What comes next after a wild week in the hockey world?

What comes next after a wild week in the hockey world?

This was generally a very interesting week in the NHL … and that’s an understatement. For starters, there were several blowouts. Multiple games were won by four or more goals, and three by six or more goals: The New York Islanders blanked the New Jersey Devils 9-0 Tuesday, the Colorado Avalanche bested the Ottawa Senators…

This was generally a very interesting week in the NHL … and that’s an understatement.

For starters, there were several blowouts. Multiple games were won by four or more goals, and three by six or more goals: The New York Islanders blanked the New Jersey Devils 9-0 Tuesday, the Colorado Avalanche bested the Ottawa Senators 8-2 Thursday, and the Boston Bruins picked up massive bragging rights Saturday, crushing the New York Rangers 10-2.

In the case of the B’s, it was the first time they put up a 10 burger since 1988, and the first time at home since 1979. David Pastrnak had six assists, tying the Bruins franchise record. Pavel Zacha and Marat Khusnutdinov both had their first NHL hat tricks, the first time that two players from the same team pulled that off since Pascal Dupuis and Petr Sykora did it on Dec. 11, 2008, for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

All of that scoring comes during a season that has been among the tightest in terms of scores in history: over a quarter of games (26.1%) have gone past regulation, which would be a record in the shootout era (since 2005-06) if the mark holds.

For all the talk about the “high-scoring 1980s” and other eras, look at where we are now. Prior to the 2021-22 season there had been only two seasons in NHL history with at least 200 four-plus-goal victories. There have been at least 200 such games during the past four seasons, with this season trending to be the fifth consecutive.

What will we see more of for the rest of the season? Overtimes or lopsided wins? Both can be fun for different reasons — but I’ll stay on the close game/overtime train.

In Ottawa, Linus Ullmark took a leave of absence from the team on Dec. 28, prompting a wave of wild speculation online about the cause for the absence. Senators GM Steve Staios was quick to retort, issuing a public statement that said: “Linus is away from our team for personal reasons and he has the entire organization’s support. We asked that people respect his privacy, but clearly that request was not heard by the lowest forms of trolls and sick people who scour the internet. We are disgusted that outside forces are attempting to disrupt our hockey club.”

It’s rare for a team exec to publicly attack the “cesspool corner” of social media, which was refreshing, while Senators captain Brady Tkachuk had an expletive-laden response on the topic to reporters.

On Saturday, Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton was informed that he would be a healthy scratch, which led to a back-and-forth facilitated by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, first from Hamilton’s agent J.P. Barry:

And then from Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald:

Hamilton has 10 points in 40 games this season, and is a minus-7 with 65 giveaways, on pace to have broken his single season record of 94 (from last season).

Is a Dougie Hamilton trade out of Newark imminent? My “spidey senses” tell me we aren’t at the finish line of this one, but that it could see movement before the Olympic break, which is being talked about like an extra trade deadline this season.

And if all of that wasn’t enough, there was a hole in the Olympic ice rink during the test games being played before the Games:

Jump ahead:
Games of the week
What I loved this weekend
Hart Trophy candidates
Social post of the week
Stick taps

greyline

Biggest games of the week

cardet

Monday, 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+

The Wings will finally retire Sergei Fedorov’s No. 91 before their game against the Hurricanes. This is long overdue, and it’s nice to see that all is right in the Motor City. The game itself is also intriguing, with the top team in the Atlantic facing the top team in the Metro.

tbphi

Monday, 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+

While the Wings are in first place, the Lightning are also riding wagon status, having won nine in a row. They just routed Philly 7-2 and face the Flyers again on Monday. Two more good tests await for the Bolts later in the week against the Penguins on Tuesday and the Stars on Sunday.

phipit

Thursday, 7 p.m. ET | ESPN

The Flyers-Penguins rivalry has heated up again, especially since Philly is third in the Metro and Pittsburgh is only one point out of a playoff spot. You’ll remember back in October when these two teams had an intense battle on the ice just before the shootout. The brawl meant that Trevor Zegras, the most prolific shootout artist in NHL history, missed the breakaways because of the fists thrown and ensuing misconducts to him and seven others.

mtlbuf

Thursday, 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+

Like the Lightning, the Sabres are also a wagon, having won 13 of their past 14. Three of their four games this week are against Eastern Conference teams, including the Habs, whom they are chasing for third in the Atlantic.

Other key games to watch

TUESDAY

mtlwsh

7 p.m. ET | ESPN+

WEDNESDAY

phibuf

7:30 p.m. ET | TNT/HBO Max

THURSDAY

sjwsh

7 p.m. ET | ESPN+

nyiedm

9 p.m. ET | ESPN+

FRIDAY

sjdet

7 p.m. ET | ESPN+

flacar

7 p.m. ET | NHL Network

SATURDAY

minbuf

12:30 p.m. ET | NHL Network

flawsh

7 p.m. ET | ESPN+

What I loved this weekend

I’m a sucker for dad content, and James van Riemsdyk wins the season so far for his arrival attire. JVR celebrated his 4-year-old son’s birthday away from home by arriving at the Red Wings game in Montreal dressed up as Batman, just like his son did back home. JVR had an assist as Detroit blanked the Habs 4-0.

And kudos to Bobby McMann for his pregame arrival this past week as well:

Hart Trophy candidates if the season ended today

Honorable mention goes to David Pastrnak, because he’s got points in eight of his past nine games, and that six-assist game on Saturday was incredible.

He’s definitely on the radar, but my top three from last week stay in those spots this week:

Nathan MacKinnon continues to have a share of the scoring lead and now has 78 points. He either had four points (three times) or zero points (twice) in his past five outings.

Connor McDavid is tied with MacKinnon, riding an incredible 18-game point streak, including 19 in his past nine games.

Macklin Celebrini, still riding that Team Canada selection high, has 15 points in his past seven contests, and sits at 70 points, five ahead of fourth-place Nikita Kucherov.

We could look back at this week and say this is where the gap started to widen between the Big 3 and the rest of the pack.

Social media post of the weekend

The Hershey Bears had two viral moments six days apart, for totally different reasons. First, Jan. 4 was their annual Teddy Bear Toss, which they absolutely crush every year and all the bears go to a good cause:

But then on Saturday, a brawl broke out … during a mites game (players 8 and under). No, really!

The crowd didn’t know how to react; half cheered, the other half stood there in astonishment. Both benches seemed to completely clear out as the white team and the blue/black team just circled each other with the spirit of an ’80s rivalry game and threw haymakers. Even the goalies got involved.

Why didn’t anyone (at least try to) stop this?

Stick taps

I’m a mascot fan and loyal supporter, especially when they take time out of their day to do kind gestures like this, big or small.

NJ Devil had some friends visit last week, including Carlton Bear, Mr. and Mrs. Met, Tusky, Youppi!, and REDD of the New York Red Bulls. They had a jam-packed schedule including photo shoots, autograph signings, and of course entertaining fans at the game itself. Special shout-out to Tusky who was in enemy territory at Prudential Center where the Devils hosted the Mammoth.

But the crew still found time to record a video and send it to Logan, the 9-year-old boy who went viral last summer for putting out a call to mascots to send him videos of encouragement during his battle with cancer. Logan is still fighting valiantly, has the sweetest family (including twin sister Riley) and still beams with sheer joy whenever he hears from his mascot pals.

To my mascot friends who haven’t forgotten about Logan, sending him consistent love along the way, you are all MVPs!

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