Regeln » Ovechkin is that the Capitals havent been able to win

UNIONDALE, N. Brent Seabrook Jersey .Y. - Nikolay Kulemin had two goals and an assist, and the New York Islanders reclaimed first place in the Eastern Conference with a 7-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.Following its last game before the All-Star break, New York is assured of being on top of the Metropolitan Division when it resumes play next week. The Islanders, 15-2 against divisional foes, are off until they host the New York Rangers next Tuesday. The Islanders are 16-4 overall at home.Michael Grabner, John Tavares and Nick Leddy each had a goal and an assist.Grabner gave the Islanders the lead on their first shot, and Kulemin made it 3-0 with a short-handed tally on New Yorks first shot of the second period. Kulemin also scored in between, and Josh Bailey and Tavares found the net in the Islanders three-goal middle period.FLAMES 2, KINGS 1, OTLOS ANGELES (AP) — Dennis Wideman scored 4:08 into overtime, and Calgary rallied for its fourth straight victory.Sean Monahan tied it with 6:05 left in regulation for the Flames, who are unbeaten on their five-game Pacific Division road trip. Joni Ortio stopped 33 shots in his fourth straight win as Calgary moved past Los Angeles into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with the victory.Matt Greene scored midway through the third period and Jonathan Quick made 22 saves for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who wrapped up their seven-game homestand with a dismal 1-2-4 record and dropped out of the playoff picture.Widemans goal wasnt confirmed until video review confirmed his shot had ricocheted off the camera inside the net.CANUCKS 2, PANTHERS 1SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Radim Vrbata and Bo Horvat scored, and Ryan Miller stopped 23 shots to lead Vancouver to its third straight win.Brandon Pirri spoiled Millers bid for a third straight shutout with 2:32 remaining, ending the goalies career-best scoreless streak at 200:45. Miller, who had blanked Philadelphia and Carolina in his last two starts, topped his previous best scoreless streak of 161:35, set in 2010 with BuffaloVancouver improved to 3-1 on a five-game road trip.The Panthers have lost a season-worst four straight.Vrbata put Vancouver ahead at 3:25 of the first period and Horvat doubled the lead at 8:03.BLUES 3, AVALANCHE 1ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jaden Schwartz had a goal and assist and St. Louis defence stifled Colorado.Brian Elliott made 17 saves, T.J. Oshie also scored and defenceman Carl Gunnarsson got his second goal of the season for the Blues. St. Louis has scored in a season-best eight consecutive games, going 7-0-1 in that stretch.Alexander Steen had two assists, giving him 18 points during a 10-game points streak. Ken Hitchcock won his 153rd game with St. Louis, tied with Brian Sutter for second on the franchise list.The Blues have won eight of nine at home against Colorado.Matt Duchene scored for the Avalanche, who finished 1-2-2 on a five-game road trip.BLUE JACKETS 3, WILD 1ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — James Wisniewski had the go-ahead goal, two assists and made a critical defensive play in the crease late in the third period to help Columbus beat Minnesota.Brandon Dubinsky scored early for the Blue Jackets, and Scott Hartnell tipped in Wisniewskis shot with 3:03 left to seal the victory for goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. The All-Star made 25 saves to improve to 5-1 in his career against the Wild and win for the first time in five starts. Bobrovsky posted a 3.55 goals-against average in those previous four losses.Zach Parise scored for the Wild, who fell to 4-9-4 over their last 17 games.HURRICANES 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1TORONTO (AP) — Eric Staal scored twice and Anton Khudobin stopped 34 shots to lead Carolina.Brad Malone and Elias Lindholm also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 6-2-1 this month.Nazem Kadri scored with 5:11 remaining to end Khudobins shutout bid and end Torontos scoring drought at 162:14. The Maple Leafs, back home after a winless four-game trip, have lost five straight and fell to 1-6-0 under interim coach Peter Horachek.The Hurricanes controlled play against the Leafs, chasing starting goalie Jonathan Bernier after he gave up Staals first goal in the opening minute of the second period. Bernier gave up three goals on 13 shots, and was replaced by James Reimer — who stopped all 18 shots he faced.Staal capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 1:34 remaining in the game.DEVILS 5, SHARKS 2SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Mike Cammalleri scored a tiebreaking, power-play goal late in the second period to help New Jersey beat San Jose.Steve Bernier, Jordin Tootoo, Travis Zajac and Jacob Josefson also scored for the Devils, who bookended wins over Los Angeles and San Jose around a lopsided loss in Anaheim on what proved to be a successful California swing.Cory Schneider made 34 saves one game after being knocked after getting hit in the head by a puck.Joe Pavelski and Matt Nieto scored for the Sharks, who have lost five of six home games and have already surpassed last years total of regulation home losses with their eighth this season. Alex Stalock made 29 saves as he set a career high in goals allowed in a game. Jonathan Toews Jersey . - John Elways philosophy is to address immediate needs in free agency, even though some of his own veterans may prove too pricey to keep around. Keith Magnuson Jersey . - The fiancee of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is set to ask a judge to throw out allegations that she lied to a grand jury. http://www.authenticblackhawkspro.com/Bobby-orr-blackhawks-jersey/ . -- Derek Jeter says the New York Yankees have no choice but to move forward now that Alex Rodriguez has accepted his suspension for the 2014 season.Im going to write in defence of Capitals RW Alex Ovechkin, if only because there have been some recent attacks and, while I can certainly live with them being directed at Ovechkin, the analytical process ought to be better, particularly if its going to be a hit piece on the leagues leading goal-scorer. Yes, Im writing to defend a player that is on pace for a 59-goal season, when the second-best goal-scorer in the NHL this season, Torontos Phil Kessel, is on pace for 43. Naturally, I didnt think that Ovechkin would be a player that needed much defending, but hes taken some hits lately. Im going to largely ignore his contributions on the power play because its not in any dispute that Ovechkin is great with the man advantage and can make a difference even when he doesnt score. On one side of the discussion, we have the Toronto Star, with their Department of Hockey Analytics, and while there are plenty of flaws in Ovechkins game, they somehow determined that his goals-for/against percentage was the way to illustrate the problem. Never mind that goals for/against percentage is essentially measuring plus-minus. Ill get to that in a moment but, first, also peruse the Hockey News piece by Ken Campbell who, after Ovechkin was minus-5 against Columbus, decided that Ovechkin has to decide what kind of player he is. After all, Ovechkin was minus-17 on the season after that game. Whats odd about using plus-minus to denigrate Ovechkins contributions is that anyone doing serious analytical work in hockey has been against using plus-minus because it involves so many factors beyond an individual players control (not least of which are the contributions of nine other skaters and two goaltenders when the game is 5-on-5) and, generally, involves small samples because goals are relatively rare events. Its funny to find myself in this position, because I can be a bit of an apologist for plus-minus. You spend enough time around the game and that thinking can be pretty common, and when the sample is large enough, you can get a pretty decent list of players at both ends of the spectrum. (For example, heres the list of players with the best cumulative plus-minus since 2000, and here are the worst.) But, Ive at least learned that there are many other factors that go into whether a player is a plus or minus player, and they must be considered if youre going to attempt to pass judgment on a single season or, especially, a portion of a season. So, lets take a look at some factors that are at play to make Alex Ovechkin a minus-17. First off, the shooting percentage of others on the ice with Ovechkin at 5-on-5 is ridiculously low. His 6.3% is only ahead of fourth-liners Aaron Volpatti and Jay Beagle among Capitals forwards. The suggestion could be made -- and of course it has been -- that Ovechkin isnt making those around him better, but here are the 5-on-5 on-ice shooting percentages when Ovechkin has been on the ice for the past five seasons: 10.36%, 8.62%, 8.05%, 11.76%, 9.09%. Youre really going to have to dig for reasons, other than poor luck and ineffective shooters, to explain even-strength shooting effectiveness declining by 40% over last season, especially when Ovechkin himself is shooting 10.6% (18 goals, 170 shots) at 5-on-5. Taking away Ovechkins 18 goals on 170 shots, leaves the other Capitals to score eight goals on 242 shots (3.3%) with Ovechkin on the ice. Marcus Johansson, his most common left winger, has one goal on 51 shots. This undeniably effects plus-miinus, right? Of course it does. Pierre Pilote Jersey. Give Ovechkin an average on-ice shooting percentage (say, 8%) and that is a difference of about seven goals. At the other end of the rink, Ovechkin is getting burned with a .909 save percentage at 5-on-5. Naturally, the argument will be that Ovechkins defensive play is what leads to that low percentage. Keep in mind, that percentage is well below career norms for him (.922 over the past five seasons, including this one) and ranks near the bottom on the Capitals roster. Use that typical save percentage, on 439 shots against, and that becomes a difference of 5-6 goals. So, why not take a look at where the shots are coming from with Ovechkin on the ice? According to Some Kind of Ninjas Shot Tracker, shots against the Capitals with Ovechkin on the ice at even strength, come from an average distance of 34.5 feet. In the previous five seasons, it has been 34.2, 36.6, 35.8, 34.6 and 35.9 feet on average. There can be an argument made, based on those average shot distances, that Ovechkins most effective defensive performances were in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 (the Dale Hunter season), but there really isnt a huge difference; goaltenders arent suddenly flummoxed by 34-foot shots when 36-footers are easy pickings. On top of that, best of luck trying to identify those particular seasons as anything close to Ovechkins best. Why? Because he scored 70 goals and 150 points in 157 games over those two seasons, producing the two lowest point scoring rates of his career. Yes, even lower than this season, when virtually no one else puts the puck in the net with him on the ice. Of course Ovechkin is not a defensive whiz, but that shouldnt stand as an indictment any more than it has for elite offensive players throughout the history of the game. Seriously, take a look at the Top 10 goal-scorers in the league, none of whom put the puck in the net like Ovechkin, and identify the ones that are notably strong backcheckers. Some are: Joe Pavelski, Alexander Steen, Patrick Sharp, but theres no reason to believe that right wingers Kessel or Corey Perry or Patrick Kane are doing brilliant work in the defensive end. Heres the thing: theyre all great players! Part of the trouble for Ovechkin is that the Capitals havent been able to win in the postseason, so he gets painted with the brush of failure for a whole host of team shortcomings. Thats what comes with being a superstar. This Capitals team is flawed. They rank in the bottom third of the league in Fenwick Close (measuring shot attempts, not including blocks, at even strength, with the score close), which is a good indication of team puck possession, yet Ovechkin has relatively solid possession numbers. If you want to break down a players overall contribution, and feel that you must use one statistic in order to do so (better yet, dont), then at least reduce the impact of others on the ice and look at the possession stats, because it wont matter that linemates arent finishing or that, for whatever reason, goaltenders arent stopping the puck. Shooting and save percentages fluctuate and while they affect perception -- just ask Tyler Bozak -- they dont get to the bottom of a players on-ice contribution, and so it is with Ovechkin this year, who is having a fine season, no matter what his plus-minus says. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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