Sorensen scored his third goal in four games and Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks.

Stars 4, Predators 3 (SO)

Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin scored in the shootout, and Dallas killed off two penalties in overtime — including 31 seconds of a 5-on-3 — in defeating Nashville.

Ben Bishop made 29 saves to help the Stars win back-to-back games and extend a four-game point streak. Bishop stopped Filip Forsberg and Kevin Fiala in the shootout before Seguin scored in the third round.

Juuse Saaros made 25 saves for the Predators, who lost their third straight game.

Blues 3, Canucks 1

Kyle Brodziak’s goal with 1:30 left in the second period stood up as the winner as St. Louis defeated Vancouver.

Brodziak gave the Blues a 2-1 lead as he squeezed a shot from a sharp angle between Jacob Markstrom and the post — while the crowd groaned. St. Louis ended a three game-losing streak, while the Canucks suffered their fourth straight loss.

Patrik Berglund and Alex Steen (empty-netter) also scored for the Blues. Rookie Brock Boeser tallied for Vancouver.

Blue Jackets 2, Flyers 1 (SO)

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the only goal in the shootout on his first NHL attempt as Columbus defeated Philadelphia.

Seth Jones scored in the opening period for the Blue Jackets, and Ivan Provorov answered with the tying goal in the second period for the Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 stops for Columbus and Brian Elliott finished with 35 saves for Philadelphia.

The Flyers’ Sean Couturier nearly won the game with 17 seconds remaining in the third period, but his shot bounced off the goal post.

Panthers 1, Senators 0

James Reimer made 38 saves to lead Florida over Ottawa.

The shutout was the 18th of Reimer’s career and fourth against Ottawa. The victory gave the Panthers a three-game winning streak for the first time this season. Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Florida.

Mike Condon, playing in place of No. 1 goaltender Craig Anderson (illness), made 37 saves for the Senators.

Hurricanes 4, Sabres 2

Defenseman Justin Faulk scored twice to snap a two-month scoring drought and Teuvo Teravainen matched a career high with three assists as Carolina defeated Buffalo.

The Hurricanes won for the fifth time in its last six games. Cam Ward also improved to 7-0-1 in his last nine appearances in net for Carolina. Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes.

The Sabres got second-period goals from Nathan Beaulieu — his first of the season — and Zemgus Girgensons.

Avalanche 6, Coyotes 2

Matt Nieto had a goal and an assist, and Colorado scored four goals in less than four minutes following a series of nasty mid-ice fights in its victory over Arizona.

Carl Soderberg began the flurry and J.T. Compher and Nail Yakupov followed by scoring on the same power play resulting from Coyotes center Zac Rinaldo’s match penalty as the Avalanche needed only 3:46 to turn a scoreless game into a 4-0 lead.

Soderberg finished with two goals and Alexander Kerfoot had a pair of assists. Semyon Varlamov turned aside 32 shots despite allowing two short-handed goals to Derek Stepan.

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[everettwilkinson]

Highlights of Saturday’s NHL games

Dec 23, 2017; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson (71) controls the puck ahead of Washington Capitals right wing Brett Connolly (10) during the third period of play at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

December 24, 2017

(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of National Hockey League games on Saturday:

Golden Knights 3, Capitals 0

Marc-Andre Fluery stopped 26 shots to pick up his first shutout of the season and lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-0 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

It was the eighth win in nine games (8-0-1) for the Golden Knights, who are tied with Tampa Bay for the most home wins in the NHL (15). Alex Tuch, Oscar Lindberg and William Karlsson all scored first-period goals for Vegas. That was all Fluery needed en route to the 45th career shutout of his career.

Braden Holtby had 25 saves for Washington, which fell out of first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Lightning 3, Wild 0

Dan Girardi, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov scored in the final 2:42 to lift Tampa Bay.

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and eighth of his career. The NHL-best Lightning enter the three-day break for Christmas with nine wins in the past 10 games and seven consecutive victories on home ice.

Alex Stalock, starting in net on consecutive nights, stopped 28 shots for the Wild.

Ducks 4, Penguins 0

John Gibson made 29 saves for his 13th career shutout, leading Anaheim to victory over his hometown team.

Ondrej Kase, Rickard Rakell, Andrew Cogliano and Cam Fowler staked the Ducks to a 4-0 lead through two periods. Anaheim finished a six-game road trip 3-2-1. Gibson improved to 2-3-0 versus the Penguins.

Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray gave up three goals on 13 shots before he was pulled for rookie Tristan Jarry, who stopped nine of 10 shots. The Penguins lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Islanders 5, Jets 2

Mathew Barzal collected his first NHL hat trick as New York cruised past Winnipeg.

Barzal (20 years, 211 days) scored twice in the first and once in the third to become the youngest Islanders player to record a hat trick since John Tavares did so at 20 years and 117 days on Jan. 15, 2011. Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for New York and Jaroslav Halak recorded 38 saves.

Tucker Poolman and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets, who ended a four-game road trip with three straight losses (0-2-1). Steve Mason made 24 saves.

Maple Leafs 3, Rangers 2

Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist in his first game back from a concussion as Toronto defeated New York.

William Nylander also had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs. Ron Hainsey had a goal and Morgan Rielly had two assists for Toronto. Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots to halt the Maple Leafs’ four-game road losing streak.

Jimmy Vesey and J.T. Miller had the Rangers’ goals. Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for New York.

Bruins 3, Red Wings 1

Patrice Bergeron scored twice as Boston won its fourth straight game.

Brad Marchand scored one goal and set up Bergeron’s winner 6:11 into the third, and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for the Bruins. Bergeron scored an empty-net goal in the closing seconds for his 10th goal of the season.

Frans Nielsen scored a short-handed goal and Jimmy Howard made 22 saves for the Red Wings, who haven’t won at TD Garden since April 14, 2014.

Oilers 4, Canadiens 1

Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist to lead Edmonton to its fourth straight victory.

Jujhar Khaira also had a goal and an assist for the Oilers. Ryan Strome and Milan Lucic also scored, Leon Draisaitl had three assists and Cam Talbot made 29 saves for Edmonton.

Antti Niemi made 31 saves for the Canadiens, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. Andrew Shaw scored for Montreal.

Devils 4, Blackhawks 1

Cory Schneider made 39 saves, and Brian Boyle sparked a three-goal first period as New Jersey won its fourth straight game.

Schneider made 21 saves in the second period and withstood a flurry in the opening half of the period. He made five stops on Patrick Kane before allowing the Blackhawks wing’s 300th career goal late in the second.

The Devils scored three times in the first 13:22 to chase Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford for the second time this season. Kyle Palmieri scored a power-play goal and Pavel Zacha capped the three-goal outburst.

Sharks 2, Kings 0

Goalie Martin Jones stopped 28 shots for his 100th career victory while defeating his former team as San Jose topped Los Angeles.

Jones improved to 8-3-2 in his career against the Kings, the team he broke in with and for which he played two seasons, including 2014 when the Kings won the Stanley Cup. Jones collected his third shutout of the season and 18th of his career.

Marcus Sorensen scored his third goal in four games and Joe Pavelski scored for the Sharks.

Stars 4, Predators 3 (SO)

Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin scored in the shootout, and Dallas killed off two penalties in overtime — including 31 seconds of a 5-on-3 — in defeating Nashville.

Ben Bishop made 29 saves to help the Stars win back-to-back games and extend a four-game point streak. Bishop stopped Filip Forsberg and Kevin Fiala in the shootout before Seguin scored in the third round.

Juuse Saaros made 25 saves for the Predators, who lost their third straight game.

Blues 3, Canucks 1

Kyle Brodziak’s goal with 1:30 left in the second period stood up as the winner as St. Louis defeated Vancouver.

Brodziak gave the Blues a 2-1 lead as he squeezed a shot from a sharp angle between Jacob Markstrom and the post — while the crowd groaned. St. Louis ended a three game-losing streak, while the Canucks suffered their fourth straight loss.

Patrik Berglund and Alex Steen (empty-netter) also scored for the Blues. Rookie Brock Boeser tallied for Vancouver.

Blue Jackets 2, Flyers 1 (SO)

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the only goal in the shootout on his first NHL attempt as Columbus defeated Philadelphia.

Seth Jones scored in the opening period for the Blue Jackets, and Ivan Provorov answered with the tying goal in the second period for the Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 stops for Columbus and Brian Elliott finished with 35 saves for Philadelphia.

The Flyers’ Sean Couturier nearly won the game with 17 seconds remaining in the third period, but his shot bounced off the goal post.

Panthers 1, Senators 0

James Reimer made 38 saves to lead Florida over Ottawa.

The shutout was the 18th of Reimer’s career and fourth against Ottawa. The victory gave the Panthers a three-game winning streak for the first time this season. Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Florida.

Mike Condon, playing in place of No. 1 goaltender Craig Anderson (illness), made 37 saves for the Senators.

Hurricanes 4, Sabres 2

Defenseman Justin Faulk scored twice to snap a two-month scoring drought and Teuvo Teravainen matched a career high with three assists as Carolina defeated Buffalo.

The Hurricanes won for the fifth time in its last six games. Cam Ward also improved to 7-0-1 in his last nine appearances in net for Carolina. Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes.

The Sabres got second-period goals from Nathan Beaulieu — his first of the season — and Zemgus Girgensons.

Avalanche 6, Coyotes 2

Matt Nieto had a goal and an assist, and Colorado scored four goals in less than four minutes following a series of nasty mid-ice fights in its victory over Arizona.

Carl Soderberg began the flurry and J.T. Compher and Nail Yakupov followed by scoring on the same power play resulting from Coyotes center Zac Rinaldo’s match penalty as the Avalanche needed only 3:46 to turn a scoreless game into a 4-0 lead.

Soderberg finished with two goals and Alexander Kerfoot had a pair of assists. Semyon Varlamov turned aside 32 shots despite allowing two short-handed goals to Derek Stepan.

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[plms-hockey]

Leafs @ Penguins - Game 30 - Dec.9.17

KEY NARRATIVES

Toronto Maple Leafs ( 18-10-1) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (16-11-3)

Tonight the Leafs will get their first chance of the season to face the reigning Stanley Cup Champions. I'd be remiss if I didn't disclose the soft spot I have for the Penguins. As a relatively new hockey fan, Pittsburgh has been dominant since the first time someone explained what a line change was to me. Evgeni Malkin was the first player I could pick out in a swarm of skaters just by the way he moved. Love them or hate them, there was no better introduction to the sport than Penguins Hockey.

The person who got me into hockey analytics was a diehard Penguins fan. What I'm really saying is that I know someone much more qualified than myself to tell you exactly how Pittsburgh is doing after consecutive Championship runs and almost three years of so much hockey that even Sidney Crosby may have trouble swallowing it:

3 Storylines in 3 Minutes

1. The Stanley Cup Hangover is Real and the Metro Sucks

As we approach the halfway mark of the season, the Pens are sitting on a respectable record of 16-11-3. These 35 points are good enough for… the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The disparity between the divisions is at fault for this. As you can see below, by points, both the Penguins and the Islanders would be chasing second place if they were in the Atlantic.

Basically, the Metro is a clusterf*ck.

The Pens did not do themselves any favors with a few disastrous early season showings (the 10-1 loss to CHI, 7-1 loss to TBL and 7-1 to WPG all spring to mind). While the lopsidedness of these blowouts can be blamed in part on the baffling offseason acquisition of Antti Niemi for a backup goalie, the Pens have had noticeably slow starts and lackadaisical, lopsided possession for extended stretches that was only remedied by well-timed power play goals (sound familiar, Leafs fans?).

Nevertheless, they persisted. And the Pens are finally starting to look more like themselves.

2. Phillip Joseph Kessel, Jr. Is A Back-To-Back Stanley Champion…

…and also the most consistently excellent Pens’ player by a country mile (1.6 country kilometers).

By now, the Kessel trade has been as picked over as the cookie tray at Christmas dinner (seriously, Aunt Mary, no one is going to eat your peanut butter-quinoa balls). The general consensus is that this trade is a rare win-win-win: the Pens got an elite scorer and beloved, awkward meme as a face of the franchise; the Leafs got some exciting young prospects and the first round pick that enabled them to trade for franchise goalie Freddie Andersen; and the city of Toronto got rid of the locus of Steve Simmons’ misguided, hot dog-inspired rage.

This is now the seventh time that Phil has faced his former team, in which Pens have gone 3-3-1. His first points against the Leafs since the trade (1G, 1A), poetically, came in the second-to-last season Leafs’ home game that clinched the Leafs’ playoff spot.

Quietly, Phil the Thrill has been having what is shaping up to be a career season. After slow and inconsistent starts from fellow stars Sid, Geno, and Kris Letang, Phil has been racking up points and is currently at in eighth league-wide points with 35 (14G [4PPG], 21A); he leads the team ahead of Sid’s 31 points (12G,19A) and Geno’s 26 (8G, 18A).

With 3 goals in the last 3 games, Phil has been on a tear. With apologies to John Keats, a thing of beauty is a joy forever; a Phil in the prime of his powers is definitely a beautiful thing.

3. It’s that time of year…when the Penguins start succumbing to injuries

Ahh, December, full of holiday cheer, time with family and loved ones, and the complete and utter collapse of a healthy Pens’ core.

Matt Murray has been week to week on IR since the 11/27 Flyers game, since Jakub Voracek lost an edge and awkwardly pushed Murray’s right leg into the goal post. Justin Schultz was placed on IR with a lower-body injury after a collision with Rick Nash in the 12/6 Rangers game. Schultz has arguably been the Pens’ most consistent defenseman; while the Pens were able to win a Cup last year without their number one defenseman Kris Letang, his return has been…somewhat rockier. In Schultz’s stead, the Pens have called up a freed Frankie Corrado from the WBS Baby Pens, although he is not projected to make the lineup.

Even with the injuries, there are more than enough storylines to keep this game interesting: Speed Team v. Speed Team. Superstar Sidney Crosby v. emerging superstar Auston Matthews. Former Leafs Phil Kessel and Matt Hunwick v. former Pen Ron Hainsey.

This should be a fun one, yinz!

--Laura (@werewolfbrmtzvh)

In the Leafs camp, the lineup remains infuriatingly unchanged. Polak is still holding Carrick's spot and Willy is still in the doghouse after his winning shootout goal against the Flames on Wednesday. Though, I suppose it hasn't been Nylander's offensive play that's been earning him Babcock's ire. While the whole team made some serious mistakes against Calgary, Willy definitely had a couple of slip-ups that didn't earn him any love from a coach with high defensive standards like Babcock.

Implying less trouble in paradise, this lineup (minus Polak's presence ever) does work well on the road and against teams facing depth troubles like the Penguins are this year. If he's on his game, Willy should be able to prove he can at least help keep Pittsburgh's already offensively struggling bottom six off the board.

Some Key Numbers

87 - Sidney Crosby - Center - Captain 71 - Evgeni Malkin - Center 81 - Phil Kessel - Right Wing 58 - Kris Letang - Defenseman

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE POST GAMEHappy Sunday, everyone. Today's trivia question is as follows: Who is really good at hockey?Sidney Crosby is really good at hockey. Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel can come, too. And damn if Coach Sullivan wasn't trying to give them every opportunity to exercise those skills. Not one of those players was on the ice for less than 22 minutes. Malkin was out for 24.1 minutes which was more than every single Leafs player, including the defensemen, except for constant penalty killer Nikita Zaitsev who had nearly 26 minutes of ice time (Babcock - what are you doing??).Kessel and Malkin were productive in this game but were defensively shakey which put them in a different category than their Captain last night. Simply put, nobody could touch Crosby, even though he only got on the board once. He ended the night with a 5v5 CF% of 96.30. When he was out with the Matthews line, for around 10 minutes of this game, the Leafs were outshot 18-0.While this does speak to Crosby continuing his dominance through his thirties, I don't think this was a pure comparison or evaluation of Auston's current abilities. He's looked a bit off since his injury but, from nothing more than my own speculation, I'm wondering if he might be sick instead of injured. He was out of practice a while back with a "cold" but this is reminding me a lot of when Marner's production dropped off at the end of last year and we later found out he had mono.But who knows. We can only hope he bounces back soon.Unfortunately for the Penguins, Crosby's dominance didn't reflect on the rest of the roster. It was almost as if there were multiple teams playing mini-games of hockey throughout the evening. Below is a matchup chart from HockeyViz.com. Explained fully in this post game, it shows how much time players spent facing opposing skaters, and then breaks down the shot share in each matchup.

Basically, the Crosby line dominated, mostly against the Kadri and Matthews lines. The Malkin line fought head to head with Kadri and Matthews, and then Marner, Bozak, and JvR cleaned house against Penguins depth (and notably the Malkin line when they were out together).Also - not particularly important, but I find it hilarious that Babcock didn't let Polak touch the ice at 5v5 against Crosby.The shot share didn't look good for the Leafs in this one, but it's a good example of a game where you can't judge a game on shots or attempt share in a vacuum because the scoring effects were too aggressive. The Leafs spent only 4 minutes and 55 seconds without a two-goal lead in this game, scoring two goals in the first two minutes of the game. When teams have that kind of lead they always play more conservatively which usually results in significantly fewer shot attempts made as they avoid risky plays.The Leafs ended the night with a CF% of 42.55 at 5v5 which I'm actually comfortable with considering the above. What's surprising is, once again, the Leafs dominated in Expected Goals For. While making significantly fewer attempts on net, the Leafs had a 5v5 xGF% of 74.53. They had about three-fourths of the expected goal share, and once again the shot maps show why. I feel like I've used these in every post-game recently, but I'll quit talking about this when I stop being fascinated by it.

What's interesting about the heat right in front of the net is that it doesn't seem to be one or two skaters who are lighting a fire there and skewing numbers. All three of Toronto's scoring lines have names in this pile more than once, which shows this is a strategic decision and something the whole team has practiced. While there have been quotes from the team that confirm this, it's nice to see it's not just a solid plan, but that they're executing on it as well.On another good note, Mitch Marner and the Bozak line is back. JvR had a goal, Bozak had two and assist, and the Marner had three assists. The Mouse needed a good night like this, as bad luck can often be compounding as confidence gets shaken -- especially for a player who relies on creative plays like Marner. With his poor primary assist luck shaken, now we just have to wait for some goals to start coming, too.Speaking of, while Marner is a known playmaker (passer), there's often call for him to shoot more. While I don't disagree entirely, I think it's slightly overblown and the fact that he only has two goals on the season is due to his unsustainably low shooting percentage, not his shot count. Marner currently has a team worst shooting percentage of 3.4%. League average is currently 9.3, and Mitch should probably be shooting even a little above that. And while he should shoot a bit more, he's actually still shot the seventh most of any Leaf.Finally, while I won't be discussing this much today, I'd be remiss if I didn't note that William Nylander had a career-low 8.7 minutes of ice time last night. It's one thing to put a skilled, young guy on the fourth line to get him going and then play him as needed on other lines and on special teams.This... is not that -- and I'll have a lot more to say about it if Babcock doesn't do something about it tonight against Edmonton. Statistics and visuals courtesy of HockeyViz.com, NaturalStatTrick.com, Corsica.Hockey, Hockey-reference. com, and Hockeystats.ca.