NHL Week in Review: 4/8-4/14

Daily Headlines
Monday 4/8
  • Auston Matthews scores his 65th goal of the season before setting up the game-winner in overtime by Jake McCabe to beat the Penguins 3-2.
Tuesday 4/9
  • Alex Ovechkin sets the NHL record with his 18th 30-goal season, scoring the game-winning goal late in the second period in a 2-1 victory over the Red Wings.
  • Despite losing in overtime 4-3 to the Jets, the Nashville Predators punched their spot in the postseason by earning a point.
  • Nathan MacKinnon records a hat trick to surpass 50 goals for the season as the Avalanche dominate the Wild 5-2.
  • Andrei Svechnikov records the third lacrosse goal of his career, opening the scoring in a 4-1 win for the Hurricanes over the Atlantic-leading Bruins, their 50th win of the season.
  • Juraj Slafkovsky's first hat trick is part of an offensive slaughter as the Canadiens put up nine goals in a 9-3 victory over the free-falling Flyers.
Wednesday 4/10
  • St. Louis scores on their first four shots against the Blackhawks, including a pair of goals from Jordan Kyrou, en route to a 5-2 victory over Chicago.
  • Dylan Guenther records a point on all four of Arizona's goals, including the assist on Logan Cooley's game-winner in overtime in a 4-3 victory over the Canucks.
Thursday 4/11
  • Sidney Crosby enters the Top 10 all-time in points and gets his 1,000th assist in overtime, setting up Erik Karlsson for the 6-5 win over the Red Wings.
  • The Flyers snap their winless drought with a big 4-1 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
  • Jesper Bratt scores with 1:14 left to break a 5-5 tie in an epic 6-5 win over the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
Friday 4/12
  • With St. Louis losing 5-2 to the Hurricanes, the Vegas Golden Knights officially punch their ticket in a 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild to ensure a chance to defend their crown. 
  • Filip Forsberg sets a new Nashville record with his 44th goal of the season, beginning a three-goal night to help the Predators to a 5-1 win over the Blackhawks.
  • Andrei Kuzmenko scores twice late in the third period to prevent the Ducks from completing their comeback, completing a hat trick in Calgary's 6-3 victory.
Saturday 4/13
  • The Stars clinch the Central Division with a 3-1 win over the Kraken behind a three-point game from Miro Heiskanen.
  • San Jose locks up the best odds to earn the first pick after losing 6-2 to the Minnesota Wild behind a pair of goals by Kirill Kaprizov. 
  • Dylan Larkin keeps Detroit's season alive by scoring the game-winner in overtime of a 5-4 win against Toronto after blowing a 4-1 lead.
  • Sean Monahan and Adam Lowry score twice as the Jets dominate the Avalanche 7-0 to push toward home ice in a preview of a first-round matchup.
  • Washington and Philadelphia pick up big wins to remain in the playoff picture, beating the Lightning 4-2 and the Devils 1-0, respectively.
Sunday 4/14
  • William Karlsson scores twice, including the game-tying goal, before Jack Eichel wins it in overtime to cap a major comeback in a 4-3 win for Vegas over Colorado.
Team of the Week- Winnipeg Jets
It says a lot about how hot a team is when they go into a division rivals' barn and score a touchdown against them. Not only did they beat Colorado 7-0 in a preview of the 1st round, but they also earned an overtime win over Nashville and a 3-0 shutout over Dallas, beating the other teams in the Top 4 of the Central Division. The Jets allowed just three goals, the second-fewest in the league, and scored 14 goals, tied for second. The contributions offensively came from the entire lineup. No one scored more than two goals or four points, but 14 players found the scoresheet. With both goalies playing well, too, the Jets are looking stronger than ever during their league-best six-game win streak.

Disappointing Team of the Week- New York Rangers
To call any team "disappointing" this week would be a little bit of a stretch because none of the teams at the top were particularly egregious. However, the Rangers likely fit the bill the closest. They're doing everything in their power to fight off the Carolina Hurricanes for the division crown, but a 1-2-0 week didn't help matters. Back-to-back losses to the Islanders and Flyers were pretty bad, but they recovered for a 3-2 shootout win over their in-state rival on Saturday. Their lead in the division is just one point heading into their finale on Monday, but a win will lock things up for them going into the playoffs as the likely President's Trophy winners, too.

Surprising Team of the Week- Calgary Flames
The Flames have gotten hot at the wrong time. If this stretch had come about a month or two sooner, Calgary would be fighting for a playoff spot. Instead, they'll have to settle for it coming in the final weeks of the season. Nazem Kadri and Andrei Kuzmenko did a lot of the heavy lifting, combining for nine goals and 15 points across their four games. While they picked on the team at the bottom of the conference, back-to-back six-goal performances aren't easy to pull off. 

Three Stars of the Week
3rd Star- Auston Matthews- 5 goals, 2 assists in 4 games
The runaway winner of the Rocket had another great week, tying for the league lead in goals, as he reached 69 goals with two games left. #70 feels like it is right around the corner. Along with his five goals, Matthews added a pair of assists, tying him for second in the league with seven points for the week. Matthews now has goals in eight straight games, and he's knocking on the door to finish in the Top 5 in scoring this season.

2nd Star- Roman Josi (NSH)- 2 goals, 5 assists in 3 games
Part of the group tied with seven points this week was Roman Josi, and he only needed three games to get it done. Josi's week was highlighted by a two-goal, four-point performance against the Blue Jackets on Saturday, helping to inflate his totals a little. His five helpers were tied for second in the league, just one behind Toronto's Mitch Marner. Josi now leads all defensemen with 23 goals and is third in scoring among defenders with 85 points.

1st Star- Nazem Kadri (CGY)- 4 goals, 4 assists in 4 games
While several players finished with seven points, only one man had more. Nazem Kadri used back-to-back three-point performances to help him finish atop the league with eight points this week, finishing tied for third with four goals. He's on the cusp of another 30-goal season, needing just one more in the Flames' final two games to reach the milestone for the first time since 2017-18 when he was in Toronto.

My Top 16 (* denotes a new entry)
1. Dallas Stars (+2)
2. Carolina Hurricanes (+2)
3. New York Rangers (-2)
4. Boston Bruins (-2)
5. Vancouver Canucks (+1)
6. Florida Panthers (+ 1)
7. Winnipeg Jets (+2)
8. Edmonton Oilers (-3)
9. Toronto Maple Leafs (-1)
10. Los Angeles Kings (-)
11. Vegas Golden Knights (+1)
12. Colorado Avalanche (-1)
13. Tampa Bay Lightning (-)
14. New York Islanders (-)
15. Nashville Predators (+1)
16. Washington Capitals (+3)*

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