The wildcard spots in the Eastern Conference are a jumbled mess as we cross the halfway point of the NHL season. But chaos is a good thing because it breeds drama. Six points separate eight teams. Several teams have been hot recently (Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets) while others have tumbled down (Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers). The Boston Bruins are the only team to have been in a playoff spot for most of the season, although they have been cold lately and are currently out. They'll probably get in, meaning the other seven will battle for one spot. Columbus and Ottawa are the only teams with positive goal differentials, which tends to indicate that they will get the wildcard spots. They currently hold them. It should be an intriguing second half of the season.
Things I like
1.As Alex Ovechkin continues to amass goals en route to breaking Wayne Gretzky's career goals mark, he's taking down other lesser records. Ovechkin scored on his 179th different goalie, breaking the record held by Jaromir Jagr. He also scored his 13th road overtime goal, which made him the leader in that category. Last week, he tied Gordie Howe as the only players to score at least 20 goals in 20 seasons. The most surprising thing this season has been the Capitals. Never in a million years would I guess they'd make the playoffs, let alone be in first place.
Things I don't
- The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to make one bad move after another with no end in sight. If the playoff faltering of the Toronto Maple Leafs didn't clue you in, the moves in Pittsburgh should. Kyle Dubas is not a good general manager. He waived starting goalie Tristan Jarry after signing him to a five-year, almost 27-million-dollar deal. I don't think I've ever heard of a team waving their starting goalie. This comes after his awful trade for Erik Karlsson, a player who assures your team he won't make the playoffs if he's on it. And let's not forget trading away the Penguins' best asset, Jake Guentzel, for a measly third-round pick. Guentzel is on pace to exceed his career high in goals. If the Penguins are trying to rebuild, I don't want Dubas to be the guy leading it.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Emill Lilleberg vs Trent Frederic
Most punches missed, but it was still fun.
Marcus Foligno vs Luke Schenn
A punching and grapplefest.
Goat of the Week
Mika Zibanejad - New York Rangers
I highly anticipated watching the Dallas Stars vs Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night; only the game was boring. Despite being great teams with star players, it just didn't click. But the Colorado Avalanche vs the New York Rangers was highly entertaining. The Rangers played well and deserved to win, but it was not to be. Mika Zibanejad had quite a few options behind the net but chose to bounce it off Logan O'Connor, eventually leading to Devon Toews hammering home the winner in overtime.
Stat Line of the Week
1/15/25 Edmonton 5 vs.Minnesota 3
| Skater | TOI | G | A | +/- | SOG | Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C.McDavid | 21:38 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist in powering the Oilers to a comeback win against the Wild. McDavid is fourth in the NHL in scoring, and in this game, he surpassed Jurri Kurri to become the second-leading scorer in Edmonton Oilers history. He's around 620 points away from passing Gretzky, which is about five seasons.
Numbers, Numbers
2 – Short-handed empty net goals by the Boston Bruins against the Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Natural hat trick by Kyle Connor against the Vancouver Canucks 2 – Goals in a nine second span by the Montreal Canadiens against the Toronto Maple Leafs 10 – Power play goals for Patrik Laine 2 – Regular goal for Patrik Laine 1 – Loss by the Canadiens when Laine scores a goal 101 – Goals by Cale Makar, the six-fastest defenseman to hit 100 goals 3 – Unanswered goals by the Colorado Avalanche against the Edmonton Oilers to start 4 – Unanswered goals by the Oilers to finish the win
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
- Washington
- Edmonton
- Dallas
- Toronto
- Detroit
Bottom 5
- Pittsburgh
- Chicago
- Anaheim
- San Jose
- Utah
NFL Thoughts
So about those Detroit Lions. I know they were decimated with injuries, but they held up better than most teams. But they didn't lose to the Washington Redskins because of injuries it was due to Jared Goff. I never thought Goff was good and neither did Sean McVay. While most experts are clueless, McVay has been to two Super Bowls and won one before he was 40. I think he would know. Why anyone would think they could win with Goff when he couldn't is absurd. The only reason Goff even gets a second chance is that he was the first overall pick. Instead of accepting that people will be wrong, they just assume he must be worthy of the top pick. If he was a sixth-round pick, he would never get another chance. Brock Purdy outplayed Goff in the second half of the NFC championship game last year, and Jayden Daniels clearly outplayed Goff in this game because he had no turnovers, and Goff had four. His last was egregious because the pressure should have been off with only a minute left in the game. Needless to say, as long as the Lions have Goff, they will not go anywhere. But they won't get rid of him.