2017-2018 PLAYER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #16

Brent_BurnsPekka_RinneJeff_CarterFrederik_Andersen

EASTERN SKATER TEAM GP GOALS ASISSTS POINTS PM  +/-  SOG S%
Burns, Brent CBJ 4 4 4 8 6 6 14 29%
                   
EASTERN GOALIE TEAM GP GOALS AGAINST G.A. AVERAGE SAVES SAVE %
Rinne, Pekka BGR 4 8 1.97 127 .941
                   
WESTERN SKATER TEAM GP GOALS ASSISTS POINTS PM  +/-  SOG S%
Carter, Jeff LBD 4 3 5 8 0 4 10 30%
                   
WESTERN GOALIE TEAM GP GOALS AGAINST G.A. AVERAGE SAVES SAVE %
Andersen, Frederik LGD 3 4 1.33 73 .948
                   

 

HOME TEAM FOR GAME FILE ATTACHED Jagr Mullets
Weekly Preview: Mullets are on the playoff fringe and need a big week at home vs Lakeland and Thunder Bay. Complicating matters, the Mullets must rest some stars to avoid busting games played limits.

Next man up. Can the B squad deliver the goods?

Lakeland Flying Tigers @ Jagr Mullets Lakeland strikes twice in the 1st period, with goals by their big guns Grabner (19) and Oshie (28).

But then Jagr puts in FIVE unanswered goals in the 2nd period against a shell-shocked Martin Jones. Roussel (13) starts off the party only 43 seconds into the period, and then Granlund (17 & 18 — he had a hat trick last night in the NHL), Radulov (13) and Laine (27) enjoy a taste of the net.

Of course Jagr’s pourous defense was its usual liquid self in the 3rd, allowing Lakeland to score two more goals to make it interesting. But Justin Schultz (9) gets the insurance and Jagr wins it 6-4.

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 6:57 EV LAK Grabner (19), assisted by Thornton (27) and Ristolainen (28)
1 15:17 EV LAK Oshie (28), assisted by Steen (32)
2 :43 EV JAG Roussel (13), assisted by Radulov (24)
2 4:01 PP JAG Granlund (17), assisted by Schultz (28) and Laine (27)
2 6:55 EV JAG Granlund (18), assisted by Schultz (29)
2 7:30 EV JAG Radulov (13), assisted by Rielly (6) and Kadri (20)
2 17:03 PP JAG Laine (27), assisted by Ovechkin (36) and Kadri (21)
3 6:06 EV LAK Boyle (3), unassisted
3 6:42 EV JAG Schultz (9), assisted by Radulov (25) and Roussel (14)
3 8:44 EV LAK Steen (10), assisted by Oshie (12)

Star 1: JAG Granlund 2 G
Star 2: JAG Radulov 1 G, 3 Pts
Star 3: JAG Schultz 1 G, 3 Pts

GWG: Patrik Laine

Notables: LAK Jones 42 saves
JAG Kadri 16 faceoffs won, Staal 17 faceoffs won

Thunder Bay Nor’Westers @ Jagr Mullets Thunder Bay is deep and talented, and proved it by matching Jagr in the 1st as both teams put in two goals. The Mullet big guns Laine (28) and Kadri (31) do the damage for the good guys, with Kadri’s goal coming late at 18:33.

In the 2nd the teams again trade goals – Oleksiak (1) gets his first of the season for the Mullets, as he’s pressed into duty with the need to rest Nurse and Lindholm. Petry (1) scores his first of the year for Thunder Bay as both teams have unexpected third-level scoring.

Halfway through the 3rd, Kadri (32) lights the lamp and Jagr tries to hang on to secure the victory. Reimer is pulled, and the fans saw this coming a mile away: Nielsen (4) scores with 20 seconds left to tie it up and force the OT!

Fortunately for the Mullets, Ellis (15) takes matters in his own hands and scores on the first shot of the OT, 29 seconds in. Staal wins the faceoff and collects his 20th assist, and Kadri his 22nd to pad his totals.

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 1:26 EV JAG Laine (28), assisted by Polak (7) and Staal (19)
1 2:22 EV TBN Connor (2), assisted by Pominville (10) and Zaitsev (32)
1 13:03 EV TBN Tatar (18), assisted by Goligoski (1)
1 18:33 EV JAG Kadri (31), assisted by Oleksiak (1) and Gaborik (8)
2 4:56 EV JAG Oleksiak (1), assisted by Roussel (15) and Granlund (25)
2 12:00 EV TBN Petry (1), assisted by Landeskog (11) and Larsson (8)
3 10:14 EV JAG Kadri (32), assisted by Rielly (7) and Gaborik (9)
3 19:40 EV TBN Nielsen (4), assisted by Connor (1) and Pominville (11)
4 :29 EV JAG Ellis (15), assisted by Kadri (22) and Staal (20)

Star 1: JAG Kadri 2 G, 3 Pts
Star 2: JAG Oleksiak 1 G, 2 Pts
Star 3: TBN Connor 1 G, 2 Pts

GWG: Ryan Ellis

Notables: TBN Reimer 34 saves
JAG None

Weekly Summary: We give away a point to Thunder Bay, but no complaints as we take 4 of 4 points at home this week. We have 2 huge road games this week vs Columbus and Lakeland that will likely seal our playoff fate one way or the other.

Brentwood Bandits Only one home game against a very good Alamo team. Should be a good one!
Alamo Defenders @ Brentwood Bandits Halak gets the start for Brentwood, as is customary for home games (rather have Gibson play on the road, and it’s worked all season thus far so…) even though he hasn’t played as well lately.

1st period on the PP Seguin (18) makes it 1-0 Alamo

Later in the first Marleau pots his 25th of the season to tie it 1-1

2nd period Bandits take the lead on Barbashev’s 1st of the season (in a rare start).

Marchand (30) ties it at 2.

3rd period Marchand (31) scores at the 1:22 mark to give Alamo a 3-2 lead.

Wheeler gets his 14th to extend the lead 4-2.
With 2:29 left in the game, and right before pulling Halak, Crosby scores his 35th to close the gap 4-3.

Halak is pulled, with 35 seconds left Crosby ties it with his league leading 36th goal of the season! 4-4!

The Bandits and their crowd celebrate as we are going to head to Overti– Pacioretty (24) scores with 8 seconds left to give Alamo the 5-4 lead, and eventual win.

Great game. Not the outcome I would like, but it was a fun one!

1 2 3 F
2017-18 Alamo 37-19-0-5 1 1 3 5
2017-18 Brentwood 42-16-0-3 1 1 2 4

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 4:54 PP ALA Seguin (18), assisted by Pacioretty (18) and Yandle (39)
1 12:21 EV BWB Marleau (25), assisted by Crosby (36) and Kessel (52)
2 16:25 EV BWB Barbashev (1), assisted by Cousins (1) and Bieksa (3)
2 18:02 EV ALA Marchand (30), assisted by Yandle (40) and Seguin (51)
3 1:22 EV ALA Marchand (31), assisted by Eaves (19) and Seguin (52)
3 10:08 EV ALA Wheeler (14), assisted by Perreault (22) and Pacioretty (19)
3 18:31 EV BWB Crosby (35), assisted by Niederreiter (33) and Vatrano (9)
3 19:25 EV BWB Crosby (36), assisted by Niederreiter (34) and Forbort (20)
3 19:52 EV ALA Pacioretty (24), assisted by Wheeler (39) and Perreault (23)

Penalty Summary
Per Time Team
1 :45 BWB Vatrano (10), 2:00 – interference
1 4:07 BWB Barbashev (2), 2:00 – slashing
2 11:47 BWB Forbort (41), 2:00 – tripping
3 11:54 BWB Braun (22), 2:00 – roughing

SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3
Alamo 15 10 9
Brentwood 10 12 19

ALA BWB
SOG 34 41
FOW 32 39
FO% 45.1 54.9
Hits 20 24
Blocks 11 10
Missed Net 5 13
Shot Attempts 49 65
Scoring Chances 16 14
PIM 0 8
PP 1-4 0-0
TOA 4:30 3:07

Star 1: ALA Marchand 2 G
Star 2: BWB Crosby 2 G, 3 Pts
Star 3: ALA Seguin 1 G, 3 Pts

GWG: Max Pacioretty

Notables: ALA Lehner 37 saves
BWB Tavares 15 faceoffs won

Alamo GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate
G Lehner -W 4 37 .902 60:00 26 12 5 6.4 (-1.1)

Brentwood GA SV Save% TOI W L OL Rate
G Halak -L 5 29 .853 59:35 14 5 2 6.7 (-0.2)

Weekly Summary: Hopeful that we fare better on the road this week.

LA Great Danes 2 Home games versus sub-.500 teams, can the Great Danes continue their stellar play on home ice?
Thunder Bay Nor’Westers @ LA Great Danes A conservative start for both teams with the first SOG for each team coming past 4 minutes in, but LA’s first SOG results in a goal by Alex Pietrangelo, his 19th of the year, at 4:40. Sean Couturier ties it up for Thunder Bay midway through period 1, but a Jamie Benn goal at 18:02 puts LA up 2-1 after 1. In the 2nd, the Danes hold Thunder Bay to 4 SOG and Jokinen and Benn score to give LA a 4-1 lead after 2. In the 3rd, Ryan Kesler scores to make it 5-1, and Jamie Benn caps off the 6-1 win with a goal with 1:13 left to register the hat trick. Mark Scheifele and Tyler Toffoli had 3 assists each, and the Danes hold Thunder Bay to 18 SOG for the game despite giving the Nor-Westers 6 power play chances in the game.
Long Beach Ice Dogs @ LA Great Danes For the second straight game, the Danes score on their first SOG, this one coming just 18 seconds in on a Mark Scheifele deflection. But the lead didn’t last long as Brendan Gallagher tied it up for Long Beach at 3:48. After that, things tightened up and Talbot and Andersen settled into a goaltending duel. Midway through the 3rd, it remained 1-1 until a Nick Bonino deflection at 11:44 put LA up 2-1, and another deflection goal by Tyler Toffoli put the Danes up 3-1 at 14:40. Less than a minute later, the Danes finally put a clean shot by Talbot as Dougie Hamilton blew one by him at 15:13. And the Great Danes finish it off with Nick Bonino’s second goal of the period at 19:36. So a tight game turned into a 5-1 route as the Danes were able to solve Talbot late as they put 21 shoots at him in the 3rd.
Weekly Summary: Two very solid home wins for the Great Danes. Frederick Andersen continues his outstanding play in goal, with 2 GA total in the two wins. And another franchise first with Jamie Benn’s hat trick.

Long Beach Ice Dogs  
Weekly Summary: Long Beach splits 2 high scoring home games.

California Regulators  
Thunder Bay Nor’Westers @ California Regulators California beats Thunder Bay 4-5.
Alamo Defenders @ California Regulators Alamo destroys the Regulators, 6-0.
Weekly Summary: California splits its 2-game homestand.

Bathgate Rangers 1 home game this week and it’s against Brentwood – the best in the MWHL so far this year. We’ll need to find the kitchen sink throw at them in this one.
Brentwood Bandits @ Bathgate Rangers Well the Rangers did just about everything. Outshot the Bandits 38-34. Took 63.9% of the faceoffs. 2 minutes less in penalties, matched them with 1 PP goal. But they didn’t outhit the Bandits (25-22) and the Bandits blocked 17 shots (8 for Rangers). And Crosby scored 2 goals. But …
Crosby’s first goal (35) came on a PP with just less than 3 minutes to go in the 1st. But Shaw responded with a goal (9) with 30 seconds left before the Horn – Vrana getting his 1st MWHL assist.
In the 2nd, Crosby netted his 2nd (36), Kessel helps on this one too (he was part of the 1st goal). Second period ends with Bandits stealing the lead 2-1.
Third period gets halfway through with no horns sounding but Glendening gets nailed for tripping. Rangers comes through when Hornqvist scoes (12) tying the game. But, but, but with 2 and 1/2 to go, Tavares (23) finds a way to score on the Rangers again. And Gibson makes the 3-2 lead stand and Brentwood wins a fiercely fought game.
STARS (all BWB)
1. Crosby 2 goals
2. Gibson 36 saves
3. Tavares 1 goal (GWG)
Weekly Summary: Tough hard fought game for Rangers but they couldn’t quite match the class of the Bandits and Brentwood wins the 3-2 squeaker.

Corktown Suds  
Bathgate Rangers @ Corktown Suds Corktown 4-3
Weekly Summary: The suds gather another 2 points at home.

Bucks County Racoons Racoons have a very important home game against the team closest to them higher in the standings, almost a must win if BC hopes to make the playoffs….
Minneapolis Deep Freeze @ Bucks County Racoons In a critical home game, the Bucks County Raccoons rally from 2 goals down to tie the game in the 2nd period, only to see Minneapolis score within the 1st minute of the 3rd period and skate away with a 3-2 win. The loss puts BCR playoff hopes in jeopardy, as they now trail the team closest above them in the standings by 7 points after this home loss….As desperate as they were, BC could only muster 23 SOG, and home cooking didn’t seem to be in the house as they had to kill 5 Minneapolis PP versus only having the man advantage twice….at home.
Weekly Summary: Critical home loss for BCR which will make it that more difficult to advance in the standings….

Toledo Walleye  
Weekly Preview: Toledo (33-22-4) tries to hang onto the Central Division Lead against division rivals Wausau (26-29-5) and Chicago (23-36-1). Wausau brings in one of the best defenses in the league with Mike Smith (2.70 GAA). Chicago comes in with 4 lethal scorers Toews, Pastrnak, Nylander and Galchenyuk. One of the Toledo leading scorers Tom Vanek sitting out this week to rest a sore back.
Wausau Lumberjacks @ Toledo Walleye Toledo 4, Wausau 1. Statistically a very close game until you get to scoring chances, which Toledo dominated 21-6, although shots on goal was pretty even 31-25. Toledo gets a goal in the first by Krejci and another in the 2nd by Backstrom to take a 2-0 lead to the last period. Wausau brings some hope to the visitor bench when Brown scores on a powerplay to cut the lead to 1, but Toledo responds quickly after with Rieder and then a powerplay goal by Anisimov to push the score to 4-1. Strong game from Dubnyk saving 24 of 25.
1st star – Backstrom 1g2a
2nd star – Rieder 1g1a
3rd star – Dubnyk 24 saves
Chicago Cosa Nostra @ Toledo Walleye Toledo 6, Chicago 4 – Toledo wins the 1st and last period while Chicago dominates the 2nd. In the first Toledo outshoots Chicago 18-9 and leads 2-1 at the end, with goals from Sutter and Anisimov to counter the one from Pastrnak. In the 2nd Chicago out shoots Toledo 15-12 and aided by 3 powerplays, converts on 2, and outscores the hometeam 3-0 (Horvat, Parayko and Nylander) to take a 4-2 lead into the 2nd intermission. Then in the 3rd, Toledo outshoots the visitors 23-5 and gets one powerplay goal (Okposo), 2 even strength (Green, Ekholm) and finally an empty netter (Green) to take the game 6-4. In the end Toledo leads in SOG 53-29 and scoring chances 27-8.
1st star – Okposo 1g3a
2nd star – Green 2g
3rd star – Anisimov 1g2a
Weekly Summary: 2 wins at home against division rivals is always good news. Hopefully Toledo can eke out a point or 2 on the road this week also.
Top performers:
Chicago – Nylander 1g2a
Toledo – Green 2g2a and Anisimov 2g2a

Alamo Defenders Alamo entertains California for one game.
California Regulators @ Alamo Defenders California starts the scoring 3:30 in the game with a Gaudreau goal. Eaves and Wheeler close out the 1st period with two Alamo goals.

In the 2nd, Nelson scores his 19th for California. Eaves scores his 28th goal for Alamo and Marchand nets his 30th!

No more goals in the 3rd.

Alamo 4 California 2

shots on goal: Alamo 49 California 15

1st – Eaves 2 goals
2nd – Marchand 1 goal 1 assist
3rd – Wheeler 1 goal

Weekly Summary: Alamo defeats California 4-2 in its only home game.

Columbus Brew Jackets Columbus hosts 3 games this week – 2 against division rivals as the playoff stretch run is in full swing. They host Jagr who is trying to gain ground on the Brew crew and league best Brentwood as the Jackets try to narrow the gap to the top.
Jagr Mullets @ Columbus Brew Jackets Jagr took the game to the Jackets, out shooting and out hitting, but each team scored once in the 1st and 2 in the second and the defense and goalies stood firm in the third sending the game to OT!
Couture (21) and Ovechkin (23) matched goals in the 1st. Holden (7) then made it 2-1 CBJ 49 seconds into the 2nd, but Schultz (9) got it right back at 1:57. Hall (16) got Jagr their first lead at 11:04 but Ladd (18) tied it right back up at 13:18. Then the D took over.
OT – league scoring leader Nikita Kucherov end the game after a great set up fro Foligno and Carlo.
STARS: (all CBJ)
1. Kucherov 1 goal, 2 assists
2. Burns 3 assists
3. Holden 1 goal
Toledo Walleye @ Columbus Brew Jackets Toledo out plays the Jackets in the 1st two periods but the game is tied on second period goals by N.Foligno (16) and M.Foligno (13) – in fact the Foligno name gets a hat trick when M.Foligno 14) scores early in the 3rd to give the Jackets a 2-1 lead. But the 1st non-Foligno goal is scored by Rieder (11) with 5 minutes to go to tie it up 2-2. Then Niklas Backstrom is call for interference with 2 to go and Carlo (5) get the GW PP Goal to send the home crowd home happy.
STARS (all CBJ):
1. M. Foligno 2 goals
2. Budaj 38 saves
3. Carlo 1 goal (GWG)
Brentwood Bandits @ Columbus Brew Jackets Jackets faced a tough Jagr team, the Central leading Toledo and now Metropolitan leader Brentwood sneaks into town for the game of the week. And as per normal, the Jackets trail their opponents in SOG – 40 to 25.
1st Period – Guentzel (20) wastes no time getting the Bandits on the board as he takes a pass from Kessel and slips it past Budaj at the 1 minute mark. Marleau is called for high sticking at 5:54 and it’s the 4 minute variety. As the long PP winds down Strome (10) winds up and ties the game with the PP goal with 26 seconds left in the sin bin. But Guentzel (21) gets his 2nd goal (and 2nd assist for Crosby as well) with 4 to go in the 1st and Brentwood skates off the 1st period with a 2-1 lead.
2nd period sees each team with a power play opportunity but no goal, but Couture (22) ties it up with 2:26 remaining.
3rd Period starts 2-2 but this period belongs to Brent Burns. Less than a minute in, he scores (23) to make it 3-2 Columbus and then 7 minutes later he does it again (24) to run the score to 4-2. Brew Jackets go into a defensive shell taking only 5 shots in the period and the Bandits heat up the ice firing shot after shot (16 on net) and yanking Gibson in the final minute – but no more goals and the Brew Jackets win 4-2!
STARS:
1. Burns (CBJ) – 2 goals
2. Guentzel (BWB) – 2 goals
3. Budaj (CBJ) – 38 saves
Weekly Summary: Jackets probably have one of their best weeks ever (especially looking at the quality of teams they faced) and most likely best defensive week for them of all time. And they come away with 6 points in the 3 games.

Wausau Lumberjacks The Lumberjacks will host Bucks County and Brentwood.
Bucks County Racoons @ Wausau Lumberjacks Wausau 2 Bucks Coubty 0
1st Star Smith 26 saves
2nd Star Frolik 1 goal
3rd Star Palat 1 goal
Brentwood Bandits @ Wausau Lumberjacks Brentwood 1 Wausau 0 OT.
1st Star Gibson 24 saves.
2nd Star McElhinney 44 saves
3rd Star Guentzel
Weekly Summary: Lumberjacks are 1-1 at home.

Weekly Preview: 3 home games for Lakeland to try and climb out of the cellar in our division.
Chicago Cosa Nostra @ Lakeland Flying Tigers Lakeland 5, Chicago 2.

Chicago scores the first 2 goals of the game and then Lakeland scores 1 in the 2nd and then 4 goals in the third for the win. Both goalies faced a lot of shots, but for a change, Jones comes out on top.

Jagr Mullets @ Lakeland Flying Tigers Jagr 2, Lakeland 0.

Lakeland never really is in the game and Vasilvskiy makes 26 saves for the shutout. Jones stops 40 of 41, but just the barrage of shots costs us Lakeland the game.

Bathgate Rangers @ Lakeland Flying Tigers Bathgate 1, Lakeland 0.

Rinne makes 34 saves for the shutout and Horqvist tallies the lone goal midway thru the third period for the win.

Weekly Summary: Well, a real lack of offense shows this block with only getting 5 goals in 3 games…and then only 2 points of a possible 6.

Clearfield Bison 3 home games as the Bison look to re-establish their game.

I apologize; no time for big write-ups, my schedule was crazy this weekend and early this week. Had to scramble just to get the games played.

Thunder Bay Nor’Westers @ Clearfield Bison Clearfield was leading 3-1 when the building lost power (aka my laptop crashed). They replayed it the next day and the result was a fair bit different – tight game, but it went to OT and the Nor’Westers came away with a big shootout win.
Minneapolis Deep Freeze @ Clearfield Bison Close game thoroughout; the Freeze are desperately fighting for their division crown, and they got what they needed in Clearfield with a 4-3 win.
Hampton Blizzard @ Clearfield Bison Clearfield can’t go 0-3 at home…right? RIGHT?

WRONG. The Bison blew an early 2-0 lead and really got pounded over the last 30 minutes, losing to Hampton 6-4. And I thought winter was over….

Weekly Summary: Worst week of the season for Clearfield, 1 point in 3 home games. We are darned lucky that we banked those early wins…regression to the mean is cold-hearted.

Gilbert Sharks Gilbert with 3 Home Games this Block
LA Great Danes @ Gilbert Sharks LA wins 4-2
LA Great Danes @ Gilbert Sharks LA wins 4-0
Bucks County Racoons @ Gilbert Sharks Bucks County Wins 3-1
Weekly Summary: Gilbert loses 3 more at home. Sorry for no write-ups this week, Busy week.

Minneapolis Deep Freeze Minneapolis gets one home game, but it’s a key one against division leading Toledo that they trail by only 4 points.
Toledo Walleye @ Minneapolis Deep Freeze Toledo Walleye (2) @ Minneapolis Deep Freeze (1)

The teams start out with an evenly matched but uneventful first period. After 20 minutes we remain tied at 0 with Toledo holding a 12-10 edge in shots and neither team having any significant chances to speak of. The Walleye will begin the 2nd period with 1:09 left on a powerplay.

The second period belonged to Minneapolis as they pepper Dubnyk with 17 shots including 12 on the powerplay, while the Walleye manage only 7 against Bobrovsky, but both teams get one goal in the period and we head to the third period tied at 1.

Toledo capitalizes on their powerplay opportunities and takes a 2-1 lead with 6:30 remaining, but Minneapolis doesn’t want to be counted out yet. The Deep Freeze get the puck deep into the Walleye zone and pull Bobrovsky with just under 2 minutes left to play and maintain control while throwing everything they have at Dubnyk, but the Walleye goaltender stands tall and turns aside every puck that comes his way. Toledo holds on to win 2-1 in a game that may well cement their hold on the top spot in the Central division. This sportswriter thinks that Dubnyk deserved to be the first star in this one.

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
2 8:48 EV MIN Tkachuk (11), assisted by Pavelski (32) and Hossa (16)
2 14:19 EV TOL Vanek (12), assisted by Foligno (15) and Lindell (8)
3 13:30 PP TOL Vanek (13), assisted by Okposo (21)

SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3
Toledo 12 7 9
Minneapolis 10 17 13

TOL MIN
SOG 28 40
FOW 27 39
FO% 40.9 59.1
Hits 18 29
Blocks 20 12
Missed Net 7 17
Shot Attempts 47 77
Scoring Chances 5 9
PIM 4 8
PP 1-4 0-2
TOA 3:04 7:12

Star 1: TOL Vanek 2 G
Star 2: TOL Dubnyk 39 saves
Star 3: MIN Tkachuk 1 G

GWG: Thomas Vanek

Notables: TOL Dubnyk 39 saves
MIN Spezza 18 faceoffs won

Weekly Summary: Minneapolis loses a hard-fought game at home to division leading Toledo, and may have to settle for second place at this point.