The West is very close to locked in, with everything over but the exact matchups, while the East… uh… well…
Capitals fall out of playoff position after losing fourth-straight game
The Washington Capitals are on the outside looking in of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. With the Capitals’ depressing 4-1 loss to…
The East has been pretty hectic!
Here’s the last two weeks (now updated with yesterday’s games included):
Islanders get past Blue Jackets, move into wild card | NHL.com
Dobson breaks tie early in 3rd period; Tarasov leaves with injury for Columbus
For one thing, the Islanders (at 32% to make yesterday morning) are currently in playoff position, though there are still several intra-division games to go.
Jets clinch playoff berth with win over Flames
Gabe Vilardi scored a hat trick to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday. The win clinched a playoff berth for Winnipeg and eliminated Calgary from the wild-card race.
Meanwhile in the West, the Jets have clinched and the Blues are very, very close to cooked.
Panthers veteran Ekblad likely out until playoffs
Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who suffered an undisclosed injury vs. Montreal on Tuesday, likely won’t return until the start of the playoffs.
Not great news for the Panthers.
Marchand scores 400th NHL goal, Bruins top Hurricanes for 3rd win in row | NHL.com
Pastrnak, Heinen each has 2 points for Boston, which maintains 4-point lead in Atlantic
An impressive milestone.
Coyotes to bid on arena site at June land auction
The Coyotes on Thursday released images of what they intend to build on a 95-acre parcel of land that will be up for auction June 27, including a new arena and practice facility.
The saga continues…
Walter Cup unveiled as PWHL’s new title trophy
The six teams of the recently launched Professional Women’s Hockey now have a name of the championship trophy they’re competing for: The Walter Cup.
I guess it’s not worse than the Clarkson Cup, though I did love the Isobel Cup.
Canadiens’ elimination from playoff race reinforces need to keep elevating floor
The Montreal Canadiens’ loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning not only mathematically eliminated them from the playoffs, it shined a light on their low floor, one of the main reasons they’re out of the race in the first place.
I don’t feel like this problem is even remotely exclusive to the Canadiens, but I think it’s a reasonable case study of the problem in general.
O’Ree Skills Weekend begins with on-ice showcase of youth players | NHL.com
Kids ages 13-15 will gather to hear from 1st Black player in NHL, Hockey Hall of Famer
This sounds like it was an amazing experience for the kids.
NHL Power Rankings: Highlighting one MVP on each team
From top to bottom, every club has a 2023-24 MVP and Ryan Dixon is here to offer up the much-deserved stick-taps in this week’s Power Rankings.
Josi and Forsberg have both been huge the last few months for the Preds, and it’s so exciting for the Preds to have a forward in that conversation.
