Keeping up with the Metropolitans: Week 3

There’s a three way tie for the Metro lead, and the Devils finally got a victory! Check out how the rest of the Metro fared this week!

By t.cann112 Oct 20, 2019, 12:00pm EDT

The Penguins find themselves in a three way tie for the Metro lead after ringing off five wins in a row before Marc-Andre Fleury put a quick end to that. The Penguins began last week on the back end of a back-to-back in Winnipeg after defeating the Wild the night before. The Penguins had their way with the Jets and scored 7 goals for the second straight night behind two goals each from Sam Lafferty, Zach Aston-Reese and Jake Guentzel. Kris Letang would also record his 500th career point in a statement game from the Penguins. Tristan Jarry would make 27 saves to record his first win of the year and the Penguins held off the Jets by a 7-2 final score.

The Pens then returned back to Pittsburgh for a three game home stand in only four nights to wrap up their week. The undefeated Avalanche were in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night after defeating the Capitals two nights before. In one of the more entertaining low scoring games, the Avs and Pens traded goals before needing overtime to decide the winner. Brandon Tanev would get his first goal with Pittsburgh short handed. His pass attempt to Sam Lafferty was intercepted by Gabriel Landeskog who could not handle the bouncing puck and it ended up just crossing the goal line, giving the Penguins a 3-2 overtime victory and the Av’s first loss of the year.

The Dallas Stars were in Pittsburgh two nights later and the game remainded scoreless for the frist 25 minutes until Roope Hintz broke in alone and scored to break the ice. The Penguins would then record the next three goals behind some hard work from Patric Hornqvist and Kris Letang. Letang would score a highlight reel goal and add an empty netter and Hornqvist would score a goal and add two assists to power the Penguins to a 4-2 victory at PPG Paints Arena.

Have mercy, Kristopher... pic.twitter.com/6YOIqrfLuG
— PensBurgh (@Pensburgh) October 19, 2019

An old friend was back in Pittsburgh on Saturday night as Marc-Andre Fleury and the Golden Knights were in town. The Penguins tried their best to get one past Flower, but Fleury continued his dominant season stopping all 29 (of course) shots he faced as the Knights took down the Penguins by a final of 3-0 and ended the Penguins’ five game win streak. You never want to see the Penguins get shut out, but somehow can appreciate it when MAF is the one shutting the door. It was a tough loss for Jarry who stopped 21/22 shots in the loss.

The Penguins will be on the road this week beginning with the Panthers in Sunrise on Tuesday night. The Penguins will then have another tough test when they travel to the west (best) coast of Florida to take on the Lightning in Tampa 24 hours later on national television. Pittsburgh wraps up next week with a rematch against the Dallas Stars on Saturday night in Dallas.

The Washington Capitals won two out of their three games last week to remain in a three-way tie for first place in the Metro this week. The Capitals hosted a high flying Colorado Avalanche team on Monday night in DC. The Avs proved that they are as advertised as they jumped all over the Capitals and scored four goals in the first 10 minutes of the game. Braden Holtby was pulled after only 7 minutes as he allowed all three shots he faced past him. The Capitals didn’t just sit back and take it, however, as the Caps scored the next two goals in the 2nd period and swung momentum in their favor until Matt Nieto scored to bring the Av’s lead back to three early in the 3rd period. Alex Ovechkin would answer late in the 3rd period to make things interesting before Nathan MacKinnon potted an empty net goal to seal the deal for Colorado, securing their fifth win in a row to begin this season.

It was another high powered offense bringing their game to DC two nights later when Toronto was in town. This game started off ugly again for the Capitals as Kasperi Kapanen scored a short handed goal less than five minutes into the game and Toronto added another goal in the 1st period before Jakub Vrana stopped the bleeding and the Capitals would score the game’s next four goals to give the Capitals a 4-2 lead entering the 3rd period. John Tavares would cut the lead in half late in the 3rd period but rookie goaltender Ilya Samsonov held the fort and recorded his third victory this season.

The Capitals finished a three game home stand on Friday night against the New York Rangers. The Capitals scored early and often and the Rangers had no answer as the Capitals won by a final score of 5-2 behind two T.J. Oshie power play goals and a nice rebound performance by Braden Holtby.

Today is the beginning of a very rough stretch of games for Washington. They are in Chicago tonight before heading to western Canada for three games in four nights. They will be in Calgary on Tuesday before a back-to-back in Edmonton and Vancouver on Thursday and Friday. To make matters worse, they will then fly back to take on the Maple Leafs in Toronto next week, finishing the month of October with a five game road trip.

Carolina was in California this week to face the three California teams. It was the beginning of a four game road trip lasting nearly two weeks for the Hurricanes. The Los Angeles Kings were first in line for the Canes on Tuesday night, the first of three games in four days for Carolina. Petr Mrazek stopped all 31 shots he faced and Martin Necas’s second goal of the year was all the scoring the Hurricanes needed to hand the Kings the loss. Sebastian Aho scored a short-handed empty net goal to bring the final to 2-0.

James Reimer got the start the following night in San Jose and the wheels fell off quickly for Carolina. Evander Kane recorded a 1st period hat trick sandwiched around Dougie Hamilton’s fifth goal and the Sharks continued to add to their lead, knocking off the Hurricanes by a 5-2 final score.

Anaheim was next for Carolina two nights later and the result was very similar. The Ducks scored two first period goals and two more in the second before Carolina would record a goal. Erik Haula scored his seventh goal of the season before getting knocked out of the game with a big hit from Josh Manson into the end boards. Haula would get up holding the back of his neck/head and would not return, which could be a big loss for the Canes as he has seven goals in nine games.

Fortunately for Haula and Carolina, the Hurricanes have a five day break to return home before heading to Columbus to face the Jackets on Thursday night. The Blackhawks are next for Carolina when the two teams will meet on Saturday afternoon.

New York Islanders v Columbus Blue Jackets

The Islanders have been warming up and went undefeated this week to move two points out of first in the Metro. The Islanders hosted the Stanley Cup winning Blues on Long Island Monday night to begin their week. The Blues would score one in the 1st period and another early in the 3rd period to give them a 2-0 lead before the Islanders scored two goals to tie it and force overtime. Brock Nelson scored the Islanders’ first goal with just over five minutes left and Mathew Barzal scored his first goal of the season with their goalie pulled and only 27 seconds left in regulation. Devon Toews (somehow not related to Jonathan) scored his second goal to give the Islanders the comeback victory in front of their home fans.

The Islanders crossed the border to Canada to take on the Winnipeg Jets three days later to begin a two game road trip to finish their week. Nikolaj Ehlers got the scoring started in the 1st period for Winnipeg before Semyon Varlamov shut the door and Mathew Barzal scored two 2nd period goals, giving him three in two games, and Josh Bailey would add an empty netter to give the Islanders a 3-1 victory.

The Blue Jackets hosted the Islanders in a Metro Division clash on Saturday night in Columbus. It was a back and forth affair with all the scoring taking place in the game’s first 40 minutes. The stalemate ended 33 seconds into overtime when Brock Nelson scored his fourth goal of the early campaign, giving the Islanders their fourth straight victory after a sluggish start to the season.

The Isles will have four days of rest before a back-to-back set beginning at Nassau Coliseum on Thursday night against the Coyotes before jumping across the border again to face the Senators on Friday in Ottawa.

Columbus had three days off to begin last week before finishing with three games in four days. The Jackets hosted the Dallas Stars on Wednesday to kick off their week. Columbus would get the game’s first two goals before Dallas answered in the 1st period. Neither team would score until midway through the 3rd period when Sonny Milano scored one of the nicest goals you’ll ever see. He pushed a puck through a Dallas defender at the blue line before racing by two Dallas defenders and going between his legs on a partial breakaway and roofing the puck over Ben Bishop’s blocker to send the crowd into a frenzy and put away the Dallas Stars. That goal gave the Jackets a 3-1 lead and Joe Pavelski scored with five seconds left, making that goal the game winner.

A whole lot of angles of Sonny Milano's absolutely filthy goal pic.twitter.com/A1Tmk99trx
— CJ Fogler (@cjzer0) October 17, 2019

The Jackets then hit the road to Chicago for a back-to-back with the Islanders waiting for Columbus to return to Ohio the following night. It was a tightly contested game with both teams trading goals in the 1st and 2nd period and each team scored one in the 3rd to bring the game to overtime. It didn’t take long for the Blackhawks to seal the deal as Jonathan Toews scored his first of the year 46 seconds into OT to send the home fans home happy.

The Jackets returned home the following night and would play in the second straight overtime game and also their fourth consecutive game with a final score of 3-2. The two teams again traded goals in the first 40 minutes and neither team would score in the 3rd period, bringing the game to overtime. It took the Islanders even less time, however, to come away with the win as Brock Nelson scored his fourth goal 33 seconds into overtime, handing the Jackets their second straight 3-2 overtime loss in two nights.

Columbus has one day off today to fly across the border to Toronto to take on the Leafs on Monday night. The Jackets then take on two Metro teams when they return to Columbus on Thursday to battle the Hurricanes before heading to Philadelphia to wrap up their week on the road.

It may have taken longer than expected, but the Devils finally got a victory this season. However, the Panthers handed the Devils their sixth loss in a row to begin last week for the Devils. Jonathan Huberdeu quieted the Devil fans only 16 seconds into the game, putting the Panthers up 1-0 before the Devils rattled off four goals of their own. The Panthers must have thought that looked like fun, and one-upped the Devils by scoring five in a row to continue the disastrous start for the Devils.

The Devils finally ended their winless streak on Thursday night against the New York Rangers. The Devils tied the game at one in the 1st period and added two more in the 2nd and 3rd to knock off the Rangers by a 5-2 score and finally get that elusive first victory. Jack Hughes got his first career point when he got the primary assist on Miles Wood’s first goal of the year in the 2nd period that would turn out the be the game winner.

Jack Hughes will certainly remember the Devils next game for the rest of his life. The Devils hosted the Vancouver Canucks, and Hughes’ brother Quinn, on Saturday. Jack would score his first career goal against his brother’s team which would turn out to be the only goal of the game. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 25 shots he faced and just like that, the Devils are out of last place and have a two game win streak to build from after losing six in a row to begin their season.

The Devils are going to have to find creative ways to keep up the momentum of their two game win streak as they will only play in one game for the next ten days. New Jersey has five days off before hosting the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night in their only game this week.

The Flyers began last week finishing up a western Canada swing. Calgary was up first for Philly on Tuesday night. Matt NIskanen would get his first with the Flyers early in the 3rd period to bring the Flyers within a goal, but that would be as close as they would get as David Rittich shut the door and Elias Lindholm added an empty net goal to finish off the Flyers by a 3-1 final score.

The Flyers wrapped up their three game road trip 24 hours later in Edmonton, and that game couldn’t have ended quick enough for the Flyers. The Oilers scored five goals by the 2nd intermission and Connor McDavid had a career night with five points, handing the Flyers a tough three game sweep in Canada by a 6-3 final score.

The Flyers would return home and host the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Sean Couturier got the Flyers exactly what they needed by scoring 43 seconds into the game. However, that would be all the Flyers scoring and the Stars would score the next four goals to hand the Flyers their fourth consecutive loss.

The Vegas Golden Knights are next on the schedule for the Flyers when they meet on Monday night in Philadelphia. Philly will then have a quick one game trip to Chicago on Thursday night in another rematch of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final before returning back home to face Metro opponent Columbus Blue Jackets on a rare Saturday night game in Philadelphia on the first night on a back-to-back before playing another Metro opponent on Long Island against the Islanders next Sunday night.

The Rangers hold down last spot in the Metro this week, also losers of three in a row. The season has started off very slow for the Rangers with only five games in the first three weeks. The Rangers hit the road for a quick back-to-back and wound up losing both games by 5-2 scores.

The Rangers were in Newark to begin their week on Thursday night. The Rangers would get on the board first but New Jersey scored three in a row and pull ahead in the 3rd period to down the Rangers by a 5-2 final score. It was the Devils first win of the season.

The Capitals then hosted the Rangers 24 hours later in DC. Artemi Panarin scored late in the 2nd period to bring the Rangers to within one heading into the 3rd period, but the Capitals would get the remainder of the scoring and end the Rangers’ week with two consecutive 5-2 losses, making it three losses in a row for the Rangers.

The Rangers will be back in action this afternoon when they host the Canucks at MSG, which is where the Rangers will stay for the remainder of October. The Coyotes are next in line on Tuesday night and the Rangers will host cross state rival Buffalo on Thursday to wrap up this week.