In the fifteenth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot, the Washington Capitals stayed hot, the Columbus Blue Jackets finally lost a game, and the Philadelphia Flyers got hot for a week. All this and more in this week’s snapshot.
In the fifteenth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot, the Washington Capitals kept on rolling. Sure, other teams kept getting results. The Columbus Blue Jackets won six straight before losing in a shootout. The New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers each avoided regulation losses as well. However, the Capitals swept their week. Even better for them, the New Jersey Devils went winless and Carolina Hurricanes split their week. The gap between the Capitals and Devils and Hurricanes is now nine and ten points, respectively. A massive lead. No, no team has mathematically won anything yet. However, the Caps would need to have a massive, massive downfall to drop first place at this rate. You may want to mentally pencil in a ‘Y’ next to their name. I may have to do that in March anyway. Check out the standings as they are.
NHL.com
I will look to add the wild card race in mid-February. Columbus owns one spot right now. Three in the Atlantic Division – Ottawa (owns the second), Boston, Montreal – is right on their heels. Blue Jackets, Flyers, Rangers, and Penguins fans can feel they have something to play for. But it is going to be dogfight from here on out. Mentally consider any cross-division game in the East to have some value outside of any including Buffalo. As usual, games within the Metropolitan Division remain important so they are highlighted and in bold.
Schedules via NHL.com
Here is the week that was and week that will be for all eight teams.
Washington Capitals
What Happened Last Week: The Washington Capitals started their week off on Tuesday night against Anaheim. They went out in front and never looked back. Brandon Duhaime scored on a deflection (or rather Jakob Chychrun scored on a Duhaime deflection, whichever) to open the scoring. John Carlson scored later on in the first for a 2-0 lead. The Capitals locked it down on the Ducks. Whatever they got through would be stopped by Logan Thompson. Ethen Frank scored late in the second period for additional insurance, a 3-0 lead. That would be how it ended. A solid win at home to keep racking up results.
Washington went up to Ottawa on Thursday night. This game was all about the goaltending. And some nonsense given a first-period ending unsportsmanlike/roughing incident involving Tom Wilson and Ridly Greig. Still, Merlainen and Thompson were in full form. They each allowed zero goals in regulation. 22 shots by Washington, no goals. 24 shots by Ottawa, no goals. Then came overtime. Washington had all of the shots. The final one came from Alex Ovechkin. He finished a 2-on-1 rush for the game’s only goal. The 1-0 overtime win for Washington showed they can win a goaltending duel. Also, it continued their run of results. Nine in a row at this point.
Washington ended their week on Saturday night at home against the Penguins. They took the Penguins down in this one. Logan Thompson was almost perfect. His shutout run ended in this one. No matter, the Caps more than had his back. Jakob Chychrun opened the scoring with a slapshot in the first period. Aliaksei Protas made it 2-0 in the second period. Bryan Rust became the one to beat Thompson with a shot over 11 minutes into the third period. At this point, it was a one-shot game. Then Pittsburgh made a big mistake with over four minutes left. Kris Letang tripped Connor McMichael. Washington punished this penalty with a Pierre-Luc Dubois goal assisted by the fouled McMichael. The 3-1 lead was more than enough insurance to see out a win. This was confirmed when Brandon Duhaime scored an empty net goal for a 4-1 win. Washington swept their week (3-0-0) to further cement their hold on first place and continue to bid for the President’s Trophy.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Washington Capitals will be in the Northwest in this week coming up. They will go to Edmonton first on Tuesday. Then they return to America to visit Seattle on Thursday. Their week will end with a return to Canada as they visit Vancouver. These trips out there are not always simple, but the Capitals have earned more than enough to withstand a down week here and there. Assuming they can do even that. They just keep getting results.
New Jersey Devils
What Happened Last Week: The New Jersey Devils opened their week on Tuesday with a big-name opponent: Florida. On the national broadcast, both teams put up defensive efforts. Florida took a lead in shots but most were easily stopped by Jacob Markstrom. Spencer Knight, in the other end, was more than up to the task. The scoring and the beef kicked off in the third period. Jesper Boqvist broke ahead of his man after a great pass Carter Verhaeghe to open the scoring. Nico Hischier tied it up less than two minutes later on a deflection to tie it up. The hits, including one illegal one by Matthew Tkachuk on Hischier, kept coming. The goals did not. The game needed more than overtime; it needed a shootout – the first of the season for New Jersey. Paul Cotter scored for the Devils while Aleksander Barkov and Anton Lundell scored for the Panthers. The 2-1 shootout meant a 2-1 shootout loss for the Devils.
New Jersey went to Toronto on Thursday night for their final meeting in this regular season. The Maple Leafs brought the offense and forced Markstrom to be great. Which he was for the most part. This was influenced by an early turnover by Toronto that led to Jonathan Kovacevic finding Jack Hughes all alone in front of Joseph Woll for a score. The eventual pressure from Toronto yielded a goal from a trailing William Nylander for an equalizer. Then the Devils power play emerged two minutes later; Nico Hischier punished an Oliver Ekman-Larsson trip on him. Later in the third, Auston Matthews tied up the game after a somewhat contentious tripping penalty on him. The Devils answered back with Hischier’s second PPG of the game, which punished an Ekman-Larsson hook on Hamilton. Unfortunately, the Leafs tied it up once more on a brilliant shot by Matthews with less than five minutes to go. Overtime was needed. Luke Hughes hit the post, the shift continued, and then he went for a change. While the Leafs had the puck. Mitch Marner hit William Nylander for a pass for him to break away, freeze Markstrom, and bury the puck. The Devils lost 4-3 in OT.
The Devils ended their week with an afternoon game against Philadelphia. To put this game in a word: ugly. The teams combined for 31 shots on net and 63 attempts blocked. To put it in another one for the Devils: terrible. Dougie Hamilton did score early on to give the Devils the lead. Then they proceeded to do everything but hit Sam Ersson with some rubber. Giveaways, bad reads, turnovers, and more. One brutal one at the Flyers blueline by Luke Hughes was picked off by Sean Couturier. He moved the puck up to Matvei Michkov, who beat Jake Allen to tie it up. The grind of the game continued. Jack Hughes made an ill-advised drop pass that led to an Owen Tippet break – only for Jonas Siegenthaler for slash him down. On the resulting power play, Noah Cates set up Bobby Brink in front for a go-ahead PPG. The Devils could not generate much of anything and the game fittingly ended with a turnover for a Travis Konecny empty net goal with two seconds left. The Devils lost 3-1. The Devils lost the week by going 0-1-2. Good thing they banked all those points. They remain in second place for the moment. But they really need to get back to it for the sake of the standings.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Devils will have three games spaced out against Atlantic Division opponents. They do finish up a weekend back-to-back today with a home game against Ottawa. Then on Wednesday, the Devils will host Boston in their first meeting this season. The Devils will end their week in Montreal on Saturday night. The space should be a relief but the results are still important with the Hurricanes right behind them. They need them since they cannot keep counting on Carolina to blow it.
Carolina Hurricanes
What Happened Last Week: Carolina started their week on Sunday with a home game against Anaheim. The Canes came out shooting as they usually do. They met a match in Lukas Dostal. He made all of the stops for over 47 minutes. Meanwhile, the Ducks went upin the game. Jansen Harkins scored nearly halfway through the first to put the Canes down a score. Cutter Gauthier made it 2-0 for Anaheim early in the third. Would the Canes come back? Yes. A Jacob Trouba penalty yielded an Andrei Svechnikov PPG to get Carolina on the board. With the goalie pulled, the Canes needed something late. They got it with Seth Jarvis scoring in close to make it 2-2. Overtime was needed. Carolina had a chance to win the game. They did not. Cutter Gauthier took the puck himself into the zone and buried a shot for his second of the game and a 3-2 loss for Carolina. They got a point at least but a 3-2 loss to Anaheim by any way is harsh.
The Hurricanes went to Buffalo on Wednesday. Would they avoid the Sabre trap? No. No? No! Ryan McLeod put the Hurricanes down a goal 43 seconds into the game. Meanwhile, Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen was on top of anything the Canes gave him. This allowed Buffalo to balloon the lead to 3-0 in the second period. Dylan Cozens made it 2-0. With four seconds left in the period, McLeod scored his second of the game. The Canes were flabbergasted. They proceeded to really shut down the game. They out-shot the Sabres 8-0. They worked to get back into the game. Jaccob Slavin was the one to finally crack Luukkonen early in the third to make it 3-1. Martin Necas made it a one-shot game with 3:10 to go. With the goalie pulled, Carolina tried to pull away. Then something magical and weird happened. Tage Thompson heaved a clearance out of the zone. The puck hit the post. McLeod was in a position to get the puck and slide in the empty netter for a goal. Brent Burns backchecked like a warrior. Like a warrior, he smashed McLeod’s stick while diving at the puck and careened into the net like it was prey. The referees awarded the automatic ENG for the foul (and net dislodgement). McLeod got his hat trick. And Carolina lost 4-2 with a goal allowed in a period they did not allow a shot on net on. In regulation. To Buffalo. Really.
Carolina ended their week on Friday when they hosted Las Vegas. They showed up to make this one right. Even if it was a close one. After a goalless first period, Tomas Hertl scored the game’s first goal for the Golden Knights. Seth Jarvis tied it up later on in the second. In the third period, the Hurricanes broke ahead. Jackson Blake scored 46 seconds into the third to make it 2-1. Jarvis added a second goal of the night for a 3-1 lead. The G-Knights made it tense when Shea Theodore converted a power play with over 10 minutes left to play. But the Canes held it down. They kept the 3-2 score for a regulation win. A big result given the last two. The Canes split their week at 1-1-1 and remain chasing the Devils. What about Columbus? Talk to me when they get close to Carolina. No, six points with no games in hand and Carolina owning the tiebreakers is not close.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Hurricanes will play four games in six nights and most of them are on the road. The Hurricanes will have to avoid a trap game on Monday in Chicago. Then gear up for a more even matchup with Dallas on Tuesday. The lone home game for Carolina will be on Thursday when they host a Blue Jackets team that is in good form recently. The Hurricanes then return to the road to visit the Islanders on Saturday. The Hurricanes have the quality to do well in this week. They still need to do it. Which is important since this week uses up a game in hand on the Devils. It also has not been a guarantee given this past week.
Columbus Blue Jackets
What Happened Last Week: Columbus hosted Philadelphia to start their week of games on Tuesday. The Blue Jackets went down at first with an early tip-in goal by Bobby Brink. Zach Werenski, who has been on a tear, tied it up past halfway through the first period. The score held through to the third period. Owen Tippett provided a goal to put Columbus down. Who else but Werenski would tie it up with less than five minutes left? Because he did with his fifteenth goal of the season. The 2-2 game was dragged to and through overtime. In the shootout, Columbus would prevail with goals by Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko and saves by Daniil Tarasov. The Blue Jackets won 3-2 to keep their winning ways going.
On Thursday, the Blue Jackets hosted San Jose. They put them away. In the first period, Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson scored to give Columbus a 2-0 lead. James van Reimsdyk extended it with a tip-in of a Damon Severson shot in the second period for a 3-0 lead. San Jose showed some life on offense. They got one on the scoreboard from Tyler Toffoli to make it a little interesting. But Columbus would not allow anything further. Van Reimsdyk ended the game with an empty netter to secure a 4-1 win. The team’s sixth in a row too.
The Blue Jackets ended their week in Manhattan. This would be where the winning streak would end to. Not through the fault of goaltender Daniil Tarasov. He was perfect in 65 minutes. The issue was that Igor Shesterkin was also perfect in 65 minutes. There were no goals allowed in regulation or in overtime. Nothing went in until the shootout. Even there, there was just the one goal in the shootout. It was scored by Vincent Trocheck. No Blue Jacket answered it. The run ends with a 1-0 shootout loss to the Rangers. Which is not so bad in that the Jackets picked up a point to remain ahead in a very frantic wild card race. They remain in fourth place with a 2-0-1 week too.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Blue Jackets will have four games in six nights in this week. They will visit Long Island on Monday in a big game within this end of the division. Then the Blue Jackets will get a nasty back-to-back set. They go to Toronto on Wednesday and then Carolina on Thursday. The Jackets will return home to take on a stingy Los Angeles team on Saturday. The Blue Jackets remain in a position to keep making noise.
Philadelphia Flyers
What Happened Last Week: The Philadelphia Flyers opened their week with their lone home game in it. A tough one against the Florida Panthers on Monday night. But the Flyers showed they can be tough. The Panthers put Philly down early on. Sam Reinhart scored a shorthanded goal during an Aleksander Barkov penalty to put the Flyers down. After that call ended, Uvis Balinskis scored to make it 2-0 for Florida. The Philly comeback was set at first with a second period goal by Garnet Hathaway. It seemed to come to fruition with a PPG by Noah Cates early in the third period that did punish a penalty by Barkov. After that, Sean Couturier was caught hooking. Sam Reinhart scored a PPG to pull Florida ahead 3-2. Then Dmitry Kulikov tripped Morgan Frost. Frost punished that with a PPG to tie it up the game once more. This continued until there were were fewer than six minutes to go. Noah Cates emerged to break ahead himself after a stop by the Flyers. He buried his rush to make it 4-3. The Flyers completed the comeback. And won the game in regulation over the Panthers. A big win.
Tuesday saw the Flyers head to Ohio to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. They took an early lead thanks to a tip-in of a Nick Seeler shot by Bobby Brink. But that lead went away with Columbus defenseman and heroic player, Zach Werenski. He tied it up in the first period. The slog of the game continued on and Philly managed to break the tie. Owen Tippett buried a shot to make it 2-1 with over 11 minutes to go. Then Werenski emerged again. He scored his second of the game with fewer than five minutes left to tie it up. The game required overtime and then a shootout. There, Daniil Tarasov continued to shut down the Flyers. Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko beat Ivan Fedotov in the shootout to hand the Flyers a 3-2 shootout loss. Still, three points out of four in a back-to-back set is a positive.
On Thursday, the Flyers went to Long Island for a big game within the division. The Flyers fell down in the first period. Cam York took a penalty and Bo Horvat punished it. Fortunately for Philly, the second period was a very good one for them. Sean Couturier tied up the game early in the period. Garnet Hathaway scored a shorthanded goal close to halfway through the period to make it 2-1. Morgan Frost tipped in an Owen Tippett shot to make it 3-1. The third period went back and forth a bit in drama. Philly’s lead dropped to one when Mat Barzal scored 30 seconds into the third period. York scored close to five minutes later for a 4-2 lead. This held up until Scott Laughton took a cross-checking penalty. Anders Lee punished that call with a deflected PPG to make it a one-shot game with over two minutes left. Philly held it down and they could relax when Noah Cates put in an empty net goal with over a minute left. The Flyers won 5-3 for a big win within the division.
The Flyers ended their week with a trip up to Newark. This was their first game against the New Jersey Devils this season. A rivalry game. And this game, well, was short on the intensity. It was high on blocked shots as there were a combined 63 of them. Dougie Hamilton broke through with a long shot past Sam Ersson for a one goal deficit. But the Devils played a sloppy game all afternoon long. A mistake would come that the Flyers would take advantage of. Sean Couturier took a heinous turnover from Luke Hughes to spring Matvei Michkov for a breakaway goal to tie up the game. Later, in the third, a bad drop pass by Jack Hughes led to an Owen Tippett breakaway that Jonas Siegenthaler slashed him on. The Devils could not clear the puck on the kill and that led to Cates setting up an open Bobby Brink in front for a PPG and a 2-1 lead. One last turnover from Hughes with the net empty yielded a last-second ENG for Travis Konecny. The Flyers won over their rivals in New Jersey, 3-1. They won their week. They went 3-0-1. They boosted their way up the standings to fifth place.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Flyers only have to play three games in this week coming up but there is an issue with that. It is three games within four days. On Tuesday, that begins at home against Detroit. Then after Wednesday off, they are off to the New York metropolitan area. They will visit the Rangers on Thursday and then the Islanders on Friday. Both games are still huge within this end of the division. The schedule maker did not do the Flyers too many favors in January. But if they can keep this run going, they can make the most of it. If not, well, it may not matter too much.
New York Rangers
What Happened Last Week: The New York Rangers opened their week on Tuesday night in Denver. They visited the Colorado Avalanche. They got a result from the trip. Parker Kelly opened the scoring for Colorado in the first period. Sam Carrick responded with a shorthanded goal past halfway through the first. Adam Edstrom provided a go-ahead goal halfway through the second period. This lasted well until the last few minutes. That was when Artturi Lehkonen tied it up with 1:13 left in regulation. That forced overtime. Overtime where Devon Toews provided the game winning slapshot within the final minute. It was a 3-2 loss for the Rangers. But they left with a point.
On Thursday, the Rangers visited Salt Lake City in playing Utah HC. The goals came early on. Matias Maccelli scored over a minute in to put the Rangers down. Artemi Panarin answered back a little later to tie it up. Maccelli poked in a second goal to make it 2-1 before halfway through the first. Late in the first, Arthur Kaliyev scored his first as a Ranger to make it 2-2. Unfortunately, he took a high-sticking call within the final minute of the first period. Utah’s Logan Cooley punished it within the first minute of the second period. The 3-2 score held all the way to the third period. It began with a penalty kill thanks to Alexis Lafreniere’s cross-check of Ian Cole at the buzzer. Reilly Smith scored shorthanded to tie up the game early in the third. Just past halfway through the period, Chris Kreider put in a tie-breaking goal to put the Rangers up. Panarin ended the game with an empty net goal. The Rangers pulled off a comeback win for a 5-3 victory in SLC before their return to NYC.
The Rangers ended their week at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Igor Shesterkin and Daniil Tarasov were the stars in this one. Neither of them allowed any goals in regulation. Or in overtime. The game had 3 power plays handed out in total, 53 shots in total, and zero goals in 65 minutes. A shootout would decide the winner of this one. There would be a goal – and it was by Vincent Trocheck. The only goal in the shootout. This meant the Rangers ended the winning streak of the Blue Jackets. It also meant they won their week at going 2-0-1. They remain in sixth with games in hand on Philly ahead of them.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Rangers will have three games to play. Fresh off yesterday’s game, the Rangers will go up to Quebec to visit Montreal for a game. They will return to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to host Ottawa. That will be big for the wild card picture. Bigger for the division, the Rangers will host the Flyers on Thursday night. The Rangers need to keep getting results. They are in a position where if they fail to get them, then it will not matter much what they do in March and April.
Pittsburgh Penguins
What Happened Last Week: The Pittsburgh Penguins started this week with a home game against Tampa Bay. The Lightning did lose in overtime to the Devils on Saturday. Would it matter? No. The Penguins brought the fire to the Lightning early with a 14-2 shot first period. Rickard Rakell managed to score on one of those shots to give the Penguins the lead. The Lightning stabilized the game and took the game back on the scoreboard. Brandon Hagel tied it up and Nikita Kucherov made it 2-1 late in the second. The Penguins responded with a PPG by Kevin Hayes to punish a Darren Raddysh high-sticking penalty. The game was tied. This actually held up for most of the third. Until Kucherov broke ahead with a steal on Noel Acciari. He scored to break the tie at 3-2. Pittsburgh proceeded to pull the goalie – which yielded an empty net goal for Anthony Cirelli. Pittsburgh did it again – and Nick Paul put in a second ENG. They boosted the score on a 5-2 loss. The game may have been closer than that score would imply, but the result is still the same.
The Penguins hosted Seattle on Tuesday night, their final home game before embarking on a trip that lasts throughout the rest of January. They did not make it a welcome one. The Kraken went up early when Chandler Stephenson scored a shorthanded goal during a too many men on the ice call on Seattle. Not a good start. The Penguins would tie it up with a poke by Philip Tomasino before halfway through the first period. The Penguins even went up 2-1 early in the second period thanks to Bryan Rust. All good? No. The Kraken emerged in the third period. Jamie Oleksiak tied up the game over eight minutes into the third period; and Eeli Tolvanen scored 50 seconds later to put the Kraken up 3-2. The Penguins could not find an equalizer. Being held to 5 shots in the third period not help. Kaapo Kakko ended it the game with an empty netter. The Penguins lost 4-2 for another regulation loss.
The loss would be the last one for Tristan Jarry. He has fallen short of his contract expectations. And general ones. He was placed on waivers and sent to Wilkes-Barre. Clearly, goaltending has been one of the issues in Pittsburgh this season. I am unsure how this helps but surely Jarry’s future in Western Pennsylvania is in doubt.
Friday featured the Penguins visiting Buffalo. Would the Pens get right in Buffalo? Yes. They even made some history. Not right away, though. Owen Power punished an Evgeni Malkin high-stcking penalty for the game’s first goal in the first period. In the second period, the Pens roared with three goals. Rickard Rakell scored an early PPG on a Rasmus Dahlin high-sticking penalty to make it 1-1. Anthony Beauvillier scored on the next shift to make it 2-1. Cody Glass converted a second power play which punished a Henri Jokiharju penalty and featured an assist from goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. Who faced a lot in the third period. Bryan Rust put the Pens up 4-1 early in the third with a PPG to punish a Tage Thompson interference call. That would be one of the few shots the Pens would have all period as Buffalo out-shot them 19-3. But Nedeljkovic largely kept the lead. Zach Benson cut the deficit to two. And they pushed late. Which led to history. Alex Nedeljkovic had the fortune and the opportunity to have the puck on his stick with a lane to the empty net at the other end of the rink. And he nailed it for a 5-2 lead. Nedeljkovic became the first goalie to ever score a goal in the ECHL, AHL, and NHL. He is also the first to put up a goal, an assist, and 40 saves. The win was important too given the recent losses.
On Saturday, the Penguins closed their week in Washington D.C. This one was a decisive game by Washington. In that the Penguins decisively lost. Jakob Chychrun opened the scoring with a slapshot in the first period. Aliaksei Protas made it 2-0 on a snapshot in the second. The Penguins would finally get on the board and make it a one-shot game when Bryan Rust scored over 11 minutes into the third period. They spoiled Logan Thompson’s shutout. They also spoiled their chances of taking something out of the game. With over four minutes left, Kris Letang tripped Connor McMichael. This led to a Pierre-Luc Dubois PPG set up by McMichael for a 3-1 deficit. The game was sealed up with a Brandon Duhaime empty net goal. The Penguins lost 4-1 to the Capitals. Their week ended at 1-3-0 and they fell to seventh place from it. Between this and the Jarry waiving, the vibes are definitely not good in Pittsburgh at the moment.
What’s Coming Up This Week: Pittsburgh is on the West Coast. They will visit Los Angeles on Monday night. Then they are off to Anaheim on Thursday. Then they will not visit the Bay but go further north. The Pens end their week in Seattle on Saturday. These trips are never easy and the Pens will need to dig deep to make it work somehow. If the losing weeks keep happening, they will not need to worry too much about March or April. Their season may be done by then.
New York Islanders
What Happened Last Week: The New York Islanders began their week with a Tuesday night home game against Ottawa. They were hot coming into the game. They left the game cold. The Senators dressed Leevi Merilainien in net, who started off hot. He stayed hot. Not that Ottawa let the Isles attack all that much with 24 shots on net. Merilainien stopped them all. Ottawa needed just one goal against Marcus Hogberg. They got it near halfway through the second period thanks to Adam Gaudette. The Sens shut out the Isles. It was sealed up with an empty net goal by Artem Zub. A 2-0 loss for the Isles sure cooled them off.
On Thursday night, the Islanders hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. This seemed to start off well enough. Cam York tripped Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat scored on the resulting power play to put the Isles up 1-0 in the first. The game got away from them in the second period, though. Sean Couturier tied up the game over five minutes in. Garnet Hathaway scored a shorthanded goal to put the Isles down a score before halfway through the second. Then the Isles went down two with a tip-in by Morgan Frost on an Owen Tippett shot. The Isles needed to chase the game in the third. They had real hope when Mat Barzal made it a 3-2 just 30 seconds into the third period. Unfortunately, York made it 4-2 over five minutes into the third. The Isles got some hope late. Scott Laughton was called for cross-checking. A puck went in off Anders Lee for a PPG and a 4-3 game. The Isles had over two minutes to find an equalizer. They did not find it. Noah Cates ended the game for a 5-3 loss. Given the stakes in the division, this one stung.
The Isles finished their week at home against San Jose on Saturday. This was a must-win for the Isles and they would do so. After a goalless first period, the Isles struck first with a backhander by Mat Barzal. Barclay Goodrow tied up the game less than two minutes later. Fortunately for the Isles, Brock Nelson scored on the next shift to restore the lead. Noah Dobson made it 3-1 with a goal in the final minute of the second period. They received further insurance with a goal by Ryan Pulock over a minute into the third. The Isles could and did cruise to a 4-1 win from then on. A much needed win for the Isles. They are at the bottom of the division after going 1-2-0. With a three point gap between them and the Penguins, it is does not seem impossible to catch up. But it is not easy and the 2024-25 Islanders have demonstrated that.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Islanders will have three games and all three are within the division. They can do some real damage. On Monday, they will host the Columbus Blue Jackets. If the Isles want to gain ground on them, then they need to win that one. The team will get three days to prepare for a home back-to-back set. They will host Philadelphia on Friday and then get to host a tougher Carolina team on Saturday. The Isles remain at home so they can make up for some lost goodwill with some more home wins. They have a lot to make up though. If they cannot make this coming week successful, then their season may become way too lost to salvage.
That was the fifteenth Weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot of the 2024-25 season. Can the Capitals drop a game in regulation at some point? Or Columbus? Will the Carolina Hurricanes catch the New Jersey Devils in this week, or will the Devils make things right in this week coming up to stay in second? Are the Flyers going to stay hot? Or the Rangers? What do you do if you are Pittsburgh? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about the eight teams in the week that was and the week ahead in the comments. Thank you for reading.