Morning Player Notes (Apr 5)

I suppose I could have done a little bit more research on the potential scratches for the Boston Bruins last night, as it wasn't just David Krejci taking a seat and a rest against the Minnesota Wild.  He was joined by Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Zdeno Chara, since this game really didn't mean much of anything.  The Bruins were still able to walk away with a 3-0 win, despite not having some of their top players.  Boston closes out their regular season schedule on Saturday afternoon against the Lightning and there's no word on the lineup just yet.

Added to the list of teams missing out on skater games on Thursday night were Stuart, Brenda & Seward and Benson.  The duo are the only one of the three teams currently looking to move a spot in the standings, gaining a little on 22nd, now only 4 points back with two nights to go.

With the Ottawa Senators giving Joey Daccord his NHL debut in net against the Sabres last night, a 5-2 loss, they were able to give veteran goalie Craig Anderson the night off as a healthy scratch.  Anderson's season may not be done though, as the Senators will conclude their season on Saturday against the Blue Jackets and what a tough season it was.  Anderson still has one more year on his 35+ contract, which likely means he'll still be around for another year of rebuilding with the Senators.

Mike's team has now dropped back to 8 points of 20th place in the standings with only a couple of nights of action left.  It seems rather improbable that his team is going to make that up, but on the plus side, his team won't drop any further.

Flyers sophomore forward Nolan Patrick was a late scratch for their game in St. Louis on Thursday night, citing an upper-body injury as the reason why he sat.  He's currently considered day-to-day and is questionable for the team's finale, at home to the Hurricanes on Saturday night.  If Patrick can't go, his season would finish with 31 points in 72 games, hovering around the top 300 in hockey pool scoring this season, right around where he finished his rookie season, 30 points in 73 games.

It may have been Scott's bias that had him hopeful for a big sophomore season, but it just wasn't to be.  I would, however, start considering him to be one of those year three breakout players.  Scott's team didn't make up much ground last night, still 4 points from passing Derek B. for 24th after Thursday night.

There's some legitimate concern for Timo Meier of the San Jose Sharks, as he crashed into the boards and had Darnell Nurse fall on top of him last night in the 3rd period and was forced from the game with an apparent wrist injury.  Meier went for X-rays last night, but the results were not immediately available after the game, so it's a wait-and-see game.  If one had to guess, I would be leaning towards doubtful for the team's finale against the Avalanche on Saturday night, just to err on the side of caution, but the real concern is for the start of the playoffs.

If Meier does miss out on the last game of the season, he can say he had a productive 2019 campaign for Dale C.'s pool team, posting 30 goals and 66 points in 78 games, which currently has him ranked 68th in pool scoring after Thursday night.  Dale's team currently holds the 10th spot in the standings and there's still wiggle room, up and down, before the end of the season.

St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko was held out of the lineup for the game against the Flyers, due to a maintenance day, dealing with a minor undisclosed injury, to which the team says that if this was a playoff game, he would dress and play.  An extra game or two of rest will probably go a long way for his performance in the opening round of the playoffs, which their match-up is currently wide open to decide, even with one game to go.  I would imagine Parayko gets the finale off as well, since the team has clinched and they are hosting the summer-bound Canucks on Saturday afternoon.

Another body down for Dale C., who may have some trouble defending 10th place, if his team is losing all of these bodies before the end of the regular season.  It's still unclear if Parayko will go in the finale or not, 28 points in 80 games isn't a bad year all told though.

The Tampa Bay Lightning took advantage of their clinched positioning to do a little bit of resting ahead of the playoffs, as forward J.T. Miller was the body that came out of the lineup for their game against the Maple Leafs on Thursday night.  Miller has been good for the Bolts this season, posting 13 goals and 45 points in 74 games this year and may have just needed a night off or was just the guy that came out to give Ryan Callahan a spin around the ice for the night.  The reasoning wasn't quite clear, but that's what happened in the end.

The Vancouver Canucks had Jake Virtanen back in the lineup, as pointed out in the preview yesterday afternoon, but we weren't quite sure who was coming out of the lineup, but it was Sven Baertschi coming out again, likely as a healthy scratch more than an injury.  Baertschi did come back from an injury a couple of weeks ago and his conditioning has been an issue since then.  There's no word on the team's finale on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, as to who will dress or not, so we'll see how that all plays out.

Between Miller and Baertschi, it was a tough night for Troy's team, which still occupies the Basement Dweller spot in the weekly scoring with 6 points through Thursday night's action.  It's not the end of the world just yet, since there are eight teams within 4 points of his team, but these teams already have their points to avoid the basement and who knows if Troy will have those bodies on Saturday?

Morning Player Notes (Apr 3)

It sounded like Toronto defenseman Jake Muzzin was a game-time decision for Monday night's game on Long Island with an illness and it must have really caught up to him, because he was a scratch on Tuesday night, at home to the Canadiens.  The Leafs are at home to the Lightning on Thursday night and I would assume that both Muzzin and Andreas Johnsson, who also missed the game last night, will draw back into the lineup.  The Leafs are locked into the 3rd spot in the Atlantic, so this game coming up isn't worth a whole lot, it will be used to stay sharp.

Neil's team has been rolling right along in the first couple of nights, despite not having Muzzin in the lineup last night.  His team has already posted 11 points and is now 8 points clear of 8th place, trying to lock down 7th place for the end of the year.

Winnipeg forward Brandon Tanev was injured last night in the game against the Minnesota Wild, as he took a slash to the hand from Eric Staal, suffering what is officially being called an upper-body injury.  There was no immediate update on Tanev's situation, so he'll be listed as out day-to-day, but with the Jets in the thick of a Central Division title battle, I'm sure the Jets are hopeful that it isn't very serious.  The Jets have two more games left before the playoffs, so it will be a balance between the division and being ready for Game 1.

For Brian's team, it has taken the lead in the Basement Dweller race for the last week of the season, as his team has only posted 2 points through the first couple of nights.  His team now sits in 17th, dropping a couple of spots in the early part of the week.

Evening Preview (Apr 2)

There's going to be plenty of playoff ramifications in the 10 games on the NHL schedule tonight, which may be a little bit more exciting than some of the hockey pool races that are left, but we'll mix in a little bit of both, just like we have been doing for the last few weeks.

Stacey M. retook 2nd place on Monday night, gaining a 2-point advantage over Kristy & Don and Stacey still has a slight advantage in the projected games to be played column on the standings page as well.

Jesse and Tony both got off to good starts last night, Jesse passing Grant's team for 4th place and made up a little bit of ground on the duo, now 19 points back heading into tonight's action.

Dale C. and Ryan both made up some ground on Wes' team for a top 10 spot in the standings this year, Wes' team is now clinging to a 2-point buffer for that last coveted spot in the standings.

Finally, Derek B.'s team leads Scott's team 1-0 this week in the battle for the basement, Derek's team is now 4 points clear at the start of play tonight.  Scott's team had the chances last night, but couldn't post the points.

Lots to go on the schedule today, so let's get right at it.

Pekka Rinne (John P.) versus Carter Hutton (Wes)
The Nashville Predators dropped to 3rd in the Central last night, thanks to tie-breakers not in their favour, but they could retake 2nd with a win in Buffalo tonight.

The pool goalie match-up will see Pekka Rinne going for John P. and his 15th place team against Carter Hutton and his 10th place team in the standings.  Right now, John's team could finish as high as 14th and as low as 18th, while Wes' 10th place hold isn't very strong, only 4 points clear of 13th, so both are jockeying for their own final placement, but where they are, they're not related at all, given the gap between 13th and 14th.

On the injury front, it sounds like Rasmus Ristolainen is ready to return for the last few games of the season for the Sabres, which is okay news for Jeremy's 19th place team.  As it has been mentioned over the last few days, his team is resting comfortably with no hope and no stress.

Tuukka Rask (Jesse) versus Sergei Bobrovsky (Kristy & Don)
The Boston Bruins are in and are now just jockeying for position in the Atlantic Division race, while the Columbus Blue Jackets have been red hot of late and looking to secure their spot in the playoffs in a come from behind sort of fashion.  The Jackets have very little breathing space to work with, but the teams they are racing against, much like themselves, have difficult opposition tonight, so a loss might not be the end of the world.

It's a pretty solid top four goalie match-up tonight, as Jesse's team is tracking down the money spots and he gets a key start for the Bruins and Tuukka Rask tonight, something to possibly shave down the gap between his team and 3rd place.  Kristy & Don occupy that spot and they have the reigning Player of the Week starting, Sergei Bobrovsky, so I would say that this is the hockey pool game of the night and one worth watching.

Petr Mrazek (Stacey C.) versus Garret Sparks (Grant)
The Hurricanes are one of those teams that the Jackets are racing against in that 3-team race for two wild card spots and Carolina has drawn the Maple Leafs tonight, who coincidentally, is racing against the Bruins for 2nd place in the Atlantic.  I'm sure they are looking at Columbus saying, "we'll scratch your back, if you scratch ours" tonight.

Grant gets the first of two starts tonight with Garret Sparks going for the Leafs tonight.  Grant's team lost 4th place in the standings last night to Jesse and starts 2 points out and 21 points out of 3rd, so he'll need some real help from the crease tonight, if he's going to have a chance at anything.  For Stacey C., it looks like the best his team can finish is 7th and his team starts 6 points back of that spot at the start of play tonight, but gets a start from Petr Mrazek and the Canes, as they hunt down a playoff spot.

Eddie Pasquale (N/A) versus Carey Price (Stacey M.)
The third team in the 3-team race, the one currently on the outside looking in, the Montreal Canadiens, don't get any favours tonight, drawing the President's Trophy recipients, the Tampa Bay Lightning.  If there is any saving grace to this, the Bolts played last night, where the Habs didn't, so that could work in their favour a little.

Stacey M. appears to be getting the only pool start with Carey Price heading back to the crease for the Habs tonight, as they try and make that big push to a playoff spot.  Stacey's team is also trying to make that push to get away from Kristy & Don in 2nd place and both of those teams are getting starts here tonight, which should keep things very interesting.

Matt Murray (Scott) versus Jimmy Howard (Tony)
The Pittsburgh Penguins can punch their ticket into the playoffs tonight in the first of a home-and-home series with the Detroit Red Wings tonight, if they post a win in any fashion on the road tonight.  The Red Wings are more than happy to play spoiler, as they have two players really motoring in the scoring department right now and they could make the Penguins sorry, if the Pens take these games for granted.

Matt Murray was the first off the ice at the Penguins' skate this morning, meaning that Scott will get another start out of the Pittsburgh number one tonight.  Scott's team is the only one sitting at zero points at the start of play tonight.  The race to get out of last is far from over.  It doesn't seem very logical that the Red Wings would bring out a keeper for his first start against the Penguins, so it seems far more likely that Jimmy Howard gets the start again, but that has yet to be confirmed.  I'm sure Tony is looking for this start, hoping the Wings can play a spoiling role at home tonight.

One scratch expected tonight, as the Penguins didn't have Brian Dumoulin on the ice at the skate, he is not expected to play against Detroit due to a lower-body injury.  A missed skater game from the blueline likely won't hurt Neil's team too badly, but his team has reached its ceiling of 7th, now trying to stave off Stacey C. for the spot.

Eric Comrie (N/A) versus Devan Dubnyk (Wes)
Big Central Division match-up in Minnesota, when the Jets take on the Wild.  The Wild are looking at this game with a serious level of desperation, 5 points back of the last wild card spot, so they most definitely need a win in any fashion to at least have a chance, while the Jets, they're just looking to pad their small lead in the division, looking for that division title.

We knew the Wild were going into this big game with Devan Dubnyk back in the crease, giving Wes another start tonight, getting both keepers into the nets tonight will certainly help his chances at defending 10th place tonight.  The Jets haven't confirmed their goalie, but seeing as though they are on back-to-back nights and they still have two games remaining after this one, it seems very likely that they will finally give Eric Comrie a spin in net, since Laurent Brossoit may not be ready to go from his injury yet.

Cam Talbot (Mike) versus Anton Khudobin (Grant)
The Dallas Stars only need 1 point to get themselves into the playoffs and they get a team now playing for pride in the Philadelphia Flyers at home, but they shouldn't be taking this team likely, as the Flyers are a sly bunch and will play spoiler at the drop of a hat.

Grant's team does have a little bit of hope with a second start tonight, thanks to the Dallas Stars and Anton Khudobin getting the call against the Flyers.  It's not going to be an easy game, but one that he could win and help Grant retake 4th place and possibly make that late push for 3rd as well.  The Flyers are doing Mike's team a favour tonight and giving Cam Talbot another audition for a job for next season, as Mike may or may not (I'm not exactly sure, to be honest) want that 20th overall spot from Benson.

Mikko Koskinen (Tony) versus Semyon Varlamov (Wilton)
The Oilers were officially eliminated last night, while the Avalanche can eliminate the Blackhawks and pad their slight lead in the wild card with a win tonight.  Both teams are coming off of losses last night, so the curse of the back-to-back will do one of these teams in tonight.

Surprisingly, with not a whole lot to play for, Tony is going to be gifted another start from the Oilers, as they'll send Mikko Koskinen back to the net, which will certainly give him at least a chance for 2 points, but the Avalanche are going to be hungry for those points and I can't imagine the mood in the Oilers room is all that giddy.

Martin Jones (Brenda & Seward) versus Thatcher Demko (Clayton)
The San Jose Sharks are locked into 2nd place in the Pacific and the Vancouver Canucks have been out of the playoff picture for a few days now, so there isn't a whole lot to play for tonight, except for jobs and pride.

The Canucks will be giving rookie goalie Thatcher Demko a chance to improve their chances against the Sharks, a team they haven't had much success against in recent history.  Clayton's 17th place team sure hopes that's the case, but the best his team can do is 14th, so the hope for the pool points is somewhat moot.  Brenda & Seward will get another start from Martin Jones and the visiting Sharks tonight, as expected, their only start of the night, chasing down Chelsea's team, which misses out on a Canucks start tonight.

And if Clayton's team wanted that win, he probably didn't want to see the return of his forward Joe Pavelski to the Sharks lineup tonight.  It looks like he's ready to return from injury, after missing the last few weeks and sinking his pool team into the depths of the bottom half of the standings.

Jack Campbell (N/A) versus Darcy Kuemper (Neil)
The Arizona Coyotes have the most hope remaining in the schedule to possibly climb into a wild card spot, as they start the night only 2 points behind the Avalanche with three games to go and they have the tie-breakers in their back pocket, so they just need to get the points to make it really interesting too.  They get the Kings tonight, who lost last night to the Flames, which may bode well for the dogs, but this is why we play the game!

No surprises with the Coyotes tonight, as they will definitely be going with Darcy Kuemper again, giving Neil another start and a good chance at points in this game.  His grip on 7th could be strengthened by a good effort from the dogs tonight, especially with a road-weary club as their opponent.

Morning Player Notes (Apr 2)

Toronto Maple Leafs rookie forward Andreas Johnsson missed out on the playoff-clinching game last night on Long Island thanks to a bout of the flu.  He was under the weather and could not go in the game, currently listed as out day-to-day for right now.  The Leafs are right back at it tonight, at home against the Hurricanes, so there's usually a good chance a player will play the night after a day off with the flu, but there's an equal chance that he could use another night off, so I would say 50/50 he goes tonight.

After Monday's action, Wilton still sits in 9th place, now 5 points up on 10th place, so his spot in the top 10 is beginning to look a little cushier, but we still have plenty of hockey left this week and Johnsson's absence certainly won't help.

Calgary Flames forward Sam Bennett left the game against the Los Angeles Kings in the 2nd period with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Kings forward Kurtis MacDermid.  Bennett didn't return to the game, but the coaching staff said afterwards that Bennett was fine and that the team really dodged a bullet on this play, which is code for just about anything and everything, especially at playoff time.  If I had to guess, Bennett will probably get some rest in the final two games of the regular season, instead of pushing him and likely for good reason.

Troy's team is in the middle of a group that sits 14th to 18th, separated by only 4 points.  There isn't much for bragging rights, since even finishing atop this group means you were the top team below the equator in the standings.  Time to just ride this week out, I'm thinking.

Evening Preview (Apr 1)

The end of the tunnel is beginning to show some light and the NHL regular season is finally coming to a close this coming weekend.  We begin the last week of the season with eight games on the schedule and only a little bit to play for, by the look of things.

The race for 2nd place is alive and well, as the duo of Kristy & Don jumped up there with a monster week and Stacey M.'s team is probably still dizzy, wondering who or what just rushed past them last week.  Her team better get their asses in gear if they want the bigger prize.  Stacey's team does have a slight advantage in projected games this week, but will it pay off?

Grant, Jesse and Tony will all battle it out for 4th place and I'm sure all three teams are hoping that they all have really big weeks to not only separate themselves from the other two, but to possibly catch 3rd place, but it will take another one of those record weeks, one would think.

Let's not forget about last place... both Derek B. and Scott are fighting tooth and nail to sleep down in the basement all summer long.  Hey, it's much cooler and more comfortable in that summer heat.  That's got to be rather enticing.

Pheonix Copley (Brian) versus Roberto Luongo (John P.) 
The Washington Capitals need a win and some help, if they are going to secure their Metro Division title tonight, as they will need the Islanders to lose in regulation for that to occur.  Both games go early, so we'll know before we head to bed tonight whether or not they'll have the top spot there.

Brian and John P. get starts in this one, as these two go toe-to-toe.  John's team trails Brian's by 6 points in the overall standings and it is the last gasp to try and work their way up the standings before we close up shop for the year.  There must be a little bit of pride in there somewhere.  After a quick review of the rest of the games... this is the hockey pool game of the night!

Henrik Lundqvist (Scott) versus Mackenzie Blackwood (N/A)
Scott gets a shot at passing Derek B. using a single goalie, as if to say it was really that easy.  Henrik Lundqvist has been tapped to go for the Rangers, when they head to the swamp to take on the Devils, where he'll face the rookie keeper, Mackenzie Blackwood, who has no pool ownership this season.  This game doesn't carry very much value to the overall scope of things, as the Rangers are 7 points up on the Devils in the standings and this swing won't affect the draft lottery odds very much, if at all.

The New Jersey Devils are expecting to be without forward Kyle Palmieri tonight, due to a lower-body injury.  He's considered to be day-to-day right now, but there won't be any rush to get him back, if only to possibly pad his numbers, if possible.  This will be a missed skater game for Brenda & Seward.

Frederik Andersen (Wilton) versus Robin Lehner (Chelsea)
The Toronto Maple Leafs can claim their spot in the playoffs tonight with a point against the New York Islanders tonight, but that will be far from an easy task, because the Islanders are still in the race for the Metro Division title, if they can put 2 points up from a win.

Wilton's team leads the group of teams vying for a top 10 spot, sitting in 9th and is only 11 points clear of 13th, so his team is hoping that it doesn't fall out, because the fall can be quick and painful, if he isn't getting the participation he needs to hold on.  Chelsea, on the other hand, also gets a start, but is looking to fend off the possibility of dropping to 23rd before it is all said and done, so she'd like those 2 points too.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (Dale C.) versus Craig Anderson (Mike)
The 1992 expansion cousins go head-to-head in a meaningless game, but it doesn't look like the Lightning are taking tonight off or at least their number one goalie doesn't seem to be taking the night off.  Dale C. and Mike are getting starts tonight in this game, which heavily favours the visitors, if they are not going to be resting anyone.  Dale's team is eyeing up the top 10, 4 points back, while Mike's team fell out of the top 20 and starts the night 4 points back of 20th.  Strange parallels at different points in the standings.

Lightning backup goalie Louis Domingue will not be dressing tonight, due to a lower-body injury.  You could argue whether or not this was a scheduled start for him, given the opponent, but he's unable to go, so Eric might have missed out on a chance at some extra minutes tonight.  His team has the tie-breaker on Dale's team for 11th, but won't get the start.

Philipp Grubauer (Jesse) versus Jordan Binnington (N/A)
The Colorado Avalanche could win themselves some breathing room in the wild card race tonight, as they open up the final week with only a 1-point lead over the Coyotes for the last spot in the west, but they get the tough task of the St. Louis Blues tonight.  The Avs have been running pretty confidently with Philipp Grubauer in net of late and he'll go again tonight, by the look of things, so that means Jesse's team gets that key start in his last gasp chase for 3rd place.

Connor Hellebuyck (Jeremy) versus Corey Crawford (N/A)
The Jets are still vying for top spot in the Central Division and they can go clear of the Predators with at least a point, but preferably 2 points, from the Blackhawks tonight in Chicago.  The Jets are not taking any chances, wanting to take on Dallas, rather than St. Louis in the opening round, so they will go back to Connor Hellebuyck tonight in a battle of number ones, but where only the visitors have the pool selected goalie. 

Does Jeremy have anything left to play for?  18 points back of 18th... 16 points clear of 20th... not really, eh!

Mikko Koskinen (Tony) versus Malcolm Subban (N/A)
The Edmonton Oilers can officially be eliminated from playoff contention if the Avalanche get at least a point tonight against the Blues and they will be scoreboard watching a little bit in Vegas, as they try to help their own cause as much as they can against the Golden Knights, but hopes have to be awfully low at this point.  Tony is hoping that the Oilers still have a little bit of fight left in their game, since he has their starting goalie and dreams of some money back in this hockey pool, but like the Oilers, the odds are long for any return this year, but it's not over until it's over.

David Rittich (Ryan) versus Jonathan Quick (Brenda & Seward)
The Calgary Flames clinched top spot in the division and the conference last night in San Jose, so they will get onto resting some players ahead of the final week of the season, given that it's only the Kings tonight and their B team should be able to polish off a W on back-to-back nights.  David Rittich will get the nod for the resting Flames, while Jonathan Quick should be tapped for the Kings tonight, giving Ryan and Brenda & Seward starts.  Ryan's team starting in 13th, the duo chasing Chelsea's team for 22nd, not a lot to go with here.

The pool scratches for Calgary appear to be as follows: Mark Giordano, Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk, T.J. Brodie and Noah Hanifin... which means that Derek B., Grant, Troy, Wes and Brian will all miss a game and the possibility of more in this last week.  I hope they aren't hoping for too much more this season.