Happy holidays to everyone out there. I hope you’re enjoying them and you got what you wanted. But you also appreciate the people in your life.
The Ottawa Senators are the latest team to fire their coach. It’s now four weeks in a row with a coach gone, and it’s becoming ridiculous. The Senators are definitely the most disappointing team, but D.J. Smith has been there for four years with no playoff appearances. I don’t watch many Senators games, but this should have been evaluated during the off-season.
Unlike the other firings, the Senators didn’t win either game after Smith was fired. Although they almost won, I suppose that’s progress. But not when you blow leads in the third period. We’ll briefly cover one later. The Senators have been a mess for a while, and with new ownership, It’ll take time to improve. But they finally won, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 in overtime and snapping their six-game losing streak. I doubt they’ll make the playoffs, though.
Things I like
- The Edmonton Oilers went on a road trip to New York City. ESPN Plus made a big deal about it, covering all three games. The Oilers didn’t play well against the New York Islanders, and they didn’t start well against the New Jersey Devils or New York Rangers. However, they did make some epic comebacks. Against the Devils, they were down 3-2 in the third, where they exploded for four goals. Against the Rangers, they were down 1-0 in the third, and it looked like they would never crack Jonathan Quick. But they exploded for four goals in seven minutes, aided by sloppy Rangers’ defense, including them redirecting shots and falling down. They hung Quick out to dry. The Oilers should feel great about these wins, especially since they got scoring from the bottom six. This was Quick’s first regulation loss, not bad for a goalie the Los Angeles Kings and I assumed was done.
2.The Dallas Stars have been on a roll with points in six straight games and winning every way possible. The Stars beat the Kraken in overtime after the Kraken made a comeback down two. Against the Vancouver Canucks each team scored a goal in the third to force overtime, where Matt Duchene scored with nine seconds left. Against the Nashville Predators, the Stars were down two in the third when they scored three, including two in the final 15 seconds. The Predators looked dead on the last goal, like they expected to go to overtime.
https://www.nhl.com/video/stars-incredible-rally-in-3rd-6343796266112
Things I Don’t
- Yet again, the Golden Knights are hit with the goalie injury bug. Logan Thompson and Adin Hill are out, with Hill now on injured reserve. Jiri Patera is filling in but not well. This is the third season the Golden Knights have dealt with injuries. Despite winning the Stanley Cup last season, they’ve been incredibly unlucky.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Ivan Barbashev vs Brandon Hagel
Most of the punches missed, but at least they were swinging wildly.
Jakub Lauko vs Brandon Duhaime
An unorthodox fight but entertaining.
Connor Dewar vs Jakub Lauko
Not a bad fight, considering it was mostly one-sided.
Goat of the Week
Jack Hughes - New Jersey Devils
Hughes does a no-look drop pass in his own zone that Owen Tippett takes and scores the overtime winner. It was such a dumb play. Hughes has to know better. Tippett has played well lately, with six points in his last seven games. Tippett is best known for being the player traded by the Florida Panthers to rent Claude Giroux for a few months. Tippet will not live up to his tenth-overall pick status, but he’ll give you 25 to 30 goals a season, which is not something you should trade away for essentially nothing.
https://www.nhl.com/video/phi-njd-tippett-scores-goal-against-vitek-vanecek-6343568850112
Goals of the Week - Michigan Style
Connor Bedard - Chicago Blackhawks
https://www.nhl.com/video/chi-stl-bedard-scores-goal-against-jordan-binnington-6343798538112
Trevor Zegras - Anaheim Ducks
https://www.nhl.com/video/sea-ana-zegras-scores-goal-against-joey-daccord-6343804104112
Stat Line of the Week
12/21/23 Colorado 6 vs.Ottawa 4
| Skater | TOI | G | A | +/- | SOG | PPP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N.MacKinnon | 22:51 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
Nathan MacKinnon has 34 points during an 18-game point streak. His five-point effort against the Senators was his best showing during the streak. MacKinnon had two power-play goals and one power-play assist, two of which came in the third period when the Senators had a one-goal lead. The Senators challenged the goal, lost, and set up the ensuing power play that led to the game-winning goal. It was his fifth career hat trick, and he surpassed 300 career goals in this game. MacKinnon is second in the NHL in power play assists this season and overall scoring. Last season was MacKinnon’s first 100-point season, and he’s on pace to do it again.
Numbers, Numbers
9 – Goals scored by the Columbus Blue Jackets against the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Sabres against the Toronto Maple Leafs this week 5 – Teams that scored seven or more goals this week 14 – Game goalless streak snapped by Alex Ovechkin 66 – Goals until Ovechkin ties Gretzky 9 – Short-handed goals by the Calgary Flames, first in the NHL 0 – Shorties for the Bruins, Lightning and Blue Jackets
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
- Winnipeg
- Vancouver
- Tampa Bay
- NY Islanders
- Philadelphia
Bottom 5
- Anaheim
- Chicago
- San Jose
- Ottawa
- Detroit
NFL Thoughts
This has been one of the more dramatic endings of an NFL season. I am also baffled at who coaches pick to play quarterback and why most analysts can’t evaluate them. I mentioned how Shannon Sharpe had said he had no confidence in Brock Purdy, and now he’s his favorite to win MVP. Funny how that works. A few weeks ago, he said, “I don’t know if Mac Jones is the Patriot’s future quarterback, but I damn sure know it’s not Bailey Zappe.” My only thought was, have you actually seen him play? It’s been clear for some time that Zappe has more potential than Mac Jones. In the games, he started when Mac Jones was injured, and when he came in to relieve Jones in the second half of a game, not in garbage time, he has done more. If the Patriots could actually get a more innovative offensive coordinator and a true number-one wide receiver, they’d be a playoff team. The Patriots let the Broncos back into the game because they were too conservative, which led to three-and-outs. It looked like they were playing for overtime, which is dumb because you need to drive to score points eventually. If the Patriots or Bears move on from Zappe or Justin Fields for, say, Caleb Williams, they’re nuts. Both have the potential to be great, and I think it’s fifty-fifty. Williams is a bust. I don’t like how he’s played or his body language when USC has been in important games and situations. He doesn’t win the games either. It’s odd when someone who caught passes from NFL quarterbacks can’t tell when one will be good. Maybe Sharpe will learn one day. But it shows that one has nothing to do with the other. That’s why John Elway is terrible at it, too.
I hate when busts are taken high because they hang around forever. That’s why Mitch Trubisky is still around. If you don’t want Mason Rudolph to be your starter, that’s fine, but if you think Trubisky is a better backup, you’re nuts. The Steelers apparently went with Trubisky because he has experience being a franchise guy. It’s like, so? He was terrible when he was the franchise guy. That’s why he’s playing for his third franchise. He shouldn’t have been drafted in the first round or be playing anymore. I hate it when teams compound other people’s bad decisions. It’s also laughable that Nick Mullens is playing over Josh Dobbs. Dobbs isn’t perfect, but he doesn’t make the mind-bogglingly stupid throws Mullens makes. It’s also funny that a 38-year-old Joe Flacco is outplaying someone the Cleveland Browns paid a quarter of a billion dollars.