2020-2021 PLAYER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #11

LA starts the new calendar year without Teuvo Teravainen, traded to Cincinnati. Teuvo will be missed now and in the future, but time to rebuild/reload.

A rude welcome for Elvis as he gives up a quick goal to Reilly Smith 1:36 into the game, but the Danes get goals from Voracek and Chiarot for a 2-1 lead after one.

And breaking news 12 seconds into period 2 – a goal by Alex Pietrangelo!!! Goal #1 on the season for Alex – 40 games and 126 SOG into the season – thought it may never happen.

Martin Necas brings Thunder Bay within a goal in the second, and it’s 3-2 LA after two.

It’s Blues night in the third period. First, Ryan O’Reilly ties the game at 3 1:17 into the 3rd. LA then gets goals from Jaden Schwartz and Brayden Schenn to take a 5-3 lead. A Colton Parayko shot is deflected by Reilly Smith with 4:20 left to make it 5-4, and LA holds off Thunder Bay the rest of the way, and Elvis is a winner in his LA debut.

Reilly Smith takes the #1 star with 2 goals for Thunder Bay. Alex Pietrangelo is the #2 star with 1G-1A, and Aleksander Barkov is the 3rd star with 3 assists on the night for LA.

Final Score: Cincinnati 5 – Chicago 1

Labatt’s 3-Star Selection:
Star 1: CIN – Connor Hellebuyck 49 Saves
Star 2: CIN – Max Pacioretty 2G
Star 3: CIN – Patrik Lane 1G, 3Pts

GWG: David Perron

Notables:
CIN – Connor Hellebuyck 49 Saves
CHI – None

Final Score: Chicago 5 – Charlotte 3

Labatt’s 3-Star Selection:
Star 1: CIN – Anze Kopitar 3G
Star 2: CIN – Bryan Rust 1G, 2Pts
Star 3: CIN – PDavid Pastrnak 1G

GWG: Anze Kopitar

Notables:
CHA – None
CHI – Anze Kopitar Hat Trick

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 1:02 EV CHA Lee (8), assisted by Marner (24)
1 9:59 EV JAG Matthews (26), assisted by Svechnikov (27)
1 18:15 PP CHA Rust (13), assisted by Burns (18) and Hamilton (8)
1 18:41 EV JAG Ovechkin (21), assisted by Ristolainen (13) and Svechnikov (28)
2 3:03 PP JAG Matthews (27), assisted by Ovechkin (24) and Svechnikov (29)
2 5:22 PP JAG Lindholm (10), assisted by Miller (29) and Letang (21)
2 11:42 EV JAG Tkachuk (12), assisted by Lindholm (9) and Miller (30)
2 12:05 EV CHA Rust (14), assisted by Ekman-Larsson (8) and Johnson (10)
2 14:28 EV JAG Matthews (28), assisted by Svechnikov (30) and Ovechkin (25)
2 14:54 EV JAG Tkachuk (13), assisted by Miller (31)
3 13:21 EV JAG Svechnikov (11), assisted by Ekholm (9) and Matthews (23)

Star 1: JAG Matthews 3 G, 4 Pts
Star 2: JAG Svechnikov 1 G, 5 Pts
Star 3: JAG Tkachuk 2 G

GWG: Elias Lindholm

Notables: CHA Burns 5 blocks
JAG Miller 3 assists, Matthews hat trick, Svechnikov 4 assists, Svechnikov 5 points

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 8:02 EV LGD Nylander (11), assisted by Schwartz (8) and Scheifele (22)
1 11:41 EV JAG Lindholm (11), unassisted
2 10:25 PP LGD Pietrangelo (1), assisted by Nylander (15) and Ehlers (15)
3 4:13 EV JAG Bonino (1), assisted by Duchene (8)
3 14:59 EV LGD Pietrangelo (2), assisted by Heiskanen (6) and Schwartz (9)
3 19:19 EV JAG Weber (8), assisted by Lindholm (10) and Matthews (24)
4 1:55 EV LGD Barkov (15), assisted by Ehlers (16)

Star 1: LGD Pietrangelo 2 G
Star 2: LGD Nylander 1 G, 2 Pts
Star 3: LGD Barkov 1 G

GWG: Aleksander Barkov

Notables: LGD Brodin 5 blocks, Merzlikins 38 saves
JAG Matthews 18 faceoffs won

In the 2nd, Draisaitl scores his 28th goal of the season for the Defenders.

In the 3rd, Alamo gets an insurance goal on a Severson goal. It’s his 1st goal of the season.

Alamo 3 Bucks County 1

1st -Draisaitl
2nd – Severson
3rd – Stalock

No goals in the 2nd.

In the 3rd, Nyquist scores for the NorWesters, but Parise scores soon after for Alamo. In the latter part of the 3rd period, Connor scores his 20th for Thunder Bay. With 4 seconds to go, Ellis scores an empty netter.

Alamo 4 Thunder Bay 2

1st – Jenner
2nd – Ellis
3rd -Parise

Vinnie Hinostroza’s goal at 6:12 of the third period broke a 2-2 tie and sent the Defenders to the win. The Inferno held a 29-9 shots on goal advantage, but lost the game.

Robin Lehner collected the win by stopping 27 shots and Connor Hellebuyck turned away six shots. Ironically, all five goals were scored at even strength, as Alamo had four chances and Cincinnati had three.

Jake Gunetzel’s goal at 1:58 of the third period closed out the scoring and broke a 2-2 tie. In a contest that was eerily similar to the game with Alamo — neither team had a man-advantage goal, as the visitors had four chances and the Inferno had three.

The shots were more balanced, as Bathgate had a 25-22 edge. Connor Hellebuyck picked up the win with 23 saves and James Reimer blocked 19 in defeat.

The power play, which has been problematic this year (16.8% – 12th in MWHL) is not improving and the penalty kill (81.3% – 6th in MWHL) is starting to move in the right direction.

Kreider (8) starts things off for Chicago. 1-0.

Bandits tie it 1-1 when Debrusk (19) continues to be one of the lone bright spots.

2nd period sees Horvat (6) give the Bandits a 2-1 lead.

3rd period was crazy!

Tavares (12) gives the Bandits a “comfortable” 3-1 lead. You would think Vasilevskiy could hold on to that one?

Well…

At 14:15 Pastrnak (34) takes full advantage of the Boston advantage to make it 3-2.

Time winding down… 18:15 Kopitar (13) ties it 3-3 with 1:45 left to play!

Time further winding down… 19:30 Horvat (7) puts the Bandits ahead with 30 seconds left! 4-3!!

TEN. SECONDS. LATER… Theodore (2) sneaks one through traffic and past Vasilevskiy to tie it 4-4!!

The Bandits, and their crowd are stunned.

Somehow we managed to stop Chicago from scoring in the final 20 seconds… (eye roll)

Head to OT where, of course, Kopitar (14) scores with 35 seconds left to give Chicago the win and sending Brentwood to the locker room where they all look to see if their bags are packed for a trade.

I know I was wishy washy before about whether or not I wanted to trade to compete or trade for the future… well, almost everyone is available now.

Bon Appetit.

Lee finished with two goals, both which came in the third period. His buzzer-beating unassisted game-tying goal came as Carey Price had left the nets. Earlier, Charlotte overcame a 3-1 deficit, a lead built on Alamo goals from Jesper Bratt and from a pair of defensemen, Damon Severson and Jakob Chychrun.

Three stars: All from Charlotte
Star 1: Lee, 2 G 3 points
Star 2: Mitch Marner 1 G 3 points
Star 3: Killorn GWG

Notables: Robin Lehner recorded 41 saves for the Defenders and Stamkos won 17 Alamo faceoffs. Drake Caggiula accounted for Alamo’s lone third period goal that put the Defenders ahead at the time 4-3. Bryan Rust accounted for the other Charlotte goal in the contest.

2nd period sees the fortunes flip for about 10 minutes, as New Jersey controls play and gets a goal from Heinen, and powerplay goal from Pulock, cutting the lead to 1, 3-2. 2nd half of the period sees the Walleye 3rd line come to life and score 2 EV goals, as van Riemsdyk and Laughton light the lamp.

As the 3rd period opens, we see who is going to take charge. Thanks to an early penalty on Krejci, its Trocheck on the powerplay, making it 6-2 with 16 minutes to go. After that, a lot of skating, but no more goals.

1st star – Laughton 2G
2nd – Trocheck 2G
3rd – van Riemsdyk 1G 3pts

2nd period sees Gilbert commit 2 more penalties, and the 2nd one does them in just past the halfway point, with Barrie getting a short range shot in the net, and the home team is back up 2-1. Toledo continues to dominate play, ending with a 14-5 SOG advantage, but no more goals, and we go on 2-1 Toledo.

Toledo goes back on the penalty binge. Killing one off, then scoring a goal, Trocheck from in close, to make it 3-1. 2 penalties later, right at 10 minutes to go, the Sharks make them pay, and Hedman makes it interesting with his 4 goal of the season. After that, the Sharks hurt themselves with a couple of penalties, but kill both off. In spite of that they get 22 SOG in the period, but Binnington plays stellar goal, and makes the one goal advantage stand to the end, earning a well deserved pat on the back.

1st star – Hedman 1G 2pts
2nd – Binnington 34 saves
3rd – Barrie 1G