NHL 2023-24 Recap Week 25 Penguins and Red Wings inch closer, three way scoring race, Devils and Rangers brawl

I thought the last two playoff spots were a three-team race, discounting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Boy, was I wrong. The Penguins are the hottest of the five teams and look to have the inside track. They and the Detroit Red Wings are the only two that have a positive goal differential. The Penguins have won four in a row, so have the Islanders, and have points in seven straight. Evgeni Malkin’s parents visited, and the Penguins are 6-0-1 in the games they saw in person. That’s a good luck charm. Malkin hit 25 goals for the eleventh time in his NHL career. Sidney Crosby hit forty goals for only the third time but will average over a point per game for his 19th straight season. A feat only accomplished by Wayne Gretzky.

The Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in a very thrilling game, demonstrating they can hang with a good team. Since these are mostly the same Penguins as last season, it’s odd that they are doing so well down the stretch when they folded so badly last season. They have a tough schedule, but they do play the New York Islanders and Red Wings. If they win both, they should get in. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Flyers have lost seven straight, the Washington Capitals six. Considering how bad they’ve been lately, and I never believed in either team, neither will probably make the playoffs. The goal differential tells us it should be the Penguins and Red Wings. But it’s great that we have five teams separated by three points.

The Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche in a playoff-like game. They’ve basically locked up the central division now. Big games this week include the Maple Leafs vs the Penguins, Canucks vs Golden Knights, Red Wings vs Capitals, Bruins vs Hurricanes, Golden Knights vs Oilers and Red Wings vs Penguins.

Things I like

1. Scoring races rarely come down to the wire, especially in a three-man race. Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon are separated by six points. McDavid will play two fewer games due to injury, so it isn’t entirely fair. He will be the only player with over 100 assists besides Wayne Gretzky. Kucherov already broke his own franchise record for points, MacKinnon also broke the franchise record and will probably win the Art Ross since he’s led all season long, but it’ll still be fun to watch. Eight players have hit the century mark, and two are potentially joining them.

2. The New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils had a line brawl to begin the game, and some people think it’s disgraceful. But this has happened before, and it’s a great way to get the grievances from the previous games out of the way. That’s what makes hockey such a unique sport. It’s nice that fighting has declined to make the game safer, but it should never be eliminated. The teams combined for 166 penalty minutes.

Fights of the Week

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

Tanner Jeannot vs Ryan Reaves

Big boys going at it.

Goats of the Week

Jamie Drysdale and Morgan Frost - Philadelphia Flyers

In a game the Flyers needed to win, they kept going backwards and then a horrendous pass and catch gives Brock Nelson the easy overtime goal.

https://www.nhl.com/video/nyi-phi-nelson-scores-goal-against-ivan-fedotov-6350112244112

The Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres lost by two to the Red Wings and just so happened to give up two goals off turnovers in the first period. But they are the Sabres.

https://www.nhl.com/video/red-wings-erupt-in-1st-6350470605112

Stat Line of the Week

4/05/24 Carolina 4 vs. Washington 2

The Carolina Hurricanes were down 2-0 to the Washington Capitals until about five minutes left in the the second when Jake Guentzel scored his first goal off a nice entry play. That was great awareness by Guentzel and Jaccob Slavin. Guentzel added a power play assist and an empty net goal. That first goal was key and Guentzel showed he could deliver. They’ll need him to do the same in the playoffs.

https://www.nhl.com/video/wsh-car-guentzel-scores-goal-against-darcy-kuemper-6350365347112

Numbers, Numbers

4 – Goals in under six minutes for the Dallas Stars against the Edmonton Oilers

6 – Unanswered goals in the third period by the Arizona Coyotes after being down 4-1

10 – Teams that scored six or more goals this week

48 – Plus/minus of Gustav Forsling

359 – Hits by Jeremy Lauzon 47 more than Garnet Hathaway in second

12 – Game-winning goals by Brayden Point

25 – Goals for Tyler Seguin for the eighth time in his NHL career

Rankings

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

Top 5

1. Dallas
2. NY Rangers
3. Boston
4. Carolina
5. Tampa Bay

Bottom 5

30. San Jose
31. Anaheim
32. Columbus
33. Philadelphia
34. Calgary