🏒 Strike While it’s Hot: Second Half Storylines

Athlon Sports

What to know: The NHL is officially back this afternoon when the Wild take on the Red Wings in Detroit at 12:30 PM ET on ABC, and we’re here to feed you some second half of the season storylines. We all know how much of a success the 4 Nations Face-Off was, but can the league keep fans and their momentum going?

Ovechkin’s Glory Chase: Entering the year, Alex Ovechkin began the final push to become the leading goal scorer in NHL history. Ovi was red hot in the beginning of the season, but suffered a fractured leg on November 18th after a collision in a game against Utah. Before that injury, Ovi had scored 15 goals in 18 games. He returned in late December and has 26 total goals this year. He sits just 16 goals behind Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894, one that the Great One has held since 1994. If Ovi can stay healthy, all signs point to the 39-year-old becoming the new record holder.

Playoff Races Get Hot: The Wild Card standings are loaded right now, and will certainly only get tighter as the season winds down. In the Eastern Conference, there are 9 teams within 7 points of the top Wild Card spot. Ottawa currently holds the top spot with 62 points, but any sort of slippage is not possible. In the Western Conference, Colorado holds a firm grip on the top spot with 68 points, followed by Vancouver with 63. Utah currently sits 6 games back of the Canucks in their first year of existence, can they make a run?

Trade Buzz and New Faces in New Places: The trade deadline closes up on March 7th, and teams are gonna be busy. The teams at the bottom of the West have already asserted themselves as sellers, but a stacked Eastern Conference may hold back some teams from selling off players. While some teams have already made moves like the Rangers going out and getting JT Miller and Carolina shocking the hockey world when they traded for Mikko Rantanen from the Avs. Will those moves pay off? Or did they sell the farm a little too soon?

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