2017-2018 PLAYER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #18
| EASTERN SKATER | TEAM | GP | GOALS | ASISSTS | POINTS | PM | +/- | SOG | S% |
| Karlsson, Erik | BGR | 4 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 31% |
| EASTERN GOALIE | TEAM | GP | GOALS AGAINST | G.A. AVERAGE | SAVES | SAVE % | |||
| Lehtonen, Kari | CRK | 3 | 5 | 1.66 | 92 | .948 | |||
| WESTERN SKATER | TEAM | GP | GOALS | ASSISTS | POINTS | PM | +/- | SOG | S% |
| Marner, Mitch | LBD | 4 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 11% |
| WESTERN GOALIE | TEAM | GP | GOALS AGAINST | G.A. AVERAGE | SAVES | SAVE % | |||
| Bobrovsky, Sergei | MIN | 4 | 6 | 1.5 | 126 | .955 | |||
| Clearfield Bison | 12 games to go, a 3-way tie for the President’s Trophy…the Bison are balancing the desire for the #1 seed with the need to rest some players. 2 games vs. offensive powerhouses – the Brew Jackets and the Suds. So much beer, so little time… |
| Columbus Brew Jackets @ Clearfield Bison | It’s been awhile since I’ve seen in-game domination like this. Clearfield fired the first 15 shots on net…CBJ didn’t register a shot until 12 minutes had passed. Let’s start with the stats to give you some idea of how this looked: Shots 45-18; facoffs 72-28%; shot attempts 74-35; attack time 8:48-2:20; CLE 6 power plays, CBJ 2.And yet – this game was in doubt until the final horn sounded.Clearfield dominated the first in every way – but only carried a 1-0 lead to the 2nd. Should have been 3-0 or 4-0 based on the play, and I had a feeling that was a bad omen.Sure enough, CBJ wakes up and gets a push – and at the halfway mark, Sheary puts one behind Anderson to knot things up. 2 minutes later, Miller pots a PP goal and the home team is actually behind!Clearfield regrouped in the third – and finally scored a PP goal of their own early in the 3rd. The Bison pushed and pushed, much like the 1st period, and finally broke through on Budaj with under 4 to go in the game – and pulled a much-deserved 3-2 win out of the fire.STARS: This was all about the role players. CLE’s big guns were kept quiet…but #1 was Williams (1G 2A), #2 Chimera (1G 1A) and I choose Budaj #3 (42 sv on 45 shots – he kept it close). |
| Corktown Suds @ Clearfield Bison | Coming off the big win, the Bison chose to rest leading sniper Rikard Rakell…and I think that Anderson thought he had the day of as well. He was the story, and not in a good way…the first 2 shots he saw went in, and 4 of the first 8 overall. 6 minutes into the 1st, it was already 3-1 Corktown despite the Bison (once again) dictating play. When Matthews made it 4-1 before the first intermission, the outcome was all but certain…the Bison are not built for shootouts.
Clearfield pushed and pushed, but Lehtonen stopped everything. With the game 5-1 and 30 seconds to go, Clearfield got a 3-on-1..and, as a fitting capper, Lehtonen stoned the shot. 5-1 was the final. Stats once again favored the Bison everywhere but where it counts:42-20 shots, 70-30% FO,21-10 scoring chances, the Suds only had 1:53 TOA to Clearfield’s 7:51…but sometimes a hot goalie vs. a cold goalie is all you really need to know. STARS: #1 Lehtonen 41 sv #2 PAnik 2G #2 Matthews 2G |
| Weekly Summary: | Clearfield only gets 2 of 4 points at home. Let’s hope the stinky is out of Anderson’s system with the playoffs looming… |
| LA Great Danes | One home game for the week for the Great Danes, against the Gilbert Sharks. The Danes are looking to get back to their stingy defensive game after giving up 16 goals last week. The Danes enter the week tied for the league lead in points but also hold a mere 2 point lead for the Pacific division lead. |
| Gilbert Sharks @ LA Great Danes | The Danes have a solid first period, outchancing the Sharks 7-1, and Nikolaj Ehlers scores twice in the opening frame, with both goals off odd-man rushes. But Gilbert gets back in the game quickly in period 2, as Ryan Getlaf beats Andersen on a breakaway 1:29 in. But the Danes respond quickly, as Jannik Hansen scores his first goal of the season 40 seconds later, and the 2nd periods ends with LA up 3-1. But once again, the Sharks convert at the start of a period, with a Panarin slapshot goal 42 seconds into the 3rd period. Lots of shots in the 3rd with the Danes outshooting the Sharks 18-12, but it stayed 3-2 late in the game. The Sharks then took a penalty with 2:53 to go, and the Great Danes were able to run out the clock and come away with a 3-2 win. The Great Danes dominated the faceoffs with a 67% win rate, outshot Gilbert 41-30, and outchanced them 17-8, but had to hold on for the win. |
| Weekly Summary: | It took a tight game against a last place team, but the Danes get the 2 points at home and await the outcome of their 3 road games as they finish off the year on the road for a good portion of the remaining schedule. |
| Long Beach Ice Dogs | Long Beach has just 1 home game this week against powerful Alamo. |
| Alamo Defenders @ Long Beach Ice Dogs | Long Beach took a 3-1 lead when Folin and Teravainen scored :17 apart midway through the 2nd period. It was still 3-1 early in the 7th period but the Defenders tied it on goals by Pacioretty & Seguin. The teams traded goals and it looked like we were headed to OT but Nash netted his 16th of the year with 97 seconds left to give the Ice Dogs a 5-4 win.
Stars: |
| Weekly Summary: | Long Beach picked up a big win against Alamo. |
| Bathgate Rangers | Bathgate home for 3 this week, but Hornqvist unable to play so we’ll see. |
| Lakeland Flying Tigers @ Bathgate Rangers | Flying Tigers flew in the Round Garden and immediately started shooting and scoring with Lowry (10) getting the first goal at 1:15. Oshie (32) made it 2-0 before the Rangers decided to play. Then Karlsson (20) got the 1st of his 4 points with a goal at the midway point of the 1st and it was 2-1 after 1. Steen (12) for Lakeland and Staal (16)-PP for Bathgate traded goals in the 2nd. Minute and a half in in the 3rd Karlsson (21) gets the tying goal and another PP goal. But Orlov (5) puts one past Nilsson at 12:55 to put Lakeland back up 4-3. Down to the closing minute, Nilsson skates off and Zajac (8) joins the fray and scores on a setup from Staal and Karlsson to tie the game. Both teams tried hard in OT, but no goals so it was a shoot-out. Hartman and Anderson traded goals and then Hutchinson closed up the net and denied the next attempt from Ferland, but the Flying TIgers found Nilsson’s weakness – shoot-outs, he didn’t stop any as Grabner and Oshie tally to give the Tigers a 3-1 shoot-out advantage and the game 5-4 (SO). Alas, 1 point for the good guys. STARS: (even in the loss, Rangers get top 2 stars) 1. BGR – Karlsson 2 goals, 2 assists 2. BGR – Staal 1 goal, 2 assists 3. LAK – Oshie 1 goal, 1 assist (and SO Goal) |
| Bucks County Racoons @ Bathgate Rangers | Next home the Racoons and the Rangers go hunting. Karlsson (22)-PP and Staal (17) get goals in the first 7 minutes. But then the Racoons come back scoring the next 3 goals. Schwartz (16)-PP in the 1st, Palmieri (14) at 1:25 in the 2nd, and E.Kane (18)-PP at 1:43 in the 3rd. Rangers are now down 3-2, but Shaw (10) gets the equalizer at 4:24. Then McCann (1) gets his first – and unassisted goal at 19:28. Racoons pull Darling for the rest of the game and at 19:38 PK Subban (9) gets the icing on the cake for a 5-3 Rangers win! STARS 1. BGR – Karlsson 1 goal, 1 assist (2nd game in a row at home for #1 star) 2. BCR – Palmieri 1 goal, 1 assist 3. BGR – McCann 1 goal (GWG) |
| Jagr Mullets @ Bathgate Rangers | Rangers had to scratch Buchnevich at game time for this one, so lots of subs tonight. Jagr takes advantage. But not right away. In fact, after a scoreless 1st period that saw the Mullets limited to 5 shots, the Rangers score first at the 5 minute mark of period 2 on a Staal (18) goal from Karlsson and McCann to make it 1-0. Rangers dominated the shots 32-25 and won 61% of the faceoffs and the TOA, but Vasilevskiy didn’t allow another goal. But Rinne did. 3 of them. Radulov (16) scores in the 2nd and then Granlund (22) and Ellis (17) score in the 3rd to seal the deal as Jagr wins 3-1. STARS (all Jagr) 1. Ellis 1 goal, 2 assists 2. Vailevskiy 31 saves 3. Schultz 3 assists |
| Weekly Summary: | So Rangers get 3 points in the 3 home games and stand at 30-30-6 awaiting to see the resuls of the Lakeland road game to see if they are at, over, or under .500 as the week ends. |
| Weekly Preview: | California Regulators |
| Long Beach Ice Dogs @ California Regulators | Long Beach beats California 7-5 |
| LA Great Danes @ California Regulators | California gets lucky as LA drops one, 0-2 |
| Gilbert Sharks @ California Regulators | Gilbert wins in OT, 5-4 |
| Weekly Summary: | California loses more games. |
| Brentwood Bandits | Bandits with 3 home games this go-round. Can we keep pace with Clearfield and LA for the top spot in the league all the while resting key players, and even giving King Henrik a necessary spot start? Not to be over-looked, 2nd place Columbus comes to town with something to prove. |
| Thunder Bay Nor’Westers @ Brentwood Bandits | A close game. Going to OT tied 3-3 and Patrick Marleau wins it for the Bandits with his 2nd of the game and 28th of the season.
Bandits win 3-2 in OT. A hard fought game. |
| Chicago Cosa Nostra @ Brentwood Bandits | Last place Chicago comes to town to play spoiler, and they did. Torching Lundqvist for 4 goals. Brentwood makes it interesting with Kessel scoring his 2nd of the night (17) at the 10:57 mark, but that was all the Bandits could muster as they fall to Chicago 4-3. |
| Columbus Brew Jackets @ Brentwood Bandits | 2nd place Columbus rumbles into The ‘wood with some swagger as they attempt to make it into the playoffs. It shows with Miller knotting his 28th early in the first. Vermette ties it up 1-1 with his 6th on the campaign.
In the third period Tavares gets off the snide and scores for the first time since the 8th grade picnic! His 24th. Bandits take a 2-1 lead and would further that least with Niederreiter’s 23rd of the season, breaking a slump for him as well to make it 3-1. Was Columbus gonna roll over? Nope. They pull Johnson and score with 21 seconds remaining, making it a respectable 3-2 Bandit lead. Bandits and Halak hold on including a save in the closing seconds on Kucherov to seal the Bandit victory 3-2. |
| Weekly Summary: | 4 points out of a possible 6 on the home stand. Not bad. We dropped a game to last place Chicago at home. That wasn’t a good thing. But we played well against a good Columbus team.
Resting players definitely plays a major impact this week. Not to mention that EVERY goalie I face anymore seems to play like a Vezina trophy winner. |
| Alamo Defenders | Alamo plays two Pacific rivals California and Long Beach |
| California Regulators | Komarov scores his 9th for California as the Regulators get on the board first. Later in the 1st period, Pacioretty nets his 31st goal to tie the game. Eaves breaks the tie with his 31st goal.
In the 3rd, Gaudreau scores his 16th to tie the game. Eaves scores his 2nd goal of the game, and the Defenders go ahead. With 20 seconds to go, Hamhuis scores his first goal on a empty netter to secure victory for Alamo, as they win 4-2. Alamo 4 California 2 1st star – Eaves 2 goals |
| Long Beach Ice Dogs | Alamo scores the first goal on Marchand’s 35th of the year. But, Long Beach is always tough in Texas. They score three in a row within 4 minutes of the second period. Nash scores 2 of the goals and Skinner scores one. The Defenders had breakdowns for all 3 goals. In the third, Eaves scores his 33rd goal. But, Alamo, despite outshooting the Ice Dogs,37-18, loses.
Long Beach 3 Alamo 2 1st – Nash 2 goals |
| Weekly Summary: | Alamo splits against California and Long Beach. |
| Bucks County Racoons | Two home games against the top two teams in the Central Division gives Bucks County one last gasp at the playoffs….. |
| Toledo Walleye @ Bucks County Racoons | Bucks County scores 4 of the first 5 goals of the game to seemingly give them a nice 4-1 lead, but Toledo scores twice to get with 4-3 with 6 and a half left to play, but Tom Pyatt scores to give the Raccoons a 5-3 lead which they put in the freezer and come away with the win.Bucks County had 20 scoring chances for the game to 7 such chances for Toledo. The top 4 D men for BCR were all +2 for the game, and their appears to be a flicker of life in Bucks County. |
| Minneapolis Deep Freeze @ Bucks County Racoons | Bucks County holds Minny to only a first period goal, but unfortunately they were going against Sponge Bob Bobrovsky, who threw a shutout at them and skated away with the 1-0 victory. The Raccoons again held a distinctive scoring chance advantage, this time by a count of 12-5, but the Deep Freeze not only didn’t break, they barely bent. |
| Weekly Summary: | Two games against quality opponents demonstrate why Bucks County will be getting early tee times this spring. |
| Corktown Suds | 2 Home games for the Suds |
| Gilbert Sharks @ Corktown Suds | Tarasenko gets his 25th goal in the 3rd for the game winner.
Corktown 3-2 |
| New Jersey Grizzlies @ Corktown Suds | Corktown 2-1 |
| Weekly Summary: | Corktown gets 4 points in 2 games. |
| Hampton Blizzard | Four home games heading into the home stretch with Hampton leading 3rd place New Jersey by a comfortable 17-point margin but lagging six points back of division-leading Clearfield. |
| New Jersey Grizzlies @ Hampton Blizzard | Oliver Ekman-Larsson wins the man of the hour award for pinching in midway through overtime to fire the puck past Braden Holtby and secure an important 3-2 win for Hampton over New Jersey. |
| Alamo Defenders @ Hampton Blizzard | Alamo turns the tables on Hampton, erasing a 2-0 deficit capped by a Pearson zinger off the crossbar and past Carey Price into the Blizzard net to give the Alamo a 3-2 overtime win. |
| Thunder Bay Nor’Westers @ Hampton Blizzard | Ho hum. Another day another game heading into overtime tied 2-2. This time, just to be different, neither the Now’westers nor the Blizzard were able to score and it was my favorite (not) shootout time. Thunder Bay netminder Calvin Pickard had all kinds of trouble with Filip Forsberg and Vincent Trocheck while Hampton’s Carey Price had none with Alexander Barkov or Brandon Saad. Hampton takes it 3-2 after the shootout. |
| New Jersey Grizzlies @ Hampton Blizzard | The Blizzard braced themselves for another 3-2 rematch game against New Jersey, but it was not to be. The Blizzard spent the bulk of the game doing two things: (1) trying to kill penalties; and, (2) watching Carey Price play net kind of like the way I think Steve Wonder might have. Price lasted all of 28 minutes in the game allowing three goals on the nine shots he faced as the Grizzlies mauled the Blizzard 5-1. Just for laughs Evgeni Malkin dressed for this lone home game … and provided the only Hampton goal. Hedman had a goal and an assist and four blocked shots while Holtby stopped 30 shots for the winners, Colton Sissons was an unexpected bright spot for Hampton getting three takeaways and seven hits. |
| Weekly Summary: | Hampton takes five of a possible eight points which I guess is OK, but getting crushed 5-1 in the last home game kind of was a deflator. Kudos to New Jersey who came in and took three of a possible four points from Hampton. |
| Jagr Mullets | One home game this week – a huge matchup against Columbus. Also a bonus game, as Chicago asked me to play their game as well. |
| Jagr Mullets @ Chicago Cosa Nostra | Jagr travels to Chicago and lights the lamp 5 times against Chicago’s 2. Jagr goes up and stays up early, but to their credit the home team carried much of the play in the 2nd half of the game. Quick was just too much in this one.
Scoring Summary Star 1: JAG Quick 44 saves GWG: Taylor Hall Notables: JAG Staal 17 faceoffs won, Quick 44 saves |
| Columbus Brew Jackets @ Jagr Mullets | Jagr desperately needs to win this one to have a prayer of catching Columbus.
It’s effectively a playoff game, as both teams clamp down and fight for every inch of ice. Columbus breaks that ice first, with Brent Burns (who else?!) scoring his TWENTY NINTH GOAL of the season just past the halfway marker. But the Mullets hang in there, and their patience is rewarded when Nazem Kadri pots his 35th on the year to tie it up. The game goes to overtime, and both teams continue playing it safe. But the Mullets blink for a second, and Andrew Ladd (22) scores with only 12 seconds left to prevent a shootout from deciding the extra point — and effectively putting a dagger in Jagr’s dim playoff hopes. At least we’ll have less issue resting our guys to keep our limits in check down the stretch! Scoring Summary Star 1: CBJ Johnson 42 saves GWG: Andrew Ladd Notables: CBJ Burns 5 blocks, Edmundson 6 blocks, Couture 17 faceoffs won, Johnson 42 saves |
| Weekly Summary: | 3 of 4 possible points, but at this stage the Mullets need sweeps and miracles. |
| Wausau Lumberjacks | Lumberjacks will play Minneapolis, Chicago ,Corktown |
| Minneapolis Deep Freeze @ Wausau Lumberjacks | Minneapolis 2 Wausau 1 Star 1 Bobrovsky Star 2 Gagner Star 3 Turris |
| Chicago Cosa Nostra @ Wausau Lumberjacks | Wausau 5 Chicago 4 Star 1 Zuccarello Star 2 Eriksson Star 3 Giroux |
| Corktown Suds @ Wausau Lumberjacks | Corktown 3 Wausau 2 Star 1 Mathews Star 2 Rust Star 3 Stone |
| Weekly Summary: | Wausa 1-2 on the week |
| Toledo Walleye | Toledo (39-23-6) hosts 2 games this week. Gilbert (23-38-6) visits from the Pacific division, ,and Chicago (25-42-1) is an unexpected visitor due to problem with the Zamboni in the Windy City. Abreviated report due to the flu bug hitting Toledo this week. |
| Gilbert Sharks @ Toledo Walleye | Gilbert 4, Toledo 3 – Gilbert is 2 for 3 on the powerplay, and that helps out greatly, especially on the gamewinner in the 3rd. 1st star Voracek 2g 2nd star Ryan 1g 3rd star Iginla 1g |
| Toledo Walleye @ Chicago Cosa Nostra | Toledo 5, Chicago 4 SO – Chicago with 3 powerplay goals to stay in this one. Toledo wins the shootout 2-0. 1st star – Backstrom 1g2a 2nd star – Duclair 1g1a 3rd star – Nylander 1g1a |
| Weekly Summary: | Toledo wins 1 and loses one this week at home. The division race should tighten up this week. |
| Columbus Brew Jackets | Columbus has 1 home game this week and will be taking chances resting the like of Kucherov and Couture in the same game! And still trying to stay ahead of Jagr. |
| Lakeland Flying Tigers @ Columbus Brew Jackets | In the game the team are even in shots 26-26 but Flying Tigers dominate the face-offs grabbing 75% of them. But 1st period ends 2-2 belongs to neither team. Brew Jackets take advantage of Orlov cross-checking penalty early and get a PP goal from Miller (28). But Grabner (21) ties it up in the 6th minute. Then Stewart gets called from a 5 minute charging penalty AND GAME MISCONDUCT at the 9:26 mark and the Brew Jackets are in a pickle. BUT they come out of it on top giving up nothing AND scoring SH goal by Ladd (22). But then Steen (13) ties it up again with a goal at 16:10. Then the scoring stops. But the penalties don’t. 8 more minor penalties called during the rest of the game – 4 for each team, 1 set coincidental, but no more PP or SH goals. Game drags on looking like overtime as Hutchinson and Budaj are sharp. But Miller intercepts a pass and takes it up ice and scores the game winner (29), unassisted at 18:58. Flying Tigers go with the empty net the rest of the way but can’t get the biscuit in the basket. FINAL 3-2 CBJ STARS: 1. CBJ – Miller 2 goals 2. CBJ – Ladd 1 goal 3. LAK – Steen 1 goal |
| Weekly Summary: | Jackets happy to get 2 points in a must rest game. Stretch run coming …. |
