NHL 2024-25 Recap Week 15 Canadiens rising, New York teams rebound, everyone in contention in the East, the Sharks lose creatively

The Montreal Canadiens have seemingly been rebuilding forever, and every year, they seem to have a promising group of young talent that tend to have one or two great seasons and then just fade away. Then they're was the whole Carey Price thing. Of course, they miraculously made it to the Stanley Cup Finals a few seasons ago, which still boggles my mind. Currently, they have one of the best young groups of players in the NHL: Sam Montembeault, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Lane Hutson. Goalie Montembeault isn't young at 29 and doesn't have the best numbers. However, he's looked impressive when I have seen him play. Rookie Lane Hutson had his nine-game point streak snapped, but he's looked great so far and is in contention for Rookie of the Year. Time will tell what happens to this group. But playoffs seem likely next year.

Things I like 

1. We'll probably check in weekly to see how the Eastern Conference wildcard race is progressing. We now have nine teams within eight points of each other. Every team in the Eastern Conference is in contention for a playoff spot except the Buffalo Sabres. Man, it must suck to be a Sabres fan. First, you miss out on Connor McDavid, and then the guy you draft after him wins a Stanley Cup elsewhere. Now, you have zero chance of making the playoffs despite everyone else being in contention. This is the longest rebuild ever. But the other New York teams have turned it around. The Islanders have won seven of nine and the Rangers six of eight before they lost another close one to the Colorado Avalanche. There were two heartbreaking losses where you outshot the opponent and could have won the game. A fresh-out-of-the-box Cale Makar intercepted and passed the puck to Artturi Lehkonen with fifteen seconds left on Sunday to give the Avalanche the 5-4 win. But the Rangers sure like quite different than they did a month ago. The Ottawa Senators leapfrogged everyone to get into the last Atlantic spot. That will change. But the Rangers crushed the Senators 5-0 this week.

Things I don't 

1. Only the San Jose Sharks could find a way to lose a game they were winning 5-1. A hot Nashville Predators team scored six unanswered goals to get the 7-5 win. The Sharks have now lost six in a row and nine of ten. They really need another number-one overall pick. They played them again two days later and lost 6-5. Only this time, they were down 5-2 and tied it before ultimately losing. I suppose that's the progress. Macklin Celebrini scored a goal in each game. But the Sharks also gave up six goals to the Bruins and seven to the Panthers. Not the best defensive week.

Fights of the Week 

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

Mathieu Olivier vs Ryan Reaves

Awkward to start, and then they threw down.

Jakub Lauko vs Ryan Lomberg

Entertaining fight. Mostly one-sided but still fun.

Goat of the Week 

Patrik Laine - Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens had a 3-2 advantage in overtime, but a bad pass from Laine, and then it was a 2-0 breakaway for the New Jersey Devils.

Save of the Week 

Charlie Lindgren - Washington Capitals

Lindgren attempts to go off for the extra man, but he comes back to make a phenomenal save. The Capitals still lost 2-1.

Stat Line of the Week 

1/24/25 Dallas 4 vs.Vegas 3

Jason Robertson struggled early in the season, but he's scored six goals in his last six games, including two against the Vegas Golden Knight in a rematch of their first-round playoff series. The Stars are still my pick to win the Stanley Cup, and Robertson is vital to those chances.

Numbers, Numbers 

  1 – Container of nachos thrown on the ice during the Edmonton Oilers vs the Washington Capitals

6 – Unanswered goals by the Florida Panthers in their win over the San Jose Sharks

2 – Unanswered goals by the Carolina Hurricanes in their win over the Columbus Blue Jackets

10 – Game point streak for Filip Forsberg

1.59 – Points per game for Nikita Kucherov  

1.52 – Points per game for Connor McDavid

Rankings 

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

Top 5

1. Washington
2. Edmonton
3. NY Rangers
4. Columbus
5. NY Islanders

Bottom 5

30. San Jose
31. Chicago
32. Anaheim
33. Pittsburgh
34. Vancouver