2020-2021 PLAYER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #12

EASTERN SKATER	TEAM	GP	GOALS	ASSISTS	POINTS	PM	+/-	SOG	S%
Alex Ovechkin	JAG	4	3	6	9	0	3	18	17%

EASTERN GOALIE	TEAM	GP	GOALS AGAINST		G.A. AVERAGE		SAVES	SAVE %
Connor Hellebuyck	CIN	4	3		0.75		89	.967

WESTERN SKATER	TEAM	GP	GOALS	ASSISTS	POINTS	PM	+/-	SOG	S%
Connor McDavid	BCR	4	2	7	9	4	4	16	13%

WESTERN GOALIE	TEAM	GP	GOALS AGAINST		G.A. AVERAGE		SAVES	SAVE %
MacKenzie Blackwood	CHI	2	3		1.52		56	.949

Bathgate Rangers
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	Rangers have 3 games this week, but only 1 on the road. And we play two division leaders – Alamo (at Alamo) and we host Bucks County. It’s the BCR vs BGR contest……

Bucks County Raccoons @ Bathgate Rangers	Rangers seem to be happy to be on home ice and they score 3 times in the first 6 minutes of the game – actually in less than a 2 minute span. Hischier, Provorov and Nugent-Hopkins pour them in. And yet, the Raccoons somewhat dominated the play in the 1st other than that, they were unable to put anything past Halak. 2nd period, ZBad puts one past Bishop in the opening minute for a 4-0 lead. Then the Raccoons got into action. McDavid beats Halak after he steals the puck from Savard. Oshie gains control, fires it back to McDavid and he goes glove side low for the score. Shortly after that Giroux gets called for roughing after knocking Gudbranson down along the boards. Bucks County takes advantage of the extra attacker and Evander Kane puts one in high past Halak and midway through the 2nd it’s now 4-2 Rangers. But the real story of the 2nd period was ZBad. He fights hard and manages to put 2 more goals into the net (the 2nd one a PP) and he gets a Hat Trick in the 2nd period! After his 2nd goal of the period, Bishop takes the rest of the night off. After 2 periods it’s 6-2 Bathgate. 3rd Period – it goes scoreless for 16 minutes and then Bellemare finds the back of the net to complete the game scoring and the Rangers win it 6-3. Big part of the win was the 60% faceoff wins! STARS (all BGR) 1. Zibanejad 3 goals 2. Nugent-Hopkins 1 goal, 3 assists 3. Provorov 1 goal, 1 assist

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	Rangers enjoy their 1 home game with a big win over Bucks County….

New Jersey Black Aces
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	2 games vs Charlotte and Yellowknife

Yellowknife Braves @ New Jersey Black Aces	Lose 3-1 as NJ struggles to score

Charlotte Buzzards @ New Jersey Black Aces	Lose 4-1 again we can’t score

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	0-2

Thunder Bay Nor’Westers
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	Just a single home game against Brentwood this week.

Brentwood Bandits @ Thunder Bay NorWesters	1st Period No Scoring2nd Period Nyquist (11th) Travares (16) 1-1 tie after 40 minutes3rd Period Smith (19th) Eichel (30th) Thunder Bay leads 3-1 Kessel (5th) Gap closed to 3-2 Landeskog (16th) back to a 2 goal lead 4-2 at 18:52 DeBrusk (21) back to a 1 goal lead 4-3 at 19:23 Horvat (9) ties the games and send us to OT Over Time Connor (23rd) Wins the game for Thunder Bay 5-4

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	A very close and hard game – lucky to get the 2 points in that one. Seems like once a week our Rookie Goalie Ilya Samsonov stands out with a 50 save night. He has to be a solid candidate for Rookie of the year.

LA Great Danes
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	Short week for the Great Danes, single home game versus Yellowknife and single road game versus Chicago, as we will influence the Central Division playoff race one way or another.

Yellowknife Braves @ LA Great Danes	Falling behind 1-0, LA takes a 2-1 lead in the 2nd before giving up 3 straight goals to fall behind 4-2. LA pulls within one with 2:41 left and press at the end, but Crawford stops a couple of point-blank scoring chances in the last 20 seconds and the Danes fall short, a 4-3 loss. Three stars are Yellowknife goal scorers, Kuznestov, Aho, and Eberle.

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	New faces after the trade during the break, same old team, same old result. Even new goalie Merzlikins struggles with an .875 save % versus the Braves. Post game goalie rating of 9.2 for Elvis, but 4 GA, a couple from long distance. This team just seems to be cursed.

Yellowknife Braves
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	California and Portland visit Yellowknife

California Regulators @ Yellowknife Braves	The Braves win 5-3 Stars #1 YEL Malkin 1G 2pts #2 YEL Benn 1G #3 YEL Palmieri 1G

Portland Storm @ Yellowknife Braves	Portland takes it 4-3 Stars #1 POR Holtby 60 saves #2 YEL Duclair 2G #3 POR Greenway 1G 2pts

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	Yellowknife splits

Jagr Mullets

Thunder Bay NorWesters @ Jagr Mullets	Ovie scores 22 seconds in, and the Mullets never look back – winning it 5-1. Scoring Summary Per Time Str Team 1 :22 EV JAG Ovechkin (25), unassisted 1 6:14 PP JAG Bergeron (32), assisted by Letang (23) and Tkachuk (28) 1 12:41 PP TBN Nyquist (11), assisted by O’Reilly (23) and Quinn Hughes (29) 2 14:28 EV JAG Giordano (3), assisted by Ovechkin (26) 2 17:25 EV JAG Miller (17), assisted by Bergeron (20) and Markstrom (1) 3 :43 EV JAG Svechnikov (12), assisted by Ristolainen (16) and Matthews (27) Star 1: JAG Markstrom 34 saves Star 2: JAG Ovechkin 1 G, 2 Pts Star 3: JAG Bergeron 1 G, 2 Pts GWG: Patrice Bergeron Notables: TBN Koskinen 34 saves, Jones 6 blocks JAG Markstrom 34 saves, Ristolainen 5 blocks

Gilbert Sharks @ Jagr Mullets	Jagr trails 6-4 going into the 3rd, and scores 3 unanswered goals (including the winner with 21 seconds left) to steal it 7-6. Auston Matthews is in beast mode, scoring 4 goals. Scoring Summary Per Time Str Team 1 3:58 EV GIL MacKinnon (14), assisted by Krug (21) and Panarin (25) 1 6:58 EV GIL Holden (4), assisted by Danault (11) 1 7:31 EV JAG Bergeron (33), assisted by Miller (34) and Tkachuk (29) 1 15:14 EV JAG Bergeron (34), assisted by Ristolainen (17) and Miller (35) 1 19:08 EV GIL Thornton (4), assisted by Kubalik (7) and Makar (15) 2 :56 EV JAG Matthews (29), assisted by Ovechkin (27) and Giordano (24) 2 3:22 EV JAG Matthews (30), assisted by Svechnikov (32) and Ovechkin (28) 2 11:40 EV GIL Tkachuk (8), assisted by Fiala (20) 2 14:42 PP GIL Tkachuk (9), assisted by Makar (16) and Danault (12) 2 15:32 EV GIL Panarin (19), unassisted 3 6:41 PP JAG Svechnikov (13), assisted by Ovechkin (29) 3 16:50 EV JAG Matthews (31), assisted by Ovechkin (30) and Svechnikov (33) 3 19:39 EV JAG Matthews (32), assisted by Ovechkin (31) and Weber (22) Star 1: JAG Matthews 4 G Star 2: JAG Bergeron 2 G Star 3: JAG Svechnikov 1 G, 3 Pts GWG: Auston Matthews Notables: GIL Francouz 43 saves JAG Matthews 4 goals, Matthews 16 faceoffs won, Ovechkin 5 assists, Ovechkin 5 points, Bergeron 17 faceof

California Regulators @ Jagr Mullets	How the tides turn – Mullets lead it 6-5 with less than 10 minutes left, and California gets 2 PP goals in the final minute to steal it 7-6! Buy stock in Alpo, as Jordan Staal with the 5 minute elbowing major at 15:06 will be in the doghouse for awhile… must have been pissed that his brother got a hat trick on the other side. Scoring Summary Per Time Str Team 1 :19 EV JAG Ovechkin (26), assisted by Ristolainen (18) and Letang (24) 1 6:22 EV CAL Reinhart (13), assisted by Nelson (15) 1 9:55 EV CAL Staal (17), unassisted 1 14:36 EV JAG Bergeron (35), assisted by Miller (36) 2 1:05 EV JAG Weber (9), assisted by Duchene (9) and Lindholm (11) 2 7:06 EV CAL Staal (18), assisted by Barzal (19) 2 18:17 EV CAL Staal (19), assisted by Barzal (20) and Kane (28) 3 2:18 EV CAL Huberdeau (23), assisted by Stone (30) and Gaudreau (24) 3 4:54 PP JAG Letang (8), assisted by Tkachuk (30) and Miller (37) 3 7:06 EV JAG Staal (3), assisted by Weber (23) and McGinn (6) 3 10:16 PP JAG Giordano (4), assisted by Svechnikov (34) and Matthews (28) 3 19:08 PP CAL Stone (19), assisted by Huberdeau (36) and Gaudreau (25) 3 19:35 PP CAL Gaudreau (15), unassisted Star 1: CAL Staal 3 G Star 2: CAL Gaudreau 1 G, 3 Pts Star 3: CAL Stone 1 G, 2 Pts GWG: Johnny Gaudreau Notables: CAL Staal hat trick JAG Markstrom 31 saves, Ristolainen 6 blocks

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	Two wins and a loss.

Gilbert Sharks
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	Gilbert has a full slate of 3 Home Games this week versus Portland, Bathgate, and Thunder Bay

Portland Storm @ Gilbert Sharks	Gilbert scores 3 goals (Tkachuk, Burakovsky, Mackinnon) within a 1 minute span early in the 1st period and never looks back. Mackinnon and Zucker score to make it 5-0. Rakell and Dumba score for Portland to cut the lead to 5-2 but Gilbert scores 4 more Goals (Fiala, Mackinnon 3, Hedman, Mackinnon 4) and win 9-2

Bathgate Rangers @ Gilbert Sharks	Veteran Joe Thornton opens the scoring for Gilbert midway through the 1st period, Zibanejad ties the game at 1 but Mackinnon scores to give gilbert a 2-1 lead at the end of the 1st. Pionk ties the game for Bathgate midway through the 2nd but Gilbert gets goals from Panarin and Kubalik to take a 4-2 lead. Zibanejad gets his 2nd to cut the lead to 1 but the only 2 goals of the 3rd period belong to Tkachuk and Fiala to give Gilbert a 6-3 win.

Thunder Bay NorWesters @ Gilbert Sharks	Kubalik scores the 1st two goals and Fiala adds 1 to put Gilbert up 3-0 going into the 3rd period. Thunder bay finally gets on the board with a goal from Parayko but Rask keeps them out the rest of the way while Danault adds an empty netter to give Gilbert a 4-1 win

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	The Gilbert offense explodes for 19 goals in 3 games and Gilbert gets 6 points at home in week 12 to keep pushing the top two in the division.

Alamo Defenders
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	Alamo plays host to Jagr, Bathgate, and Chicago this week.

Jagr Mullets @ Alamo Defenders	The first period is good to Alamo as they get goals from Crosby and Jarnkrok. In the 2nd, Parise puts one in the net. In the 3rd, Ovechkin puts the Mullets on the board. Draisaitl hits an empty netter for his 29th goal. Alamo 4 Jagr 1 1-Crosby 2-Parise 3-Draisaitl

Bathgate Rangers @ Alamo Defenders	This game was not the same type of shoot-out that occurred last time between these teams. The Rangers out-shoot the Defenders, but Alamo takes the game. Alamo got going early with a Draisaitl goal 40 seconds into the game. Then, Bratt strikes his 16th goal. On a power-play goal, Tatar scores for Bathgate to close out the 1st period. In the second period, Chychrun scores for Alamo. In the 3rd, Hinostroza scores on a empty netter to put the game away. Alamo 4 Bathgate 1 Bathgate outshoots Alamo, 39-11. Wow. 1- Stalock 38 saves 2 – Draisaitl 1 goal, 1 assist 3 – Bratt 1 goal, 1 assist

Chicago Cosa Nostra @ Alamo Defenders	This game was dominated by Chicago with Blackwood having an excellent game in goal. Kreider and Wennberg score goals for Chicago in the 1st period. In the 3rd, Pastrnak scores his 36th goal of the season. Khaira helps Alamo avoid a shutout with 1:53 to go. Chicago 3 Alamo 1 1-Pastrnak 2-Wennberg 3-Kreider

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	Alamo takes 2 of 3 in the series. The Defenders defeat Jagr and Bathgate, but lose to Chicago.

Cincinnati Inferno
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	The Cincinnati Inferno continue their chase for the top spot in the Atlantic Division with visits from California and Bucks County.

California Regulators @ Cincinnati Inferno	CINCINNATI 2, CALIFORNIA 0 Connor Hellebuyck registered 19 saves and the Cincinnati defense locked down the Regulators in a 2-0 win. Patrik Laine (12) scored in the first and Cam Atkinson (1) lit the lamp in the third for all the offense in this one. Phillipp Grubauer took an undeserved loss, making 20 stops in the defeat.

Bucks County Raccoons @ Cincinnati Inferno	CINCINNATI 3, BUCKS COUNTY 1 The top two defensive units in the MWHL didn’t disappoint in this one. The game was scoreless going into the third, when Tom Wilson (13) gave the Raccoons the lead. Patrik Laine (13, 14) tied the game 32 seconds later and then gave Cincinnati the lead a few minutes later. Tyler Seguin (3) closed out the scoring late. The shots were even at 19 apiece and the Inferno went one-for-three on the power play, while Buck County was shut out in four tries with the man-advantage. Connor Hellebuyck and Anton Khudobin each stopped 18 shots. Jake Guentzel assisted on all three Cincinnati goals.

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	Cincinnati takes care of business at home with a pair of wins to try to keep pace with Thunder Bay.

Portland Storm
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	The last place Portland Storm (7-29-6) host the Chicago Cosa Nostra (26-17-1) and the New Jersey Black Aces (13-28-1)

Chicago Cosa Nostra @ Portland Storm	Despite having a very frustrating season the Portland Storm has not given up competing and hosts the strong Chicago sqaud. Chicago opens the scoring on a goal from Pastrnak (36) at the 10:03 mark of the first period but the Storm respond a minute later on a goal from Farabee (2) to enter the intermission tied 1-1. After a scoreless second period Portland takes the lead in the third on a goal from Brown (3) and gets an insurance empty netter from Dumba (2) to earn the upset 3-1 win Star #1 -Hutton 32 saves Star #2 – Brwon 1 goal Star #3 – Dumba 1 goal

New Jersey Black Aces @ Portland Storm	Coming off a big win against Chicago, Portland was looking to win consecutive games when the struggling New Jersey Black Aces visited the Rose City. Hutton (3) netted the only goal in the first period for New Jersey but Portland was able to tie the game midway through the second on a goal from Brown (4). 5 minutes later Kadri (4) put the Black Aces up again 2-1 as the two teams entered the second intermission. IN the third period Gaudette (4) netted an unassisted goal to put NJ up 3-1 and thats how the game ended STar #1 – Bobrovsky 28 saves Star #2 – Hutton 1 goal Star #3 – Kadri 1 goal

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	Portland gets an upset win against Chicago but loses to NJ as their inconsistent season continues

Bucks County Raccoons
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	Two games, one against a division leader and the other versus a team struggling to score goals.

Thunder Bay NorWesters @ Bucks County Raccoons	Kyle Connor scored 3 goals (23,24,25) including the game winner in OT as Thunder Bay defeated Bucks County by a score of 5-4. Conner appeared to have netted the game winner with 12 seconds left in regulation, but mysteriously the net was ruled to have been off it’s moorings. TJ Oshie had 2 goals (19,20) early in the game, but the NorWesters, led by 3 assists from Jack Eichel, stayed within shouting distance until Conner tied the game at 4 with 1:38 left in regulation.

New Jersey Black Aces @ Bucks County Raccoons	Still smarting from an OT loss in the previous home game, Bucks County came out of the gates storming with 3 first period goals on the way to a 5-2 victory over the visiting New Jersey Black Aces. TJ Oshie notched a hat trick (goals 21,22,23) and Conner McDavid (5 pts) and Evander Kane (4 pts)also had big games as the top line contributed 4 even strength goals.

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	3 out of 4 possible points but the TBN OT loss still resonates with the Raccoons….

Charlotte Buzzards
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	(This Orchard Park native and transplant in Charlotte says LETS GO BILLS! and LONG LIVE THE BILLS MAFIA!) The Buzzards, while playing an entertaining brand of hockey, are struggling to crack .500 as the second half of the season commences. Its lone home game this week came against a California Regulators team that boasts a much better record.

California Regulators @ Charlotte Buzzards	The host Buzzards salvaged one point in this contest, thanks to an Alex Killorn game-tying goal that came with the Charlotte net pulled and 49 seconds left in regulation. But California and Patrick Kane had the last laugh, as Kane’s hat-trick goal with :58 seconds left in the three-on-three overtime lifted the Regulators to the 5-4 victory. Kane, whose two early second period goals had helped California overcome a 2-1 deficit at the time, notched the game-winner and his final tally on a blast from near the goal line beat Carey Price glove side. Charlotte outshot California 49-24 but its top lines failed to score much against Regulators goalie Phillipp Grubauer, who sizzled with 49 saves. Buzzards fourth line center Colton Sissons scored the first two goals of the contest prior to California rallying. Three Stars Star 1:Kane (hat trick and GWG in OT) Star 2: Sissons 2 G for Charlotte Star 3: Samson Reinhart 1 G and 3 Points Notable: Jay Bouwmeester blocked five shots and further stifled Charlotte’s offense. In overtime, Charlotte failed to get a shot off. Bryan Rust and Jonathan Huberdieu exchanged late second period goals for Charlotte and California respectively, as Huberdeau’s goal gave the Regs a 4-3 lead at the time.

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	Charlotte salvages a point on a late goal but loses the war in its lone home game. Sorry for the late writeup as this long suffering fan got swept up in Bills mania through the week (as per above).

Toledo Walleye
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	Visitors from the East come to banks of the Maumee River to play some hockey with the Walleye. Brentwood, Cincinnati and Charlotte come a knocking.

Brentwood Bandits @ Toledo Walleye	Brentwood 2, Toledo 1 – Vasilevskiy and Binnington shut down business for the first 20 minutes, 22 saves and zero tallies. 2 minor skirmishes, along with 2 good penalty kills by Toledo generate the only excitement. Two happy goaltenders and a bunch of frustrated skaters go to the 1st intermission. All that changes early in the 2nd when Horvat gets a goal in the 2nd minute of play. The Walleye post the equalizer just 2 minutes late when Pettersson takes a nice pass and one-timer into the net. Some back and forth play until just before halftime when Debrusk capitalizes on a breakaway to put the visitors back up. 2nd intermission see it 2-1 visitors. 3rd period sees the Walleye get 3 powerplays in the middle of the period, but the Bandit PK unit is solid and turns all attempts away. With under a minute to go the Walleye put full pressure on with an extra attacker and score the tying goal, only to have it pulled off the board when the video review determine the puck did not cross the line completely. Bummer. 1st star – Vasilevskiy 35 saves 2nd – Debrusk 1G 3rd – Horvat 1G

Cincinnati Inferno @ Toledo Walleye	Inferno 4, Walleye 0 – Hellebuyck comes to town and builds the proverbial wall in front of his goal, turning away 31 shots on way to the shutout. Pretty clean game with one minor skirmish, and 2 successful PK for Toledo. Cincy gets goals from Laine, Pacioretty, Carlson and Guentzel with Carlson ending up a perfect +4, on ice for all 4 goals. 1st star – Hellebuyck 31 saves 2nd – Carlson 1G 3pts 3rd – Laine 1G 2pts

Charlotte Buzzards @ Toledo Walleye	Walleye 4, Buzzards 3 – After getting only 1 goal in 2 games, the Walleye come out red hot, scoring the first 3 goals in the first 23 minutes. Lindell, Barrie lead a back row attack, and Trocheck one for the front liners, putting the home team up 3-0 early in the 2nd. It takes penalties by the fish to open the door for Charlotte as they get back in the game on powerplays, Coleman and Killorn cutting the lead to 1 with 18 minutes left in the contest. The Walleye respond quickly with Anisimov scoring with 16 minutes to go. Walleye are able to stabilize at this score until late in the 3rd when Marner capitalizes on a rebound and its 4-3 with 3 minutes to go. Tense play until 90 seconds to go when the Buzzards pull their goalie and go all in, controlling play and getting a pile of shots on goal, but somehow, I don’t know how, after what seemed like 10 rebound shots, the buzzer sounds and the Walleye escape with the W 1st star – Trocheck 1G 2pts 2nd – Marner 1G 2pts 3rd – Lindell 1G

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	Toledo runs into 2 hot goalies before finding some offense to salvage 2 points this 3 game homestand. We have earned our spot in cellar.

Brentwood Bandits
WEEKLY PREVIEW:	Two home games this week.

Toledo Walleye @ Brentwood Bandits	The Bandits beat Toledo handily 4-1.

Cincinnati Inferno @ Brentwood Bandits	The Inferno come to town and win a very even contest 3-2.

WEEKLY SUMMARY:	Two games, two points. Still wanting to sell… anyone?

Simmed Games: LA 6, Chicago 5.