2018-2019 PLAYER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #22
| EASTERN SKATER | TEAM | GP | GOALS | ASISSTS | POINTS | PM | +/- | SOG | S% |
| Karlsson, Erik | BGR | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 9% |
| EASTERN GOALIE | TEAM | GP | GOALS AGAINST | G.A. AVERAGE | SAVES | SAVE % | |||
| Crawford, Casey | CIN | 2 | 3 | 1.45 | 85 | .966 | |||
| WESTERN SKATER | TEAM | GP | GOALS | ASSISTS | POINTS | PM | +/- | SOG | S% |
| Backstrom, Nicklas | TOL | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 17% |
| WESTERN GOALIE | TEAM | GP | GOALS AGAINST | G.A. AVERAGE | SAVES | SAVE % | |||
| Bobrovsky, Sergei | CAL | 3 | 3 | 0.99 | 119 | .975 | |||
| Thunder Bay NorWesters | |
| Weekly Preview: | Two home games and one road game this week. Thunder Bay is currently the worst team in the league, but in reality the weakest five teams are all pretty weak. Home games vs New Jersey and Charlotte and on the road against Charlotte. |
| New Jersey Grizzlies @ Thunder Bay NorWesters | New Jersey wins 6-1. Goals by Pulock(6), Hedman(21), Draisaitl(21), DeBrusk(22) Hartnell(10) and Gibbons(12). Thunder Bay’s lone scorer was Saad(23). I suspect there will be a closed door meeting before the next game. |
| Charlotte Buzzards @ Thunder Bay NorWesters | The closed door meeting must have struck a chord as Thunder Bay explodes for 8 goals and gives up just 2. Much of the blame for Charlotte’s loss has to fall on Ranta who made just 10 save and gave up 6 goals. Smith(21) and Dzingel scored for Charlotte. Saad scored twice (24&25) as did Tatar(6&7), other scoring were O’Reilly(15), Jones(13), Couturier(22), and Jarnkrok(7). For a team with little to play for this was a good outing and shows so hope for next season. |
| Weekly Summary: | A salt and Pepper home stand. 6-1 Loss followed by an 8-2 win. Which team will show up next week and next year??????? |
| Toledo Walleye | |
| Weekly Preview: | Toledo welcomes Krejci, Rodriguez and Anisimov back from the DL just in time to make a run for the playoffs. Toledo welcomes Bucks County and Chicago to play this week. |
| Toledo Walleye @ Chicago Cosa Nostra | Toledo 7, Chicago 1 – Toledo and Chicago combine for 77 shots on goals. The big difference was that Dubnyk (TOL) was up and ready for the challange, while Bernier had a bit of an off day, letting 7 get by, 3 on the power play.
For Toledo, goals by Rodrigues, van Riemsdyk, Krejci, Mantha, Goodrow, Barrie and Vanek. Chicago lone goal by Nugent-Hopkins. 1st star – Dubnyk 40 saves |
| Bucks County Raccoons @ Toledo Walleye | Toledo 5, Bucks County 4 OT – Bucks County scores the first goal before a minute elapses, with Perry blasting a shot from the point. 20 more shots by both teams in the period results in zilch and the period ends 1-0 Raccoons.
2nd period starts just like the first with McDavid netting a goal before 60 seconds burn off the clock, making it 2-0 Raccoons, making the home crowd very edgy. The Fish respond quickly though, with Anisimov scoring to cut the lead to 1, only to see Shore get his first of the year for the visitors and make things uncomfortable in the arena, with the Walleye down 3-1. After 10 more minutes of nothing much for the home team, they shift gears and try the F gear instead. Things improve gradually until Backstrom pops one in on the power play just before the period ends. Everyone takes a break with the score 3-2 Raccoons. Toledo continues in the Forward gear mode and ties the game up at 3 on a goal by JVR just under 5 minutes in. Somebody lets the air out of the tires though, and things kind of muddle along until the Raccoons grab a turnover and Spezza thumps the Walleye between the eyes with his 2nd goal of the year, giving the visitors the lead 4-3. Coach gets out the air pump to get things rolling again, and the Fish respond with the tying goal by BAckstrom near the 4 minute mark. The next 2 minutes the Raccoons pepper Dubnyk with shots until they get tired and give the Walleye a turn. They pepper Elliott for a while until the clock burns out and we go to overtime. OT – The Walleye get the faceoff and never give the puck back, Vanek scores on a penetraton shot 50 seconds in to end the extra time. 1st star – Backstrom 2g |
| Weekly Summary: | Toledo gets a much needed 4 points to put a little breathing room between them and LA in the race for the final playoff spot in the Conference.
2 wins for Dubnyk, 5GA 64 saves. Bucks County – 2 points each – Suter, Keith, Johnson, Shore |
| Charlotte Buzzards | |
| Weekly Preview: | Charlotte hosted just one game during this short week, against a playoff-worthy Cincinnati Inferno squad that remains in the fight of its life along with NJ for the final postseason spot in the East. |
| Cincinnati Inferno @ Charlotte Buzzards | Charlotte genuinely served up its best effort as it attempted to play the role of spoiler; the Buzzards unveiled its optimum lineup as the season winds down. But the sensational goaltending of first-star Corey Crawford and three second period goals ending a scoreless deadlock and sparked the Inferno to the critical 4-1 win. Crawford fought off a Buzzards barrage and registered an astonishing 47 saves — including a minimum of 15 saves during each period. Crawford nearly pulled off the shutout. Only a late goal 7 minutes in regulation by Vladimir Tarasenko (and that off a deflection from the stick of Oliver Ekman Larsson) spoiled the shutout bid and closed the lead to 3-1. But the Inferno played lockdown defense the rest of the way in front of Crawford to ensure that the outcome never remained in doubt, and an empty net goal with 11 seconds from Mikael Backlund closed out the scoring. David Perron broke the scoreless tie with a goal two minutes into the second period for Cincinnati. William Karlson, who assisted on the Perron goal, scored his own three minutes later, to get credit for the game winning goal and put Cincinnati ahead 2-0. Adam Lowry added an even strength goal with seven minutes to play in the second period to provide the Inferno with the comfortable 3-0 lead. |
| Weekly Summary: | If the Inferno clinches a spot in the playoffs it can point to this Crawford-inspired game. The Buzzards, as they prepare for spring golf, will try to take a page from Cincinnati and shore up its goaltending next season. The oft-injured and mercurial Raanta (23 saves in this latest contest for the loss) is not expected to return and the Buzzards will be counting on a revival in nets from Carey Price next year. |
| Jagr Mullets | |
| Weekly Preview: | Just one home game this week vs. Lafayette. |
| Lafayette Homesteaders @ Jagr Mullets | Can the Homesteaders play spoiler?
They certainly came up ready to play, as Forsberg (43) scores at 6:25 on the PP to get the action started. Ovie (43) responds minutes later on the PP to tie it up, then Patrik Laine (41) pots one at 15:25 to put the good guys up 2-1. But Lafayette isn’t going away; Lindblom (2) beats Gibson with less than 2 minutes left to send us knotted up 2-2 into the intermission. In the 2nd, Ritchie (3) scores on a breakaway slapshot to regain the lead. The Mullets aren’t used to playing from behind — so they decide to score twice… Nash (13) and Radulov (17) slip the puck past Jones to give Jagr a 4-3 lead heading into the 3rd. Gostisbehere, always a Flyer at heart, takes a 5 minute cross-checking major at 9:17. Fatal move. Kadri (34) scores on the extended PP to put the Mullets up 5-3. Game over, right?! Nope. Forsberg (44) scores with an empty net behind him and 58 seconds left on the clock. They keep the pressure on, but Jordan Staal (14) gets the empty netter at 19:39 to ice the game 6-4 for the home team. Scoring Summary Star 1: JAG Ovechkin 1 G, 3 Pts GWG: Nazem Kadri Notables: LAF Jones 48 saves |
| Weekly Summary: | With a fully healthy and motivated roster, we’re looking forward to heading into the playoffs with some momentum. |
| Yellowknife Braves | |
| Weekly Preview: | Yellowknife is gearing up for the playoffs |
| Toledo Walleye @ Yellowknife Braves | 4-3 Braves Stars #1 YEL Rantanen #2 YEL Kuznetsov #3 YEL Malkin |
| Chicago Cosa Nostra @ Yellowknife Braves | Chicago takes it in OT 3-2 |
| Weekly Summary: | 3 of 4 pts for the home team. |
| California Regulators | |
| LA Great Danes @ California Regulators | California blanks LA, 3-0. |
| Weekly Summary: | California wins its only home game this week. |
| LA Great Danes | |
| Weekly Preview: | Next to last home game of the season for LA, still mathematically alive for a playoff spot, but a more realistic goal is a winning record for the season. |
| Gilbert Sharks @ LA Great Danes | Not much going on in the first period, with only one scoring chance per team. But Nathan MacKinnon scores on Gilbert’s only chance to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead after one. At 1:34 of the 2nd, Perrault makes it 2-0 Gilbert.
Then comes the turning point – Adam Henrique takes a 5-minute charging penalty. LA gets an amazing 16 SOG’s and 9 scoring chances on the PP and finally beats Rask on a Schenn PPG just 16 seconds before Henrique was to come out of the box. LA keeps the momentum from the PP going and ends with a 28-3 shot advantage in the 2nd period. And they do take the lead late in the 2nd – Rask stops a Donato breakaway but Connor Brown follows up and puts the rebound in for a 2-1 LA lead after 2. The Sharks offered little resistance in the 3rd – 2 early goals by Thornton and Boedker and an empty netter by Ehlers, and the Great Danes pull away for a 5-2 win. LA outhits the Sharks 18-8, block 22 shots, and end up with 51 SOG for the game. Ehlers/Schenn/Thornton all with 1G-1A are the 3 stars. |
| Weekly Summary: | The win gives the Great Danes 82 points on the year, so it’s at least a .500 record for the season. A road loss to California this week probably seals the Danes fate as a non-playoff team, but after a mid-season sell-off of players such as Carlson/Toffoli/Eller/Byron, the Danes have been looking ahead to next year for some time. |
| Cincinnati Inferno | |
| Weekly Preview: | The Cincinnati Inferno are running out of time if they hope to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. Trailing New Jersey by three points for the final spot, the Inferno have two critical games against Charlotte and yes, the aforementioned Grizzlies. |
| Charlotte Buzzards @ Cincinnati Inferno | The Buzzards draw first blood at 5:23 of the first, as Tyler Myers slipped past a defenseman and buried his fourth goal of the campaign. Brock McGinn, earning some rare power play time, notched his sixth at 15:25 and the opening stanza ended tied at one apiece. Cincinnati unfurled a 20-8 shots on goal advanatge.
Late in the second (at 17:56), Dougie Hamilton potted his 16th goal of the season and Charlotte held a 2-1 edge at the second break. The Buzzards held a 12-10 shots advantage. The Inferno went into the third knowing that they had just held off Charlotte two nights earlier on the road in a 4-1 win and wanted to make another statement and narrow the gap on New Jersey. It didn’t happen that way. Anders Lee’s 36th goal at 10:02 made it a 3-1 lead for Charlotte and Matthew Tkachuk’s 25th score at 14:25 on the power play brought the score to its final resting place of 3-2. Cincinnati again bombed the Buzzards nets with a 19-4 shots advantage in the third. For the game, Cincinnati held a 49-24 shots lead. Antti Raanta was the star of the game, turning aside 47 shots in collecting the win. Carter Hutton stopped 21 shots in taking the loss. Only three power play chances were awarded in the game, all to the Inferno, who converted two of them. A critical loss to a worthy playoff contender clouds the Cincinnati postseason chances… |
| New Jersey Grizzlies @ Cincinnati Inferno | The arch-rival New Jersey Grizzlies roll in for the final time to The Incinerator. Five games remain in the season for Cincinnati and a loss would all but eliminate it from the postseason.
For the first time this season, Cincinnati experiences the ‘run time error’. This comes midway through the second with the Inferno leading, 1-0. Forced to replay the game, an inspired Inferno turns loose the offense that has been bottled up all season in a 5-2 win. John Carlos (12), Brock Boeser (29) and Jason Zucker (8) all net first period goals as the Inferno builds a 3-1 edge. Sidney Crosby’s 25th late in the second makes it a 4-1 edge. Wayne Simmonds re-direction early in the third puts the contest away, but a Victor Hedman goal with the goalie pulled at 18:38 starts to make the game interesting. The 5-2 win is the first in four starts for Carter HUtton, who re-drected 25 shots. Braden Holtby turned away 44 shots in the loss. The Inferno were one-for-six with the man-advantage, while the Grizzlies were zero-for-three on the power play. |
| Weekly Summary: | Cincinnati gets a split in the next to last week of home games this season. At this point, it appears the Inferno trail the Grizzlies by one point with a game in hand. New Jersey will close with road affairs at Charlotte and Bathgate, while Cincinnati hosts Thunder Bay and Brentwood and plays at Lafayette. |
| Bathgate Rangers | |
| Weekly Preview: | Season winding down, players are trying to ensure a spot on next year’s roster and finishing up in division games. Rangers get a home game against Brentwood – maybe spoil there chances for some home ice dominance in the playoffs…. (yeah right, well anything is possible) |
| Lafayette Homesteaders @ Bathgate Rangers | Rangers clinging to last place in the division come out with a surprising 4-0 shutout in this one. And they fire 3 of them past Jones in the opening period. Wood (24), Vrana (2) and Hischier (21) get the 1st period goals. Karlsson tacks on a PP goal in the 3rd for the coup de gras. Halak stops all 28 of the 54 shots that made it on goal. Both teams fired that many times, the Rangers got 34 on net – and there was the difference. STARS (all BGR) 1. Halak – 28 saves 2. Karlsson – 1 goal, 1 assist 3. Wood – 1 goal Jones was noted for stopping 30 shots. |
| Brentwood Bandits @ Bathgate Rangers | These teams have had some close games and not so close games – this one was close. Both teams passed the 30 SOG mark, Brentwood fired 36 (of 62) on Halak and Bathgate countered with 33 (of 59) on Vasilevskiy. The thing that won out in this one was that Halak only let one of those 36 get past him (and got his 2nd straight #1 star in the process!). Vasilevskiy was almost as good – but two slipped past (and all he got was a notable). 1st period Ferland scores his 33rd on a snap shot that zipped by Vasilevskiy before he could react. 2nd period nobody scores as the defenses (and goalies) take charge.But in the 3rd we get action from both teams. 2 and 1/2 minutes in the Bandits get the puck in Bathgate’s end. Pearson shots it over to Ryan who puts on a move then feeds it to pickle (Vlasic) who shoots it low trying to get a deflection going, but no one hits it and Halak misses it as well and it goes in for Vlassic’s 9th on the season. Game tied 1-1!The game winner came in the 3rd 6 minutes in while the Rangers were on the PP. Former Ranger Hornqvist gets nabbed for slashing. With time just about out on the PP, ZBad comes from behind the net and tucks a wraparound shot past below Vasilevskiy’s glove!After that, no one else scores. Brentwood sends on the extra skater for the final minute, but the stingy (all of a sudden) Rangers repel the attacks to get the win, 2-1! STARS (all BGR) 1. Halak – 35 saves 2. Ferland – 1 goal 3. Zibanejad – 1 goal |
| Weekly Summary: | Rangers sweep their home games this week including a take down of mighty Brentwood. The battle for 1st and 2nd rages on – next week will be interesting. |
| Columbus Brew Jackets | |
| Weekly Preview: | Disappointing season for Columbus as they planned on a return trip to the post season where 1 goal in OT kept them out of the Stanley Cup last year. This week they host Brentwood and big time rival, Bathgate. |
| Brentwood Bandits @ Columbus Brew Jackets | The game starts out to be a tough battle. Couture gets the Jackets up 1-0 8 minutes in and Brentwood ties it up 2 minutes later with their 1st of 2 PP goals in the opening period. Brodziak goes off for cross checking and Horvat makes the Jackets pay. But Jamie Benn gets the lead back with his 36th of the year with 5 to go. But then Burns gets called on a cheap holding penalty and Hornqvist puts the biscuit in the basket to tie it up 2-2 after 1. PERIOD 2 – Brentwood actually scores an even strength goal 5 1/2 in when Eller puts one between the pipes. But late in the period Courture ties it up. Burns then gets whistled with 1:57 to go (his 4th PENALTY OF THE GAME – he will have one more in the 3rd!!), and with 1 second left in the 2nd, Tavares (43) scores the 3rd PP goal for the Bandits and they leave the 2nd up 4-3.PERIOD 3 – No one can beat the goalies in the 3rd so the Bandits wait until the final minute when Rinne exits and Eller flips one in the EN for the nail in the coffin and Brentwood wins 5-3. STARS 1. BWB Eller 2 goals 2. CBJ Couture 2 goals 3. BWB Tavares 1 goal |
| Bathgate Rangers @ Columbus Brew Jackets | Will the Brew Jackets be good hosts to the senior Schindel’s Rangers? NO
PERIOD 1 – Jackets hot off the disappointment with Brentwood, erupt for 4 goals in the 1st. Hickey 34 seconds in. Benn gets 2 (Subban scores one for Bathgate in between) and Kucherov finishes the 1st period scoring with a PP goal late. PERIOD 2 – Donskoi tallies one for Bathgate to cut it to 4-2 PERIOD 3 – Well, it gets a bit more exciting when Buchnevich scores 3 minutes into the period to make it 4-3 Columbus, but Brodziak gets some insurance with 6 to go and Columbus skates off with the happy win 5-3. |
| Weekly Summary: | Win one, lose one – at least the win was over Bathgate!!!! Need to shore things up for next year. |
| Bucks County Raccoons | |
| Weekly Preview: | Only home game this week against division leading Guentzel….. |
| Guentzel Gunners @ Bucks County Raccoons | Patrice Bergeron scores 15 seconds into OT as the Gunners defeat the Raccoons 2-1. The home team went 0 for 5 on the PP, which won’t get it done against a quality team. |
| Weekly Summary: | Hoping to steal a win, the Racs get the ‘thanks for turning on the lights’ point in the OT loss…. |
| Brentwood Bandits | |
| Weekly Preview: | One home game. A big one against division and sibling rivalry the Jagoff Mullets. |
| Jagr Mullets @ Brentwood Bandits | Big game! We lose this one and the division is definitely gone.
Eberle scores his 17th to draw first blood, but less than a minute later Ovie gets his 43rd to tie it up. 2nd period sees only one goal by Granlund (18) to make it 2-1 Jagr. On to the 3rd. This game was so tight! Bandits fired off more shots than Jagr, but Matthews (31) puts Jagr up 3-1 midway through the period. John Tavares matches Ovie with his 43rd 55 seconds later to pull the Bandits within 1. Bandits throw everything but the kitchen sink at their former teammate Gibson, but he is up to the task… even with Vasilevskiy pulled and the extra attacker on. The last 1:30 there were no stoppages in play, so no way to take a timeout. That kept Tavares, Kessel, and Hornqvist off of the ice a bit more than we had hoped. Still… a great game. VERY close. Bandits dominate almost every stat except the one that matters. Bring on the playoffs!! |
| Weekly Summary: | One home game, no points. Congrats to the Jagoffs on their inevitable division win. We’re coming for you in the post-season… and we’re bringing scissors because who has a mullet nowadays? Honestly? |
| Alamo Defenders | |
| Weekly Preview: | The Defenders take on Gilbert and California this week. |
| Gilbert Sharks @ Alamo Defenders | Alamo can’t penetrate Rask and get shutout 1-0. Panarin scores the only goal on a first period power play. Alamo outshoots the Sharks, 37-17, but can’t put the biscuit in the goal.
Gilbert 1 Alamo 0 1st -Rask 37 saves |
| California Regulators @ Alamo Defenders | The Regulators come to Alamo and the attendees are treated to an overtime game.
Amazing game as California and Alamo alternated goals all game. Sedin, and Schmaltz (2) score for the Regulators. Alamo gerts goals from Caggiula,Seguin, and Marchand. We go to OT, and the Regulators score on a Gaudreau unassisted goal to win the game. California 4 Alamo 3 (OT) 1st -Schmaltz |
| Weekly Summary: | Alamo loses to Gilbert and California. The Defenders had more shots each game, but lose by one. Alamo does earn 1 point. |
| Chicago Cosa Nostra | |
| Weekly Preview: | one game against Guentzel. |
| Guentzel Gunners @ Chicago Cosa Nostra | Guentzel wins 4-3. |
| Weekly Summary: | 1-0 with one away |
| New Jersey Grizzlies | |
| Clearfield Bison | Victor Hedman leads NJ to a much needed win> A late goal in the third sparks the Grizzlies. Grizzlies win 3-2. |
| Weekly Summary: | New Jersey needs to just keep the train moving. |