Blackhawks fans can watch and re-watch that goal from every possible angle until their eyes pop out of their heads while rage sends smoke out of their ears.
But, what really needs to be acknowledged were the other missed opportunities — the other 64-plus minutes that were in their control, specifically eight minutes on the power play that came and went without a single goal.
In the Blackhawks’ four power plays, the Coyotes got off as many shorthanded shots as the Blackhawks got with the man-advantage — a dismal two.
“I didn’t like it,” Coach Joel Quenneville told Chicago media about the power play. “We can talk about it all day. It started out poorly and ended poorly. You can talk about every aspect of it tonight. We didn’t have any possession time, really. No presence or shot threats.”
Hits favored opponents 115-56 in the last four games against Arizona, St. Louis, Winnipeg and Minnesota. They were one for nine in power plays during that time.
An effective power play would not only boost scores, it could make opponents think twice before delivering a questionable blow. After all, if a team can’t score with an extra attacker, why not take a breather in the penalty box?
That said, a “meh” man-advantage is nothing new for the team. It hasn’t held them back from success, even. Their last two championship-winning years, 2013 and 2010, they ranked 19th and 16th in the league in power play percentage, respectively.
He is currently tied at first in the league with 59 points this season. He has 26 goals (seventh) and 33 assists (10th). He also only has four penalty minutes.
Recap
The Blackhawks returned Monday from a seven-game road trip where they finished 4-3-0. The managed one-point in their 3-2 overtime loss to the Coyotes back at the United Center Monday night.
They sit at third in the Central Division — three points behind the Blues and seven points behind the Nashville Predators.
Monday launched an eight-game homestand for the team, where perhaps their crowd can turn things around.
Chicago’s next game is at 7:00 p.m. CT Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks, a former furious foe.
Once a year, a number of teams around the AHL dedicate a game to raising money for breast cancer awareness and research. They cleverly dub the game “Pink in the Rink,” which involves most teams painting the ice pink as well as swapping their normal jerseys out for pink ones instead. Saturday it was the Manchester Monarchs who had their night. This would be the second straight weekend for the Providence Bruins skating on pink ice, as they visited the Worcester Sharks last weekend for the Sharks’ Pink in the Rink game. It would also be the second time in as many nights that the two teams faced off. Friday night saw the Bruins top the Monarchs 4-2 in Providence before heading back up to Manchester.
Possibly the bigger story from the previous game was the kneeing incident by Monarchs forward Andrew Crescenzi on Bruins defenseman Joe Morrow, who had only recently returned from an injury and was absent from the Saturday night contest. Aside from Morrow, both teams made a couple of substitutions to their rosters for the second game.
The game started off with a clear display of roughness. It did not seem to have slipped anyone’s mind that the teams had only played the night before. There were a lot of open ice hits as well as along the boards and the whistle did not always stop the pushing and shoving right away.
Things might have gotten off to a fast start in terms of physicality but it was a slower start on the offensive side. Halfway through the first period, the Monarchs had only managed to register one shot on net. This was partially due to a number of shots that either went wide or were blocked by Bruins defenders.
The Monarchs finally got a flurry of shots with just over 5 minutes to go in the first period. Despite Bruins goaltender Jeremy Smith giving up rebounds and a lot of open net, the Monarchs couldn’t seem to outsmart the Bruins defenders.
Finally, the Monarchs drew first blood. Captain Vinny LoVerde was able to corral the puck along the boards in the corner to the left of Smith and put it on net. Michael Mersch tipped it just enough to redirect it past Smith. Nearly all of the Monarchs 16 shots during the first period came in the final third as they took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
At the 3:15 mark of the second, the Bruins earn their first power play of the game as Scott Sabourin sat for slashing David Warsofsky. The Bruins seemed to focus on their defense taking shots from the blue line but were unable to find success that way. Shortly after the penalty expired the teams found themselves in a 4-on-4 situation. Brian Ferlin from the Bruins sat for holding but Monarchs Derek Forbort fell victim to the new rule making it a penalty to play without a helmet. It went to 4-on-3 when the Bruins lost Zach Trotman for covering his hand on the puck. But the best chances came shorthanded for the Bruins as the teams returned to even strength.
Tensions finally seem to have reached the boiling point halfway through the game and then came the first roughing calls as Sabourin and Bruins defender Chris Breen wrestled by the boards. Sabourin also got an extra penalty for the cross check that instigated the incident. Just before the power play expired, the Bruins evened up the score at one. Ethan Werek managed to snipe it by Monarchs goalie JF Berube.
The teams couldn’t seem to stay out of the box in the second. With 43 seconds to go, the Bruins went two men down. This time the Monarchs were able to convert on the 5-on-3. Brian O’Neill found a rebound on his stick to Smith’s right and easily slid it into the open net.
When the teams came out for the third period, the shots were most notable in their differential. After only getting the puck on net 4 times during the second period, the Bruins started the final frame with a total of just 12 shots to the Monarchs 32.
The first power play of the period went to the Bruins. Bruins defenseman Chris Casto pushed Josh Gratton who ended up tackling Smith as a result and sitting for goaltender interference. Once again, it resulted in pushing and shoving, but Gratton got the sole penalty. The Bruins struggled to get set up and only registered a single shot.
Manchester continued to create strong pressure on Smith and the Bruins defense into the third. But the Bruins got another power play shot when O’Neill sat to serve two minutes.
As time wound down, the Bruins pulled Smith for the extra skater. O’Neill and the Monarchs made the most of it as he deked his way past the Bruins for the empty net goal and his second of the game.
The Monarchs will be back at it on Friday when the host the Springfield Falcons but will ditch the pink ice in the mean time. However, the roster will likely be changing again for Manchester. Derek Forbort becomes the latest to get his shot with a call-up to the LA Kings. Andrew Crescenzi will also be out of the line-up for Friday as well as for Saturday as he serves his suspension. This was supplementary discipline from his knee-to-knee hit on Bruins defender Joe Morrow on Friday in Providence.
Throughout this season, the Monarchs have shown versatility as they have had to switch lines frequently to adjust for injuries and call-ups. It will be interesting to see how they make the latest adjustments.
This weekend the Royals exerted a slew of energy playing three back-to-back games against the Florida Everblades. After winning eight straight games in the weeks prior the Royals have worked their way up to second place just behind the Everblades. Before this weekend, Reading trailed Florida by only three points. With hopes of knocking the Florida Everblades out of first place, the Royals pushed hard this weekend to win some games. Saturday
Saturday night was a rumble in the jungle after Reading beat Florida 5-4 the previous night. It was the Royals Penn State THON night, the fur circus came to entertain the crowd and many other local groups came out to enjoy the game. The game was nearly sold out as 6,444 fans packed the stadium to see if the Royals could knock the Everblades out of first place. They were not let down. The first period was a bit slow, but in the second period tensions and rivalries escalated so much that barely a minute could pass without a goal, penalty, or some other bit of excitement. Olivier Labelle commented, “It’s just the three game series against the first place team, I mean, if you don’t get motivated for those types of games, especially like today with a big crowd, you’ll never be motivated. I think we matched well against that team and I think we have the same kind of team a little bit so we’re pretty equally skilled and equally all around so I think we had to do a little something more. It’s great that the guys stepped up and did something a little more physical. It looks like playoff hockey to me.” 1st
In the first period there was little scoring as both teams played it safe; that is until the last two minutes. At 18:29 Sean Wiles went in for a goal, but missed. Forward Matt Hatch stepped in to snatch the puck and stuffed it into the net for a shorthanded goal. A frustrated Everblade, Alex Lavoie, later picked up the puck and flung it across the ice which earned him a ten minute misconduct. The score would freeze at 1-0 for the rest of the period. The total shots by the end of the period were only 4 for the Royals and 9 for the Everblades.
2nd
In the second period Florida quickly struck back by nabbing a goal within the first two minutes of the period. At 1:19 Florida defenseman Rob Florentino tied up the game with an easy goal after he caught Royals goalie Connor Knapp off to one side of the net. The Royals were less than pleased and answer back with another goal of their own in just over a minute. This goal was scored by defenseman Jordan Heywood to give the Royals their lead back. By the end of the second half of the first the Florida Everblades tied up the score once again when Florida left wing Matt Marquardt snuck a rebounded attempt back into the net.
As the game entered the latter half of the second period, the Everblades stole the Royals lead. At 10:10 Everblade defenseman Gleason Fournier turned the game around by shooting one in the back of the net. All was not lost for the Royals, however, as forward David Marshall answered the Everblades goal to tie up the game once again at 3-3. Tension grew in the stadium as Florida defenseman Cameron Burt had a meltdown and received a two minute penalty for slashing, a ten minute misconduct and was ultimately booted from the game with a game misconduct for abuse of the officials. Many more fighting and penalties ensued. By the end of the game Florida would accumulate a total of 50 minutes of penalty time.
With just over a minute left the Royals regained control of the game as Olivier Labelle pounded one into the net with assists from Maxim Lamarche and Adam Hughesman. The packed house cheered enthusiastically as the Royals recovered their lead. Seconds later forwards Sean Wiles stole another goal as the crowd went wild again. With a safer 5-3 lead, the Royals headed back to the locker rooms to strategize a plan on how to keep their lead.
(Source: Royalshockey.com)
3rd
In the third the Everblades struggled to come back from the Royals two goal lead. Despite getting ten shots on the goal compared to the Royals five, Florida was not able to sneak the puck past goalie Connor Knapp. More fighting a physicality ensued as the teams tried to send a message to one another. Sean Wiles later stated, “I think we decided we were going to play a little more physical in the third and it helped us. I mean, it’s part of our game plan when we are trying to hold on to a lead, to get pucks in behind the D and play physical and make it hard on them. I think it definitely helped me out during the game, for sure.”
With about two minutes left the Everblades made one final attempt as they decided to pull their goalie. Even with their extra man, they failed to get the puck past the Royals defense. The game ended with a score of 5-3 as Reading ultimately knocked the Florida out of first place in the division. The stars of the game were forward Sean Wiles in 1st, forward Olivier Labelle in 2nd, and Forward Matt Hatch in 3rd. After a long night the Royals headed back to their apartments to rest up for their game the following night.
Sunday
After two long nights of hockey the exhausted Royals and Everblades hit the ice for their third game in a row on Sunday night. On the previous night the Royals had worked their way into first place, pushing the Everblades into second, but the Everblades only trailed the Royals by one point. If Reading would win, they would increase their lead, but if Florida won that would be able to reclaim first place, and push the Royals back into their original standing. The game would go to whichever team had the most left in them and ultimately who wanted it more.
1st
The first period started out with just a much physicality and fighting as the night before as Florida became desperate for a win and prompted the Royals to play just as rough if they wanted to win. The Royals took an early lead at 3:06 after a long time of five-on-three. Defenseman Mike Marcou passed on in front of the net where Ryan Cruthers redirected it over Florida goalie Andy Iles.
Three minutes later, the Royals increased their lead to two while shorthanded. After his penalty expired forward David Marshall hit the ice, picked up the puck and made his way to the goal. With a Florida defensemen hot on his trail, he did the best he could to protect the puck, reached the goal and finally knocked it into the top of the net.
Although the Royals were now up by two, the Everblades were not ready to give up. At 12:07 Florida forward Evan Bloodoff finally snuck one past Royals goalie Martin Ouellette while on a power play. After receiving a pass from Mitch Wahl, Bloodoff tapped the puck in with just enough force to redirect it and send it over the crease. With a score of 2-1 both teams hit the locker rooms to strategize and regain some energy.
(Source: Royalshockey.com)
2nd
In the second both teams conserved their energy expecting to make a final push in the third. Both teams seemed to be getting more and more exhausted as they pushed on. There were no goals during the period and even the number of shots were low: Reading 5 – Florida 8. The period ended with the same score as it started out with. The energy depleted teams took a break before the third period where they make a final effort to pull off a win.
3rd
Much like the first and second, the third period was not very gracious to the Everblades. As the clock ticked on, the game didn’t look good for Florida. The scored stayed at 2-1 for most of the period, that is, until the very last second. That’s right, at 19.59.9 seconds the Florida Everblades Evan Bloodoff once again managed to grab a goal and tie the game by the skin of his teeth. The game was not over yet.
After a miraculous goal the two utterly beat teams set up for five more minutes of play. Even though the Royals started out with a power play they were unable to get immediate revenge for Florida’s last minute goal. The game ended up going into a shootout. The Royals went first as both teams scored on their first attempts. The Royals’ goal came from Ryan Cruthers and the Everblades goal came from Matt Marquardt. It would take nine rounds and fourteen different shooters until the Royals Andrew Johnston finally ended the game, giving the Royals a 3-2 win over the Everblades as well as their eleventh win in a row.
Sean Wiles later commented, “No one could anticipate ten [now eleven] in a row. It’s kind of a special thing that we are all part of right now. We’re just kind of embracing it. We’re enjoying it. We’re not putting too much pressure on ourselves, that’s for sure. We’re just enjoying ourselves. Enjoying everyone’s company and playing hockey. It’s a lot of fun right now.”
The Royals will now embark on a road trip where they will play five games against various teams over the next two weeks. Only time will tell is they can continue their winning streak, and stay in first place.
When Loui Eriksson backhanded the puck into the net in the third period of Saturday’s game, not only did it give the Boston Bruins the lead, but established one thing: he’s been one of the best, most consistent players on the team all season long. Eriksson, whose first season was riddled by injuries, and still isn’t the “sniper” many fans had hoped for, has had a great second stint with the Bruins — underappreciated to say the least.
One of his better strengths is his ability around the net, using a strong stick and high hockey sense to find those loose pucks and bury them at a high percentage. On Saturday, his third period goal was vintage Eriksson.
“Yeah I mean he’s always been a good netfront player when it comes to that stuff,” said coach Claude Julien of his forward post-game. “People probably don’t realize how good he is because his physicality isn’t one of [Milan] Lucic but it’s certainly a guy that’s smart enough to get to the right place at the right time and he finds the puck. Great job for him getting in front of the net to start with but also spinning and finding the puck and banging it in. So that’s what you get from Loui [Eriksson] on a lot of nights and we talked about that, that was one of the things we had to do tonight, was get a little more traffic in front of the net and it wasn’t quite there at the beginning but it was better in the third.”
One thing we’ve grown accustomed to this season is coach Julien making a number of mid-game adjustments, more specifically line changes when he feels they are needed. In Saturday’s game, Julien’s best adjustment was reuniting Eriksson with his fellow Swede and longtime linemate Carl Soderberg, and their usual winger in Chris Kelly. The change quickly provided dividends, as Eriksson’s third period goal was the lone difference between the New York Islanders and Bruins.
“As I mentioned before, I’m going to move parts around when I feel that I need to and then there’s some chemistry there for at least a year and a half, almost two years,” said Julien post-game. “I didn’t feel that we were getting a lot of offense and so I had to move some parts around. Putting them together, I felt confident that they would be able to generate some offense and they did.
The move also proved great for Bruins forward Chris Kelly, who sealed the game with a shot block of a wicked Johnny Boychuk blast, and has played by far his best hockey skating with the Swedes this season.
“He loves Carl [Soderberg]. I think that’s the reason we work so well,” said Kelly with a grin following the win. “They’re speaking Swedish. They just block the three of us from celebrating. No, I don’t know. I think we just, we gel well. Certain players gel well with others and Loui’s been doing a great job. He had a great assist in New York with Patrice [Bergeron]. He’s just a great all around player that does a lot of good things and that just showed, like that goal, just finding the puck. That’s tough to do when a guy’s draped on you, to find the puck and put it in.
And that’s exactly what Eriksson did. In vintage Eriksson style. He battled for positioning and slammed home the rebound. It’s something needed from more Bruins players and it’s a key to winning hockey games, especially come playoff time. The team has been struggling to score of late but that’s a prime example of how they can win hockey games. With Tuukka Rask once again playing like a Vezina winner in net, the Bruins can grind out 2-1 victories and they must play to their style to do so. If others follow Eriksson’s lead, this team can continue to win down the stretch and improve their position within the playoff standings. The coach agrees.
“They always do every year, no matter what,” said Julien when asked if the game had a playoff feel. “Even when we were at the top of the standing we knew that every team that came in played a much tougher game it was like playoff hockey. That’s normally what happens heading into February and March, there’s a lot at stake and I think teams put their best foot forward during that time.
Daniel Paille has been moved up and down the lines for the Boston Bruins, especially when the team has seen injuries. His role on the fourth line, better known as the energy line, is an important contribution to the team in every game. I had an opportunity to chat with him after the Bruins were able to beat the New York Islanders on Saturday night in a 2-1 hard fought battle.
Communication is key to any team’s success, but more so when a player is with other line mates either for a shift or for the evening. And of late, Bruins head coach Claude Julien has been shaking up his lines to get better performance. Paille has seen his fair share of movement up and down the lines this season, and was again moved around on Saturday evening.
Daniel Paille
“There’s tons of communication out there, especially if I get moved up there with Bergy [Patrice Bergeron],” Paille said. “He’s talking the whole time, so it’s an easy transition.”
There was one instance in the game where Bergeron saw an opportunity to get the puck to Paille, unfortunately the rolling puck could not be contained and it went high of the net. But the pass was a crisp tape-to-tape opportunity with Bergeron knowing exactly where Paille would be as he let go of the puck.
“When I’m playing with my regular line, I’ve kind played with Soupy [Gregory Campbell] so long l kind of know where he’s going to be and he’s talking too.”
Paille and Campbell are all that remain of what used to be known as the “Merlot” line when Shawn Thornton, now part of the Florida Panthers organization rounded out that line. And energy is definitely something that Paille has. Many teams tend to forget how fast he can be. And though he doesn’t score tons of goals, his quickness can frustrate the opposition.
The team had some uncharacteristic gaffs against the Islanders where players simply didn’t have their sticks on the ice and those struggles continued throughout many shifts of the game.
“I don’t think we need to worry about [that]; definitely improve tomorrow,” Paille explained. “You know sometimes when you’re not going to bring your best game and you have those flaws where you’re normally good, you want to come back the next night and respond, so I think it’s important for us to do that and kind of move on and work with it that way.”
While the team won last night, Paille acknowledged that some of that was because of Tuukka Rask’s strength in the net, and the team knows they need to step up their play as they take on the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night. They have the same motivation as if they had lost.
“Yah, I don’t think there’s a difference either way, if you lose or had Tuukka bail us out there,” Paille considered. “We realize that we need to be better there.”
“The NHL’s commitment to use 100 percent renewable energy is a hat trick for clean air, our health, and our climate,” said Gina McCarthy, EPA’s Administrator. “Using sustainable business practices at sports stadiums and arenas, including utilizing green power, helps protect our communities and our environment by combating the impacts of climate change and protecting winter sports for our athletes.”
Efforts by the NHL such as NHL Green, “a comprehensive sustainability initiative” created by the League in 2010. In 2014, the league started the Sustainability Report, which keeps track of the League’s carbon footprint.
The League began using the energy service Constellation so that they can be supplied with Renewable Energy Certificates. According to the NHL the “RECs represent the generation of more than 271 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power, matching the League’s total electricity consumption.”
“Constellation congratulates the NHL for this achievement and is committed to its partnership with the League to support America’s clean energy future,” said Joe Nigro, CEO of Constellation.
The Minnesota Wild has been known for their efforts in going green. Their home, the Xcel Energy Center is known for its renewable energy. They were recently certified to three international sustainability standards LEED, Green Globes and APEX/ASTM. These three recognitions make it the first complex in the world to receive those three classifications. The Wild is the Leagues most sustainable team.
The 2015 All Star Game in Columbus, Ohio was commended for their work in making Nationwide Arena green. They not only conserved things like water and energy, but they reduced their waste by establishing a recycling program. This was only one of the ways that the League extended their green efforts out to all of the teams.
Because of the National Hockey Leagues recognition by EPA the NHL qualifies for EPA’s Green Power Leadership Club, a “distinction given to organizations that have significantly exceeded EPA’s minimum requirements.” The Green Power Leadership club members use ten times the minimum requirement to take part in a partnership with EPA.
The National Hockey League is the first professional sports league to ever be acknowledged for such an accomplishment.
January 15th was the last home game the Arizona Coyotes had before getting booted out for the Super Bowl, but they finally traveled back for a game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Gila River Arena. The first of a pair of home games this week was ultimately a shootout loss for the ‘Yotes, but not without a fight.
Uneventful main event
With all of the scoring in regulation happening within the first seven minutes of the game, there wasn’t a ton going on for the rest of it. With the Hurricanes leading the Coyotes 41-29 in shots on goal, the saves from both goalies last night was the only big excitement. The two goalies kept their teams in it to take it into OT. Both teams were taking a lot of shots, but there wasn’t anything going in.
“It was sloppy. It was so sloppy it was almost entertaining.”- Head Coach Dave Tippett on last night’s game.
Impressive penalty kill, but less admirable shootout
The Coyotes penalty kill has been written about a lot this year. With its inconsistency thus far, it seems to be on the up-and-up lately. The team went 13 for 15 on the PK on their road trip, and again killed off all three of the penalties they faced last night including a double minor. There is obvious improvement in that part of the teams game.
The Coyotes shootout has been less admirable. Since the incredible “exploding stick trick” by Shane Doan on December 27 the Coyotes have been 0-for-3 in shootout. Last night made their record 0-for-4. Tippett really changing things up in the shootout. He sent out Lucas Lessio, a young kid who has never participated in an NHL shootout, first to take the shot. His move was impressive, but he lost control of the puck. Sam Gagner was up next, going into last night he had a 16% shootout percentage…after last night he’s now at 14.3%. Antoine Vermette was the best of them, but even his 42.9% SO stat couldn’t lift him to get one in.
Smitty looking like…Smitty
There hasn’t been a whole lot of games this season that Mike Smith has been praised for his solid effort, but this game was certainly one for the books. Smith faced 41 shots from the ‘Canes, and had 39 saves overall.
In overtime, Smith made one of the best saves we’ve seen him make in a while; stretching out his leg and making a toe stop after he shifted to the wrong side. A brilliant save that ended up keeping them in the game. He made numerous saves that were vital to the team sticking things out and eventually churning out a point from the shootout. His clearing of the puck in all situations but one flukey goal at 1:03 of the first kept the game on track and on an even playing field.
Smith looked like the team has wanted and expected him to look this season, and judging by his past couple of games, he’s looking pretty solid.
“He’s played better lately, other than the Ottawa game where he wasn’t very good at all.”Said Dave Tippett about Mike Smith’s game. “He’s played well and tonight he got lots of shots and lots of chances, so hopefully were moving in the right direction.”
Young players getting ice time
There was a definite young presence out on the ice last night. Lessio for instance, who has split his time this season between the Coyotes and their AHL affiliate the Portland Pirates, was sent out during the teams crucial shootout. The younger players are getting more of a chance out on that ice. They are putting the people out there who are going to help out the team. When all is said and done, they are trying to find what works best for the team and gets them wins. The younger players seem to be producing, and everyone observing is impressed.
Coach Tippett said that he put Lessio out on that ice because he “thought he was going to score”. While he couldn’t bring to fruition his coaches wishes, he came awfully close.
“Our young players come in and they bring a lot of energy and they’re very eager to learn, but it puts a huge illness on your veteran players, teaching the younger players how you have to play, act, and think in the NHL.” Said Tippett. “We’ve been pretty good in that department and that’s going to be a key for us moving forward.”
Things to know
Mikkel Boedker is still out recovering from his surgery to remove his spleen that took place on January 18th. He was in attendance at last nights game but a return has not been explicitly shared.
Martin Hanzal has been benched for an injury for what seems like the 20th time this season. The team has missed his big presence and offensive power a lot this season. He seems to be missing another week with an upper body injury.
The Coyotes face off against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night at Gila River Arena.
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