In the twenty-second weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot of the 2024-25 season, the top three teams remain locked in and the mid-off continues for the second wild card spot in the East. Learn about what happened last week and what’s next in this post.
As we end March and enter the final month of the regular season, most of the Metropolitan Division is decided. The Washington Capitals are in the playoffs and it is highly likely they will take first place. The Carolina Hurricanes are just about in the playoffs and it is highly likely they will take second place. That lines them up for a first round matchup with the New Jersey Devils. Despite their middling results since January, they are all but locked for third place. The rest of the division, though, remains as a mid-off between the New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Rangers along with Montreal and Detroit for the last wild card spot in the East. The Rangers currently own it but with their games played situation, it is not at all safe. All while the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins seek to pump up their lottery odds at the bottom. It may not make for a super-exciting snapshot for this site but it is what it is.
Standings via NHL.com, Playoff odds via Moneypuck, First overall draft pick odds via Tankathon
What will be exciting is schedule that is about to ramp up the number of games within the division. Only three this week but business will pick up even further as the Metropolitan Division squads wrap up their Western Conference commitments by season’s end. As ever, games against the Wild Card Watch teams are in italics and games within the Metropolitan 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
Tuesday at Winnipeg – The titans of the conferences faced off in Manitoba. Josh Morissey drew first blood with a slapshot in the first. Andrew Mangiapane tied it up within the final minute to make it 1-1 going into the second. That lasted until the final minute of that period. Mason Appleton broke through to make it 2-1 for the Jets. Washington needed a hero in the third period. They found one in, who else, the PutinTeam Leader. He scored with 4 minutes left in regulation for a 2-2 score. Winnipeg would take the game in OT. Dylan Samberg caught the Caps changing and Nikolai Ehlers had the space to take the puck freely to the left circle. He buried his shot to make it a 3-2 loss for the Caps. Still a point earned as Washington seeks out a ‘Y.’
Thursday at Minnesota – The Capitals went to St. Paul and found the Wild to be a challenge. Jon Merrill put Washington down one six minutes into the game. The Caps responded quickly. Matt Roy tied it up and Brandon Duhaime made it 2-1 close to 3 minutes after Merrill’s goal. The problem was that the Capitals would not score again. In the second period, Frederick Gaudreau tipped in a Matt Boldy feed for a PPG to tie it up. Boldy made it 3-2 for Minnesota with 9 seconds left in the period. Washington was not beating Filip Gustavsson despite their efforts. Gaudreau secured a 4-2 Washington loss with an empty netter. Washington lost the week by going 0-1-1. Which does not matter too much at this point of the season. Provided they stay healthy, all is good in Caps-land.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Capitals will be more active in this week coming up. They will host Buffalo today. Then they have a back-to-back set on the road in the middle of the week. Washington visits Boston on Tuesday and then goes to have a tougher game against Carolina on Wednesday. The second of those two games is certainly a big matchup. Less so will be a home game against Chicago Friday. Again, the goal for Washington is to not slump and not get dinged up too much from here on out.
Carolina Hurricanes
Sunday at Anaheim – The Carolina Hurricanes would and did bounce back from a heavy loss against Los Angeles when they visited Anaheim on Sunday. It was nervy at points. The first period had no goals. Mark Janikowski struck first for Carolina in the second period. But his goal was matched by Alex Killorn. The Canes responded with Jordan Martinook scoring on the next shift to make it 2-1. Early in the third, Taylor Hall punished a Ryan Strome penalty to make it 3-1. Anaheim made it tense again when Trevor Zegras scored with over 3 minutes left. Re-enter Taylor Hall. He scored an insurance goal on the next shift to make it 4-2 and ease the pressure. Anaheim pulled their goalie and Hall buried the empty netter for a hat trick and a 5-2 final score. The Hurricanes bounced back indeed.
Tuesday vs. Nashville – The Hurricanes hosted a hapless Nashville team on Tuesday. But the Predators were not ready to take another loss. Michael Bunting opened the scoring for the visitors with a power play goal to punish Dmitry Orlov’s high stick. Early in the second, Luke Evangelista styled and profiled for a goal to make it 2-0 over the Canes. Taylor Hall restored hope with a power play goal to punish Michael McCarron. But Juuse Saros stopped everything else. Evangelista made it a brace and a 3-1 game in the third period. The Hurricanes could not beat Saros. They lost in regulation to Nashville. Yes, Nashville. Such is the NHL.
Friday vs. Montreal – The Hurricanes sought to win their week by dealing a blow to Montreal’s playoff chances on Friday night. They understood the assignment. Josh Anderson scored 23 seconds into the game. Jackson Blake scored 41 seconds into the game to tie it up. From then on, the Hurricanes were in control. The goals would come later. Taylor Hall punished a Lane Hutson tripping call to make it 2-1 in the second period. Sebastian Aho scored minutes later to make it 3-1. Carolina held on. Andrei Svechnikov put in an empty netter for the 4-1 victory. Another win. A 2-1-0 week for another winning week. The ‘X’ is getting closer to be in Carolina’s possession.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: Carolina will play four games in this week coming up. An ‘X’ may be possible for them depending on results. They will host the Islanders tonight. Are the Isles hungry or fit to be beaten? Who knows with the Isles. On Wednesday, the Hurricanes will host the Metropolitan leading Washington Capitals. If nothing else, it will be a marquee matchup. Carolina’s week ends with a road back-to-back set. They will go to Detroit on Friday with a chance of crushing their playoff hopes and then visit Boston on Saturday, where the Bruins may not be so interested in playoff hopes. For the Hurricanes, the goal is to maintain and get that ‘X.’
New Jersey Devils
Monday vs. Vancouver – The Hughes Bowl between Luke and Quinn took place in Newark. The Canucks struck first with a goal from Pius Suter. It took about a period and a Teddy Blueger tripping call for the Devils to respond. Which came in the form of Timo Meier banging in a power play goal. In the third period, the Devils broke the deadlock with Meier burying a rebound from a missed rush shot by Brenden Dillon. Vancouver equalized on the next shift thanks to Jonathan Lekkerimaki. The Devils went up due to Erik Haula putting home a puck in front of Thatcher Demko. They tried to hold on. But a failed zone exit yielded Quinn Hughes firing a puck to the net with over 30 seconds left. Conor Garland put home the jam play for a 3-3 game. Harsh. Overtime solved nothing. In the shootout, Jesper Bratt scored while Jake DeBrusk and Lekkerimaki did in four rounds. The 2-1 shootout led to a 4-3 shootout loss for the Devils. Another point left on the table.
Wednesday at Chicago – On national television, the Devils would prevail. It was testy at times but they got the win. The Devils would go up first and never really look back. Nathan Bastian put home a Luke Hughes feed to open the scoring. A Pat Maroon high sticking penalty was punished quickly by Dawson Mercer. Chicago hit back with a PPG of their own from Tyler Bertuzzi. That was the first. In the second period, Ondrej Palat rushed up in a shorthanded 2 on 2 play and scored to make it 3-1. Chicago would make it 3-2 when Ilya Mikheyev put home a bouncing puck. They made it 3-3 shortly thereafter on a tip in from Ryan Donato. But his stick was too high and the goal was removed. Shortly after, Landon Slaggert got roughing for getting involved in a Nemec and Bedard issue. Mercer rang one in off the post and in for a 4-2 lead. All seemed fine until late in the third when Chicago pulled Spencer Knight. Frank Nazar III banged in a rebound with 2:50 left to make it 4-3. Would the Devils blow it again? No. They held on and Stefan Noesen put in an empty net goal for a 5-3 final result. Win by any means, Devils. Even if it is just Chicago.
Friday at Winnipeg – The Devils went into the home of the Western Conference leaders. They waxed the Devils in Newark back on March 7. They would continue to wax the Devils in this one. Defensive unawareness by the Devils was on display for two early first period goals by the Jets. First by Alex Iafallo and second by David Gustafsson. Two minutes in and the Devils were down a pair. The Jets would strike again for two more in the second period. A power play for Winnipeg was converted when Iafallo chested down a puck and put it in past a diving Jake Allen for 3-0. Mark Schiefele banged in a rebound off the endboards from a missed shot by Kyle Connor for 4-0 in the final minute of the second. The Jets cruised. The Devils? Their effort was weak, listless, and without any real threat of scoring. They got waxed 4-0 by the Jets. Awful!
Saturday at Minnesota – What Devils team would show up against Minnesota? How about a really competent one with a functional offense? For the first time since February 23 at Nashville, the Devils put up over 30 shots on net on a team. What’s more is that they went up and never looked back against the Wild. Nico Hischier opened the scoring 29 seconds into the game. Paul Cotter put in a tight angle rebound from a Brian Dumoulin effort for a 2-0 lead. Marcus Foligno did get the Wild on the board late in the first with a tip-in of a Jared Spurgeon shot. The Devils kept up their attack. While goalless in the second period, the Devils struck in the third. Hischier made it a brace with a fantastic shot off the post for a 3-1 lead. Minnesota responded quickly when a long shot by Zach Bogosian hit the crossbar and Ryan Hartman ultimately dashed in the loose puck for a 3-2 game. The Devils got one power play in this game when Matt Boldy slashed Stefan Noesen. It ended with Hischier putting in a puck off Jonas Gustavsson and in for a hat trick! Tomas Tatar sniped a loose puck from an Ondrej Palat effort to make it 5-2 late. The Devils had a great game in St. Paul to win. They won their week at 2-1-1. They won their three-game trip at 2-1-0. They have a reason to feel confident again.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Devils will have a light week after last week’s four games in six nights. They return home to host Minnesota on Monday. The team will have the remainder of the week to themselves until Saturday afternoon. The Devils will host their hated rivals in the Rangers. With a possibility of crushing their playoff chances while cementing their own, they better get going for that one. The Devils just have to not collapse and get into form for their eventual Hurricane matchup.
New York Rangers
Tuesday at Los Angeles – As the New York Rangers are in California, they surely knew they needed to get something in their game in Los Angeles. They got nothing. To be fair, the Kings are really good. It seemed like the Rangers would get something at first. After a goalless first period, J.T. Miller scored early in the second. However, a lack of discipline hurt the Rangers. Matt Rempe slashing Quintin Byfield led to a Kevin Fiala PPG equalizer. K’Andre Miller tripping Byfield ended a Rangers power play and led to a PPG from Philip Danault during an abbreviated one for Los Angeles. The Rangers could get nothing through. An empty netter for Fiala sealed up a 3-1 loss for New York. Absolutely not what they needed after seeing Columbus and the Isles having a three-pointer.
Saturday at Anaheim – The Rangers engaged in a wild game in Orange County on Friday night. They conceded 16 shots in the first period but ended up 2-1 by intermission. Adam Fox opened the scoring early. Alex Killorn scored a shorthanded goal to tie it up. Only for J.T. Miller to score shortly after their power play ended for the aforementioned 2-1 lead. The second period started with an Alexis Lafreniere goal to make it 3-1. All seemed fine. Then came the third period. Leo Carlson scored to make it 3-2 at the 2:22 mark. Then the Ducks started to take the first of five straight penalties. Ryan Strome slashed Braden Schneider. That was punished by Mika Zibanejad for a 4-2 lead at the 4:35 mark. The Rangers failed to take advantage of a 5-on-3 from a Troy Terry trip and too many men on the ice during that penalty kill. Or a delay of game on Olen Zellweger. Still, they were up 4-2 with over six minutes left. About that. Cutter Gauthier made it a one-shot game at the 14:12 mark. And Olen Zellweger hammered a slapshot as a trailer on a rush play at the 18:15 mark to make it 4-4. The lead was blown. In overtime, an uncovered Mason McTavish one-touched a feed from Jackson LaCombe for an Anaheim win. The Rangers got a point but badly blew a vital second point with the 5-4 loss.
Saturday at San Jose – Surely, the Rangers would get a win against a San Jose team with nothing play for. They would and do so in a big way. In the first period, Artemi Panarin scored a brace within two minutes past halfway through the period to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. In the second period, Adam Fox extended the lead to three early on. In the third period, Jonny Brodzinski and Fox made it 5-0 over five minutes into the final frame. Vincent Trocheck made it a touchdown with a shorthanded goal within the final five minutes in regulation. San Jose would convert that power play; Cam Lund denied a shutout for Jonathan Quick. It was just consolation. The Rangers won 6-1 to get one win on their California road trip and go 1-1-1 in the week. To give you a sense of how mid the final wild card race has been, this one win was enough for the Rangers to take it for the day. As well as fourth in the division. With two more games played than everyone else in the race, it is not exactly a safe spot. Of course, this requires someone to win some games. Columbus?
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Rangers just have two games to play in this week coming up. They will be doing some scoreboard watching around those games. The Rangers will return home and host Minnesota on Wednesday. Then they will go to Newark on Saturday afternoon to take on their hated rivals in the Devils. The Rangers need to get whatever results they can because dropping these two could be near-lethal for their playoff hopes this late in the season.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Monday at NY Islanders – This big game for the wildcard had late drama and an eventual winner. The Blue Jackets went down two in the first period. The Isles went up in the first period with a goal each from Pierre Engvall and Kyle Palmieri. Columbus would respond in the second period. Adam Fantilli made it 2-1 early to give them hope. During a penalty kill on Justin Danforth for a delay of game call, Boone Jenner rushed up for a shorthanded goal to make it 2-2. Within the final minute of the second, Anders Lee deflected in a goal for 3-2. That could have crushed Columbus. But they withstood it. In the final period of regulation, Kirill Marchenko tied up the game once more with over 7 minutes left. The score held until it Palmieri put a puck in with 7 seconds left. But! The referee waved the goal off for goaltender interference. A review from Toronto took a while and confirmed the call on the ice. The Isles were livid. The Blue Jackets had new life. Overtime came and went. A shootout was necessary. Fantilli was the only one to score. Columbus took the extra point for the win at 4-3. A badly needed win even if it hurt to give the Isles a point and they got into overtime at all due to a questionable call.
Friday vs. Vancouver – Oh boy. This one was bonkers. It seemed like Vancouver was just going to blow the Blue Jackets off their home ice. Linus Karlsson tipped in a PPG, Brock Boeser scored shortly after, and Jake DeBrusk added a PPG of his own. Columbus was down 3-0 in fewer than 14 minutes into the game. Then they came back for the first time. Boone Jenner deflected in a goal 34 seconds into the second period. Kirill Marchenko scored over four minutes later to make it a one-shot game. Dante Fabbro tied it up at the 8:44 mark. 3-3 and we have a game. The Canucks pulled away. Tyler Myers scored shorthanded after the halfway mark of the second period to provide some relief. Aatu Raty made it 5-2 in the third period. Then the Blue Jackets came back for the second time. Denton Mateychuk scored on the next shift to make it 5-4. At the 16:46 mark, Boone Jenner deflected in a power play goal to tie it up. And Mathieu Olivier seemingly smashed and grabbed the win with a goal at the 17:08 mark. Only for the Blue Jackets to melt on the next shift and concede a second goal to Raty. 6-6 and overtime was needed. After marathon shifts from Quinn Hughes and Zach Werenski, a shootout was needed. Thankfully for the home fans, this was not as dramatic. Kent Johnson scored first and that was it as Elvis Merzlikins stopped all three of Vancouver’s attempts. The Blue Jackets may not get any help in RW or ROW but they got an all-important W, 7-6 over Vancouver.
Saturday at Ottawa – With two wins in their pockets, would they make it three in a row in Ottawa? It would be dramatic. Not at first. Ridly Grieg opened the scoring. Boone Jenner did tie it up on the next shift. But there would be no quick response for a later first period goal from Drake Batherson. Or when Jake Sanderson put home a goal close to midway through the second period. Down 3-1, the Blue Jackets needed something to hope for. They got it with just fewer than nine minutes left: a goal from Kirill Marchenko to make it 3-2. Could Columbus come back to force overtime in Ottawa? They tried. They pushed. They fell short. The Blue Jackets lost 3-2. While they won their week at 2-1-0, they did lose an opportunity to secure the wild card spot for this snapshot. This means they remain mired among the mid teams fighting for that spot. Also, their lack of regulation wins and regulation/overtime wins do not favor them in a tiebreaker situation. How so? They matched Montreal for points but fell behind due to those tiebreakers. Forget about it when it comes to the Rangers. They are at least ahead of the Isles and Red Wings for the moment. They must keep pushing forward.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Blue Jackets need to keep getting points and push for all that they can get. They will host Nashville on Tuesday night. A Nashville team that has nothing to play for and has a game in Philly on Monday at that. That is a must-win. Columbus then will have two real tough matchups. They will host a contending Colorado team on Thursday and then go into Toronto, who is both good and has something to play for, on Saturday. Again they have to push forward. And now for time is running out in Columbus (and Belmont and Manhattan and Montreal and Detroit).
New York Islanders
Monday vs. Columbus – This big game for the wildcard had late drama and an eventual winner. The Isles went up in the first period with a goal each from Pierre Engvall and Kyle Palmieri. Columbus would respond in the second period. Adam Fantilli made it 2-1 early. During a penalty kill on Justin Danforth for a delay of game call, Boone Jenner rushed up for a shorthanded goal to make it 2-2. Within the final minute of the second, Anders Lee deflected in a goal for 3-2. In the third period, Kirill Marchenko tied up the game once more with over 7 minutes left. Regulation ended with controversy. It appeared Palmieri broke the tie with seconds left. But the ref on the ice said no, there was goaltender interference. A long review from Toronto upheld the call, much to the chagrin of Palmieri, Isles head coach Patrick Roy, and Islanders fans around the world. Overtime came and went. A shootout was necessary. Fantilli was the only one to score. Columbus took the extra point as the Isles lost 4-3. The wild card race wasn’t happy that this was a 3 point game. The Isles dropped a badly needed point. Alas. They do not replay the games.
Wednesday vs. Vancouver – Both the Isles and Canucks need points for their respective playoff races. But the Isles let this game get away from them. After a goalless first period, the Canucks scored first with a goal by Keifer Sherwood. The Islanders would respond and even take a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal by Casey Cizikas and an even strength one by Anthony DeAngelo. But the Isles would not maintain it. They blew it within the second period this time. Aatu Raty tied it up and Derek Forbort made it 3-2 for Vancouver within the final minute of the second. Teddy Blueger scored over a minute into the third to make it harder for the Islanders. They would not comeback. Sherwood bookended the scoring with an empty netter. A 5-2 loss that stings as the Isles got nothing to help their cause.
Saturday at Tampa Bay – The Lightning are not a team known for its chill and the Isles found that out the hard way. The first period was a disaster for the Royal Blue and Orange. Nikita Kucherov scored over two minutes into the game, Nick Perbix made it 2-0 over five minutes later, and Brayden Point made it 3-0 with over two minutes left in the first period. The Isles had nothing in response. In the second period, Point scored again to make it 4-0 with 17 seconds left. The Isles really had no response. Then the Islanders decided to put a lot of fear into the Bolts in the third period. Ryan Pulock punished an Anthony Cirelli roughing call to make it 4-1. Marc Gatcomb made it 4-2 close to two minutes later. Exactly one minute after Gatcomb’s goal, Anthony DeAngelo made it 4-3. The Islanders were on the verge of a comeback. Would it happen? No. Jonas Johansson would not let it. The Lightning made enough stops. The loss, thought to be secure at 4-0, was actually secured with a Jake Guentzel empty netter with 14 seconds left. The Isles lost 5-3. Another stinging one where any result could have been huge. Going 0-2-1 did not help the cause at all (falling to sixth place rarely helps) and now they need a whole lot more real soon.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Islanders still have a chance but they need to pull away. This week’s upcoming schedule is not favorable for that on paper. They will visit a really good Carolina team today. Then they come back to Long Island to host Tampa Bay for a rematch. Then they will host Minnesota on Friday night. All three are quality teams. Can the Isles get results to get them back in the mix and over the line? We shall see. But it is getting bleak in Belmont.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Sunday at Florida – The Pittsburgh Penguins went to Sunrise and grinded out a point. They could’ve won but they blew a lead. The Panthers did strike first with a goal by Sam Reinhart. Bryan Rust hit back with a brace in the first period. First on a power play to punish an Anton Lundell call. Second just before intermission. A call on Evan Rodrigues in the second period led to Evgeni Malkin making it 3-1 for Pittsburgh. The lead would not last. Reinhart made it a one-shot game with a PPG on a Rust penalty minutes after Malkin’s goal. That one shot came with over 5 minutes left in regulation. Lundell equalized with a slapshot. Overtime was forced and nothing was solved. A shootout was needed. Alexander Barkov scored first and no one else did. That meant a 4-3 shootout loss for the Penguins. A better effort than their cross-state rivals for the night. And a pesky point added for a team that may not want too many of them at this point of the season.
Tuesday at Tampa Bay – Pittsburgh went to play Florida’s other team and got absolutely wrecked. The Pens had 15 shots and conceded 6 out of 27. The Lightning struck for four within a four minute timespan in the first period and Pittsburgh was fried. The goals came quickly from Anthony Cirelli, Ryan McDonagh, Cirelli again, and Brayden Point. In a word: oof. Tampa Bay didn’t let up in the second period. Nikita Kucherov punished a Ryan Graves interference penalty, and Brandon Hagel tipped in a puck within the final minute to make it 6-0 going into the third. All Pittsburgh can say is that they didn’t get shut out. Bryan Rust tipped in a goal for that. Regardless, the Penguins were waxed in a 6-1 loss. Zero points earned, still pretty brutal.
Thursday at Buffalo – The Penguins seemingly went into Buffalo with the goal to tank. Losing to them would give Buffalo a win and thereby help Pittsburgh sink in theory. How else to explain this game? Tage Thompson scored 27 seconds in and Peyton Krebs made it 2-0 before the 5-minute mark. Sidney Crosby scored past halfway through the first period to make it close. The bottom fell out in the second. Buffalo ran up 5 goals on the Penguins. Jiri Kulich, Mattias Samuelsson, Kulich again, Tyson Kozak, and Alex Tuch turned 2-1 into 7-1 by the second intermission. The Penguins were done. Blake Lizotte and Kevin Hayes scored consolation goals to turn a 7-1 blowout into a 7-3 blowout. Job done for the tank. A 0-2-1 week keeps them in competition with their hated rivals for eighth in the Metropolitan. Fewer games played keeps them in seventh for now.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Penguins will have three games coming up. First, they will host Ottawa. A game that plenty of other teams would want Pittsburgh to win. The Penguins may have other ideas than upsetting the Sens. The Penguins will hit the road after that game. They will head to St. Louis on Thursday and then to Dallas on Sunday. A playoff hopeful and a playoff-locked team? Pittsburgh’s tank can continue to roll on.
Philadelphia Flyers
Sunday at Chicago- Do you like goals? This game had 11 of them. The two bottom feeders had a goal fest for 40 minutes. Jamie Drysdale opened it early in the first. Chicago hit back with scores from Pat Maroon and Joe Veleno less than a minute apart from each other. Travis Sanheim made 2-2 on the shift after Veleno’s goal. A couple minutes later, Bobby Brink made it 3-2 for Philly. That lasted all the way with 1:08 left in the first period. Conor Bedard tied it up at 3-3. Chicago would take this in the second period. Tyler Bertuzzi scored early for 4-3. A rare pair of minor penalties for tripping at the same time was called on Philly. Ryan Donato finished a 5v3 PPG for 5-3. Travis Konecny did get the Flyers back within one with a tip in around the halfway mark. Only for Donato get a second power play goal to punish a Sanheim penalty later on in the second. The third period had an early insurance goal for Lukas Reichel. The Flyers were cooked in the 7-4 loss in Chicago.Thursday at Washington – The Flyers moved onto Washington D.C. in search of a goal and a better result. It looked grim early on. PutinTeam Leader Ovechkin scored in the first period. The Flyers went down deeper in the second period thanks to a tip-in goal from Brandon Duhaime and another score from Andrew Mangiapane. Down 3-0, the Flyers needed something. Apparently, that something would come from Jakob Chychrun. Ryan Poehling took a puck to the net and the defender poked at his stick to try to deny him. It ended up chipping the puck into the net past Charlie Lindgren. The Flyers finally scored. They would get another late in the third. With the goalie pulled, Sean Couturier jammed a puck in. After a review, the goal was given and the Flyers were a shot away from dragging the game into overtime. But they would not get that one goal to tie it up. They lost 3-2 for their third in a row.
Tuesday at Toronto – The Flyers took on a Maple Leafs team angling for first in the Atlantic. It had the makings of a beating and one was given. Ryan Poehling scored first. This was answered in the short term with first period goals by John Tavares and a PPG from William Nylander. Toronto kept on lighting the lamp in the second period. Bobby McMann, Tavares, Nylander, and David Kampf all scored. Philadelphia broke the run of six goals by a Sean Couturier tip in with less than two minutes left in the second period. It was a consolation goal. Toronto added the extra point with a Max Domi goal. It was indeed a beating. A 7-2 beating.
After the game, Philadelphia head coach John Tortorella stated that it’s on him, he didn’t want to learn “how to coach a team in this type of season.” That sounds like someone who doesn’t want to be there anymore. Combined with a rumored beef with Cam York, that would be the end of Tortorella in Philly. He was fired on Thursday morning. Brad Shaw took over as the interim head coach for the Flyers.
Thursday vs. Montreal – Brad Shaw’s coaching debut perhaps sparked the Flyers in this one. Cam York certainly did not; he was dressed but played literally 0:00 in the game. Matvei Michkov opened the scoring early to get Philly off to a good start. While Alex Newhook tied it up, the Flyers put the Canadiens back down with a quick double. Nicolas Deslauriers and Sean Couturier scored about a minute apart halfway through the first to make it 3-1. After a goalless second, Cole Caufield cut the lead to one early in the third. Once again, Philly hit back with the double. Tyson Foerster scored past halfway through the third. Shortly thereafter, Couturier scored a PPG to punish Montreal’s failed challenge on the Foerster goal. Christian Dvorak made it 5-3 a bit later and Michkov dashed any late comeback hopes with a goal on the next shift. Patrik Laine scored late but it was not going to lead to anything. The Flyers won 6-4. Not good for the tank. Good for the feelings and Shaw. Ottawa, Columbus and the New York teams appreciate what Philly did. Montreal fans have to be exasperated that they A) lost to Philly, B) lost to Philly after they fired their head coach, and C) lost to Philly intentionally playing only five defensemen in the game.
Saturday vs. Buffalo – This was a tanking battle between the two last place teams in their respective divisions. It ended up being a game filled with goals. The Flyers started it with a quick double after the five-minute mark. Matvei Michkov and Jakob Pelletier each scored for a 2-0 lead. Buffalo cut it to 2-1 with a goal from Jack Quinn. The Sabres came back further in the second period. John-Jason Peterka scored early to tie it up. Quinn scored a PPG to punish a Rodrigo Abols hooking call. Philly was down 3-2 but they would respond in a big way. Michkov tied it up past the halfway mark of the game. Noah Cates restored the lead for Philly minutes later. In the third period, Ryan Poehling tipped in a puck to punish a Peyton Krebs tripping call for 5-3. Tyson Foerster scored minutes later to make it 6-3. While Alex Tuch scored shorthanded with fewer than five minutes left, Poehling scored on the same power play situation on the next shift to make it 7-4. Not sure if Philadelphia needed a 7-4 win. Given that they fired Tortorella earlier in the week and maybe want to put Brad Shaw in a good light, they wanted to go out blazing. They end up splitting the week and remind behind Pittsburgh only due to tiebreakers.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: Philadelphia’s season is all but over. It is all about racking up lottery balls or finding some kind of sign of a direction to go in for 2025-26. They will only have two games to play in this week coming up. On Monday, they will take on fellow tankers in Nashville. This one will be in Philly. On Saturday, the Flyers will head all the way to Montreal for a rematch. As with this past Thursday, others will hope for a second straight upset. I doubt the Canadiens would want that. So it goes for Philadelphia.
That was the twenty-second weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot for this season. Now that you know what happened and what will happen next, it is now your turn. Do the Capitals really need to turn it around after a meh week? Will this week coming up earn an ‘X’ for Carolina? Can the New Jersey Devils further lock down their spot? Who will win the mid-off for the final wild card spot in the East? Will Philadelphia jump Pittsburgh for seventh place in this week coming up? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about the week that was for all eight teams in the division and the week ahead for them. Thank you for reading.