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Vladimir Tarasenko

Central Notes: Darling, Subban, Tarasenko, Maurice

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The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins 1-0 Friday night thanks to another stellar game from Scott Darling. Darling has been superb this season, and as it usually goes for the Blackhawks, is due a pay raise when his contract expires after this season. Mark Lazerus writes that even with all the success, Darling is quick to credit his teammates for any one of his performances while also counting Corey Crawford as “one of the best goalies in the world.” In Darling’s mind, Lazerus reports, there is no goalie controversy, no matter how strong Darling continues to play.

In other Central Division news:

  • The return of P.K. Subban will continue to be a  delicate process writes the Tennessean’s Adam Vingan. Subban was supposed to play less in last night’s game but ended up logging 23 minutes of ice time. Vingan also reports that just having Subban’s presence in the lineup proves to be an immediate boon for the Predators’ possession game. With the Preds winning five of their last six, Vingan adds that there’s no rush for Subban to return to pre-injury form.
  • Stuck on 20 goals for a half dozen games, Jeremy Rutherford reports that Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock will move Vladimir Tarasenko in an effort to generate scoring. Tarasenko will move to a line with Patrik Berglund and Robby Fabbri since Berglund has notched 10 goals in his last 16 games. Rutherford adds that Berglund cannot recall ever being on the same line with Tarasenko in his five years with the Blues.
  • The Winnipeg Sun’s Paul Friesen doesn’t envy  Jets bench boss Paul Maurice in having to deal with all of the different personalities on the team. But he is “puzzled” by Maurice’s approach. Friesen compares Maurice’s handling of 20-year-old Nik Ehlers with that of 31-year-old Dustin Byfuglien, and just how different it is working with a veteran and a rookie. Friesen reports that while Maurice was quick to explain Ehler’s shortcomings, he’s unsure as to why a veteran like Byfuglien is immune to the same critiques. He just wonders how Maurice will get a more consistent effort out of both players.

Snapshots: NHL Three Stars, Grabner, Koivu

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The NHL has named Steve Mason, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Martin Jones as the three stars of the week.

Mason went 4-0-0 with a 0.945 SV% and a 1.71 GAA. He made 120 saves in those four games. Mason’s great week has boosted the Flyers back into a wildcard spot. He’s one win away from tying his career-best winning streak. Mason now has a 9-8-3 record with a 0.908 SV% and a 2.76 GAA for the season. Prior to his hot week, he had a save percentage of 0.892, which is not good for a starting goalie.

Tarasenko had four goals and five points in four games as the Blues earned five of six possible points. He scored the overtime winner against Dallas on November 28th, and then potted a hat-trick on December 1 against the Lightning. His four points against Tampa Bay matched his career high. Tarasenko now has 27 points in 25 games, good for third in the NHL behind only Connor McDavid (34 points) and Nikita Kucherov (29 points).

Jones had a 3-0-0 record with a 0.962 SV% and a goals-against of 1.01. He allowed just one goal in each appearance, as the Sharks passed Edmonton for first in the Pacific Division. Jones is tied for second among goalies with 13 wins, and has a sparkling 0.924 SV% and 1.99 GAA with two shutouts.

  • The New York Rangers will be without Michael Grabner on Tuesday night. After the speedy winger practiced on the fourth defense pair with Adam Clendening, NHL Live host Jim Cerny tweeted that Grabner had a death in his family and will be a scratch against the Islanders. Grabner has been lights-out this year, with 13 goals in 26 games so far.
  • Wild captain Mikko Koivu had a tremendous game on Sunday night. He scored the overtime winner, dangling around Oilers goalie Jonas Gustavsson, but also won an astounding 91.3% of his face-offs (21/23). In a league where a face-off percentage higher than 50% is considered good, Koivu had an unreal night. He’s currently sitting at 55% on the season.

Blues Notes: Steen, Shattenkirk, Hutton

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When David Backes left the St. Louis Blues this offseason, they saw one of their longest tenured player and leaders depart without much fanfare. Backes slipped into free agency and landed a big deal with the Boston Bruins to work down in their lineup and give them some secondary scoring and two-way play.  With Backes gone, the Blues decided to lock up one of their other cornerstone forwards, giving Alex Steen a four-year extension on Friday.

As Matt Larkin of The Hockey News opines in his latest column, it was Backes’ departure that made it necessary to lock up Steen and not completely turn the keys over to the new wave of St. Louis stars (namely Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz). To do it, they may have overpaid slightly. Larkin emphasizes Steen’s checkered injury history when discussing the terms, and he’s right to do so. Steen hasn’t played in 80+ games since 2006-07 when he was with the Maple Leafs, and indeed has only suited up for more than 70 twice in his eight-year Blues career.

  • Kevin Shattenkirk was going to be traded. There were no doubts in his mind that at the draft or during free agent frenzy he’d be on the move out of St. Louis. It just made too much sense to everyone involved. As Louie Korac of NHL.com writes however, Shattenkirk didn’t get dealt and is very excited about it. “The grass isn’t always as greener. It’s a cliché, but it kind of fits in this sense. Don’t just leave to leave, make sure that it’s a good fit for you. St. Louis has been a great fit ever since I stepped foot here, ” Shattenkirk says, when talking about the potential trade. He also notes that being given the alternate-captain role for this upcoming season (the Blues named Alex Pietrangelo their newest captain) was a huge moment for him, as he’d been dreading a phone call from GM Doug Armstrong during the trade rumors. Even though he wasn’t dealt this summer, don’t think the rumors will go away – an elite talent on an expiring contract is exactly the type of player that moves at the trade deadline.
  • When the Blues signed Jake Allen to a huge extension, and dealt Brian Elliott to the Flames they needed a new full-time backup for the upcoming season. Carter Hutton, the man who eventually was given that job, says it was a no-brainer to come to St. Louis. After three years with Nashville, the 30-year old backup puts it simply: “It’s one of those things. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”  Hutton has faced the Blues six times in his career and is 0-2-3 with an .882 save percentage and 3.42 GAA.

Snapshots: Blues, Hall, Seguin

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The St. Louis Blues will have a vastly different look this season after a summer of big changes. In an online chat on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website, Jeremy Rutherford chatted about some of the differences Blues fans can expect this coming season.

Regarding the Brian Elliott trade, Rutherford believed Blues GM Doug Armstrong made the trade to avoid losing him for nothing next summer when Elliott is a UFA. While the trade could go wrong if Jake Allen struggles or gets hurt, the trade makes sense, asset-management wise.

Former captain David Backes left town for a bigger contract in Boston; while Backes claimed Bruins forwards Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand convinced him to sign in Boston, Rutherford shut down that idea saying players will sign wherever is best for them and that if the Blues had offered Backes a fifth year, then it wouldn’t have mattered what Bergeron and Marchand said. As far as replacing Backes as captain, Rutherford felt it was safe to assume one of the remaining assistant captains (Alex Pietrangelo and Alex Steen) would be the new captain. The new assistant would likely be one of Paul Stastny, Jaden Schwartz, and Vladimir Tarasenko – who Rutherford believed was “pretty disappointed to not get an A last year”.

Here are some other notes from around the hockey world:

  • It’s New Jersey Devils day on Pro Hockey Talk, and they have named Taylor Hall as their player under pressure this season. Adam Gretz justified the choice by saying while he knows Hall will produce, he’ll be under scrutiny because of the perception that he’s at fault for the Oilers misfortunes over the last six years and the high price that the Devils parted with to acquire him. Oscar Klefbom’s comments about Hall and Ben Scrivens subsequent agreement will also be weighing on Hall as he looks to prove his former team and teammates wrong.
  • Speaking of top picks from the 2010 NHL Draft that Peter Chiarelli has traded, Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin says he’s ready to go for the upcoming World Cup in September. Seguin missed all but one of the Stars playoff games with Achilles and calf injuries. Seguin told Steve Hunt of NHL.com it’s been “a bit of a different summer as far as training-wise just coming off an injury, but feeling great and looking forward to the World Cup”.

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