NHL Week in Review: 1/1-1/7

Daily Headlines

Monday 1/1

• Joey Daccord completes the first shutout in Winter Classic history, stopping 35 shots as the Seattle Kraken silence the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0

Tuesday 1/2

• Connor McDavid reaches 900 points for his career as his five-point effort helps the Oilers win their sixth straight game in a 5-2 win over the Flyers. 
• Andrei Svechnikov extends his multi-point game streak to five games with two goals in the Hurricanes' 6-1 decimation of the New York Rangers at MSG.
• Vancouver scores five goals in the first period to set the tone as they take down the Ottawa Senators 6-3. 
• Aleksander Barkov becomes the Florida Panthers' all-time leader in assists as the Panthers score three times in the third period to beat the Coyotes 4-1. 

Wednesday 1/3

• Nico Hischier, Dawson Mercer, and Michael McLeod each net a pair of goals to help the Devils win an important division matchup 6-3 against the Capitals. 
• Lukas Dostal keeps Toronto off the board until late in the third period, and Auston Matthews spoils the fun in overtime with his 30th goal despite 55 saves from Dostal. 

Thursday 1/4

• Mikko Rantanen uses his backside to tie the game late in regulation, and Nathan MacKinnon completes the comeback in overtime to win 5-4 in a major division battle against the Stars.
• The Penguins and Bruins combine for five goals in the first period in a barnburner won 6-5 by Pittsburgh in Boston.

Friday 1/5

• Vasily Ponomarev nets a goal and an assist in his NHL debut, recording both points during a five-goal third period to help the Hurricanes win their fifth straight in a 6-2 win over the Capitals. 

Saturday 1/6

• Sam Reinhart's hat trick helps pace a major offensive afternoon for the Panthers as they dominate the Avalanche 8-4 in Colorado. 
• Late-game heroics and an overtime winner by Marco Rossi outshine Cole Sillinger's hat trick as Marc-Andre Fleury pulls into a tie with Patrick Roy with his 551st win in a 4-3 OT win over Columbus. 
• Sam Montembeault stops 45 shots and prevents Mika Zibanejad from scoring a beautiful goal in the shootout to help the Canadiens upset the Rangers 4-3. 
• Zach Hyman scores his third hat trick of the season, providing all the offense the Oilers would need to beat the Senators 3-1. 

Sunday 1/7

• In their first game with Connor Bedard, the Blackhawks get two goals from Colin Blackwell to hold off the Flames 4-3. 
• John Carlson scores with less than a minute left to break a tie in regulation and help the Capitals take a tough 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings.  

Team of the Week- Florida Panthers

Eight teams went undefeated during the week, and while the Jets took home four wins, I've decided to bestow Team of the Week honors to the Florida Panthers. The Panthers went 3-0-0, picking up three dominant road wins out west. The Panthers tied for the league lead with 16 goals across their wins while conceding six. All three wins came by three or more goals over the Coyotes, Golden Knights, and Avalanche. Their win over Colorado was especially impressive, scoring eight goals, including three from Sam Reinhart. Reinhart's five goals led the league, while Matthew Tkachuk led with eight points, and Carter Verhaeghe was close behind with seven. Sergei Bobrovsky was in the net for all three wins, keeping his excellent season going. Just when it looked like the Bruins were going to run away with the Atlantic Division again, the Panthers sit just two points behind. 

Disappointing Team of the Week- Los Angeles Kings

In a week when many of the league's best teams played well, the Los Angeles Kings struggled. The Kings lost all three of their games, picking up just one point in a shootout loss to the Red Wings. They scored just six goals, with only three players finding the back of the net. Adrian Kempe scored three times. Kevin Fiala scored twice. Matt Roy got one. Other than that, there wasn't much going on. It's not as if their goaltending was bad. Cam Talbot and David Rittich did what they could without much support. The Kings still occupy the third spot in the Pacific Division, but the streaking Oilers and Kraken might have something to say about it. Los Angeles has now lost five straight games. They need to turn it around quickly. 

Surprising Team of the Week- Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres didn't have a busy week, but they had a very good one. Buffalo won both of its games as they try to turn around what has been a largely disappointing season. The Sabres have been near the bottom of my rankings for most of the season, which is why they've earned this honor after two games. They took down the Canadiens and Penguins, outscoring them 9-2. Their goaltenders were their stars. Devon Levi stopped 30 shots in the team's 6-1 win over Montreal, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 40 shots in a 3-1 victory in Pittsburgh. The Sabres remain well out of a playoff spot at the moment, but we've seen teams go on runs to break out of the cellar. 

Three Stars of the Week

3rd Star- Zach Hyman (EDM) 4 goals, 2 assists in 2 games

As the Oilers continue to work their way back into the playoff picture, they're getting the type of performances from their stars that haven't been there all season. Zach Hyman finished tied for fourth in scoring and tied for second in goals after putting up back-to-back three-point efforts, including a hat trick in Edmonton's 3-1 win over Ottawa on Saturday.

2nd Star- Matthew Tkachuk (FLA)- 3 goals, 5 assists in 3 games

Three Panthers finished in the top four this week in scoring, led by eight points from Matthew Tkachuk. He scored a goal in all three games for the Panthers, scoring three points against Vegas and four points against Colorado. Tkachuk's five assists tied him for the league lead with five others. He's considerably off his pace from last season, but he's starting to ramp it up. 

1st Star- Martin Jones (TOR)- 3-0-0, .976 SV%, 0.66 GAA in 3 games

Toronto completed a perfect road trip through California, largely thanks to three outstanding performances from Martin Jones. The Leafs' goalie started all three games, allowing two goals and shutting out Los Angeles. His save percentage and GAA were second-best in the league to Joey Daccord as he tries to assert himself as the starter for Toronto moving forward. 

My Top 16 (* denotes a new entry)

16. New York Islanders (20-13-6/1-1-1 last week) (-4)

15. Philadelphia Flyers (20-13-6/1-1-1 last week) (-4)

14. Edmonton Oilers (20-15-1/2-0-0 last week) (+5)*

13. Toronto Maple Leafs (20-10-7/3-0-0 last week) (+5)*

12. New Jersey Devils (21-15-2/2-1-0 last week) (+3)

11. Nashville Predators (22-17-1/2-1-0 last week) (+2)

10. Dallas Stars (22-11-5/0-2-1 last week) (-3)

9. Los Angeles Kings (20-10-6/0-2-1 last week) (-4)

8. Carolina Hurricanes (22-13-5/2-0-1 last week) (+2)

7. Vegas Golden Knights (23-12-5/1-2-0 last week) (+1)

6. Colorado Avalanche (25-12-3/2-1-0 last week) (-)

5. Florida Panthers (25-12-2/3-0-0 last week) (+4)

4. New York Rangers (26-10-2/1-1-1 last week) (-3)

3. Vancouver Canucks (25-11-3/2-1-0 last week) (-1)

2. Boston Bruins (24-8-6/2-1-0 last week) (+1)

1. Winnipeg Jets (26-9-4/4-0-0 last week) (+3)

This week provided one of the biggest shake-ups in the Top 5 this season. No one maintained their spot, allowing for a lot of movement. The Winnipeg Jets have taken over the top spot after going 4-0-0 to take the league lead in points and point percentage. They were led by goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who continues to place himself as one of the leading Vezina candidates. I debated the Bruins and Canucks for the next two spots but decided on Boston at #2 after they scored 16 goals in three games, including seven against Tampa Bay on Saturday. While the Canucks won two of their three games, I dropped them one spot despite two six-goal games against Ottawa and New Jersey. The Rangers fell three spots after a rough week. Their week began by being run out of MSG by the Hurricanes and ended with a shootout loss after being stymied by Sam Montembeault. The streaking Panthers round out of the Top 5 after a perfect week. They dominated all three of their games as they try to catch the Bruins in the division. 

The Avalanche held strong at #6, the only team to stay in their spot from last week. They won their first two games before being routed 8-4 by Florida. The Vegas Golden Knights moved up a spot despite only winning one game. They played in the Winter Classic on New Year's Day, suffering a 3-0 loss to Seattle, but a 5-2 win over New York helped to salvage an otherwise tough week. The Hurricanes are starting to find their footing, putting together another excellent week. They scored six goals in New York and Washington before losing 2-1 in a shootout during the second half of a back-to-back against St. Louis. Los Angeles fell down the ranking after a winless week. Their offense couldn't find anything in any of their games, scoring just six goals. 

The Dallas Stars also took a tumble, going 0-2-1. All three losses were by one goal as they fell to Montreal, Colorado, and Nashville at home. Speaking of Nashville, they put together a solid week, winning two of three. Along with their win in Dallas, the Predators got a shutout win over the Chicago Blackhawks early in the week. Just like the Hurricanes, the Devils are starting to get hot, making the Metropolitan Division even more of a mess. New Jersey beat the stuffing out of Washington before splitting a weekend back-to-back with Chicago and Vancouver. 

The rollercoaster ride that is the Toronto Maple Leafs continues to chug along after a 3-0-0 week. Martin Jones stole the show, allowing two goals in three starts. The Edmonton Oilers are tied for the longest win streak in the league, emerging victorious in their last seven outings. They've worked their way into a playoff spot, holding the second Wild Card spot. To finish the week, the Islanders and Flyers dropped four spots each. Both went 1-1-1 during the week as they hold identical records.