Keeping up with the Metropolitans: Week 6

Your weekly dose of Metropolitan action!

By t.cann112 Nov 13, 2017, 10:00am EST

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals

Another week gone by, another week that the Devils are in first pace in the Metro. The Devils have a very slim lead over the rest of the pack, who are all stuck together with only 1 point separating 2nd to 6th place as of the conclusion of Sunday’s games. Philadelphia and Carolina are no push-over, either. Is this balance of points because the division is good, is bad, or is mediocre this year? Goal scoring doesn’t seem to be a problem with any team. However, giving up goals seems to be much more common this year for the Metro as well.

The goal differential column is all you need to see to pinpoint the difference between the Penguins and the rest of the Metro. There’s no need to remind anyone of the back-to-back issue, so let’s focus on the Pens being 5-0-1 at home, and playing twice as many road games as home games so far this year. The Penguins are now entering a stretch where they play 10 out of the next 13 at home. Patience is important right now as a Penguins fan. Good news should be coming soon.

The Rangers are the most noticeable team in the Metro right now, possibly even the NHL. The Rangers have won 6 in a row now, and have put themselves right back in the middle of this close early season race. The Devils could also make a case for that designation in the Metro, too. The Devils have been in first place since the season began, and do appear to have found what the Maple Leafs discovered last year. Speaking of Toronto, Auston Matthews(Maybe?) and the Leafs are hosting the Devils on Thursday night in what could be a very interesting game. Could the Devils and Leafs be the start of a new rivalry?

The Capitals are coming around behind the strength of Braden Holtby achieving milestones. Alex Ovechkin still hasn’t showed signs of slowing down much and with how impressive some of the Russian players have been this year, it’s very unfortunate that the NHL decided not to participate in the Olympics this winter. The Russians would have been very fun to watch, and maybe he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder with even more to prove. The Capitals are trending up at the moment.

While the Capitals were riding Holtby to victories, the Blue Jackets are falling with Bobrovsky allowing more than 2 goals per game. The Jackets just ended a 4 game skid by beating the Red Wings in a shootout on Saturday. Cam Atkinson has returned for them, and they’re going to need him and Panarin to start clicking if the Jackets are going to be a contender this year.

Just like with the Penguins, the goalie stats for the Islanders are not very pretty. Just like with the Penguins, the Islanders have been finding ways around that and winning games. It’s been a shared net with Halak and Greiss starting evenly, and both goalies have GAA over 3 and save percentages near .900. John Tavares is still really good at hockey, even if nobody is there to see it. The saga continues in Brooklyn.

The Flyers were very quiet last week with only two games played, winning against Chicago and then getting shutout by the Wild at home. Their lack of games played puts them in 7th place, but still far from out of it. Local product “Johnny Hockey” will be back in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon, and he’s having himself a pretty good year so far. That should be a good game between the two teams.

Speaking of lacking games played- the Hurricanes have played 15 total games, the Pens have played 13 road games! - Carolina is still behind but otherwise had a successful week last week before collapsing against the Blackhawks. The Canes have a busy week ahead with 4 games on tap. They’ll be hoping to build off a good showing this week.

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