3 Things: Panthers vs. Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning will open its season at home against the Florida Panthers tonight at 7:30 p.m. 

Here are three things to watch for in tonight's game: 

1.) Make Bottom Six Beat You- Bolts

The Lightning are going to need to keep the top six forwards of the Panthers off the board. If they can manage to keep them off the board or at least in check then they will have a chance at winning the game, and stealing two important divisional points. The Panthers don't seem to have a lot in the bottom six that would really scare you offensively so the Bolts need to get favorable matchups out tonight especially with last change. If Tampa Bay can keep Jonathan Huberdeau, Sasha Barkov and Vincent Trocheck off the board then they should be in good shape tonight.

2.) Attack the Lightning Defense- Panthers

The Panthers need to get in on the forecheck and pressure the Lightning's defense every time they have the puck. Dan Girardi is being used with Victor Hedman on the top pair for the opening game, and he will turn the puck over if pressured. Mikhail Sergachev is a rookie playing in only his fifth NHL game, so Florida should see if they can rattle him, and hit him at every opportunity they  have. The Lightning defense will turn the puck over, but they can also move the puck well so the Panthers are going to need to get in on the forecheck quick tonight.

3.) Get the First Goal- Bolts & Panthers

Tampa Bay will have the home crowd behind them tonight especially since it is the home opener. The Bolts will need to get the first goal to keep the crowd into the game, and then keep building on the lead. The Panthers need to get the first goal to get the crowd out of the game, and make the Bolts chase the lead. If Florida can manage to get the first goal then they need to build on the lead. 

Lightning Strikes: Weekly Preview 10/4/17-10/7/17

The Tampa Bay Lightning start off the season with a home-and-home series against Atlantic Division Rival, the Florida Panthers.

On Friday night, the Lightning host the Panthers. If the Bolts want to win the game then they will keep to keep the trio of Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck and Sasha Barkov off the board. Tampa Bay needs to make the other Panthers on the ice beat them. The Lightning should use the loud, raucous crowd to its advantage to get off to a fast start. Tampa Bay is going to need to get the first goal to keep the crowd in the game and they'll need to use its balanced attack. If the Bolts can manage to get some pucks on net then they'll have a decent shot at winning the game.

If the Panthers want a chance at getting a big two points in the division, and on the road, then they'll need to get production up-and-down the lineup. They can't just rely on three players for its offense, everyone is going to need to pitch in. Florida will need to be smart with the puck and avoid turnovers in the neutral zone and its own zone because the Bolts will take advantage of mistakes. The Panthers need to play a solid, defensive road game. The Cats need to get in on the forecheck, pressure the Lightning defense, and get the first goal of the game.

These two teams will face off the next night, but this time the Panthers are the home team. If the Panthers want to win the game then the team will need to bring a balanced attack. Florida will need to try and go glove side or elevate the puck, if Andrei Vasilveskiy is in net for the Bolts. If Peter Budaj is in net for the Bolts, then the Panthers just need to get some pucks towards the net and have some movement going post-to-post. The Cats may also want to stay out of the penalty box and get the first goal of the game to keep the crowd behind them.

The Bolts will need to get off to a fast start, and take the lead to get the crowd out of the game. Tampa Bay needs to establish a cycle game early along with a good forecheck, just to limit the Panthers offensive zone time. The Lightning also need to get pucks on net and traffic in front of the opposing goal, whomever that may be since these two teams play on back-to-back nights. The Bolts are going to need a solid road effort and to shut down the Panthers. 

Flyers Trade Brayden Schenn to the Blues

The trades started coming early and often on NHL Draft Day, but once the Draft started all was quiet on the trade front until the Dallas Stars decided to get things moving.

The Stars and Chicago Blackhawks traded late first round picks, and then the door starting opening for some other things to happen. The biggest trade of the night involved the Philadelphia Flyers and the St. Louis Blues. Philly had already taken center Nolan Patrick second in the Draft, but the team decided it wasn’t going quietly into the night. 

The Flyers traded center Brayden Schenn to the Blues in exchange for the 27th pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, center Jori Lehtera and a conditional first round pick in 2018. The conditions on the additional draft pick are that it is top 10 protected for 2018. If the pick is in the top 10 for the Blues next season then the pick would be deferred to a 2019 first rounder, and the Flyers would also receive a 2020 3rd rounder should this be the case. 

After the trade was announced, Philadelphia was on the clock with the 27th pick in the Draft, and they chose center Morgan Frost. According to a write up on Frost by The Hockey Writers, the kid is smart and has hockey sense. He doesn't give up on the play, is a good skater and a great passer. The downside of Frost is that he needs to learn to shoot more instead of looking pass first and he needs to build up his strength. The center won’t be ready to play in the NHL for a few years, but the Flyers have enough depth at center that he can take his developing.

A change of scenery could probably wind up being a good thing for Jori Lehtera. He would have been the odd man out in St. Louis since Vladimir Sobodka came back last season from playing overseas, and signed a contract extension last season. Lehtera’s offensive production has been slipping the past few seasons in St. Louis. The center only has seven goals, 15 assists and 22 points in 64 regular season games played last season. He also was a healthy scratch a few times, and was watching games from the press box.

Lehtera has good vision, which makes him a decent playmaker. He has size, but doesn’t use it nearly enough. He shies away from being physical and he doesn’t like to hit. The veteran center is probably an upgrade over Schenn in his own zone. Lehtera needs to find a way to be consistent for 60 minutes of hockey game and throughout a full season. The center won 49.16% of his face-offs that he took last year.

Lehtera has two years left on his current contract, which has a cap hit of $4.7 million per season. He will become an unrestricted free agent after the  2018-19 season.

Schenn is a natural center, but whether he will remain there with the Blues is to be determined. In 79 games last year, he had 25 goals, 30 assists, 55 points and seven game-winning goals. He played at even strength and on the power play, where he registered 17 goals and 28 points. The biggest reason the Flyers were willing to part with the young center is mostly likely due to his lack of production while playing at even strength. He only scored eight goals at even strength and almost half of his total points came while on the man advantage.

There were times last season when he was completely shut down by the opposition at even strength. He isn’t exactly known for being the best defensive forward in the League, and he is known for being a little slow to get back in position to make a good defensive play. If the Blues want to keep him at center then he’s going to have to improve in the face-off circle. Schenn needs to become more consistent in all phases of his game and the forward needs to be better with his game-to-game consistency. 

Schenn has  been know to stand up for his teammates and get in on the forecheck. He has three years remaining on his current contract, which has a cap hit of $5.125 million per season. Schenn will be a free agent at the end of the 2019-20 season.

This is the second trade in about six months where the Flyers have taken on a player whose team needs to get rid of him for salary cap purposes. Let’s just hope this doesn’t become the norm for Ron Hextall and the Flyers.

Flyers Need to Find a Way to Score Goals

The Philadelphia Flyers will return home to the Wells Fargo Center on Monday night, down 0-2 in its series against the Washington Capitals.

 

The Wells Fargo Center will be electric and emotional at the same time. The fans will be its usual rowdy self since they haven't seen playoff hockey in two years. The building will also have an emotional side to it since Philadelphia will be paying tribute to its former owner Ed Snider, who passed away last week at the age of 83. The Orange and Black have been wearing patches in his honor and teams around the NHL have been paying tribute with a moment of silence.

 

If the Flyers want to have a chance to get back into this series then the offense needs to show up and in a big way. The Orange and Black have one goal through two full games and that came from Jake Voracek in the second period of game two. Voracek's goal came during four on four play after Nick Cousins and Andre Burakovsky each went to the penalty box for 2:00 for roughing. The team has had its chances but they either can't finish or Braden Holtby has been there to make the save.

 

Philadelphia needs to get more traffic in front of the Capitals' goalie. They have had some traffic in and around the net but not enough to take away Holtby's eyes. On some of the shots that they've taken there has been a player just cruising through the crease looking for a rebound, and not standing in front of the goalie trying to distract him. The Flyers did a good job in the first period of game two of getting through the neutral zone with speed, which needs to continue in game three. The Orange and Black will need to get in on the forecheck and try to create more plays from down behind the net.

 

The Flyers will be able to get the matchups that they want in game three since they're the home team and have last change. If they want to get Claude Giroux, Voracek and Wayne Simmonds away from the Ovechkin line then Dave Hakstol has that option. Philadelphia also needs to be more physical especially with Alex Ovechkin, who has been throwing his weight around in the series so far. The only three Flyers to have points in the series are Voracek, Brayden Schenn and rookie Shayne Gostisbehere. Sam Gagner has looked good in the first playoff series of his career and has created some chances.

 

The Orange and Black will need to feed off the home crowd and get some goals early since the Capitals tend to get better as the game goes on.

Kari Lehtonen Leading the Way for the Stars

Lindy Ruff had been rotating his goaltenders during the regular season, so the Dallas Stars' starter for game one of the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild could go either way.

Ruff chose to start Kari Lehtonen over Antti Niemi in the crease and that has worked out for the Stars in the first two games of the series so far. Lehtonen has carried his strong end of the season play into the postseason. He was 8-1-0 in his last nine regular season games played where he had a 1.68 goals against average to go with a .935 save percentage. The goalie's strong play helped the Stars to win the Central Division over the St. Louis Blues and avoid facing the defending champions, Chicago Blackhawks, in the first round.

In the first two games of the series, Lehtonen is 2-0-0 having faced only 48 shots while allowing only one goal. The goalie has a 0.50 goals against average, a .979 save percentage and one shutout in the postseason. In his previous eight postseason games, Lehtonen had a record of 2-6 to go with a 3.88 goals against average and a .874 save percentage.

In game one, he only faced 22 shots and none of them got passed him. In game two, he faced 26 shots against but did have to make a couple of critical saves at the end of the second period. Charlie Coyle and Mikko Koivu had some chances with 2.4 seconds left in the second period, but Lehtonen made the saves to protect the Stars 1-0 leading entering the final period. The Wild finally solved Lehtonen in the third period of game two on a power play to bring the score to 2-1 in favor of Dallas. The goal by Marco Scandella ended a 112:42 playoff shutout streak for Lehtonen.

Lehtonen was busy in the third period as the Stars were outshot 8-4 in the final period in game two. The goalie has been making the saves that need to be made and is square to the shooters. He also seems to be tracking the puck well in the series so far. Lehtonen has only had to face 48 shots through two games so he has also gotten some help from the players in front of him whether they are blocking shots or just being in good position so the Wild can't get the shots through to him. Minnesota is without one of its top forwards in Zach Parise, who is out with an injury.

The Stars may have a 2-0 lead in the series, but the Wild will look to take full advantage of home ice for the next two games. The Wild will looks to use the energy from its home crowd to try cut the Stars' series lead in half.

Capitals, Mike Richards Agree to One Year Deal

The Washington Capitals have signed free agent forward, Mike Richards for the remainder of the season.

Richards signed a one-year, $1 million contract on Wednesday. This was a low-risk move for the Capitals because if it doesn't work out then Richards can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Richards had his contract terminated in June by the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings claimed that he had breached the terms of his contract and that's why it was terminated. The 30-year-old forward was facing legal action due to trying to enter Canada while in the possession of a controlled substance. He is still awaiting his preliminary court hearing. While with the Kings, Richards won two Stanley Cups, one in 2012 and the other in 2014. He also made another Finals appearance while with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010.

The center hasn't played in a game since April 9, 2015 so he could go to the AHL for some game action and conditioning. In the 2014-15 season, he played in 53 games and registered 16 points while seeing 13:21 of ice time per game. He is a two-way forward that isn't afraid to drop the gloves or stick up for a teammate. He will play a physical game, but he can also be a little inconsistent in the offensive zone.

Richards can play both on the power play and while a man down. He will be reunited with his former teammate, Justin Williams, who is in his first season with the Capitals. Richards and Williams were teammates in Los Angeles, where they won two Stanley Cups.

In 710 NHL games, Richards has 179 goals, 303 assists, 482 points and has added 50 power play goals to go along with 28 shorthanded tallies.

Maple Leafs Acquire Jeremy Morin From Blackhawks

The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired forward Jeremy Morin from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forward Richard Panik.

Morin has spent this season playing for the Blackhawks' AHL Affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. He was tied for the lead in points with 22. Morin was tied for second on the team with nine goals, and second in assists with 13 of them. The forward has played in 28 games, has tallied nine goals, 13 assists, 22 points and is a plus seven. Morin isn't afraid to shoot the puck since he already has 74 shots so far this season.

Morin's best month was December when he averaged exactly a point per game played (11 points in 11 games). He has plenty of experience in the AHL, where he averages 0.76 points per game. Morin has some NHL experience too, but only 82 games worth. In those 82 games, he has 10 goals, 12 assists, 22 points, is a plus eight and has 141 shots.

The forward can put the puck in the net especially at the AHL level, where he has 90 career goals. He has a decent shot and isn't afraid to take it whenever he can. Morin can play either wing, but needs to work on his defense. This is the second time that Morin has been traded from the Blackhawks in his career.

The Blackhawks acquired forward Richard Panik in the deal. Panik has spent this season with the Maple Leafs' AHL Affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. Panik spent last season with the Maple Leafs and in in 76 games, he had 11 goals, six assists and tallied 17 points. Panik had zero points in four preseason games and was sent to the Marlies prior to the NHL season starting. Another factor in Panik getting sent down could have been the offseason moves, including a coaching change by the Leafs.

Panik was fifth on the Marlies with 25 points. He was sixth in goals with nine and fourth in assists with 16. In 33 games, he has nine goals, 16 assists, 25 points and 66 shots to go with two game-winning goals. He has had a balanced start to the season, but Panik could stand to shoot the puck a little more.

He can score and setup his teammates. Panik could stand to improve his play in his own end and without the puck. He seems to spend a lot of time in the penalty box for a skilled player. He has spent 185 minutes in 161 career AHL games. He has played in 161 AHL games, where he has 53 goals, 65 assists, 118 points and is a plus 36.

The trade could give each player a chance to start over and eventually make it back to the NHL.