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Trending up Tampa Bay Lightning: The Bolts have now rattled off six straight wins to retain their grip on the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning nearly saw their winning streak come to an end this weekend after giving up a two-goal lead to Detroit, but managed to edge the Red Wings in a shootout. Six points in the last four games for Tyler Johnson, who is showing no signs of a sophomore slump. New York Islanders goaltending: New York went through a stretch earlier this season with some goaltending performances that ranged from shaky to downright abysmal, but things are looking up for the Isles between the pipes. Coming off a 1-0 shutout against the Arizona Coyotes, the Isles have given up only three goals in their past three games, an impressive feat considering they faced both the Anaheim Ducks and the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on their recent road jaunt. Sidney Crosby: Granted, it was against the Buffalo Sabres, but No. 87 recorded five assists in the Penguins’ 6-1 rout Saturday night. The Pens have now won seven straight and Corsby is, of course, a big reason why with 15 points during that span.
Trending down New York Rangers: Hoping to respond after a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, the Blueshirts instead laid an egg against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, falling 3-1 against familiar foe Benoit Pouliot and his new squad at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers have suffered some key injuries, sure, but are still in dire need of a wakeup call, as Sunday’s defeat made clear. Cory Schneider: This pains me to say, because I was one who predicted a huge season for the No. 1 netminder in New Jersey (and I still expect big things from the Marblehead, Mass., native) but Schneider had a rough week with back-to-back performances in which he gave up three goals or more. Granted, the Devils’ penalty-killing effort has been a contributing factor, but Schneider was pulled for the second straight game against Detroit Friday night. Yikes.
Injury report Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug could return this week from a hand injury that has sidelined him in recent weeks. If so, that would be a huge boost for a Bruins lineup that has been decimated with injuries to its back end. Team captain Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller are on the injured list, and fellow blue-liner David Warsofsky is also expected to miss 2-4 weeks with a groin injury suffered prior to the weekend. The Philadelphia Flyers took another hit to their blue line, as defenseman Luke Schenn was crushed into the boards by Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon this weekend. The Flyers, already without Andrew MacDonald and Kimmo Timonen on defense, announced that Schenn will miss approximately two weeks with an upper-body injury. Rangers forward Derek Stepan made his season debut Saturday after missing the first month of the season with a broken leg sustained in training camp. Stepan, the team’s first-line center, registered an assist in his first game back, but the Rangers still fell 5-4 to Toronto.
What to watch for The Washington Capitals are showing some signs of life with a pair of wins against the Chicago Blackhawks and the Carolina Hurricanes. A few more could go a long way into bolstering the team’s morale and they have a chance to do just that this week at home against struggling squads like the banged-up Columbus Blue Jackets and the sputtering Devils. Following a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens continue to hold court at home with three more games at the Bell Centre this week against the Winnipeg Jets, Bruins and Flyers. Can they make up ground and overtake the Bolts for first place in the Atlantic Division? We can joke all we want about the Connor McDavid sweepstakes, but things appear downright toxic right now in Buffalo, with head coach Ted Nolan seemingly at wits end about his team’s shoddy performance.
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