The NHL Evening Skate for Nov. 30
Heading into this evening’s action, here are the day’s top NHL storylines:
Karlsson not sure if first game back in Ottawa will give ‘closure’ on Senators years
“The time is nigh” for Erik Karlsson’s return to Canadian Tire Centre. On the eve of Karlsson’s first game in Ottawa as an opposing player — sure to be an emotional affair — the star defenseman opened his press conference with a bit of levity. Two days ago, Karlsson walked away from a media scrum in Toronto when a reporter used the phrase “the time is nigh” in reference to his impending return to Ottawa, but he earned a laugh from reporters by tuning it around as his opening statement on Friday afternoon. [More]
To 32 and beyond: Seattle may not be end of NHL expansion
The NHL will soon have 32 teams if Seattle is approved as expected next week. An even balance between conferences. A cross-border rival for the Vancouver Canucks in the Pacific Northwest. Surely the league is done growing for a while? Maybe not. Two and a half years after voting to add a team in Las Vegas in what has been a rousing success, the NHL has plenty of options when it comes to what’s next. [More]
Lamp-lighters
Tyler Seguin flashes evil smile after knocking over delicious beer
During warmups, Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin noticed a female spectator had placed an adult refreshment on the edge of the boards while taking in the action. He then purposely skated into the glass where the beverage was sitting. After seeing what was probably somewhere between $10 and $15 hit the ground, the victim of this heinous crime was upset. Most men would panic at this point, but Seguin went on to show the world that he is a champ. [More]
Matt Duchene is getting the last laugh
As great as Patrik Laine has been lately, you could make an argument that Matt Duchene is the hottest player in the NHL right now. At minimum, opponents aren’t getting many chances to trash talk him, because they’re too busy trying to catch their breath after failing to keep up with the speedy center. [More]
Why are so many teams getting bad goaltending?
Here’s maybe the craziest stat of this young season: 13 NHL teams are getting sub-.900 goaltending through about 25 games. And three more are dead even at .900. That is, for those who aren’t the best at math, a little more than half the teams in the league getting goaltending that would have been unconscionable even last year. It’s still relatively early in the season and things always kind of trend toward “lower-scoring” as the campaign progresses, but only four teams had .900-or-worse goaltending last season. [More]
Fantasy Forecheck
Rattling Around The Dome: The best surprising starts so far
Surprises can go either way, most of the time. When you believe to be picking up a bag of succulent chocolate chip cookies and they turn out to be oatmeal raisin, that is a horrendous surprise. But, drafting players late who turn out to be some of the NHL’s most lethal offensive producers through the first part of the NHL season? Now THAT’s a good surprise. Here’s a look at five under-hyped fantasy gems who are over-delivering so far. [Fantasy surprises]
Game of the night
St. Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche
St. Louis (8-12-3) has lost two in a row and seven of its last 10. Four of those losses came with captain Alexander Steen out with an injury, but he returned to the lineup Wednesday against Detroit. It might be hard for Steen and the Blues to turn things around Friday in Denver, however. The Avalanche (15-6-4) have won six straight after Wednesday’s 6-3 win over Pittsburgh while the top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabe Landeskog have been nearly unstoppable this season. [Full preview]
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Jason Garrett may have saved his job with Cowboys
• TMZ video shows Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt striking woman
• Cubs sticking with Addison Russel despite domestic violence suspension
• Reasons why Jeff Brohm changed his mind and is staying at Purdue
