Games of the Week
The first period was dominated by the Canucks at home, but the scoring wasn’t opened up until halfway through the first due to some stellar goaltending from the Penguins’ Tristan Jarry. He couldn’t stay perfect forever though, and the Canucks tallied an even strength and a powerplay goal to go up 2-0 after one period. The Penguins were able to fight back in the second frame, as Rickard Rakell got on the board twice to tie the game. Before the second ended though, J.T. Miller scored for the Canucks shorthanded, and they took a 3-2 lead into the third. Halfway through the third the Penguins tied it up, and Erik Karlsson scored the winner in overtime to give the Penguins a 4-3 win.
Another back and forth game in Edmonton on Wednesday with plenty of excitement. Robert Thomas opened up the scoring for St. Louis with a beautiful wrist shot goal just over two minutes into the game, and the Blues would grab another just two minutes later to lead 2-0. The Oilers weren’t going away though, as Zach Hyman netted a powerplay goal to cut the lead in half with two minutes left in the first. Hyman then tied it with a second goal in the second period, and the game was tied at 2 after two periods. The third period ended without any more goals thanks to great saves on both ends, and who else but Connor McDavid would score the overtime winner to give the Oilers a 3-2 win at home.
This game was even throughout, with each team scoring one goal in each period. The Panthers struck first with a wrist shot goal from their captain Alex Barkov, but the Canadiens tied it with a goal from their captain, Nick Suzuki, just over a minute later. The next two periods had lots of special teams action. Sam Reinhart scored his 40th goal of the year on the powerplay, but the Canadiens tied it yet again with just one second remaining in period two! The Canadiens started the third with a powerplay goal of their own, but surrendered a shorthanded goal to Sam Reinhart later in the period, his second of the game, and we headed to overtime! Overtime saw some great chances but no goals, and this game needed a shootout to be decided. The Canadiens were up first, but they and the Panthers didn’t score in round one. The Canadiens were stopped again in round two, but Barkov scored on his attempt to give the Panthers the lead. Cole Caufield scored for Montreal in round 3 to tie it, but it didn’t matter, as Anton Lundell netted his attempt on a gorgeous move to win the game for the Panthers at home, 4-3 in shootout fashion.
Stump Stars of the Week
1st Star - Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators, 3 Games, 3 Wins, .964 Save %
2nd Star - Roman Josi, Nashville Predators, 3 Games, 3 Goals, 4 Assists
3rd Star - Kevin Fiala, Los Angeles Kings, 4 Games, 3 Goals, 5 Assists
Goals of the week
This goal had it all! Nazem Kadri made an INCREDIBLE individual effort halfway through the third period on the Flames’ power play against the Penguins. He picked up a pass in his zone, threaded the puck through the legs of the defender, danced past two more defenders and outwaited the goaltender before tossing the puck home. An absolute beauty of a coast-to-coast goal, a must watch!
Paul Cotter crossed over from hockey to baseball for this goal near the start of the second period in the Golden Knights’ matchup with the Bruins on Thursday. Teammate Nick Roy entered the zone and threw a lob of a pass in the air, which Cotter swung at and connected with in mid air to bat it home past Jeremy Swayman.
Andrew Mangiapane scored a beauty midway through the second period to tie the game up in the Flames contest with the Kings. He came into the zone with speed and went to a gorgeous backhand-forehand deke that sent Kings’ goalie Cam Talbot flying in the wrong direction, and Mangiapane finished it with ease.
Playoff Race check-in
Eastern Conference
The Florida Panthers have stormed ahead of the Rangers and Bruins for the lead in the eastern conference, currently riding a four-game win streak and having won nine of their last ten games. However, the race is still very close and there’s a lot of hockey left to be played!
The Red Wings and the Lightning are 6 points clear of the Islanders for the wild card race, both tied with 72 points and looking poised to extend their season into the playoffs.
Western Conference
The Jets, Stars, and Canucks continue to jockey for position in the western conference standings, with the Canucks currently holding the top spot. However, the Jets are just two points behind and they’ve played three fewer games than the Canucks, so they could be in a position to jump into the lead soon.
The Nashville Predators are HOT! Just last week, they were holding onto the last wild card spot by only two points, but they’ve opened up an EIGHT game winning streak that now has them seven points ahead of the Flames, who have won their last five and are making a push of their own.
Matchups to watch for
Tuesday: Oilers @ Bruins
These two teams gave us a game of the week last week, and this time they face off in Boston. Both teams want to improve their playoff spot, it should be quite the matchup!
Thursday: Flyers @ Panthers
Two teams in completely different spots, but both playing well. The Panthers look to stay hot and keep their position atop the eastern conference, while the Flyers are trying to hang on to the final Metro division playoff spot.
Saturday: Jets @ Canucks
A couple of western conference juggernauts colliding in Vancouver! Maybe the two best teams in the west are fighting for the top spot, with the Jets playing well and the Canucks struggling but looking to get back on track.
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