In the sixth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot, the New Jersey Devils kept first place with two big wins against Florida. The Columbus Blue Jackets eventually stopped losing, Pittsburgh Penguins keep suffering, and a trade within the division was made. All this and more in this week’s snapshot.
The sixth week of the Metropolitan Division snapshot brings the New Jersey Devils back in first place. The point percentage is not kind to them and represents how the Devils are really in first place due to playing more games and thereby getting more results. This is the weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot. It is always about results and the primary tiebreaker is points and then point percentage and then RW and ROW. This means the Devils should be wary of the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, and Washington Capitals in the distance. They should also feel confident they are truly ahead of the four teams at the bottom half of the division and know that the pressure is on the other three to win those games in hand. As such, the standings are as follows for this morning:
NHL.com
Friday is the lone day of actual rest for the division at large. Sorry, Pittsburgh. Sure, Wednesday has one game in the division but it is within itself, so it is a little beefier. All other days are crammed with games, especially Saturday. The four games within the division – three of which involve the Carolina Hurricanes – are highlighted and in bold:
Schedules via NHL.com
Here is the week that was and week that will be for all eight teams.
New Jersey Devils
What Happened Last Week: The Devils began a tough week of four games in seven days with a three-game winning streak and a home game against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night. It was a Frustrating effort by the Devils. The stats will show 44 shots on net and a post being hit. The boxscore shows a goal by Nico Sturm even though the actual goal was a result of Sturm being denied by Jake Allen on a 1-on-1 so he flung the puck back towards the slot – and the puck hit off a backchecking Timo Meier to beat Allen. That was the goal against. And the only goal of the game. The Devils went from being too cute to being outworked at times to pressing on offense. Nothing beat ex-Devils goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood. A very disappointing 1-0 loss to a San Jose team that, on paper, is far worse than the other two teams they would face in this week.
On Tuesday, the Devils went to Sunrise to play the Florida Panthers. Jacob Markstrom was massive in this one. The Panthers outplayed the Devils for the first half of this one, but Markstrom was as good as he could be. The Devils skaters did give Markstrom some help. An absolute dime of a pass from Jesper Bratt to Jack Hughes opened the scoring against the run of play in the first period. The 1-0 score held until Paul Cotter took a high-sticking penalty away from the play. This was punished by Sam Reinhart tipping in a shot from Uvis Balinskis to tie it up on the power play. Markstrom held steady since then and the Devils would attack back. Dawson Mercer found Timo Meier in space in the offensive zone and he ripped a shot past Spencer Knight to make it 2-1. After a 4-on-4 situation in the third, Nico Hischier found Cotter on the wing and he hammered the back center post for a 3-1 score in the third. The game was effectively over when Bratt picked off a rim-around in an extra skater situation and fed Ondrej Palat for an easy ENG. The Devils beat the defending champs 4-1, ending Florida’s winning streak at five.
On Thursday, the Devils played in Sunrise again against the Florida Panthers. A very weird schedule quirk. It is what it is. Would the Devils beat them again? They would. The Panthers would not dominate a half of the game to start either. Stefan Noesen opened the scoring by winning a rebound from a Luke Hughes shot and beating Sergey Bobrovsky on the put-back. Jesper Boqvist quickly responded by nutmegging Dougie Hamilton and beating Jake Allen. The Panthers suffered from a late first period slash by Carter Verhaeghe. Jesper Bratt scored before the buzzer to make it 2-1. The Panthers would equalize early in the second period thanks to Sam Reinhart after a faceoff win by Florida. But, again, Florida suffered from a penalty: Gustav Forsling taking Nico Hischier down to the ice. This led to Jack Hughes putting a pass in front and the puck went in either off Dmitri Kulikov’s skates or Dawson Mercer’s skates. Either way, a PPG for 3-2. Not content with learning, Florida took another costly penalty. Niko Mikkola took down The Big Deal and this was punished by Noesen in the slot within the final minute of the second period for 4-2. The Panthers not only did not have a response, but Jesper Bratt took a shot that trickled through Bobrovsky early in the third to make it 5-2. The Panthers were frustrated and ultimately beat. Bratt secured the win, a hat trick, and became the first Devil since 1991 to score a PPG, an even strength goal, and a shorthanded goal with an empty netter. The Devils beat the defending champs 6-2 in a far more decisive effort. They also locked up first place for another snapshot.
The Devils’ week ended on Saturday night in Tampa Bay. Would they continue their winning ways and win the week? They would not. They found frustration against the Lightning. In gaining the zone. In generating shots. In trying to get what they generated past Andrei Vasilevskiy. The goaltender stopped them all. The Lightning hit back and eventually pulled away from the game. In the first period, Jake Guentzel set up Nick Paul for a shot through a screen that beat Jacob Markstrom. That made it 1-0. The score held until very early in the third when the Devils iced the puck. Anthony Cirelli won the draw to Nikita Kucherov, who sent it back to Taylor Raddysh, and Raddysh one-timed a shot from distance through a screen to make it 2-0. Later, Kurtis MacDermid tripped Kucherov. This was punished by Victor Hedman for 3-0. The Devils could get nothing in the net so the third period goals only made it far less likely to win. One Luke Hughes stick-throw at an empty net shot led to an automatic ENG for a 4-0 loss in Tampa. The Devils split the week at 2-2-0 and bookended it with shutout losses. Their high number of games played was an issue. So taking losses as others win only expands that issue. Still, they are in first for this Sunday.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Devils will get a break. Their massive GP count compared with the rest of the division meant one would be coming. It is here. The Devils will not play a game until Thursday. This break does not mean an easy set of games. They will host Carolina on Thursday. The Hurricanes will have played the night before but the Hurricanes are also super good. They hammered the Devils in the run of play in their last meeting as they won it. On Saturday, the Devils go back to Washington D.C. to play a Capitals team that is playing like a rather good hockey team. No one ever said short weeks are easy. This one is not.
Carolina Hurricanes
What Happened Last Week: The Carolina Hurricanes sought to rebound in Las Vegas on Monday night. On paper, it was a tough ask as the Golden Knights have not yet lost at home going into the game. On the ice, the Hurricanes made it happen. In a first period where the Canes out-shot the G-Knights 16-4, the visitors went up by two goals. Eric Robinson tipped in a Sean Walker shot to make it 1-0. Jesperi Kotkaniemi finished Martin Necas’ pass (his 16th! assist) for 2-0. In the second period, the shots were not so one-sided but the goals were. Jordan Staal scored a shorty early in the period and Tyson Jost deflected in a Jaccob Slavin shot to make it 4-0. It was not until the third period when Las Vegas got on the board thanks to Jack Eichel. But it was far too late. A reality made clearer after Jordan Martinook made it 5-1 with an empty netter at the 14:28 mark. Yes, Las Vegas went to six skaters down three to try to make a miracle happen. They would get a late PPG from Ivan Barbashev for a consolation goal. The Canes bounced back, handed Las Vegas their first home loss of the season, and won 5-2.
The Hurricanes wrapped up their three-game trip in Utah on Wednesday night. They managed to out-do the Devils and perhaps everyone else in the NHL when it came to getting goalied. Karel Vejmelka was near perfect in Salt Lake City on November 14, 2024. Sure, the Canes out-shooting Utah by a ton is no surprise. It was a bit surprising that Nick Bjugstad scored off a turnover in the slot late in the first. But the Hurricanes responded with a PPG by Martin Necas about halfway through the second period. It was to punish an Ian Cole holding penalty on Jordan Staal, who proceeded to do the exact same foul on the exact same player. Alas, not with the exact result. 1-1 going into the third and things seemed fine beyond Vejmelka making a ton of saves. Then the game got crazy in the third period. Utah blitzed the Hurricanes with three goals within two and a half minutes. Jack McBain buried a 2-on-1 created by Michael Kesselring to make it 2-1. Mikhail Sergachev finished a 4-on-2 rush created by a Hurricane player losing an edge for 3-1. On the next shift, Bjugstad put home a rebound in front to make it 4-1. About 30 seconds after that, Michael Carcone went for a bodycheck on Tyson Jost. Jack Drury was not happy about it so he slashed Carcone’s stick and Carcone just flung off the gloves and ragdolled Drury. Carcone got a rare 17 minutes (instigator, fighting, misconduct) with nothing for Drury. This meant Carolina had a seven minute power play. Not content with that level of difficulty, Maveric Lamoureux took a hooking call near the end of that for a short 5-on-3 for Carolina and more PP time. And shortly after that happened, Bjugstad took a delay of game call. Carolina played over 10 minutes of the third period with a man advantage. And Karel Vejmelka stopped every single shot. The Carolina Hurricanes put up 99 shot attempts, 50 shots on net, 26 high danger chances, 6.01 expected goals per Natural Stat Trick, and lost 4-1. Stunning is not even the word. Also: The Hurricanes lost their road trip by going 1-2-0 on it.
A winning week for this snapshot was still possible as Carolina returned home on Saturday to host Ottawa. Due to injuries, Spencer Martin was called up to start this game. The Hurricane skaters gave him support. Jordan Martinook opened the scoring in the first period. Late in the second period, Ottawa went down a man due to Shane Pinto slashing Martin. Near the end of the power play, Ottawa took a too many men on the ice call. It took to the end of the Pinto penalty for Sebastian Aho to bury a seam pass from Martin Necas to make it 2-0. The carryover into the third period for the too many men on the ice call yielded a PPG from Jackson Blake. The Canes were up 3-0. Martin had a cushion to work with. He ended up not needing it. He stopped all 24 shots from the Senators. William Carrier put in an empty net goal just under five minutes left in regulation to boost the score to 4-0. Martin was great, the Hurricanes won their week (2-1-0), and the team bounced back from their stunning loss in Utah.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Hurricanes are right back in action tonight. Their weekend back-to-back concludes by hosting St. Louis tonight. From then on, the Canes are within the division for their next three games. The Hurricanes will visit Philadelphia on Wednesday and then visit New Jersey on Thursday. Yes, the Canes have beaten both but nothing is guaranteed. The Hurricanes will end their week in Columbus. It is a busy schedule coming off a trip to have a weekend back-to-back and three games in four nights a bit afterwards. The Hurricanes can handle it. They have handled everything else.
Washington Capitals
What Happened Last Week: Before the Caps played a game this week, they made a move. A trade. They saw that Lars Eller was available out of Pittsburgh. One third round pick in 2027 and one fifth round pick in 2025 later, and Eller is back as a Capital. Provided he gets a regular spot, it is a safe bet he reaches 500 games as a Capital. He’s at 488 already.
Eller did not make his return to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night when the team hosted Toronto. got to play their first game of a two-game week on Wednesday night. They hosted Toronto. The first period went well enough. Taylor Raddysh scored for the game’s first goal and while Bobby McMann tied it up a minute later, Dylan Strome made it 2-1 late in the period. Late in the third period, Aliaksei Protas made it a 3-1 game for the Caps. Unfortunately, the Caps were not able to maintain the lead. William Nylander made it a one-shot game with over four minutes left in the game. With the extra skater, the Leafs got a power play thanks to Nic Dowd cross-checking Matthew Knies. They cashed in almost immediately thanks to Mitch Marner. 3-3. Overtime was needed and the Leafs completed the comeback. After Alex Ovechkin was stopped on a shot, Marner flung the rebound ahead. John Tavares was clear on through to the net from then on. He finished it. The Caps did get a point in the 4-3 OT loss, but they have to feel unhappy for blowing this game.
After the Leafs game, the Caps hit the road. They went to Denver on Friday night to play the Avalanche. Shots were relatively few as the Caps led that 20-19. Penalties were kept to just three, all in the first period. And there were seven goals. Not exactly a goalie’s best night. Parker Kelly opened the scoring for the Avs, only to be answered with a PPG by Jakub Vrana. Yes, even in a game with so few calls, the Caps punished one. Connor McMichael scoring shortly thereafter made it 2-1 and that would be the goal the Caps would never turn back from. McMichael made it 3-1 early in the second period. While Nikolai Kovalenko made it a one-shot game a bit later, Jakob Chychrun restored the two goal lead before the halfway mark of the second. The Capitals kept Colorado from coming back at all. An empty netter from Rasmus Sandin with three seconds left boosted the score to 5-2. A solid win for the Capitals. A 1-0-1 week to win it and stay in contention for taking the division at some point when the games played count evens out.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Capitals will continue on the road for two more games. They are back-to-back so it will be tough. They have Las Vegas tonight and Utah on Monday. After returning home, the Capitals will host Colorado on Thursday night. Their week will end against the Devils on Saturday night. They are at home, but the Devils may be more rested with the lighter week that they have. Plus, the Devils have a win in D.C. already. The grind is here, Washington.
New York Rangers
What Happened Last Week: The Rangers began a two-game week with a home game against arguably the hottest team in the NHL: the Winnipeg Jets. They quickly found how hot they were; Mark Schiefele scored 57 seconds into the game. The Rangers would keep up in the game for most of it. Will Cuylle tied it up later on in the first period and it was 1-1 through to middle part of the second period. That was when the scoring picked up. Gabriel Vilardi converted a power play to make it 2-1. Alexis Lafreniere matched that minutes later with a PPG of his own. Late in the period, Kyle Connor broke ahead on a 2-on-1 and beat Igor Shesterkin straight up to make it a 3-2 game. Early in the third, Schiefele tipped in a Dylan DeMelo shot to make it 4-2. Kaapo Kakko answered back on the next shift to make it a one-shot game. Then a disaster happened. Nikolaj Ehlers missed on a one-timer from a 2-on-1. Vladislav Namestnikov recovered the puck behind the net and wrapped it into an empty net as Shesterkin was unaware. 5-3 for Winnipeg. Connor made it 6-3 with an empty netter. 15 wins for Winnipeg, one home loss for the Rangers.
On Thursday, the Rangers hosted San Jose. They found out that the Sharks may not be very good but they are no easy targets. This was clear in the first period where not only did the Sharks hold it down but Timothy Liljegren scored before the three-minute mark to make the Rangers chase the game. They would take the game back in the second period. Mika Zibanejad ended a 9-game drought past the halfway mark of the period to make it 1-1. Less than two minutes later, Jimmy Vesey made it a 2-1 game. Minutes later, Vincent Trochek tipped in an Artemi Panarin shot for a 3-1 score. The Sharks would try to make a comeback. They got a late gift when Zibanejad tripped Mikael Granlund with a minute left in regulation and Fabian Zetterlund converted the PP. But it was too little, too late for the visitors. The Rangers won 3-2 to split the week in points. Very good. Shame about Filip Chytil getting hurt on a collision with K’Andre Miller.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Rangers will be out West all week long. If they want to make up ground on the Devils, then this is a week to do it. But it will not be a simple task. They will go to Seattle tonight. Then they go further North to Vancouver on Tuesday night. The Rangers will head to Alberta on Thursday to play Calgary. Then the week and the trip to Western Canada will end on Saturday against Edmonton. This trip is never easy, but the Rangers have the quality to make it a positive experience. At least for their record.
New York Islanders
What Happened Last Week: The New York Islanders began their five-game road trip on Tuesday night in Edmonton. They would get something out of it and even blow up a third period lead of their opponents. After a scoreless first period, the Oilers opened the scoring with a PPG by Leon Draisaitl. This was eventually answered over 15 minutes later by Kyle Palamieri. The Oilers took the lead again in the third period. Evan Bouchard score 57 seconds into the final period of regulation. Connor McDavid made it a 3-1 game at 10:19. And the Islanders pulled a switcharoo and did to the Oilers what many have done to them. Anders Lee banged in a rebound from a Ryan Pulock shot to make it 3-2. With the goalie pulled, Jean-Gabriel Pageau found Lee at the top of the crease for a game-tying goal. Yes, the Islanders came back. However, overtime would be Edmonton’s. McDavid set up Draisaitl for the game winner and his fourth point of the night to reach 999 career points. The Islanders got a point in a 4-3 OT loss to the Oilers.
The trip continued to Vancouver on Thursday night. The start was a bit dim as Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored his first NHL goal early in the first period to put the Isles down a score. But late in the first period, Carson Soucy tripped Bo Horvat. This was responded with a PPG by J-GP to tie it up. From then on, the Isles rolled on the Canucks. Scott Mayfield scored 14 seconds into the second period. Pierre Engvall scored close to two minutes after that. The Isles held that 3-1 lead all the way past halfway through the third. That was when Anders Lee made it 4-1. Vancouver decided to pull their goalie for an extra skater late in the third and Noah Dobson scored an empty net goal for a 5-1 score. Tyler Myers scored shortly after that; a pure consolation goal. The Islanders won 5-2 in a game where only Lee and Pageau scored any goals before this game. The victory set up the Isles with a chance to win this week on Saturday night.
The Islanders ended their week in Washington state to play the Kraken on Saturday afternoon. The first period saw the Isles go down first from a deflection by Yanni Gourde. But they responded minutes later with a goal by Pierre Engvall. The score held until the third period. Early on, Maxim Tsyplakov took a hooking penalty. The resulting penalty kill yielded a shorthanded breakaway where Brock Nelson put in his own rebound. The Islanders went up 2-1 in the third period. Wait. A lead in the third period? The Islanders had That Problem again. After the penalty kill was successful, Jared McCann got open down the middle and beat Ilya Sorokin on a shot to tie it up. Late in the third period, Jamie Oleksiak took a slapshot from the center point. The shot hit off Brock Nelson, the back of Sorokin’s skate, and Brandon Tanev’s stick after the puck went over the line. The goal was challenged. The challenge failed. The goal went to Oleksiak, Seattle went up 3-2, and the Islanders would fail to tie it up in the remaining three minutes and change. Another blown lead to end the week at 1-1-1. The Islanders faithful are likely frustrated – and familiar with that feeling.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Islanders will remain on the road for two of their three games coming up. They will go back to Alberta on Tuesday to play the Flames. Yes, the Islanders will not play the Albertan duo in consecutive games. Odd. But it is what it is. The road trip will end on Thursday night in Detroit. The Isles will at least be back in the States and closer to their home time zone. They will be back at home on Saturday to host St. Louis. Say what you want about the Isles, but they keep getting points. Which is never a bad thing from a standings perspective.
Philadelphia Flyers
What Happened Last Week: The Philadelphia Flyers returned Matvei Michkov to the lineup and hosted San Jose on Monday night. It was a game filled with shots and it was one that Philly will wish they did a bit better in. They went up 1-0 within the first 1:40 thanks to Erik Johnson. Travis Konecny converted a power play to make it 2-0 later in the first period. Just over five minutes into the second period, Michkov made it 3-0 for the Flyers. From then on, the Flyers saw this lead erased. Yes, erased. Jack Thompson deflected in a goal within the final five minutes of the second period to get San Jose on the board. Mikael Granlund made it a one-goal game within the final two minutes of the second period. The Flyers tried to hold on in the third period. And within less than 2:30 left, Henry Thrun hit Barclay Goodrow for a pass by the crease. The one-timer went in and it was 3-3. Overtime was needed and San Jose brought it with five shots – thanks to Michkov taking a roughing penalty at the end of regulation, giving San Jose a 4-on-3 to start the five minute overtime period. Fortunately for Philly, they held on to force a shootout. There, Michkov and Konecny scored for a 2-0 shootout result and 4-3 victory. Good on the win, but blowing a three-goal lead at home is not so good.
Philadelphia looked to build on that on Thursday night in Ottawa. They certainly did not do so in the run of play as they were out-shot 14-3 in the first period and 14-4 in the second period. They did get shots in, though. Travis Sanheim scored early in the first. Brady Tkachuk tied it up. Drake Batherson converted a power play to put the Sens up 2-1 but Konecny scored on the team’s 7th shot of the game within the final two minutes of the second period. A breakaway beauty; not a bad shot for the 7th one of the game at the time. The Flyers’ offense would pick it up for the third period – which was necessary as the goals kept coming. Josh Norris made it 3-2 for Ottawa early in the third and Adam Gaudette converted a power play for 4-2. Philly answered back rather quickly. Anthony Richard scored on the shift after Gaudette’s goal to make it 4-3. About two minutes after that, Bobby Brink tied it up at 4 each. Surprisingly, the score held through regulation and overtime was needed. Late in OT, Matvei Michkov attempted a shot at the goal line. It bounced off Linus Ullmark and snuck inside the left post. The Flyers won in OT. They pulled out a 5-4 win despite being out-shot 37-19 and taking six penalties while conceding two power play goals. With the win, Philly officially won their first week of the season. Progress.
The Flyers ended their week back at home to host Buffalo. They would put the Sabres to the sword in this one. The Flyers got more shots, drew one more power play, and – more importantly – went up big in the game. Tyson Foerster opened the scoring with a PPG in the first period. Travis Sanheim scored at even strength a bit over two minutes after that to put Philly up 2-0 going into the second period. Egor Zamula made it 3-0 early in the second period as Travis Konecny made it 4-0 late in the second period. Buffalo would not get on the board until 50 minutes into the game. Then, Rasmus Dahlin converted a power play to deny a shutout for Ivan Fedotov. Ryan McLeod would make it 4-2 with 1:05 left in regulation. A tall order for Buffalo to get back in the game, but they still pulled their goalie for six skaters. Konecny scored an empty net goal to seal up a 5-2 victory. The Flyers swept their week! Their first winning week of the season moved them up into fifth place for the time being. That is due to a superior number of games won over the Islanders. But Philly is hot right now.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Flyers will get three C-based opponents in this week coming up. They will host Colorado on Monday, Carolina on Wednesday night, and Chicago on Saturday. Those are two tough games and a more favorable matchup against the Blackhawks on paper. We shall see how many more points the Winged P’s get among these three after this week. Depending on fortune, it could see them lock down fifth place. Or they cool off and go down a bit. Whichever.
Pittsburgh Penguins
What Happened Last Week: The Pittsburgh Penguins began their week at home to play the Dallas Stars. They got obliterated. Destroyed. Wrecked. Demolished. Crushed. The Dallas Stars had 12 shots on net in the first period. Six of them went into the net. Matt Duchene, Logan Stankoven, and Mason Marchment all scored within the first 10:16 to send Joel Blomqvist to the bench. Alex Nedeljkovic faced four shots in the remainder of the first period and three more beat him. Two from Miro Heiskanen and a power play tip-in from Tyler Seguin. Mason Marchment had four points in the first period alone. At this point, the game was already decided. Anthony Beauvillier denied a shutout for Jake Oettinger in the second period. The Stars outscored their Cowboy brethren with a PPG by Wyatt Johnston (and Marchment’s fifth point of the game) in the third period for what would be a 7-1 loss for Pittsburgh. 7-1! At home! And coming off a road win over Washington! It is getting dimmer for the Penguins this season.
After this loss, the word got out that the Penguins were “open for business.” One deal of perhaps several to come was made on Tuesday. They sent Lars Eller to Washington for a 2025 fifth round pick and a 2027 third round pick. Expect to see more deals like that as the Pens look to clear up some space, add more draft capital, and possibly begin a proper rebuild.
Pittsburgh hosted Detroit on Wednesday night. After a scoreless first period, the Red Wings jumped out. Jonatan Berggren scored a minute into the second period. Patrick Kane punished a Sam Poulin tripping penalty with a goal. Down 2-0 to the Red Wings, it seemed grim for a little bit. Emphasis on a little as Bryan Rust charged the net on a power move to make it 2-1. Anthony Beauvillier tied it up minutes later. Perhaps the Pens would take this one. Well, no. The third period held even. In overtime, Detroit ran a fantastic breakout. One that started with Simon Edvinsson and ended with Alex DeBrincat to hit a trailing Edvinsson, who finished the feed. Pittsburgh suffered a 3-2 OT loss. They got a point but if they wanted to begin to salvage this season, then they needed a win. Alas.
On Friday, Pittsburgh went to Columbus for their lone road game of the week as well as the only game within the division for this week. Tristan Jarry returned to start this one in the net. He conceded two goals on Columbus’ first three shots. Granted, the first was a tip-in by Zach Aston-Reese. The second was a PPG by Zach Werenski . But the Penguins needed something more. They would get some hope. In the first period, the Penguins did make it 2-1 with a goal by Anthony Beauvillier putting home a free puck at the crease. In the second period, Michael Bunting tied it up with a turnaround shot to convert a power play. But it all fell apart for Pittsburgh. Mathieu Olivier’s goal to finish a rush late in the second period made it 3-2 and set up a disaster of a third period. Dmitri Voronkov scored early in the third, Damon Severson scored near midway through the third, and Cole Sillinger put home an ENG with less than five minutes to go. The Penguins lost 6-2. The game got away from them again and they suffered yet another loss for it.
The Penguins returned back home to host San Jose. Would they win a game this week? They would but it would go beyond 65 minutes to get it. The first half of this game was largely in control by Pittsburgh. Bryan Rust scored over a minute into the game, Jesse Puljujarvi made it 2-0 later in the first, and Sidney Crosby scored his 599th goal early in the second period. The Sharks would then flip the script. The set up was a delay of game call on Vasily Ponomarev. This was punished by Tyler Toffoli on the resulting power play. In the third period, Mikael Granlund buried a broken rush. Broken in that Fabian Zetterlund tried to hit Granlund with a pass but the pass hit off the stick of a diving Anthony Beauvillier. The puck still got to Granlund to score. San Jose tied it up when Toffoli finished a set up from Ty Dellandrea with over eight minutes left in regulation. The lead was botched. 3-3. Overtime was frantic for Pittsburgh with a whopping six shots in the 3-on-3 situation. But nothing would go in. A shootout was needed. Extra rounds, in fact as only Granlund and Crosby scored within the first three. Beauvillier and William Eklund matched each other. But it ended with Evgeni Malkin scoring and Alex Wennberg being stopped. The 3-2 shootout yielded a 4-3 shootout win for Pittsburgh. They won a game after all this week. And got sent down to seventh place.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Penguins will get two days without a game before hosting a difficult Tampa Bay team on Tuesday. After two more days, the Pens will get a rough back-to-back at home. They will host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday and Utah HC on Saturday. The Penguins are still stuck in a poor place. Getting some results here will absolutely help spark a turnaround. The issue is that their performances suggest that is unlikely.
Columbus Blue Jackets
What Happened Last Week: The Columbus Blue Jackets ended their time in California on Sunday night in Anaheim. They got the season debut of John Gibson. They also got done in by the third period. The Ducks went up first with an early tip-in goal by Brett Leason. The Jackets would tie it up late in the first period when Yegor Chinakhov scored a power play goal. The Ducks went up 2-1 early in the second period with Jackson LaCombe’s first goal of the season. And midway through the third, Leo Carlsson put the Jackets down two. Gibson faced a lot of shots (40). It was not until Kirill Marchenko flung in a shot off a giveaway by Anaheim in the slot with about three minutes left. There would be no last minute heroics. Isac Lundestrom secured the 4-2 loss with an empty net goal. Columbus went 0-2-1 in California.
The five-game road trip concluded in Seattle on Tuesday night. The first period of the game was very promising. The Blue Jackets out-shot the Kraken 18-6 and they went up 2-0. Sean Kuraly and Zach Aston-Reese scored on back-to-back shifts to put Columbus. Then the second period happened and it all fell apart. The Kraken scored four straight in the middle frame. Tye Kartye, Brandon Tanev, Eeli Tolvanen on a power play (and 10 seconds after Tanev’s goal), and Will Borgen all contributed to a 4-2 deficit for the Jackets. They were stunned. They were also effectively beaten. The Jackets could not beat Joey Daccord again. Jared McCann ended it with an empty net goal. The Blue Jackets lost 5-2, largely from that horrid second period. The trip ends at 0-3-1 overall. Rough.
On Friday, the Jackets returned home to face Pittsburgh. Columbus came out strong in this one. While they only generated three shots within the first 8:39 of the game, two of them went past Tristan Jarry. Zach Aston-Reese tipped in a Jake Christiansen shot early and Zach Werenski converted a power play. The Penguins would battle back. Anthony Beauvillier banged in a shot from Sidney Crosby to make it 2-1. And the Penguins even tied it up in the second period with a PPG by Michael Bunting. However, Columbus re-took the lead with a late second period goal by Mathieu Olivier. The Jackets were not going to go back. Dmitri Voronkov scored early in the third to make it 4-2. Just before midway through the period, Damon Severson made it 5-2. Cole Sillinger sank in an empty net goal with less than five minutes left to secure a 6-2 win. The Blue Jackets ended a six-game winless streak, hurt a team ahead of them in the standings, and gave their home fans something to cheer about. Solid.
On Saturday, a busy week ended in Montreal. The game got away from Columbus. In a high-shooting first period (12-16 for Montreal), Mike Matheson was the lone goal scorer. He scored on a power play to punish a Damon Severson slash on Jake Evans. The 1-0 score held until the second period. Dante Fabbro, recently acquired off waivers, scored his first as a Blue Jacket close to eight minutes into the second period to tie it up. Nick Suzuki restored the lead later in the middle frame. 2-1 was not ideal but certainly workable. The problem was that Montreal pulled away in the third. Just over eleven minutes in, Lucas Condotta scored his first this season to make it 3-1. A little later, Jake Evans tipped in a Cole Caufield shot for 4-1. And three minutes after that, Josh Anderson deflected in a Matheson shot for 5-1. The Canadiens’ three-goal third rallied a 5-1 loss for the Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets did get one win but the 1-3-0 week combined with other results sent the Jackets to eighth in the division.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Blue Jackets will get three games to play in this week. On Monday, they will be in Boston. Given how much Boston has been struggling, this may be a good time as any to sort themselves out. Especially given the two home games later in the week. On Thursday, the Blue Jackets will host the Bolts of Tampa Bay; and on Saturday, they will host the machine known as the Carolina Hurricanes. It is a tough week for any team with the recent on-ice struggles Columbus has. Good luck to them.
That was the sixth Weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot of the 2024-25 season. You read the summary, now it is your turn. Will the New Jersey Devils recover well with their break and get some results over two divisional opponents? Can the Carolina Hurricanes heat up again within the division? Can the Caps handle a tough stretch before hosting New Jersey on Saturday? How will the Rangers fare on their trip out West? Can the Islanders finish up their own trip strong? When will Philadelphia lose? What do you even do if you are Pittsburgh or Columbus? 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.