The New York Rangers separated themselves from the pack early with a 9 game win streak while the Capitals, Islanders, Penguins and Devils fight for the top spots. Let’s get into it…
1. New York Rangers (15-3-2; 32 points) – The Rangers had a massive performance the past couple of weeks going 9-1-0 in their last ten games. The blueshirts started their week with a matinee on Saturday, taking the Senators down in a tight game, 2-1 in a Shootout, giving them their 8th straight win. Dan Boyle (Ottawa native) scored the game winning shootout goal in the third round. Henrik Lundqvist got the win with 22 saves while Craig Anderson stopped an impressive 33 shots out of 34. 
The very next day NYR faced a streaking Toronto Maple Leafs at MSG, this time with goaltender Antti Raanta getting the start for the Rangers, opposite to Jonathan Bernier. Rangers picked up their ninth win in a row thanks to Mats Zuccarello, who would be named NHL’s 2nd star-of-the-week. Zuccarello finished the night with a goal and 2 assists. His lone goal came with a little less than a minute left on a rebound off a light shot from the point by defenseman Ryan McDonagh (who finished with 1G, 1A). The win kept Raanta at a perfect 4-0-0 record and still has yet to lose in regulation at home in his entire career.
Rangers last game of the week would be an Eastern Conference Final rematch against a depleted Tampa Bay Lightning squad who was missing Andrej Palat, Cedric Paquette, Tyler Johnson, Ryan Callahan and Jonathan Drouin. Henrik Lundqvist would be in net opposite to big Ben Bishop who was 8-0-0 against the blueshirts going into this game. A very tight game as most would expect, it was an early goal by Lightning Alex Killorn that put Tampa up 1-0. No matter the game, Rangers always seem to have trouble scoring against Bishop, and that would hold true again. It took until 6:17 remaining in the game for former Lightning Dom Moore to tie the game for NYR 1-1. After killing off a penalty, the Rangers would actually go on the power-play for the final minutes of the game. A botched pass by Derek Stepan and mishandling by Ryan McDonagh led to a Tampa 2-on-1 giving Valtteri Filppula the game winning goal with 1:05 remaining in the game. The Lightning win snapped the Rangers nine game win streak, one shy of tying their franchise record.
Rangers next game is tomorrow night at 7pm against the Florida Panthers.
2. Washington Capitals (13-5-1; 27 points) – Having not played since Friday, the Capitals took on the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday as Alex Ovechkin tried once again to break the NHL-record of most goals by a Russian player. He is currently tied with former Red Wing Sergei Federov. After 60 minutes of regulation and 45 seconds of overtime, Ovechkin failed to once again get over the hump. Fortunately, the Capitals skated away with the victory. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored under a minute into 3-on-3 overtime to give Holtby his 10th win of the season and the team’s 12th. Petr Mrazek stopped 25 of 27 in a losing effort. The Red Wings are now 9-8-2.
Washington would be right back at it to seek their fourth straight win, playing the scorching hot Dallas Stars who have won six of their past seven. Alex Ovechkin scored to tie the game at 2 apiece, giving him the lead for most goals ever scored by a Russian born player. Though it was a special night for him and his teammates, the Capitals would fall 3-2 in regulation. Kari Lehtonen would stand strong for the Stars stopping 33 of 35 shots while Washington net minder Philipp Grubbier saved 28 of 31 shots. Ovechkin went scoreless for four straight games after tying Federov. “Sooner or later I knew it was going to go” Ovie commented quite relieved. “Of course you get a little frustrated when you have good chances go, especially in the second [period] when I hit the post…I think it was an important goal for us – – put us back in the game – – but I think we deserved more today, at least a point.”
Capitals next game is home tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche at 7pm. Avalanche are 7-11-1 and rank 12th in the Western Conference.
3. Pittsburgh Penguins (12-8-0; 24 points) – Finding their groove nicely, the Penguins would face the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche this week, going 2-1.
Their week would start on Saturday when they faced Corey Schneider and the Devils in New Jersey. Marc-Andre Fluery got the night off, giving Jack Zatkoff the start for Pittsburgh. Though Zatkoff would make 33 saves, Devils and Schneider would get the shutout, winning 4-0. The last time Schneider got a shutout was against the Penguins on March 17th, 2015, in New Jersey. After the defeat, captain Sidney Crosby said “[Zatkoff] had to make save after save, and that’s not the way we play. Saturday was a matter of work ethic. We didn’t deserve to win. I don’t think we’ve put a full game together for a while.”
Penguins would right their ship next game when Malkin’s four-point night gave Pittsburgh a 4-3 win. After the loss to New Jersey, Malkin said everyone needed to “stop and look in the mirror”. Malkin scored 2 goals and recorded 2 assists against the Wild including a highlight reel goal when he sashayed the puck between his legs around forward Mikael Granlund and sniped on Devin Dubnyk’s blocker. Fluery would get the victory, stopping 26 of 29 shots while Dubnyk saved 25 of 29. “I like the way the group dealt with it,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. “I like the way they responded. It shows great character in the room. Yeah, we had a good game against Montreal, but we didn’t have good games against Columbus and [New] Jersey. They dealt with it right away.”
Last night they played the Avalanche where this time the captain would deliver. Crosby scored 11:56 into the third period to give the penguins a 4-2 lead. The insurance goal would turn out to be the game winning goal when Colorado forward Matt Duchene scored with 1:23 left to get the Avalanche within one. Fluery stayed strong, stopping 28 of 31 shots giving the Penguins their 12th win of the year. Avalanche net minder Reto Berra (.934 SV%, 2.04 GAA) received his 5th loss of the season.
Rest of the Met…
New York Islanders – Just one point behind the Penguins, the New York Islanders are 10-6-3 in their first year in their new Brooklyn arena. Captain Jonathan Tavares commented “Yes, somewhat” when asked if commute to new arena felt like playing 82 road games. Most players take the LIRR to new arena and stay in Brooklyn hotels. Their practice rink is still on Long Island.
New Jersey Devils – Jersey continues to impress this year after speculation that they would need 3-4 rebuilding years. They’re now considered a bubble team for the year and have gone 6-4-0 in their last 10 with a +3 goal differential. No doubt elite goalie Corey Schneider is a huge reason for their success. Will be very interesting to see if they can keep this up the rest of the year.
Philadelphia Flyers – The Flyers have not won at home in the entire month of November. Their last home win (in a shootout against NYR) was on October 24th. Since then, their record is 2-8-2. All-star Jakub Voracek finally recorded his first goal of the year against the Carolina Hurricanes on November 14th. So there’s that…
Carolina Hurricanes – Still looking to find their stride, the Hurricanes are 4-4-2 inter last 10. There have been talks about a possible Eric Staal trade, will be interesting to follow that rumor….
Columbus Blue Jackets – After losing their first eight, the Blue Jackets acquired coach John Tortorella and have gone 5-5 in their past 10. No doubt Tortorella’s coaching style has helped the Blue Jackets and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with more protection and a tighter defensive game.
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