Keeping up with the Metropolitans 12/11/16-12/17/16

A couple of long win streaks were snapped last weekend, as the Pens and Flyers both saw their extended win streaks come to a halt. The Penguins remain atop the Metro by way of playing one less game than the New York Rangers. The two overtime losses over the weekend for Pittsburgh may come in handy at the end of the year, considering they only scored 1 goal in the two games.

Meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets are now riding an 8 game win streak and still have 4 and 5 games on the Penguins and Rangers, respectively. Columbus sits 3 points behind the two-way tie for the division lead between the Pens and Rangers. The Blue Jackets will be wrapping up a Western Canada trip on Sunday before squeezing in 3 home games in 4 days heading into Christmas, including a large tilt against Pittsburgh on Thursday. This is going to be an important week for the Metro Division leaders as the Penguins will take on both the Rangers and the Jackets before heading into Christmas break. Plenty of points for the taking this week!

Happy Holidays, ladies and gentlemen!

METROPOLITAN	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	ROW	SOW	SOL	HOME	ROAD	GF	GA	DIFF	L10
Pittsburgh	32	20	7	5	45	18	2	1	13-2-2	7-5-3	109	90	+19	7-1-2
NY Rangers	33	22	10	1	45	21	1	1	11-5-1	11-5-0	110	73	+37	7-3-0
Columbus	28	19	5	4	42	18	1	1	10-3-1	9-2-3	94	58	+36	9-0-1
Washington	30	19	8	3	41	18	1	2	11-5-0	8-3-3	81	66	+15	6-3-1
Philadelphia	33	19	11	3	41	16	3	2	11-5-2	8-6-1	106	100	+6	9-1-0
Carolina	31	13	11	7	33	11	2	4	9-3-1	4-8-6	82	87	-5	4-3-3
New Jersey	30	12	12	6	30	10	2	1	8-1-2	4-11-4	72	90	-18	2-6-2
NY Islanders	30	11	13	6	28	10	1	2	9-6-4	2-7-2	79	93	-14	5-3-2

New York Rangers

22-10-1, 45 pts  / 110GF/73GA  /  3-1 record last week

12/11/16
NJD: 0
NYR: 5

Raanta, Rangers Shutout Devils 5-0

12/13/16
CHI: 2
NYR: 1

Rangers Fall To Blackhawks 2-1 After Strong Third Period

12/15/16
NYR: 2
DAL: 0

Henrik Lundqvist Shuts Out Stars In His Return
-Worth a click: Cody Eakin gets 4 games for running Lundqvist

12/17/16
NYR: 2 SO
NSH: 1

Rangers and Vesey beat Predators in the shootout

Week Ahead:

Sunday Dec 18 - vs NJD

Tuesday Dec 20 - @ PIT

Friday Dec 23 - vs MIN

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
P. Buchnevich, RW	Nov 12, 2016	IR	Back spasms
M. Zibanejad, C	Nov 20, 2016	IR	Broken left fibula

Columbus Blue Jackets

19-5-4, 42 pts  /  94GF/58GA  /  2-0 record last week

12/13/16
CBJ: 3
EDM: 1

Game Recap #27: Blue Jackets 3 Edmonton 1

12/16/16
CBJ: 4
CAL: 1

Game Recap: On Fire

Week Ahead:

Sunday Dec 18 - @ VAN

Tuesday Dec 20 - vs LAK

Thursday Dec 22 - vs PIT***

Friday Dec 23 - vs MTL

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
D. Clarkson, RW	Sep 20, 2016	IR	Lower-body injury
D. Prout, D	Nov 17, 2016	day-to-day	Back spasms

Washington Capitals

19-8-3, 41 pts  /  81GF/66GA  /  3-1 record last week

12/11/16
VAN: 0
WSH: 3

Capitals vs. Canucks Recap: Pair of Milestone Points Propel Caps to Win

12/13/16
WSH: 4
NYI: 2

Caps vs Isles Recap: Frisky Nisky Gets Wristy, Sinks Isles 4-2

12/16/16
WSH: 4 SO
CAR: 3

Capitals vs. ‘Canes Recap: Caps Extend Streak to Six

12/17/16
MTL: 2
WSH: 1

Caps vs. Habs Recap: Price Is Steep, Halts Caps 2-1

Week Ahead:

Wednesday Dec 21 - @ PHI

Friday Dec 23 - vs TBL

Injuries:

None. Merry Christmas.

Philadelphia Flyers

19-11-3, 41 pts  /  106GF/100GA  /  2-1 record last week

12/11/16
PHI: 1 OT
DET: 0

Flyers vs. Red Wings recap: Nine in a row, party like it’s 1995!

12/14/16
PHI: 4
COL: 3

Flyers vs. Avalanche recap: Winning streak reaches double digits in Colorado

12/17/16
PHI: 1
DAL: 3

Flyers vs. Stars recap: It ends at ten

Week Ahead:

Monday Dec 19 - vs NSH

Wednesday Dec 21 - vs WSH

Thursday Dec 22 - @ NJD

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
M. Streit, D	Dec 11, 2016	day-to-day	Shoulde

Carolina Hurricanes

13-11-7, 33 pts  /  82GF/87GA  /  2-0-1 record last week

12/13/16
VAN: 6
CAR: 8

Recap: Hurricanes Turn The Tables On Canucks In Wild Comeback Win

12/16/16
WSH: 4 SO
CAR: 3

Carolina Hurricanes Fall to Washington Capitals 4-3 in Shootout

12/17/16
BUF: 1
CAR: 2 SO

Carolina Hurricanes Bounce Back with 2-1 Shootout Victory Over Buffalo Sabres

Week Ahead:

Monday Dec 19 - vs DET

Thursday Dec 22 - @ BUF

Friday Dec 23 - vs BOS

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
B. Bickell, LW	Nov 9, 2016	IR	Multiple sclerosis
E. Lack, G	Nov 20, 2016	IR	Concussion

New Jersey Devils

12-12-6, 30 pts  /  72GF/90GA  /  0-3 record last week

12/11/16
NJD: 0
NYR: 5

New Jersey Devils Absolutely Sucked Against New York Rangers in 0-5 Loss

12/15/16
NJD: 2
STL: 5

New Jersey Devils Concede Five Unanswered to St. Louis Blues in Fourth Straight Loss

12/17/16
NJD: 1
OTT: 3

New Jersey Devils Deflected by Ottawa Senators in Fifth Straight Loss

Week Ahead:

Sunday Dec 18 - @ NYR

Tuesday Dec 20 - vs NSH

Wednesday Dec 22 - vs PHI

Friday Dec 23 - @ PIT

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
M. Savard, C	Oct 9, 2016	IR	Post-concussion syndrome

New York Islanders

11-13-6, 28pts  /  79GF/93GA  /  0-2-1 record last week

12/13/16
WSH: 4
NYI: 2

Capitals 4, Islanders 2: Farther behind

12/15/16
CHI: 5
NYI: 4

Blackhawks 5, Islanders 4: Back and forth and down again

12/16/16
NYI: 2
BUF: 3 OT

Sabres 3, Islanders 2 (OT): Former Isles Moulson, Okposo help Buffalo come back, beat Isles

Week Ahead:

Sunday Dec 18 - vs OTT

Tuesday Dec 20 - @ BOS

Friday Dec 23 - vs BUF

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
M. Grabovski, C	Sep 25, 2016	IR	Concussion
A. Pelech, D	Nov 28, 2016	IR	Upper-body injury
C. Cizikas, C	Dec 15, 2016	day-to-day	Upper-body injury

*Standings via ESPN as of 12/17/16
**Injuries via TSN as of 12/17/16
***Game of the week! The Columbus Blue Jackets will be facing off against the Pittsburgh Penguins for an early Christmas gift at Nationwide Arena this Thursday. The two teams haven't needed much of a spark to ignite a fire in the recent past, and this one should be no different as both teams will be battling for positioning atop the Metropolitan Division. The Pens will get their first taste of the year from their newest rivalry, who also happen to be the biggest surprise so far this year.