One other week of NHL motion is within the books, and it was an excellent one. There have been fairly a number of notable tales, and now we have you coated with the weekly NHL Rewind.
Connor Bedard, the 2023 No. 1 total decide, had his Calder Trophy marketing campaign derailed when he suffered a fractured jaw towards the New Jersey Devils. Bedard was rolling by the primary 39 video games of his NHL profession, however he might be on the shelf for some time now.
Elsewhere, the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers stayed pink sizzling by extending their respective profitable streaks to seven video games. Moreover, Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury continued to climb the NHL file books with a blinding efficiency towards the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Let’s have a look again at the perfect highlights and largest storylines from the week that was within the NHL.
Aim of the week: Brad Marchand undresses Kris Letang
The Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins performed a chaotic recreation Thursday, and it produced a handful of highlights. The most effective amongst them was a game-tying aim from Brad Marchand that concerned him fully bullying future Corridor of Fame defenseman Kris Letang.
Early within the third interval, with the Bruins trailing 5-4, Charlie Coyle slid a cross to Marchand within the impartial zone. Marchand brilliantly fended off Letang’s poke examine and dug the puck out of the defender’s skates.
Then, with Letang on his heels, Marchand poked the puck round him and once more neutralized Letang’s try and knock the puck away. Lastly, with Letang on his again, Marchand flipped an ideal shot over the shoulder of Alex Nedeljkovic.
That was Marchand’s fifteenth tally of the season, and he’s nonetheless taking part in at a really excessive stage in his first yr because the Bruins’ captain. Sadly for Boston, a man named Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner for the Penguins with underneath 9 minutes left within the recreation.
Theft of the week: Marc-Andre Fleury flashes the leather-based on historic night time
Saturday was an enormous day for Marc-Andre Fleury as he tied Patrick Roy together with his 551st profession win, and he did so by making some enormous saves. None of them have been higher than the one he made on Yegor Chinakhov in additional time.
After a missed alternative by the Wild at one finish of the ice, the Blue Jackets got here again the opposite means with eyes on profitable the sport. On the odd-man rush, Jake Bean fed Chinakhov for a one-timer, and he was watching every kind of twine.
That is when Fleury slid throughout and made a spectacular glove save together with his personal signature aptitude.
That saved the sport for Minnesota, and Marco Rossi ended it shortly thereafter. That helped Fleury tie Roy, and it is fairly clear the Wild goaltender nonetheless has some magic left in him.
Fleury may have an opportunity to cross Roy on Wednesday if the Wild select to start out him towards the Dallas Stars.
Connor Bedard positioned on IR after taking huge hit vs. Devils
Connor Bedard was having a spectacular rookie season, however an harm has derailed that in the interim. On Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks positioned Bedard on IR after he suffered a fractured jaw towards the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
Within the first interval, Bedard was trying to enter the zone on the ability play when the puck slipped off his stick. As Bedard went to succeed in for it, Devils defenseman Brendan Smith stepped up and laid fairly the lick on the rookie.
Bedard went down onerous and he got here up holding his jaw. The No. 1 total decide left the sport and didn’t return.
Smith wasn’t penalized for the hit, however he did need to reply to Nick Foligno within the second interval. These two dropped the mitts for a ferocious bout that went on for a while. Apparently, Smith is made from titanium as a result of Foligno fractured his finger and was additionally positioned on IR.
This harm may additionally shake up the Calder Trophy race. Bedard was the clear frontrunner thus far, however which may change the longer he sits out. Maybe Brock Faber or Luke Hughes can shut the hole within the coming weeks.
The Blackhawks have been already within the dialog for the worst workforce within the league, even with Bedard within the lineup. Now, it is going to be onerous to look at, though Chicago did handle to drag out a win over the Flames afterward.
Oilers, Panthers keep pink sizzling with hat tips and 7 straight wins
The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers are the 2 hottest groups within the NHL today, they usually each received decisive wins Saturday to increase their profitable streaks to seven. On prime of that, each of the victories concerned hat tips.
The Panthers have been in Denver this previous weekend to tackle the Colorado Avalanche in a battle of Stanley Cup hopefuls. The sport went into the third interval with the rating locked at 4-4, and Florida took management from there. The Panthers scored 4 within the last body, and Sam Reinhart completed off a hat trick for his twenty sixth, twenty seventh and twenty eighth targets on the yr.
Over this seven-game profitable streak, Reinhart has been even hotter than ordinary. He has 10 targets and one help over that span as he simply retains discovering methods to place the puck within the internet. Matthew Tkachuk has lastly discovered his scoring contact too, driving a three-game aim streak after a sluggish begin to the season.
Because of this latest sizzling streak, the Panthers have surged to only two factors behind the Boston Bruins for the Atlantic Division lead.
In Edmonton, the Oilers managed most of their recreation towards the Senators on Saturday night time en path to a 3-1 win. Zach Hyman had all three of the targets for the Oilers for his second hat trick of the season.
Hyman now has 25 targets on the season, which leads the Oilers by a large margin, and he has been having fun with life on a line with Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Since Kris Knoblauch turned the top coach in Edmonton and that line turned a daily trio, Hyman is tied for second within the NHL with 18 targets in 22 video games performed.
The Oilers are actually 17-6-0 underneath Knoblauch, they usually have climbed into the second wild card spot. They’re 4 factors behind the Nashville Predators, with 4 video games in hand, for the primary wild card spot and simply 5 factors behind the Los Angeles Kings for third within the Pacific Division.
Appointment viewing this week
Golden Knights at Avalanche | Wednesday, Jan. 10: That is all the time going to be a banger matchup as a result of these are two Western Convention heavyweights. Vegas hasn’t been taking part in its finest hockey of late, however this might be an enormous alternative to proper the ship with a win over the Avs.
Kings at Panthers | Thursday, Jan. 11: Personally, I feel these are two of essentially the most harmful Stanley Cup contenders within the league. The Kings and Panthers are each nice at controlling play at five-on-five, they usually have horses up and down the lineup. This needs to be a ton of enjoyable.
Devils at Lightning | Thursday, Jan. 11: The Devils will limp into Tampa Bay with each groups within the midst of a heated battle for playoff spots within the Jap Convention. The winner of this recreation might be in fairly fine condition, however the loser may have taken a step again in a crowded wild card subject.
Coyotes at Wild | Saturday, Jan. 12: Talking of heated postseason races, the Wild and Coyotes needs to be within the combine all through the second half of the season. Each groups have stumbled these days, however the stakes on this one will nonetheless be comparatively excessive contemplating it is early January. Count on this to be an intense battle within the Twin Cities.
Kraken at Penguins | Monday, Jan. 14: After sluggish begins, the Kraken and Penguins have began to warmth up, and that is particularly the case with the previous. Seattle has received six straight video games, and it has put itself proper again within the West’s playoff image. Pittsburgh, alternatively, is simply two factors out of a playoff spot within the East.