Image courtesy of NHL.SI.com
When looking around the league this week, the biggest news has to be the GM meetings in Florida and the scary injury that Rich Peverley suffered in Dallas last Monday night. Along with these two storylines, several results over the weekend will impact the playoff race, as the Flyers grabbed four points in a pair of games against the Penguins, while the Senators choked away a 4-1 lead late in the third period on Saturday to the Montreal Canadiens. With all these headlines, let’s see what happened across the league this week.
There isn’t much to complain about with the NHL’s current product according to the fans, and the GMs saw it the same way, as no major changes are expected to be made to the game. However, a few minor changes are expected to take place, as the GMs want to make a change to the overtime format as well as the impact of a faceoff violation. In overtime, the GMs wanted to make teams endure “the long change” that teams endure during the second period of games, which in theory will lead to more chances due to poorly-timed line changes and errors in communication. As for faceoffs, when a player tries to jump a faceoff, instead of being thrown out of the faceoff they will move back 12 to 18 inches to give them a disadvantage for the draw.
CENTRAL DIVISION
The Dallas Stars, unfortunately, stole the headlines this week due to Peverley experiencing a cardiac event on Monday in Dallas, as the forward collapsed on the bench and was rushed to the locker room. The game was postponed, as the incident took place in the first period, while Peverley will have surgery to repair an atrial fibrillation that was discovered this preseason. The former Boston Bruin was expected to have the surgery this offseason, but since he has now been shut down for the season he will have the surgery soon. As for the postponed game, the Stars and Blue Jackets will make the game up on April 9th. Along with Peverley, the Stars have gone the whole week without Kari Lehtonen, as the goaltender suffered a concussion after a collision with Erik Haula last week and is expected to return to action over the next few days. With these pair of injuries, the Stars did manage to grab three out of a possible six points this week, as Jamie Benn potted one in overtime to beat the Blues 3-2 on Tuesday and the team lost to the Calgary Flames 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday.
The St. Louis Blues are at the top of the Stars’ division and currently riding an eight-game point streak. Although the Blues had Vladimir Sobotka return to the lineup after missing 12 games with a leg injury, they will be without Vladimir Tarasenko now, who will be sidelined for six weeks after he had surgery on his right hand. The injury to Tarasenko stings a bit for the Blues, as his line with Patrik Berglund and Jaden Schwartz was one of the hottest lines across the league. One interesting thing to think about with St. Louis is whether or not Ryan Miller will return to the club. As Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch points out, GM Doug Armstrong may be reluctant to re-sign Miller if the team doesn’t provide a strong playoff run with Jake Allen waiting in the AHL for the Blues.
There is a lot of talk surrounding the Colorado Avalanche, as some feel that Patrick Roy may be the winner of the Jack Adams Award for the coach of the year in the NHL. On top of Roy’s work, the Avalanche have had some buzz around them for being the next team to host an outdoor game. Colorado was also busy keeping their talent in Denver, as both John Mitchell and Reto Berra signed three-year extensions with the club. Although Berra has yet to play a game for the Avs, Mike Chambers of The Denver Post believes J.S. Giguere is leaning towards retirement after this season, hence the reason for Berra’s extension. Although Paul Stastny is out with a back injury, Colorado won three of their four games this week. Semyon Varlamov recorded his 100th NHL win on Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, while Matt Duchene has 16 points over his last 11 games. Paul Carey made his NHL debut for the Avs on Wednesday with a shot on goal and a plus-1 rating in 5:59 TOI in the team’s victory over Chicago.
The Chicago Blackhawks currently sit third in the Central Division with 92 points in 68 games. Marian Hossa returned to the lineup yesterday for the defending champs, as he had a goal and two assists in Chicago’s 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. The most exciting news for Hawks’ fans is the expectation that 19-year-old Teuvo Teravainen will be joining the club soon. Teravainen is one of the team’s highly-touted prospects and was drafted by Chicago with the 18th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Teravainen had 44 points in 49 games this season for Jokerit in the Liiga. Also on the prospect front, the Blackhawks have signed Dillon Fournier to an entry-level contract. Fournier was the team’s second-round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
With a hold of the top wild card spot, the Minnesota Wild have struggled this week with four losses in their last five games. Fortunately for the club, three of those losses came in shootouts, so the team is currently on a four-game point streak. In their 2-1 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday, Wild television analyst Mike Greenlay took an accidental stick from Mats Zuccarello and needed stitches for the incident. Matt Cooke took part in his 1,000th NHL game on Tuesday in the team’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers, while Zach Parise and Jason Pominville each had a goal and an assist in the loss.
Although it doesn’t look great for them, the Winnipeg Jets are still looking for the second wild card spot. With many Jets’ fans nervous that head coach Paul Maurice hasn’t signed an extension yet, the Jets rolled over the Stars last night with a 7-2 win. With Ondrej Pavelec out day-to-day with a lower-body injury and Chris Thorburn sidelined indefinitely with a foot injury, Winnipeg has recalled goaltender Michael Hutchinson and skater Patrice Cormier from the St. John’s IceCaps of the AHL.
With 68 points in 68 games, the Nashville Predators sit last in the Central Division. As usual, the Predators’ defense has been the biggest story surrounding the team, as Seth Jones scored the game-winning goal in overtime in Nashville’s 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday, while Roman Josi had three assists in the team’s 3-2 win over the Blackhawks on Friday. On top of the those two performances, Shea Weber nailed a pair of Sens on Monday, as he blasted a slap shot off of Craig Anderson’s mask then provided another slap shot that caught Cody Ceci’s ear and required nine stitches to stop the bleeding.
PACIFIC DIVISION
After losing four straight games, the Anaheim Ducks responded with a pair of wins on Friday and Saturday night. After losing 7-2 to the Flames on Wednesday, where Ryan Getzlaf was minus-4, the Ducks scored six second period goals to beat the Avalanche 6-4 on Friday before Frederik Andersen stopped 37 of the 38 shots he saw on Saturday to help Anaheim beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1. Two points of concern for the Ducks is their recent home record, as they are 4-6-2 since their 9-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on January 15th, and their power play, as they have scored just twice in their last 42 power-play chances over their last 13 games. One positive for the Ducks is Stephane Robidas is expected to make his Anaheim debut tomorrow against the Washington Capitals.
Thanks to a six-game winning streak and some stumbling from Anaheim, the San Jose Sharks now have 97 points and a share of the division lead. The Sharks have beaten up on the Eastern Conference, as Antti Niemi’s 41-save shutout over the New York Rangers yesterday improved San Jose to 21-6-3 against their non-conference opponents. Thanks to Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, and Patrick Marleau each being a 60-point player at the moment, the Sharks look poised to make a deep playoff run, especially if Niemi finds his game.
The Los Angeles Kings don’t really have a chance of gaining home-ice advantage in the postseason, but they do seem to have a lock for the third seed in the Pacific Division. The Kings recorded their eighth straight win on Monday against the Calgary Flames, as they won without the services of Jordan Nolan, who served a one-game suspension for sucker punching Jesse Joensuu in the Kings’ win over the Oilers last Sunday. As for the franchise, the Kings announced Thursday’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs was their 100th consecutive sellout at the Staples Center dating back to December of 2011. Thursday’s game may have been a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it did mark the first time Marian Gaborik scored as a King. Also making news out of Los Angeles this week was head coach Daryl Suter, who is one win away from 500 as a coach, saying that the NHL game today isn’t about defending but rather how much you have the puck.
Still in the hunt for the second wild card spot, the Phoenix Coyotes are hoping to edge out the Dallas Stars for the final spot in the Western Conference. There were a handful of achievements for the Coyotes this week, as the most notable one was Shane Doan taking part in his 1,300th NHL game in Phoenix’s 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday. Along with that, Chris Summers scored his first NHL goal in the Coyotes’ 3-2 win over the Flames on Saturday, while Brandon Gormley made his NHL debut in the team’s shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. Although forward Martin Erat is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Phoenix has had the luxury of sending out Radim Vrbata for each game, who is second on the team in scoring and had a three-point performance in the club’s win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
As usual, it was another crazy week surrounding the Vancouver Canucks, as they opened the week with a 7-4 loss to the New York Islanders where they allowed seven goals in the third period. Henrik Sedin scored his first goal since December 14th in the embarrassing loss and also took part in his 1,000th NHL game on Wednesday in the team’s 3-2 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets. Alexandre Burrows scored his first two goals of the season in the win over the Jets. The week concluded with a 4-3 shootout win over Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers. Ryan Kesler, who could have really only been traded to the Ducks or Pittsburgh Penguins according to Elliotte Friedman, has missed the last few games and is out tonight against the Lightning with a knee injury. In the midst of all their madness, the Canucks have signed 21-year-old left winger Michael Zalewski to an entry-level contract. Despite writer Jason Botchford saying, “It’s obvious Tortorella can’t come back next year,” and GM Mike Gillis not commenting on whether or not John Tortorella has lost the room, Vancouver is just three points out of the final playoff spot.
Clearly out of the playoff picture, the Calgary Flames saw Markus Granlund placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury that will sideline him indefinitely, while Curtis Glencross returned to the lineup after missing 29 games with an ankle injury. Despite David Jones being out three-to-four weeks with a shoulder injury as well, the Flames provided a 7-2 shellacking of the Ducks on Wednesday. Mikael Backlund had three points in the win, while Mark Giordano had a goal and an assist. T.J. Brodie and Paul Byron each had two-assist games, while Lance Bouma recorded his first multi-point game in the NHL with two assists and Corban Knight scored his first NHL goal. Mike Cammalleri, who is currently on a four-game point streak, provided two goals in the team’s 4-3 shootout win over the Stars on Friday and a pair of helpers in the team’s loss to the Coyotes on Saturday.
Last in the conference, the Edmonton Oilers remained relevant this week with two interesting headlines. One headline is the chance that Nail Yakupov isn’t with the team next season. According to Dave Staples of The Edmonton Journal, it seems unlikely the young forward is with the Oilers next season and that the team evidently tried to move him at the deadline. The other interesting headline is former head coach Ralph Krueger, who has never been linked to coaching soccer in his past, has been appointed chairman of Southampton FC in soccer’s English Premier League. On the ice, Viktor Fasth made 28 saves in his Oilers’ debut, as Edmonton beat the Wild 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday night. Despite being plastered 6-2 on Thursday by the St. Louis Blues, David Perron potted his team-leading 25th goal of the season against his former team.
METROPOLITAN DIVISION
Despite sitting at the top of the division, it wasn’t an easy weekend for the Pittsburgh Penguins, as they lost a pair of games to the Philadelphia Flyers by a combined score of 8-3. This came after they swept a home-and-home against the Washington Capitals earlier in the week, as they have beaten the Caps eight straight times. On top of going 2-2-0 this week, the Pens learned that James Neal has a concussion, Chris Kunitz is day-to-day with a leg injury, and Chris Conner is out four-to-six weeks with a broken foot. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, both Kris Letang and Beau Bennett have been cleared to return to practice recently. For a team that evidently needs depth, as this weekend showed, Josh Yohe of The Pittsburgh-Tribune Review stated that Jussi Jokinen does want to stay with the Penguins, but that contract negotiations won’t start until after the postseason. Pittsburgh did call up Jayson Megna this week, who had the team’s final goal yesterday in a 4-3 loss to the Flyers.
As for the Philadelphia Flyers, the Orange and Black now sit second in the division with a one-point lead over both the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers. Although they won both games against the Pens this weekend, the Flyers failed to beat the New Jersey Devils earlier in the week, although some may say that the loss was due to questionable officiating. In the loss to New Jersey, Nicklas Grossmann snapped a 75-game goal drought and Scott Hartnell took part in his 500th game as a Flyer. Both Ray Emery and Zac Rinaldo returned to action this week, as Chris VandeVelde was called up to play in Rinaldo’s spot during the loss to the Devils. In news relating to former greats in the Flyers’ organization, a statue has been raised outside of Xfinity Live! honoring the late Fred Shero, while former forward Sami Kapanen has finally retired from playing hockey.
The Columbus Blue Jackets sit third in the division, as their week started off with the scare in Dallas. After the game was postponed on Monday, the Blue Jackets beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Tuesday, but Blake Comeau earned a two-game suspension for his hit on Brendan Smith in the victory. In a pair of stories surrounding the team off the ice, Nathan Horton bought 1,000 tickets for “first responders” to the Blue Jackets’ game against the Sharks on Thursday, while Artem Anisimov missed Thursday’s game to attend the birth of his child. On the team’s blue line, Fedor Tyutin returned to action on Saturday for the team’s 2-1 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild after missing eight games with an ankle injury, while Ryan Murray is out four-to-six weeks after having knee surgery.
The New York Rangers currently have a hold of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, as they have 76 points in 69 games. It was a big week for Carl Hagelin and Kevin Klein, as Hagelin recorded his first career hat trick in the team’s 4-2 win over the Jets, while Klein scored his first goal as a Ranger early in the week against the Carolina Hurricanes and had two assists against Winnipeg. Derek Stepan is also playing well for the Blueshirts as of late, as the American forward has 11 points in his last 10 games. In more trade deadline news, the Rangers were one of three teams, along with the Flyers and Blue Jackets, that Kesler turned down the idea of being traded to when asked about moving. New York also signed 21-year-old forward Ryan Haggerty to an entry-level contract. Haggerty was a highly-touted NCAA player who had 43 points in 35 games this season for Rensselaer Poly Institute (RPI).
The biggest news surrounding the Washington Capitals this week was the debut of Evgeny Kuznetsov. After being held scoreless in his first two NHL games against the Penguins early in the week, Kuznetsov recorded three assists in the Caps’ 4-3 win over Vancouver on Friday and also had a helper in the team’s 4-2 decision over the Leafs yesterday. The play of Kuznetsov is needed for Washington at the moment, as Mikhail Grabovski is on injured reserve with a sprained left ankle and Brooks Laich is day-to-day with a groin injury. The Caps also signed blue liner Dmitry Orlov to a two-year extension worth $4 million. In Olympic news, Nicklas Backstrom was finally awarded his silver medal after the International Olympic Committee decided the forward’s positive drug test wasn’t due to performance-enhancing drugs.
The New Jersey Devils seem to barely be holding on to any playoff hopes despite having one of the easier schedules down the stretch. After Jaromir Jagr had a goal and an assist and Tuomo Ruutu provided a two-assist performance against the Flyers in a 2-1 win on Tuesday, the Devils lost to the Panthers 5-3 on Friday and were shut out 3-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. One excuse the Devils don’t have at the moment is injuries, as the only player out is Ryan Carter, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. New Jersey may have a tough four-game stretch coming up against the Boston Bruins, Wild, Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs, but nine of their final 10 games should be rather easy wins for the team.
Nine points out of the final playoff spot, the playoffs don’t seem likely for the Carolina Hurricanes. One positive for Carolina was seeing Cam Ward record his first win since December 31st this week, as he was in net for the Hurricanes’ 3-1 win over the Rangers on Tuesday. Another positive was Justin Faulk returning to action, as he had an assist in Carolina’s losses to Boston on Saturday and Edmonton yesterday. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, John-Michael Liles is out indefinitely with a concussion and Jiri Tlusty is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Joni Pitkanen is making positive progress with his season-ending injury and wants to return to play for the team next season.
At the bottom of the Metropolitan Division are the New York Islanders. Along with their monstrous third period against the Canucks, the Isles received the good news in signing both defensemen Kevin Czuczman and Adam Pelech to entry-level contracts. On top of the two entry-level contracts, Johan Sundstrom made his NHL debut for the Islanders this week, as he had one shot on goal in 10:28 TOI in the team’s 4-3 loss to the Sharks on Friday. Anders Lee has also impressed with his limited top-line minutes, as he has five points in his last three games. Some bad news this week for New York is the fact Michael Grabner is out indefinitely with a concussion and that fans have finally had enough of Garth Snow and chanted “Snow must go” during the team’s 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
ATLANTIC DIVISION
Life is good for the Boston Bruins, as they are enjoying an eight-game winning streak and sit at the top of the Eastern Conference. Tuukka Rask allowed a total of two goals while playing both games of a back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday, as the Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Wednesday before beating the Coyotes 2-1 the following day. It was also good to see Daniel Paille return to action after missing both of those games with a concussion, as he took part in Boston’s 5-1 decision over Carolina on Saturday. In terms of career milestones, Claude Julien recorded his 300th win as Boston’s head coach in the win on Thursday against Phoenix, while Jarome Iginla will play in his 1,300th NHL game tonight against the Minnesota Wild.
The Montreal Canadiens sit second in the division thanks to a miraculous win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. Having lost three games in a row, the Canadiens were down 4-1 with 3:22 left before they eventually tied it with a David Desharnais’ tally with 3/10 of a second left in regulation. Francis Bouillon scored in overtime to hand Montreal the improbable 5-4 win. Yesterday, the Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 for their first regulation win since the Olympic break. Thankfully for the Canadiens, Carey Price returned to action on Saturday, which means Dustin Tokarski has been sent back down to the Hamilton Bulldogs. Unfortunately for the Habs, Josh Gorges is out for four weeks after he underwent surgery for his hand. Alex Galchenyuk reached the milestone of his 100th NHL game on Wednesday in Montreal’s 4-1 loss to Boston.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are third in the Atlantic Division, as they are 2-2-0 on their current road trip that concludes tomorrow against the Detroit Red Wings. After providing a 43-save effort for the Leafs earlier in the week against the Ducks, Jonathan Bernier was hurt in the Leafs’ win over the Kings on Thursday. Toronto’s netminder isn’t expected to miss significant time, as the organization as called up Drew MacIntyre from the Toronto Marlies to fill in for Bernier. The most noteworthy incident of the week for Toronto may be when Dion Phaneuf laid out James van Riemsdyk in their 6-2 loss to the Sharks on Tuesday. Luckily for both Phaneuf and JvR, the forward wasn’t injured.
The Tampa Bay Lightning may be behind the Canadiens and Leafs in the standings, but they also have two games in hand. In the team’s 5-4 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday, Steven Stamkos scored his first goal since returning from his injury and his first goal since November 9th, while Ryan Callahan scored his first goal with the Lightning. Similar to Shero in Philadelphia, Dave Andreychuk will be honored by the Lightning with a statue on Thunder Alley in front of Tampa Bay Times Forum. Two interesting stats relating to the Bolts are Tyler Johnson scoring his fourth shorthanded goal of the season against the Coyotes on Monday, tying him for the league lead in that category, and Ben Bishop recording his 31st win of the season on Saturday against the Devils setting a franchise record.
The Detroit Red Wings will need to find ways to start winning games if they want to keep their postseason streak alive. With a record of 2-4-1 and just one regulation win in March, the Wings might finally miss the postseason for the first time since the 1989-1990 season. With Joakim Andersson, Tomas Jurco, and Todd Bertuzzi being recently added to their lengthy list of injuries, the Red Wings recalled both Jordin Tootoo and Teemu Pulkkinen from the AHL. Pulkkinen made his NHL debut on Friday against the Oilers and had two shots on goal in 7:36 of action. Looking past this season, and their struggle to make the postseason, Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports that Daniel Alfredsson isn’t sure about playing next season, but if he does he’ll do it with the Red Wings.
For the Ottawa Senators, it wasn’t a pretty week. On top of their epic collapse in Montreal on Saturday night, the Sens followed it up with a 3-1 defeat to the Colorado Avalanche yesterday. It doesn’t help that Craig Anderson is day-to-day after he collided with Milan Michalek in Monday’s loss to the Predators, as Nathan Lawson has been called up from the Binghamton Senators to serve as Robin Lehner’s backup. Something else that isn’t comforting to Sens’ fans is the fact that Don Brennan of The Ottawa Sun is reporting Ales Hemsky is “non-committal” about re-signing with the Sens after this season. With just one win in their last six games and a difficult six-game stretch coming up for Ottawa, their dreams of the postseason might be over soon.
Despite the injuries and the fact they won’t be in the postseason, there are a few positives for the Florida Panthers at the moment. For one, Roberto Luongo has been playing decent since returning to Florida, as he has a .916 save percentage and a 2-2-1 record with the Panthers. Secondly, the two former Blackhawks Jimmy Hayes and Brandon Pirri have been playing well, as Hayes has a pair of two-goal games and six points in his last five games, while Pirri has five points in seven games with Florida. Another positive for the Panthers is Vincent Trocheck scored his first NHL goal on Friday in the team’s 5-3 win over the Devils. Trocheck also scored yesterday in the team’s shootout loss to the Canucks.
Last and, according to the standings, certainly least, the Buffalo Sabres saw their two noteworthy additions at the trade deadline go down with injuries. After Chris Stewart suffered a lower-body injury that will likely sideline him for the rest of the season, goaltender Michal Neuvirth is now considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, which prompted Nathan Lieuwen being called up from the Rochester Americans. Before suffering his injury late in the week, Neuvirth provided a 51-save effort for Buffalo in their 4-2 loss to Carolina on Thursday. Alex Sulzer is out one-to-two weeks with a lower-body injury, while Tyler Myers is day-to-day with an elbow injury for the Sabres. It seems as though one positive for Buffalo is the fact that it appears that Ted Nolan wants to sign a contract extension with the Sabres.
