It was a low-scoring evening in the National Hockey League on Friday, as we had five games and an average of just 3.2 total goals per contest. That’s bad news if you were looking for offense, but it was great news as far as the goaltenders were concerned. One goaltender was able to pick up a shutout, while four goaltenders allowed just one goal and five netminders coughed up just two total goals. There was only one team able to score three total goals. Let’s get started!
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Chicago Blackhawks 2, New Jersey Devils 1 (SO)
Goals were at premium in Newark. In fact, this game didn’t feature one goal of the even-strength variety. In the first period it was Taylor Hall striking for the power-play goal with a little help from Sami Vatanen and Nikita Gusev. In the middle of the second period, Alex DeBrincat registered a goal on the man advantage with help from Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome. Unfortunately for fantasy owners, that was it.
On the winning side, Corey Crawford allowed just one goal on 30 shots, while turning aside one of the three shots he faced in the shootout. Gusev and Jesper Boqvist during the extra session, but the home side came up just short. Mackenzie Blackwood coughed up just the one goal on 29 shots, but he was unable to pick up the victory after allowing goals to Jonathan Toews, Kane and Kirby Dach in the shootout.
[[ad:athena]]Montreal Canadiens 2, New York Rangers 1
The offensive production was rather light at Madison Square Garden, too, in a battle between Original Six teams. Carey Price and Alexandar Georgiev were sharp in between the pipes, and the defense was especially effective.
Brendan Gallagher struck for an even-strength goal midway through the first period, as Phillip Danault and Tomas Tatar chipped in for helpers. Early in the first period it was the light-scoring Brendan Smith scoring on an unassisted goal to even the score at 1-1.
In the final period, the teams exchanged haymakers, but nothing landed until Nate Thompson was able to strike for just his second of the season with 67 ticks left in regulation. It was just in the nick of time, too, and he had helps from some Nicks. It was Nick Cousins and Nick Suzuki posting helpers to send the visitors away with two points.
Price has allowed three or fewer goals in each of his three December starts, improving to 12-9-3 with a 3.04 goals-against average and .902 save percentage. After an 0-5-1 skid from Nov. 19-Dec. 1, Price is back in control and helping his fantasy owners again.
Pittsburgh Penguins 2, Arizona Coyotes 0
Phil Kessel made his return to the Steel City, and he was blanked just like the rest of his teammates. ‘Jar Jar Blanks’ doesn’t have time to allow goals.
Tristan Jarry turned aside all 33 shots he faced to pick up his second consecutive shutout. He blanked the St. Louis Blues last time out, now he beat another first-place team with a shutout. There’s a goaltender controversy brewing in the Steel City, as Jarry is really carving into Matt Murray‘s job, and fantasy owners should jump all over Jarry immediately.
Evgeni Malkin was good for the only goal of the game against either goaltender, while Brandon Tanev struck for the shorthanded empty-net goal, making it 2-0.
Antti Raanta certainly deserved much better, as he coughed up just the one goal on 25 shots, slipping to 5-4-2 with a 2.52 GAA and .926 save percentage. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was about the best of the lot in terms of fantasy production, going scoreless with three shots on goal and six hits in his 25:39 of ice time.
Edmonton Oilers 2, Los Angeles Kings 1
In the theme of the night, the Oilers and Kings played a low-scoring, defensive battle in the Great White North. Jonathan Quick allowed just two goals on his 20 shots, but Mikko Koskinen was just a little bit better in the victory. The Flying Finn allowed just one goal across 36 shots to improve to 11-3-2 with a 2.53 GAA and .921 save percentage.
The offense for the home side all came in the first period, as Leon Draisaitl (of course!) and Alex Chiasson each struck on the power play, beating Quick for a pair. Chiasson also contributed with the primary helper on Draisaitl’s goal, while James Neal also had a secondary assist. On the second goal it was Connor McDavid with primary, and Draisaitl joining the multi-point club, a rather exclusive club given the low-scoring ways on Friday.
The only goal scorer for the visitors was Michael Amadio, as he ruined Koskinen’s shutout at the 13:32 mark of the third period while Drew Doughty and Joakim Ryan posted the only assists. Anze Kopitar didn’t score, but he had four hit and a blocked shot. Austin Wagner registered five hits with three shots on goal, too.
Washington Capitals 3, Anaheim Ducks 2
The highest scoring game of the evening had just five total goals, as Vegas saw all five NHL games hit the ‘under’.
Braden Holtby allowed two goals on 29 shots to pick up the victory, and his offense provided some decent support.
Travis Boyd and Evgeny Kuznetsov staked him to an early 2-0 lead, but the Ducks were able to fight back for Ryan Miller. The latter made 33 saves, but he also allowed three total goals. The third and final tally for the visitors came from Jakub Vrana after a pair from the Ducks.
The goal scorers were Ryan Getzlaf, who hit double digits for the second, and Adam Henrique added his ninth. Getzlaf also joined the multi-point producers with an assist. Ondrej Kase and Troy Terry also added helpers.
Jakub Vrana had the game-winning tally at 1:37 of the third period, and he had secondary helper on Kuznetsov’s marker in the second. Vrana is now up to 15 goals with 27 points and a plus-8 rating, including five goals and nine points across the past seven outings.
This game also featured a decent dust-up between Garnet Hathaway and Erik Gudbranson at 4:54 of the second, and the two finished it in the third period. Radko Gudas and Nicolas Deslauriers also threw hands, picking up a fighting major with Deslauriers earning a game misconduct. These teams do not face each other very often, but there was a lot of anger. We had a total of 66 penalty minutes, and for this day and age, that’s a lot!
