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Daily Faceoff Morning Report — 03/21/22

Nick Szeman
Nick Szeman
Mar 21, 2022, 01:08 EDTUpdated: Mar 21, 2022, 01:13 EDT
Daily Faceoff Morning Report — 03/21/22

The Daily Faceoff Morning Report will be released on weekdays, recapping the key news and events from the day before.

We will highlight injuries that will affect today’s games, hot streaks, cold streaks, and anything relevant for everyone from the casual hockey fan to the Fantasy Hockey grinder.

The deadline is near

Sunday marked the penultimate day before Monday’s NHL trade deadline and teams were busy over the weekend trying to finalize deals. Some of the headline deals from the weekend included:

Check out our up-to-the-minute trade deadline tracker to see every trade and every detail leading up to the deadline.

Notable nights for players that could be on the move

The following players are all listed in Frank Seravalli’s list of trade targets:

  • If the New York Rangers plan on trading Alexander Georgiev (G) before Monday’s trade deadline, he certainly did his best to increase his value with a 44-save shutout against the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes. If it does indeed end up being Georgiev’s final game as a Ranger, it will cap off a lacklustre 9-9-2 season for him with a .899 SV%, the lowest in his five years with the Rangers.
  • Marc-Andre Fleury (G) allowed five goals on 31 shots in what could potentially end up being his final game as a member of the Blackhawks.
  • Phil Kessel (RW) had a two-point night (1G / 1A) to give him five points (1G / 4A) in his last six games.
  • Andrew Copp (C, LW, RW) was pointless in his previous five games but had a big three-point (0G / 3A) night for the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
  • After being held pointless in back-to-back games after snapping a 13-game point streak, J.T. Miller (C, LW) was back at it on Sunday with another multi-point game (1G / 1A). No player has more points than Miller since February 12th, with 29 (9G / 20A) in 16 games.

Jets find a way to win; new opportunity for Raddysh

The Winnipeg Jets can’t seem to play in a low-scoring game, as they allowed three goals or more for the 17th time in their last 18 games (9-7-2), but were able to hold on to a 6-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Connor Hellebuyck has a .908 SV%, the lowest he has recorded since posting a .907 SV% in 2016-17. Kyle Connor (LW) had four points (1G / 3A) for the Jets and set a new career-high in goals (38) and points (77) in only 63 games, topping the 38-goal, 73 point season he had in 71 games in 2019-20. Connor currently has 15 points (6G / 9A) during a seven-game point streak.

Taylor Raddysh (RW) made his debut for the Blackhawks and had his presence felt immediately as he found himself playing on the top powerplay unit. He had two points in the loss (1G / 1A) with four shots and two hits in just under 16 minutes of action. Playing alongside Patrick Kane (RW) and Alex DeBrincat (LW, RW) on an effective powerplay in Chicago could pay off for Raddysh.

Ovechkin hits 40; Capitals lose 3-2 to Stars

Alex Ovechkin (LW) scored his 40th goal of the season but it wasn’t enough as the Dallas Stars held on for a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals. With the goal, Ovechkin registered a 40 goal season for the 12th time, tying Wayne Gretzky for most in NHL history.

Roope Hintz (C, LW) scored two goals to snap a nine-game goalless drought and now has eight points (3G / 5A) in his last 10 games. The Stars are 18-3-0 this season in games when Hintz scores at least one goal. Jason Robertson (LW) had recorded an assist in the game, only his second point (1G / 1A) in six games since scoring hat-tricks in back-to-back games earlier this month.

With Braden Holtby (G) still sidelined with an injury, Jake Oettinger (G) got the start on back-to-back days and had a fantastic performance, stopping 36 of 38 shots. Going into action tonight, Oettinger had won only one of his last five starts (1-4-0) and had a .889 SV%.

Flyers win first game in the post-Giroux era

The Philadelphia Flyers played their first game in almost 15 years without Claude Giroux as a member of the team. Kevin Hayes (C) scored two goals and has been playing well, with seven points (4G / 3A) in his eight games since returning from injury earlier in the month.

Carter Hart (G) made 26 of 27 saves and continued an odd rebound season. After having a miserable campaign last year with a 9-11-5 record and .877 SV%, he has rebounded nicely, despite a 13-19-7 record on a terrible Flyers team, with a .911 SV% this season. Among goalies that have played in at least 20 games, Hart is the only goalie that has a save percentage above a .910 SV% while putting forth a losing record.

Other News and Notes

  • The Hurricanes lost 2-0 to the New York Rangers and are now on a season-worst four-game losing streak (0-3-1) and have failed to score more than three goals in each of their last 11 games (5-4-2).
  • Petr Mrazek (TOR) was placed on waivers.

Injury Report

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