2021-2022 PLAYER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #14

2nd period opens with the Rangers on a carry-over PP and Panarin scores to make it 4-1. (Panarin was happy as he’s moved to the front line because DKSports apparently doesn’t like Forwards playing the point on PPs – they’ve been informed). So up 4-1, things are looking real good! But then the storm blows in and suddenly the locals find they are in a Norwester. Couturier scores 2 minutes after the Rangers goal – 4-2. Then 10 minutes later, while on a PP, Connor scores and it’s 4-3. But as the period is winding down, the Rangers get a man advantage and Pionk scores with 25 seconds left in the period and the Rangers skate to intermission with a 5-3 lead!

3rd Period opens and the Rangers go on shut down mode – and the NorWesters go on let’s score goals mode and they outshoot the Rangers 10-5 in the 3rd. They control the face-offs. And they control the scoring. DeSmith stops all 5 shots fired at him – and Wood and Connor score for Thunder Bay to tie the game, 5-5! Connor’s goal comes with 7 minutes left and no one could breach the nets in that time frame.

So we go to OT – and the Rangers seemingly have fallen asleep, like they got over confident and then relaxed. In the OT, it’s all Thunder Bay as they fire off 4 SOGs in the first minute plus – and Conner gets the game winner early for his 3rd goal and Hat Trick! And Thunder Bay wins the OT thriller.
STARS
1. TBN – Connor 3 goals
2. TBN – Couturier 1 goal, 1 assist
3. BGR – Panarin 1 goal, 2 assists
Necas and Petry for TBN each had 3 assists!

Zibanejad opens the scoring with a PP goal 9 minutes into the 1st. Scheen then ties it 2 minutes later beating Reimer. Panarin then gets 2 goals, the 1st a PP goal and the Rangers have a 3-1 lead after 1.

Tatar makes it 4-1 2 minutes into the 2nd and less than 2 minutes later, Stutzle gets one for Pittsburgh and it 4-2. But Buchnevich adds another goal for Bathgate and the 2nd period (and game) ends with the score 5-2 Rangers!
STARS: (all BGR)
1. Panarin 2 goals, 1 assist
2. Zibanejad 1 goal, 1 assist
3. Buchnevich 1 goal

Interesting opening period. Quiet for 9 minutes then Guentzel fires one at the Rangers goal that Nedljkovic didn’t see and the Bandits grab the lead 1-0. Then the Rangers Tatar is called for charging at the 11 minute mark and Brentwood goes on the PP. As they come into the zone, Oleksiak clobbers Horvat and Zibanejad gets a breakway – and he beats Vasilevskiy for a SH goal and ties the game and the 1-1 scores stands for the rest of the period.

2nd period and the Bandits get an early advantage as Pastrnak goes off for hooking. As the penalty is winding down, Pavelski has it, but Provorov checks him hard on the boards and the Rangers get it and clear it out as Ryan Strome flips a long saucer pass to Buchnevich – he crosses the line heading for Vasilevskiy, he fires a slap shot and rips it right past Vasilevskiy for the Rangers 2nd SH goal of the game and a 2-1 lead. Then the teams play some tight checking hockey but the offenses still were getting shots in and Nedeljkovic and Vasilevskiy were stopping everything until McCann puts in the rebound off a Pastrnak shot and the Rangers grab a 3-1 lead as the 2nd period ends.

Brentwood comes out in the 3rd determined to reverse things but that plan gets interupted 14 seconds in to the period as Pavelski is nailed for tripping. And while he’s in the box, Pastrnak scores a PP goal giving the Rangers a 4-1 lead. And that how it ends as Nedeljkovic stops 11 more shots in the 3rd and the Rangers win a big one with a defensive effort against the Bandits!
STARS (all BGR):
1. Nedeljkovic 32 saves
2. Pastrnak 1 goal, 1 assist
3. Buchnevich 1 goal

With 16 seconds to go, Sidney Crosby scores to avoid OT. Alamo wins.

Alamo 3 Portland 2

1-Draisaitl
2-Crosby
3-Wheeler 3 assists

In the 3rd, Draisaitl scores for Alamo and Martinez scores for Brentwood. With 1:52 to go, Severson scores his 1st goal of the year. With 55 seconds to go, McAvoy scores a empty netter to secure the win.

Alamo 4 Brentwood 2

1-Mittelstadt
2-Draisaitl
3-McAvoy

Alamo 5 California 0

1-Smith
2-Stamkos
3-Crosby

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 11:41 EV JAG Bergeron (17), assisted by Timmins (1) and Tkachuk (15)
1 18:44 EV JAG Matthews (34), assisted by Svechnikov (30) and Letang (38)
2 5:04 EV JAG Staal (5), unassisted
2 7:11 EV PIT Burns (4), assisted by Sergachev (17) and Stutzle (6)
3 13:09 EV JAG Giordano (5), unassisted
3 18:21 EV PIT Laine (5), assisted by Kotkaniemi (6) and Larsson (4)
3 19:21 EN JAG Tkachuk (9), assisted by Bergeron (23) and Weber (9)

Star 1: JAG Bergeron 1 G, 2 Pts
Star 2: JAG Tkachuk 1 G, 2 Pts
Star 3: JAG Giordano 1 G

GWG: Jordan Staal

Notables: PIT None
JAG Markstrom 34 saves

LA plays a strong 2nd period, with shots 10-5 and chances at 9-1, but the periods ends with the Inferno still up 3-0.

Eary in the 3rd, Tyler Toffoli quickly makes it 4-0, and some boos for Varlamov – first chance of the period and another goal goes in.

The Danes get close on goals by Gourde and Kapanen, and they press at the end with 6 scoring chances in the final minute. But Hellebuyck stops them all, and the Danes go down in defeat by a 4-2 score.

A disappointing loss as Varlamov’s play in net starts to be a concern and as we’ve seen a number of times this year, the Danes dominate play but come up short. In this one LA outshoots Cincy 41-22, outchances them by a whopping 30-9, and win 71% of the face-offs.

But Varlamov’s line reads 4GA / 18 saves / .818 sv %. For the season, his save % has plummeted to .911, as he has given up 25 goals in his last 7 starts and 3+ GA in 6 of those 7.

For Cincinnati, Karlsson and Tuch are the #1/2 stars with 1G-1A each, and Hellebuyck gets the 3rd star with 39 saves.

In the second, it’s again very evenly played, and LA finally gets on the board and ties the game at 1-1 with just 1:17 left in the period on a goal by Chandler Stephenson.

The third period was somewhat wide open with 17 total SOG and 16 scoring chances but no goals, so we head to overtime tied at 1.

In overtime, LA holds a 7-2 shot advantage, although a couple of Draisaitl scoring chances in OT were a source of some nervousness in the arena. But we end OT without a goal, so on to the shootout.

Shesterkin stops Draisaitl and Stamkos, and Barkov and Ehlers beat Mike Smith to end the shootout quickly in 2 rounds.

So the Danes eke out 2 points in the 2-1 shootout win.

Alamo’s Mike Smith with 39 saves earns the first star, and Stamkos get the 2nd star with his goal, while Shesterkin gets the 3rd star with 28 saves, plus the 2 shootout saves.

It was tough, but a needed 2 points for LA after the tough loss to Cincinnati. It was a big week for Alamo, as the point in this one gave them 7 of 8 points for the week. But it still seems to be a two-team race for the Pacific Division title between California and LA.

The arena is pumped up when Mark Scheifele opens the scoring and gives the Danes their first lead of the week. But the lead lasts all of 17 seconds, and when Torey Krug scores on the power play, LA goes to the first intermission trailing for the 3rd straight home game.

After some heated locker room discussions, the Danes come out growling and pounce on the Sharks. Scheifele and Hintz score 37 seconds apart, and the Danes regain the lead 3 1/2 minutes into the period. This time, they don’t give the lead back, and Boeser and Nylander add 2 more goals, and LA has a 5-2 cushion after 2.

The Danes don’t do much in the 3rd and take a couple of penalties. They get outshoot 5-11 in the 3rd but allow only a single scoring chance in the period, so it’s a good effort defensively to close out a 5-2 win over the Sharks.

Mark Scheifele led the way as the #1 star with 2 goals and a few missed chances for a hat trick, Brock Boeser is the #2 star with 1G-1A, while Torey Krug is the 3rd star for Gilbert with 1G-1A.

Goaltending is the topic around town this week – will Shesterkin take over the net for more playing time, or will LA let Varlamov work through his slump?

Igor is now 2.26 GAA and .920 save % on the season compared to .911 and 2.62 for Varly. Ultimately, Varlamov has to be better if LA has any chance for a division title and some playoff success.

2nd period is a lot of defense, only 12 shots on goal total, and no goals. The Braves kill 2 minors and the Walleye kill 1. 2-1 heading to the final period.

Mangiapane with an early goal gives Toledo a little insurance. They control the period with a 12-5 SOG advantage. Another goal by Hoffman with 5 minutes left helps the Walleye avoid any late theatrics and its a comfortable 4-1 win, with a powerful performance by Demko in net.

Final Toledo 4, Yellowknife 1

1st star – Benn 1G
2nd – Robertson 1G
3rd – Hoffman 1G

Toledo turns the table and scores less than a minute into the 2nd period with another Hoffman goal. Chicago gets the upper hand and outshoots the Walleye 16-9, but none of them go in. After all that action the period ends 3-2 Toledo.

3rd period opens with an early goal by Kyrou to tie it at 3. After a little fight between DeBrincat and Muzzin, with everybody back on the ice, the Walleye go back up thanks to a goal by Benn. 5 minutes later its Pageau giving the fish an insurance goal. Things looking good until DeBrincat cuts the lead to 1 with 5 minutes to go. Expecting the late comback, the crowd is relieved when Mangiapane finds an opening and pushed the lead back to 2. Toledo holds off the pulled goalie attack and gets the W.

Final Toledo 6, Chicago 4

1st star – Hoffman 2G 3pts
2nd – Pageau 2G
3rd – Mangiapane 1G 3pts

Aleksander Barkov opened the scoring exactly one minute into the game. After a Zach Whitecloud hook stopped play, the referee called for a penalty shot — which was converted.

Fast forward ahead through 58 minutes of physical play and Nylander collected his empty-netter with just 45 seconds to play to seal the game. David Perron tipped in a shot with 11 seconds remaining to bring the game to the final score of 2-1.

Semyon Varlamove stopped 34 shots to pick up the win, while Cam Talbot re-directed 19 LA shots.

Mrazek is a rock wall in the shootout stopping all the single goal by Palat is enough to get Chicago an extra point in this epic battle.

1st star – Smith 2G
2nd – Palat 1G, 3pts
3rd – Wenneberg 1G 2pts

Final Toledo 4, Chicago 3

1st star – Saad 2G 4pts
2nd – Hoffman 3A
3rd – Barrie 1G 2pts

A deal coming that will help shore up some deficits in the Bandits lineup. Hopefully the new guys buy in to the team philosophy and don’t kill the current chemistry!

Courturier (17) finds the net again in the second period but Dvorak (11) evens the score with 1 second remaining

Entering the third period tied 2-2 Portland’s Granlund (16) gives the Storm the lead 1:14 into the period. Desperate to tie the game the NorWesters pulled their goalie with 2 minutes remaining and it worked as Connor (19) scores with 1:18 remaining. Not finished Thunder Bay’s Landeskog (18) gets the win as he scores with 28 seconds left

Star #1 – Couturier 2 goals
Star #2 – Connor 1 goal
Star #3 – Landeskog 1 goal
–
Thunder Bay outshoots Portland 42-17 but Bennington manages 38 saves in the loss

Star #1 – Allen 27 saves
Star #2 – Killorn 1 goal
Star #3 – Marchand (30)

In as lopsided a statistical reversal you can get in this DKS game, the Mullets outshot the Buzzards 47-13 but were thwarted by Charlotte goalie Chris Driedger’s 44 saves. THE MOST STARTLING STATISTIC YOU WILL EVER COME ACROSS: After the Buzzards scored four goals from different players in the first (capped off by Alex Pietrangelo’s goal 16:04 into the period) they only managed two shots the entire rest of the game. Charlotte went into an obvious shell leading 4-2 and a goal by Jagr’s Elias Lindholm with 53 seconds left in the third made the result closer.

Three stars, all Charlotte:
1. Pietrangelo 1 G 2 points
2. Mikael Backlund, 1 G 2 Points
3. Driedger, 44 saves

The crushing blow for the Buzzards came with 41 seconds in the second when a Dustin Brown goal put the Inferno ahead for good 2-1.

Three stars (all Cincy):
1. Point 2 G
2. Hellebuyck 30 saves
3. Brown 1 GWG