Pre-Deadline Roundup
The landscape in the West is becoming more settled but there are definitely playoff spots still up for grabs. The Sharks and Kings look pretty set to be the top two teams in the Pacific but the Ducks and Flames are in a dead heat for third. Whoever slips in that race should have the inside track for a wild card, while the rest of the Pacific is solidly out of the running at this point.
The Predators have locked down the top spot in the Central with Dallas and Minnesota currently sitting in 2nd and 3rd place. The race for the final wild card is tight, with the Avalanche, Blues and Blackhawks all within three points, while the Jets are close to being out of it at ten points back.
The Bruins have continued their dominating season and look to be a cinch for the President's Trophy with 51 wins already and only seven regulation losses for 107 total points through 63 games. The Lightning are comfortably in second in the Atlantic while Detroit and Montreal are competing for that third spot. With the lacklustre field in the Metro it looks like the final wild card will come down to whoever can win fifth place in the Atlantic and right now the Connor McDavid-led Buffalo Sabres have the edge. The Senators and Panthers are only three points back of them and the Leafs aren't out of it yet either. A real logjam that should make for an exciting final month and a half of the season.
The New York Rangers are pretty solidly entrenched atop the Metro and the Capitals look to have a playoff spot mostly in the bag. The Penguins hold onto that final spot but the Islanders look to give them a good run for it. After that the Metro descends into mediocrity or worse, as the Blue Jackets, Flyers, Hurricanes and Devils might as well already be booking tee times.
Team Stat Leaders:
GF/gm - Boston, San Jose (3.44), Tampa Bay (3.21), Nashville (3.13), Washington (3.10)
GA/gm - Tampa Bay (1.98), Boston (2.10), San Jose (2.11), Anaheim (2.17), NY Rangers (2.33)
PP - Washington (26.3%), Tampa Bay (22.8%), Los Angeles (21.8%), Nashville (21.3%), San Jose (21.1%)
PK - Tampa Bay (90.2%), San Jose (86.3%), Philadelphia (85.4%), Boston (84.9%), Vancouver, Edmonton, NY Rangers (84.4%)
Goalie Leaders (min 20gp):
GAA - Vasilevskiy (TBL) 1.90, Mazanec (NSH), Task (BOS) 2.00, Andersen (ANA) 2.14, Talbot (DAL) 2.16
Sv Pct - Lehner (OTT), Andersen (ANA), Vasilevskiy (TBL) .934, Dubnyk (CGY) .930, Bernier (TOR), Rask (BOS) .927
GSAA - Vasilevskiy (TBL) 26.39, Lehner (OTT) 26.36, Dubnyk (CGY) 25.51, Andersen (ANA) 25.19, Bernier (TOR) 20.56
SO - Bernier (TOR), Bishop (STL), Dubnyk (CGY), Kuemper (MIN) 7, Andersen (ANA), Howard (DET), Mazanec (NSH), Quick (LAK), Varlamov (COL) 6
Rookie Leaders:
Points - D. Strome (CGY) 12-22-34, Panarin (WSH) 8-26-34, Marner (CAR) 18-13-32, Point (NYR) 11-10-21, Matthews (FLA) 8-13-21
Other Stat Leaders:
Takeaways - McDonagh (NYR) 49, Giordano (CGY), Silfverberg (ANA), Stone (OTT) 48, C. Tanev (VAN) 47
Hits - Borowiecki (SJS) 301, Manning (PHI) 283, Landeskog (COL) 224, Wilson (WSH) 210, Deslauriers (BUF) 200
Blocked Shots - C. Tanev (VAN) 254, C. Murphy (ARI) 221, E. Karlsson (OTT) 200, Alzneer (WSH), Brodie (CGY) 198
PIM - Borowiecki (SJS) 209, Wilson (WSH) 154, Manning (PHI) 142, Backes (STL), Deslauriers (BUF) 117
FO% - Kopitar (LAK) 60.5, Tavares (NYI) 60.1, J. Staal (CAR) 58.9, R. O'Reilly (COL) 58.0, Hanzal (ARI) 57.7
+/- - Krug (BOS), Nieto (SJS) +35, Bergeron (BOS), Eriksson (BOS) +34, Saad (SJS), Vlasic (SJS) +33
Injuries:
F Patrick Kane (CHI) OUT indefinitely (hip)
D Justin Schultz (EDM) OUT 2-3 weeks (ankle)
D Oscar Klefbom (EDM) OUT indefinitely (arm)
F Mikko Koivu (MIN) OUT 1-2 weeks (knee)
F David Desharnais (MTL) OUT 2-3 weeks (upper body)
F Anton Rodin (MTL) OUT 1-2 months (knee)
F Kevin Hayes (NYR) OUT 1-2 weeks (foot)
F Mika Zibanejad (OTT) OUT 2-3 weeks (hand)
D Shayne Gostisbehere (PHI) OUT 2-3 months (arm)
F Boyd Gordon (PHI) OUT 1-2 months (eye)
D Kris Letang (PIT) OUT 2-3 months (hip)
D Anton Stralman (TBL) OUT 2-3 months (knee)
D Dion Phaneuf (TOR) OUT 1-2 months (spleen)
F Justin Williams (VAN) OUT 3-4 months (elbow)