The Nashville Predators are red hot, going 15-0-2 in their last seventeen games, drawing comparison to the St. Louis Blues, who went on a similar tare at this juncture in 2019-220 en route to their first Stanley Cup. However, several factors are different. Juuse Saros is a great goalie, but he’s not as hot as Jordan Binnington was, and he’s not a rookie. People being unfamiliar with Binnington’s tendencies helped. The Predators also have a difficult path to get out of their bracket. They must play the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars to reach the conference finals. The Blues didn’t have to face any good teams back then. The top-seed Nashville Predators lost in the first round, and the team that beat them, the Dallas Stars, almost defeated the Blues before losing in overtime in Game 7. That Stars team was nowhere near as good as the current iteration. I’m not trying to douse the hopes of Predators’ fans, but it’s unlikely they’ll accomplish what the Blues did.
The funny thing is the reason for the hot streak is that management canceled a planned U2 trip, and the Predators took it personally because they knew they didn’t earn it. So, the lesson is to plan fun team outings and cancel them if the team performs poorly.
Things I like
- The Carolina Hurricanes are the next hottest team, winning eight of nine before losing to the Washington Capitals in a game we’ll touch upon later. I just don’t buy the Hurricanes as a playoff threat. They’ll need to take out the Rangers, the team they lost to during their nine-game stretch and in the 2022 NHL playoffs. This Rangers team is better. They picked up Jake Guentzel, who has performed excellently in the playoffs for the Pittsburgh Penguins but has only had two goals since joining the Hurricanes. There’s no guarantee he’ll be the star player they’ll need in the playoffs.
Things I don’t
- Tom Wilson was up to his old tricks again, which led to his sixth NHL suspension for whacking Noah Gregor in the head with his stick. The announcers (not in this clip) claimed he was like oh no, what did I do with the way he held him afterward. C’mon. That is not a natural motion. It seemed deliberate, and with his history, he doesn’t have the benefit of the doubt. His suspension is six games.
- Former NHL player Chris Simon died by suicide at 52. His family blames CTE. I don’t recall Simon, but apparently, his playing style was quite physical, and he was in several fights. He more than likely had it as most CTE victims kill themselves around this age. Junior Seau did and we know his playing style. It’s a shame we can’t diagnose CTE in the living better. Of course, the best way is to play safely so you don’t get it at all. The game has gotten safer, and fighting is down. It still amazes me that people thought you could do anything to your head and be fine. That’s what makes things like Power Slap so dumb. I don’t know why you’d want to watch that anyway.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Michael Pezzetta vs Sam Carrick
A decent long fight.
Jacob Middleton vs Andreas Englund
It was a good, long fight. No idea why YouTube blocks it. There’s no blood.
Moritz Seider vs Filip Forsberg
Punches galore, mostly by Seider.
Goats of the Week
Tons of goats this week. Baaaaa
Adam Henrique - Edmonton Oilers
You wouldn’t think a game that started out 5-0 would have a play that might have decided the game, but you’d be wrong. At the end of a power play, Henrique almost keeps the puck onside, but he should have touched it after he didn’t. Instead, it leads to a 3-on-1 the other way and the 4-0 goal. If you remove this goal and the empty netter, the Oilers still lose 4-3, but who knows what else would have changed.
https://www.nhl.com/video/edm-tor-holmberg-scores-goal-against-stuart-skinner-6349595393112
Boston Bruins
The Bruins get extra sloppy behind their own net, and then Artemi Panarin’s shot goes off a Bruins stick and body for his 40th goal of the season. Way to go. The Bruins lost by one if you remove the empty-net goals.
https://www.nhl.com/video/nyr-bos-panarin-scores-goal-against-jeremy-swayman-6349424827112
Pavel Buchnevich - St. Louis Blues
Buchnevich does the number one thing you should never do: pass the puck up the middle when opponents are in the area. Mikko Rantanen gets the game-winning goal and completes the hat trick.
https://www.nhl.com/video/col-stl-rantanen-scores-goal-against-jordan-binnington-6349283809112
Stat Line of the Week
3/22/24 Washington 7 vs. Carolina 6
| Skater | TOI | G | A | +/- | SOG | Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.Milano | 19:11 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Sonny Milano is not a well-known player for good reasons. But he scored half the Capitals’ goals for his first career hat trick to help the Capitals beat the Hurricanes and keep the Capitals’ playoff hopes alive. They’re knocking on the door of the third metropolitan spot. Milano and Ovechkin had power-play goals. The Capitals were down 4-3 in the third and three times overall but ended up leading 6-5 when the Hurricanes tied it with just two minutes left. The Capitals won in the shootout.
Numbers, Numbers
50 – Goals this season for Zach Hyman. I was going to put a cover photo of the Predators, but nobody likes hugging as much as Leon Draisaitl. Just look how happy he is that Hyman scored his 50th.
5 – Unanswered goals by the Colorado Avalanche in their 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins
5 – Unanswered goals by the Chicago Blackhawks in their 5-4 win over the San Jose Sharks
13– Teams that scored six or more goals this week
8 – Goals by Alex Ovechkin in his last five games
19 – Consecutive season of at least twenty goals by Ovechkin, the third player in NHL history to reach the milestone
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
- Nashville
- Carolina
- Colorado
- Dallas
- Vancouver
Bottom 5
- San Jose
- Anaheim
- Columbus
- Montreal
- Seattle