Last year, we had an epic finish to the Central Division when the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Minnesota Wild vied for the division crown. I was hoping for an encore, and we’re getting it. Only the Wild have been replaced by the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets have the advantage due to having several games in hand. The Avalanche clobbered the Stars this week, who clobbered the Jets this week. This will be the biggest drama remaining, as the playoff teams are basically set. The only other drama will be who wins the Atlantic between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers.
When you watch the Dallas Stars down the stretch, make sure to keep an eye on Logan Stankoven. Stankoven is a blossoming star. He didn’t score in his debut but has scored a goal in his next three games. He knows exactly where to be on every offensive play.
Things I like
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Silly me said I could see the Florida Panthers taking a step back and potentially missing the playoffs. Boy, was I wrong. They have improved. The Panthers are 10-1 in their last eleven and boast the NHL’s best record. The previous few times the Panthers won their division, it didn’t work out well for them in the playoffs. But this team is very balanced and deep. Brandon Montour has been hot lately, with 13 points in his last seven games. Matthew Tkachuk has 18 points in his last ten. Backup goalie Anthony Stolarz leads the NHL in GAA and SV%.
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The only team hotter? The Nashville Predators. Winners of eight straight, they just drubbed the Colorado Avalanche 5-1. They’ve outscored their last three opponents 15-3. The Predators will more than likely make the playoffs but will need to keep playing strong.
Things I don’t
- In my season preview, I wrote that I didn’t like what the Pittsburgh Penguins were doing. They were getting older instead of younger. Since you can’t easily get prospects, you need to get people around Jake Guentzel’s age. Predictably, it didn’t work out for the Penguins, and now they’re trying to trade Guentzel. Well, that’s just stupid. I don’t know what their plan is or even if they know. What exactly are Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and the rest supposed to do? They aren’t going to tank with them because those players don’t do that, so you’ll end up just missing out on the playoffs, which is the worst possible outcome. This rebuild will take forever and the bad Erik Karlsson trade looks even dumber.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Jacob Middleton vs Jeremy Lauzon
Fast-paced with lots of punches, although mostly by Middleton.
Matt Rempe vs Ryan Reaves
Reeves does a great job against the big guy.
Goats of the Week
Linus Ullmark - Boston Bruins
The Bruins lost in the shootout, but they should never have been there. Ullmark took a swipe at the puck, which is dumb because he could have missed, but he connected. However, Eberle anticipated that, blocked it, and scored when the puck bounced off him. He could have just covered it and then either played it or froze play.
https://www.nhl.com/video/bos-sea-eberle-scores-goal-against-linus-ullmark-6347717676112
Kris Letang - Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins were dominating the Calgary Flames and up 3-1 in the third. But they gave up three goals in the final ten minutes, two off turnovers. This is the game-winning goal when Kris Letang just lets Mikael Backlund take the puck off his stick, and he passes it to Yegor Sharangovich for the goal. Just a poor job of getting the puck out of the zone. It could have gone better, but everyone was more interested in changing. This was the Flames’ fifth straight win.
https://www.nhl.com/video/pit-cgy-sharangovich-scores-goal-against-tristan-jarry-6348143632112
Stat Line of the Week
2/29/24 Boston 5 vs. Vegas 4
| Skater | TOI | G | A | +/- | SOG | Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M.Geekie | 14:32 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Morgan Geekie has improved each season in the NHL. Against the Vegas Golden Knights, he produced a hat trick. He scored two of the Bruins’ first three goals as they built a 3-0 lead. He scored the sixth goal to make it 4-2. Geekie’s 13 goals this season are a career-high. This game featured better shorthanded scoring opportunities than power-play scoring chances. The Golden Knights had one shorthanded goal. The Bruins have a brutal slate of games this week.
Numbers, Numbers
600 – Career points By Alex Pietrangelo
9.50 – Magnus Chrona GAA before the Dallas Stars game
5.22 – Magnus Chrona GAA after the Dallas Stars game
14 – Assists for Josh Morrissey in his last seven games, with zero goals
14 – Game losing streak by the Arizona Coyotes snapped with a win over the Ottawa Senators
2 – Shorthanded goals by the Buffalo Sabres in their 7-2 demolition of the Vegas Golden Knights
300 – Career points for Kirill Kaprizov on his fifth career hat trick against the San Jose Sharks
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
- Florida
- Nashville
- Toronto
- NY Rangers
- Winnipeg
Bottom 5
- Chicago
- Arizona
- San Jose
- Montreal
- Ottawa