NHL Week in Review: 12/18-12/24

Daily Headlines

Monday 12/18

• The Ottawa Senators fire Head Coach DJ Smith amid a four-game losing streak and an 11-15-0 start. 
• Eeli Tolvanen scores in the final minute to force overtime, but Thomas Harley spoils the comeback by scoring in the extra session to get the Stars a 4-3 win over Seattle.

Tuesday 12/19

• Kirill Marchenko's natural hat trick plays a small part in Columbus's nine-goal outburst as they embarrass the Sabres in Buffalo 9-4. 
• Arizona erases a 3-0 deficit, scoring three goals in the third period to complete the comeback in a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. 
• The Hurricanes go 3-for-3 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill to dismantle the Vegas Golden Knights 6-3 in Raleigh. 
• Auston Matthews scores twice to take the league lead in goals, but Mika Zibanejad's two-goal performance helps the Rangers to a 5-2 win in Toronto.  

Wednesday 12/20

• Joey Daccord keeps his hot streak going by stopping 42 shots in a 2-1 win for Seattle in Los Angeles. 

Thursday 12/21

• Nathan MacKinnon pots four goals, including his 300th, as the Avalanche take down the Senators 6-4. 
• Two nights after allowing nine goals to Columbus, the Sabres take out their frustration on the Maple Leafs, winning 9-3 behind four assists from Alex Tuch and a three-point night from Jeff Skinner in his return.
• Alex Ovechkin breaks his 14-game goalless drought with the overtime winner in Columbus after some fireworks between Tom Wilson and Elvis Merzlikins. 
• Edmonton rattles off four unanswered goals in the third period to help down the Devils 6-3 in New Jersey. 

Friday 12/22

• Philadelphia erases a 5-1 deficit after the first period with five unanswered goals, but a bad-angle goal from the Red Wings forces overtime before Patrick Kane (2G, A) gets Detroit a 7-6 win in the shootout. 
• Edmonton scores four goals in the third period for the second night in a row and withstands a late push from the Rangers to take a 4-3 win at Madison Square Garden.

Saturday 12/23

• Dallas scores twice in the final 13 seconds of regulation to complete an unbelievable 3-2 third-period comeback win over the Nashville Predators. 
• Connor Bedard scores a lacrosse goal against the St. Louis Blues, but St. Louis scores five unanswered goals in the third period to win 7-5 in a wild one. 
• Marc-Andre Fleury picks up win #550 in a 3-2 defeat of Boston to put him one behind Patrick Roy for second in NHL history. 
• Trevor Zegras returns to the lineup by scoring the second lacrosse goal of the night, but Seattle takes home a 3-2 win. 

Team of the Week- Tampa Bay Lightning

Since going 0-4-0 a few weeks ago, the Lightning have won seven of their last ten games, including all three last week. They were one of two teams to go 3-0-0 over the last seven days, and they did it with a strong week from Andrei Vasilevskiy. He started all three games, stopping the second-most shots in the league and finishing in the top five in GAA and save percentage. They also scored four goals per game, the fifth-most in the league. Nick Paul led the charge offensively, scoring six points. Several others were close behind, including Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman. They continue to be one of the best home teams in the league, remaining within striking distance of a Top 3 finish in the Atlantic. 

Disappointing Team of the Week- Vegas Golden Knights

The start the defending champions had was unbelievable. Since then, they've fallen back to Earth in a hard way. Reality hit them hard when they took a trip down south to battle Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Florida. The Hurricanes ripped them apart 6-3. The Lightning narrowly blew a 4-2 lead, getting a goal with 1:13 left from Nick Paul to keep Vegas winless. To finish the week, they lost a Stanley Cup rematch against the Panthers 4-2, allowing two goals on the power play in the third period. They allowed 15 goals across three games and killed less than half of their penalties. This isn't going to be a consistent thing, but they've relinquished their spot atop the Pacific Division. 

Surprising Team of the Week- Montreal Canadiens

The race in the Eastern Conference for the two Wild Card spots is turning into a race between seven or eight solid teams. The Montreal Canadiens are firmly in the race, sitting four points outside of a playoff spot. They went 2-0-1 last week, finding themselves on the fringe of my Top 16. Their win over Winnipeg early in the week was their best. They needed overtime to do it, but it was a big win over a playoff team. All three goalies saw playing time last week, with Jake Allen's performance in Winnipeg being a standout. They also got a balanced week from its offense. This has been a breakout season for Juraj Slafkovsky after an underwhelming rookie campaign. Time will tell whether Montreal keeps its name in the hat for the postseason. 

Three Stars of the Week

3rd Star- Auston Matthews (TOR)- 5 goals, 1 assist in 3 games

There is no better scorer in the league than Auston Matthews. He was my preseason pick to win the Rocket, and he's sitting four goals ahead of second place. Matthews scored in all three of Toronto's games, including multi-goal efforts against New York and Columbus. His two goals against Columbus backed a three-point night. He's finding the back of the net at nearly a goal-per-game pace, so it's not out of the picture for him to hit 60 goals again. 

2nd Star- Kirill Kaprizov (MIN)- 4 goals, 3 assists in 4 games

Several players finished with seven points, but only one of them scored two game-winners in overtime. Kirill Kaprizov finished tied for second in points and goals, with all four goals coming at even strength. He picked up a pair of goals in Boston before finishing with three points against Montreal, scoring the winner in both battles. 

1st Star- Patrick Kane (DET)- 4 goals, 4 assists in 4 games

While it wasn't a good week for the Red Wings, it was an excellent week for one of their newer faces. Patrick Kane led all scorers with eight points, contributing to over half of Detroit's 13 goals. He recorded points in all four games, including multi-point performance in their first three. Three of his eight points came in the first period of the Red Wings' 7-6 shootout win over Philadelphia, and he scored the winner in the shootout to boot. 

My Top 16 (* denotes a new entry)

16. Carolina Hurricanes (17-13-4/1-1-1 last week) (+1)*

15. Nashville Predators (19-15-0/1-2-0 last week) (-3)

14. Tampa Bay Lightning (17-13-5/3-0-0 last week) (+5)*

13. Toronto Maple Leafs (17-8-6/1-2-0 last week) (-4)

12. Florida Panthers (19-12-2/1-2-0 last week) (-1)

11. Philadelphia Flyers (18-11-4/1-1-1 last week) (-1)

10. Washington Capitals (17-9-5/2-0-1 last week) (+4)

9. New York Islanders (16-8-9/2-0-1 last week) (+4)

8. Colorado Avalanche (21-11-2/2-1-0 last week) (-2)

7. Vegas Golden Knights (21-9-5/0-3-0 last week) (-4)

6. Boston Bruins (19-7-6/0-2-1 last week) (-3)

5. Winnipeg Jets (20-9-3/2-0-1 last week) (+2)

4. Dallas Stars (20-8-4/3-0-0 last week) (+4)

3. Los Angeles Kings (19-7-4/2-1-0 last week) (+2)

2. Vancouver Canucks (23-9-3/2-0-1 last week) (+2)

1. New York Rangers (23-8-1/2-1-0 last week) (-)

The New York Rangers continued their time atop my rankings after winning two of three games going into the break. They returned the favor to Toronto early in the week and then played consecutive 4-3 games, splitting them against Edmonton and Buffalo. After that, there was a massive shakeup. The Vancouver Canucks are the league's leader in points, trailing only the Rangers in point percentage. They earned convincing wins over Nashville and San Jose while losing in overtime to Dallas. The Kings are right behind them, owing the same point percentage in five fewer games. Their only flaw was a 2-1 loss to Seattle. The Dallas Stars used two overtime wins and an incredible comeback against Nashville to complete a perfect week with Scott Wedgewood leading the way. The Winnipeg Jets continue to ride the incredible goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck to a top spot in the division. The Jets are allowing the third-fewest goals per game this season, allowing a sade over 2.50 goals. 

Two of the mainstays at the top of my list took a nosedive. The Bruins dropped three spots after losing all three games. The Golden Knights met the same fate, but the Bruins managed to sneak an overtime loss into the schedule. Vegas lost all three games in regulation during their trip to the Southeast, getting thoroughly outplayed by Carolina before closer battles against the Bolts and Cats. The Avalanche fell two spots despite winning two of their three games. I don't have a good explanation for it other than not wanting to drop Boston and Vegas farther than was warranted. 

The New York Islanders jumped four spots after earning five of six possible points. A 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals was their lone loss of the week. The Capitals also moved up four spots, following the same path as the Islanders. Along with a head-to-head victory, They won in overtime in Columbus before dropping a shootout decision to Tampa Bay. The Flyers dropped one spot after a 1-1-1 week, including an incredibly entertaining game against the Detroit Red Wings, in which they lost 7-6 in a shootout after completing a huge comeback. The Florida Panthers dropped their first two games of the week to Calgary and St. Louis, scoring just one goal in each loss. They saved their week by beating Vegas on Saturday. 

It seems like we're getting a different version of the Toronto Maple Leafs every week. They were beaten down 5-2 by the Rangers before getting decimated in Buffalo 9-3 by the Sabres. Toronto closed their week with a win over Columbus to prevent a winless week. The Tampa Bay Lightning put together a perfect week by stomping St. Louis, narrowly beating Vegas, and taking down Washington 2-1 in a shootout. Nashville cooled off a little, losing two of their three games. The loss to Dallas was a bad one, considering how late they allowed the two goals. Rounding out the list is the Carolina Hurricanes, who didn't have an amazing week but did just enough to finish .500. Their win over Vegas was a large confidence booster, and the shootout loss to Pittsburgh was good despite not picking up the second point.