A LOOK BACK……..
The problem with light schedules is they can often magnify specific events. Unfortunately for fantasy owners of Carolina Hurricanes, it became quickly apparently against the Montreal Canadiens that they quit on themselves and/or their coach last night. What resulted was a 4-0 Habs victory that looked like it could have been six, seven or eight to zero. Coach Paul Maurice has probably tinkered with this team way too much resulting in a squad that cannot get out of its own way at times. Eric Staal is now a -18 in 19 games this year. Hey that is an improvement over the pace that was set about ten days ago. Cam Ward is constantly facing high quality chances from every angle and it is clearly frustrating him. Last night he stopped 32 of 36 which was not bad but his team had six shots on goal halfway into the contest. That is bad. It may really get worse for Carolina before it gets better.
Then there are the Buffalo Sabres, who are not in as bad of a position as Carolina but have a crisis of their own. Where is the physicality of this team? A New Jersey Devils team came in and pushed Buffalo around for the first 50:00 before Buffalo started to try in the last ten. Generally that is not a formula for victory as Jhonas Enroth was yanked after giving up five goals on 19 shots in the 5-3 loss, which was seen on Versus. Tyler Myers looked good after being a healthy scratch as he tallied twice against New Jersey but Martin Brodeur was better stopping 29 of 32, many of them high quality chances. Patrik Elias had a goal and assist for the Devils who climbed back to two games above .500. Elias has 17 points in 17 games this year, which is a fantasy stud considering the man’s age and the team’s lack of finishing ability.
Vancouver and Chicago were the main event of the night and well for two periods it lived up to the hype. Cory Schneider and Corey Crawford battled well as Chicago led 2-1 after two periods. Then the third period happened or about a four minute window of time that Vancouver would have liked to have had back. For Chicago it was the penalty kill in the last meeting, this time it was the power play setting up the even strength chances that turned this one into a one sided affair. Shots were fairly even in this game (29-27 VAN) and scoring chances were too but Chicago was just smarter at staying out of the box (0 power plays given up) while they went 2-3 on the man advantage themselves. Marian Hossa was the best player on the ice for both teams as he set up three of the five goals. Crawford stopped 28 of 29 in the 5-1 win. It was a statement game for Chicago more than Vancouver err game of atonement.
Then there was Anaheim and Los Angeles in a game that only Jonas Hiller owners could love. The guy stops 36 of 37 shots and still loses in the seventh round of a shootout as Jared Stoll won it but that part does not matter. Hiller got some of his groove back as Jon Quick did too in a sense stopping 23 of 24 shots. It was a game for the goalies as Mike Richards and Teemu Selanne traded goals. The encore later tonight should be one that features a few more goals. Just call it a hunch.
SCHEDULE TIME:
Thursday, November 17, 2011 |
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| Teams | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | at | Boston | 7:00 PM | ||
| Montreal | at | NY Islanders | 7:00 PM | ||
| Phoenix | at | Philadelphia | 7:00 PM | ||
| Pittsburgh | at | Tampa Bay | 7:30 PM | ||
| Florida | at | St. Louis | 8:00 PM | ||
| Toronto | at | Nashville | 8:00 PM | ||
| Colorado | at | Minnesota | 8:00 PM | ||
| Washington | at | Winnipeg | 8:30 PM | ||
| Ottawa | at | Edmonton | 9:30 PM | ||
| Los Angeles | at | Anaheim | 10:00 PM | ||
| Detroit | at | San Jose | 10:30 PM | ||
When there are 11 games on the docket, it just has the feeling of being a nice hearty slate. This night does not disappoint with some matchups that will wet the appetite. Phoenix and Philadelphia come to mind almost instantly along with Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. However, the main show may just be in San Jose when Detroit gets it going as the very late game. There is Minnesota as they try to continue to lead the Northwest Division with stellar goaltending from Josh Harding and Nicklas Backstrom. Then the other Nick Backstrom will try to tame Winnipeg. Free wheeling Ottawa faces an Edmonton team coming off an East Coast not so easy feeling and part two of the Freeway Faceoff concludes. It will indeed be just a little crazy.
This is a little of what we have our eye on. Take notes because there will be a quiz at some juncture. When? We have no idea at all.
KEEP AN EYE ON……
The goalie matchup in San Jose — Basically Jimmy Howard has been excellent and Antti Niemi has been well not so consistent. However, put these two teams together and Niemi just seems more poised. The first 20 minutes may tell everyone that needs to know how this game and duel will go. If either one or both has the case of the yips then we are going to be in for one of those wild 5-4 or 6-5 nights. If not, then it can settle in to a nice 2-1 or 3-2 duel. These games are typically close in nature for the most part. That is why it is our game of the night. Expect the usual suspects to score. Patrick Marleau for San Jose and Pavel Datsyuk for Detroit should have solid nights.
Freeway Faceoff 2 — There is no way this ends up being 2-1 in a shootout again. Anaheim will have to open it up to create more scoring chances because Los Angeles just will not or can not without a little bit of help. What you saw tonight has been LA’s problem pretty much all year. They can generate a ton of scoring chances but never quite get that finish. Quite a few teams are having this problem but the Kings have it at home far too often. There are no real excuses for it. The same mantras exist from last night’s game. Ducks have to get the first line rolling early while LA has to take the crowd out of it. Expect a push for more goals as Quick and Hiller battle again to probably something more of a 4-3 outcome. This means more fantasy points fans!
Easy Brzy Feeling — One knows Ilya Bryzgalov circled this game on the calendar or did the Phoenix Coyotes? Either way, this one has the makings of being a battle of wills. Phoenix knows Bryzgalov better than anyone but Philadelphia knows Mike Smith pretty well also. Bryzgalov has been all over the woods in his time in Philly (good, bad, and ugly). This is a game where you throw all the season numbers out the window because they mean nothing. It will only take a goal or two to set this powderkeg off. However, if that does not happen this one wreaks of a low scoring affair which will only be fantasy beneficial for owners of the goalies. Watch the first 20.
As always we will be live tweeting throughout the night. With a lot of games going on at once, it will seem blurred but we will try and make some sense out of it all. Good luck and have at it!
