If you like your hockey games with few goals and lots of sandpaper, Saturday night was a great night for you.
NHL scores 2015: Carey Price shutout highlights banner day of goaltending
Who needs goals, anyway?
Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
It was a night where goals were hard to come by, as at least ten teams scored one goal or less. In fact, it’s the third day this week that at least a third of the active teams failed to hit the back of the net more than once.
Is that a problem? It’s a good question to ask. The NHL has gone to certain lengths over the last decade to increase scoring and move even further from the so-called “dead puck era” of the late ‘90s and early aughts. And no matter which way you slice it, we’re looking at too small of a sample size to know if this is enough of a trend to be a problem.
But if an answer is required, it should be that low-scoring hockey isn't a problem. Just look at Saturday night. No one who watched Braden Holtby and Carey Price duel a scoreless game into overtime could honestly say they weren't thoroughly entertained. Chicago and San Jose spent most of a one-goal game shoving and slashing each other in the most interesting late game of the evening.
And its not like every game that featured a one-goal team was a low-scoring affair. Winnipeg put up two, and Dallas scored five. The Rangers blitzed the Hurricanes, who could only manage to slip one score past Henrik Lundqvist.
So, no, low scores aren’t a problem. They may not even be a trend. And even if they are, we could very well be better off considering the quality of hockey on the ice as a result.
Scores
Canadiens 1, Capitals 0 (OT)
Red Wings 4, Islanders 1
Senators 7, Coyotes 2
Bruins 3, Kings 1
Devils 3, Panthers 1
Rangers 4, Hurricanes 1
Stars 5, Jets 2
Flyers 1, Maple Leafs 0
Lightning 3, Blue Jackets 1
Flames 4, Oilers 2
Sharks 2, Blackhawks 0
Three things we learned
1. Carey Price is making his Vezina run. Montreal's goaltender is having a remarkable season, but this is by far his best stretch of hockey so far. Price earned his fourth shutout of the season on Saturday with a 36-save effort against the Capitals. That he saved that many shots against in a scoreless tie until Montreal scored in overtime is a testament to his level of play lately. Price is 13-2-1 during in his last 16 games, with a 1.43 goals-against-average and .953 save percentage.
2. This is the Stars power play everyone was waiting for. Dallas' power play was supposed to improve by leaps and bounds this season with the additions of Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky to go along with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. And yet the Stars have toiled in the bottom third of the league in power play efficiency all season with an anemic man advantage. For whatever reason, they've turned it around lately: with four power play markers on Saturday, Dallas went 7-for-16 on an important three game road trip.
3. Tampa Bay is becoming a stronghold.
The Lightning are proving they can win just about any situation while on home ice. Columbus hung tight with them in what was mostly a low-scoring affair until Tampa Bay locked down a 3-1 win. It was the tenth straight home victory for the Lightning, who own the NHL's best home record at 21-4-1. No wonder they've started to clamp down on their lead in the Eastern Conference standings.
Impact Moment
Henrik Lundqvist had a pretty eventful second period that only proved just how incredible he is. First, he managed to somehow save a goal with his skate blade.
Then a few minutes later, he got hit in the throat with a puck!
And he stayed in the game and earned a big win. That’s why he’s King Henrik, I suppose.
Stat of the Night
It’s been a pretty terrible month for Toronto.
Leafs outscored 28-9 at even strength in January. Went 1-11-1. Inexplicable.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) February 1, 2015 Is it really inexplicable, though? Or could their president see it as a sign the team needs a shakeup?
On Jan. 9, Brendan Shanahan said: "This is (an) opportunity for us to see what some of our guys are made of." The #leafs are 1-8-1 since.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 1, 2015 Post to Post
- New Jersey made power play goals look pretty on Saturday.
- Even though he lost, Curtis McElhinney made an awesome save on Ryan Callahan.
- Finally, Dustin Byfuglien invented a new way to stop Jamie Benn from scoring: LEGS HEADLOCK.
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