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By and large, it was another successful weekend for the Maple Leafs.

Yes, they didn’t come away with the victory in Tampa, but you’re not going to win them all, right?

That said, Mitch Marner broke the franchise point streak record, and on top of that, Toronto extended its team point streak to an impressive 11 games (8-0-3). In fact, the Leafs haven’t lost in regulation since way back when on November 11th.

Furthermore, once again, Mitch Marner was a big topic of conversation on the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take. When he’s playing this way, there’s no doubt he’s one of the league’s premier talents. You love to see it.

 

Additionally, we discussed the call-up of Semyon Der-Arguchintsev. It’s underplayed, but for the first time in seemingly a while, the Leafs have had considerable contributions from their prospects/AHL call-ups. It’s been fantastic to see and certainly something this team needs when you’re paying the big boys what you are.

Lastly, we previewed the battle of the point streaks on Tuesday night in Dallas as Mitch Marner (19 games) squares off against Jason Robertson (18 games). Let’s go!

Meantime, for the PointsBet Canada bet of the day, I’m looking at a cheeky revenge narrative in Boston.

 

No Rosie tomorrow, which means another instalment of 3 Hits With Rosie. Also, I’ll preview Leafs/Stars, plus Red Wings forward Matt Luff will drop by.

Don’t forget to subscribe, like, and leave us a review wherever you’re checking us out!

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A steady diet of the same thing over and over eventually wore the Washington Capitals down Saturday night in Calgary. The Flames found some chemistry all over their lineup for the second straight outing. This time their strong effort resulted in some goals, the majority of which came after Darcy Kuemper left the game. If Calgary can keep this high level of play up for another game they may just get their confidence and their swagger back.

CF% – 63.95%, SCF% – 59.28%, HDCF% – 68.75%, xGF% – 63.67%

It’s a Team Game – Huge compliments to Calgary who stepped on the gas in the second period – got the lead they were looking for – then proceeded to lock things up in the third period. Not that they had an overabundance of anything themselves in the third frame (well, maybe goals) but the Capitals were limited to no high danger 5v5 opportunities. Calgary didn’t overwhelm the Caps any given one time rather they kept up a steady attack all night long. In order to do that their transitions through the neutral zone as well as their forechecking had to be operating successfully all night long. Strong fundamentals from Calgary.

Corsi King – Adam Ružička (74.44%) playing with the red hot Backlund (71.92%) turned into an electrifying combination on Hockey Night in Canada. Ružička himself has been able to produce offence no matter where he plays in the top 9. The Flames always seem to be on the verge of going in a losing direction because of a lack of goals when #63 swoops in and solves the problem. Nights like this when you go over the boards on-the-fly and you get to go straight into the offensive zone help everyone. Always being deployed into a situation where you have to dig yourself out of the defensive zone every other shift gets annoying.

Corsi Clown – None, not one. Lowest guy: Michael Stone (55.59%)

Under Pressure –

Taken By Chance – I’m never surprised to see Huberdeau (55.16 SCF% // 100 HDCF%) at the top of these lists anymore, the counting totals are just knocking at the door. I don’t know exactly what the final piece that needs to click in to place for the door to burst open, but I doubt that issue lies in him. At least when he’s not getting points he still dominates possession while out there – hard for them to score if they don’t have the puck.

xG Breakdown –

xGF% – Ružička (78.36%) is still doing all this with a significant ice time drop from the other forwards. You can chalk some of that up to not playing on the PK and only recently getting time on the second unit. I mean why not put your hot hand on the top unit with your other most skilled players. The power play is so stale any change to it would be welcome. MacKenzie Weegar (71.21%) continues to be a rock on defence. On nights when Rasmus Andersson (62.97%) and Noah Hanifin (60.60%) struggle to get out of their own zone Weegar always seems to come through. Now that wasn’t the case tonight, both defence pairings transitioned the puck quite well, but that has been an issue at times this year.

Game Flow –

Game Score –

Shot Heatmap –

In The Crease – I mean that’s a 5v5 shutout for Dan Vladar – 1.23 expected goals against with none getting behind him. At this point he’s earned an extended run of starts. I know you’ve got more dollars invested in the other guy but why wouldn’t you want to roll Vladar out with the way he’s been playing? Until the other guy gets back to steady form it’s a privilege to have such a skilled guy hold the fort.

Today’s Specials – I delete this section sometimes because I have nothing good to say about the Calgary Flames special teams very often. The strength has to be the penalty kill and it caved tonight. We all wish the power play could be the strength, but I can’t watch them do the same thing over and over again, constantly failing, only for them to switch where everyone stands and be shocked when that does next to nothing.

Player Spotlight – Andrew Mangiapane – Maybe the most important wildcard piece the Flames need at his top level for them to have any serious playoff hopes. They’ve got a battle ahead of them just to get into the playoffs already which makes Mangiapane finding ways to score even more important. He’s been dynamite ever since Brad Treliving told him to be a Honda Civic, now maybe the Flames GM could tell someone to get some Toyota Corolla in their step.

 The Goals –

Flashalytic’s 3 Stars –

1) Adam Ruzicka

2) Mikael Backlund

3) MacKenzie Weegar

The Flames return to action on Monday against the Arizona Coyotes at the Saddledome.

(Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)

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Amidst a 2022/23 season that has been far more defined by mismanagement than management, the Vancouver Canucks are at it again.

It’s really no surprise that Brock Boeser finds himself on the trade market. Coming into the season, the Canucks had just extended JT Miller, were looking to extend Bo Horvat, and had brought Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko into the fold. Clearly, Boeser’s spot in the top-six was being challenged, and many predicted that it would only be a matter of time before he found himself on the way out of town.

What comes as more of a surprise is the absolute fumbling of Boeser’s trade value that has occurred in the meantime.

Then again, maybe that should come as no surprise.

Let’s not forget that this season began with promises of being patient with Boeser, who had just suffered through the worst campaign of his career and then lost his father. Instead, Boeser received a hand injury in the preseason and was back in game action before the stitches had properly healed, as they would reopen later and land him back on the IR.

That set the tone for Boeser’s handling this year, and the most recent set of debacles are, in many ways, indicative of the whole of Canucks asset management of late.

It’s unclear when the Canucks decided to start shopping Boeser around, but that choice was probably made long before the decision to make him a healthy scratch against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday evening.

Traditionally, if you’re trying to trade an offensively-inclined player, you definitely want them in the lineup against a team like the Coyotes. It’s the perfect opportunity to juice those stats a little and put a little extra shine on an asset. If management were clearly communicating their plans to the coaching staff, there’s just no way Boeser would be scheduled to sit that game.

And yet, Bruce Boudreau made the call to scratch Boeser, and no one did anything to prevent it. A lack of internal communication — another running theme in 2022/23 — seemed to be the culprit here.

If you’re looking for further proof of that shoddy internal communication, look no further than the fact that Saturday’s matchup was also Hockey Fights Cancer Night, an event of enormous significance to Boeser and his family. The custom jersey that Boeser intended to wear that night, emblazoned with the name of his recently-deceased father, had already been stitched up.

And still, if not for a late Dakota Joshua injury, Boeser was meant to spend the game in the pressbox.

Afterward, Boudreau claimed ignorance of it being Hockey Fights Cancer Night, and there’s no reason not to believe him. Nor is there much need to point any fingers in particular here. One coach making a mistake for lack of knowledge is excusable, but an entire organization failing to then notify that coach of the implications of their actions is not. Once again, it’s patently obvious that the different branches of this franchise are not talking with one another nearly as much as they should be, and the results speak for themselves.

But someone is definitely talking to someone, because the leaks keep coming.

While all this was going down, Elliotte Friedman reported that the Canucks had given Boeser’s agent Ben Hankinson permission to talk to other teams about a potential trade.

https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1599233916967473152

It’s a bit of news that is as confusing as it is troubling, but there’s no real way to interpret it in favour of the Canucks.

Usually, when a team gives an agent permission to seek a trade, it’s because they’re trying to do a fringe player a solid. The tactic is almost never used on those players who actually have a tangible trade value. It’s also almost never done with players who are signed for long-term, and Boeser has three more years on his contract.

Either way, we can all safely agree that having a player agent negotiate trades, as opposed to the Canucks front office, is no way to land a good offer.

The assumption was that Boeser had asked for a trade, and that management was essentially telling him to figure it out himself.

Things got even more confusing when a subsequent report clarified that Boeser had not requested a trade at all.

https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1599602598478483458

Why then the weirdness with the agent? It’s hard to say, and in fact it’s hard to come up with any scenario in which any of this makes sense.

But the full truth of the situation doesn’t really matter, does it? Not when other teams know what they know.

Right now, other teams know that the Canucks are in a desperate enough situation to be making some bizarre decisions.

They know that internal communication is a weakness of the organization.

They know that tension in the dressing room exists, and that there’s now specifically some tension attached to Boeser and the coaching staff after the Hockey Fights Cancer snafu.

And they know that, with Boeser’s value at an all-time low, the Canucks aren’t even going to bother to shop him around that hard themselves.

It’s a recipe for low-ball offers, and it’s a near-guaranteed way to ensure that, whenever a trade does go down, the Canucks don’t receive anything near a proper return for Boeser.

If torpedoing Boeser’s trade value was the goal for the 2022/23 season, the Canucks have achieved it in record time.

If that wasn’t the goal, well…

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They don’t ask how, they ask how many.

Last season, it took 97 points to make the playoffs in the Western Conference. The Oilers are entering a softer part of their schedule this month with a handful of opponents who are beneath them in the standings. If they can capitalize and rack up some points, life becomes significantly easier down the stretch.

Saturday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens was a perfect example of two points the Oilers need to pick up. This wasn’t a dominant or pretty win by any stretch of the imagination but the result is all that matters, as the travel-tired, injury-riddled Oilers are far from 100 percent right now.

Nick Suzuki opened the scoring in the first period but the Oilers answered with three power-play goals in the first half of the second frame to take a 3-1 lead. Montreal battled back to tie the game but Darnell Nurse scored right before the end of the second period to give the lead back to Edmonton.

In the third, the Oilers shut the door, and Connor McDavid scored a dazzling goal to give the team some insurance.

THE DAY AFTER IS PRESENTED BY BETWAY

Thoughts… 

  • Normally after a game in which the Oilers scored four goals and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had four points the focus would be put on the team’s lack of depth scoring. For now, with Evander Kane, Ryan McLeod, Warren Foegele, and Kailer Yamamoto on the shelf, we can cut them some slack.
  • That being said, it’s puzzling that the injuries to Edmonton’s middle-six forward group hasn’t resulted in Dylan Holloway getting an opportunity to play a larger role. The rookie played just 7:07 on Saturday, less ice time than everybody on the team other than Tyler Benson. The Oilers can’t send Holloway to the Bakersfield Condors right now because they need talent on their roster, but if the coaching staff isn’t willing to give him a look while all of these players are out, when will they?
  • A game-changer for the Oilers in the second frame came when Joel Edmundson hammered Zach Hyman with a wildly undisciplined cross-check to the head while the Habs were already killing a penalty. Edmundson was booted from the game and Montreal had to navigate a five-minute major penalty on top of the minor they were already killing. There’s been talk that Edmundson could be a good fit for the Oilers as they seek a defensive defenceman to make them harder to play against in their own zone. As nice as it would be to add some nastiness to the blueline, we saw on Saturday night how detrimental it can be when that type of player goes overboard.
  • Next up, the Oilers host the struggling Washington Capitals on Monday. It’ll be the fifth game in a six-game road trip for the Caps and they’re coming off of a 5-2 loss in Calgary to the Flames. Washington currently sits at 10-12-4 on the season, good for 12th in the Eastern Conference.

The Nation Network on YouTube…

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We’re into December and reaching the heart of the NHL season. We have a firmer idea of who the contenders and pretenders are, meaning we might get some trade talk swirling soon. After all, not every star gets dealt at the deadline. Last season, Vegas pulled the trigger on Jack Eichel in November, while the Flames got Tyler Toffoli in February. Our own Frank Seravalli has already published his first Trade Targets list of 2022-23, headlined by Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat.

So, Daily Faceoff Roundtable, the question this week is…who is the first big-name player to get traded this season? 

MATT LARKIN: I don’t always snatch the low-hanging fruit, but I’ll do it this time just to be a jerk. It’s Jakob Chychrun, right? He’s perhaps the only high-impact name who is already more or less playing in protest of his current location. Chychrun is back from injury and playing NHL games but has made it clear he has no desire to be an Arizona Coyote. Also factoring in that his team is already firmly established as a tanker for this season, there’s no need for suitors to wait until the stretch run to pursue Chychrun. He can help you right now, and his highly reasonable AAV means it doesn’t require too many financial gymnastics to get him. 

NICK ALBERGA: I’ll go with John Klingberg of the Anaheim Ducks. Considering his expiring contract and the current state of the team (they’re bad), it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that he’ll be on the move at some point between now and the trade deadline. On top of that, right-handed shooting blueliners always seem to be a hot commodity on the trade market, so I wonder if somebody jumps the gun to acquire someone of Klingberg’s ilk. Furthermore, in the right setting, I think he can be a difference maker for a perennial contender looking to put all their chips in the middle. Of note, Klingberg’s full no-trade clause turns into a 10 team no-trade starting Jan. 1. Let the games begin!

MIKE MCKENNA: I guess it really depends on what we consider to be a big-name player. But I’m looking squarely at the Chicago Blackhawks. After a surprisingly strong start, the Hawks earned only three points in their last 10 games. And I’m sure GM Kyle Davidson is more than ready to move assets. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are obviously the prize possessions likely to fetch the largest returns for Chicago. But what about Andreas Athanasiou? He can absolutely fly and would provide a nice solution for a Stanley Cup playoff-caliber team that needs help on the third line. Athanasiou is dangerous on the rush but defense will always be a concern. Frank has him listed at No. 13 on this Trade Targets board for good reason. I think Athanasiou is the perfect early-season deal because (a) his cap hit ($3 million) is manageable and (b) the price to acquire him wouldn’t be too steep. I know he’s not the biggest name on the list, but I think Athanasiou could easily be on the move soon.

STEVEN ELLIS: I’m going with Timo Meier on the Sharks. He’s a big piece of that core, but I think the value they could get outweighs the positives. Mainly, I’m not keen on San Jose’s prospect pool right now, so this doesn’t feel like a short-term rebuild for the Sharks. He’ll be an expensive off-season RFA signing, which makes moving him tough, but the Sharks could benefit from just maximizing every asset possible over the next two drafts, and that means moving Meier. Erik Karlsson is a tough cookie to move, so I think Meier has to be the choice here.

FRANK SERAVALLI: I’m going to cheat a little bit, based on some of the intel that I reported last week with our first Trade Targets board of the season. I think the first big name player will be traded from the Florida Panthers. As mentioned, they must trade a player to be cap compliant once Anthony Duclair is ready to return. It sounds like he’ll be ready to go sometime around Christmas. So that seems like a worthy safe bet in terms of timing as to who will be first. Now, will he be the one who is moved? Not necessarily. Florida can move another player who earns more than Duclair on the cap. I think the Panthers have received overtures of interest on some other forwards, including Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and maybe even Patric Hornqvist. Stay tuned.

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I feel like my years of learning how to spell Arguchintsev have finally paid off as the Leafs have recalled SDA.

The callup is a both a surprise and it is. The Leafs are generally pretty good about giving everyone their shot with the big club, and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev is one of the few Marlies who hasn’t had his day. He’s not the highest scoring Marlie, and Steeves might have been my first choice for a recall, but like Steeves, Semyon Der-Arguchinstev is waivers exempt and doesn’t have some of the complications that other players might have if they were to stay for a prolonged period (it won’t be a prolonged period.)

Semyon also brings with him a high level of familiarity playing with Nick Robertson. If there is a way to get them both in the lineup during the same game, they could be an interesting sheltered fourth line, assuming they still get some grownup supervision on that line.

SEASON TEAM LEAGUE GP G A TP PIM
2016-17  Peterborough Petes OHL 63 8 21 29 2
2017-18  Peterborough Petes OHL 68 12 39 51 18
2018-19  Peterborough Petes OHL 62 6 40 46 20
 Newfoundland Growlers ECHL 3 1 1 2 0
2019-20  Peterborough Petes OHL 55 12 63 75 23
2020-21  Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 17 2 4 6 2
 Toronto Marlies AHL 6 0 4 4 0
2021-22  Toronto Marlies AHL 51 13 19 32 18
2022-23  Toronto Marlies AHL 20 6 12 18 4

Here are Greg Moore’s thoughts on SDA from last season (via Nick Barden’s summer prospect writeup:

“[Der-Arguchintsev] was maybe one of the most improved players of the year.” Marlies head coach Greg Moore said after Toronto’s season came to a close. “Early in the season, I think it was getting used to the consistency, the pace of play, and the strength of the league. He started to put in a lot of work in the weight room, in practice, and the consistency of how hard he pushed himself to elevate physically and building stronger habits, which started to show up in the second half of the year. Way more competitive in game, really strong on pucks.
“And obviously when he gets the puck through the middle of the rink, he’s pretty special in what he can create and what he can do, how he can think off of his teammates, how he can make his teammates look really good with getting them the puck in really tight areas. It’s unfortunate that he had a couple of injuries there that took him out when he was gaining that momentum. But he put in a lot of good work this year and really excited about the progress he made and where that can lead into next season.”
With SDA the Leafs are getting a look at another playmaking winger, a position that has typically worked out well for them in recent years. Where Der-Arguchintsev fits in from a Leafs line perspective is a mystery to me as he lacks the versatility that you’d expect to see in a potential bottom sixer and it’s hard to imagine they want to try him in the top six. It could just be a matter of getting him a few practices with the Leafs and allow him to draw an NHL paycheque for a while. Though typically if the Leafs announce the move they intend to play who they callup, so we’ll see what the plans are here.

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The Wranglers concluded their weekend series in San Diego on Saturday night. It was another night of heavy production and as a result, they dealt quite a beating to their opponent. Dustin Wolf earned a 17-save shutout in Calgary’s 6-0 win against the Gulls. The good news is they picked up a win but the bad news is Jakob Pelletier was kept off the scoresheet and his 11-game scoring streak came to an end. 

Game at a glance 

It was a night of simple, solid hockey. The Wranglers kept things pretty disciplined and just kept tacking on the scoring. Starting things off was Colton Poolman with two minutes to go in the first period. He scored his first of the season off a rebound. Matthew Phillips and Brett Sutter picked up the assists.

Calgary absolutely peppered San Diego with shots in the first, putting up more shots in the first period than the Gulls did the whole game with 19 shots to the Gulls’ five. 

In the second period, the Wranglers scored a trio of goals to extend their lead up to 4-0. It all started with Radim Zahorna 4:53 into the second. Connor Zary picked up the lone assist off of Zahorna’s tip-in. 

Next up was Nick DeSimone with his fourth goal of the year on the power play. Walker Duehr and Connor Zary assisted his goal 14:35 into the period. 16:12 into the period, Matthew Phillips scored the goal of the night, maybe the week and possibly the year. Phillips came up on a breakaway and made a fool of the Gulls’ goaltender. If you watch any of the goals from this game, be sure to take a look (or multiple looks) at this one. 

Even with three goals in the second, the Wranglers were out-shot 11-9 by San Diego. In the third, Clark Bishop carried the scoring with a pair of goals at 13:19 and 18:13 into the period. Here’s a look at his first goal of the night and the Wranglers’ fifth goal of the night. This was his first goal in the game and the year. 

His second goal came on the power play with Alex Gallant and Nicolas Meloche assisting. That concluded scoring and the Wranglers finished the weekend 2-0. Dustin Wolf had a light shooting night for a 17-save shutout. Clark Bishop, Connor Zary and Alex Gallant had multi-point nights. 

Next up

The Wranglers have a break for a few days and will be taking the ice against the San Diego Gulls for another consecutive series. They still sit in the second spot in the division very narrowly trailing the Colorado Eagles. The Wranglers will play next on Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. MT. 

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Welcome back to Instant Reaction — the series at CanucksArmy where we give our instant reaction to the game and ask our readers to give theirs in the comments section below! Cody Severtson is writing The Stanchies tonight, and those will be posted later tonight. The Statsies — CanucksArmy’s analytics-based post game report — will be posted tomorrow morning.

Whenever the Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes link up, you expect a slow, sloppy, low-scoring affair with mistakes galore. Neither team disappointed, but the Canucks came out on top by the skin of their teeth with a 3-2 overtime victory thanks to two goals by Bo Horvat (including the game winner).

There was plenty of intrigue leading up to tonight’s matchup. How would Spencer Martin handle a bonafide starting role the absence of an injured Thatcher Demko? How would the Canucks respond to Brock Boeser being labelled as a healthy scratch? And how would the team look against a rebuilding, but overachieving Coyotes club?

We got the answers to all of those questions tonight. Well, sort of.

Dakota Joshua was slated to make tonight’s roster while Boeser took a seat in the press box on Hockey Fights Cancer night, an initiative near and dear to Boeser’s heart after the passing of his father, Duke.

Fast forward to about an hour before puck drop, and Elliotte Friedman drops a bombshell on Hockey Night in Canada that Boeser’s agent has been given permission to seek out trade options for the winger.

Once the warmup began, Boeser was out on the ice skating on the third line with Sheldon Dries and Conor Garland. Joshua was not, due to an injury sustained in the morning skate.

Sure enough, in a moment of pure perfection, Boeser scored the tying goal late in the third period.

Brock acknowledged how important the moment was for him post-game. “It’s a very important game for me and my family and one I had on the calendar. And you come in and you’re not on the whiteboard, it hurt hard and it hurt bad,” Boeser said.

“As soon as I got the call I knew it was a moment that everything happens for a reason. I knew I needed to make the most of it.”

If Brock’s night was something out of a movie script, a lot of his teammates forgot to read most of their lines. The Coyotes ran roughshod in the Canucks’ end for large portions of the second and third periods, with Vancouver mustering only 15 shots in the final 40 minutes of regulation.

Luckily for Bruce Boudreau’s squad, Arizona was just as futile as they were. The Yotes ended up with only 23 shots, including none to the Canucks’ five in overtime, and gave up a crucially dumb too-many-men penalty that led to Bo Horvat’s overtime winner.

Spencer Martin stood on his head in his first official game as Canucks’ starter. His 22-save performance saved the Canucks from a worse fate, including a crucial save on Lawson Crouse in the first.

Overall, the Canucks made their chances count when they got them, including on a ridiculous no-goal call thanks to Arizona defender J.J. Moser knocking his own net off.

It wasn’t a pretty win by any stretch of the imagination, but the points count the same anyway. The Canucks play next on Monday when the Montreal Canadiens roll into town.

While we wait for Cody Severtson to finish up a great new Stanchies, let us know what you thought of tonight’s game in the comments below!

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The Vancouver Canucks have given forward Brock Boeser permission to seek a trade.

This, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, after a strange Saturday for the veteran forward. This is what Friedman reported last night on a Hockey Night in Canada version of 32 Thoughts:

It’s Hockey Fights Cancer Night in Vancouver as the Canucks play the Arizona Coyotes and everybody’s thinking about Duke Boeser. Brock Boeser won’t play tonight in that game, the team’s not commenting and his representatives aren’t commenting but, from what we understand, Boeser’s representatives have been given permission to talk to other teams about a potential move. Boeser’s been struggling, obviously, he’s got to be better, but I think they’re coming to a realization here that maybe it’s time to explore this. So, I don’t know where it’s going to go, but I do think Boeser’s representatives have permission to talk to other teams, although, at this point in time, the team and the agents have not confirmed.

Heading into last night’s game, Boeser was slated to be a healthy scratch, however, he eventually dressed and scored the game-tying goal that forced overtime.

Drafted and developed by the Canucks out of the 2015’s drafts first round, the 25-year-old has appeared in 343 games scoring 125 goals and 271 points. This past offseason, Boeser signed a three-year $6.5-million extension with the team.

Marner a record setter

Mitch Marner will forever be in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ record book as on Saturday night he scored a point in his 19th straight game. It surpassed the 18-game scoring streaks held by Darryl Sittler and Eddie Olczyk.

Over the course of the streak, which dates back to Oct. 27th, he’s scored eight goals and 25 points.

Blues coach Berube rips Binnington

St. Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube ripped Jordan Binnington Saturday night after the testy goaltender got his team in trouble.

Late in the first after giving up three goals, he stuck out his glove and clipped a passing Jason Zucker, who crashed hard into the boards, with the incident going uncalled. Binnington got chased from the net early in the second after giving up goal number four, and jawed at the Penguins’ bench earning a 10-minute misconduct.

“It’s got to stop. It doesn’t help anything,” said Berube after the game. “Just play goal, stop the puck.”

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.

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Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner has set the franchise record for longest point streak after extending his streak to 19 games.

Marner set the new record in the second period of Saturday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the Leafs on the penalty kill, Marner initially got a chance off a poor turnover in the Lightning’s zone, but didn’t get the goal until a few seconds later when David Kampf set up Marner in the slot for the one timer goal, giving the Leafs a 1-0 lead in the game.

With that, Marner has passed Darryl Sittler and Eddie Olczyk’s record of 18 straight games with a point. Marner has eight goals, 17 assists, and 25 points over the course of this streak, dating back to October 27th against the San Jose Sharks. Sittler had 17 goals, 16 assists, and 33 points over his streak in 1978-79, while Olczyk had 11 goals, 17 assists, and 28 points during his in 1989-90.

This streak has taken place for most of the season so far for Marner, so his totals on the season aren’t too far off from his production during the streak. Marner has nine goals, 21 assists, and 30 points in 26 games this season.

The former fourth overall pick of the Leafs in 2015 has spent all seven seasons of his career with the Leafs. He’s currently in the fourth year of his six year deal with a $10,903,000 cap hit, a contract that was met with some skepticism at the time of signing, but one Marner has certainly lived up to over the course of the deal.

Much like Marner, the Leafs have also been riding a hot streak over the last month or so, which was much needed after a slow start to the season. Going into the game against the Lightning, the Leafs have won five games in a row, and have points in their last nine games and 14 of their last 15, and sit second in the Atlantic division with a 15-5-5 record.

The post Mitch Marner sets Toronto Maple Leafs franchise record with 19 game point streak appeared first on Daily Faceoff.

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By and large, it was another successful weekend for the Maple Leafs.

Yes, they didn’t come away with the victory in Tampa, but you’re not going to win them all, right?

That said, Mitch Marner broke the franchise point streak record, and on top of that, Toronto extended its team point streak to an impressive 11 games (8-0-3). In fact, the Leafs haven’t lost in regulation since way back when on November 11th.

Furthermore, once again, Mitch Marner was a big topic of conversation on the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take. When he’s playing this way, there’s no doubt he’s one of the league’s premier talents. You love to see it.

 

Additionally, we discussed the call-up of Semyon Der-Arguchintsev. It’s underplayed, but for the first time in seemingly a while, the Leafs have had considerable contributions from their prospects/AHL call-ups. It’s been fantastic to see and certainly something this team needs when you’re paying the big boys what you are.

Lastly, we previewed the battle of the point streaks on Tuesday night in Dallas as Mitch Marner (19 games) squares off against Jason Robertson (18 games). Let’s go!

Meantime, for the PointsBet Canada bet of the day, I’m looking at a cheeky revenge narrative in Boston.

 

No Rosie tomorrow, which means another instalment of 3 Hits With Rosie. Also, I’ll preview Leafs/Stars, plus Red Wings forward Matt Luff will drop by.

Don’t forget to subscribe, like, and leave us a review wherever you’re checking us out!

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A steady diet of the same thing over and over eventually wore the Washington Capitals down Saturday night in Calgary. The Flames found some chemistry all over their lineup for the second straight outing. This time their strong effort resulted in some goals, the majority of which came after Darcy Kuemper left the game. If Calgary can keep this high level of play up for another game they may just get their confidence and their swagger back.

CF% – 63.95%, SCF% – 59.28%, HDCF% – 68.75%, xGF% – 63.67%

It’s a Team Game – Huge compliments to Calgary who stepped on the gas in the second period – got the lead they were looking for – then proceeded to lock things up in the third period. Not that they had an overabundance of anything themselves in the third frame (well, maybe goals) but the Capitals were limited to no high danger 5v5 opportunities. Calgary didn’t overwhelm the Caps any given one time rather they kept up a steady attack all night long. In order to do that their transitions through the neutral zone as well as their forechecking had to be operating successfully all night long. Strong fundamentals from Calgary.

Corsi King – Adam Ružička (74.44%) playing with the red hot Backlund (71.92%) turned into an electrifying combination on Hockey Night in Canada. Ružička himself has been able to produce offence no matter where he plays in the top 9. The Flames always seem to be on the verge of going in a losing direction because of a lack of goals when #63 swoops in and solves the problem. Nights like this when you go over the boards on-the-fly and you get to go straight into the offensive zone help everyone. Always being deployed into a situation where you have to dig yourself out of the defensive zone every other shift gets annoying.

Corsi Clown – None, not one. Lowest guy: Michael Stone (55.59%)

Under Pressure –

Taken By Chance – I’m never surprised to see Huberdeau (55.16 SCF% // 100 HDCF%) at the top of these lists anymore, the counting totals are just knocking at the door. I don’t know exactly what the final piece that needs to click in to place for the door to burst open, but I doubt that issue lies in him. At least when he’s not getting points he still dominates possession while out there – hard for them to score if they don’t have the puck.

xG Breakdown –

xGF% – Ružička (78.36%) is still doing all this with a significant ice time drop from the other forwards. You can chalk some of that up to not playing on the PK and only recently getting time on the second unit. I mean why not put your hot hand on the top unit with your other most skilled players. The power play is so stale any change to it would be welcome. MacKenzie Weegar (71.21%) continues to be a rock on defence. On nights when Rasmus Andersson (62.97%) and Noah Hanifin (60.60%) struggle to get out of their own zone Weegar always seems to come through. Now that wasn’t the case tonight, both defence pairings transitioned the puck quite well, but that has been an issue at times this year.

Game Flow –

Game Score –

Shot Heatmap –

In The Crease – I mean that’s a 5v5 shutout for Dan Vladar – 1.23 expected goals against with none getting behind him. At this point he’s earned an extended run of starts. I know you’ve got more dollars invested in the other guy but why wouldn’t you want to roll Vladar out with the way he’s been playing? Until the other guy gets back to steady form it’s a privilege to have such a skilled guy hold the fort.

Today’s Specials – I delete this section sometimes because I have nothing good to say about the Calgary Flames special teams very often. The strength has to be the penalty kill and it caved tonight. We all wish the power play could be the strength, but I can’t watch them do the same thing over and over again, constantly failing, only for them to switch where everyone stands and be shocked when that does next to nothing.

Player Spotlight – Andrew Mangiapane – Maybe the most important wildcard piece the Flames need at his top level for them to have any serious playoff hopes. They’ve got a battle ahead of them just to get into the playoffs already which makes Mangiapane finding ways to score even more important. He’s been dynamite ever since Brad Treliving told him to be a Honda Civic, now maybe the Flames GM could tell someone to get some Toyota Corolla in their step.

 The Goals –

Flashalytic’s 3 Stars –

1) Adam Ruzicka

2) Mikael Backlund

3) MacKenzie Weegar

The Flames return to action on Monday against the Arizona Coyotes at the Saddledome.

(Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)

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Amidst a 2022/23 season that has been far more defined by mismanagement than management, the Vancouver Canucks are at it again.

It’s really no surprise that Brock Boeser finds himself on the trade market. Coming into the season, the Canucks had just extended JT Miller, were looking to extend Bo Horvat, and had brought Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko into the fold. Clearly, Boeser’s spot in the top-six was being challenged, and many predicted that it would only be a matter of time before he found himself on the way out of town.

What comes as more of a surprise is the absolute fumbling of Boeser’s trade value that has occurred in the meantime.

Then again, maybe that should come as no surprise.

Let’s not forget that this season began with promises of being patient with Boeser, who had just suffered through the worst campaign of his career and then lost his father. Instead, Boeser received a hand injury in the preseason and was back in game action before the stitches had properly healed, as they would reopen later and land him back on the IR.

That set the tone for Boeser’s handling this year, and the most recent set of debacles are, in many ways, indicative of the whole of Canucks asset management of late.

It’s unclear when the Canucks decided to start shopping Boeser around, but that choice was probably made long before the decision to make him a healthy scratch against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday evening.

Traditionally, if you’re trying to trade an offensively-inclined player, you definitely want them in the lineup against a team like the Coyotes. It’s the perfect opportunity to juice those stats a little and put a little extra shine on an asset. If management were clearly communicating their plans to the coaching staff, there’s just no way Boeser would be scheduled to sit that game.

And yet, Bruce Boudreau made the call to scratch Boeser, and no one did anything to prevent it. A lack of internal communication — another running theme in 2022/23 — seemed to be the culprit here.

If you’re looking for further proof of that shoddy internal communication, look no further than the fact that Saturday’s matchup was also Hockey Fights Cancer Night, an event of enormous significance to Boeser and his family. The custom jersey that Boeser intended to wear that night, emblazoned with the name of his recently-deceased father, had already been stitched up.

And still, if not for a late Dakota Joshua injury, Boeser was meant to spend the game in the pressbox.

Afterward, Boudreau claimed ignorance of it being Hockey Fights Cancer Night, and there’s no reason not to believe him. Nor is there much need to point any fingers in particular here. One coach making a mistake for lack of knowledge is excusable, but an entire organization failing to then notify that coach of the implications of their actions is not. Once again, it’s patently obvious that the different branches of this franchise are not talking with one another nearly as much as they should be, and the results speak for themselves.

But someone is definitely talking to someone, because the leaks keep coming.

While all this was going down, Elliotte Friedman reported that the Canucks had given Boeser’s agent Ben Hankinson permission to talk to other teams about a potential trade.

https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1599233916967473152

It’s a bit of news that is as confusing as it is troubling, but there’s no real way to interpret it in favour of the Canucks.

Usually, when a team gives an agent permission to seek a trade, it’s because they’re trying to do a fringe player a solid. The tactic is almost never used on those players who actually have a tangible trade value. It’s also almost never done with players who are signed for long-term, and Boeser has three more years on his contract.

Either way, we can all safely agree that having a player agent negotiate trades, as opposed to the Canucks front office, is no way to land a good offer.

The assumption was that Boeser had asked for a trade, and that management was essentially telling him to figure it out himself.

Things got even more confusing when a subsequent report clarified that Boeser had not requested a trade at all.

https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1599602598478483458

Why then the weirdness with the agent? It’s hard to say, and in fact it’s hard to come up with any scenario in which any of this makes sense.

But the full truth of the situation doesn’t really matter, does it? Not when other teams know what they know.

Right now, other teams know that the Canucks are in a desperate enough situation to be making some bizarre decisions.

They know that internal communication is a weakness of the organization.

They know that tension in the dressing room exists, and that there’s now specifically some tension attached to Boeser and the coaching staff after the Hockey Fights Cancer snafu.

And they know that, with Boeser’s value at an all-time low, the Canucks aren’t even going to bother to shop him around that hard themselves.

It’s a recipe for low-ball offers, and it’s a near-guaranteed way to ensure that, whenever a trade does go down, the Canucks don’t receive anything near a proper return for Boeser.

If torpedoing Boeser’s trade value was the goal for the 2022/23 season, the Canucks have achieved it in record time.

If that wasn’t the goal, well…

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They don’t ask how, they ask how many.

Last season, it took 97 points to make the playoffs in the Western Conference. The Oilers are entering a softer part of their schedule this month with a handful of opponents who are beneath them in the standings. If they can capitalize and rack up some points, life becomes significantly easier down the stretch.

Saturday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens was a perfect example of two points the Oilers need to pick up. This wasn’t a dominant or pretty win by any stretch of the imagination but the result is all that matters, as the travel-tired, injury-riddled Oilers are far from 100 percent right now.

Nick Suzuki opened the scoring in the first period but the Oilers answered with three power-play goals in the first half of the second frame to take a 3-1 lead. Montreal battled back to tie the game but Darnell Nurse scored right before the end of the second period to give the lead back to Edmonton.

In the third, the Oilers shut the door, and Connor McDavid scored a dazzling goal to give the team some insurance.

THE DAY AFTER IS PRESENTED BY BETWAY

Thoughts… 

  • Normally after a game in which the Oilers scored four goals and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had four points the focus would be put on the team’s lack of depth scoring. For now, with Evander Kane, Ryan McLeod, Warren Foegele, and Kailer Yamamoto on the shelf, we can cut them some slack.
  • That being said, it’s puzzling that the injuries to Edmonton’s middle-six forward group hasn’t resulted in Dylan Holloway getting an opportunity to play a larger role. The rookie played just 7:07 on Saturday, less ice time than everybody on the team other than Tyler Benson. The Oilers can’t send Holloway to the Bakersfield Condors right now because they need talent on their roster, but if the coaching staff isn’t willing to give him a look while all of these players are out, when will they?
  • A game-changer for the Oilers in the second frame came when Joel Edmundson hammered Zach Hyman with a wildly undisciplined cross-check to the head while the Habs were already killing a penalty. Edmundson was booted from the game and Montreal had to navigate a five-minute major penalty on top of the minor they were already killing. There’s been talk that Edmundson could be a good fit for the Oilers as they seek a defensive defenceman to make them harder to play against in their own zone. As nice as it would be to add some nastiness to the blueline, we saw on Saturday night how detrimental it can be when that type of player goes overboard.
  • Next up, the Oilers host the struggling Washington Capitals on Monday. It’ll be the fifth game in a six-game road trip for the Caps and they’re coming off of a 5-2 loss in Calgary to the Flames. Washington currently sits at 10-12-4 on the season, good for 12th in the Eastern Conference.

The Nation Network on YouTube…

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We’re into December and reaching the heart of the NHL season. We have a firmer idea of who the contenders and pretenders are, meaning we might get some trade talk swirling soon. After all, not every star gets dealt at the deadline. Last season, Vegas pulled the trigger on Jack Eichel in November, while the Flames got Tyler Toffoli in February. Our own Frank Seravalli has already published his first Trade Targets list of 2022-23, headlined by Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat.

So, Daily Faceoff Roundtable, the question this week is…who is the first big-name player to get traded this season? 

MATT LARKIN: I don’t always snatch the low-hanging fruit, but I’ll do it this time just to be a jerk. It’s Jakob Chychrun, right? He’s perhaps the only high-impact name who is already more or less playing in protest of his current location. Chychrun is back from injury and playing NHL games but has made it clear he has no desire to be an Arizona Coyote. Also factoring in that his team is already firmly established as a tanker for this season, there’s no need for suitors to wait until the stretch run to pursue Chychrun. He can help you right now, and his highly reasonable AAV means it doesn’t require too many financial gymnastics to get him. 

NICK ALBERGA: I’ll go with John Klingberg of the Anaheim Ducks. Considering his expiring contract and the current state of the team (they’re bad), it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that he’ll be on the move at some point between now and the trade deadline. On top of that, right-handed shooting blueliners always seem to be a hot commodity on the trade market, so I wonder if somebody jumps the gun to acquire someone of Klingberg’s ilk. Furthermore, in the right setting, I think he can be a difference maker for a perennial contender looking to put all their chips in the middle. Of note, Klingberg’s full no-trade clause turns into a 10 team no-trade starting Jan. 1. Let the games begin!

MIKE MCKENNA: I guess it really depends on what we consider to be a big-name player. But I’m looking squarely at the Chicago Blackhawks. After a surprisingly strong start, the Hawks earned only three points in their last 10 games. And I’m sure GM Kyle Davidson is more than ready to move assets. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are obviously the prize possessions likely to fetch the largest returns for Chicago. But what about Andreas Athanasiou? He can absolutely fly and would provide a nice solution for a Stanley Cup playoff-caliber team that needs help on the third line. Athanasiou is dangerous on the rush but defense will always be a concern. Frank has him listed at No. 13 on this Trade Targets board for good reason. I think Athanasiou is the perfect early-season deal because (a) his cap hit ($3 million) is manageable and (b) the price to acquire him wouldn’t be too steep. I know he’s not the biggest name on the list, but I think Athanasiou could easily be on the move soon.

STEVEN ELLIS: I’m going with Timo Meier on the Sharks. He’s a big piece of that core, but I think the value they could get outweighs the positives. Mainly, I’m not keen on San Jose’s prospect pool right now, so this doesn’t feel like a short-term rebuild for the Sharks. He’ll be an expensive off-season RFA signing, which makes moving him tough, but the Sharks could benefit from just maximizing every asset possible over the next two drafts, and that means moving Meier. Erik Karlsson is a tough cookie to move, so I think Meier has to be the choice here.

FRANK SERAVALLI: I’m going to cheat a little bit, based on some of the intel that I reported last week with our first Trade Targets board of the season. I think the first big name player will be traded from the Florida Panthers. As mentioned, they must trade a player to be cap compliant once Anthony Duclair is ready to return. It sounds like he’ll be ready to go sometime around Christmas. So that seems like a worthy safe bet in terms of timing as to who will be first. Now, will he be the one who is moved? Not necessarily. Florida can move another player who earns more than Duclair on the cap. I think the Panthers have received overtures of interest on some other forwards, including Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and maybe even Patric Hornqvist. Stay tuned.

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I feel like my years of learning how to spell Arguchintsev have finally paid off as the Leafs have recalled SDA.

The callup is a both a surprise and it is. The Leafs are generally pretty good about giving everyone their shot with the big club, and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev is one of the few Marlies who hasn’t had his day. He’s not the highest scoring Marlie, and Steeves might have been my first choice for a recall, but like Steeves, Semyon Der-Arguchinstev is waivers exempt and doesn’t have some of the complications that other players might have if they were to stay for a prolonged period (it won’t be a prolonged period.)

Semyon also brings with him a high level of familiarity playing with Nick Robertson. If there is a way to get them both in the lineup during the same game, they could be an interesting sheltered fourth line, assuming they still get some grownup supervision on that line.

SEASON TEAM LEAGUE GP G A TP PIM
2016-17  Peterborough Petes OHL 63 8 21 29 2
2017-18  Peterborough Petes OHL 68 12 39 51 18
2018-19  Peterborough Petes OHL 62 6 40 46 20
 Newfoundland Growlers ECHL 3 1 1 2 0
2019-20  Peterborough Petes OHL 55 12 63 75 23
2020-21  Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 17 2 4 6 2
 Toronto Marlies AHL 6 0 4 4 0
2021-22  Toronto Marlies AHL 51 13 19 32 18
2022-23  Toronto Marlies AHL 20 6 12 18 4

Here are Greg Moore’s thoughts on SDA from last season (via Nick Barden’s summer prospect writeup:

“[Der-Arguchintsev] was maybe one of the most improved players of the year.” Marlies head coach Greg Moore said after Toronto’s season came to a close. “Early in the season, I think it was getting used to the consistency, the pace of play, and the strength of the league. He started to put in a lot of work in the weight room, in practice, and the consistency of how hard he pushed himself to elevate physically and building stronger habits, which started to show up in the second half of the year. Way more competitive in game, really strong on pucks.
“And obviously when he gets the puck through the middle of the rink, he’s pretty special in what he can create and what he can do, how he can think off of his teammates, how he can make his teammates look really good with getting them the puck in really tight areas. It’s unfortunate that he had a couple of injuries there that took him out when he was gaining that momentum. But he put in a lot of good work this year and really excited about the progress he made and where that can lead into next season.”
With SDA the Leafs are getting a look at another playmaking winger, a position that has typically worked out well for them in recent years. Where Der-Arguchintsev fits in from a Leafs line perspective is a mystery to me as he lacks the versatility that you’d expect to see in a potential bottom sixer and it’s hard to imagine they want to try him in the top six. It could just be a matter of getting him a few practices with the Leafs and allow him to draw an NHL paycheque for a while. Though typically if the Leafs announce the move they intend to play who they callup, so we’ll see what the plans are here.

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The Wranglers concluded their weekend series in San Diego on Saturday night. It was another night of heavy production and as a result, they dealt quite a beating to their opponent. Dustin Wolf earned a 17-save shutout in Calgary’s 6-0 win against the Gulls. The good news is they picked up a win but the bad news is Jakob Pelletier was kept off the scoresheet and his 11-game scoring streak came to an end. 

Game at a glance 

It was a night of simple, solid hockey. The Wranglers kept things pretty disciplined and just kept tacking on the scoring. Starting things off was Colton Poolman with two minutes to go in the first period. He scored his first of the season off a rebound. Matthew Phillips and Brett Sutter picked up the assists.

Calgary absolutely peppered San Diego with shots in the first, putting up more shots in the first period than the Gulls did the whole game with 19 shots to the Gulls’ five. 

In the second period, the Wranglers scored a trio of goals to extend their lead up to 4-0. It all started with Radim Zahorna 4:53 into the second. Connor Zary picked up the lone assist off of Zahorna’s tip-in. 

Next up was Nick DeSimone with his fourth goal of the year on the power play. Walker Duehr and Connor Zary assisted his goal 14:35 into the period. 16:12 into the period, Matthew Phillips scored the goal of the night, maybe the week and possibly the year. Phillips came up on a breakaway and made a fool of the Gulls’ goaltender. If you watch any of the goals from this game, be sure to take a look (or multiple looks) at this one. 

Even with three goals in the second, the Wranglers were out-shot 11-9 by San Diego. In the third, Clark Bishop carried the scoring with a pair of goals at 13:19 and 18:13 into the period. Here’s a look at his first goal of the night and the Wranglers’ fifth goal of the night. This was his first goal in the game and the year. 

His second goal came on the power play with Alex Gallant and Nicolas Meloche assisting. That concluded scoring and the Wranglers finished the weekend 2-0. Dustin Wolf had a light shooting night for a 17-save shutout. Clark Bishop, Connor Zary and Alex Gallant had multi-point nights. 

Next up

The Wranglers have a break for a few days and will be taking the ice against the San Diego Gulls for another consecutive series. They still sit in the second spot in the division very narrowly trailing the Colorado Eagles. The Wranglers will play next on Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. MT. 

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Welcome back to Instant Reaction — the series at CanucksArmy where we give our instant reaction to the game and ask our readers to give theirs in the comments section below! Cody Severtson is writing The Stanchies tonight, and those will be posted later tonight. The Statsies — CanucksArmy’s analytics-based post game report — will be posted tomorrow morning.

Whenever the Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes link up, you expect a slow, sloppy, low-scoring affair with mistakes galore. Neither team disappointed, but the Canucks came out on top by the skin of their teeth with a 3-2 overtime victory thanks to two goals by Bo Horvat (including the game winner).

There was plenty of intrigue leading up to tonight’s matchup. How would Spencer Martin handle a bonafide starting role the absence of an injured Thatcher Demko? How would the Canucks respond to Brock Boeser being labelled as a healthy scratch? And how would the team look against a rebuilding, but overachieving Coyotes club?

We got the answers to all of those questions tonight. Well, sort of.

Dakota Joshua was slated to make tonight’s roster while Boeser took a seat in the press box on Hockey Fights Cancer night, an initiative near and dear to Boeser’s heart after the passing of his father, Duke.

Fast forward to about an hour before puck drop, and Elliotte Friedman drops a bombshell on Hockey Night in Canada that Boeser’s agent has been given permission to seek out trade options for the winger.

Once the warmup began, Boeser was out on the ice skating on the third line with Sheldon Dries and Conor Garland. Joshua was not, due to an injury sustained in the morning skate.

Sure enough, in a moment of pure perfection, Boeser scored the tying goal late in the third period.

Brock acknowledged how important the moment was for him post-game. “It’s a very important game for me and my family and one I had on the calendar. And you come in and you’re not on the whiteboard, it hurt hard and it hurt bad,” Boeser said.

“As soon as I got the call I knew it was a moment that everything happens for a reason. I knew I needed to make the most of it.”

If Brock’s night was something out of a movie script, a lot of his teammates forgot to read most of their lines. The Coyotes ran roughshod in the Canucks’ end for large portions of the second and third periods, with Vancouver mustering only 15 shots in the final 40 minutes of regulation.

Luckily for Bruce Boudreau’s squad, Arizona was just as futile as they were. The Yotes ended up with only 23 shots, including none to the Canucks’ five in overtime, and gave up a crucially dumb too-many-men penalty that led to Bo Horvat’s overtime winner.

Spencer Martin stood on his head in his first official game as Canucks’ starter. His 22-save performance saved the Canucks from a worse fate, including a crucial save on Lawson Crouse in the first.

Overall, the Canucks made their chances count when they got them, including on a ridiculous no-goal call thanks to Arizona defender J.J. Moser knocking his own net off.

It wasn’t a pretty win by any stretch of the imagination, but the points count the same anyway. The Canucks play next on Monday when the Montreal Canadiens roll into town.

While we wait for Cody Severtson to finish up a great new Stanchies, let us know what you thought of tonight’s game in the comments below!

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The Vancouver Canucks have given forward Brock Boeser permission to seek a trade.

This, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, after a strange Saturday for the veteran forward. This is what Friedman reported last night on a Hockey Night in Canada version of 32 Thoughts:

It’s Hockey Fights Cancer Night in Vancouver as the Canucks play the Arizona Coyotes and everybody’s thinking about Duke Boeser. Brock Boeser won’t play tonight in that game, the team’s not commenting and his representatives aren’t commenting but, from what we understand, Boeser’s representatives have been given permission to talk to other teams about a potential move. Boeser’s been struggling, obviously, he’s got to be better, but I think they’re coming to a realization here that maybe it’s time to explore this. So, I don’t know where it’s going to go, but I do think Boeser’s representatives have permission to talk to other teams, although, at this point in time, the team and the agents have not confirmed.

Heading into last night’s game, Boeser was slated to be a healthy scratch, however, he eventually dressed and scored the game-tying goal that forced overtime.

Drafted and developed by the Canucks out of the 2015’s drafts first round, the 25-year-old has appeared in 343 games scoring 125 goals and 271 points. This past offseason, Boeser signed a three-year $6.5-million extension with the team.

Marner a record setter

Mitch Marner will forever be in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ record book as on Saturday night he scored a point in his 19th straight game. It surpassed the 18-game scoring streaks held by Darryl Sittler and Eddie Olczyk.

Over the course of the streak, which dates back to Oct. 27th, he’s scored eight goals and 25 points.

Blues coach Berube rips Binnington

St. Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube ripped Jordan Binnington Saturday night after the testy goaltender got his team in trouble.

Late in the first after giving up three goals, he stuck out his glove and clipped a passing Jason Zucker, who crashed hard into the boards, with the incident going uncalled. Binnington got chased from the net early in the second after giving up goal number four, and jawed at the Penguins’ bench earning a 10-minute misconduct.

“It’s got to stop. It doesn’t help anything,” said Berube after the game. “Just play goal, stop the puck.”

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.

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Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner has set the franchise record for longest point streak after extending his streak to 19 games.

Marner set the new record in the second period of Saturday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the Leafs on the penalty kill, Marner initially got a chance off a poor turnover in the Lightning’s zone, but didn’t get the goal until a few seconds later when David Kampf set up Marner in the slot for the one timer goal, giving the Leafs a 1-0 lead in the game.

With that, Marner has passed Darryl Sittler and Eddie Olczyk’s record of 18 straight games with a point. Marner has eight goals, 17 assists, and 25 points over the course of this streak, dating back to October 27th against the San Jose Sharks. Sittler had 17 goals, 16 assists, and 33 points over his streak in 1978-79, while Olczyk had 11 goals, 17 assists, and 28 points during his in 1989-90.

This streak has taken place for most of the season so far for Marner, so his totals on the season aren’t too far off from his production during the streak. Marner has nine goals, 21 assists, and 30 points in 26 games this season.

The former fourth overall pick of the Leafs in 2015 has spent all seven seasons of his career with the Leafs. He’s currently in the fourth year of his six year deal with a $10,903,000 cap hit, a contract that was met with some skepticism at the time of signing, but one Marner has certainly lived up to over the course of the deal.

Much like Marner, the Leafs have also been riding a hot streak over the last month or so, which was much needed after a slow start to the season. Going into the game against the Lightning, the Leafs have won five games in a row, and have points in their last nine games and 14 of their last 15, and sit second in the Atlantic division with a 15-5-5 record.

The post Mitch Marner sets Toronto Maple Leafs franchise record with 19 game point streak appeared first on Daily Faceoff.