In the twentieth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot of the 2024-25 season, the Carolina Hurricanes got hot again and so did the Pittsburgh Penguins. The New York Rangers jumped the Columbus Blue Jackets too. All this and more in this week’s snapshot.
As the middle of March has been met, we have some important movement within the Metropolitan Division. No, not at the top. The Washington Capitals still hold a double-digit lead over the now-hottest-team-in-the-NHL Carolina Hurricanes. The New Jersey Devils maintained their hold on third with a big win in this past week. The move was in the all important middle. The New York Rangers have jumped the Columbus Blue Jackets in the standings. Which means they own a wild card spot over the Jackets for the first time in weeks, if not months. That is big for the wild card watch as well, as Ottawa appears to be running away from their own division opponents plus the Rangers and Blue Jackets. Here is how the standings look as of this morning. (Aside: Yes, I know this is far later than usual for this post. There’s no mystery; I literally forgot to hit a button. That’s why you’re seeing it now.)
Standings via NHL.com, Playoff odds via Moneypuck, First overall draft pick odds via Tankathon
The wild card race also took a big turn with Ottawa sweeping their week to take a commanding hold on the first wild card spot. This means the pressure is really on the Rangers with Columbus and Montreal at their heels with several teams not far below them. The weekly schedule coming up has another massive New Jersey-Columbus game with a few more involving the four wild card watch teams in the Atlantic. The games within the Metropolitan remain highlighted and in bold; the games against those four wild card watch teams are in italics.
Schedules via NHL.com
Here is the week that was and week that will be for all eight teams.
Washington Capitals
Sunday vs. Seattle – The Caps could’ve started better against the Kraken but finished just fine. Shane Wright opened the scoring for the Kraken in the first. Washington entered the second down a score. They would hit back quickly. Martin Fehervary tied it up within the first minute. Dylan Strome broke the tie over two minutes later. Seattle would respond; Jordan Eberle tied it up about five minutes later. The 2-2 deadlock was broken within the final five minutes. Connor McMichael tipped in a John Carlson shot to make it 3-2. Seattle pulled their goalie for a late attempt to tie it up. That yielded an ENG for the PutinTeam Leader, Alex Ovechkin, and a 4-2 result. Another day, another win for Washington.
Tuesday at Anaheim – Washington opened up their California trip with a goal fest in Orange County. The Ducks took an early lead. While Dylan Strome struck first for the Caps over two minutes in, Jacob Trouba’s first of the season (yes, really) and Drew Helleson scored less than a minute part to make it 2-1 before six minutes into the period. Aliaksei Protas tied it up late in the first, though. The second period had just the one goal; a tip-in of a Matt Roy shot by Pierre-Luc Dubois to make it 3-2 for the Capitals. Then the scoring ramped up big time in the final frame. Pavel Mintyukov tied it up for Anaheim over four minutes in. Protas scored on a backhander on the next shift for a 4-3 lead. That lasted for over a minute as Frank Vatrano tied it up for the Ducks. That held until Nic Dowd broke the deadlock with over six minutes left in regulation. Anthony Beauvillier added an insurance goal within the final two minutes. Protas completed a hat trick with a last-minute empty netter to close out a six-goal third period. The Capitals won 7-4, continuing their run of just stomping through weeks of their schedule.
Thursday at Los Angeles – That stomping hit a snag in Los Angeles. A former Capital, Darcy Kuemper, shut out Washington on Thursday night. The Caps were even held to just 21 shots. Not a strong game for the visitors. Warren Foegele’s wrister in the first period was all that was needed for the victory in retrospect. The Kings did not keep it there. Kevin Fiala punished a second-period-final-minute Andrew Mangiapane holding call early in the third period for 2-0. Quintin Byfield scored on the next shift for a 3-0 lead. The Caps were frustrated and blanked in this loss to what was then (and still is) a hot Los Angeles team.
Sunday at San Jose – The Capitals took out their frustrations by taking care of business against San Jose. The first period featured Washington out-shooting the Sharks 17-3 and out-scoring them 3-0. Strome, Protas, and Taylor Raddysh saw to those scores to give the Capitals a commanding lead. It may be called the worst lead in hockey but the visitors managed. While Macklin Celebrini scored over six minutes into the third to cut it to 3-1, Trevor van Reimsdyk scored his first of the season on the next shift to ice any hopes of a comeback. The PutinTeam Leader capped off the scoring with a tip-in for what would be a 5-1 beating of the Sharks. Another week, another winning week for the Capitals. California did not slow them down much and nothing really will at this rate.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Capitals have a three game homestand coming up this week. They will host Detroit on Tuesday with a chance at causing more chaos in the wild card race. The Capitals will try to avoid a trap game with Philadelphia on Thursday night. On Saturday evening, they will have a much tougher opponent: the Defending Cup Champions in Florida. An ‘X’ is all but certain for the Capitals at this point. They may even get it this week.
Carolina Hurricanes
Sunday vs. Winnipeg – The Hurricanes took on the Jets. Their deadline acquisitions shined. Mark Janikowski opened the scoring with a deflection from a Scott Morrow shot, late in the first period. Janikowski made it a brace in the second, giving the Canes a 2-0 lead. Early in the third, Gabe Vilardi hooked Seth Jarvis. This ended with Logan Stankoven tipping in a Shayne Gostisbehere shot for a PPG and 3-0 lead. Winnipeg’s Alex Iafallo scored a consolation goal. Carolina dashed any late comeback by Jarvis scoring an ENG less than a minute later. Adam Lowry added a second consolation goal. All it did was make it a 4-2 win for Carolina instead of 4-1.
Tuesday vs Tampa Bay – The Hurricanes entered this game hot and kept the fire burning against the Bolts. Seth Jarvis opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the first period. The Canes doubled up in the second with goals from Jordan Martinook and Jack Roslovic. Gage Goncalves would claw a goal back for the visitors. But Sean Walker answered that a bit later to ensure there would be no comeback. Carolina won 4-1 for a fifth straight win.
Friday vs. Detroit – Detroit needed a result and Carolina was more than willing to deny them one. The Red Wings did strike first when Alex DeBrincat scored within the final two minutes of the first period. This lasted until 23 seconds into the second period when Taylor Hall tipped in a puck from Jesperi Kotkaniemi to tie it up. Just over five minutes later, Jack Roslovic broke the tie with another helper from Kotkaniemi. About seven minutes after that, Jalen Chatfield snapped in a goal to make it 3-1 for Carolina. The Red Wings made it interesting with an early third period goal by Michael Rasmussen. The Canes held true in the one-shot game until Eric Robinson secured the points with an empty netter. A 4-2 win to extend their winning streak to six.
Saturday at Philadelphia – Carolina took their hot streak to the coldest homestand in the league in Philadelphia. The final game in that homestand. The Hurricanes showed no mercy. The first period featured goals from Sebastian Aho and Mark Jankowski. The second period opened with Taylor Hall punishing Ryan Poehling for a tripping call 10 seconds into the second, and added a second goal for Jankowski. Within the final minute of regulation, Scott Morrow scored his first NHL goal. You may have noticed I did not write anything about the Flyers. That is because Pytor Kochetkov shut them out. Carolina won 5-0 to cap their week at 4-0-0 with seven straight wins in a row.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: After beating some big teams and getting hot, what’s next? A trip to California. The Hurricanes will be able to rest until Thursday night when they are in San Jose. Then they will end their week and start a weekend back to back on Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles. The Hurricanes are safe. They just need to stay sharp for the postseason.
New Jersey Devils
Sunday at Philadelphia – NJ went into Philly in a battle of three-game losing streaks. Someone was going to make it four in a row for the other side. It turned out to be the Devils. The debut of Cody Glass saw him finish a puck laid for him from the endboards for a 1-0 lead. Later in the second, a puck hit off Sean Couturier in the slot and fell to Erik Haula on the left flank. Haula wasn’t going to miss and he didn’t for his first point in 29 games. Up 2-0 and it seemed 3-0 was incoming. But in the third, Brian Dumoulin got walked by Travis Konecny. He beat an otherwise excellent Allen for a 2-1 lead. The Flyers wanted the equalizer but NJ either repelled it or their lack of discipline hurt it. Dawson Mercer put in an ENG to seal up a big get-right 3-1 win for NJ.
Tuesday vs Columbus – A big 4 point swing in the division was on the table. New Jersey saw to it to start off first. A Dante Fabbro trip on Nathan Bastian in the first period yielded a very cute redirection of a Jesper Bratt pass by Nico Hischier for a 1-0 lead. After, Paul Cotter took a holding call. NJ killed it and Paul Cotter took a loose puck in for a breakaway goal after coming out of the box. Late in the period, Jesper Bratt poached a free puck in front of Elvis Merzlikins for a 3-0 lead. All good? Not quite. Columbus roared back in the second period. Mathieu Olivier tipped in a Denton Mateychuk shot for a 3-1 game. Kirill Marchenko took Brian Dumoulin to school and beat Jacob Markstrom on a backhander at 3-2. The Devils would settle the game and respond. Timo Meier scored off the wing late in the period to make it 4-2. Early in the third, Luke Hughes had a long-ish shot beat Merzlikins for a 5-2 game. The Devils cruised for better or worse. Olivier got a second goal off a blooper midway through the third. But the Devils held on for a massive 5-3 win.
Thursday vs. Edmonton – The Devils followed up their win by hosting Edmonton. In a fast-paced if sloppy game, the Devils got on the board first in the second period. Stuart Skinner mishandled a puck and Brett Pesce punished that for an early score. Leon Draisaitl would respond later on in the second period to tie it up. The third period opened with the Oilers dominating. Evan Bouchard rewarded the effort with a long shot getting through traffic and by Jake Allen. Then the Devils made a comeback happen. Jesper Bratt wheeled around to above the high slot and slid a shot through traffic to make it 2-2. Less than two minutes later, Bratt set up Simon Nemec at the center point for another long shot through traffic to break the tie at 3-2. The Devils had to hold on for dear life against the Edmonton offense – and they did. They won 3-2 to win their week and take a three-game winning streak into Pittsburgh.
Saturday at Pittsburgh – On national television, the Devils had a let-down game. The opening was poor. While Cody Glass finish a feed from Bratt to open the scoring, the Pens hit back hard late in the period. Connor Dewar put in a rebound and Danton Heinan scored on a rush on the next shift to make it a 2-1 game. Rickard Rakell beat Jacob Markstrom – who had a bad game – to make it 3-1 early in the second period. Pittsburgh seemingly had the Devils beat when Philip Tomasino stole a puck from Johnathan Kovacevic and buried it for 4-1 early in the third. But then Noel Acciari high-sticked Brett Pesce and drew blood for four-minutes. Timo Meier punished that for a 4-2 score. On the next shift, Evgeni Malkin high-sticked Brett Pesce and drew blood for four minutes. Nico Hischier tipped in a Luke Hughes shot to make it 4-3. Would there be a comeback after all? No. Pesce was given a minor for cross-checking Kevin Hayes and Erik Karlsson rocketed a shot to score a killer PPGA. (Thank Bastian for the opportunity.) The Devils went down 5-3. An empty netter for Dewar sealed up the loss. And Markstrom gave up another poor goal to Kevin Hayes to make it 7-3. An ugly loss to end the 3-1-0 week on a down note.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Devils will have a lighter week in between the four game week they just have and one more next week. The games still matter. Monday is a rematch with the Columbus Blue Jackets in Ohio. Another four-point swing will make a huge difference as to how likely Columbus will be at catching New Jersey by the end of the season. On Thursday, the Devils will host a Calgary team that has a lot to play for in their conference. Saturday night is another game important for the wild card. The Devils will host Ottawa. Depending on results in the week, the Devils may have some odd supporters for that one. Either way, New Jersey is still in control of their destiny when it comes to making the playoffs. Another winning week would be huge for the cause. Forget winning four in a row, can they just do that again?
New York Rangers
Sunday vs. Columbus – The Rangers opened the week with a home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team they are directly chasing in the standings. The game went pear-shaped for the Blueshirts. While Justin Danforth struck first, Artemi Panarin tied it up late in the first period for a 1-1 game. The second period was where it went all awry. The Rangers gave up two goals on back-to-back shifts to Adam Fantilli. The Rangers did well to score two shorties to tie it up. Credit Braden Schneider and Chris Kreider for that to make it 3-3. But they conceded two more late goals in short order in the second period. Mathieu Olivier got a tip-in through and Dante Fabbro scored not long after to put the Rangers down 5-3. The third period just had Columbus pull ahead further. Kent Johnson deflected a puck in for 6-3 and Fantilli completed a hat trick for what would be the final score at 7-3. Let me get this straight, Rangers. You’re at home, you’re playing a team directly impacting playoff spots on the line, and this is the result? Man.
Tuesday at Winnipeg – The Rangers hit the road and became the Jets’ latest victims. Vladislav Namestnikov scored first with a deflection of a Cole Perfetti shot in the first period. An uncommon removal of the helmet penalty was called on Nino Neiderreiter from K’Andre Miller. Mika Zibanejad punished that to tie up the game. From then on, Connor Hellebuyck locked it down. A penalty filled second period yielded one a goal: a PPG for Gabe Vilardi. The Rangers went down 2-1 and so that stayed. Another loss for the Rangers. A bad time to get cold.
Thursday at Minnesota – The Rangers would pull it out in Minnesota to warm up on Thursday night, though. Although they almost blew that too. After a goalless first period, Vincent Trocheck opened the scoring in the second period for New York. That held up until the third period. Matt Rempe was called for, let’s just say, a questionable interference call. Marcus Johansson punished thatto tie up the game. Jonny Brodzinski would restore the lead less than three minutes later. But a less-questionable and more-painful high-sticking call on Zac Jones on Johansson led to four minutes – and another PPGA. Frederick Gaudreau converted the situation to make it 2-2. Overtime was necessary. Of all of the plays, Artemi Panarin and J.T. Miller set up Braden Schneider to beat one Wild player and then backhand it clean over Filip Gustavsson for the win. The pretty goal made it a 3-2 OT win for the Rangers. A reason to feel good going into a big rematch.
Saturday at Columbus – After getting waxed for a touchdown with an extra point in Manhattan, the Rangers wanted revenge in Ohio. They got it. Igor Shesterkin was perfect and stopped everything the Blue Jackets put up. Which was not a ton at 21 shots on net, but a 100% save percentage is still 100%. The Rangers went up early thanks to Alexis Lafreniere and some unintentional assistance from Daniil Tarasov. Artemi Panarin made it 2-0 past the halfway mark of the game. Vincent Trocheck scored a brace in the third period. The first with over five minutes left and the second with an empty net in a shorthanded situation. The Rangers won 4-0 to get revenge on the Blue Jackets. And by going 2-2-0 in the week, the Rangers jumped past the Blue Jackets in the standings.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Rangers will stay at home all week, which is a positive. Less of a positive is that it is a four-game week. Their weekend back-to-back set ends tonight with a home game against the mighty offense of Edmonton. On Tuesday, they will face a Calgary team that is also fighting for their playoff lives. Thursday will have a tough Toronto team coming to Manhattan. The week and homestand ends on Saturday afternoon with a Vancouver team that is also battling for a playoff spot.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Sunday at New York Rangers – This massive game for the wild card race ended up being a rout for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The first period was even. Justin Danforth struck first for Columbus. Artemi Panarin matched it late. Then the goals flowed in the second period. Adam Fantilli started it by scoring on back to back shifts at the 3 minute mark. During a Blue Jacket power play, Braden Schneider and Chris Kreider scored shorthanded goals to tie it up. Late in the period, Mathieu Olivier broke the tie with a tip in. Dante Fabbro scored shortly thereafter for a 5-3 lead. In the third, Columbus pulled away for good. Kent Johnson deflected in a shot for 6-3. Fantilli completed his hat trick shortly after for a 7-3 lead. The scoring stopped. It was a huge win for Columbus and a huge loss for the Rangers.
Tuesday at New Jersey – The Blue Jackets have been closing the gap on the Devils. Winning this game would help them big time. They failed to do so. In fact, they conceded three goals to the Devils in the first period alone. Nico Hischier one-touched a Jesper Bratt pass for a PPG. After failing to convert a power play on a Paul Cotter penalty, Cotter got a breakaway out of the box and scored to make it 2-0. Late in the period, Bratt poached a puck and beat Elvis Merzlikins low for a 3-0 deficit. Columbus would come back in the second period. Mathieu Olivier tipped in a puck for a 3-1 game and Kirill Marchenko schooled Brian Dumoulin to make it 3-2. But the Blue Jackets could not find that third goal. Timo Meier restored the two goal lead late in the second period with a strong shot off the wing. Luke Hughes made it a three-goal game with a long-ish shot beating Merzlikins just 30 seconds into the third period. The Devils cruised, which did open up a goal for Columbus. Olivier got a blooper of a goal in to make the game somewhat possible. But there would be no comeback. The Devils prevailed and Columbus lost a huge opportunity to catch up in the standings with a 5-3 loss.
Thursday vs. Las Vegas – The Blue Jackets returned home to host Las Vegas. A tough opponent but Columbus has been quite good at home this season. The Golden Knights did not abide. Adin Hill weathered an early storm of shots from the Blue Jackets whilst the visitors went up by two. Nic Roy punished a Justin Danforth tripping call to open the scoring and Brandon Saad scored in the final minute of the first to make it 2-0. Past midway through the second, Pavel Dorofeyev made it a 3-0 game. Absent any shots getting by Hill, the Blue Jackets pulled their goalie after killing a Dante Fabbro penalty. That yielded an empty netter for Alex Pietrangelo with over four minutes left in regulation. It was glorious for Las Vegas. It was brutal for Columbus. A 4-0 loss after dropping a big game in New Jersey? What’s next? Dropping a big game in Ohio to a team you beat on this past Sunday?
Saturday vs. New York Rangers – They dropped a big game in Ohio to the same team they beat 7-3 just six days earlier. The Blue Jackets conceded first with a little help from Daniil Tarasov; Alexis Lafreniere was given the backhanded goal. In the second period, Artemi Panarin extended it to a 2-0 deficit. With over five minutes left, Vincent Trocheck provided what was effectively a killing blow in making it 3-0. Columbus did get a late power play when Braden Schneider tripped Kirill Marchenko. They pulled their goalie – only for Trocheck to seal up the game for good with a shorthanded empty net goal. Back-to-back 4-0 losses. A 1-3-0 week. No goals since a blooper for Olivier on Tuesday night. Losing games to teams they are directly competing with. Falling out of the wild card spot to this Rangers team and now behind Montreal. Columbus, what is happening?
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Blue Jackets are not safe in their position in the standings, so they must continue to get results. They will be itching for revenge on New Jersey on Monday night. The Blue Jackets will be at home and will want the points. On Thursday, they will have a tough matchup with Florida. Then they will go to Pittsburgh on Friday. It is a tricky back-to-back. But Columbus needs to make it work. Their playoff lives are on the line. They picked a bad time to get cold.
New York Islanders
Sunday at Anaheim – The Isles went into Orange County and left with a loss. They couldn’t solve Lukas Dostal for the most part. The performance led head coach Patrick Roy to pull the goalie just over 7 minutes into the third period. Before that, the Isles went down to scores by Sam Coangelo, Drew Helleson, and a PPG from Mason McTavish in each period. Coangelo scored an ENG at the eight minute mark. The Isles got a late third period consolation goal from Anthony DeAngelo. All it meant they lost 4-1 instead of 4-0. A poor follow up to a win in San Jose on its own. Damaging to their fading playoff hopes.
Tuesday at Los Angeles – It was an exercise in frustration for the Islanders. Los Angeles did go up in the first period with a goal by Vladislav Gavrikov. The Isles tied it up in the second with a goal from Anders Lee. Only for Philip Danault to score on the next shift to make it 2-1. The Kings proceeded to take seven straight penalties, three of which were clearances over the glass, for the game. Not only did the Isles not convert a single one of those seven power plays, the Kings scored two shorthanded goals in the process. A broken stick by DeAngelo from receiving a pass yielded a SHG for Quintin Byfield in the second. In the third, Drew Doughty put in an empty net shorty. The Isles lost 4-1. Harsh. And more damage to the playoff hopes.
Friday vs. Edmonton – The Islanders returned home to take on an Edmonton team that played in Newark the night before. They did not really take full advantage. The Oilers out-shot the Isles by 10 and the Isles failed to convert any of their three power plays. At least the goaltending by Ilya Sorokin was strong. But even he was not going to deny Leon Draisaitl. And he did not over eight minutes into the second period in what would be the game’s first goal. The game’s second goal was scored by Bo Horvat over a minute into the third; an individual effort off a takeaway in his own end. The Isles at least made it to overtime. But after a shot, Calvin Pickard fed Connor McDavid to spring Draisaitl for a breakaway from the red line. He finished it to give the Isles a 2-1 overtime loss. Yes, a point was earned but the Isles needed wins. Going 0-2-1 does not help their cause at all. If anything, it may be all but lost by now.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Isles will have four more games to try to salvage something in their season. It will not be simple. Tonight, they will host the defending champions in the Florida Panthers. On Tuesday, they will take a short trip to Pittsburgh to play the Penguins. On Thursday, the Isles return home for a possibly important matchup with Montreal. Their week ends with a late afternoon home game against Calgary on Saturday. It is not simple and it could effectively be the end if its another losing affair.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Sunday at Minnesota – It was an emotional affair as Marc-Andre Fleury suited up for the last time against his longtime former team in Pittsburgh. There were no goals in the first. Pittsburgh killed a minor and a double minor. Then, in the second, they punished a Zach Bogosian interference call. Evgeni Malkin racked up a PPG for a 1-0 lead. Nearly midway through the third, the Pens went up 2. Sidney Crosby found the back of the net to put the pressure on the Wild. Ryan Hartman would punish a Malkin penalty on him within the last 10 minutes. That made it interesting. But the game was locked up when Crosby put in an empty net goal. Pittsburgh won 3-1.
Tuesday vs. Las Vegas – Pittsburgh returned home to face a contending Las Vegas team and won? Yes. With just 17 shots and Tristan Jarry playing well. And Sidney Crosby. He converted a power play late in the first to make it 1-0. A bit after a Penguin power play to start the second ended, Crosby made it a 2-0 game. Las Vegas needed a comeback. One began with a Pavel Dorofeyev PPG late in the second period. It forced overtime when Noah Hanifin scored with 7 seconds left. OT would not take long. Erik Karlsson finished it just 49 seconds in for Pittsburgh to salvage the victory, 3-2. Well done.
Thursday vs. St. Louis – Pittsburgh continued on to host a playoff-hopeful Blues team. The Pens got off to a surprising 1-0 lead thanks to Ryan Graves’ first goal of the season over two minutes in. The Blues worked hard to respond but Tristan Jarry kept out all 15 shots in the first period. Early in the second period, Connor Timmins doubled the lead for Pittsburgh. However, Timmins would go to the box much later for a high-sticking penalty. Zac Bolduc punished that to make it a 2-1 game. The Pens got a late lift from Connor Dewar’s first of the season to go into the third up 3-1. However again, the Penguins went into the third shorthanded. Kris Letang took a cross-checking call with eight seconds left in the period. St. Louis would convert the power play almost 90 seconds into the third thanks to Dylan Holloway. It was a one-shot game yet again. This meant Bryan Rust’s re-direction of a Rickard Rakell shot to make it 4-2 over five minutes later was important. It was until Alexey Toropchenko scored less than two minutes later to make it 4-3. Jarry would lock it down from then on and the Penguins did limit St. Louis’ offense for the remainder of the third. The home fans could breathe easier when Rakell scored an empty netter by the end of the game. The Penguins won their third straight with a 5-3 result.
Saturday vs. New Jersey – The Penguins and Devils each had a shot to sweep the week. The Penguins looked good early but gave up the first goal when Jesper Bratt found ex-Pen Cody Glass in the left circle for a score. But the Penguins hit back hard late in the first period. Connor Dewar put home a rebound in front to tie it up and Danton Heinan finished a rush play on the next shift for a 2-1 lead. The Pens kept marching forward. Rickard Rakell beat Jacob Markstrom early in the second for a 3-1 lead. Philip Tomasino swiped a puck from Johnathan Kovacevic and buried it in the net for 4-1 over two minutes into the third. It looked like the rout was on. Then Noel Acciari high-sticked Brett Pesce and drew blood for a double-minor. This was punished on the second minor by Timo Meier for a 4-2 score. On the next shift, Evgeni Malkin high-sticked Pesce and drew blood for another double-minor. Seriously, Penguins? Nico Hischier tipped in a Luke Hughes shot to make it a 4-3 game. The Penguins needed a response. They got one during a power play caused by Pesce of all players. A terrible turnover by Nathan Bastian led to a shot by Malkin, a recovery, and a rocket by Erik Karlsson to make it 5-3. An empty netter for Dewar made it 6-3 and Kevin Hayes added a late goal past Markstrom to just add to the vibes. The Penguins won 7-3 to spoil the Devils, sweep their week (4-0-0!), and get ahead of Philly.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: The Penguins will have a short week coming up of just two games. Both are within the division so there are some stakes involved. The Penguins could put a real dent in any longshot odds the Islanders have at making the playoffs on Tuesday. On Friday, they can take Columbus down a peg. It will be a week to recover amid the five-game homestand. Road games await after this week. They may not have much to play for but they are in a great form to give any opponent a problem.
Philadelphia Flyers
Sunday vs. New Jersey – The Flyers and Devils entered this game with three-game losing streaks. This would be a get-right game for one team. It would not be the home team. Ex-Penguin and current Devil Cody Glass opened the scoring in the first period when a puck dropped for him off the endboards. The Devils leaned on Jake Allen and doubled their lead in the second period. A puck hit off Sean Couturier in the slot and went out to Erik Haula on the left flank of Sam Ersson. Haula would not miss that and the Flyers went down two. They did have some hope in the third period. Travis Konecny torched Brian Dumoulin and then Allen to make it a 2-1 game. But there would be no equalizer. Flyers discipline and poor management yielded an empty net goal to Dawson Mercer. The Flyers would lose their fourth straight, 3-1.
Tuesday vs Ottawa – The Flyers sought to upset the Senators a bit and finally get that first win at home in their seven game homestand. Just like Sunday, they faltered and didn’t do that. Giving up a goal to Brady Tkachuk 24 seconds into the game didn’t help. Jamie Drysdale would tie it up early in the second period. Only for Tyler Kleven to restore the lead a bit later. Rodrigo Abols made it 2-2. Only for Michael Amadio to restore the lead further on in the second. In the third period, Ottawa never looked back. Dylan Cozens made it 4-2 halfway through the period. Shane Pinto added a late ENG. The Flyers were faded at 5-2 for a fifth straight loss at home.
Thursday vs. Tampa Bay – The Flyers wanted to avoid a sixth straight loss at home. They had to battle with the Lightning to do it. It did not look great when Gage Goncalves punished a delay of game call on Ryan Poehling in the first period. But the Flyers tied it up in the first thanks to Bobby Brink. It did not look great when Zemgus Girgensons scored 15 seconds into the second period for a 2-1 deficit. But the Flyers turned it around. Brink tied it up a second time within the midpoint of the period and Ryan Poehling redeemed his penalty with a last-minute goal to make it 3-2. It did not look great when Cam Atkinson tied it up early in the third. And when the Flyers failed to score. They would get a point by going beyond regulation. Overtime solved nothing. A long shootout was needed. Matvei Michkov and Brayden Point were the lone scorers in the regular three rounds. In the fifth round, Owen Tippett scored while Oliver Bjorkstrand was stuffed. The Flyers finally won a game at home on this seven game homestand! They won 4-3 in a shootout. They will take that!
Saturday vs. Carolina – Philadelphia’s seven game homestand ended against the might of the Carolina Hurricanes. They got crushed by said might. Carolina’s Pytor Kochetkov allowed nothing to go past him. All while the Canes just kept getting goals. Sebastian Aho and Mark Jankowski did it in the first period. A Taylor Hall power play (punishing a Poehling trip on Hall) and a second goal for Jankowski in the second period. A last-minute, first-NHL goal for Scott Morrow in the third period. Carolina crushed the Flyers. The Philly faithful booed their team off the ice for the sixth time out of seven on this homestand. Even if they did beat Tampa Bay, the 1-3-0 week felt more like a 0-4-0 week. They also dropped behind their hated rivals in Pittsburgh.
What’s Coming Up in This Week: Philadelphia begins a five-game road trip. Surely, it cannot go as bad as their homestand? This week is tough, though. The Flyers will go to Tampa Bay on Monday night. Then they are off to play Washington on Thursday night. The Flyers’ week will end with the start of a road back-to-back. The harder of the two games is on Saturday; an afternoon affair with Dallas – now featuring Mikko Rantanen. Good luck, Flyers, you will need it.
That was the twentieth weekly Metropolitan Division snapshot for this season. Now that you know what happened and what will happen next, it is now your turn. Will this be the week where the Capitals get their ‘X’? How long will the Carolina Hurricanes keep on winning? Can the New Jersey Devils bounce back from their loss in Pittsburgh? Can the Columbus Blue Jackets bounce back at all? Will the New York Rangers be able to hold onto a playoff spot? What will the Islanders, Penguins, and Flyers even do? 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.