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Daily Faceoff Morning Report — 04/14/22

Nick Szeman
Nick Szeman
Apr 14, 2022, 01:00 EDT
Daily Faceoff Morning Report — 04/14/22

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.

Rangers shutting things down defensively

Felix Sandstrom (G) did not receive an easy assignment in his second career start as he allowed three goals on 33 shots for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 4-0 loss to the red-hot New York Rangers. Alexandar Georgiev (G) stopped all 28 shots he faced to record his second shutout in his last six starts (6-0-0). Heading into the game, the Rangers ranked first in the NHL in xGA/60 (1.84) at 5v5 and improved on that dominance as they have only allowed 2.18 goals per game in their last 11 (8-2-1). Kaapo Kakko (RW) scored twice, finding the back of the net for the first time in 14 games. Kakko has only 16 points (7G / 9A) in 39 games this season. With their recent run of hot play, the Rangers are suddenly only two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes, who have played one fewer game, for the top seed in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers have one more meeting with the Hurricanes in the final week of the season in a game that could determine who is crowned the division champion.

Laine ends skid, Blue Jackets defeat Canadiens

Elvis Merzlikins (G) started his 10th consecutive game for the Columbus Blue Jackets and saved 20 of 21 shots in a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Merzlikins has a 2-4-3 record in his last 10 games with a .908 SV%. Patrik Laine (LW, RW) had three points (1G / 2A), scoring for the first time in 11 games. Despite only having five points (0G / 5A) going into the game, Laine has 56 points (26G / 30A) in 55 games this season and is on pace to finish a season at above a point-per-game pace for the first time in his career.

Jack Roslovic (C, RW) scored two goals for the Blue Jackets and has six points (5G / 1A) in his last two games. Gustav Nyquist (LW, RW) recorded two assists in the victory to give him six points (1G / 5A) in his last six games. The Canadiens fell to below .500 (12-13-4) under the tenure of head coach Martin St. Louis for the first time since his opening week behind the bench.

Kings in trouble; Avalanche win seventh straight

With their playoff hopes hanging in the balance, the Los Angeles Kings decided to go with Jonathan Quick (G) after playing the previous night in a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Quick allowed three goals on 10 shots in the first 10 minutes before being pulled in an eventual 9-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The Kings have now lost four of their last five games (1-4-0) as they sit third in the Pacific Division, having played at least two more games than every other team in the hunt.

The offensive juggernaut that is the Avalanche put on a clinic on Wednesday, as their second-place powerplay unit has been especially effective against the Kings. They scored on both powerplay opportunities, wrapping up their season series with a 3-0-0 record and a perfect 5 for 5 conversion rate on the powerplay. With the victory, the Avalanche set a new franchise record with 53 wins in a season. Nathan MacKinnon (C) led the way with a hat-trick and five points (3G / 2A) and now has 28 points (12G / 16A) in his last 16 games. Cale Makar (D) had four points (1G / 3A) and scored his defenseman-leading 26th goal of the season. Mike Green (D)’s 31-goal season in 2008-09 marks him as the only defenseman in the last 28 years to have reached the 30-goal mark. Makar has nine games left to try and reach that milestone.

Other News and Notes

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