January Recap
Nashville is positioning themselves as the class of the West after handing the reigns back to Pekka Rinne in goal. Rinne leads the NHL in wins with 29. The Preds are driven offensively by their blueline, with Roman Josi leading the way at almost a point per game (11-34-45) and captain Shea Weber already at 14 goals on the year. They are distancing themselves from defending champion Chicago, as the Blackhawks are currently sitting in a Wild Card spot in the ultra competitive Central, in spite of Patrick Kane's dominant season leading the league in goals and points by a wide margin. Anaheim is a surprise at the top of the Pacific, leading the league in goals per game. Besides Corey Perry (second in the NHL in goals with 28) and Ryan Getzlaf (10-34-44) they have a lot of depth up front between younger rising stars like Rakell, Palmieri and Silfverberg and savvy offseason acquisitions like Anisimov and Hartnell. Rookie blueliner Shea Theodore continues to impress with his offensive contributions and he only adds to an already impressive young core back there, joining Lindholm, Fowler and Vatanen (12-29-41) as one of the better U25 groups of NHL defensemen.
Despite their injuries on the blueline the Rangers remain competitive in the Metropolitan, just one point back of Columbus and New Jersey and three back of Philadelphia. With Derick Brassard struggling young center J.T. Miller has stepped up his production (14-28-42) and taken on more responsibility down the middle. Philadelphia took a chance acquiring Sharks goalie Antti Niemi and it's paying off as their tandem of him and Steve Mason are leading the league in GAA. Their defensive prowess is all the more impressive when you see their blueline is populated mostly by defensemen with offensive reputations - Del Zotto, Gostisbehere, Gustafsson and Visnovsky. Defensive coach Kjell Samuelsson has done an excellent job having them all buy in and play solid team defense. Buffalo is an interesting team, with burgeoning star and first overall pick Connor McDavid getting his feet wet in the league and journeyman goalie Andrew Hammond impressing in his tandem role alongside Jhonas Enroth. Tyler Myers will be a big loss on their blueline as their playoff hopes are already fading fast. Boston is being led by Marchand, Pastrnak and Bergeron to the top seed in the East, with Torey Krug adding playmaking and offense from the back end. He leads the NHL in assists with 41 and is fifth in points with 53 - impressive for a defenseman.
Team Stat Leaders:
GF/gm - Anaheim (3.33), Boston (3.06), St. Louis (2.96), Nashville, Tampa Bay (2.94)
GA/gm - Philadelphia (2.02), Columbus (2.14), Montreal (2.16), Nashville (2.18), NY Islanders (2.19)
PP - Chicago (25.5%), Nashville (25.2%), Anaheim (24.5%), Dallas (21.6%), Tampa Bay (20.4%)
PK - Philadelphia (90.1%), Detroit (89.6%), Nashville (87.7%), Tampa Bay (87.0%), Montreal (86.8%)
Goalie Leaders (min 20gp):
GAA - Price (MTL) 1.91, Niemi (PHI) 1.92, Hammond (BUF), Bobrovsky (CBJ) 1.94, Halak (NYI) 2.01
Sv Pct - Hammond (BUF), Bobrovsky (CBJ) .938, Markstrom (VAN) .936, Allen (ARI) .935, Niemi (PHI) .932
GSAA - Bobrovsky (CBJ) 27.95, Allen (ARI) 27.35, Markstrom (VAN) 21.86, Niemi (PHI) 15.33, Hammond (BUF) 14.27
SO - Bobrovsky (CBJ), Halak (NYI), Price (MTL) 8, Schneider (NJD), Varlamov (COL) 7
Rookie Leaders:
Points - Schmaltz (CHI) 12-17-29, McDavid (BUF) 8-19-27, Duclair (NYR) 11-13-24, Theodore (ANA) 8-16-24, Hartman (PIT) 9-8-17
Other Stat Leaders:
Takeaways - Weber (NSH) 45, Lindholm (ANA), Nielsen (NYI), Stone (OTT) 41, Korpikoski (ARI) 40
Hits - Bjugstad (FLA) 256, Tinordi (MTL) 242, L. Schenn (CGY) 227, Manning (PHI) 218, Melindy (ARI) 212
Blocked Shots - Vlasic (SJS) 174, Girardi (NYR), Tanev (VAN) 157, Brodie (CGY) 152, Daley (TOR), Martinez (LAK) 151
PIM - L. Schenn (CGY) 167, Tinordi (MTL) 147, Manning (PHI) 125, Bjugstad (FLA) 102, Borowiecki (SJS) 99
FO% - Engqvist (NJD) 59.9, Vermette (PHI) 59.1, Gordon (PHI) 58.9, Toews (CHI) 58.3, Glendening (DET) 57.7
+/- - Pastrnak (BOS) 32, Backstrom (WSH) 30, Bergeron (BOS), Marchand (BOS) 28, Ovechkin (WSH) 26
Injuries:
F Mikhail Grigorenko (BUF) OUT 2-3 months (leg)
D Andrej Meszaros (BUF) OUT indefinitely (arm)
D Tyler Myers (BUF) OUT indefinitely (head)
D Marek Zidlicky (CGY) OUT 1-2 months (pelvis)
F Johnny Gaurdreau (CGY) OUT 1-2 months (eye)
F Lance Bouma (CGY) OUT 1-2 months
D Dustin Byfuglien (CHI) DTD (back)
D Brent Seabrook (CHI) DTD (eye)
F Blake Wheeler (DAL) OUT indefinitely (arm)
F Mikko Rantanen (DAL) OUT indefinitely (concussion)
F Riley Sheahan (DET) OUT 2-3 weeks (groin)
D Andy Greene (DET) OUT 2-3 weeks (hip)
D Darnell Nurse (EDM) OUT 2-3 months (abdomen)
D Philip Larsen (EDM) OUT indefinitely (throat)
F Marcus Kruger (LAK) OUT 2-3 months (elbow)
F Eric Tangradi (NSH) OUT 3-4 months (knee)
F Vladimir Sobotka (NJD) OUT 1-2 months
D Ryan McDonagh (NYR) OUT indefinitely (concussion)
D Marc Staal (NYR) OUT 1-2 months (abdomen)
F Jeff Carter (SJS) OUT 1-2 months (shoulder)
F Richard Panik (TOR) OUT 2-3 months (neck)