Kraken lines vs Ducks –

Schwartz – Geekie – Eberle
Tanev – Gourde – McCann
Johansson – Wennberg – Jarnkrok
Donato – Sheahan – Donskoi

Giordano – Oleksiak
Larsson – Lauzon
Soucy – Dunn

— Marisa Ingemi (@Marisa_Ingemi) November 12, 2021

Anaheim wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as 18-year-old rookie Mason MacTavish continued his great play five minutes into regulation play with his second goal of the season. This was a lead that the Ducks never lost. MacTavish’s goal was the only one of the first period, but Anaheim poured the pressure on all period. Shots on goal wound up 16–4 in favor of Anaheim, which tells you all you should need to know about momentum.

The flood gates opened in the second period as far as goal scoring and physicality went. Seattle got a goal by Jaden Schwartz sandwiched between Anaheim goals from Terry and Josh Mahura before defensemen Josh Manson and Jeremy Lauzon took to fisticuffs. Lauzon had taken a double minor against Ducks forward Max Comtois, which meant he was probably going to have to answer the bell shortly after.

Jared McCann cut the Ducks’ lead to 3–2 for about 10 minutes, but veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored his fourth goal of the season late in the period to take the teams into the intermission as Anaheim held a 4–2 lead. The shot totals were slightly more balanced than the first period with the Ducks still holding a lead 11–7 and an overall lead of 27–11.

The third period was as wide open as the second, with just a bit less physicality. Jordan Eberle continued his hot play with a goal four minutes into the third period, which temporarily cut Anaheim’s lead to one goal at 4–3.

wenny with the sauce, ebs with the finish! pic.twitter.com/9eU4AbOxxJ

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) November 12, 2021

The two Pacific Division rivals then traded goals from Hampus Lindholm and McCann’s second of the night, just a minute apart. This led to a 5–4 game with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation, which led to Head Coach Dave Hakstol pulling the goalie with under three minutes remaining.

Empty net goals by Sam Carrick and Terry made the score look much more lopsided than it actually was, but the Ducks walked away with their sixth win in a row nonetheless. For Terry, it was his 13th straight game with a point, and for Seattle, it was their third straight loss.

Anchor points

The two empty-net goals were not on Philipp Grubauer, but he still was not up to the level that the Kraken need him to be at. He stopped 29 of 34 shots, but this is not going to keep Seattle afloat. They are going to need his save percentage above .900 (preferably .910) if they are going to compete in the Pacific. Mahura let his goal go from the blue line and Grubauer swatted at it like it was a bunch of flies. Shattenkirk’s goal was nothing special and also outside the face-off dot. Lindholm’s goal was also from the blue line. He did make some nice stops sliding across his crease, but he needs to stop more of the simple long ones.

It is not fair to harp on the power play too much in this game. There were only two power plays combined. That said, if Seattle was able to convert, this game was tied heading into the final minutes.

With the shot disparity, Anaheim led in analytics across the board (58% Corsi, 58% Fenwick, 58% high-danger chances for and 60% expected goals for). Hakstol tinkered with the lines, but just about any line with Alexander Wennberg centering was pretty good analytically. Morgan Geekie and Yanni Gourde had rough nights with anyone they played between.

The Kraken will have today off and host the Minnesota Wild Saturday night. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.

The post RECAP: Ducks out-pace Kraken for sixth straight win appeared first on The Rink.

Debrincat – Toews – Kahun
Saad – Anisimov – Kane
Fortin – Johnson – Schmaltz
Kunitz – Kruger – Hayden

Keith – Jokiharju
Gustafsson – Seabrook
Manning – Rutta

Crawford

Recap:

The Blackhawks, still thrilled to have their star goaltender Corey Crawford back between the pipes, didn’t take long to get going with back to back power play opportunities.

On the second for four power plays in the period, Brandon Saad banged in his first of the year right in front of the net 5:24 in the period to put the Hawks up to an early 1-0 lead. While Anaheim spent most of the period on the penalty kill, they did manage a few good scoring chances. But none good enough to get past Crawford. While there was only one tally this period, the Hawks dominated the first. Spending the majority of the period in the offensive zone, protecting the puck, and outshooting the Ducks 16-6.

Net front presents, er, presence

#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/3lgTatV23O

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 24, 2018

The second period carried over that same energy. Each team exchanging quality scoring chances, but outstanding goaltending stealing the show. Watch Ducks goalie John Gibson absolutely rob Patrick Kane on a great rebound chance.

.@JohnGibson35 out here robbing people again. pic.twitter.com/RsOlMqiefM

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) October 24, 2018

10:34 into the second, Anaheim forward Richard Rakell intercepted a pass from Jonathan Toews for a breakaway and roofed it behind Crawford to even up the score 1-1. Things really started heating up when everyone’s favorite cat, Alex Debrincat, squared off against the 8 inches taller Josh Manson to give a spark to everyone within a 20 miles radius of the United Center. The second period showed less penalties and a more balanced effort from both teams. Blackhawks end the second outshooting the Ducks 28-17 and tied 1-1.

The third period began with the game up for grabs. At 7:47 Patrick Kane ripped home his 8th goal of the season on a great fake-shot-pass from Erik Gustafsson to give the Hawks the lead 2-1.

Gustafsson sets up Kaner and No. 88 tallies his eighth goal of the season!#Blackhawks #CHIvsANA pic.twitter.com/siedfAlrrz

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 24, 2018

The Hawks played solid puck possession to protect their 1 goal lead until late period danger due to a holding penalty from Marcus Kruger. This gave Anaheim a 6-4 man advantage with the empty net. But Jonathan Toews got his revenge, stripping the puck from Ryan Getzlaf to set up Brandon Saad on the empty net game winner and his second of the evening. Blackhawks get the win by a score of 3-1 outshooting the Ducks 38-25.

My Thoughts:

• If the Hawks can be this solid of a puck possession team and have this kind of goaltending going forward, they can make noise in the postseason.  Of course this was against a team that has the fewest shots on net per game and gives up more shots than the Blackhawks.
• Captain Jonathan Toews played in his 800th game tonight. And is currently on pace for his best season yet.
• Alex Debrincat should fight someone every game going forward, just (maybe) someone a bit closer to his same size.
• Corey Crawford is still really good at hockey.

Look for a brand new Rinkcast tonight.  Send your questions in to @TheRinkcast or podcast@the-rink.com

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Defeat Ducks as Saad Gets Two appeared first on The Rink.

This has been stated in the context of pushing a Nick Schmaltz is “out of position at wing” narrative, in part because his faceoff percentage is typically close to 40% overall—which is abysmal and untenable for an NHL center.

But I digress. This article in only indirectly about Schmaltz (and the rest of the Hawk centers). It’s really about the under-appreciated (apparently) importance of faceoffs to winning hockey.

Let’s begin this with a basic—and highly ironic—premise. Because so often the “interwebz experts” who proclaim that faceoffs don’t matter, are also those who spout Corsi as the underpinning of every trivial tit for tat (or tweet for tat, whatever).

Here goes: if you want to be a possession team—ie, fuel the ongoing Corsi frenzy of so many would-be analytics gurus—and direct more shots at your opponent’s net than they direct at yours—you have to first possess the puck.

 Let that sink in.

Sure, hockey is a fluid game, which is in part why it’s so difficult to quantify the importance of one particular aspect of play—like faceoffs. And there are other ways to gain possession of the puck.

But, faceoffs are clearly one of the ways, if not the most obvious way, you gain possession.

I will grant, neutral zone faceoffs are probably somewhat less important. But, offensive and defensive zone faceoffs are highly important, especially in power play and penalty kill situations. 

Win a clean draw to your defenseman on the penalty kill in your zone, and 9 times out of 10 that puck is going hard around the boards and out. Win the draw to your defenseman in the offensive zone on the power play and you have a good chance of setting up and initiating a play.

It’s not brain surgery.

But to this point, this is all somewhat theoretical. And I will dive into some supportive numbers here in a minute.

But first, let’s climb into the Wayback Machine and set the dial for June 2015, the third periods of Games 5 and 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Hawks and the Lightning, when Jonathan Toews, Marcus Kruger, Andrew Shaw and (especially) Antoine Vermette essentially stymied the Lightning’s comeback hopes in one goal games by winning draw after critical draw. And if you don’t recall, I suggest you go back and watch those latter stages of those games, or read Tampa coach Jon Cooper’s post-game comments.

To possess the puck, you have to win the puck.

So let’s look at some numbers. In those playoffs, where the Hawks won the Stanley Cup.

Vermette ranked third in the playoffs among centers at a dominant 58.9%. Toews was ninth among centers at 56.1%. Kruger and Shaw were both 50%. As a team, the Hawks were third in the playoffs that year in all situations at 53.1%, and they had to go through some of the league’s best faceoff men: Mikko Koivu, Ryan Kesler, Nate Thompson, Val Filippula.

More specifically, the Hawks were 59-52 in the dot on the power play, and even at 49-49 shorthanded.

The following year, when the Hawks lost in the first round in 7 games to the Blues, overall, they were 49.9% for the series, and a terrible 13-26 shorthanded.

The year after, 2016-17, they were swept in the first round by the Predators, and their faceoff% was just 47.2.

Certainly, other factors contributed to that postseason decline. But again, the maxim applies: possessing (shooting) the puck requires winning the puck.

And, despite what they tell you, faceoffs matter  . . . in actual hockey.

All I have for now. Comment below.

Follow @jaeckel 

The post Despite what some “experts” say, face-offs really matter appeared first on The Rink.

3PM Central/1 PM Pacific

RADIO: WGN 720

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:

JF Berube (1-1-0, 3.75 GAA, .894 Save%)

Anaheim:

Ryan Miller (8-5-6, 2.52 GAA, .925 Save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:

Saad-Toews-Kane

Jurco-Anisimov-Duclair

DeBrincat-Schmaltz-Hinostroza

Sharp-Kampf-Highmore

Keith-Murphy

Gustafsson-Seabrook

Dahlstrom-Oesterle

Anaheim:

Rakell-Grant-Perry

Cogliano-Kesler-Silfverberg

Ritchie-Henrique-Kase

Chimera-Vermette-Kelly

Fowler-Montour

Lindholm-Beauchemin

Petterson-Manson

STATISTICAL COMPARISIONS:

Power Play:

Chicago 15.9% (29th)

Anaheim 17.6% (24^th)

Penalty Kill:

Chicago 82.6% (10th)

Anaheim 82.8% (7^th)

Faceoffs:

Chicago 49.4% (18th)

Anaheim 51.3% (8^th)

SUMMARY:

The strange calculus of NHL season’s end: the Hawks would love to move up in the draft lottery, while the Ducks are desperately trying to solidify playoff position—yet both teams will make some (relative) effort to win today.

The Hawks came to life yesterday afternoon after the second period versus the LA Kings, coming away with a somewhat unlikely 5-3 victory after scoring 3 third period goals.

As bad as this season has been for Chicago (and Hawk fans), there is enough talent on this roster for games like yesterday’s to happen now and then.

JF Berube is the likely starter today, and if there’s any truth to the theory floated recently that he and Anton Forsberg are in competition for the Hawks’ backup goalie job next season, then Berube needs a much better outing today than in his last versus San Jose.

We’ll recap tonight or tomorrow AM. Join the conversation below!

The post Blackhawks-Ducks Preview & Game Thread appeared first on The Rink.

These recaps are getting increasingly frustrating to write for us bloggers, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that the recurring issues on this team can only be covered so many ways. With that said, let’s break down some of the good and ugly from this one.

First and foremost, I thought Patrick Kane was visibly agitated in this one. Kind of a more hot-takeish point to raise, but I think it’s worth mentioning. He was seen on more than one occasion palms-up after some tough offside calls, and looked to me a little more vocal on the bench. I like this from Kaner, because frankly, he is the only player on that team who has the authority to get on his teammates and back it up with his performances on-ice.

I wonder then, if Ryan Hartman’s enthusiastic second period performance might’ve been jump started by a little more renewed sense of urgency on the bench. In the second he laid a great open-ice, clean hit on Jakob Silfverberg and was immediately jumped by a plethora of Ducks players. Hartman had the awareness to resist getting into a scrap with either of them, and drew the Hawks a power play (that should’ve been longer). The building felt refreshed when the camera panned to Hartman during a brief stoppage in play immediately after. It almost (almost) felt like a page may have been turned.

But it hadn’t.

The Hawks’ defensive play once again doomed them here. Some absolutely pathetic performances from Murphy, Seabrook, and even Keith to an extent were difficult to watch at times. Perhaps the most disheartening part of watching the Hawks drop another one last night was the fact that they were beaten by a play style they once dominated the league with. They were caught time and time again in sloppy transitions that led to breakaways or odd-man rushes. D-men were getting sucked into the play and simply don’t have the wheels to get back in time to prevent a scoring opportunity.

Duncan Keith finally scored. That’s all I’ll write on that. Aside from it he was sloppy in my opinion.

Anton Forsberg really wasn’t awful in this game. He bailed the Hawks out of a few of those breakaways and odd-man rushes. I thought he played well enough to win.

I’m going to emphasize one more time how ridiculously horrible of a professional hockey player Brent Seabrook has become. He is slow, lazy, and completely unaware of the players around him. Pucks are passed straight through him on a regular basis these days. It’s agonizing to watch.

Aside from that, I don’t know what else to analyze at this point. I’ll leave it to Jaeckel to inform you all that this season is a confirmed DOA.

The post Recap: Blackhawks vs Ducks 3-2 Loss appeared first on The Rink.

7:30PM Central

TV: NBCSChi

RADIO: WGN 720

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:
Anton Forsberg (5-10-3, 3.05 GAA, .907 Save%)

Anaheim:
John Gibson (19-15-6, 2.58 GAA, .922 Save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:

Saad-Toews-Wingels
Bouma-Schmaltz-Kane
Sharp-Hartman-DeBrincat
Hinostroza-Anisimov-Duclair

Keith-Oesterle
Kempny-Seabrook
Dahlstrom-Murphy

Anaheim:

Rakell-Getzlaf-Perry
Cogliano-Kesler-Silverberg
Ritchie-Henrique-Kase
Wagner-Vermette-Brown

Lindholm-Manson
Fowler-Bieksa
Beauchemin-Montour

STATISTICAL COMPARISIONS:

Power Play:

Chicago 15.8% (29^th)
Anaheim 17.4% (24^th)

Penalty Kill:

Chicago 82.5% (T-8^th)
Anaheim 81.3% (15^th)

Corsi FOR % (5-on-5):

Chicago 53.5% (2^nd)
Anaheim 48.2% (23^rd)

Faceoffs:

Chicago 49.4% (T-18^th)
Anaheim 51.4% (T-8^th)

SUMMARY:

How low can they go? Seven straight losses and no signs of ending that streak leaves the Blackhawks organization in the lowest of lows since the 2006-2007 season, the year before Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. For the first time in my life I am speechless, and that never happens. The front office seems lost, the coaching staff is burnt out, and the players are lacking the confidence that has defined them the last decade. So, what’s next?

Well, the Anaheim Ducks arrive at the United Center playing some pretty disappointing hockey themselves. They have lost five of their last seven games, and are currently on the outside looking in from a playoff standpoint, three points out of the final wild card spot. With a roster filled with goons such as: Nick Ritchie, Corey Perry, and Kevin Bieksa, I would expect them to come out playing desperate and borderline-dirty hockey.

Maybe the Ducks can spark some passion out of the Blackhawks by participating in their usual antics. But, after watching this Hawks team for 57 games, it is unreasonable to think they will respond to anything that happens with a legitimate energy or passion. Despite this harsh reality, I am desperate to cling to any hope of entertaining hockey. So, I will sit on my couch and hope for the best, and expect the worst like the rest of Blackhawks fans.

Expect to see the line combinations, both at forward and defense, to be interchangeable throughout the game, as Coach Joel Quenneville looks to find any sign of the, “consistency and predictability,” he has searched for all year.

ENJOY!!!

We’ll recap tonight or tomorrow AM. Join the always entertaining conversation below!

Follow: @CoachMajewski

The post Preview & Game Thread: Blackhawks vs Ducks appeared first on The Rink.

DA BEARS.

DA BULLS.

DEBRINCAT.

Strange winter hats reminiscent of World War II Russian Snipers rained down onto the ice tonight as Alex DeBrincat potted the finishing touch on his first career hat trick. Also noteworthy was the fact that Patrick Sharp, despite his best efforts to make John Gibson (and all three goalposts) look like all stars, found the net himself—ending a long schnide.

I jokingly sent the-rink writers’ group a text halfway through the game that the recap was practically writing itself—and truthfully it did just about that.

Let’s break this down a little further.

The first note I have here is from the ‘Hawks’ first power play. I thought they managed the puck excellently. I actually took note of DeBrincat at this point in the game. He looked very comfortable on the left side along the half-wall. He seemed to be aware of his outlets and he was very deliberate in his finding them. I thought, strangely enough, Gus Forsling looked solid here too. He was able to drop at times below the hash-marks without leaving a giant vacuum at the point. The chemistry and subsequent on-ice communication on this team is improving. The Blackhawks didn’t play a whole lot in their own zone tonight, but when they did, I thought Richard Panik and Duncan Keith played textbook defense. Panik showed a willingness to step in front of shots without leaving himself in no-man’s land, and he was always giving himself space to be an ideal outlet pass.

Now I’m a bit biased, because he’s my favorite of all time, but Duncan Keith’s edge work in the corners behind Corey Crawford is second to none. Tonight he made space where there wasn’t any, all with his head up and finding the open man for a clean escape.

Finally, the Blackhawks looked at times tonight like they’ve had a massive revelation. Scoring in this league is not rocket science, it takes players who are willing to win battles in the tough areas of the ice, areas that aren’t fun to go to and where highlight reel plays aren’t necessarily made.

The Blackhawks on their first three goals set up plays from behind the goal line. Names like Schmaltz and Hartman utilized the Olcyzk patented “take a hit to make a play” mentality and it paid dividends.

This team showed improvement tonight. It was refreshing to see them spending extended periods of time in the offensive zone. It’s funny how names like Murphy, Forsling and company don’t come up as often in wins like this, because they aren’t forced to defend quite as much. Tonight was also Hockey Fights Cancer Night. I think this is worth mentioning. There was a pretty tear-jerking ceremony before the game that included Edzo, who we’re certainly all pulling for.

All for now, go check out the preview of tonight’s game in Nashville at Center Ice on the-rink. We’ll recap that game tomorrow.

The post Recap: Blackhawks Destroy Ducks 7-3 appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Blackhawks (12-8-3) at Nashville Predators (14-6-3)

7:00 PM Central

RADIO: WGN 720

TV: NBC Sports

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:

Anton Forsberg (1-1-2, 3.81 GAA, .904 save%)

Nashville:

Pekka Rinne (13-3-2, 2.31 GAA, .927 save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago

Saad-Toews-Panik

Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane

Sharp-Hartman-DeBrincat

Bouma-Wingels-Hayden

Keith-Franson

Murphy-Seabrook

Forsling-Rutta

Nashville

Forsberg-Johansen-Arvidsson

Fila-Turris-Smith

Sissons-Bonino-Jarnkrok

Aberg-Gaudreau-Watson

Josi-Ekholm

Emelin-Subban

Bitetto-Irwin

STATISTICAL COMPARISONS:

Power play:

Chicago 17.9% (21st)

Nashville 25.8% (3rd)

Penalty kill:

Chicago 84.3% (4^th)

Nashville 83.8% (6^th)

Corsi For % (5-on-5):

Chicago 51.3% (10^th)

Nashville 49.4% (19th)

Faceoffs:

Chicago 48.6% (24^th)

Nashville 52.7% (4th)

SUMMARY:

After what probably felt more like a glorified scrimmage last night versus an injury-depleted Anaheim Ducks team, the Blackhawks face a real test tonight in Nashville.

The defending Western Conference Champion Predators sit 4 points ahead of the Hawks today, with a deep, fast, and big lineup. The same team that swept the Hawks out of the playoffs in the first round last year, arguably the biggest humiliation of the proud Chicago franchise in the last decade.

On a positive note, the Hawks are playing much better of late, and are now getting offense from multiple lines. Even the previously stalled power play is clicking regularly and climbing slowly up the league rankings.

But tonight’s task is significant, especially on the second game of a back-to-back on the road. I would not expect much, if any, lineup changes tonight, although Anton Forsberg is the likely starter in net for Chicago. We’ll recap later tonight or early tomorrow AM.

Follow: @jaeckel

The post Preview: Blackhawks at Predators appeared first on The Rink.