2017-2018 PLAYER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #3

In the second, the play was extrmely even…Cullen finally tied it up for the home squat at 14:14 off a nifty pass from Chimera.

Then all hell broke loose. Tkachuck challenged Subban to a fight..and while they did the dance, the goalies met at center ice and fought as well! Pandemonium!

In the third, the Freeze struck early on a goal by Turris – and when Emelin got 5 for charging (REALLY?? 5 for Charging??), things looked grim for the Bison. However, an inspired PK let to an extended push..and MAroon finally got the tying marker at 14:04.

Sure looked like we were headed for OT – but then disaster. With Clearfield’s top line and top pair on the ice, young Sebastian Aho made a move around Bergeron, fired from the top of the circle – and beat Bobby Lu with only 35 seconds to go. Clearfield pulled the goalie and got a couple shots off, but to no avail…Minneapolis chilled out the home crowd with a 3-2 win.

Turris was #1 star, Aho #2, and I overrode the computer to giveCullen the #3 star for the goal plus his awesome work on the PK.

Hampton and Alamo looked more interested in practices their double axles, Salchows and Lutzes than they did in actually checking. There was far more bodily contact in the rink’s beer lines than there was in this game.

What turned out to be a key pre-game substitution may have played a big part in the absence of physical play. On a whim, Hampton’s ice boss scratched Andrew Shaw and his league-leading 26 penalty minutes and gave the nod to Columbus winger Oliver Bjorkstrand. For Bjorkstrand, the game would be his first of the season.

Another key pre-game substitution (almost on a whim) was to insert Antti Raanta in place of Carey Price on a hunch that his shutout of Toledo last week was no fluke. In truth, Raanta was subbed in cuz the Hampton GM forgot to set his goaltenders for the week and didn’t want Price playing four straight (even one straight for Price in 2017 real life NHL is a gamble these days).

For fans interested in the the fundamentals of open ice skating, the first period was a cream come true. The teams opted to skate over anything else with very few hits (3-1 in the period for Hampton in what I can only assume was accidental contact) and not too many shots taken (Hampton outshot Alamo 12-7 but with only 28 shots attempted by the two teams combined). It was British hockey at its finest!

Needless to say, there was nothing even remotely resembling a penalty in the opening period.

There was, however, one goal and that of course came off the stick of Oliver Bjorkstrand who one-timed a pass into the faceoff circle by the other Ollie (Oliver Ekman-Larsson). The two teams spent the rest of the period basking in the brilliance of the Hampton coach for subbing in Bjorkstrand on the 4th line.

The second period has even more skating, fewer shots (10-6 for Hampton) but a few mid-ice collisions one of which resulted in the period’s lone penalty – a cross-checking minor to Francois Beauchemin (Frankie Nicestreet to you Yankees). The penalty led to a whole lot of mad scrambling but little else as the tenacious Alamo Defenders’ penalty killers lived up to their names and allowed only one shot to reach keeper Robin Lehner. Uh, and it did not go in. The Blizzard put on a face-off clinic in the second period winning 17 of 20 faceoffs, but that margin was erased in the 3rd period in which the sequel “How to Look Like a Hampton Dork on a Face-off” was playing.

Things opened up quite a bit in the 3rd period as momentum swung in the Alamo direction. The Defenders would wind up outshooting the Blizzard 13-11 in the final frame, but unfortunately quantity didn’t translate into quality. Very few of the Alamo chances were good ones save for with about five minutes left former Hampton defenceman Aaron Ekblad and Tyler Sequin raced in on Raanta on a 2-on-1, but Raanta was equal to the test snagging Seguin’s wrister before it could find the upper corner of the net. The Alamo pulled Lehner with 1:14 left on the clock but wound up with only one shot on Raanta during the final 74 second and spent most of the time with the empty net trying to defend it. On one such attempt, the defence failed and Andrej Sekera slid the puck home from the point with 25 seconds to go for his first of the season to make it 2-0. And that was it.

Lots of nice skating to be sure, but not much else going on in this game other than the Hampton manager was clearly brilliant in subbing in Bjorkstrand (the game’s only real goal scorer) and Raanta (the team’s 2nd career shutout and his second in as many games).

Stars and stats:
1. Antti Raanta (26 saves)
2. Oliver Bjorkstrand (1 goal, 1 hit!)
3. Luke Gardiner (3 hits, 2 blocks and for being a former Blizzard)

Stats:
Goatcheese – ALA: Aaron Ekblad (6 missed shots, 1 giveaway, -2 rating, 2 Penalty minutes, former Blizzard);
At Least He Tried – ALA: Francois Beauchemin (3 hits, 2 takeaways, 2 blocked shots, but still a -2)
Should Have Stayed Home – HAM: Andre Burakovsky (continued his pointless streak to nine games, managing just one shot and nothing else in 11:07 of ice time)
Pepper Spray – HAM: Shayne Gostisbehere (six shots on net … some of them even moving faster than an angry toddler, one hit and four blocked shots)

Alamo 5 Wausau 3

1st – Marchand -1 goal and 1 assist
2nd -Dumba – 1 goal and 1 assist
3rd – Eaves – 1 goal.

Also, Ekblad,Beauchimin, and Seguin have 2 points.

Jagr 5 Alamo 4

1st -Kessel game winning goal, 4 assists.
2nd -Kadri – 2 goals
3rd – Eaves – 2 goals.

Corktown dominated from the start with an early goal from Auston Matthews and an early 9-2 shot advantage in the first 12 minutes. Tyler Toffoli got the Danes even after 1, but Jordan Schroeder (who is this guy?) scored his 4th of the year on a long shot, and Richard Panik beat the Sieve off a bad rebound the make it 3-1 Suds. But the Danes played a stronger 2nd period, outshooting the Suds 18-9, and the 4th line contributed on a goal by Tim Schaller to make it a one-goal game heading into the 3rd. The Danes continued to push the play in the 3rd period and finally broke through at 17:44 on a goal by Alex Pietrangelo to tie the game. And 25 seconds later, Ryan Kesler got his second straight assist when Nikolaj Ehlers got the game-winner at 18:09. The Danes defense closed it out, holding the Suds to only 4 SOG in the 3rd period.

The Great Danes outshot the Suds 40-25 for the game and 38-16 after the slow start. The Danes lead the league in face-off win %, and Ryan Kesler and Jamie Benn went to school on young Matthews and Eichel in the circle, with Matthews at a paltry 29%.

The Great Danes swept the 3-starts – Ehlers 1G-1A, Toffoli 1G-1A, Pietrangelo 1G on 6 SOG’s. No points from top scorers Scheifele and Benn in this one, but the Danes broke up the top line in this game to get more balance and it was effective at least for one game.

1st: Greiss
2nd: Stone
3rd: Matthews

1st: Bozak
2nd: Hornquist
3rd: Ellis

1st: Coyle
2nd: Saad
3rd: O’Reilly

1st Period
10:53 Tavares (6) from Hainsey (3) and Forbort (5) – Bandits lead 1-0
17:36 PP Crosby (6) from Krug (9). 2-0 Bandits

2nd Period
3:39 PP Tatar (2) from Smith (4) and O’Reilly (2) 2-1 Bandits

3rd Period
Thunder Bay ties it up 2-2 on Tatar’s 2nd of the game (3) from Slavin (6) and Zaitsev (2)

30 seconds later Crosby pots his 2nd of the night (7) frmo Hainsey (4) and Vatrano (2) to take back the lead 3-2.

A little over 2 minutes later Saad gets his second of the year on a breakaway from Coyle to tie it up again 3-3

Coach Tom Atkins must have said something on the bench because the Bandits come back with Crosby getting the HT (8) on a PP from Neiderreiter (5) and Krug (10) 4-3 Bandits lead.

4 minutes later Kulikov scores his fist goal of the season in his first start (1) frmo Vatrano (3) and Crosby (8) to make it a 5-3 Bandit lead.

Thunder Bay pulls Pickard with just under 2 minutes remaining. Alexander Radulov misses the empty net not once, but twice! Then on his third try he succeeds at 19:40 (2) from Vermette (2) and Krug (11) to send the Bandit fans home happy.

2017-18 Thunder Bay 2-7-0-0 0 1 2 3
2017-18 Brentwood 7-2-0-0 2 0 4 6

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 10:53 EV BWB Tavares (6), assisted by Hainsey (3) and Forbort (5)
1 17:36 PP BWB Crosby (6), assisted by Krug (9)
2 3:39 PP TBN Tatar (2), assisted by Smith (4) and O’Reilly (3)
3 1:46 EV TBN Tatar (3), assisted by Slavin (6) and Zaitsev (2)
3 2:16 EV BWB Crosby (7), assisted by Hainsey (4) and Vatrano (2)
3 4:37 EV TBN Saad (2), assisted by Coyle (3)
3 10:10 PP BWB Crosby (8), assisted by Niederreiter (5) and Krug (10)
3 14:23 EV BWB Kulikov (1), assisted by Vatrano (3) and Crosby (8)
3 19:40 EN BWB Radulov (2), assisted by Vermette (2) and Krug (11)

SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3
Thunder Bay 12 11 7
Brentwood 11 10 14

TBN BWB
SOG 30 35
FOW 40 33
FO% 54.8 45.2
Hits 19 24
Blocks 9 17
Missed Net 17 13
Shot Attempts 64 57
Scoring Chances 7 10
PIM 8 8
PP 1-4 2-4
TOA 4:22 3:17

Star 1: BWB Crosby 3 G, 4 Pts
Star 2: TBN Tatar 2 G
Star 3: BWB Krug 3 A

GWG: Sidney Crosby

Notables: TBN O’Reilly 21 faceoffs won
BWB Crosby hat trick, Krug 3 assists

Thunder Bay GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate
G Pickard -L 5 29 .853 58:30 0 1 0 7.1 (+1.2)

Brentwood GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate
G Halak -W 3 27 .900 60:00 2 0 0 6.3 (-0.6)

1st Period
51 seconds in Rakell scores his 3rd of the season from Neal (2) and Bergeron (4) to take an early 1-0 lead on the home team.

at 9:41 of the first Okposo and Radulov get into a scrap that is deemed “a draw”.

2nd Period
44 seconds in Okposo scores his 2nd of the season from Drouin. Clearfield leads 2-0.

3:55 Clearfield takes a 3 goal lead when Rakell gets his 2nd of the night (4) from Neal (3) and Bergeron (5). This line is killing it tonight.

But, 20 seconds later Radulov finally gets one behind Anderson (3) from Krug (12) and Vermette (3) to cut the lead to 2.

3rd Period
Bandits manage to get through the first minute without giving up a goal. A small victory. Until…

4:06 James Neal pots his 3rd on the campaign from Alzner (4) and Rakell (4).

But the Bandits aren’t done yet. Patrick Marleau (5) scores on a deke around a defender and rooftop wrister to make it 4-2 Clearfield from Tavares (5).

Bandits fire 14 shots on Anderson in the 3rd, but come up empty, even after pulling the goalie with 2 minutes left.

Final score Clearfield 4, Bandits 2.

2017-18 Clearfield 7-2-0-0 1 2 1 4
2017-18 Brentwood 7-3-0-0 0 1 1 2

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 :51 EV CLE Rakell (3), assisted by Neal (2) and Bergeron (4)
2 :44 EV CLE Okposo (2), assisted by Drouin (4)
2 3:55 EV CLE Rakell (4), assisted by Neal (3) and Bergeron (5)
2 4:15 EV BWB Radulov (3), assisted by Krug (12) and Vermette (3)
3 4:06 EV CLE Neal (3), assisted by Alzner (4) and Rakell (4)
3 8:14 EV BWB Marleau (5), assisted by Tavares (5)

SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3
Clearfield 8 15 7
Brentwood 9 7 14

CLE BWB
SOG 30 30
FOW 27 27
FO% 50.0 50.0
Hits 24 18
Blocks 18 10
Missed Net 10 12
Shot Attempts 50 60
Scoring Chances 6 5
PIM 11 7
PP 0-1 0-3
TOA 2:38 5:23

Star 1: CLE Rakell 2 G, 3 Pts
Star 2: CLE Neal 1 G, 3 Pts
Star 3: BWB Marleau 1 G

GWG: Rickard Rakell

Notables: CLE None
BWB None

Clearfield GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate
G Anderson -W 2 28 .933 60:00 5 0 0 8.9 (+0.8)

Brentwood GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate
G Halak -L 4 26 .867 58:58 2 1 0 7.6 (+0.7)

When asked how he felt about his team thus far:

“On the road again…” Coach Tom Atkins

Final Lakeland 4-2

Lakeland scores 3 goals in the 3rd and Fleury makes a bunch of key saves late to hold on for the win.

LA wins almost every category and beats Lakeland all over the ice, except for on the scoreboard. Fleury stands on his head and the few shots that Lakeland takes hit the back of the net on Andersen.

Great start for the Grizzlies, not so much for the Deep Freeze. Draisaitl wins the opening faceoff, sets up Hedman who fires a shot into traffic in front of the net, and Sedin tips it past Bobrovsky to put New Jersey up 1-0 on the first shot of the game. The teams go back and forth for the rest of the period with Schneider making a few great saves to keep Minneapolis off the board. Bobrovsky keeps his head in the game after the early goal, and the period ends with New Jersey still leading 1-0.

Minneapolis comes out strong to start the second period, and thought they had tied the game when Pesce beat Schneider with a shot from the blue line, but after review the officials determine that the net was off and the goal is NO GOOD. After sitting 2 minutes for tripping, Aho comes out of the box and ties the game for real this time with his 2nd goal of the season. Both teams pepper the goalies for the rest of the period as Minneapolis gets 15 shots while New Jersey gets 14, but the goalies hold their ground for the rest of the period. We go into the locker rooms tied at 1 after 40 minutes.

The teams trade penalties to begin the third but both are killed off with ease as the story of the game continues to be blocked shots and goaltending. With just over 10 minutes to go, Tkachuk (3) breaks the tie with a wrist shot that beat Schneider up high. Minneapolis dominates the rest of the period and holds on to win 2-1.

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 :14 EV NJG Sedin (2), assisted by Hedman (7) and Draisaitl (3)
2 3:52 EV MIN Aho (2), assisted by Spezza (5) and Marchessault (1)
3 9:55 EV MIN Tkachuk (3), assisted by Chara (3) and Pavelski (5)

SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3
New Jersey 10 14 8
Minneapolis 16 15 15

NJG MIN
SOG 32 46
FOW 31 43
FO% 41.9 58.1
Hits 18 19
Blocks 20 13
Missed Net 10 18
Shot Attempts 55 84
Scoring Chances 5 11
PIM 12 6
PP 0-3 0-6
TOA 3:24 7:00

Star 1: MIN Bobrovsky 31 saves
Star 2: NJG Schneider 44 saves
Star 3: MIN Tkachuk 1 G

GWG: Matthew Tkachuk

Notables: NJG Schneider 44 saves, Byfuglien 5 blocks, Johansen 16 faceoffs won
MIN Bobrovsky 31 saves, Pavelski 18 faceoffs won

Bobrovsky gets a night off for the Deep Freeze as Crawford gets the start at The Pond.

The first period is remarkably uneventful, as the period ends with the score tied at 0 and Minneapolis leading 9-6 on shots.

Early in the second period, the Deep Freeze get caught too deep and the Tigers come back the other way with a 3-on-1 break. Connolly (3) ends up alone with Crawford and dekes him out of his pads to give Lakeland the 1-0 lead. Lakeland expands the lead later in the period with a gnarly deflection from Oshie (1). With 2:55 left in the second period, things go from bad to worse for the Deep Freeze. Duchene (4) redirects a shot from Hartman to give the Flying Tigers a 3-0 lead. Minneapolis finally gets on the board 2 minutes later when Pavelski (3) beats Fluery with a lucky shot from a bad angle. The period ends with Lakeland leading 3-1 despite trailing in almost every meaningful statistic. Minneapolis leads shots 25-11, Faceoffs 23-20, and Chances 11-3 after 40 minutes. Coach Larry Murphy is frustrated but knows his team still has a chance if they continue to play this way.

Minneapolis controls play for much of the 3rd period, but it’s Lakeland who scores next anyway. Garrison (1) gets free 1-on-1 with Crawford and shoots one high on the stick side to make it 4-1 in favor of the Flying Tigers. Minneapolis outplayed the Flying Tigers but Fluery stands on his head to steal the win for Lakeland and hand the Deep Freeze their first home loss of the season.

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
2 1:21 EV LAK Connolly (3), assisted by Mitchell (1) and Steen (5)
2 10:26 EV LAK Oshie (1), assisted by Seabrook (6) and Duchene (2)
2 17:05 EV LAK Duchene (4), assisted by Hartman (3) and Oshie (1)
2 18:54 EV MIN Pavelski (3), assisted by Tkachuk (3) and Orpik (4)
3 15:37 EV LAK Garrison (1), assisted by Boyle (1) and Mitchell (2)

SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3
Lakeland 6 5 6
Minneapolis 9 16 16

LAK MIN
SOG 17 41
FOW 28 32
FO% 46.7 53.3
Hits 20 19
Blocks 21 13
Missed Net 7 15
Shot Attempts 37 77
Scoring Chances 6 17
PIM 8 6
PP 0-1 0-2
TOA 1:59 5:25

Star 1: LAK Fleury 40 saves
Star 2: LAK Oshie 1 G, 2 Pts
Star 3: LAK Duchene 1 G, 2 Pts

GWG: T.J. Oshie

Notables: LAK Gudbranson 5 blocks, Fleury 40 saves
MIN None