Morning Briefing 10/03: Larkin Booed as Wings Blanked, Garand and Hofer Shutouts

TL;DR

• Two shutouts on night one: Dylan Garand stopped all 22 in the Rangers' 2-0 win in Detroit, and Joel Hofer all 25 in St. Louis's 4-0 win in Dallas.
• Detroit opened in a hole before the puck dropped: Dylan Larkin, on injured reserve after asking for a trade, was booed during introductions, fans chanted "sell the team," and the Red Wings were shut out.
• Cole Perfetti (6% rostered) had an assist, 4 shots and 3 hits on Winnipeg's top line, which won its 5v5 minutes 61% to 39% on expected goals.
• Alex Tuch scored twice in Washington's 5-2 win in Carolina; JJ Peterka has a goal in both of Boston's games.
• Cam Fowler led St. Louis's skaters in power-play time in his first game on the top unit; St. Louis went 0-for-3.

Two shutouts: Garand and Hofer

NYR · G / STL · G Dylan Garand, in his fourth NHL appearance, stopped all 22 shots in New York's 2-0 win at Detroit (+1.8 goals saved above expected). He is rostered in under 1% of leagues. Joel Hofer stopped all 25 in St. Louis's 4-0 win at Dallas (+2.8 goals saved above expected) and picked up an assist on the empty-net goal. Those were the night's only shutouts.

Red Wings: Larkin booed, Copp centres the top line

DET · C Dylan Larkin was placed on injured reserve before the opener (upper body, retroactive to Aug. 15) and is expected out through at least Oct. 5. He chose to stand on the bench with the scratches for introductions, his first appearance at Little Caesars Arena since asking for a trade at the end of last season, and was booed. Per @HeleneStJames: "Red Wings season opener less than 6 minutes old. Already down 1-0 to Rangers, outshot 6-0, on 2nd penalty kill. Dylan Larkin booed during introductions, fans chant "sell the team" during break." Todd McLellan, per @HeleneStJames: "Obviously he's got to live with the ramifications of asking for a trade." The boos returned at the final horn, per @AnsarKhanMLive.

With Larkin out, Andrew Copp centred the top line between Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond and played 22:17, a top-line workload, for 1 shot. He is rostered in 2% of leagues. The line did not drive play: 0.18 expected goals for and 0.57 against in 14:09 at 5v5 (24% xGF), and the second line was not much better (28%). The bottom six won their minutes: the Marco Kasper line generated 0.45 xG to 0.01 in 7:12 (Kasper 4 shots in 10:50).

Perfetti: the low-rostered winner of the night

WPG · C Cole Perfetti had an assist, 4 shots and 3 hits in 17:06 on Winnipeg's top line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor in the 4-3 overtime loss to Boston. That line won its 10:55 at 5v5 on expected goals, 0.72 to 0.45 (61%). Connor had 9 shots and a power-play goal, the ninth straight season he has scored in his team's first game, per @mikemcintyrewpg. Perfetti is rostered in 6% of leagues.

Tuch and Peterka keep scoring

WSH · R / BOS · R Alex Tuch scored twice in the first period, on 3 shots in 16:38, as Washington built a 4-0 lead on the way to a 5-2 win at Carolina. JJ Peterka scored again, his second goal in two games for Boston, with 5 shots in 20:05 on the top line with David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm (57% xGF at 5v5). Peterka is rostered in 47% of leagues.

Snuggerud: top line, top power play

STL · R Jimmy Snuggerud scored a goal and an assist on 4 shots in 18:59 on St. Louis's top line with Robert Thomas and Dylan Holloway, and played on the first power-play unit. The line controlled its 8:52 at 5v5, 0.55 expected goals for to 0.22 against (72%). It is a top-six, top-unit role, and he is rostered in 34% of leagues.

Fowler's first night on the top power play

STL · D Cam Fowler played 3:28 of St. Louis's 6:34 on the power play, the most of any St. Louis skater, in 22:38 overall. The power play went 0-for-3, and Fowler finished with 2 shots, no points and a holding penalty. The minutes are what matter for now: he is rostered in 12% of leagues.

Carlo ejected for kneeing Hintz; Hintz finished the game

STL · D / DAL · C Brandon Carlo took a five-minute kneeing major and a game misconduct early in the third period for a hit on Roope Hintz. Hintz stayed in the game and played 16:57. Per @samnestler: "Roope Hintz said he feels fine. Said he thought he was badly hurt when it first happened, but got lucky with the actual contact that there wasn't more of an injury."

Tolvanen's role is smaller, not gone

NYR · R Eeli Tolvanen scored in 11:26, down from his 16-minute average last season, on a line with Will Cuylle and Noah Laba. That is the role New York has given him this season: a middle-six forward who is not on the first power-play unit. Expect minutes in this range rather than last season's.

Gauthier on Anaheim's top line

ANA · L Cutter Gauthier had an assist, 5 shots and 4 hits in 17:51 with Leo Carlsson and A.J. Greer, Anaheim's most-used line at 5v5 (9:56, 61% xGF), and played on the first power-play unit in the 4-3 win at Vegas. Tristan Luneau led Anaheim in 5v5 ice time; per @PatrickCPresent: "At 5v5, he led the team in TOI (23:40), was on the ice for 3 goals for and none against, and posted a 58.3 xGF% (1.28-0.92)."

Lines that changed in the third period

Comparing who each forward played with in the first two periods against the third (all strengths, so some of it is special teams):

• Carolina, down 5-1 entering the third: Andrei Svechnikov moved off Sebastian Aho and Jackson Blake to play with Nikolaj Ehlers and Logan Stankoven. That trio won its 5:49 at 5v5, 0.54 expected goals to 0.13 (81%). Svechnikov finished with 6 shots and 0.80 xG without a goal.
• Dallas, trailing: Jason Robertson moved up with Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston, and Justin Hryckowian dropped down the lineup.
• Vegas, trailing: Ivan Barbashev moved off Jack Eichel and Mark Stone to play with Mitch Marner and William Karlsson.
• New York, leading: J.T. Miller played the third with Tyler Kartye and Pavel Dorofeyev.

Top lines at 5v5

Each team's top forward line by our line numbering, 5v5 only.

Ice time outside the usual

Each player against his own usual. Until a player has ten games this season, the comparison is last season.

Categories outside the usual