This week’s NHL schedule showed numerous games that gave off a playoff atmosphere. The league is being put on a large scale nationwide and will continue to be on that level until the season is over. Young players stepping up in clutch situations, All-Star caliber players not showing up and key stars finding injury are three of the many phrases that could explain this week’s play in the National Hockey League.
Who’s Hot?
1. Gustav Nyquist – Forward, Detroit Red Wings
Nyquist has turned it on when his team really needed it. The Red Wings are fighting for one of the two Wild Card playoff spots right now, so every game is tremendously important. Nyquist racked up five points in four games this week, including scoring both of the Red Wings’ goals in the teams 4-2 loss in Columbus Tuesday. In the last 10 days, Nyquist has seven goals and one assist for eight points, along with a +5 rating.
2. The Boston Bruins
The Bruins have continued their run to the Presidents’ Trophy with a 3-0-1 record this past week, including 3-0 shutout victory against the Blackhawks on Thursday. Boston won 15 of its last 16 games and just put together a 15-1-1 month of March. The Bruins’ victory on Saturday gave them their third division championship in the last four seasons.
3. Jonathan Quick – Goalie, Los Angeles Kings
Quick has led the Kings to three straight victories (two on the road) this week against three teams that are in the current playoff hunt. In the three victories he faced 85 shots and allowed eight goals. Quick made the save of the week, which could also be the save of the year for this NHL season.
Who’s Not?
1. The Toronto Maple Leafs
This season the Leafs have had less stability in net than any team in the league, but they have still found themselves very in the playoff race with just weeks left in the season. Their problems as of late have come from goaltending, as some goals scored against them have been just laughable. Toronto is currently on the league’s longest losing streak, at eight games, but are still tied 9th in the Eastern Conference, just two points out of the last playoff spot. Jonathan Bernier has totaled a 4.10 goals against average and saved just 88.6 percent of the shots throw at him in the last 10 days.
2. Marty St. Louis – Forward, New York Rangers
St. Louis was on this list last week and he has proved yet again that he doesn’t deserve to be taken off. He must have been shaken by the trade to the Rangers, or is having trouble adjusting, because he still has yet to record a goal in a Rangers’ sweater and has just three assists in 14 games played with New York. This past week, Marty recorded zero points and a -2 rating in four games played. He put together six shots in those games, including three in the team’s 5-0 win at Edmonton Sunday.
3. Alex Ovechkin’s plus/minus rating – Forward, Washington Capitals
This needs to be said. This guy is leading the league in goals, by ten goals, but has the leagues worst plus/minus rating. The plus/minus rating started being tracked in the 1967-’68 NHL season and since then, nobody has ever led the league in goals AND had the worst rating in the league in the same season. In three games played this week, Ovechkin totaled a -3 rating. This is a bad thing for a team that is trying to fight for a playoff spot.
Story of the week
This story has to be told under my “Story of the Week” section, not only because I am a Buffalo Sabres fan, but because this man was the hero and icon of numerous young hockey fans across the world.
On Saturday, Sabres legendary goaltender Dominik Hasek was added to the Sabres’ Hall of Fame. His jersey is set to be retired by the team sometime next season.
In 1983, Hasek was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks at 199th overall, where he would play two seasons as the backup goaltender for Ed Belfour.
He was then traded to the Sabres, where he would spend nine of his 16 NHL seasons. While in Buffalo, Hasek led the Sabres to the playoffs eight times, where they made the Stanley Cup Finals once, where the Stars defeated the Sabres in a controversial six-game series.
The Sabres parted ways with Hasek in 2001 and he was sent to the Red Wings. He would play four season with Detroit, with a season in Ottawa in between. Hasek won two Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, with one in net as the starting goalie.
Hasek totaled two Hart Trophies (NHL MVP), six Vezina Trophies (NHL’s best goalie) and six All-Star nominations in his career. All of these accomplishments, except his 2002 All-Star Game nomination, were completed as a member of the Buffalo Sabres.
You can watch the Sabres’ Hall of Fame tribute video here, courtesy of the Buffalo Sabres: http://video.sabres.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=590039&catid=-6
Game of the week
The game of the week wasn’t as close as last week’s, but it was also the last NBC Sports broadcast of the week, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The Chicago Blackhawks traveled to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins, in a game that was huge for both teams. The Penguins were without star forward Evgeni Malkin due to injury, while the Blackhawks were without their young sniper in Patrick Kane, also due to injury.
The Penguins opened the scoring with two tallies in the first period, by James Neal and Lee Stempniak, before the Blackhawks cut the lead in half with a goal on a slap shot in the second by Sheldon Brookbank.
The biggest moment came at just over 13 minutes into the second period, when Chicago’s captain Jonathan Toews was drilled into the boards with a legal body check by Brooks Orpik, which looked to be painful. Toews didn’t play for the remainder of the game. With Kane already out for the remainder of the regular season, this could be huge for the ‘Hawks beyond just this game.
Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby put the dagger in the lead with an absolute snipe over the left shoulder of Corey Crawford late in the third period. Crosby then put the icing on the cake with an empty netter just three minutes later, for his second goal of the game.
FINAL: Pittsburgh 4, Chicago 1
Play of the week
Remember last week’s “Save of the Year” candidate by Cam Ward? Well, this week has one that will closely rival that.
In the LA Kings game against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, Jonathan Quick made an unbelievable pad save while already on his stomach. Jets forward Blake Wheeler had the puck to the left of Quick, down by the goal line, with an empty net from the pads up. Quick was down, with both pads on the ground, side-to-side, as Wheeler took a quick wrist shot, trying to find the top of the twine. Quick then pulled his right leg up in the air, facing the shot, which turned away the stop in unbelievable fashion.
You can watch the video here, courtesy of Yahoo Sports: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/jonathan-quick-scorpion-kick-front-runner-save-video-050201576--nhl.html?fb_action_ids=10202751581804344&fb_action_types=og.likes
League Leaders
Goals
48 – Alex Ovechkin (WAS)
38 – Corey Perry (ANA)
38 – Joe Pavelski (SJS)
Points
99 – Sidney Crosby (PIT)
81 – Ryan Getzlaf (ANA)
78 – Claude Giroux (PHI)
Goals Against Average
1.97 – Brian Elliot (STL)
2.02 – Tuukka Rask (BOS)
2.06 – Jonathan Quick (LAK)
Save Percentage
.931 – Tuukka Rask (BOS)
.929 – Anton Khudobin (EDM)
.926 – Ben Bishop (TBL)
Playoff Standings
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
1. Y - Boston Bruins — 52-17-6 (110 points)
3. Montreal Canadiens — 43-26-7 (93 points)
4. Tampa Bay Lightning — 41-25-9 (91 points)
Metropolitan Division
2. X - Pittsburgh Penguins — 48-22-5 (101 points)
5. New York Rangers — 42-30-4 (88 points)
6. Philadelphia Flyers — 39-27-8 (86 points)
Wild Card
7. Detroit Red Wings — 35-26-14 (84 points)
8. Columbus Blue Jackets — 38-30-6 (82 points)
In the Hunt
Washington Capitals — 34-28-13 (81 points)
Toronto Maple Leafs — 36-32-8 (80 points)
New Jersey Devils — 31-28-15 (77 points)
Western Conference
Central Division
1. X - St. Louis Blues — 50-17-7 (107 points)
4. X - Colorado Avalanche— 47-21-6 (100 points)
5. X - Chicago Blackhawks — 42-19-15 (99 points)
Pacific Division
2. X - Anaheim Ducks — 48-18-8 (104 points)
3. X - San Jose Sharks — 47-20-9 (103 points)
6. Los Angeles Kings — 44-25-6 (94 points)
Wild Card
7. Minnesota Wild — 38-26-11 (87 points)
8. Phoenix Coyotes — 36-27-12 (84 points)
In the Hunt
Dallas Stars — 36-27-11 (83 points)
Vancouver Canucks — 34-31-11 (79 points)
Nashville Predators — 33-32-11 (77 points)
Winnipeg Jets — 33-33-9 (75 points)
X – Clinched Playoff Spot
Y – Clinched Division
@Alex_Busch91
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