2021-2022 PLAYER & GOALIE OF THE WEEK #17

Final Score: Bucks County 5 – Chicago 2

Labatts 3-Star Selection:

Star 1: BCR – Connor McDavid 2G, 3Pts
Star 2: BCR – Dylan Strome 1G, 2Pts
Star 3: BCR – Timo Meier 1G, 2Pts

Game Winner: – Timo Meier

Notables:
BCR – Jack Campbell 21 Saves, Jonothan Merrill 6 Block Shots
CHI – None

STARS
1. BGR – Panarin 3 goals
2. JAG – Kaprizov 2 goals
3. BGR – Hertl 1 goal, 1 assist

2nd period – different story. Rangers take far fewer SOG – 8 – but they get 3 of them past Vasilevskiy! The first came on a delayed penalty to Oshie as Pastrnak fires and Tavares score on a nice deflection. The 50 seconds later they reverse things as Pastrnak scores on a setup from Tavares. Breadman was a huge help both times! Then as the period was nearing a close Donskoi scores making it 3-0 Rangers after 2.

BUT – we are playing the Bandits and they come back in attempts to steal the game. 3rd period starts and Martinez gets the Bandits on the board quickly with a goal 3 1/2 minutes in. Then at the halfway point, Pavelski scores and it’s now a 1 goal game with the Rangers up 3-2. Inside the final two minutes – and Donskoi scores his 2nd of the game to give Bathgate some breathing run, 4-2. Vasilevskiy’s day is done and while he’s off, Donskoi puts it in the net for an EN goal and a natural hat-trick, and a 5-2 win!

Rangers are thrilled to see this – will await the road results.
STARS (all BGR)
1. Donskoi 3 goals
2. Pastrnak 1 goal 1 assist
3. Tavares 1 goal, 1 assist

First period the teams are both tentative. Each team with just one penalty, and both are killed off. Goalies are perfect. No score after 1.

2nd period Chicago breaks the stalemate, taking advantage of a penalty by Keith, and Chabot scores just before halftime. Toledo mixes up the offensive strategy and it pays off near the end of the period, Benn celebrating his return to the starting lineup with his 8th goal of the season. Walleye kill off one more minor at the end, and we are tied 1-1 going to the 3rd.

A Wenneberg minor at the midway point of the 3rd sets up the Walleye. Saad comes through with the tie breaking goal to make it 2-1. A Walleye penalty just minutes later gives Chicago an opening, but the Fish frustrate the visitors and hold the advantage. Toledo survives the last minute goalie pulled barrage and escape with the win.

Final Toledo 2, Chicago 1

1st star – Demko 29 saves
2nd – Benn 1G
3rd – Saad 1G

2nd period is all Toledo. An early goal by Cernak, and 2 late goals by Robertson and Hoffman, sandwich a PK by the same Fish. The 19-8 SOG advantage mirrors the 3-0 period. Its 4-1 Toledo going to the final period.

3rd period sees the Braves cut the lead to 2 early, with another goal by Skjei. Toledo is able to play defensive minded most the period and frustrate the Brave comeback attempt. The goal by Kempe with 5 minutes to go seals the deal.

Final Toledo 5, Yellowknife 2

1st star – Skjei 2G
2nd star – Robertson 1G
3rd – Cernak 1G

1 2 3 F
2021-22 Pittsburgh 17-41-0-5 3 0 0 3
2021-22 Jagr 40-18-0-4 2 2 2 6

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
1 3:08 EV PIT Stutzle (5), assisted by Cirelli (3) and Labanc (8)
1 6:16 EV PIT Schenn (6), assisted by Hague (11) and Kadri (16)
1 11:25 EV JAG McGinn (1), assisted by Tanev (1) and Carter (2)
1 11:51 EV PIT Schenn (7), assisted by Nugent-Hopkins (2)
1 12:16 EV JAG Staal (7), assisted by Tkachuk (18) and Miller (28)
2 5:29 PP JAG Matthews (44), assisted by Kaprizov (29) and Ovechkin (14)
2 10:10 EV JAG Miller (11), assisted by Marino (5) and Tkachuk (19)
3 9:24 EV JAG Bergeron (21), assisted by Letang (46)
3 18:52 EN JAG Bergeron (22), assisted by Letang (47) and Giordano (7)

Star 1: JAG Bergeron 2 G
Star 2: PIT Schenn 2 G
Star 3: JAG Matthews 1 G

GWG: J.T. Miller

Notables: PIT Hanifin 5 blocks, Kahkonen 31 saves
JAG Bergeron 19 faceoffs won, Matthews 17 faceoffs won

In the 2nd, the Sharks get a shorthanded goal by Fox, and Crosby once again ties the game.

In the 3rd, the Defenders go on a roll with 3 straight goals by Glendening, Stamkos and Crosby again, which gives Sidney a hat trick. The Sharks fight back with 2 late goals by Zuccarello and Tkachuk.

Alamo 5 Gilbert 4

1-Crosby
2-Draisaitl
3-MacKinnon

California 4 Alamo 1

1-Huberdeau
2-Grubauer
3-Subban

Tyler Toffoli netted a pair of goals and Dustin Brown and Max Pacioretty each added goals in Cincinnati’s 4-1 win over Thunder Bay. Reilly Smith had the goal for the NorWesters.

Casey DeSmith stopped 23 shots in a losing cause and Connor Hellebuyck turned away 22 shots in earning his 28th win of the season.

Victor Olofsson had a goal and an assist in the 5-3 Portland win over Cincinnati.

Jake Oettinger was sensational in goal, turning away 33 shots in the upset win. Connor Hellebuyck was dreadful in goal, stopping 15 shots.

Oshie scores the first two goals (40, 41)… did I mention he was a great pickup? Kaprizov (31) scores to make it 2-1… Pavelski (37) scores to take a 3-1 lead after the 1st.

No scoring in the 2nd.

3rd Period Jagr never gets into a groove as Guentzel (27 PP) and Bellemare (7) score to make it look a lot worse than it was, 5-1.

Final score: Miners 2, Mullets 1

Ladies and Gentlemen Elvis hasssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss just left the building.

But less than a minute after Draisaitl’s 3rd goal, Aleksander Barkov delivers a quick PPG for LA to cut the lead to one, and later in the period, William Nylander ties it up. So the game is even at 3-3 heading to the final period.

OT looks probable until Barkov nets his second goal of the game with just 2:19 left, on the power play. But Varlamov and LA cannot hold the lead as Mittelstadt ties the game at 4 with 1:40 left on a deflection. But there’s another goal to come, and the Danes get it from William Nylander with 47 seconds left, his 2nd of the game. And the Danes hold on in the final seconds to claim a 5-4 home victory.

Draisaitl with the 3 goals is the #1 star, while Barkov and Nylander are the other stars with 2G each. And Mark Scheifele also had a big night with 4 assists, as the Scheifele-Barkov-Nylander line came up big with Roope Hintz out of the lineup.

Thunder Bay outshoots Portland 47-18 in the win

Portland dominates all aspects of the game except scoring as Allen turns away 34 shots in the shutout

Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, however, there were two home games to be played this week, versus division rivals Portland and the Cincinnati Inferno.

Marner had a hand in three of the goals (one goal two assists) and he scored with 4:04 to play in the second period that gave the Buzzards a 3-1 lead that proved to be the game-winner. Portland responded with a goal a minute later, off the stick of Jesse Puljujarvi, but Chris Driedger was solid in nets for Charlotte (25 saves), and kept the Storm in check the rest of the night. A Carter Verhaeghe Charlotte goal with 6:48 remaining in the third gave the Buzzards the comfortable two-goal cushion and closed the scoring. Mikael Backlund accounted for Portland’s other goal in the first period.

Mysterious stat of the night: “Myers” had eight blocks for the night but it’s impossible to ascertain which Myers it is. It could be Phillippe or it could be Tyler but both are part of Charlotte’s third defensive pairing and each have a defensive rating of 6.3. With that identical rating, it is virtually impossible to confirm from the stat sheets which player it could be, or which player the lineup generator assigned to kill penalties.

Three stars: (all Charlotte)
1. Marner 1 G, 2 Pts
2. Mikael Backlund 1 G, 2 Pts
3. Verhaeghe 1 G

The Buzzards have failed to score as many as three goals against Hellebuyck, their nemesis in at least four of those losses. Going through the list, Charlotte also lost to Hellebuyck and the Inferno 3-1 on February 7, 4-2 on February 12, and in a 3-2 shootout loss on February 17 there was also a fifth loss on the road this week per John’s writeup.

Alex Tuch’s second period-goal, on the power,play, gave Cincinnati the goal that lifted it to a 2-1 lead and proved to be the game-winner, with 6:55 to play in the third.

Three stars:
1. Hellebuyck
2. Nosek 1 G
3. Max Pacioretty 1 G