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lippsman
FoxDen Hall of Famer
Registered: Dec 2005
Posts: 10835
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Lundqvist makes history on his birthday
Henrik Lundqvist made 50 saves in his 3–1 win at Calgary, after making 50 stops in the Rangers’ last game, a 6–5 overtime win at Vancouver on Wednesday. Lundqvist, who turned 36 years old on Friday, is the first NHL goaltender to win two consecutive games in one season while recording at least 50 saves in each game since the league began officially tracking shots on goal in 1955–56. Lundqvist also became the oldest NHL goaltender to win a game played on his birthday since Dwayne Roloson earned a victory on the day he turned 37 on October 12, 2006.
Spooner off to a good start with the Rangers
Ryan Spooner recorded a goal and an assist in the Rangers’ 3–1 victory in Calgary on Friday. Spooner has tallied seven points (one goal, six assists) in the three games he’s played for the Rangers since they acquired him in a trade with the Bruins last week. That ties the record for most points by a player in his first three games for the Rangers, a mark set by Carey Wilson in December 1988 (two goals, five assists) after he joined the Blueshirts in a trade with the Hartford Whalers.
Three straight comeback wins for the Predators
The Predators extended their winning streak to seven games with a 4–3 overtime victory at Vancouver, a game in which Nashville overcame a 2–0 deficit. The Predators have won all three games on their current road trip despite trailing by two goals in each game. They’re the second team in NHL history to win three consecutive games in one season, all on the road, while overcoming a two-goal deficit in each game. The Rangers did that in 1979 with wins at St. Louis (Jan. 9), Colorado (Jan. 10) and Atlanta (Jan. 14).
Galchenyuk’s hat trick lifts Canadiens over Islanders
Alex Galchenyuk, playing in the 400th game of his NHL career, scored three goals for the Canadiens in their 6–3 win against the Islanders in Brooklyn. This was the second hat trick of Galchenyuk’s NHL career and the first hat trick by a Canadiens player in a road game since Oct. 30, 2015, when Dale Weise scored three goals versus the Flames in Calgary. Galchenyuk’s hat trick on Friday was the first by a Montreal player in a game played in the U.S.A. since Feb. 9, 2012, when Max Pacioretty tallied three goals against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.
Ekblad joins elite company
Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad scored the 50th goal of his four-season NHL career in Florida’s 4–1 win versus the Sabres on Friday. Ekblad, who turned 22 years old just over three weeks ago (Feb. 7), is the eighth youngest defenseman in NHL history to reach the 50-goal mark and the youngest since Scott Stevens did so at age 21 on Feb. 19, 1986. Six of the seven defensemen to hit the 50-goal plateau at a younger age than Ekblad are in the Hockey Hall of Fame: Phil Housley, Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Bobby Orr, Stevens and Larry Murphy.
Two straight days with a game-winning goal for Teravainen
Teuvo Teravainen scored the winning goal in the Hurricanes’ 3–1 victory against the Devils on Friday, after doing the same in Carolina’s win at Philadelphia on Thursday. This is only the fifth time in franchise history that one player scored a game-winning goal for the Whalers or Hurricanes on each of two consecutive days. The other players to do that were Hartford’s Blaine Stoughton (Dec. 11–12, 1982) and Dean Evason (Feb. 18–19, 1986), and Carolina’s Erik Cole (March 5–6, 2008) and Elias Lindholm (Nov. 1–2, 2014). Teravainen scored only five goals over a 40-game span from November 22 through February 16 but he’s scored five goals in six games since then.
Laine nets a pair in Winnipeg’s win
Patrik Laine scored two goals for the Winnipeg Jets in their 4–3 victory against the Red Wings. It was Laine’s third multiple-goal this season and the 10th multi-goal game of his two-season NHL career. Only five other players who debuted in the NHL during the last ten years produced at least ten multiple-goal games over their first two seasons in the league: Steven Stamkos (14), Matt Duchene (11), Jack Eichel (10), Artemi Panarin (10) and Auston Matthews (10).
Another five-point performance for MacKinnon
Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals and assisted on three in the Avalanche’s 7–1 win against the Wild. MacKinnon’s five-point game tied the career high he set earlier this season, with one goal and four assists in Colorado’s 6–2 win versus the Capitals on November 16. This is the fifth time since the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995 that an Avs player has scored five or more points in a game at least twice in one season. Peter Forsberg (four times) and Joe Sakic (twice) both did that in 1995–96, the team’s first season in Colorado, Forsberg had two such games in 2002–03, and Paul Stastny produced two five-point games for the Avs in 2007–08.
Senators win with an assist from Karlsson
Erik Karlsson assisted on three goals for the Senators in their 5–4 win against the Golden Knights in Las Vegas. It was Karlsson’s fourth game with three assists this season, the most by any NHL defenseman. The only NHL players with more three-assist games this season than Karlsson are Blake Wheeler (6) and Nathan MacKinnon (5).
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03-03-18 04:40 PM |
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msudogs
Moderator
Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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Toronto Maple Leafs (+102) @ Washington Capitals (-122) | O/U 6
8 p.m. ET, NBC
Danger Zone: The Maple Leafs could prove to be a headache for the Capitals. No team has created more high-danger scoring chances (5-on-5, score + venue adjusted) than Toronto. Washington, on the other hand, has struggled preventing high-danger chances: The Caps have allowed the third-most in the NHL this year.
Expected Goals: Even though it’s leading the Metropolitan Division, Washington has one of the worst xG differentials in the NHL (-21.86). The Capitals average 2.24 xG/60 while allowing 2.67 xG/60, the latter of which is the third-worst mark in the circuit.
Driving Play: Washington is also in the bottom third of the league in possession. The Caps own a 47.9 CF% (5-on-5, score +venue adjusted), which is the ninth-lowest mark in the league. Toronto is a bang-on average possession team with a 50.01 CF%.
DFSpecial Teams: Toronto has allowed the fourth-most Corsi over the past month, but it also owns the third-best penalty kill in the league at 83.6%. Naturally, Washington’s top-five power play (21.7% conversion rate) may be in for a tough matchup on special teams, but the two players most likely to take advantage are Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson, who rank in the 98th and 94th percentile in shots+blocks over the past month, respectively. The next closest skater in this game is Patrick Marleau in the 81st percentile.
Fade and Follow: There’s not a ton of peripheral stats to go around for Washington, so Carlson’s 95th percentile blocks over the past month could easily skew the above stat. In fact, after Ovechkin (99th percentile in shots), five Maple Leafs skaters rank higher in shots over the past month than the next Capitals player. If you decide to fade Carlson, Ovi could make for a fantastic one-off play. He also has standalone value, leading the slate with 12 DraftKings Pro Trends.
Ovi Alert: Ovechkin scored a hat trick in his last game against the Maple Leafs in November after being held without a point in his previous three against the Leafs.
Believe in Babs: As coach of the Maple Leafs and Red Wings, Mike Babcock is a mediocre 110-101 (52.1%) on the moneyline when riding a two-plus-game losing streak. But when he faces a team averaging three-plus goals per game in the spot, he wins 56.5% of games, including 11-5 on the moneyline in February or later.
Missing Matthews? The Maple Leafs had not lost back-to-back games on the moneyline in about six weeks before their last two road games against the Panthers and Lightning. With Auston Matthews on the shelf, Toronto dropped two straight, both in overtime. The Maple Leafs haven’t lost three straight road games since before Christmas.
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03-03-18 09:18 PM |
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