NHL on NBCSN: Martin Jones might be key to long playoff run for Sharks

By Joey AlfieriFeb 18, 2019, 10:25 AM EST

Hart stands tall as Flyers win again

By Scott BilleckFeb 17, 2019, 8:55 PM EST

Last night, the Philadelphia Flyers made a mess of it but still managed to beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-5 after blowing a four-goal third-period lead at home.

A day later, the Flyers made sure not to make the same mistake twice, defeating the Red Wings in the second half of a back-to-back home-and-home 2-1 on Hockey Day in America on NBCSN.

The Flyers were lucky to escape with those two points on Saturday but regrouped in overtime to take both points with them. On Sunday, the Flyers played a tighter game and found the game-winner from defenseman Ivan Provorov 2:11 into the third period to break a 1-1 tie.

The goal proved to be enough, with Carter Hart making 37 saves for his 11th win in his past 13 starts.

The Flyers have won 12 of their past 14 games (12-1-1) and now sit six points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins (who won earlier on NBC) for the second and final wildcard in the Eastern Conference.

Oskar Lindblom scored two goals in the game, giving him 10 on the season. His first, as you’ll see below, was a tad lucky.

Lindblom followed that up with No. 10 into the empty net late in the third period.

The Red Wings, not in the playoff picture due to a 15-point gap between themselves and the Pens, entered the game with points in six of their past nine games but couldn’t find the late spark that ensured they grabbed one on Saturday.

Jonathan Bernier got the start in goal but left after the first period due to an upper-body injury. Jimmy Howard, who started the night before, came in and made 11 saves in relief, giving up the game-winner to Provorov.

If you missed any of the Hockey Day in America stories, check out NBC Sports here.

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

The Buzzer: Seguin shines, JVR leads comeback, Kucherov dominates

By Adam GretzFeb 13, 2019, 1:11 AM EST

1 Comment

Three Stars

1. Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars. After all of the drama earlier this season the Dallas Stars are looking like a playoff team, and not surprisingly, the two players that took the most heat from their CEO — Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn — are a big reason why. Seguin was dominant on Tuesday night in a 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers, figuring in on all three Stars goals, scoring two and assisting on another.

2. James van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia Flyers. The Philadelphia Flyers probably deserved a better result on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but things have a funny way of working out. It looked like they were headed for a second consecutive loss for most of the night until they stormed back for a third period rally against the Minnesota Wild. James van Riemsdyk scored two goals on the night, including the game-winner on the power play with less than five minutes to play in regulation. The playoffs still seem like a long shot, but they are definitely looking like a team that is on the right track.

3. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning. The matchup of the night was in Tampa Bay where the best team in the Eastern Conference — the Tampa Bay Lightning — faced off against the best team in the Western Conference — The Calgary Flames. The Lightning showed that for as good as the Flames may be, they are still the top team in the NHL right now and cruised to a 6-3 win. Leading the way was Nikita Kucherov with a four-point night, which is already his fifth four-point game of the season. He is now up to a league-leading 88 points on the season.

Other Notable Performances From Tuesday

The Columbus Blue Jackets completely shut down the Washington Capitals in a 3-0 win. The Capitals managed just seven shots on goal through the first two periods and rarely seemed to be a threat to score. It was one of the Blue Jackets’ best showings of the season. Yes, just as they did after their previous win over the Capitals, there were some Evgeny Kuznetsov bird celebrations being done on the ice and also in the stands from fans.
The Boston Bruins received a four-point night from Brad Marchand in a big win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
The St. Louis Blues remained hot with their seventh win in a row to continue solidifying their playoff spot.
Mark Scheifele scored a pair of goals for the Winnipeg Jets in a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers.
Teuvo Teravainen scored two goals for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators as they kept pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Highlights of the Night

Jeff Skinner shows off his quick release to help lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders.

Jimmy Howard boosted that trade value for the Detroit Red Wings by backstopping them to a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators, thanks in large part to these saves right here.

Columbus’ win over the Capitals was not just about defense. It also had this slick passing play completed by Nick Foligno to help put the game away late in the third period.

Factoids

Vladimir Tarasenko‘s point streak is at a career-high nine games. [NHL PR]
No goalie in the NHL has more shutouts since the start of the 2016-17 season than Sergei Bobrovsky [NHL PR]
The Toronto Maple Leafs scored three power play goals in 1:49 on Tuesday night, the fifth-fastest sequence in franchise history. [NHL PR]

Scores

Buffalo Sabres 3, New York Islanders 1

Columbus Blue Jackets 3, Washington capitals 0

Boston Bruins 6, Chicago Blackhawks 3

Dallas Stars 3, Florida Panthers 0

Carolina Hurricanes 4, Ottawa Senators 1

Tampa Bay Lightning 6, Calgary Flames 3

Winnipeg Jets 4, New York Rangers 3

St. Louis Blues 8, New Jersey Devils 3

Detroit Red Wings 3, Nashville Predators 2

Philadelphia Flyers 5, Minnesota Wild 4

Toronto Maple Leafs 5, Colorado Avalanche 2

Arizona Coyotes 5, Vegas Golden Knights 2

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

PHT Power Rankings: 10 teams that could be most active at NHL trade deadline

By Adam GretzFeb 11, 2019, 2:02 PM EST

6 Comments

In this week’s edition of the PHT Power Rankings we start to get you ready for the trade deadline (which is now just two short weeks away!) by looking at 10 teams around the NHL that could be the most active leading up to trade deadline day.

Some of these teams are sellers. Some of them are buyers. All of them have the potential to be busy over the next two weeks.

Let’s take a look at who is out there and who could be made available.

1. Ottawa Senators — Senators management has a grand plan for what the future of the franchise will look like, but it remains to be seen how they actually get there. In the short-term the stage is set for them to potentially be the biggest sellers at the trade deadline because of the ongoing rebuild and the number of key players that are on expiring contracts, including Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel. Not to mention any other veteran player that could potentially be available. The Senators are trying to re-sign both Stone and Duchene, but the longer it goes without a deal and the closer we get to the deadline the more likely it seems that one or both could be on their way out. The Senators need to find a way to recoup a first-round draft pick after sending theirs to Colorado in the original Duchene trade, and they should be able to get at least one or two if they send out their pending UFA’s. It will not be the potential Jack Hughes pick they sent away, but a rebuilding team without any first-round picks isn’t off to a great start.

2. Detroit Red Wings — Ken Holland started the rebuild, at least a little bit, last trade deadline when he sent Petr Mrazek and Tomas Tatar away for five draft picks. He could be doing even more this season with free agents Jimmy Howard, Gustav Nyquist, Thomas Vanek, and Niklas Kronwall all on the roster. Howard and Nyquist are by far the most marketable pieces that he has to deal from and could fetch him a decent return at the deadline. As tempted as the Red Wings might be to try and re-sign Howard given their short-term (and long-term) goaltending situation they should resist that urge and cash in on what has been one of the best seasons of his career. Or at least one of his best seasons in recent memory. A mid-30s Howard isn’t going to be the difference between a good Red Wings team and a bad Red Wings team next season, so they should try to get what they can right now and hope one of the contenders that is a goalie away (looking at you, San Jose) wants to take a chance on a deadline rental to put them over the top.

3. New York Rangers — The Rangers have been shipping out core players for more than a year, dealing away Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller since the start of last season. There will undoubtedly be more moves coming over the next two weeks even though they have put together a nice hot streak here recently. Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello both look like they could be on the move, but would it surprise anyone if they also moved some players that still had term left on their deals or years of team control? Like a Pavel Buchnevich, Vladislav Namestnikov, or even maybe, if the price was right, a Chris Kreider?

4. Columbus Blue Jackets — This is a totally fascinating team because I have no clue what they are going to do. The Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky contract situations mean that if they do something it is probably going to be massive. A potential playoff team shipping out top-tier players at the deadline would be huge news and significantly alter the course of several playoff teams and potential playoff teams. Or they could also keep them and load up around them for one more run, which would also be significant. Either way GM Jarmo Kekalainen has a chance to do something bold. Standing pat doesn’t seem to be an option. He is either selling or going all in.

5. Los Angeles Kings — Everything! Must! Go! The Jake Muzzin trade was a pretty clear sign that it is finally time to start looking for the future. They already sent away one pending unrestricted free agent on Monday by trading Nate Thompson to the Montreal Canadiens, and Carl Hagelin seems like he could probably be sent elsewhere as well. Their veteran players have some big contracts that might be tough to move, and I don’t expect them to even consider trading Anze Kopitar or Drew Doughty, but this still feels like a team whose complete teardown is imminent.

6. Florida Panthers — This is a team to watch because they are clearly trying to position themselves for a run at some big free agents this summer. There is the rumor that they are interested in trying to strike now and get Bobrovsky away from Columbus to sign him before he hits the open market, they are a potential landing spot for Panarin, and they have a few UFAs they can move for more draft picks, including Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan who were acquired in the big blockbuster with Pittsburgh. Will they ship out even more money in an effort to clear even more salary cap space? TSN’s Frank Seravalli mentioned the possibility of Jonathan Huberdeau on Monday, the type of move that would almost certainly indicate they would be all in on free agency.

7. Boston Bruins — Simply put, they have to find some secondary scoring. All of their offense comes from the same five players — Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, David Krejci, and Torey Krug. They are all great, but five players alone producing offense will not get you very far in the playoffs. Especially against the teams they will have to face on their potential postseason path.

8. Pittsburgh Penguins — Jim Rutherford tends to strike early before the trade deadline, and he has done that with a few moves already this season (Tanner Pearson, sending Jamie Oleksiak back to Dallas, the big trade with the Florida Panthers) but I just don’t see him being done. He has never done. He is always tinkering with his roster and this roster right now, as currently constructed, is not where the Penguins expect it to be. Almost anything is on the table with this team.

9. Chicago Blackhawks — A lot of this is dependent on what they can do with some veteran players that have no-trade clauses, specifically Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, but there are a lot of bloated contracts here that they should explore moving. Not only Seabrook, but also perhaps Anisimov and Brandon Saad.

10. Washington Capitals — I can’t imagine the defending champs are happy with the way this season has gone over the past few weeks or with the current state of their defense. That has to be high atop their shopping list as they look to make a repeat run at the Stanley Cup. I can’t see them doing anything drastic, but they could definitely use a move or two.

MORE: Defense should top Capitals’ shopping list

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

Five teams that should call about Jimmy Howard

By Adam GretzFeb 7, 2019, 4:40 PM EST

12 Comments

For the third year in a row the Detroit Red Wings are going to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs and that means with the NHL trade deadline fast approaching they should be looking to sell off all of their pending unrestricted free agents to the highest bidder.

As well as any other veterans they can get a decent haul for, especially if it cleans up what is still a very messy salary cap situation.

They have no shortage of potential players to sell this season with Gustav Nyquist, Thomas Vanek, Niklas Kronwall, and starting goalie Jimmy Howard all playing on expiring contracts.

The intriguing name here is Howard because he could, in theory, be the biggest game-changer for a contender out of this entire group.

Despite playing behind what has been one of the league’s worst teams this season, he has consistently performed at a pretty high level among the league’s goalies. Out of the 22 goalies that have appeared in at least 30 games this season his overall .916 save percentage is the sixth-best mark in the NHL, while his .930 mark at even-strength is the second best behind only Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Frederik Andersen.

That is good. That is really good.

The Detroit Free Press reported on Monday that because the Red Wings don’t have a young goalie ready anywhere in the system they might have an interest in attempting to re-sign Howard, or trading him and then attempting to re-sign him in the offseason as a free agent. The latter sounds like a decent strategy but rarely, if ever, works out that way. There’s also this unpleasant reality: Howard is turning 35 in a few weeks, is probably nearing the end of his career, and the Red Wings on their current trajectory as a rebuilding team probably will not be in a position to contend with him on his next contract.

A trade and turning the page over to a new chapter in net is probably the most sensible strategy, even if it means going outside the organization. It is not like the duo of Howard and Jonathan Bernier for another season is going to be the difference between making and missing the playoffs a year from now.

There are a handful of teams around the NHL that should be interested in trying to complete such a move.

Let’s look at them.

1. San Jose Sharks

This is the obvious no-brainer team.

The Sharks are as complete as any team in the NHL at forward and defense but still have a black hole that risks sabotaging their entire season in net. The duo of Martin Jones and Aaron Dell has produced the second-worst save percentage in the NHL this season and going into the playoffs with that is a huge risk.

Joe Thornton doesn’t have much hockey left in the NHL. Erik Karlsson can be an unrestricted free agent after this season. The window is wide open right now for this team to try and win it all, something they could absolutely do as long as their goaltending doesn’t ruin them.

“Hoping” that Jones returns to his normal form shouldn’t be the strategy this season.

There is no long-term commitment with Howard beyond this season and gives them a chance to strike when everything is right there in front of them.

2. Calgary Flames

Like the Sharks the Flames are a team that has the look of a potential champion … as long as the goaltending holds up.

The Mike Smith experience has not gone well this season and has resulted in David Rittich, a 26-year-old with just a little more than 50 NHL games on his resume, starting to get the bulk of the playing time. To be fair, Rittich has played well and been a huge factor in the Flames’ rise to the top of the Western Conference standings. But given how small of a sample size we are dealing with here are the Flames 100 percent confident going into the postseason with him as “the guy?”

If nothing else Howard would be a good insurance plan in case Rittich falters, because I don’t know how much I would trust Smith to save the day if that happens given the way he has played this season.

3. Carolina Hurricanes

This is a real long shot and it would go against everything the Hurricanes have done in recent years where they have always kept the big picture in mind when constructing their roster.

Howard, as a pending free agent, probably doesn’t fit in the big picture outlook so it’s probably not going to happen.

But it never hurts to check it out. Or suggest it.

This is a team with a new owner that wants to win right now, a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2009, and a team that has crawled back into contention and is right there in the Eastern Conference race. They are in it. They are very much in it and can get even closer with a win against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. They have a lot of good pieces that could get them closer this season, especially after adding Nino Niederreiter from the Minnesota Wild. The one thing they are lacking is still consistency in net. Curtis McElhinney has been really good this season when he has played, and that has definitely helped. Howard, especially with the way he has played this season, would only help even more. Given how good the Hurricanes are at keeping pucks away from their goalies (fewest shots allowed per game in the NHL this season, once again one of the league’s best teams in that area) a goalie like Howard could be a significant addition if they decided to go in that direction.

I still don’t think they will, but it is an intriguing thought.

4. Columbus Blue Jackets

Yes, the Columbus Blue Jackets already have one free-agent-to-be goalie on their roster, and there remains the possibility that they move him before the trade deadline. The Athletic‘s Aaron Portzline pointed out earlier this week that if they do it would most likely require another move to fill that vacant spot in net and Howard was a name that he mentioned as a possibility to keep in mind.

It does not do anything to solve the goaltending problem after this season, but the Blue Jackets are still a potential playoff team this season and there is one very important thing to keep in mind — Howard has been significantly better than Sergei Bobrovsky this season.

It would require a lot of moving parts, it would not fix anything after this season, but it might actually help them this season.

5. Colorado Avalanche

There are a lot of reasons the Colorado Avalanche have faded from their fast start.

They have zero depth after their top-three at forward. Their defense is not great. They are also getting lousy goaltending from Semyon Varlamov and Philipp Grubauer. The first two problems are going to take some time to fix, and there is not one trade that can remedy that this season.

There is one trade that can help fix it the latter problem, especially with additional draft picks to trade this season. Normally I wouldn’t want to see a team with Colorado’s record go all in as being a buyer, but because of the West playoff field being what it is they are still very much in it. With decent goaltending and the three forwards they have at the top of the lineup they could be a headache for somebody in the first round if everything clicks at the same time. A goalie like Howard might help them get there.

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.