Sidney Crosby had a November to remember. Crosby racked up 18 points in 13 games to move into seventh place in points this season. At 35, Crosby shows no sign of slowing down. He's on pace for over 40 goals and 100 points. He's only scored over 40 twice in his career, so that's a big deal. Crosby is already seventeenth in points all time and should be fifteenth by season end. His points-per-game average is seventh all-time. More importantly, the Penguins are winning. They've crawled back into a playoff spot with a 7-2-1 record in their last ten. Crosby should become only the second player to hit 2000 career points.
Things I like
- The Winnipeg Jets took a 4-2 lead against the Dallas Stars into the third period. But Jason Robertson scored his NHL-leading 17th goal to bring the Stars within one. Robertson scored again two minutes later into a wide-open net. Only the net shouldn't have been that way. But Josh Morrissey knocked Jamie Benn into Connor Hellebuyck, knocking his mask off and him to the ground where he lay. The play was ruled a goal in real-time and after review. While it's an extremely cheap goal, it was the right call. The refs let the play continue since it was a natural continuation. Morrissey initiated the contact, and even though he was mask-less, Hellebuyck had no injury risk because he wasn't in the play. Because life works in mysterious ways, Morrissey had the overtime goal to atone for his mishap.
- The most surprising team this season are the Seattle Kraken. You can make a case for the New Jersey Devils, but after sucking for so many years, it's only natural you'd become good after hoarding all those high draft picks. The Kraken, on the other hand, are an expansion team. While the Vegas Golden Knights shattered the expansion team conception, they were able to pick a lot of quality talent. The Kraken weren't so lucky. Jordan Eberle was their only good pick. But Andre Burakovsky was a great pick-up after his playoff run with the Colorado Avalanche. First-round pick Matty Beniers has grown a lot in his second season after only playing ten games in his first. That'll hopefully be the case with Shane Wright, who they managed to send down to the AHL via a loophole for a conditioning stint. I'm not sold on their goaltending though Martin Jones has been around for a reason. They need a top young defenseman too. But they have to be happy where they are right now, winners of five straight.
Things I don't
- The Nashville Predators postponed two games due to a water main break downtown that caused flooding in and near the arena. While postponing hockey games isn't the most critical thing, it's certainly the weirdest reason to cancel a game.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Anders Lee vs Mathieu Olivier
A long one.
Marcus Pettersson vs Nicolas Deslauriers
Another long one.
Dennis Gilbert vs Zack MacEwen
Fairly decent but not as long.
Goats of the Week
Zach Sanford - Nashville Predators
The Predators won in the shootout, but they were only there because they did the one thing you don't want to do when you're up a goal on a powerplay with six minutes left, turn it over. Nick Bjugstad scored the goal to the game.
Erik Kallgren - Toronto Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs have a knack for finding ways to lose games. Up a goal in the third, Kallgren carelessly gives the puck away, and Josh Bailey ties it. The Islanders won in overtime.
Stat Line of the Week
11/23/22 NY Islanders 3 vs. Edmonton 0
| Skater | TOI | SV | SA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I.Sorokin | 60:00 | 49 | 49 | 1.000 | 1 |
The Oilers rarely get shut out, but Ilya Sorokin shut them out for the second time this season. Sorokin had an impressive 49 saves for his third 40-plus save effort this season. He's third in the NHL in GAA and second in SV%. The Islanders have won four in a row.
Numbers, Numbers
1001 – Career NHL points for Patrice Bergeron
3642 –Career NHL hits for Cal Clutterbuck, number one all-time after passing Dustin Brown
12 – Home wins for the Boston Bruins, still undefeated there
10 – Losses in a row for the Philadelphia Flyers
30.8 – Shooting percentage for David Krejci, the only player over 30 percent
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
- Boston
- New Jersey
- Seattle
- Colorado
- NY Islanders
Bottom 5
- Philadelphia
- Buffalo
- Ottawa
- Anaheim
- Chicago