Grubauer, Capitals shut out Red Wings

By Scott BilleckMar 22, 2018, 10:23 PM EDT
1 Comment

If you were looking for a barn-burner, this game wasn’t that.

While the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders combined for 13 goals, and the Carolina Hurricanes and Arizona Coyotes scored 11 in total, the Washington Capitals and their hosts, the Detroit Red Wings, played 60 minutes with just one goal between them.

It wasn’t nearly as exciting in the goal-scoring department, but the win for the Washington Capitals put a bit of separation between themselves and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets, who the Caps (93 points) lead by four points now.

Brett Conolly’s third-period marker at 6:41 was all the Capitals needed for their

Andreas Athanasiou appeared to make it 1-0 in the first period on a nice wrister, but a goaltender interference challenge by Washington was successful after Tyler Bertuzzi was judged to have made contact with Grubauer. This one was pretty cut and dry, as far as GI calls go.

The loss for the Red Wings meant they were officially eliminated from playoff contention, something that had been known for a while but hadn’t happened in the mathematical department.

Grubauer was solid, making 39 saves for his third shutout of the season. At the other end of the rink, Jimmy Howard wasn’t too shabby either, stopping 25-of-26. All he needed was a bit of run support.

Prior to puck drop, the Red Wings announced that defenseman Mike Green, who was hampered by a neck injury back in February, will go under the knife, ending his season.

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck

WATCH LIVE: Philadelphia Flyers at Detroit Red Wings

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By James O'BrienMar 20, 2018, 7:26 PM EDT

CLICK HERE TO WATCH LIVE

PROJECTED LINES

Philadelphia Flyers

Claude Giroux — Sean Couturier — Travis Konecny

Oskar Lindblom — Nolan Patrick — Jakub Voracek

Jordan Weal — Valtteri Filppula — Wayne Simmonds

Jori Lehtera — Scott Laughton — Matt Read

Ivan Provorov — Shayne Gostisbehere

Travis Sanheim — Andrew MacDonald

Robert Hagg — Radko Gudas

Starting goalie: Petr Mrazek

[Flyers – Red Wings preview]

Detroit Red Wings

Tyler Bertuzzi — Henrik Zetterberg — Gustav Nyquist

Darren Helm — Dylan Larkin — Anthony Mantha

Justin Abdelkader — Frans Nielsen — Andreas Athanasiou

Evgeny Svechnikov — Luke Glendening — Martin Frk

Niklas Kronwall — Mike Green

Jonathan Ericsson — Trevor Daley

Danny DeKeyser — Nick Jensen

Jimmy Howard

WATCH LIVE: Wednesday Night Rivalry – Red Wings at Blues

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By James O'BrienFeb 28, 2018, 7:39 PM EDT

CLICK HERE TO WATCH LIVE

PROJECTED LINES

Detroit Red Wings

Anthony Mantha — Henrik Zetterberg — Gustav Nyquist

Tyler Bertuzzi — Dylan Larkin — Andreas Athanasiou

Darren Helm — Frans Nielsen — Justin Abdelkader

Martin Frk — Luke Glendening — David Booth

Danny DeKeyser — Nick Jensen

Jonathan Ericsson — Trevor Daley

Niklas Kronwall – Xavier Ouellet

Starting goalie: Jimmy Howard

[Red Wings – Blues preview.]

St. Louis Blues

Alexander Steen — Ivan Barbashev — Vladimir Tarasenko

Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Nikita Soshnikov

Dmitrij Jaskin — Vladimir Sobotka — Tage Thompson

Scottie Upshall — Kyle Brodziak — Chris Thorburn

Jay Bouwmeester — Alex Pietrangelo

Vince Dunn — Colton Parayko

Carl Gunnarsson — Jordan Schmaltz

Starting goalie: Carter Hutton

The Buzzer: Edmonton’s epic collapse; Nash’s Bruins debut

By Joey AlfieriFeb 26, 2018, 12:04 AM EDT
5 Comments

Players of the Night:

• Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators: Rinne turned aside all 27 shots he faced in Nashville’s shutout win over the St. Louis Blues (check out the highlights by clicking the video at the top of the page). The Preds goalie has just one regulation loss in his last 15 decisions (13-1-1).

• Ryan Strome, Edmonton Oilers: Strome hasn’t had the best season, but he’s really upped his production of late. After scoring two goals in Sunday’s game against Anaheim, he’s now accumulated five goals in his last five games. Maybe the former fifth overall pick has finally figured it out.

• Rickard Rakell, Anaheim Ducks: Rakell found the back of the net three times in Sunday’s shootout loss to Edmonton, including two in the final 21 seconds to force overtime. Anaheim ended up losing the game in a shootout. Rakell has 25 goals and 51 points in 59 games this season.

• Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers: As you can imagine, the Oilers-Ducks game was pretty wild. Not only did McDavid register three assists, he also netted the shootout winner for the Oilers on Sunday night. The 21-year-old is up 74 points in 62 games, which puts him on pace to score 98 points in 2017-18.

• Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota Wild: Spurgeon picked up two points in Sunday’s win over the Sharks, including the game-winning goal in the overtime period. The overtime tally proved to be the 200th point of his NHL career.

• Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks: Sedin scored Vancouver’s first two goals. The veteran has been hot of late, as he has nine points in his last seven games. He’s also put together three multi-point efforts in his last four outings.

Highlights of the Night: 

There was some late drama between Anaheim and Edmonton:

Martin Jones made sure his team went into the intermission with a lead:

Jimmy Howard flashes the leather:

Check out this spin-o-rama pass from Henrik Sedin:

Nash’s Debut:

Rick Nash made his Bruins debut on Sunday, but it didn’t go according to plan. Not only did Boston lose, Nash also failed to pick up a point. He finished the night with a minus-1 rating and five shots on goal in 17:27 of ice time.

Here’s a picture of Nash in his new colors:

Spooner’s Rangers debut:

Ryan Spooner, who was part of the package that went from Boston to New York for Nash, picked up a pair of assists in his first game with his new team. He helped set up goals by J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast.

Factoids of the Night: 

There were some pretty quick goals scored this weekend:

Preds GM David Poile has done quite a bit of winning during his career:

Ratelle’s special night:

The New York Rangers retired Jean Ratelle’s no. 19 on Sunday night:

Scores

Predators 4, Blues 0
Sabres 4, Bruins 1
Red Wings 3, Rangers 2 (OT)
Oilers 6, Ducks 5 (SO)
Wild 3, Sharks 2 (OT)
Canucks 3, Coyotes 1

MORE: Pro Hockey Talk 2018 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.

Fantasy Adds & Drops: A Saad Time

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By Joey AlfieriFeb 5, 2018, 11:16 AM EDT
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This weekly column will aim to help you navigate through the rough waters of your fantasy league’s waiver wire. We’ll give you suggestions on which players owned in more than 50 percent of Yahoo Leagues you should pick up. We’ll also tell you which players you should consider parting ways with.

Here we go!

Adds:

• Erik Haula– C/LW- Vegas Golden Knights (49 percent)

Haula is right on the cusp of being owned in half of Yahoo’s leagues, but he’s not there yet. The Golden Knights center has been flying lately, as he just saw an eight-game point streak come to an end. He currently has 20 goals and 39 points in 48 games this season, which puts him on pace to score over 30 goals and 60 points.

• Nick Schmaltz– C/LW- Chicago Blackhawks (33 percent)

Schmaltz has been mentioned as a possible “add” in this column before, but he’s still owned in just under 70 percent of leagues. The ‘Hawks forward has scored in back-to-back games and he’s currently riding a three-game point streak. He’s on pace to score 61 points this season. That number might keep climbing if he keeps getting opportunities to play with Patrick Kane.

• Bo Horvat– C- Vancouver Canucks (33 percent)

Like Schmaltz, this isn’t the first time Horvat has been mentioned in this column. The Canucks forward has posted four points in six games since returning from an ankle injury that sidelined him for over a month. Horvat’s offensive totals might not top Haula’s or Schmaltz’s, but he could score just as much as they do between now and the end of the season.

[More Fantasy: Rotoworld’s Waiver Wire column]

• Sam Reinhart– C/LW/RW- Buffalo Sabres (23 percent)

Since being the second overall pick in 2014, Reinhart hasn’t topped 47 points. He probably won’t surpass that number this year, but there’s no reason why he can’t start producing with a little more regularity down the stretch. The 22-year-old has accumulated eight points in his last eight games, and he’s also seen his ice time increase significantly over the last three games (19:32, 18:36, 19:32). His average for the season is a shade over 16 minutes.

• Kevin Labanc-LW/RW- San Jose Sharks (nine percent)

Labanc is one of those deep league recommendations. The Sharks forward has been hot of late, as he’s accumulated six points in his last five contests. With Joe Thornton on the shelf, there’s amble opportunity for some of the youngsters on the roster to step up offensively. Again, Labanc isn’t recommended in shallow leagues, but he could be a sneaky-good pickup in deeper fantasy formats.

• Bryant Rust- LW/RW-Pittsburgh Penguins (six percent)

Rust is another player worth keeping an eye on. He’s back in the Penguins lineup after missing almost a month with an upper-body injury. Rust has been skating on a line with Sidney Crosby, so that’s where his potential fantasy value will come from. He has five points in five games since his return. If he’s taken off Crosby’s line, his fantasy value will go down the drain.

Drops: 

• Brandon Saad– LW- Chicago Blackhawks (67 percent)

As much as it might pain fantasy owners to admit it, Saad has been a total bust for most of the season. He got off to a hot start, but he simply hasn’t met expectations since returning to Chicago. He’s seen his ice time dip quite a bit of late, which isn’t unexpected considering he hasn’t scored in 11 games. He’s on pace to hit a respectable 21 goals, but he might not hit the 40-point mark.

• Ryan Kesler– C- Anaheim Ducks (53 percent)

Kesler remains a solid two-way player, but his production simply hasn’t been there since coming back from injury. He has two goals in his last four games, but he’s also accumulated just seven points in 16 games. Picking up Schmaltz or Haula and dropping him could make sense for a lot of fantasy owners in standard leagues. Also, both Schmaltz and Haula can be slotted in multiple positions. Kesler can’t.

[Fantasy Podcast: Rotoworld Hockey’s Salute to Jagr]

• Jimmy Howard– G- Detroit Red Wings (50 percent)

Howard has taken a back seat to Petr Mrazek, who has played in three straight and five of Detroit’s last six games. Mrazek even got to start two games in two nights on Friday and Saturday. That’s definitely not a good sign for Howard’s fantasy value down the stretch.

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.