Keeping up with the Metropolitans 12/4/16-12/10/16

The Penguins regain control of the Metro, due to playing one less game than the New York Rangers, after see-sawing with the Rangers for the division lead this week. The Metro Division is by far the most competitive division in hockey this year, as currently 5 out of the top 8 teams in the league are represented by the Metropolitan Division. Don't look now, but Columbus and Philadelphia are on absolute fire. Columbus is only one point out of the Metro lead, while only playing in 26 games. John Tortorella has his team performing above just about everyone's expectations for this season. Philadelphia currently owns an 8 game win streak, its longest win streak in 14 years. Meanwhile, the fans in Washington are in disbelief that they're currently in 5th in the division with a record of 16-7-3. It looks to be a battle every week for positioning in the division and any bump in the road could cost a team valuable positioning come the end of the year.

METROPOLITAN	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	ROW	SOW	SOL	HOME	ROAD	GF	GA	DIFF	L10
Pittsburgh	28	18	7	3	39	16	2	1	11-2-1	7-5-2	97	84	+13	7-3-0
NY Rangers	29	19	9	1	39	19	0	1	10-4-1	9-5-0	100	70	+30	6-4-0
Columbus	26	17	5	4	38	16	1	1	10-3-1	7-2-3	87	56	+31	7-1-2
Philadelphia	30	17	10	3	37	14	3	2	11-5-2	6-5-1	100	94	+6	8-2-0
Washington	26	16	7	3	35	16	0	2	10-4-0	6-3-3	69	59	+10	6-3-1
New Jersey	27	12	9	6	30	10	2	1	8-1-2	4-8-4	69	77	-8	3-4-3
Carolina	27	11	10	6	28	10	1	3	7-3-0	4-7-6	66	72	-6	4-4-2
NY Islanders	27	11	11	5	27	10	1	2	9-4-4	2-7-1	71	81	-10	6-3-1

New York Rangers

19-9-1, 39 pts  / 100GF/75GA  /  2-1 record last week

12/6/16
NYR: 2
NYI: 4

Rangers' Special Teams Falter in 4-2 Loss In Brooklyn

12/8/16
NYR: 2
WPG: 1

Rangers’ Power Play Delivers In 2-1 Win Over Winnipeg

12/9/16
NYR: 1 OT
CHI: 0

-No Blue Shirt Banter recap

Week Ahead:

Sunday Dec 11 - vs NJD

Tuesday Dec 13 - vs CHI

Thursday Dec 15 - @ DAL

Saturday Dec 17 - @ NSH

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
P. Buchnevich, RW	Nov 12, 2016	IR	Back spasms
M. Zibanejad, C	Nov 20, 2016	IR	Broken left fibula
M. Puempel, LW	Dec 6, 2016	IR	Concussion
R. Nash, RW	Dec 6, 2016	day-to-day	Groin

Columbus Blue Jackets

17-5-4, 38 pts  /  87GF/56GA  /  3-0 record last week

12/5/16
ARI: 1
CBJ: 4

Game Recap: 500 was worth the wait

12/9/16
CBJ: 4
DET: 1

-No Jackets Cannon recap
-Defy The Narrative

12/10/16
NYI: 2
CBJ: 6

-No recap
-Quick Takes: Jackets Rout Islanders

Week Ahead:

Tuesday Dec 13 - @ EDM

Friday Dec 16 - @ CAL

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
L. Smid, D	Sep 28, 2016	IR	Neck
K. Versteeg, RW	Dec 7, 2016	day-to-day	General soreness

Philadelphia Flyers

17-10-3, 37 pts  /  100GF/94GA  /  4-0 record last week

12/4/16
PHI: 4
NSH: 2

Flyers at Predators recap: Power play arrives, top line makes the difference in fifth straight win

12/6/16
FLA: 2
PHI: 3 OT

Flyers vs. Panthers recap: Riding the Train to six wins in a row

12/8/16
EDM: 5
PHI: 6

Flyers vs. Oilers recap: Seventh heaven

12/10/16
DAL: 2
PHI: 4

Flyers vs. Stars recap: Brayden Schenn’s power play hat trick pushes Flyers to eight straight wins

Week Ahead:

Sunday Dec 11 - @ DET

Wednesday Dec 14 - @ COL

Saturday Dec 17 - @ DAL

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
M. Neuvirth, G	Nov 12, 2016	IR	Sprained knee
S. Couturier, C	Nov 22, 2016	IR	Sprained MCL
M. Read, RW	Dec 4, 2016	IR	Oblique

Washington Capitals

16-7-3, 35 pts  /  69GF/59GA  /  3-0 record last week

12/5/16
BUF: 2
WSH: 3 OT

Caps vs. Sabres Recap: MoJo Working, Beagle Biting, Caps Win 3-2 in OT

12/7/16
BOS: 3
WSH: 4 OT

Caps vs. Bruins Recap: B’s Claw Back, But Caps Close 4-3 in OT

12/9/16
WSH: 4
BUF: 1

Capitals vs. Sabres Recap: Firsts Galore in 4-1 win

Week Ahead:

Sunday Dec 11 - vs VAN

Tuesday Dec 13 - @ NYI

Friday Dec 16 - @ CAR

Saturday Dec 17 - vs MTL***

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
M. Niskanen, D	Dec 7, 2016	day-to-day	Upper-body injury

New Jersey Devils

12-9-6, 30 pts  /  66GF/72GA  /  1-2 record last week

12/6/16
VAN: 2
NJD: 3

New Jersey Devils Beat the Vancouver Canucks in Regulation, 3-2

12/8/16
NJD: 2
MTL: 5

New Jersey Devils Beaten Up by Montreal Canadiens in 5-2 Loss
-Worth a click if you like goalies going crazy: Carey Price Violated Rule 51.3 - And Continued to Play Against Devils

12/9/16
STL: 4
NJD: 1

Recap: Devils Dominated by Blues; Home Point Streak Ends

Week Ahead:

Sunday Dec 11 - @ NYR

Thursday Dec 15 - @ STL

Saturday Dec 17 - @ OTT

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
M. Savard, C	Oct 9, 2016	IR	Post-concussion syndrome
P. Zacha, C	Dec 3, 2016	day-to-day	Facial laceration

Carolina Hurricanes

11-11-6, 28 pts  /  66GF/72GA  /  2-1-1 record last week

12/5/16
TBL: 0
CAR: 1 OT

Recap: Hurricanes Oust Lightning in Overtime

12/7/16
CAR: 5
ANA: 6 SO

Carolina Hurricanes Blow Another Late Lead, Fall to the Anaheim Ducks in Shootout

12/8/16
CAR: 3
LAK: 1

Carolina Hurricanes Avoid Third Period Woes, Defeat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1

12/10/16
CAR: 3
SJS: 4

-No Canes Country recap

Week Ahead:

Tuesday Dec 13 - vs VAN

Friday Dec 16 - vs WSH

Saturday Dec 17 - vs BUF

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
B. Bickell, LW	Nov 9, 2016	IR	Multiple sclerosis
E. Lack, G	Nov 20, 2016	IR	Concussion
J. Staal, C	Nov 27, 2016	IR	Concussion
E. Lindholm, C	Dec 1, 2016	day-to-day	Lower-body injury

New York Islanders

11-11-5, 27 pts  /  71GF/81GA  /  2-1-1 record last week

12/4/16
DET: 4 OT
NYI: 3

Red Wings 4, Islanders 3 (OT): Isles grab a point in Frans Nielsen’s return

12/6/16
NYR: 2
NYI: 4

Islanders 4, Rangers 2: Isles never trail as PK protects lead

12/8/16
STL: 2
NYI: 3

Islanders 3, Blues 2: Lee, Tavares help Isles maintain six game point streak

12/10/16
NYI: 2
CBJ: 6

Blue Jackets 6, Islanders 2: 4-goal explosion in 3rd period sinks Isles against Jackets

Week Ahead:

Wednesday Dec 13 - vs WSH

Thursday Dec 15 - vs CHI

Friday Dec 16 - @ BUF

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
M. Grabovski, C	Sep 25, 2016	IR	Concussion
A. Pelech, D	Nov 28, 2016	IR	Upper-body injury

*Standings via ESPN as of 12/10/16
**Injuries via TSN as of 12/10/16
***Game of the week! Alex Ovechkin will be taking on Carey Price and the Candiens this Saturday night. If the Caps want to come out with two points, they'll have to go through Carey Price and his 28-1-1 record on Saturday since the beginng of the 2014-'15 season. Both teams are going to bring their A games and it should be quite a game.