This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the League
It was a busy Thursday night with 10 games, seven of which were cross-conference. The Eastern Conference took five of those matchups with the two Alberta teams going 0-for-2. How typical.
- The Oilers (4-8-1) were playing so well when they dragged themselves to a .500 record, but have now dropped four straight with a 5-2 loss to Boston (9-6-0). Mark Arcobello gave the Oil a 2-1 lead early in the third period, but a furious three-goal flurry in 2:34 – courtesy Dougie Hamilton and his three points – gave the Bruins the win. Zdeno Chara remains sidelined, but holy hell is Hamilton really stepping up. The 21-year-old righty defenseman is having a breakout season after being selected ninth overall in 2011 by the Bruins and now has five points in his past four games. Need I remind you that this kid scored 113 points in just 82 games in his final two years of major junior hockey? Loui Eriksson posted his second multi-point game of the season and is seeing his ice-time creep back up to the 18-minute range. The Oilers haven't beaten the Bruins since 2000, when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was seven years old and the first X-Men movie was released. Oy, vey.
- Just when you thought Steve Mason (2-4-1, 2.88 GAA, .911 Sv%) was done in Philly (6-5-2), he posted his second straight win, a 4-1 triumph over the Cats (4-3-4). He has allowed just one goal in each of his past two starts and stopped 69 of 71 shots. Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek continued their insanely hot start with one point each while Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn collected two apiece. Michael Del Zotto scored his first of the season, which was undoubtedly followed by a string of texts to Lisa Ann assuring that he's truly a stud NHLer. Nick Bjugstad, one of Florida's big pieces for the future (quite literally, considering he's 6-foot-6), notched his first of the season on a juicy rebound with the man advantage to spoil Mason's shutout bid.
- Craig Anderson (4-2-1, 1.84 GAA, .948 Sv%) made 35 saves in a chippy game as the Sens (7-3-2) shut out the Wild (7-5-0) to remain as the only team in the league to not suffer a regulation loss at home. Losing Zach Parise (concussion) long-term will make matters even worse for the suddenly struggling Wild. Clarke MacArthur scored the game-winner early in the second while Mike Hoffman (drafted 130th overall by Ottawa in '09) added two goals to seal the win. The Sens score by committee and Hoffman looks like he'll be a steady contributor. After scoring 67 points in 51 games for the Baby Sens in the AHL last year, the speedy Hoffman now has four points in nine games in the NHL. Curtis Lazar, who is expected to stay with the Sens for the foreseeable future, notched his fourth assist of the season.
- The Flames (8-5-2) just couldn't get their bodies in front of Tampa's shooters as the Lightning (9-3-1) rolled to a 5-2 win and move to the top of the Atlantic Division. Led by Cedric Paquette's two goals, the Flames just couldn't match the Lightning's depth. Tyler Johnson, Brian Boyle and Swiss army knife Valtteri Filppula also added goals, showing that they don't always need super sniper Steven Stamkos to score every night to win. Ben Bishop stopped 29 shots and is now 8-1-1 on the season (2.41 GAA, .914 Sv%). On the bright side, Sean Monahan now has three goals in four games after a slow start to the season.
- In St. Louis, the Blues (9-3-1) nearly squandered a 3-0 lead, but still prevailed with a 4-3 win to move atop the Central Division with 19 points. The Devils (6-5-2) pulled Cory Schneider (6-4-2, 2.75 GAA, .910 Sv%) after the Blues' third goal, but it was a curious move because a) it wasn't exactly a blowout, and b) it put rookie backup Keith Kinkaid in a really bad spot for his season debut, coming into the game ice cold. Because Kinkaid (0-1-0, 6.00 GAA, .750 Sv%) was the goalie who let in the eventual game-winner by David Backes (snaps five-game pointless streak), he was also saddled with the loss despite playing just 10 minutes. After the game Peter DeBoer announced Schneider would start again tonight, which means Kinkaid will have to wait a little longer to make his first NHL start. Talk about killing a young goalie's confidence. Ryan Clowe played just 5:30 before leaving the game with an injury. Vladimir Tarasenko continued his hot ways with his eighth goal in six games. Like his sick Swedish move against the Rangers, he made the Devils look like pylons before embarrassing Schneider.
- The Jets (7-5-2) nearly staged a comeback against the Pens (9-2-1), coming back from a 3-1 deficit to force overtime, only to lose in a shootout with goals from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. In a fight-filled game with 98 total penalty minutes, Blake Wheeler and Evander Kane both finished with two points, but the ultimate fantasy line of the night went to the hated Steve Downie, who had two points, 22 PIM, three hits and a plus-3 rating. Simon Despres notched a goal while Paul Martin had a team-worst minus-3 and is rumored to be on the trade block. Jets captain Andrew Ladd also scored in his second straight game and is currently on a three-game point streak. The Pens have a three-point lead in the Metro Division while the Jets move to third in the Central after collecting seven points in their past four games.
- Dallas (4-5-4) dropped their third straight game and have just one win at home, tied with (gulp) Buffalo for last in the league. Matt Cullen scored the game-winner 13:47 into the third period by sneaking one past Kari Lehtonen (4-3-4, 2.94 GAA, .904 Sv%) on the short side from in close while Pekka Rinne (8-2-1, 1.89 GAA, .932 Sv%) continues to make his early bid for the Vezina with his eighth win after stopping 33 of 35 shots, 15 of which were fired by Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Lehtonen has now lost three straight games and is clearly the Stars' weakest link.
- Jonathan Bernier (3-3-2, 2.59 GAA, .916 Sv%) allowed three goals in regulation and another three in the shootout as the Avs (4-6-5) leapfrogged the Stars to move out of last place in the Central with a 4-3 win. Zach Redmond, who has 75 points in 150 games in the AHL over the past three years, is making a clean transition to the NHL with two points in four games for the Avs. Erik Johnson was a rock on defense with seven hits and 25:41 TOI while Reto Berra (2-0-1, 2.29 GAA, .929 Sv%) made 35 saves in a rare start. Richard Panik, Cody Franson and Phil Kessel each had two points for the Leafs (6-5-2). It was a scary night for the Leafs for another reason, however, as Daniel Winnik was forced to leave the game on a stretcher after a big hit from Jan Hejda caused Winnik's head to hit the ice, where he remained motionless for seven minutes. No word on what Winnik's injury is, but my guess is a concussion that will sideline him for some time.
- Chad Johnson (4-1-0, 2.95 GAA, .889 Sv%) outdueled Jonathan Quick (6-3-3, 1.93 GAA, .943 Sv%) and the Kings (7-4-3) as Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen scored in the shootout to give the Isles (8-5-0) a 2-1 win. After making a promise to Dean Lombardi that he would re-dedicate himself, Mike Richards is now on a four-game point streak. He's still on pace for just 41 points and given his age (29), the Kings' defensive system and the team's multitude of better scoring options, it's safe to say that Richards' best offensive years are over. Ryan Strome, the fifth overall pick in 2011, has yet to score this year, but collected his eighth assist on Brock Nelson's seventh goal of the season. They now sit sixth and second in team scoring, respectively.
- Associate captain (that still sounds awfully hilarious and stupid) Joe Thornton thought he scored a buzzer beater to force overtime but it was ruled a no-goal upon further review as the Canucks (10-4-0) won 3-2 against the Sharks (7-5-2). Whatever doubts about Ryan Miller's ability needs to be cast aside right now because he's now 10-1-0 with a 2.19 GAA and .920 Sv% on the season and proving he's worth every penny. Alex Edler notched a goal, giving him points in three straight games and seven points in 14 games overall. He's responding nicely after a difficult season under John Tortorella last year.
Whew. And now moving on to Friday's slate… but excuse me for a second while I dry heave and promote the Sabres (3-9-2) and the Oilers (4-8-1) matchup as the game of the night.
Okay, so asides from the fact that both teams are pretty darn horrendous, which usually makes for some pretty interesting hockey, here are some interesting battles to keep an eye on.
First, special teams. The Sabres worked hard on their power play in practice, as they should with a league worst 4.4 percent efficiency, and now they get to face the Oilers' 23rd-ranked penalty kill. It'll be interesting to see which team cracks first as the Oilers have been handed the fewest minor penalties in the league (37) and average just 7.8 PIM per game, third-best in the league.
Second, goaltending. Jhonas Enroth (1-6-1, 3.34 GAA, .908 Sv%) is already confirmed to start for Sabres, and after winning the job out of training camp has been outplayed by Michal Neuvirth (2-3-1, 2.60 GAA, .925 Sv%) of late. The Swedish Olympian has just one win in eight games. At the other end of the ice, the winless Viktor Fasth (0-2-1, 4.68 GAA, .861 Sv%) is expected to start after Ben Scrivens (4-6-0, 3.11 GAA, .894 Sv%) allowed five goals against Boston last night. If the Sabres want to break out offensively – they're averaging a league-worst 1.07 goals per game – this is the goalie to do it against. I mean, if the Sabres don't pump at least a couple goals past Fasth, you might as well save face and relegate yourself to the AHL.
Third, the kids. It's too bad Sam Reinhart has been already returned to the WHL, preventing us from seeing a showdown between the second overall pick and third overall pick Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl's better at the moment because he's more physically mature, but the two are future franchise centerpieces. The two teams are obviously in different stages of a rebuild, but the young talent will still be on display. Oscar Klefbom and Martin Marincin are the two young defensemen to watch on the Oilers while Zemgus Girgensons is arguably the best player for the Sabres right now. Seriously, Girgensons is really fun to watch, a strong two-way player with an engine that never quits. He's already quite the star on the Latvian national team and you wonder if he's just scratching the surface of what he can do offensively.
And the other games…
- The Jackets (4-8-0) are really beat up with injuries but get what should be an easy matchup against the Canes (3-6-2), who are headed for one of Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. Ryan Johansen is worth the price of admission alone while another poor start from Cam Ward (3-3-1, 2.84 GAA, .886 Sv%) could mean more playing time for Anton Khudobin (0-3-1, 3.24 GAA, .891 Sv%), or even worse, a one-way ticket out of Carolina. The two teams are tied for last in the Metro and another loss for the BJ's could seriously hurt their playoff chances. They're 11 points back from the division-leading Pens and four teams are tied with 14 points. They need to stay with the pack.
- As previously mentioned, Schneider will face the Red Wings (6-3-4) with his 14th consecutive start. This is the first time Schneider is the undisputed No. 1 for an entire season and he hasn't been very good or very consistent. All those "Thank You Vancouver" jokes have been put away for now, especially with Bo Horvat looking solid so far. The Wings are much better than their record indicates and they're 4-1-1 at home. Henrik Zetterberg has 15 points in 13 games and Pavel Datsyuk has 10 in eight as the two wily veterans continue to dominate.
- Even without Patrick Sharp, the Caps (4-5-3) won't have an easy time taking on the Hawks (7-5-1). Washington has lost five straight games even though Alex Ovechkin has picked it up with seven points in his past three games. Barry Trotz is a fantastic coach and the mastermind behind Nashville's stingy teams, but can't figure out what to do with his defense. In a shocking twist of events, Mike Green is the Caps' only defenseman with a positive plus-minus rating while John Carlson, Karl Alzner, and newcomers Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen are a combined minus-14. Regardless of what you think about Green's defensive play (I think he's horrendous, but getting better), he's posted some of the best Corsi numbers for the Caps since last year. The Hawks' saving grace so far this season has been their goaltending with Corey Crawford's .938 save percentage (6th) and 1.53 goals-against average (2nd). The team is allowing just 1.77 goals per game, best in the league.
- Mike Smith (3-6-0, 3.63 GAA, .880 Sv%) is playing better, allowing just three even strength goals in his past three games, but faces a dangerous offensive squad in Anaheim (10-3-1). Ryan Getzlaf is going to play and Corey Perry is a game-time decision, but the Ducks have the Coyotes' (5-6-1) number after sweeping the season series last year. Ironically, Dave Tippett's team is scoring goals at a pretty decent clip (2.58 per game, 17th) but still have a lot of trouble defending (3.58 per game, 29th). The difference maker may be on the blue line with the Yotes trotting out Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle, but the Ducks can counter with a young speedsters Hampus Lindholm and Cam Fowler.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Edmonton Oilers (Viktor Fasth) at Buffalo Sabres (Jhonas Enroth*), 7:00 PM
Columbus Blue Jackets (Anton Forsberg) at Carolina Hurricanes (Cam Ward*), 7:00 PM
New Jersey Devils (Cory Schneider*) at Detroit Red Wings (Jimmy Howard), 7:30 PM
Washington Capitals (Braden Holtby) at Chicago Blackhawks (Corey Crawford*), 8:30 PM
Arizona Coyotes (Mike Smith*) at Anaheim Ducks (Frederik Andersen), 10:00 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Friday
Edmonton Oilers
Andrew Ference, D (suspension) – serving last game of three-game suspension.
Taylor Hall, LW (knee) – out 2-4 weeks.
Buffalo Sabres
Marcus Foligno, LW (soreness) – likely to return after the weekend; doubtful.
Patrick Kaleta, RW (facial surgery) – no return date set.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Artem Anisimov, C (concussion) – no timetable for return.
Cody Goloubef, D (leg) – no timetable for return.
Mark Letestu, C (groin) – no timetable for return.
Corey Tropp, RW (illness) – game-time decision; questionable.
Sergei Bobrovsky, G (finger) – no return date set.
Ryan Murray, D (knee) – will not play.
Nathan Horton, RW (back) – likely out for the season.
Brandon Dubinsky, C (lower body) practicing but no timetable for return.
Jack Johnson, D (suspension) – serving first of three-game suspension.
Carolina Hurricanes
Jordan Staal, C (broken leg) – no timetable for return.
Jiri Tlusty, LW (head) – expected to play; probable.
Tim Gleason, D (undisclosed) – didn't practice Thursday; questionable.
New Jersey Devils
Martin Havlat, RW (lower body) – will not play.
Michael Cammalleri, LW (neck) – will not play.
Jordin Tootoo, RW (foot) – didn't play Thursday; doubtful.
Jon Merrill, D (arm) – did not travel, will not play.
Adam Henrique, C (lower body) – didn't play Thursday; questionable.
Detroit Red Wings
Anthony Mantha, LW (leg) – no return date set; week-to-week.
Jonas Gustavsson, G (separated shoulder) – no return date set.
Kyle Quincey, D (ankle) – game-time decision.
Stephen Weiss, C (groin) – will not play.
Washington Capitals
John Erskine, D (neck) – no timetable for return.
Dmitry Orlov, D (wrist) – return date set for late November.
Chicago Blackhawks
Daniel Carcillo, LW (knee) – no return date set.
Patrick Sharp, LW (knee) – out 3-4 weeks.
Arizona Coyotes
David Moss, RW (upper body) – practiced solo; doubtful.
Anaheim Ducks
Ben Lovejoy, D (fractured finger) – out 6-8 weeks.
Kyle Palmieri, RW (ankle) – return expected in two weeks.
John Gibson, G (groin) – out for a month.
Stefan Noesen, RW (Achilles) – out for four months.
Sheldon Souray, D (wrist) – likely out for the season.
Corey Perry, RW (illness) – game-time decision.
Mark Fistric, D (lower back) – game-time decision.
Hot
Nick Bonino, C, Vancouver – Did I not tell you guys to pick him up last week? Bonino scored the game-winner against San Jose on Thursday and now has scored in two straight games for a total of four goals in his past five games. He now leads the Canucks with seven goals and is fourth on the team with 33 shots. He's excellent coming off the wing and loves going stick side with his quick release.
Dougie Hamilton, D, Boston – As mentioned, he single-handedly beat the Oilers on Thursday, but more importantly, has become a minutes eater for the Bruins. He leads the team in TOI per game with 22:50, though he's eclipsed that mark three times in his past four games. As long as he keeps getting used, he's going to get the opportunity to pile up the points. At 21 years old he's already a first-pairing defenseman and should be a staple on the Bruins' blue line for the next 15 years.
Cold
Jeff Carter, C, Los Angeles – After a four-point effort against the BJ's on Oct. 26, Carter has now gone six games without a point and fired just eight shots on net in that span. That '70s Line has gone completely quiet in recent weeks. They're definitely not smokin' anymore.
Carey Price, G, Montreal – The Habs go as far as Price takes them and that hasn't been very far recently. The Canadian national treasure has allowed 13 goals in his past three starts, and while Dustin Tokarski isn't a threat to take the starting job, the Habs' recent slide is a little concerning. The Habs will kick off a four-game home stand but face some formidable offenses, including the Wild, Bruins and Flyers. Price will turn it around eventually, but he's looked awful lately.
Recommended Pickup
Sean Monahan, C, Calgary – He's owned in just 55 percent of ESPN leagues, but after a slow start the 20-year-old sophomore is on fire. If you can live with a poor plus-minus, mediocre face off numbers and the occasional cold spell, Monahan's worth picking up because he's loaded with potential and arguably Calgary's best forward. He'll get his chances no matter happens, and that counts for something if you're digging at the bottom of the barrel for offensive help. He's a must-have for keeper leagues.
