An Underwhelming Start to the Season
Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog — Two games in and the Avalanche are snake bitten with an 0-2 record after losses to Edmonton and Boston. Not exactly the start we were all hoping for but exactly the start many pundits expected. And boy do I hate when pundits are proved right. Especially after saying they were wrong. ...

Thursday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Pens
Japers' Rink — [image] [ NHL.com Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview ] Hey, it's the Penguins. Killer. I could make a crack about Sidney Crosby 's 41-point pace . Or comment on how horrid their power play has been through four games. Or how Marc-Andre Fleury has already seen far more rubber than any other goalie in the League. But these are the Penguins. You know who they really are (hint: who you think they are , of course) and what they can do, especially when they are, um, due. And while it's hard to make much of anything of early numbers (a wise man noted that we don't know anything about anything ), a few early data ...

Where's your crown King Wellwood?
Waiting For Stanley — It's no secret that I have been a Wellwood fan since he first played for the Leafs. It's great to see a story like this where he has been blasted for his lack of fitness, becomes unwanted through waivers, then becomes needed because of a Demitra injury, and then performs as well as he has. That's 3 points in 2 games. That would be the game-winning goal he scored last night. Was that a pretty goal or what? What patience he has with the puck. His talent is undenied. The Canucks have found themselves a power play specialist. Another thing that I like about Wellwood is that he'll chase the puck in the corner knowing he is going to get hit, but rather than turn the puck over, he ...

Saturday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Sabres
Japers' Rink — [image] [ AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview ] When Alex Ovechkin misses games, nearly everyone misses him. The Caps miss his offense and his leadership. Those watching miss the chance to see perhaps the greatest player in the game. And, in Buffalo, fans miss the chance to jeer one of their favorite villains (too bad Puck Daddy didn't ask Alex Semin what he thought of Thomas Vanek , eh?). But missed the Great Eight will be tonight when the Caps take on the Sabres, and that's unfortunate - the Caps sure could use him. Buffalo comes into the game at 6-2-2 (but losers of three straight) and should be salty after an embarrassing 5-2 home loss to the ...

Tuesday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Sens
Japers' Rink — [image] [ AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview ] A week ago today, we mentioned that Alex Ovechkin 's two-game absence from the Caps lineup presented opportunity aplenty for both the Caps and AO. Some players took advantage (at least for one night). Others did not . Now we'll see if the Great Eight can himself make the most of the opportunity to once again show everyone in the League why he is the reigning MVP and get his game, and more imporantly the Caps season (too dramatic?), back on track. And what better team for Ovechkin to face in this effort than the Ottawa Senators, a squad he positively torched last season to the tune of six ...

Thursday Roundup/Gamenight: 'Canes @ Caps
Japers' Rink — [image] [ AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview ] Ah, the Southeast Division. If the Caps were in the Atlantic and facing the division leader tonight, a loss would drop them to eleven points out of first place. In the Pacific, a similar hypothetical would find them an even dozen points out of the top spot. In the Northeast, another loss would have the Caps sitting in the division's basement. But not in the Southeast, baby. With a loss tonight, the Caps would be a half-dozen points out of first place, and with a win? Second place, just one win out of first. For all the mediocrity we're seen out of the Caps so far this year - an MVP scoring champ who can't score, a ...

Monday Roundup/Gamenight: Bolts @ Capslightn
Japers' Rink — [image] [ AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview ] It's hard to recall a game in which the starting netminder match-up was of as much interest to Caps fans as tonight's tilt between the Bolts and the host Capitals. For the locals, the question of who the number one goalie is hasn't been as unclear as it is currently since, well, the guy who will likely be between the pipes at the other end of the ice tonight lost his last job, and it makes for a somewhat difficult decision for head coach Bruce Boudreau - if he starts Brent Johnson , it will be four straight starts for B.J. with a likely tougher opponent (Carolina on the road) looming on Wednesday night before a ...

Friday Roundup/Gamenight: Devils @ Caps
Japers' Rink — [image] [ AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview ] Uh oh. Here come the Devils and... Scott Clemmensen ? Perhaps Lou Lamoriello went to Brent Sutter and said, "Give this start to Clemmensen. I want reliable people, people who aren't going to be carried away. After all we're not murderers in spite of what this undertaker thinks." Or not. If you're not familiar with Clemmensen, here's a look at the 31-year-old's career stats (he has actually played in three games against the Caps, starting two, and going 1-1-0/2.61/.893). If you're not familiar with why Kevin Weekes isn't starting, here's a look at his stats on the season (plus, the two ...

Canucks' D a bit banged up and sick heading into Pittsburgh
Waiting For Stanley — ... and race up the ice the other way. Deadly offensive weapons. We can't match up to the Pens in a wide open tilt IMO. -Surprisingly, the Canucks and Penguins have the same goals-per-game average of 3.10. -The Canucks have the edge on the Pens in goals against per game and sit at 4th best in the NHL. Luongo's shutout streak didn't hurt that! -The Canucks are 2nd best in the NHL 5-on-5 (Boston is first) while the Penguins are 8th best. -I thought the Penguins' power play would be better this year, but it sits at 14th, while the Canucks are 18th. ...

Going to the Red Wings game!
Waiting For Stanley — ... A parade to the penalty box for the Canucks could spell impending doom. The Wings are tops in the NHL at a 32.9% accuracy. The Canucks are 17th. Both teams are about equal as far as penalty killing goes and are in the middle of the NHL pack. ...

Special Teams Trends
Japers' Rink — ... The Caps' power play has been red-hot of late, with goals in eight straight and a 34.4% efficiency over that span to jump up to seventh in the League overall. ...

Saturday Roundup - Caps 3, Habs 0 - Gamenight: Caps @ Jackets
Japers' Rink — ... Despite an improved offense, however, the Jackets are dead last in the League with a woeful power play that's only scoring on 10.2% of its chances. And despite a young stud goaltender, the team is ...

Canes Powerplay Needs a Jolt
Canes Country — Canes Powerplay Needs a Jolt The Hurricanes have struggled mightily while on the powerplay in recent games and no one seems to have answers on how to fix it. Results in their past seven games could be considered worse than an exercise in futility as they have scored just one time in the past 30 attempts. Their ineptitude has dropped the Canes to a ranking of 28th in league , (13.4%). One of the reasons Carolina invested in puck-moving defensemen was to help them to finesse the puck into the offensive zone, but instead of carrying the puck in while attacking on the powerplay, most times the team seems happy to dump the puck and chase it. The opposition has anticipated this ...

Tuesday Roundup - Gamenight: Cats @ Caps
Japers' Rink — ... the Caps last welcomed the Florida Panthers to the VC, the hosts had a simple goal in mind. The stakes aren't quite as high this time around, of course, but the points in December count the same as the points in April (and are often easier to come by), and there are two out there for the taking tonight. Sure, Craig "The Ogler" Anderson is on fire of late, but the Panthers - who couldn't score to begin with (thanks, in part, to a putrid power play) - are without two of their top three scorers in David Booth ...

Meetup Day Baseball Standings
The Battle of Alberta — Hitchcock is a terrific coach, and Nash's time has come, and guess what: the BJs are a good team. Not "they may have a chance at a playoff spot" good; more like, "they're in without some awful luck -- the real question is how high they finish". They've been excellent 5v5 and it's not because of hot shooting or goaltending; it's because they're dominating possession and outshooting. Their special teams have been astoundingly awful -- PP plus PK is presently 88.4% -- which in the rearview mirror is good (for them); there is literally nowhere to go but up, and most likely quite a ways up. I know that seems a bit off topic, ...

Canucks have to take down the Wild tonight
Waiting For Stanley — ...not only because they can retake possession of first spot in the Northwest Division, but also because he longer this losing streak goes the harder it is on player and team chemistry and morale. I'm not feeling overly confident in the Canucks' abilities to play a tight 60 minutes at this point. I'm also not overly confident in the abilities of Sanford or Schneider. Both have played well, there is no doubt, but they need to steal a game at some point. And to continue the broken record.... the players in front of them need to tighten up defensively. 5 goals scored against the Wings is great, but not when you allow 6 against. -The Wild are coming off a 4-0 win over the ...

On the road again, without ammo
Lighthouse Hockey — ... Thank goodness the Islanders power play has been almost average (where would it be without Mark Streit?!): the Islanders are currently the ...

Saturday Roundup - Gameday: Caps @ Flyers
Japers' Rink — ... their ability to deliver the carnage and mayhem of yore. So yeah, we circled this one back in July, and it's good to see that Bruce Boudreau isn't even trying to pretend "it's just another game" - it's a biggie. The Flyers come into the game with an impressive 10-4-3 home record (and an even more impressive 8-0-2 mark in their last ten at the Bank du Jour Center), and are scoring bushels of goals, thanks to the League's third-best power play (which has been 35.7% successful at home) and a League-leading twelve ...

Canucks have to put aside distraction and beat the Hawks tonight
Waiting For Stanley — ... -the Hawks have also won 7 of their last 8 and gained at least a point in 8 straight -they have 11 power play goals in the past 8 games (now 4th best in the NHL ). They have only allowed 3 power play goals against in those games. And you wonder why they're rolling... -Patrick Kane: 15 goals and 38 points in 30 games. ...

Monday Roundup
Japers' Rink — ... by that is that a team that is exceptional five-on-five and good on both special teams should have a pretty good record. If not, they're underachieving. By the same token, a team that is lousy on special teams and bad five-on-five but somehow has managed a .500 record is overavchieving. In both cases, the likelihood of a regression to their expected points percentage would be likely, all else equal. Jumping right into it, we'll ranks the 30 teams in five-on-five ratio, power play percentage and penalty kill percentage, add 'em up, and spit out a cumulative ...

Tuesday Roundup - Gamenight: Caps @ Rangers
Japers' Rink — [AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview] The cards, it would see, are stacked against the Caps tonight. They're playing in a building in which they haven't won since before the lockout (0-5-1), they have nearly half their payroll out of the lineup with injuries and the penalty kill is in a bit of a free-fall, allowing five goals in 15 times shorthanded over the last three games. On the plus side, the Rangers can't score on the power play (or in any situation, for that matter), and are overachieving thanks to ...

We should be able to beat a slumping Senators team, right?
Waiting For Stanley — The Senators have lost the first 2 games of their season-high 8-game road trip, a 6-3 loss to Calgary last night and a 6-4 loss to Flyers on the 23rd. Ottawa has not won a game on the road in 11 games now (0-9-2). However the Canucks have lost 3 of their last 4 games and are taking a lot of penalties in the process. -Ottawa is 29th overall in goals per game ...

The "Models of Inconsistency" return home to dance with the Stars tonight
Waiting For Stanley — Both the Stars and Canucks are coming off disappointing losses. The Stars played catch up against the Oilers last night but failed 4-1. Coach Dave Tippett called it a "slap in the face to his team." He singled out Marty Turco for letting in 2 soft goals. When the Canucks lost 2-1 in a shootout to the Thrashers a couple nights ago, he called out Wellwood, Raymond and Bernier for lack of production. There is no problems with the Sedins right now. From Canucks.com: Daniel Sedin, who leads Vancouver with 19 goals and 41 points, had a goal and two assists against Atlanta, and has two goals and four assists over the last four games. Henrik Sedin, who registered two goals and an assist on Friday, ...

Tuesday Roundup - Gamenight: Flyers @ Caps
Japers' Rink — ... his club, something he hasn't gotten every night in recent weeks, despite the sparkling 13-2-0 record over the past month and two days. As for the game itself, the Flyers come in banged up (cry us a river), and are making their last stop on a six-game road trip that has swung them out west and seen them go 2-2-1 so far. The offense has dried up a little (scoring just ten goals in their last five games), but they're still near the top in goals per game and power play efficiency, despite going 1-for-15 so far on the current trip. The goaltending ...

Friday Roundup - Gamenight: Jackets @ Caps
Japers' Rink — ... (he's also the only double-digit goal-scorer C'bus will have in uniform). Columbus has the worst power play in the League, firing at a putrid 10.2%, and have given up half as many shorthanded goals (nine) as they've scored on the power play (18). ...

Trying to stay positive about the Canucks (5 stages)
Waiting For Stanley — I had a great sleep last night and have completely calmed down after the disheartening 6-4 loss to the Blues last night, and I have come to the following conclusions: 1. Sundin is going to be taking a lot of heat in this city and world-wide not only until he gets his game back, but also when the team wins at a more consistent level. It looks as though it's going to take him several games to compete at that level. Patience is required here. He was mostly to blame for 2 of the Blues' goals because of a lousy line change and an unfortunate slashing penalty. Had the Blues defenders' stick not broken, Sundin was playing at a level where he could have either scored or set up the ...

Saturday Roundup - Gamenight: Bruins @ Caps
Japers' Rink — ... Sergei Fedorov, Tomas Fleischmann, Jeff Schultz and John Erskine, among others), while the Bruins have been bitten by the injury bug (losing Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel, Milan "I Love" Lucic in the interim). But the juggernaut that is the 2008-09 Boston Bruins seemingly cannot be stopped. They're second in the League in goals per game and first in goals against average. They're killing it on the power play, penalty kill and five-on-five, and haven't lost on the road since... ...

Streit's assist keys East All-Star win
Lighthouse Hockey — ... Typical modesty from Streit. Deep inside I suspect he knows he's a difference-maker. The Canadiens are still converting at just 16.1%, good for 24th in the league. ...

Friday Roundup - Feds Raising Interest Rate
Japers' Rink — ... of the coin - Fedorov on the power play - is nearly as interesting. Tuesday night in Boston, Feds had a season-high 6:37 of power-play time... and the unit was 0-for-6 (and Sergei wasn't on the ice for the Mike Green pseudo-PP goal). In fact, in the five games in which Fedorov has had more than 5:30 of power-play ice time (an average of 6:20 per game), the team's extra man unit has gone 2-for-24 (8.3%), and overall the team's power play is 26.2% effective (which would be second-best in the League) when Fedorov doesn't play and 17.9% successful when he suits up. Once ...

Islanders drop bonus point to Kings
Lighthouse Hockey — ... The Islanders blueline is getting by alright without All-Star Game rep Mark Streit. The Islanders powerplay, however, is going through downright Montreal-like withdrawals without him. Doug Weight paired with Chris Campoli (who I must confess has never wowed me on the power play) just isn't the same. Kyle Okposo (albeit out of position) actually looked better there. ...

Suddenly hot Canucks look to beat Desert Dogs
Nucks Misconduct — ... them 1 point away from 8th spot Vancouver.  A loss by Vancouver in regulation means they will fall to 9th spot as the Oilers have more wins. So it's going to be a playoff-like game. For a team that has the same amount of wins as us, the Coyotes suck in most of the significant categories:   They rank 20th or worse in the following categories: Goals per game: 25th Goals against per game: 21st 5 on 5: 28th Power Play efficiency: 29th PK efficiency: 21st Shots per game: ...

Pittsburgh Penguins Head Coach: Dan Bylsma
Hockey From the Cheap Seats —

Game Day - Avs @ Caps
Japers' Rink — [AP Preview - WashingtonCaps.com Preview] If you're searching for the Colorado Avalanche in the League standings tables, you may want to save yourself some time and start looking from the bottom up. Injuries, mediocre goaltending and a lack of scoring depth have conspired to have the Avs possibly headed for their first losing season since moving to Denver. Their power play has been bad, their penalty kill worse, and they've been terrible at five-aside as well. They've been decent at home, but ...

Game Day - Hurricanes @ Capitals
Japers' Rink — ... ten games). It's not quite the three head-to-heads in four games the two teams had back in late January of 2007, but it's still more than enough time for these pseudo-rivals to get plenty reacquainted. How are our old buddies from N.C. doing these days? Well, they're fighting for their playoff lives, and not doing a great job of it. They're in the bottom half of the League in goals per game and goals against average, five-on-five ratio, power play percentage and penalty kill, and have lost to Ottawa and ...

The Return of Buttercup: Canucks/Wild Game Thread
Nucks Misconduct — ... Make no mistake though, this should be the same old dog fight we've come to expect when these two teams clash; this is a Lemaire team after all and they don't go down easily (that's what she said). The Wild sport the 10th best PP and the ...

Game Day - Capitals @ Predators
Japers' Rink — ... , and while their power play hasn't been over the course of the season, the Caps PK has allowed thirteen goals over the past eleven games, which must have Shea Weber licking his chops. ...

Canucks vs Ducks (Uh-oh, not another game against a non-playoff team)
Nucks Misconduct — ... are worth a look..no goals, 2 assists and 24 shots in his last 21 games. Does Woody have any finish left in him? Keep in mind that Mattias Ohlund only needs 1 more point to break the Canucks' points record by a defenceman. COMPARATIVE STATS -The Canucks have scored more goals per game on average than the Ducks. -The Canucks have allowed fewer goals per game than Anaheim. -Vancouver is also: better 5 on 5, a fair bit worse on the power play, barely worse at killing penalties, get less ...

For Those Defensemen About To Shoot, We Salute You
Japers' Rink — ... And only eight of his 25 goals on the season have come at ES.  I wanted to isolate ES play, especially since the effectiveness of the team's PP, at 24.6% and 2nd in the league, leaves far less room for improvement.  Taking the one D who spends the most time patrolling a PP point position, ...

The Caps And Penalty Plus-Minus
Japers' Rink — ... ), and that the team's lethal power play isn't making opponents pay as often as it could, because the Caps are in ...

Canucks-Blackhawks preview: Blowout or Classic?
Nucks Misconduct — ... I probably shouldn't say this, but the Hawks are better than the Canucks in almost every statistical team category. See for yourself here at NHL.com. ...

Recap - Capitals 4, Thrashers 2
Japers' Rink — ... The penalty killers did a great job against a decent power play, allowing just six shots (and, more importantly, zero goals) in 10:47 of shorthanded time, of which David Steckel played a whopping 6:52. ...

Capitals/Rangers: Opening Thoughts
Japers' Rink — ... , but... they'll be facing a Rangers power-play that was the second-worst in the NHL this season, is only 4-for-48 since March 16 (and 13.5% under John Tortorella). Throw in the fact that the Caps successfully killed 54 of 63 (85.7%) penalties in their last 16 games (and that New York has allowed ...

Playoff Teams vs. Non-Playoff Teams
IllegalCurve.com — As the 2009 NHL Playoffs is set to begin tonight, today’s Numbers Game looks at the statistical comparison between teams that qualified for the playoffs and those that did not. As expected, playoff teams scored, on average, 0.24 more goals/game in the East and 0.46 more goals/game in the West.  Playoff teams also had better goals against averages, higher power play and penalty kill percentages, and took more shots per game. Of note, the Rangers, who finished with the 2nd worst G/g in the East (2.44 G/g) and the worst powerplay in the league (13.9%), were well below both the Playoff team and non-playoff team averages. However, those numbers were offset ...

Breaking Down Two Breakdowns
Japers' Rink — ... In the span of 1:39 during Wednesday night's second period, the New York Rangers scored as many power-play goals - two - as they had in the last seven games of the regular season. How did the worst extra man unit in the Eastern Conference manage that feat? Let's take a look. ...

Pre-Game: Capitals vs Rangers Game 7
"Simply Sensational!" Washington Capitals Hockey Blog — After the Capitals battled back from a two game deficit (twice), the stage is set for a 7th game. The scenario is perfect for Washington, a little too perfect. The favorite falls flat on their face in the first two games, then suddenly turns it on to force a Game 7 at home with a hot new goalie and rejuvenated offense. Will the Capitals be able to keep Uncle Mo or will Henrik Lundqvist be able to lift the Rangers to the second round? For this pre-game, I'm going to look at two posts I've done in the past that contain keys for the Caps to pull this one out. With the Capitals down two games to zero, I wrote an article, Far From Over, in which I looked ...

Eulogy: Remembering the 2008-09 New York Rangers
Puck Daddy — (Ed. Note: As the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue, we're bound to lose some friends along the journey. Gone but not forgotten, we've asked for these losers to be eulogized by the people who knew the teams best: The fans who hated them the most. Here is Washington Capitals blogger J.P. from Japers' Rink fondly recalling the New York Rangers.) By J.P. from Japers' Rink Friends, we gather today as we have 68 times over the last 69 years, to mourn yet another spring without a Stanley Cup championship for our beloved New York Rangers, victims this season of death by asphyxiation; for ...

2008-09 Rink Wrap: Mike Green
Japers' Rink — ... Green quarterbacked the Caps' to the League's second-best power play, the best in franchise history (though, interestingly, the PP was 25.18% efficient with Green in the lineup and 25.45% effective without him), was ...

2008-09 Rink Wrap: Alexander Semin
Japers' Rink — ... The Caps' power play finished as second-most productive in the league, and Semin was largely responsible for that production.  He was third in PP TOI/60 behind Ovechkin and Mike Green, and second in PP PTS/60 only to Nicklas Backstrom.  Having Semin as a shooting option was indispensible to such profilic scoring with the extra man this season.  Even if his PP goal total dropped slightly from 2007-08 (10) to 2008-09 (8), his season PP points total increased 50%, from 20 to 30.     ...

Knubleve It? Mike's a Cap
Japers' Rink — ... A power-play presence. Did the League's second-ranked power-play really need a shot in the arm? As long as 25.2% is still less than 100%, yes, and Knuble has been a force with the extra man, finishing tenth among NHL forwards in ...

Recap: Flyers 6, Caps 5 (OT)
Japers' Rink — ... The Caps balanced their brand of explosive offense (five goals against a team that had yielded just two in their first two games of the season) with their brand of poor discipline (nine minors against the team with the sixth-best power play of a year ago) and came away with a point in a tough barn. But if there's such thing as a good loss, this wasn't it, as Saturday night's third-period stumble turned into something a bit more disconcerting in tonight's middle stanza, with whispers gaining volume regarding the youngster between the pipes. ...