Your morning shot of hockey to go with your coffee.
January 30th, 2014

LAST NIGHT’S SCORES:

Quick Hits today. Here are yesterday’s picks in case you missed them. Asterisk indicates who I picked:

Rangers edge Islanders* at Yankee Stadium 2-1 – Well I was wrong about the score and result but the game was fantastic. For the third straight game, it was tied going into the third period. Both teams’ goalies pulled outstanding in this game stopping a combined 62 shots.

Oilers shut down Sharks 3-0 – Ben Scrivens, Edmonton’s goalie, stopped 59 shots, that is an NHL record for most saves for a regular-season shutout. This is why they traded for him. On the offensive side, Taylor Hall helped out on all three goals, scoring one and assisting the other two. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle got involved as well, each grabbing two points. In a few years, these guys will lead the Oilers to greatness and Scrivens will be right there with them.

Blackhawks down Canucks 5-2 – The Blackhawks had lost four-straight and 2:44 into the second period, it looked like that streak would continue on. The Canucks were up 2-0 on only eight shots and had all the momentum; until David Booth randown Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks power play took control. After Marian Hossa sniped on that man advantage, it was all Blackhawks. Corey Crawford stopped the final 21 shots he saw and Brandon Saad scored two goals after already assisting Hossa’s goal.

0-1 last night. 63-57 on the season now.

GAMES  TONIGHT:

The Flyers head off to California for a long weekend. It won’t be the warm getaway you would hope it to be. The three California teams are a combine 56-20 at home this season. First up for the Flyers is toughest one of all: the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks have lost their first two home games in regulation recently but the Flyers will have to battle hard tonight. If they played the way they did the other night against the Red Wings, they’ll have a good shot, but it won’t be a 5-0 victory. It would be something more like a 3-2 win, maybe even a 2-1 game. The key for tonight will be tape-to-tape passing, putting men in front of the net on both ends of ice, and stone cold defense. Anaheim has one of the most prolific offenses in the league and will take advantage if the Flyers fall out of position. You catch this game tonight at 10pm on Comcast SportsNet.

LET’S GO FLYERS!!!

Nine other games around the league tonight. Three games to keep an eye out for are: Canadiens @ Bruins at 7, Capitals @ Blue Jackets at 7, and Penguins @ Kings at 10:30. Bruins over Canadiens: The Habs want to continue their steps to getting back to the winning side of games and they’ve won the only other game between these two teams this season, but this is in Boston. The Bruins’ #1 defense in the NHL is even better. Capitals over Blue Jackets: The Caps are putting together a small winning-streak due in big-part to Alex Ovechkin’s better play. Ovi found the back of the net twice in his last outing and it will exciting to see him go up against Sergei Bobrovski. Kings over Penguins: This is an extremely exciting game. These guys hate Sidney Crosby, well mainly Mike Richards and Jeff Carter because of their days in Philadelphia but Crosby hates them right back. The Kings and Pens will play very physical hockey tonight but ultimately, Jonathan Quick is too good at home.