In the fourth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot of the season, the Washington Capitals surged up to first place, the New Jersey Devils jumped the New York Rangers, and the Carolina Hurricanes stayed hot. All this and more in this week’s snapshot.
The fourth week of the Weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot for 2024-25 begins with another change at the top. Two high-scoring wins by the New Jersey Devils were enough to re-take first place from the New York Rangers – on Thursday. Meanwhile, the hot run of the Washington Capitals continued. The Capitals swept the week. They overtook the Devils for first with a vastly superior points percentage after last night’s games. A result of the games played difference between the Devils and everyone else. Which also means one should be wary of the Carolina Hurricanes, who are on a five-game winning streak. Early signs show that there are haves and have nots in this division. Just ask the New York Islanders and the two Pennsylvanian teams about not having it. Here is what the division looks like as of this morning:
NHL.com
In this week’s schedule, there are a lot of games within the division. Everyone except for the Columbus Blue Jackets have at least one coming up. In fact, the Pittsburgh Penguins have an entire week of them. If you need breaks, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are the light days schedule-wise. As usual, those tames 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 opened their week with a home game against the Rangers. The Capitals brought it in this one. The Rangers, well, not so much. The shots were 46-19 for the Capitals. The goals were early for the Caps too. Alex Ovechkin dropped a brace and Connor McMichael tipped home a puck for a 3-1 lead after the first period. Chris Kreider scored an early PPG to make it a one-shot game, only for Aliaksei Protas to make it 4-2 with his own deflection a little later. Filip Chytil made it a one-shot game again with his deflection on the next shift. However, that shot difference showed how the Caps were more likely to get a fifth goal than the Rangers were to a fourth. And that held up. Nic Dowd secured the win with an empty net goal. A big 5-3 win to help the Caps stay in the higher half of the division.
Montreal visited D.C. on Halloween. It was a spooky first period in that both teams combined for 13 shots on net. Not much happened. Then it all kicked off in the second period. Tom Wilson tipped in an Alex Ovechkin shot for a PPG. Cole Caufield converted a PPG before the halfway mark. On the next shift, Brendan Gallagher made it 2-1 for Montreal. It took just over a minute for Brandon Duhaime to tie it up. Which was followed shortly after by a solo effort from Jakub Vrana. The sixth and final goal of the period made it 3-3 thanks to Nick Suzuki. Washington would emerge in the third period to take the game. Connor McMichael’s backhander and Aliaksei Protas’ backhander came on back-to-back shifts to make it 5-3 with 15 minutes to go. Ovechkin added in another goal for what would be the 6-3 final score. Another big win to keep the Caps up. Keeping Montreal to 15 shots all game was impressive too – if you ignore the three goals allowed.
Speaking of impressive, Washington laid waste to Columbus yesterday evening. The first period featured five goals on eight shots from the Caps. Protas in the first minute, McMichael in the second minute, Andrew Mangiapane later on in the first, Ovechkin even later, and Dowd on the shift after Ovechkin’s goal. 15 minutes into the game and it was 5-0. Columbus surely went for it but it was all for consolation. Sure, Damon Severson scored early in the second period but there would be no comeback. McMichael’s goal about four minutes later secured the touchdown. Kevin Labanc would provide Columbus’ other goal of the game later in the second period. Strome metaphorically kicked in the extra point late in the third period. The Capitals routed the Jackets 7-2. They swept their week at 3-0-0. Thanks to four games played than the Devils as well as an eighth ROW, they take first in the division on tiebreakers.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Capitals will have a tough week ahead. They will first finish a weekend back-to-back in Carolina this evening. A tough game, a potentially entertaining one, and a game that may set a tone for the week. After two days without a game, the Caps will play three games in four nights. They will host Nashville on Wednesday, host struggling Pittsburgh on Friday, and visit St. Louis on Saturday. The Caps can continue to help themselves out with results. Enough to possibly remain in first for another week.
New Jersey Devils
What Happened Last Week: The Devils hosted Anaheim on Sunday night and badly needed a win. It looked grim when Jacob Markstrom gave up a bad goal to Brock McGinn in the first period. However, the Devils would get a response and pull away. Jack Hughes put in his own rebound during a delayed penalty call to make it 1-1. Stefan Noesen rifled in a shot minutes later to make it 2-1. Noesen added a late PPG in the second period for 3-1. Paul Cotter put home a rebound over a minute after that to make it 4-1. The Devils just needed to maintain the score. They added to it. Nico Hischier finished a breakaway for 5-1. While the Ducks pulled one back thanks to Ryan Strome, the Devils did not let the Ducks back into the game. Erik Haula added a last minute goal for the 6-2 result. The winless streak was over. Fine time to do so as the Devils were off to Canada for the remainder of the week.
The Devils began a three-game trip through Western Canada on Wednesday night in Vancouver. They rushed down the Canucks. In a low-shooting game, the Devils brought all the goals. Dawson Mercer led a 2-on-1 rush within the first minute that Nico Hischier finished in the first period. In the second period, Hischier led a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush that Mercer finished. A little bit after that, Hischier set up Timo Meier to finish a 3-on-2 rush. The first non-rush goal was Ondrej Palat shoveling a puck off the post that goalie Arturs Silovs put over the line. It was missed live but correctly awarded on review. The third period featured even more. Jack Hughes slid in a five-hole PPG near midway through the period. Tomas Tatar slammed in a loose puck in front for the touchdown. It was a dominant performance in a 6-0 win. A great way to end the month, start the trip, and lock up both a winning week and first place for the night.
The Devils began November with the second game on the trip, which was in Calgary. This game was ugly. Sloppy. The team was seemingly skating in slush. Jacob Markstrom was on point. The Flames attacked him more often but not with much danger. Dan Vladar was able to deny what little the Devils came up with on offense. There would be no scoring until after 54 minutes into the game. The breakthrough came on a double-deflection by Blake Coleman of a Kevin Bahl shot. The puck his stick blade and then his own skate blade to beat Markstrom. On the next shift, a 2-on-1 give-and-go ended with Jonathan Huberdeau finishing a feed from Anthony Mantha. A pulled Markstrom for an extra skater yielded an ENG for Coleman to give the Devils a 3-0 loss. A harsh way to end an otherwise positive week at 2-1-0. And with Washington’s surge, they end the week in second place.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Devils will wrap up their three-game trip on Monday night in Edmonton. It is an 8:30 PM ET start so it will not be a late night for the fans in New Jersey. The Devils will return home on Thursday night to host Montreal. Then the Devils are back on the road to start a back-to-back set. They will not go far; but they will take on the Islanders, a team who already has an OTW on them this season. The Devils can still stay on the right side of the division. They still need to get the results to do so.
New York Rangers
What Happened Last Week: The Rangers began their short week in Washington D.C. on Tuesday night. It went badly. As in being out-shot 46-19 bad. As in getting out-scored early and looking up at a big deficit. Alexander Ovechkin scored first. While Will Cuylle tied it up about a minute later, it took less than a minute after that for Ovechkin to make it 2-1. A few minutes after that Connor McMichael tipped in a puck to make it 3-1. The Rangers pulled the game back within one in the second period twice. They did make it 3-2 thanks to a PPG from Chris Kreider just 30 seconds into the second. Only for Aliaksei Protas to tip in a Rasmus Sandin shot to make it 4-2. Filip Chytil would tip in a Victor Mancini shot on the next shift. It was close on the scoreboard at 4-3. But the shot count revealed that one team came to play. That one team maintained the lead and Nic Dowd sealed the loss with an empty netter. The Rangers lost 5-3 to lose some ground in the division with New Jersey winning games.
The Rangers hosted Ottawa on Friday in the hopes of at least splitting the week. They would do so in spite of themselves and in large part due to the efforts of Igor Shesterkin. The Senators came into MSG and owned the shot-count at 41-18. They were influenced by an early 1-0 score from Artemi Panarin. They seemed beat after an Alexis Lafreniere PPG in the third period to put the game at 2-0. But they were emboldened when Adam Gaudette made it a one-shot game with over seven minutes left. Shesterkin held it down with a $13+ million caliber performance. The Rangers eked out a win despite the run of play, 2-1. That is a split week and it keeps them up in the higher end of the division. Down to third thanks to the Capitals and Devils having better weeks and with Carolina breathing right down their necks.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Rangers will have more to do in this coming week. First, they have their hated rivals in the Islanders tonight. The Rangers are at home and that could help them. What will also help them are three days without a game before hosting Buffalo. While the Sabres have found some wins, a well-rested Rangers team should do well against them on Thursday. The Rangers’ week will end on Saturday night when they visit Detroit, another team the Rangers should like their chances against.
Carolina Hurricanes
What Happened Last Week: The Carolina Hurricanes had a chance to sweep their road trip through Canada on Monday night in Vancouver. They did so, although it was not simple. The Hurricanes got off to a strong start. William Carrier opened the scoring with his first goal as a Cane. While Brock Boeser tied it up a little after that, Martin Necas put the Canes up 2-1 going into the second period. Vancouver started to get more of the run of play in their favor. However, the Canes took a 3-1 lead early in the period thanks to Jack Roslovic. Unfortunately for Carolina, they did not lock down the game. Quinn Hughes put the Canucks within a goal in the third period. Late in the third, Pytor Kochetkov came way out to deny a breakaway for Daniel Sprong. Only for Sprong to still keep the puck, find Pius Suter enter the zone, and put the puck in just as Kochetkov returned to the crease. Brutal. Overtime was necessary. Fortunately, the Canes got a big break. Necas found Gostisbehere entering the zone after a change and all three Canucks focused on those two. They forgot about Sebastian Aho driving to the net. Pass, shot, save, rebound, Aho won it for a 4-3 win. Carolina swept their time in Canada and went 5-1-0 on their whole road trip of six games. Excellent work for the Canes.
Carolina returned home for Halloween to play Boston. They had no sympathy for the Bruins. No mercy. No let-up. This was a butt-whipping contest in Raleigh and Boston brought the butt. Jack Roslovic opened the scoring. The closest Boston would get in this game would be a PPG from Brad Marchand to tie it up. With three minutes to go in the first, Andrei Svechnikov scored a PPG of his own, Jackson Blake tipped in a shot from Dmitry Orlov, and Martin Necas scored another PPG. It was 4-1 with 2:44 left in the first period. Brutal. Hampus Lindholm would make it 4-2 early in the second period. This only led to Carolina just hitting back harder. Svechnikov scored his second PPG of the game (Carolina went 3-for-5) and Roslovic got his second of the game. It was 6-2 before the halfway mark of regulation. Boston was cooked. Carolina kept up the heat. Sean Walker got on the board and Jesperi Kotkaneimi, #82 for Carolina, made it 8-2 in the third. Canes owned the shots 37-15, the score 8-2, the points (two for the win), their fifth win in a row, and Boston’s soul for the evening. Look out Metropolitan, the Canes are hot. They will not likely stay in fourth for long.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Hurricanes will not rest much. They have four games in seven days to play. First, they have a rivalry game with Washington this evening. The Caps are no pushovers; it should be an entertaining contest. Then they will host Philadelphia on Tuesday and Pittsburgh on Thursday. Given how poorly the Pennsylvanian teams have started this season, the Canes could dig their holes deeper in the standings. The Hurricanes will end their week with the start of another road trip. This one will be three games long. It will begin in Denver to play the Avalanche on Saturday night. It is work but the Canes have proven to be up for it.
Columbus Blue Jackets
What Happened Last Week: The Columbus Blue Jackets began a busy week of their own against Edmonton on Monday night. Surprising to most, the Jackets gave the business to the Oilers. Edmonton did suffer an injury by Connor McDavid on his first shift. This did not mean the Jackets were going to let up. Sean Monahan punished a Viktor Arvidsson tripping penalty for an early goal. Adam Fantilli made it 2-0 past halfway through the first. the Oilers from getting worked over. Cole Sillinger took a long shot from a Leon Draisaitl giveaway and it beat Stuart Skinner for a 3-0 lead. Columbus was not done. Mathieu Olivier made it 4-0 in the second. In the third period, Mikael Pyyhtia made it 5-0 and Monahan made it a brace just over a minute later for 6-0. Skinner ate all six goals against. The only negative for Columbus was Mattias Ekholm scoring a PPG with 27 seconds left, denying a shutout for Daniil Tarasov. A brilliant 6-1 win over Edmonton! These are not your doormat Jackets!
On Wednesday night, they hosted an Islanders team that played and lost to Anaheim on Tuesday. Mercy? What’s that? Elvis Merzlikins showed none. He saw all 26 shots from the Islanders and stopped them all. He allowed nothing. All Columbus needed was one to win. They got it before the six-minute mark of the third period. Damon Severson fired a puck to the middle and it went in off Ryan Pulock. The Blue Jackets secured another win when Justin Danforth put in an empty netter. They won 2-0 to get to 2-0-0 for the week.
Winnipeg would visit Columbus and humble the Blue Jackets. A game wherein the Jackets were outshot 44-22 would do that. As would what the Jets did on the scoreboard. Sean Kuraly’s mid-first period goal was sandwiched between scores by Nikolaj Ehlers. Sean Monahan’s PPG late in the second period was sandwiched between scored by Mason Appleton (early in 2nd) and Ehlers’ hat trick goal (late in 2nd). There was no such sandwich in the third period. Just two more Jets goals: Josh Morrissey on a power play and Gabriel Vilardi in 5-on-5. The Jackets were crushed in a 6-2 loss. A winning week was still possible. They just needed a result over Washington the next night.
At Washington, they got obliterated within the first fifteen minutes. They conceded five goals in those fifteen minutes. Washington had just eight shots in the first period too. They went down 2-0 within the first two minutes thanks to Aliaksei Protas and Connor McMichael. Andrew Mangiapane, Alex Ovechkin, and Nic Dowd dug the hole further in the first period. It was too deep to climb back out of. A second period that opened with a Damon Severson goal was just consolation. As was a Kevin Labanc goal. Consolation helped by McMichael scoring in between those goals. Dylan Strome’s late third period goal capped off a brutal 7-2 loss. The Jackets ended up splitting the week at 2-2-0. Definitely on the downside given how big those back-to-back losses were.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Blue Jackets are away from Ohio for just two games in this week. They are also way out in California. They will visit San Jose on Tuesday. The Sharks took a step forward in progression with some wins in October. Columbus cannot look past them. The Blue Jackets’ week ends with the first half of a back-to-back set. They will visit Los Angeles. Columbus need to sort some things out to avoid spiraling back into the bottom end of the division.
Pittsburgh Penguins
What Happened Last Week: The Pittsburgh Penguins’ woes continued on Tuesday night. They hosted Minnesota in a game hyped up to be Marc-Andre Fleury’s possibly last game in Pittsburgh. Given how long and successful he was as a Penguin, the honors were appropriate. The Penguins were up for about 15 minutes of this game. Valtteri Puustinen beat MAF with a PPG and Rickard Rakell made it 2-0 at the 15:31 mark. The game then flipped and it was just about all Minnesota. Jakub Lauko and Frederik Caudreau each scored on back-to-back shifts to make it 2-2 going into the second period. Gaudreau broke the tie early in the second period. Mats Zuccarello tipped in a Kirill Kaprizov shot to make it 4-2 going into the third. While Rakell provided some hope by making it a one-shot game in the third period, the shot count and run of play favored the Wild. There would be no equalizer. Kaprizov ended the game with an empty net goal. A 5-3 loss for Pittsburgh; their sixth winless game in a row. Ouch.
Pittsburgh ended their month with a home game against Anaheim on Halloween. They brought the haunted house, the tricks, and even some treats to Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal. Which was necessary as Alex Killorn scored with nearly four minutes left in the first period. The Pens bombarded Dostal with shots. After two scoreless periods and 29 shots, Sidney Crosby re-directed a shot by Matt Grzelcyk early in the third period on the team’s 30th shot. The Penguins would do it all to try to break the tie. Dostal stopped all 13 shots from that goal to force overtime. Crosby would be the hero once more as he took a gift from Cutter Gauthier. He went in alone and scored to give the Penguins a badly needed 2-1 win. Yes, it was in overtime. Who cares. They were winless in six games before this one.
The week ended for Pittsburgh with a home game against Montreal on Saturday night. The Canadiens already won once in Pennsylvania. They would not do it in Pittsburgh. The Pens went up in the first period thanks to Sidney Crosby amid a meh first frame with 10 shots between both teams. The Penguins took the game more to the Canadiens in the second period. Their 16-shot effort yielded paydirt when Crosby converted a PPG to make it 2-0. Montreal blitzed the Penguins to get back in the game. Moreso when Christian Dvorak scored over five minutes into the third period. But Alex Nedeljkovic secured the 2-1 lead. Blake Lizotte effectively ended the game with an empty netter for 3-1. The Penguins ended up winning the week, which is a big step for them. They are in sixth looking up at the division (Columbus is ahead with fewer GP and more RW), but at least they can look up for the moment.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Penguins will be on the road for the week. The good news is that they are not traveling all that far. The bad news is that it is three games in four nights against teams in the division. They have the Isles on Tuesday, Carolina on Thursday, and Washington on Friday. Three teams who could really send the Penguins back to misery with more regulation losses to Pittsburgh. Good luck, Pens.
New York Islanders
What Happened Last Week: The New York Islanders began a three-game-in-four-night week with a home game against Anaheim. The Islanders did their best to attack and put 41 shots on Lukas Dostal in the game. The problem was that Dostal stopped all but one of them. When he was beaten, the Ducks were still winning too. Leo Carlsson tipped in a PPG in the first period and Troy Terry put up a PPG in the second period. Dostal was finally beaten when Mat Barzal converted a power play early in the third. At 2-1, the Isles still had a chance. Dostal said no to their efforts. Frank Vatrano secured the 3-1 loss for the Isles with an empty net goal. The concerns about finishing continue on the Island.
On Wednesday, the Islanders visited Columbus, who was coming off a 6-1 rout of the Oilers on Monday. The lack of finishing continued. The Islanders put 26 shots on Elvis Merzlikins. He stopped them all. The Isles did get a good performance from Semyon Varlamov. However, the Isles scoring no goals meant only one would beat them. It came in the third period when Damon Severson fired a puck to the crease. The puck hit off Ryan Pulock to beat Varlamov. That would be enough. A Justin Danforth ENG secured a 2-0 loss. After this game, the Isles are shooting at 6.5%, the second worst shooting percentage in the NHL. Harsh.
After a day break, the Islanders went back to work on Friday by visiting Buffalo. The Isles finally found the back of the net. Granted, they went down first. Dylan Cozens converted a power play in the first period. But Bo Horvat scored 40 seconds after that for the Islanders’ first goal in over a game. The Isles even went up in the second period. Maxim Tsyplakov and a PPG from Kyle Palmieri made it 3-1. All good, right? Not so fast. Jason Zucker tipped in a Tage Thompson puck to make it 3-2 in the third period. Jean-Gabriel Pageau would deny a comeback bid to make it 4-2 with just under 12 minutes left. The Isles would need to sweat out the end as Owen Power made it a one-shot game with 1:01 left. But the Isles did hold on. They did not blow a third period lead. They did not not score. They won 4-3. They got something out of their 1-2-0 week. They slipped to seventh as the Penguins succeeded more.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Islanders will not get much rest. They have four games to play in this coming week. Three are within the division and two are rivalry games. First, they will visit their hated rivals in Manhattan, the Rangers, today. Then the Islanders will host a struggling Pittsburgh team on Tuesday. The Isles will get a break from the division but hardly a break on the ice as they will visit Ottawa on Thursday. The week will end by returning to Long Island to host the Devils. They did score goals on the Devils and beat them – but in overtime after they blew a third-period lead. The Isles have a lot to do real soon if they want to avoid being further left behind.
Philadelphia Flyers
What Happened Last Week: The Philadelphia Flyers began their week on Sunday with a home game against Montreal. They fell short. The Canadiens opened the scoring with a mid-period goal by Nick Suzuki in the first period. The Flyers would respond with Travis Sanheim’s wrist shot late in the first. However, Philadelphia suffered a second period collapse. They conceded three goals: a deflection by Brendan Gallagher, a PPG by Cole Caufield, and a snap shot from Jake Evans. The Flyers would push late to try to tie it up. Sanheim finished an excellent rush by himself to make it 4-2 with just over two minutes left. Travis Konecny scored on the next shift with six skaters to make it 4-3. Alas, it was too little, too late. The Flyers could not find the fourth goal within the last 1:43 of regulation. They lost 4-3 at home.
Philadelphia did surprise the hockey world on Tuesday night though. They went up to Boston and shut them down. They kept the Bruins to just 23 shots on net, including just three in the third period. Samuel Ersson stopped all of the shots. The B’s got nothing. While Boston did keep the Flyers’ offense to just 19 shots, they did get goals. Tyson Foerster scored over five minutes into the second period. That would be the only goal of the game scored on a goalie. Joel Farabee secured a 2-0 win for Philly with an empty netter in the final minute. It was a frustrating night for the home team and Philly was glad to be on the right side of that for a change.
Philly’s long week continued back at home against St. Louis. With 21 shots by each team it was not exactly a barnburner. It was a strong performance for goaltenders Sam Ersson and Jordan Binnington. They were not perfect, but they did not allow much. More important for the Flyers, they edged out the Blues. Garnet Hathaway scored 11 minutes into the first period. That goal stood until Nathan Walker tied it up with just over ten minutes left in regulation. The difference maker came from Bobby Brink one-touching a feed from Joel Farabee, created off a steal by Scott Laughton. All with three minutes left to play. The Flyers won 2-1. Hey, that is two wins in a row.
That ended in Philadelphia yesterday courtesy of the Boston Bruins. The Bruins did not allow much from Philly on offense. They took the game to them in the first period and Matthew Poitras made it 1-0 from the attacks. An apparent injury to Sam Ersson required a change to Aleksei Kolosov in the net. While the game was more even in the second in terms of shots, Justin Brazeau made it 2-0 for the B’s. Philly boldly pulled their goalie with plenty of time on the clock in the third. It was answered with a Brad Marchand ENG with over three minutes left to play. The Flyers lost 3-0. They did split the week at 2-2-0, which is a plus. The minus is that they remain in the bottom of the division.
What’s Coming Up This Week: The Flyers are off for two days before hitting the road. It will be a tough one. The Flyers will visit the machine known as the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. Then they will visit the potentially high-scoring Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. Their week and their trip will end in Sunrise to take on the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers – who are no push over either. A positive week from here should be a big boost for a team that could use one. Let’s see how much they will upset either of these opponents.
That was the fourth Weekly Metropolitan Division Snapshot of the 2024-25 season. Now I want to know what you think. Will the Washington Capitals hold onto first place? Can the Carolina Hurricanes keep on winning to re-take it? Could the New Jersey Devils take the top spot back? Will Pittsburgh survive their week? Can Columbus avoid spiraling out of control? 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.