NHL Week in Review: 3/25-3/31

Daily Headlines

Monday 3/25

• After Brandon Saad tied the game late in the third period to force overtime, Jonathan Marchessault needed just 40 seconds to help Vegas beat St. Louis 2-1.

Tuesday 3/26

• The New York Rangers clinch the first playoff spot of the season after a 6-5 overtime win over the Flyers as they earn Peter Laviolette his 800th win and reach 100 points.
• Trailing 4-1 in the third period, the Predators roll off three unanswered goals, including Filip Forsberg's 40th, before Roman Josi wins it 5-4 in overtime to push their point streak to 18 games.
• Dylan Strome's second goal of the night comes in overtime as the Capitals beat the Red Wings 4-3 in a battle of two postseason hopefuls in the Wild Card race.
• The Bruins get two late goals to come up with a big 4-3 win in Sunrise to regain the Atlantic Division lead over the Panthers.
• Josh Doan, son of NHL legend Shane Doan, scores twice in his NHL debut to help the Coyotes down the Bue Jackets 6-2.

Wednesday 3/27

• Aided by a five-goal first period, the Ottawa Senators storm into Buffalo and dismantle the Sabres 6-2.

Thursday 3/28

• Logan Cooley's hat trick and Clayton Keller's four-point night help the Coyotes put up eight goals in an 8-4 victory to snap Nashville's 18-game point streak.
• Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho record a goal and two assists each, and Frederik Andersen makes 24 stops to beat Detroit 4-0 to clinch a playoff spot for themselves and the Florida Panthers.
• The Rangers become the first team to hold Nathan MacKinnon off the scoresheet at home, beating the Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout. 
• Thanks to a 4-1 win by the Canadiens over the Flyers, the Boston Bruins secure their playoff spot on an idle night.
• The Dallas Stars become the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff spot after Jamie Benn scores a late goal on the power play to beat the Canucks 3-1 in Vancouver.

Friday 3/29

• Montreal's Kaiden Guhle is handed a one-game suspension for slashing Philadelphia's Travis Konecny while on the bench in Thursday's 4-1 win for the Canadiens.
• Tage Thompson records a natural hat trick and finishes with four goals to help Buffalo overcome an early 2-0 deficit in a 5-2 win to dash the playoff hopes of the Devils.

Saturday 3/30

• Auston Matthews reaches the 60-goal mark for the second time in his career, helping the Maple Leafs pick up a 3-0 win on the road against the Sabres.
• Alexis Lafreniere's hat trick and five points, along with Artemi Panarin's four points, allows the Rangers to keep their distance from the Coyotes in an 8-5 victory as Jonathan Quick becomes the winningest American goalie in NHL history. 
• Mikko Rantanen hits 100 points with three assists, and Nathan MacKinnon finishes with four points as the Avalanche clinch their seventh straight postseason berth with a 7-4 win over Nashville.
• With losses by the Wild and Blues, the Vancouver Canucks become the second Western Conference team to clinch a playoff spot. 
• Nearly three weeks after pulling off the move brilliantly, Minnesota tries to pull the goalie in overtime against Vegas, but Jonathan Marchessault's 40th goal costs the Wild a point in a 2-1 loss. 

Sunday 3/31

• Dakota Joshua scores twice, and Connor Garland breaks a 2-2 tie late in the third period to help the Canucks beat the Ducks 3-2 in Sunday's lone game.

Team of the Week- Dallas Stars

There are a lot of hot teams in the NHL, but no team owns a longer win streak at the moment than the Dallas Stars. They haven't lost in over two weeks, entering April with a seven-game win streak after winning all three of their games this week on the road. While their 6-3 win over the Sharks to start the week was good, they earned a 3-1 decision over the Canucks on Thursday night to clinch a playoff spot and eclipse 100 points for the season before a 3-0 shutout victory over the Kraken on Saturday. They tied for fifth in goals per game and tied for second in goals allowed per game for the week. A trio of Stars finished with five points to lead the team, including captain Jamie Benn, who had a six-game goal streak and an eight-game point streak snapped on Saturday. Dallas holds a slim three-point lead over Colorado for the division lead, though the Avalanche have a game in hand and hold most of the important tiebreakers. 

Disappointing Team of the Week- Philadelphia Flyers

No one in the Eastern Conference wants the third Metropolitan spot or the second Wild Card spot. After holding the final automatic spot in the Metro for months, the Flyers have been passed by the Capitals as they now barely cling to the eighth spot in the conference. They did a good job of sticking with the Rangers early in the week, eventually losing 6-5 in overtime to the red-hot New York squad. The concern comes in their losses to Montreal and Chicago. They were outscored 11-2 in the losses to two teams near the bottom of their respective divisions. Samuel Ersson allowed a league-high 13 goals in his three starts. His .803 save percentage was the third-worst among all goalies. Clearly, he didn't get any help from his offense in his latter two starts. Detroit is just two points back with a game in hand, so the Flyers need to make the most out of their light schedule this coming week.

Surprising Team of the Week- Arizona Coyotes

Remember earlier in the season when the Coyotes were threatening for a playoff spot? Those were simpler times. Now, eliminated from the playoffs, the Coyotes are just having fun on the ice. They played in three high-scoring games this week, winning two of them. Josh Doan was called up and made an immediate impact, scoring twice in his debut on Tuesday and adding three assists in the next two games. The entire team got into the act. Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz finished in the Top 5 in scoring this week with six points. Logan Cooley led the way with four goals, tying Doan and Mattias Maccelli with five points. Even in the one game they lost to the Rangers, the Coyotes scored five times in an 8-5 loss. To top it off, they snapped Nashville's 18-game point streak on Thursday by putting up eight goals. 

Three Stars of the Week

3rd Star- Connor McDavid (EDM)- 3 goals, 5 assists in 3 games

At times, it's simply unfair how good Connor McDavid is. He has seven straight multi-point games, including three this week. He tied Artemi Panarin for the league lead in points, and he has placed himself in the thick of the battle for the Art Ross with his third straight 120-point season. McDavid currently leads the league with 96 assists and is just two points off Nathan MacKinnon's lead for the overall points lead. The only reason he's the third star is because this is the norm for McDavid.

2nd Star- Alexis Lafreniere (NYR)- 5 goals, 2 assists in 3 games

If the league gave out a "Most Improved" Award, Alexis Lafreniere would surely be in consideration for it. Lafreniere led the league with five goals this week, including his first career hat trick in a five-point effort against the Coyotes on Saturday. He also had a two-goal effort earlier in the week against the Flyers. Lafreniere's seven points were good enough for third in the league. He has put together his first 20-goal campaign and is shattering his career highs in just about every category. 

1st Star- Logan Thompson (VGK)- 3-0-0, .971 SV%, 0.97 GAA in 3 starts

I appreciate a good goaltending performance, and no goalie was better his week than Logan Thompson. He was one of six goalies to start three times this week, yet he was the only goalie to win all three times he took the ice. To add an extra layer to it, all three starts were on the road. He allowed just one goal in each start, with his best start coming mid-week when he made 39 stops against the Winnipeg Jets. He has shouldered the load graciously with Adin Hill on the shelf, helping the Golden Knights to a near-perfect week. 

My Top 16 (* denotes a new entry)

1. New York Rangers (-)

2. Boston Bruins (+3)

3. Dallas Stars (+5)

4. Carolina Hurricanes (+1)

5. Vancouver Canucks (-3)

6. Florida Panthers (-3)

7. Edmonton Oilers (-)

8. Colorado Avalanche (-2)

9. Toronto Maple Leafs (+4)

10. Vegas Golden Knights (+4)

11. Tampa Bay Lightning (+1)

12. Winnipeg Jets (-3)

13. Nashville Predators (-3)

14. Washington Capitals (+1)

15. Los Angeles Kings (-4)

16. St. Louis Blues (+1)*

Games of the Upcoming Week

Panthers vs. Maple Leafs (Monday)

This is going to be a very exciting week of hockey, with one big matchup every day. It begins on Monday with a potential playoff preview between the Panthers and Maple Leafs in Toronto. Florida feels pretty likely to finish first or second in the division, so if they finish in second, they'll probably be hosting the Leafs in a rematch of the second round from a year ago.

Canucks vs. Golden Knights (Tuesday)

On Tuesday, two of the West's best will go at it in a Pacific Division battle. Vancouver has already clinched its spot in the postseason, and Vegas is well on their way, but the Canucks are trying to get to where Vegas was a season ago. Vegas has been rolling lately, while Vancouver has sputtered just a little bit. The Golden Knights are also trying to ensure a Top 3 bid with the Kings charging behind them.

Lightning vs. Maple Leafs (Wednesday)

While Boston and Florida seem poised to battle for the Top 2 spots, there's a little less certainty surrounding the third spot. Toronto is there for now, but the Lightning have started to put a lot of pressure on the Maple Leafs to hold firm. The Bolts are just four points back, meaning a Tampa win and a Toronto regulation loss on Monday could turn them into a more important game than we expected.

Bruins vs. Hurricanes (Thursday)

The playoff implications for this one aren't as grand, but it could be big for the President's Trophy battle when the Bruins travel to Raleigh on Thursday. Their first meeting in January was a tight one, and this will be the first of two meetings over the next two weeks. They're tied with 101 points at the moment, and while that could change before Thursday, this could decide who challenges New York and Dallas, who have jumped ahead of the pack.

Avalanche vs. Oilers (Friday)

Another battle that has gotten very tight is the three-man competition for the Art Ross Trophy. Connor McDavid's torrid pace has him hot on the heels of Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov. McDavid and MacKinnon will go head-to-head in Edmonton on Friday as the Avalanche star tries to remain atop the league. These are also important games for both teams for seeding purposes.

Panthers vs. Bruins (Saturday)

The weekend will conclude with big games in big divisional races, beginning on Saturday in the Atlantic Division. Florida and Boston have gone back and forth for weeks for the top spot in the Atlantic. Boston holds a two-point lead at the moment, though that doesn't guarantee the same will rein true by Saturday. Florida holds a lot of the tiebreakers over Boston, so a Bruins win in regulation would be big for the Beantown faithful.

Stars vs. Avalanche (Sunday)

To close it out, the Avalanche will try to close the gap between themselves and the Stars atop the Central Division. Dallas is the hottest team in the league at the moment, and there's a chance their win streak has extended before traveling to Colorado. Their lead over the Avs is incredibly slim, so there isn't much of a margin for error against a lethal offensive juggernaut.