NHL 2022-23 Recap Week 22 Stars and Maple Leafs have big wins, Bruins inch closer to history, Offsides isn't consistent

My preseason favorites to win the Stanley Cup, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars, have been racking up impressive wins lately.

The Maple Leafs beat the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils. Mitchell Marner had marvelous steals and goals in both games. I didn’t see the Oilers game because it was on the NHL network. Ugh. But they came from behind to beat the Devils, helped by Timo Meier’s high-sticking penalty on Alexander Kerfoot. I don’t know what Meir was doing because even if he made contact with the puck, the refs would have stopped play since you can’t do that. Auston Matthews made them pay on with the power-play game-winner.

The Dallas Stars have won five of six, and it easily could have been six in a row. The Demolished the Buffalo Sabres scoring ten goals and four in three minutes. They also had big wins against the Colorado Avalanche and Seattle Kraken. But they’re only winning the division by a point because the Minnesota Wild have also been hot, picking up points in thirteen straight games.

Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins became the fastest team to hit the 50-win mark, clinched a playoff berth, and are on pace to break the wins and points records. But they also lost twice in regulation this week. More on them below.

Things I like

1. The Edmonton Oilers took on the Boston Bruins in a well-hyped game, or as hyped as an NHL game can be. The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead, including a first-period buzzer-beater by David Pastranek, who resigned for 90k. You probably thought they would win but nope. Your second guess is Connor McDavid would lead the Oilers to an epic comeback, and you’d also be wrong. McDavid and Leon Draisaitl combined for only one assist. Instead, the Oilers as a team got it done. The Bruins weren’t sharp. They had a turnover in their own zone, and Swayman appeared to have zero confidence. They’re definitely vulnerable. Videos of the turnovers are in the goat section below.

Things I don’t

1. I can’t recall which game. I watch too many, but last week there was an overtime goal that was reviewed to see if the player was offside. The player stopped the puck outside the blueline, skated in without the puck, reached back to retrieve it, and scored the goal. I thought it was offside, but the player was deemed to have had control of the puck. This week, in the Flames vs. Wild, the same thing occurred. The Wild player skated in first before the puck, but he actually had the puck on his stick and based on last week, I assumed it was a goal. They instead overturned it, and the Flames won in the shootout. If last week was a goal, this week has to be because it was the same thing, only with more control. I don’t care how they choose, but they must be consistent. Offside cannot be subjective. It’s not pass interference. You’re either offside or you’re not.

2. Tony DeAngelo has just about used up all his chances. His spearing of Corey Perry was classless. Not only was Perry not looking, DeAngelo speared him in the groin. DeAngelo can’t even make the case that Perry instigated it because, on the replay, it looks like he barely slashes DeAngelo in a fairly normal hockey play.

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Austin Watson vs Kyle Burroughs

Some decent grappling.

Marcus Foligno vs Liam O’Brien

A nice long back and forth featuring long hair.

Goats of the Week

Boston Bruins

Evan Bouchard scores when Matt Grzelcyk falls down.

Patrice Bergeron turns it over twice in succession. Ryan McLeod scores to tie it.

Patrick Kane - New York Rangers

The Rangers won in the shootout but made it harder on themselves. Kane loses the handle, and the Canadiens go the other way for the shorthanded goal.

Goal of the Week

Trevor Zegras - Anaheim Ducks

From between his legs, like we all do at home. Philipp Grubauer’s reaction was priceless. I really hope Connor Bedard goes to Anaheim.

Stat Line of the Week

3/11/23 Vegas 4 vs. Carolina 0

Jonathan Quick improved to 3-0 as a Las Vegas Golden Knight. Shortly after being acquired, Adin Hill became injured, and Quick quickly became the number-one goalie despite never playing a game for the franchise. It’s odd that three goalies would suffer from lower body injuries simultaneously, but such is the case. Quick posted his 58th career shutout against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Numbers, Numbers

7 – Seconds left when Tyler Toffoli scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway

1 – Team is top five in goals scored, and against the Boston Bruins

2 – Boston Bruins over 60% on faceoff wins, still trailing Jonathan Toews though

5 – Boston Bruins in the top eight in plus minus

15 – Points by Pavel Buchnevich in his last nine games

27 – Points by Connor McDavid during his snapped 11-game point streak

Rankings

The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.

Top 5

1. Boston
2. Minnesota
3. Toronto
4. New Jersey
5. Dallas

Bottom 5

30. Philadelphia
31. San Jose
32. Columbus
33. Montreal
34. Chicago