December 5, 2014
steve laidlaw
2014-12-05
Brodeur stumbles, Hornqvist injured, Byfuglien back on D and more…
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It just keeps piling up for the Penguins. Patric Hornqvist was drilled by Ryan Stanton (I won't talk about if it was clean or not, you can be your own judge. Hornqvist left the game and did not return. It sure looks like a concussion to me as Hornqvist and Stanton bumped noggins but no details were released.
Either way, with Hornqvist out Steve Downie was jumped onto the top line and top power play. I like Downie and all but this is desperation time. Pittsburgh was shutout, which gives them just one goal in their last 120 minutes.
Eddie Lack and the Canucks deserve some credit for blanking the Penguins but at this point their lack of depth is laughable. They have to make a move even if it's a throwaway deal like what the Ducks pulled getting Eric Brewer from the Lightning.
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Brewer, by the way, broke his foot the other night, which foils the Ducks plans. They slapped another Band-Aid on the situation trading Jesse Blacker for Colby Robak. I won't call these guys failed prospects because they are still so young but I don't think either guy has come along as expected of them as second round draft choices.
There's little fantasy impact beyond the short-term damage to Freddie Andersen's stats but that's more because of the injuries to Ben Lovejoy and Francois Beauchemin than the Band-Aids used to fill the void.
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I told you earlier this week that Aleksander Barkov might be headed towards a healthy scratch. He has missed the last two games due to a swollen hand, not the coach's decision. That changes the optics but Barkov owners have to hope that the effect is the same and that a couple of games off light a fire under his butt.
Not that expectations are high for Barkov. We all know the Panthers can barely score. I think we'd just like a repeat of last year's 36-point pace. What he's done so far isn't inspiring anything but doubt. The good news is that it also makes him a great trade target. Four points through 19 games and currently injured? That's not rock bottom but it is close.
Instead, it is Nick Bjugstad doing what many were hopeful that Barkov might though it's not entirely surprising given Bjugstad is farther along the developmental path is building off of a superior rookie season. Bjugstad, after a recent cold spell, went off for three points last night, including his ninth and 10th goals of the season.
I've liked everything that I've seen from Bjugstad so far. I especially like how willing he is to shoot the puck. He looks very much like Jeff Carter with his large size, right-handed shot, and heavy release.
Bjugstad is up to 65 SOG this season, landing an average of 2.71 SOG per game. He still has a ways to go to reach Carter-esque levels of SOG production but it's a great improvement for the sophomore.
I figure his scoring (currently on pace for 51 points) will drop off a bit, particularly the goals. Even after factoring in the SOG spike, he's still shooting 15.4% thus far, which is much too high. He'll never produce a ton so long as he has to drag along Tomas Fleischmann and Jonathan Huberdeau (two points each last night) but there is hope for the future. Bjugstad will continue to improve, Huberdeau should as well and they'll inject more talent via the draft.
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Standing ovation for Sergei Bobrovsky. That performance last night was something else. After going up 3-0 the Blue Jackets were put under siege by the Panthers. Bobrovsky couldn't keep them from tying it up at 3-3 but he did hold them off long enough to force a shootout. This as his team was outshot 55-20. He then stopped all four shooters in the skills competition for a well-earned victory.
It probably won't last and certainly Daley is basically just clinging to last vestiges of hope before he vanishes from relevance completely but that point does get him to 13 in 26 games, which is a 41-point pace. I think he closes out much closer to the way the last 16 games have gone though (just four points in that span.)
What was most interesting to me was that Daley went minus-one in the game to drop him into a tie for second worst plus/minus in the league behind only Jack Johnson (tough year for him) at minus-18. That got me thinking about the reverse Jeff Schultz All-Stars. The guys who are productive assets but their plus/minus is so dreadful that it minimizes their impact.
Looking strictly at defensemen, check out the worst (best?) "reverse-Schultz" seasons of all time.
Some pretty hilarious fantasy seasons in there, including an appearance from the immortal Zarley Zalapski. Would you name this award after anyone on that list? I'm not too keen on sticking with the "reverse-Schultz" moniker.
Sadly, I am extremely tempted to name this one after the aforementioned Johnson because the only time he ever scored 40 points in a season he also went a career worst minus-21 and because he leads the pack once again this season.
What do you think? Is it worth pursuing another ridiculous award for statistical anomalies?
I like the idea because we have several early candidates for the "reverse-Schultz" with Johnson, Daley, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Justin Faulk all in double-digits for points and minus-rating with Erik Karlsson, Alex Pietrangelo and Brent Burns all threatening.
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It is safe to say that Martin Brodeur's debut did not go as planned stopping just 20 of 24 shots against the Nashville Predators. I didn't watch the game but the first couple of goals sure looked soft.
We'll cut Brodeur some slack as Nashville is a good team and the Blues were playing in a back-to-back situation on the road. This went about as expected for Brodeur though, as he hasn't held a save percentage above .910 in five years. Why would he start now?
Brodeur should get you some wins though. So if you made the investment this result shouldn't be enough to chase you away on its own. The fact that Brodeur is not a long-term solution (by long-term I mean the full remainder of the regular season) could very well be a reason to look elsewhere though.
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Huge night for Dustin Brown with a couple of goals and an assist. That gives him eight points in his last eight games. That's probably cheating a bit with a selective starting point that helps disguise some inconsistent production over a very short span but considering Brown had scored just two points through his previous 18 games this season, I think selectivity is warranted.
That whole third line with Jarret Stoll and Justin Williams has been much more productive these past few weeks. It seems like they are getting back on the pace we'd expect for all of them, which is to finish in that 35-45 range.
Marian Gaborik was questionable to travel to Arizona but did join the team. Unfortunately he was kept out anyhow. He hasn't played since November 26 but expects to play soon.
Martin Jones also hadn't played since November 26 but did go last night and recorded his second straight shutout. Whenever this guy leaves Los Angeles he is going to be a coveted fantasy asset. His numbers in a small sample size are out of this world.
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Semyon Varlamov returned for Colorado but I think Varlamov and his fantasy owners might have preferred if he stayed out. This just has not been a good season for Varlamov and the Avalanche and I don't see how it turns around.
Alex Tanguay scored an absolute beauty in a losing effort: