We’re in early December, so some of these surprising developments might just become our new hockey reality. Still, there are certain trends likely to dissipate, with some indications being that struggling players should climb while hot streaks should cool.
It should be really interesting to see which ones break with conventional wisdom or not. Part of the fun, right?
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BRUINS 2, SABRES 1
-- Another tremendous performance by Tuukka Rask, who improved his 2016-17 stats to: 13-4-1, 1.60 GAA(!), .941 save percentage and three shutouts.
This marked one of his busiest games of the season, stopping 35 out of 36 SOG. His career save percentage is pretty ridiculous at .925, by the way.
-- Patrice Bergeron scored his first goal since Nov. 19 and just his fourth tally and seventh point of the season. With 77 SOG in 22 GP and a 5.2 shooting percentage, it’s safe to expect the should-be perennial Selke winner to turn things around. Kind of weird that David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand keep tearing it up while Bergeron (likely the best all-around guy of the three) hasn’t been able to get much going.
-- Speaking of goal slumps, Evander Kane finally scored his first goal of the season on Saturday. It’s also just his fifth point in 13 games. Like Bergeron, the puck luck hasn’t been there; Kane’s shooting percentage is even lower at 3.2. He’s been a frustrating player for a long time even if you ignore the really ugly off-the-ice stuff.
-- David Krejci grabbed just his fourth goal of the season, and while he has some room to grow too (7.1 shooting percentage), the somewhat reasonable fear is that this is pretty close to what he is. With unremarkable peripherals, his relevance likely comes down to the size of your league.
RANGERS 4, HURRICANES 2
-- Carolina carried much of the early play but couldn’t really make New York pay. The most glaring example was the first period; the Hurricanes generated a brawny 15-3 SOG advantage yet Derek Stepan was the only player to score in the opening frame.
-- Viktor Stalberg already has seven goals this season, with three of them coming in his last two games against his former team in the Rangers. He’s a solid enough depth guy, but if you ignore the outlier year of 43 points in 2011-12, he’s generally a 20-25 point guy.
-- Stepan also had two assists to go with his goal, while Mats Zuccarello set up two helpers of his own. Chris Kreider was really the headline-grabber with the game’s final two goals, however. With 16 points in 20 games, I wonder if Kreider might push a little bit beyond the 20-goal, 40-point territory he’s occupied since becoming an NHL regular.
-- Let’s take a look at Michael Leighton‘s NHL life since giving up that memorable Patrick Kane championship-clincher (SCWG - Stanley Cup Winning Goal):
2010-11: one game, four goals allowed
2012-13: one game, five goals allowed
2015-16: one game, one goal allowed
2016-17: two games, six goals allowed
FLYERS 3, BLACKHAWKS 1
-- Corey Crawford will be out a few weeks after undergoing an appendectomy, so Scott Darling’s worth a brief add. He’s only owned in 21 percent of leagues right now, and while Chicago’s not the machine it once was, Darling could probably help quite a few teams.
-- Ivan Provorov scored his second and third goals of the season (and of his career) in the span of 31 seconds. He’s been pretty quiet except for the occasional outburst: two points on Nov. 23, four points in as many games from Oct. 22-27.
Provorov is averaging 1:47 power play TOI per game, not that far behind Mark Streit (2:13) for second place among Flyers defensemen. He’s eighth overall on the team, a tantalizing tease as being left off that top unit probably makes you feel like Dustin Hoffman banging on the glass during that famous wedding scene from “The Graduate.”
Really, during his drier spells, Provorov might feel a bit like that wayward postgraduate in general.
(I need to watch that movie again. It’s been too long.)
-- This game followed a bit of the Hurricanes - Flyers script of the heavily out-shot team getting the early upper hand. In this case, Chicago was behind the SOG 16-6 in the first period, yet Artemi Panarin was the only player to find the net in the first 20 minutes. Things ultimately swung back in Philly’s favor, however, thanks to Provorov and Brayden Schenn.
-- Nice all-around game from Schenn: a goal, two SOG, five hits and 11-4 on faceoffs.
-- Maybe Michal Neuvirth‘s injury really has been a wake-up call for Steve Mason? He’s currently on a three-game winning streak in which he’s allowed just five goals (two twice, one on Saturday). Those numbers won’t make people confuse him for Tuukka Rask or Carey Price, but the Flyers could be a tough out if Mason continues to look more like the guy who redeemed his career in the City of Brotherly Love than the guy who seemed to be on a perpetual meltdown in Whatever You Call the City of Columbus.
DEVILS 5, PREDATORS 4 (OT)
-- In his second game back from injury, Taylor Hall scored a goal and two assists despite only registering one SOG. He has almost a point (15) per game (16) as a member of the Devils.
-- Mike Cammalleri has been on a tear to put up Hall-like numbers. With two goals (including the OT-winner) on Saturday, Mr. Calamari now has 17 points in 18 games. Just check out what he’s done since generating a hat trick on Nov. 6:
Dec. 3 - two goals
Dec. 1 - assist
Nov. 29 - gasp, he had the nerve not to score
Nov. 26 - two goals
Nov. 25 - goal, assist
Nov. 23 - goal, three assists
Nov. 8 - didn’t score, missed six games for personal reasons
Nov. 6 - hat trick
Wow, that’s ridiculous.
His 17.6 shooting percentage indicates that he’ll cool off to an extent, but it should be interesting to find out how much. On one hand, he’s 34. On the other hand, his 12.7 shooting percentage indicates that he might be able to turn back the clock in 2016-17.
-- The Predators stormed out to a 4-1 lead, coughing this one up with three goals allowed in the third and that OT goal by Mr. Seafood Appetizer.
This ends a four-game winning streak for Pekka Rinne, which helped him earn player of the month honors. He’s gone four wins, one loss, four wins and now has this one loss, so should we expect another four-game run?
/Rinne owners go from hopefully optimistic to greedy
CANUCKS 3, LEAFS 2 (SO)
-- You might file this under “Why?” but the Vancouver Canucks are now dangerously close to .500 at 11-12-2. They’ve won three of four games, with a bunch of contests going beyond regulation lately.
Since falling to 5-9-1 with a 3-1 loss to Detroit on Nov. 10, they’ve rattled off a 5-2-1 run.
Between that and the season-starting streak, they’re sort of hanging in there.
Expect highs and lows to extend for some time. They begin a five-game road trip on Tuesday, then get four straight home games. That four game homestand combines with some other friendly dates for a stretch in which they play nine of 11 in Vancouver from Dec. 16 through Jan. 6.
So things are probably going to be weird for a while.
-- I wonder if Ryan Miller would accept life as a backup on a solid team after 2016-17? He’s nothing special and aside from that silver medal year, rarely has been. That said, with a .915 save percentage and a semi-acceptable .911 mark this season, I could see him being a reliable No. 2 for a team with some aspirations. Maybe he could be a mentor in Tampa Bay or Pittsburgh in 2017-18?
-- James van Riemsdyk and Auston Matthews both scored their 12th goals of the season in this one. Sheesh, if the Leafs want to flip JVR, they’d be in a sell-high situation.
If you’re a team with the right assets and the right expansion draft setup - that’s going to make hypothetical trades so tough this season, right? - then JVR is a really sensible add.
Then again, the Leafs don’t necessarily need to keep a rebuild mentality any longer, if you ask me. There are some signs that they could be a bubble team right now.
STARS 3, AVALANCHE 0
-- Kari Lehtonen carried a horrifying .885 save percentage into Saturday’s game, his first shutout of 2016-17. He didn’t have to do a whole lot in this one, making 23 stops. Still, considering his overall season and three-game losing streak, this was much-needed. Maybe he can stop the bleeding? If nothing else, it’s tough to imagine it getting worse.
-- Looks like Tyler Seguin is starting to heat up. He extended his point streak to four games (2G, 3A) and has a goal in consecutive contests. He also has 16 SOG in his last five games, and that includes one where he didn’t generate a single SOG for some reason against St. Louis.
(I know the Blues can play tight defense at times, but it’s weird anytime Seguin doesn’t fire at least three SOG on net, IMO).
-- Are the Avalanche what passes as a bad team now? They’re down to 9-13-1 with a -20 goal differential.
JETS 3, BLUES 2 (OT)
-- Bryan Little scored the OTGWG seven seconds beyond regulation. He’s generated four points in as many games this season, as he played on Oct. 13 and then was sidelined until Nov. 29. He’s been pretty reliable to score about 24 goals when healthy (he managed 17 in just 57 GP last season), so don’t discount the impact he can make.
-- During a nine-game span from Nov. 11-27, Patrik Laine managed a mere goal and an assist. With a goal and an assist on Saturday, he now has four goals and one assist during a three-game point streak. Laine won’t turn 19 until April 19, 10 days after the regular season ends.
THESE KIDS.
-- After generating three assists in his first game back from injury, Alexander Steen scored a goal on Saturday. It marks the 200th goal of his career. He’s also five assists from 300 assists and five points from 500 points, so the Blues would love to see him hit plenty of other milestones in the near, near future.
For whatever reason, he’s piling up minuses lately. He’s at -10 on the season. The last time he was a minus for a full season was when he was -3 in 2010-11.
It’s a dumb stat, but it does still count in most formats, so I figured it was worth dumb dumb dumbing around.
BLUE JACKETS 3, COYOTES 2 (SO)
-- Not sure what was better: Mike Smith‘s performance in defeat (a team-record 58 saves with two goals allowed) or Smith’s reaction to the loss. Smith reared back to slam his stick on his goal post in frustration ... and then thought better of it.
In honor of Smith’s restraint, I will try not to throw a video game controller in a rage.
For a week.
For a couple days.
Smith might only have a 4-2-3 record, but his .930 save percentage almost makes you wonder if he might be an anti-tank missile in net.
-- Alexander Wennberg‘s hot start to 2016-17 continues with a goal, giving him 21 points in 23 games. He’s only owned in 51 percent of Yahoo leagues, so even if he slows down (20 shooting percentage almost never sustains), he’s worth a grab.
-- Radim Vrbata extended his point streak to five games with his eighth goal of the season. It really is remarkable how things just seem to click for him more with the Coyotes than anywhere else.
PENGUINS 5, RED WINGS 3
-- At age 25, Jared Coreau made his NHL debut against the defending champion Penguins, the hockey version of teaching a kid to swim by throwing him in the deep end.
The undrafted netminder is a big body who’s put up nice numbers in the AHL for the past three seasons (between .922 and .927 from 2014-15 to this year). Before that, it was a little dicey, although he distinguished himself during his college career.
I wonder if he might have a chance to be a two-way guy/third goalie for Detroit or someone else for some time?
-- That Sidney Crosby slacker didn’t score a goal in this one. Pfffffft.
He did get an assist, though.
-- Carl Hagelin generated two assists in just under 14 minutes of ice time. He hasn’t been getting many bounces (two goals on 51 SOG for 3.9 percent), but his speed and respectable skill make you think he could handle spot duty in an elevated role every now and then if there are injuries.
His ideal state is probably as a guy you forget about except when he turns on the jets, though.
OILERS 3, DUCKS 2 (OT)
-- After going three games without a point, Jordan Eberle assisted on all three Oilers goals, including making a lot of noise on the OTGWG, scored by Leon Draisaitl.
Draisaitl now has 21 points in 25 games while Eberle is right behind him with 20 in 26.
-- It really must sting any time you manage to keep Connor McDavid off the scoreboard but still lose. At least the Ducks got a charity point out of it.
-- Ryan Getzlaf was a big reason why with an assist on both Anaheim goals. He’s now pretty close to an assist per game with 19 in 22 (plus two goals).
-- Hot take: Cam Talbot will finish this season far beyond his career-high of 21 wins in a single campaign. He got his 13th of 2016-17 on Saturday.
SENATORS 2, PANTHERS 0
-- For all the Gerard Gallant taxi drama, this game still seemed really bland: 24 SOG for Florida, 21 for Ottawa.
They generated such a small number of SOG despite 11(!) power plays, with seven going to Ottawa. The Senators have to be glad they managed a win, as that’s pretty weak.
-- Especially since they have insane hockey human Erik Karlsson running the show. Roberto Luongo only needed to make six saves while Karlsson logged a ridiculous 8:38 of ice time on the power play Saturday. Karlsson still scored a goal, and the GWG to boot.
-- Derick Brassard has 11 points so far, four points behind Mika Zibanejad, who is currently injured. Sure feels like the Rangers won that, maybe even in the short term.
LIGHTNING 2, CAPITALS 1 (SO)
-- Tampa Bay ended a four-game losing streak, extending Washington’s skid to three games.
The Lightning have a bit more of an excuse with injuries (Washington’s just lately getting hit a bit after quite a run of health), but either way, it’s tough to believe that the Lightning and Capitals are in fourth place in their respective divisions this late in the season.
-- Strong goaltending in this one. Ben Bishop ended a four-game losing streak by stopping 34 out of 35 shots. Braden Holtby wasn’t far behind him, making 32 out of 33 saves. Holtby remains strong for Washington with a .922 save percentage, a smidge above his career average of .921.
-- Can someone buy John Carlson a bounce? In 23 games, he has 57 SOG and zero goals to show for it. He had six SOG and an assist in this one.
Carlson’s four SOG away from 1,000.
-- Nikita Kucherov scored his 13th goal of 2016-17, pushing his points total to a fantastic 29 in 25 games. His shooting percentage is 18.3 ... but his career mark is 14.1, so I’m not sure how much he tails off. How is he just 23? How is his cap hit just $4.45 million? HOW?
