In the thirteenth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot, the Washington Capitals took first place amid a New Jersey Devils slump; and the Columbus Blue Jackets were the only other winners of the week. All this and more in this week’s snapshot.
As the new year begins, the familiar setting of the Metropolitan Division standings provides some stability. There are three teams – the Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils, and Carolina Hurricanes – and then there is everyone else scrapping for wild card spots. The Caps, Devs, and Canes can afford a bit of a slump or downturn. That is something the Devils are experiencing right now. Teams like the New York Islanders, who lost all their games last week, or the Philadelphia Flyers, who bookended a win with two losses, not so much. Or even losses to Atlantic Division opponents they are directly competing with as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets found out. As the halfway mark of the season is coming up for most of the division – the Devils are already past it – there is much to be done but time is starting to run out. Here are how the standings look as of this morning:
NHL.com
Similar to the last week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are light whereas the other four days are heavy. With football winding down, expect more and more weekend games. Also expect three games within the division to have a say in how the standings will look by next Sunday, which 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 this week by visiting Detroit. They did not start on time in the game, though. The Red Wings jumped on them and never looked back in the opening frame. Alex DeBrincat scored over three minutes in. Patrick Kane punished a Lars Eller high-stick against him by scoring a PPG. Alexander Ovechkin would score past halfway through the period to make it 2-1. Only for DeBrincat to make it 3-1 on the very next shift. Less than two minutes after that, Lucas Raymond made it a 4-1 game for Detroit. It was a bad start for the Caps and they never recovered. Nic Dowd scored a consolation goal around halfway through the third period to keep somewhat interesting late. They still fell to the Red Wings, 4-2.
On New Year’s Eve, the Capitals hosted Boston. It started off rough when Justin Brazeau snapped in a shot less than 90 seconds into the game. The Caps turned it around by the end of the first period. Aliaksei Protas tied it up and Jakob Chychrun punished a high sticking penalty on Mark Kastelic for 2-1. Logan Thompson and Jeremy Swayman put on a show from there on out. They each stopped everything the other team threw at them for the next two periods. Which meant the Caps had the advantage. Protas secured the win with an empty net goal for a 3-1 final score. They ended 2025 on a high note – and probably sent a thank you card to the Ducks.
The Capitals started 2025 on the day after New Year’s Day against Minnesota. A quality matchup on paper given how both teams have done this season. The first period saw the Caps fall behind. Tom Wilson opened the scoring but Ryan Hartman tipped in a Zach Bogosian shot less than two minutes later and Yakov Trenin finished a shorthanded rush in the final minute of the first for a 2-1 deficit. Alexander Ovechkin would convert a power play in the later parts of the second period to tie up the game. Martin Fehervary even put the Caps up in the third period, 3-2, with his first of the season. But the Caps blew the lead. Marco Rossi tied it up within the final ten minutes for a 3-3 game. Overtime was needed but it was not solved there. In the shootout, Matt Boldy of Minnesota scored the only goal. As a result, the Capitals lost 4-3 to Minnesota. They did get a point from the affair at least.
Washington ended their week against the Rangers. It started close. Chris Kreider opened the scoring early on. It took a late penalty by Brett Berard to yield a quick power play goal from Dylan Strome to tie it up. The Caps then pulled away in the second period. Lars Eller tipped in a Martin Fehervary shot for a 2-1 game. At halfway through the second, Andrew Mangiapane made it 3-1. Sam Carrick provided some hope for New York with a late period goal. Only to get answered shortly thereafter. Thanks to a penalty by Ryan Lindgren, Connor McMichael made it 4-2 before the end of the second period. The Rangers put some concern on the Caps in the third period. Filip Chytil made it a one-shot game. Alexander Ovechkin answered that about two minutes later with a backhander. Mika Zibanejad made it a one-shot game once again. But Aliaksei Protas needed 56 seconds to make it a 6-4 game. Tom Wilson sank in an empty net goal to cap off a 7-4 win over the Rangers. The Caps survived some scares but got the win. Washington won their week at 2-1-1 and re-took first in the division in the process.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Capitals will play four games in six nights to begin their first full week of 2025. It starts on Monday night when the Caps visit the struggling Buffalo Sabres. Then the Caps will return home to host Vancouver on Wednesday night. Washington’s week ends with a back-to-back set. They will host Montreal on Friday and then go to Nashville on Saturday. On paper, the Caps should win this week. They just need to show up and perform.
New Jersey Devils
What Happened Last Week: The New Jersey Devils ended 2024 in Orange County with a New Year’s Eve game against the Anaheim Ducks. The Devils came out strong with 15 shots on net – and Lukas Dostal got them all. Just one error behind the net yielded a goal for Troy Terry in the first period. The Devils decided to change things up by playing poorly and taking penalties. This did not go well but Jacob Markstrom maintained a 1-0 score. Until early in the third when Robby Fabbri made it 2-0. The Devils would get a break when Jonas Siegenthaler put in a long shot to make it 2-1. And later in the third, Timo Meier finished a counter attack from the slot to make it 2-2. Could the Devils complete the comeback? Or at least get a point? No and no. Ryan Strome fired a shot that beat Markstrom late for what would be a 3-2 final score. Not the team’s best performance and so a loss was earned.
New Jersey celebrated New Year’s Day by playing Los Angeles. Two of the most defensive teams in the league opened up the game with a 14-8 shot first period where Jake Allen and Darcy Kuemper were tested. The Kings broke ahead in a really low-shot second period (shots were 6-4 for the Devils) when Andre Lee took a high flip from Jordan Spence and beat Allen one-on-one for a goal. Kuemper continued to stymie the Devils as the events and the rushes picked up in the third period. Quinton Byfield came out of a penalty box and swept a puck past Allen that would be a backbreaker. The Devils were not getting one past Kuemper, much less two, and they did not. Adrian Kempe put in an empty netter to make it a 3-0 loss. Welcome to 2025, Devils. California is not a simple place to play in.
The Devils ended their week in the Bay to play San Jose on Saturday afternoon. Would they at least beat the Sharks? No? No. Yaroslav Askarov was in form but not unbeatable. Jacob Markstrom certainly was not. Nikolai Kovalenko got behind the Devils late in the first period and beat Markstrom for the game’s opening goal. The Devils would tie it up in the second period. A Macklin Celebrini high-stick gave way to Jack Hughes sending a puck off Nico Hischier and into the net for PPG and an equalizer. Early in the third period, Celebrini hammered a shot off a rush from a Will Smith pass to make it 2-1. Minutes later, Paul Cotter busted out a move that surprised everyone and beat Askarov to tie it up. The Devils were seemingly on pace to get a point out of the affair. Only for an official to block an exit attempt, Alexander Wennberg to pick up the puck, send it to Cody Ceci, and Ceci fired a long shot that Markstrom missed cleanly on. With 25 seconds left, too. The gut punch goal allowed meant the Devils lost 3-2. They were reverse-swept in the week and in California. In total, they are on a four game losing streak. They remain in second place amid their slump.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Devils are done with California but not quite done on their road trip. They have two more stops to make. The Devils will visit Seattle on Monday night. Then they will return to Manhattan to take on their hated rivals in the Rangers on Thursday. Given how the Devils embarrassed the Rangers in their previous two games in December, this could be an ugly one. The Devils will return home on Saturday for a tough game against Tampa Bay, who have beaten the Devils twice and scored plenty of goals against them in both. And with a slump, everything is harder to achieve. Still, the Devils have the quality to turn it around. Onward.
Carolina Hurricanes
What Happened Last Week: The Carolina Hurricanes ended 2024 and started their week of games in Ohio. It started auspiciously when Kirill Marchenko scored first to put the Canes down. They did tie it up with a power play goal from call-up Ty Smith just before halfway through the first. However, Marchenko struck again to put the Canes down 2-1. Jack Roslovic tied it up a second time with a tip of a Seth Jarvis shot in the second period. And Jesper Kotkaniemi gave the Canes the lead a few minutes later. This was fine until the third period when Andrei Svechnikov slashed Zach Aston-Reese. Columbus struck for a PPG from Dmitri Voronkov. Elvis Merzlikins locked it down from then on and the Blue Jackets were up to the task against the Hurricanes. Overtime was needed and it solved nothing. A shootout was necessary. Svechnikov scored but so did Kent Johnson so further rounds were needed. Adam Fantilli scored in the fourth round, Sebastian Aho lost, and so the Canes lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Jackets. They got a point but they surely felt they could have earned more.
After New Year’s Day, the Hurricanes went to Sunrise to play the Panthers. The Hurricanes were on the road but gave Florida a whole lot of pressure. They out-shot the Panthers 16-6 and this was after Brent Burns scored 35 seconds into the game. Anton Lundell did tie it up early in the second period, but this did not quell the Hurricanes’ offense. They kept shooting, shooting, and shooting. The third period took a step back with just eight shots. But they got goals. Jaccob Slavin provided the go-ahead goal with 7:30 left. Martin Necas finished an empty netter to secure a 3-1 win in Sunrise. A very nice win against a top opponent. Good to remind everyone that Carolina is still a pain to play against.
On Saturday, the Hurricanes hosted Minnesota. They got goalied by Jonas Gustavsson while also putting up a surprisingly small amount of shots. Just 21 from a shoot-everywhere team like the Canes is odd. Even so, none of them went in. Mats Zuccarello’s slapshot in the first period would end up being the only one the Wild needed. But the Wild did not stop there. No. They punished a Pytor Kochetkov tripping penalty (!!) with a Joel Eriksson Ek tip-in of a Zuccarello shot in the second period. In the third period, Matt Boldy beat Kochetkov for 3-0 score. Zuccarello completed his brace and three-point night with an empty netter. Fun fact: Marco Rossi had an assist on all four goals against the Canes. Carolina lost a stinker, 4-0. They split their week at 1-1-1 and remain in third place. They are back within striking distance of the Devils but they have to take full advantage of a slump. A partial one may not be enough.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Hurricanes will also play four games in six nights in their first full week of 2025. They will host Pittsburgh today, which should be an intriguing matchup given the standings. It gets trickier from there on. The Hurricanes will go on the road to visit Tampa Bay on Tuesday. That is never an easy game. Then Carolina will get a back-to-back set. It is at home and it is against Toronto (Thursday) and Vancouver (Friday). The Hurricanes have the quality but they need to keep performing to make it work. Especially as they will use up a game in hand on New Jersey by week’s end.
Columbus Blue Jackets
What Happened Last Week: The Columbus Blue Jackets ended their year at home against a mighty Carolina Hurricanes team. The Blue Jackets came out strong in the first period. Kirill Marchenko scored first to give the Blue Jackets an early lead. Ty Smith would respond with a PPG about halfway through the first. Only for Marchenko to make it a 2-1 game later on in the period. Carolina would strike back in the second period. Goals from Jack Roslovic and Jesperi Kotkaniemi put the Jackets down 3-2. But Andrei Svechnikov slashed Zach Aston-Reese in the third period. On the resulting power play, Dmitri Voronkov tied it up for 3-3. Elvis Merzlikins and the team stepped up to hold the score and drag the game into overtime. And there, they pushed all the way to a shootout. Andrei Svechnikov did score but so did Kent Johnson. Adam Fantilli scored in the fourth round and when Elvis Merzlikins stopped Sebastian Aho, the game was set. Columbus beat Carolina. 4-3 in a shootout, but a win all the same. A big one for the Jackets to end 2024 on.
The Blue Jackets returned to action in the new year against Detroit on Thursday. An important game for Columbus if they want to keep climbing up the East. James van Riemsdyk did put the Jackets up early with a PPG. Then it fell apart for Columbus. Patrick Kane tied it up minutes later. Erik Gustafsson made it a 2-1 game later on in the first. Then Alex DeBrincat punished a a Sean Kuraly tripping call against them for a 3-1 score. Columbus battled back in the second period. Zach Werenski scored to make it a one-shot game and Sean Monahan provided that one shot near the end of the second period. In the third period, a Dmirti Voronkov hook on Dylan Larkin yielded a power play goal for Larkin. Drama built up late. James van Riemsdyk jammed in a second effort after an Adam Fantilli shot to make it 4-4. Detroit challenged the goal – and lost! But Columbus did not punish the power play. And just as it ended Tyler Motte blocked a shot and heaved a puck ahead to Jonatan Berggren, who served the penalty. Berggren was all alone and beat Elvis Merzlikins for a go-ahead goal with 36 seconds left. A heartbreaking way to lose, 5-4, to Detroit. Alas, Columbus.
Columbus hosted St. Louis on Saturday. This was a quiet game on the scoreboard for 40 minutes. And what noise made in those first two periods were by the home team. Dmitri Voronkov scored late in the first period to put the Jackets up a goal. Kirill Marchenko punished a Brandon Saad hooking call early in the second to make it 2-0 for Columbus. The score held until the third period. An absolute goal explosion happened. It began with Zach Aston-Reese taking a slashing call on Philip Broberg. During the PK, Mikael Pyyhtia scored shorthanded to make it 3-0. But Jordan Kyrou converted the power play before it ended to get the Blues on the board. Less than a minute later, Adam Fantilli made it a 4-1 game. Cam Fowler scored a minute-and-a-half later for 4-2. Voronkov had an answer for that less than a minute after that. Up 5-2, the Blue Jackets would get a scare. Colton Parayko scored past the halfway mark of the third for a 5-3 score. Brayden Schenn really put a scare in Columbus with a goal with less than four minutes later to make it a 5-4 game. St. Louis had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Fortunately for the Blue Jackets, they would not blow it on home ice. Mathieu Olivier relieved the pressure with an empty net goal with just over a minute left for a 6-4 score. An eight-goal third period and Columbus prevailed. The win meant the Blue Jackets ended the week with a 2-1-0 record. Thanks to tiebreakers, they move up to fourth place over Pittsburgh.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Blue Jackets will take on Pittsburgh on Tuesday in a big game for that end of the division. If there is a game they want to win, then it is that one. They should try to get results in their other two games to keep pace, though. They host Seattle on Thursday and visit St. Louis on Saturday. Columbus can keep chipping away at the wild card race if they can keep this up.
Pittsburgh Penguins
What Happened Last Week: The Pittsburgh Penguins began their week with a home game against the Islanders. If you like shots, then this one was for you as both teams combined for 72 shots on net. They eventually went in for Pittsburgh too. Anthony Beauviller scored early for the Penguins in the first period. An early second period penalty on Noah Dobson led to an early second period power play goal for Michael Bunting. The Penguins went up a commanding 3-0 when Evgeni Malkin deflected in a Philip Tomasino shot for a power play goal. Pittsburgh would get a late scare. Anders Lee tipped in an Alexander Romanov shot to make it 3-1. With less than four minutes left, Bo Horvat deflected in a Ryan Pulock shot to make it a one-goal game. Would the Pens hold on? Yes. They did to secure a 3-2 win, a big one as it was within the division. Congratulations to Sidney Crosby for passing Mario Lemieux in assists for the franchise, too.
The Penguins ended 2024 in Detroit on New Year’s Eve. Given the standings, the Pens could have used a win here. Instead, they fell to the Red Wings in the third period. Jonatan Berggren opened the scoring in the first period but Drew O’Connor tied it up late in the first to make it 1-1. Patrick Kane punished a Cody Glass tripping penalty in the second period for a 2-1 deficit. O’Connor, once again, tied it up. Early in the third period, he punished Jeff Petry’s tripping call for the equalizer on a jam play. Alas, Erik Karlsson took the Penguins’ lone penalty in the third period. J.T. Compher capitalized on that with a poke to put the Red Wings up a score. The Pens pulled the goalie to try to tie it up late. But Dylan Larkin sealed their fate with an empty net goal. The Penguins lost 4-2 to the Red Wings, losing ground in the wild card race.
Pittsburgh ended their week with the division’s only game on Friday in Florida. A tough game in a tough place to play. There were no goals in the first period. Thirty-seconds into the second period, Gustav Forsling snapped in a shot to get Florida on the board first. The scoring from then on required power plays. Appropriate as the game got nasty with loads of penalties. In the second period, a high-sticking penalty on A.J. Greer led to a Sidney Crosby PPG for 1-1. The third period was less whistle-happy but penalties were punished. Pierre-Olivier Joseph took a cross-checking penalty. Matthew Tkachuk (who only had a misconduct but not a game misconduct in the second) scored on that to make it 2-1. Florida seemed like they could hold on. Then Sam Bennett threw a body check (legal) with a punch to the face of Drew O’Connor (absolutely not legal) with about two minutes left in the game. The roughing penalty plus an empty net led to a conversion by Rickard Rakell. The Penguins forced overtime. It solved nothing and so a shootout was needed. Unfortunately for the Pens, the Panthers pounced in this one. Spencer Knight stopped Rakell and Crosby. Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell scored to secure the shootout at 2-0. The Penguins lost 3-2. Their 1-1-1 week saw them fall to fifth place. While they got a point, tiebreakers are in Columbus’ favor.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Penguins will get two opponents within the division that will be tough and valuable. First, they will visit Raleigh on Sunday to play the Canes. If the Pens want to help themselves and make a statement, then a win there would do it. Second, the Pens will host the Blue Jackets on Tuesday. To keep them back, the Penguins would want to win that one in regulation. Third, the Penguins will host a mighty Edmonton team that may be better defensively than they get credit for. Fourth, the Penguins will end their week at home against Ottawa – a big matchup for the wild card. The Pens have a lot to do and they need to keep going to get it done.
Philadelphia Flyers
What Happened Last Week: The Philadelphia Flyers opened their week on Sunday in Los Angeles. This game combined for 41 shots and nine goals. Goaltending was not exactly a wall in this one. Kevin Fiala opened the scoring for the Kings. Tyson Foerster tied it up minutes later and Scott Laughton put the Flyers up a score. Only for Adrian Kempe to make it 2-2 for Los Angeles by the period’s end. The Flyers went up by two with a quick double; a goal each from Matvei Michkov and Joel Farabee. However, an interception by Warren Foegele on defense led to a breakaway goal to put the Kings back within a goal. Which they received in the third period when Anze Kopitar deflected a puck in. All goals were at even strength. Then Travis Sanheim took a hooking call in the third. Kopitar scored five seconds into that power play by tipping in a Kempe shot. The Flyers scrambled but could not get the game’s tenth goal. They lost to the Kings, 5-4.
The California part of the trip ended on Tuesday in San Jose. There was no drama to this one. Except that goaltender Sam Ersson got hurt in this game and Aleksei Kolosov had to relieve him for the third period. No matter, they combined for a shutout of the Sharks. Nick Seeler’s first period goal was sufficient to win the game. The Flyers got further support with a quick pair of goals in the second period from Ryan Poehling and Travis Konecny on a power play. Egor Zamula scored early in the third period to effectively lock up a 4-0 victory over the Sharks.
Philadelphia ended their week on Thursday in Las Vegas. It started off quite well with Tyson Foerster scoring 21 seconds into the game. The Flyers led 1-0 after the first period. Then the second period started and the Golden Knights put the flyers to the sword. Mark Stone tipped in a Jack Eichel shot for an equalizer. Nic Hague wrapped in a goal for 2-1 less than 2:30 into the second. Pavel Dorofeyev made it a 3-1 game late in the second period. Then Alexander Holtz made it 4-1 early in the third period. Philadelphia finally got a goal back when Konecny converted a power play. But it was a consolation goal. Tanner Pearson ended the game with an empty netter. The Flyers lost the game 5-2 and ended the week at 1-2-0.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Flyers will wrap up their road trip on Sunday in Toronto. That is the first of a non-consecutive back-to-back with the Maple Leafs. The Flyers will see them in Philly on Tuesday. The home stand will continue from then on. The Flyers will host Dallas on Thursday and then Anaheim on Saturday.
New York Rangers
What Happened Last Week: The New York Rangers opened their week with the division’s only game on Monday night. They were in Sunrise to play the defending champions, the Florida Panthers. They made a game of it but ultimately fell short. It did not help that they fell behind 2-0 in the first period with a tip-in by Eetu Luostarinen and a deflection by Mackie Samoskevich. The Rangers would tie it up later on in the second period. Filip Chytil got the Rangers on the board and a Ryan Lindgren tip of an Adam Fox shot made it 2-2. This lasted less than a minute as Jesper Boqvist broke the tie by finishing a feed from Anton Lundell. Chris Kreider would tie it up again for the Rangers with a power play goal to punish a Carter Verhaeghe tripping penalty. But Florida pulled ahead when Jesper Boqvist put home a second-chance shot after his brother Adam took an attempt. The Panthers went up 4-3 and the Rangers had no answer. Aleksander Barkov secured the loss with an empty netter for a 5-3 loss. That was not the only loss. Igor Shesterkin was put on injured reserve the next day with an upper body injury.
The Rangers hosted Boston on the day after New Year’s Day. Jonathan Quick was in form for this one. He pretty much has to be with Shesterkin out. Fortunately for the Rangers, Mika Zibanejad found the back of the net close to halfway through the first period. Even better: Brett Berard scored minutes later to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. This was cut in half when Elias Lindhom scored in the second period, burying a feed from David Pastrnak. But Quick held on and the Rangers won their first game, 2-1, after four straight losses. The misery ended for at least one night.
The Rangers ended their week in Washington D.C. The Rangers tried but they ultimately fell short. Chris Kreider emerged to open the scoring for the Rangers. Only for Brett Berard’s late period penalty to get punished by Dylan Strome. The score got away from the Rangers in the second period. Lars Eller tipped in a Martin Fehervary shot to put the Rangers down one. At halfway through the second, Andrew Mangiapane scored to put the Rangers down two. They got a brief bit of hope when Sam Carrick scored late in the second period. Then Ryan Lindgren put a puck over the glass for a penalty. This led to Connor McMichael putting the Rangers back down two before the end of the second period. The Rangers would make a push in the third. Filip Chytil scored early in the third to make a comeback possible. Unfortunately, Alexander Ovechkin put in a backhanded shot to make it a two-goal game again. Then, a surprise happened: Mika Zibanejad did something. Zibanejad made it a one-shot game. This hope lasted for less than a minute. Aliaksei Protas scored 56 seconds after Zibanejad to make it a 6-4 game. Tom Wilson put in an empty net goal to confirm a 7-4 loss for the Rangers. The Rangers ended their week at 1-2-0 and just ended up ahead of their hated rivals in the Islanders due to one fewer game played. It is still dim in New York.
What’s Coming Up This Week: It will be a busy week for the Rangers. Right after their game in Washington, they are off to Chicago today. The Rangers will return home right after the weekend to host Dallas on Tuesday and then the Devils on Thursday. The latter will be huge for two reasons. One: It is a rivalry and they lost badly to the Devils twice already. Two: They get to go on a road trip after this game. That starts on Saturday in Las Vegas, a difficult place to play for any team.
New York Islanders
What Happened Last Week: The Islanders visited the Penguins on Sunday and the two teams decided to just go for it on offense. A total of 72 shots between the two teams took place. The goalies were in form and they needed to be as this would one would be tight. It seemed like the Isles were going to have a stinker. Anthony Beauviller scored early in the first period. Michael Bunting punished a Noah Dobson tripping penalty early in thes econd. A Kyle MacLean cross-checking penalty against Philip Tomasino in the third period yielded an Evgeni Malkin power play deflection goal from a Tomasino shot. But the Isles made it a game late. Anders Lee tipped in an Alexander Romanov shot to make it 3-1. With less than four minutes left, Bo Horvat deflected in a goal to make it 3-2. Would the Isles find the equalizer? No. They fell short to the Penguins, 3-2. Alas.
The Islanders closed out 2024 with a road game in Toronto. The Isles brought the penalty minutes and the shots. The Leafs provided goals. David Kampf scored late in the first period to put the Isles down a score. Jean-Gabriel Pageau tied it up past the halfway mark of the game. Only for Steve Lorentz to score his first goal in months on the next shift. The Isles were down 2-1 and could not beat Joseph Woll. Noah Dobson took a tripping call with 43 seconds left, John Tavares put in an empty net goal with 33 seconds left, and Pageau took an abuse of officials call for lipping off about it. Happy New Year, Islanders? A 3-1 loss ended 2024 for them.
After New Year’s Day, the Islanders returned home to host Toronto. Yes, a non-consecutive home-and-home set with the Maple Leafs. It was a goaltender’s duel between Woll and Ilya Sorokin. The first period had no goals. The second period had one each. Bobby McMann put the Leafs up first after the halfway mark. Scott Mayfield tied it up late in the second. All was even up until the final five minutes. Adam Pelech was called for tripping Philippe Meyers. With 18 seconds left on the penalty kill, McMann finished a feed from Oliver Ekman-Larsson to beak Sorokin on the blindside for a 2-1 deficit. The Isles kept the Leafs’ top players to no points. They attacked the Leafs for 31 shots. And they lost 2-1. A frustrating loss that ended their week at 0-3-0. Welcome to the bottom of the division too.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Islanders are on the road all week. First, they get to go to Boston today for a game that has some meaning in the crowded wild card race in the East. Then they go further out West. The Islanders will go to Las Vegas on Thursday night and then go to Salt Lake City on Saturday. These are not easy road games. Good luck to the Isles. They truly need it.
That was the thirteenth Weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot of the 2024-25 season. You read the post about what happened in the past week and what’s coming up going into the new year. Now it is your turn. Can the Washington Capitals build on their four-point lead in first? When will the Devils end their slump? Will Carolina catch up to the Devils amid that slump? Can Columbus stay ahead of the pack? 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.