And down the stretch they come. The eight teams are set out West, but seeding is still being settled. However, seeding and who will get the wild card and the third metropolitan spot in the East need to be decided. The Florida Panthers, Winnipeg Jets, and Detroit Red Wings are teams struggling at the worst time. The Panthers were red hot about a month ago, but what a difference a few weeks makes. I said all along that I don’t believe in the Jets, and they’re proving me right. The Panthers faced the Red Wings on Saturday, and the Panthers won in a shootout. I was planning to watch it, but I guess it was on the NHL network because it wasn’t on ESPN+.
I never imagined the Washington Capitals would make the playoffs, especially with their awful -31 goal differential, but it seems increasingly likely. The Islanders are out, so it comes down to whether the Detroit Red Wings can push out the Capitals or Flyers. One has to get in, and both might. Losing four in a row doesn’t help the Red Wings but the Flyers have also done that. The Capitals play the Red Wings on April 9th and the Flyers on the last game of the season. I so want that game to mean something. Hopefully, it’s a win, and you’re in.
Tuesday night was a phenomenal night of hockey. There were five games featuring two playoff teams all were one goal games and four went to overtime. This playoffs will be something.
Things I like
- When I played floor hockey, the puck bounced off the back of my hand while holding my stick, and the play waved dead. I said it bounced off my hand, and he said that’s the definition of a hand pass. Not really. The actual definition is:
A hand pass occurs when a player stops, knocks down, or pushes the puck with their open hand, thereby directing the puck to a teammate in the neutral or attacking zone. This includes where the puck deflects off any person or object prior to the teammate gaining possession and control of the puck.
If the back of my hand still holds the stick and I make no effort to redirect the puck, I don’t see how that’s a hand pass. It’s not different from someone scoring a goal with a distinct kicking motion versus the puck hitting off the skate. The latter is okay. The former is not. Why am I bringing this up, you may ask? So, I can bring up two instances of my illustrious playing career in this column. Just kidding, but there’s another below. The New York Rangers scored a goal against the Colorado Avalanche, who challenged if it was a goal. After hitting his stick, the puck bounced off the top of Vincent Trocheck’s glove. I thought it was fine. The Avalanche thought the refs would overturn it. Although they looked at it for a while, they kept it a goal. Good for them.
https://www.nhl.com/video/nyr-col-kreider-scores-goal-against-alexandar-georgiev-6349913316112
Things I don’t
- Andrew Berkshire, someone I’ve never heard of, crapped all over Zach Hyman’s accomplishment of fifty goals. I admit I didn’t see what he said because I didn’t want to give his video views, but I got the gist from reading what others wrote. Saying he only scored fifty goals because he’s rich is dumb. However, it does have some logic. If he wasn’t rich, he might not have been able to play hockey and, therefore, would not have been in the NHL. However, just because you are rich doesn’t mean you will become an NHL player. But it doesn’t hurt. I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, and all I wanted to do was play hockey. We lived nowhere near a rink. I started my dream of wanting to play way too late at around 15. I was never good at skating on anything. I started teaching myself to roller skate in the basement. Eventually, I took ice skating lessons and was terrible. I kept trying anyway. My parents had me choose between a Disneyland ticket or playing ice hockey. I chose ice hockey. My dad and I hated getting up early to go to the rink, but we did it. I played with kids younger than me because there weren’t any spots in my age group, and I wasn’t good enough anyway. I stopped after one season, but I got to do it. I still couldn’t skate well. I got better later, but getting to the rink was a hassle. It was expensive and hard to have the time and access to improve. Playing hockey is difficult, but having parents who help make it possible is much easier. But that doesn’t take anything away from Hyman, the player. Hyman had two twenty-goal seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and only improved with the Edmonton Oilers. Even playing with two of the best players in the NHL doesn’t make the feat any easier. Evander Kane and James Neal didn’t put up fifty being in Hyman’s spot. Hyman has an incredible net-front presence and gets in the crease to do the dirty work to score challenging goals. That’s why he has fifty. It seems this person slandered Hyman for attention. Well he got it, just not the right kind.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Erik Gudbranson vs Josh Brown
A slow fight, but I like the effort.
Luke Schenn vs Liam O’Brien
Fast and furious.
Goal of the Week
Dakota Joshua - Vancouver Canucks
Joshua flips it between his legs and goes top shelf.
https://www.nhl.com/video/ana-van-joshua-scores-goal-against-lukas-dostal-6350050697112
Goat of the Week
Mason McTavish - Anaheim Ducks
This is so bad. It’s the world’s worst pass. In overtime, the Ducks have a 3-on-2, but instead of capitalizing, McTavish sets the Lightning up with a 2-on-0 the other way. Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel combine on the goal.
https://www.nhl.com/video/tbl-ana-cirelli-scores-goal-against-lukas-dostal-6349646106112
Stat Line of the Week
3/26/24 NY Rangers 6 vs. Philadelphia 5
| Skater | TOI | G | A | +/- | SOG | PPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.Panarin | 21:19 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Artemi Panarin has been rolling lately, with 13 points in his last five games. Against the Flyers, he dished three assists, including one on the overtime goal. Panarin always has career highs in goals and points this season and needs one more assist to break that, too. The Flyers needed this win, and they outshot the Rangers by 15, but it was not to be. This was Peter Laviolette’s 800th NHL win, the fourth fastest to the mark.
https://www.nhl.com/video/phi-nyr-fox-scores-goal-against-philadelphia-flyers-6349777985112
Numbers, Numbers
901 – Career NHL points for Jamie Benn
392 – Career wins for Jonathan Quick surpassing Ryan Miller for most by a US-born goalie
60 – Goals for Austin Matthews the ninth player to do it twice
35 – Game home point streak by Nathan MacKinnon snapped, the second longest in NHL history
19 – Game point streak by Nathan MacKinnon also snapped
18 – Game point streak by the Nashville Predators snapped by the Arizona Coyotes
2 – Goals scored by Josh Doan in his NHL debut with his father Shane in attendance. He is the first Arizona-born player to play for the Arizona Coyotes.
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
- Dallas
- NY Rangers
- Colorado
- Carolina
- Tampa Bay
Bottom 5
- San Jose
- Anaheim
- Columbus
- Seattle
- NY Islanders