Keeping up with the Metropolitans: Week 8

The Islanders are breaking records, the Capitals aren’t slipping, the Canes are back, and the Pens are keeping up despite several key injures. Recap how it all went down last week here!

By t.cann112 Nov 24, 2019, 1:00pm EST

No team has been hit as hard as the Penguins by injuries so far this season. The Penguins had a fully healthy roster several weeks ago, and it lasted about 40 minutes before the injuries started to pile up again. Last week was no different as the Penguins managed to lose another key player this week as Justin Schultz is now out longer term.

The Penguins have been playing well despite the injuries, and they began the week with a home and home against the Islanders. The first game took place in Pittsburgh, and the Penguins had a ball in the 1st period with goals from Bryan Rust and Brandon Tanev to hold a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. The Islanders would get those goals back in the 2nd period before Tanev added his second goal of the game to give the lead back to the Penguins after 40 minutes.

Jake Guentzel scored his 10th goal of the season on the power play early in the 3rd period to give the Penguins the 4-2 lead but Josh Bailey cut into that lead with less than five minutes left to bring it to 4-3. Ryan Pulock would stun the home fans when he scored to tie the game at four at 18:48 and force overtime. Unfortunately for the Penguins, Brock Nelson would score his second of the game to give the Islanders their second straight comeback win after trailing by several goals in the 3rd period.

The Penguins then headed to Brooklyn for game two against the Islanders. Evgeni Malkin got the Penguins the first goal of the game just over a minute into the game, but the Islanders would tie it to even the score at the first intermission. Bryan Rust continued his hot streak a minute into the 2nd period with his 8th goal of the year, but again the Islanders would return the favor to even the game heading into the 3rd period.

Brock Nelson scored on the power play with less than five minutes in the game, and it looked like the Penguins were going to come away without any points. But with 30 seconds left and Matt Murray on the bench, Patric Hornqvist would not be denied as he crashed the net following a long range shot and the puck gets behind Thomas Greiss and the game heads to overtime. Unfortunately for the Penguins, Brock Nelson would score his second of the game to give the Islanders their second straight overtime victory against the Penguins and extend their points streak to a franchise record 16 straight games.

The Penguins were back in action in Pittsburgh the following night against the Devils, who have been giving the Penguins troubles the last few years. That would not be the case in this game however, as the Penguins controlled the game for the most part. Tristan Jarry continued his hot start to the year by stopping 36/37 shots and the Penguins got goals from Dominik Kahun, Guentzel, Jared McCann and John Marino and held the Devils at bay, and the Penguins won by a 4-1 final to give them points in all three games last week.

Despite those two losses to the Islanders, the Penguins still managed a point in both games and now have a four game point streak going 2-0-2 the last four games. The Pens return to action Monday night against the Calgary Flames before hosting the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. It’ll be a rough travel weekend for the Penguins when they close out this month on the road against Columbus on Friday night and St. Louis on Saturday night.

The Capitals haven’t been as dominant the last few weeks as they were to begin the season, but the Caps still find themselves with a three point lead over the Islanders who have now gone 15-0-2 in the last month plus. It was another up and down week for the Capitals, beginning at home against the Ducks on Monday night. It was all Capitals in this game, as the Caps scored the first four goals of the game before the Ducks managed to get on the board at 13:31 of the 3rd period. Anaheim would get one more, but the Capitals would cap off the game with an empty net goal to bring the final score to 5-2.

The game will be remembered for a controversial move by Garnet Hathaway. With just over 30 seconds left in the 2nd period, the Capitals scored a goal as a fight broke out behind the Ducks net. After a chaotic mess with all skaters engaged in battle, Garnet Hathaway and Erik Gudbranson were tangled up with several refs attempting to separate the two. Gudbranson landed several bare handed cheap shots to the face of Hathaway, and Hathaway responds by spitting on Gudbranson - resulting in a match penalty and three game suspension. Hathaway had every right to be angry with Gudbranson, and Gudbranson is one of the worst sucker punch artists in the NHL, but spitting on an opponent is never an acceptable response. Hathaway admitted that himself, and accepted responsibility for his actions, which is an acceptable ending and a fair punishment in my eyes.

The Capitals next game took place on Wendesday Night Hockey at MSG against the Rangers. The game was about as even as possible for the first 20 minutes, but Artemi Panarin would get the Rangers on the board first via the power play just over a minute into the 2nd period which was all the scoring until the 3rd period. The Rangers would add two more before the Capitals got a power play goal to bring it to 3-1, but New York would score another with less than ten minutes remaining which would be the last of the scoring and the Capitals fell by a 4-1 final score. It was the first regulation road loss for the Capitals since October 12th.

Washington tried to avenge that loss when they returned home to face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Both teams got on the board in the 1st period, and that was all the scoring in regulation and overtime in what turned out to be quite a goalie duel between Braden Holtby and Jacob Markstrom. Both goalies stopped 32/33 shots and the shootout lasted seven rounds before a goalie allowed a shot past him. That goalie turned out to be Holtby as Bo Horvat scored on the 14th attempt of the shootout to give the Canucks the 2-1 victory and give the Capitals their second loss in a row.

The Capitals return to action after a three day hiatus on Wednesday night at home against the Florida Panthers. The Tampa Bay Lightning will be in DC on Friday evening before the Capitals fly to Detroit to close out November for Washington.

Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Islanders

It has been a historical beginning of the year for the Islanders. They entered last week going 13-0-1 in their last fourteen games. Their one blip came via the Pittsburgh Penguins, who the Islanders played twice to begin their week. The first game took place in Pittsburgh, and it was all Pittsburgh in the first 20 minutes as the Pens jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the 1st period. Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson teamed up to tie it 5:30 into the 2nd, but the Penguins would add another to give them the 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.

Jake Guentzel put the Penguins up by two in the 3rd period with his power play goal, but the Islanders would not be outdone with two goals in the last five minutes to shock the PPG Paints crowd and force overtime. Brock Nelson would end the game with his second of the game 2:55 into overtime to give the Islanders their second straight 3rd period come from behind victory, and stretch their point streak to 14-0-1.

The two teams met again in Brooklyn two nights later and the Isles were behind the eight ball early when Evgeni Malkin scored 64 seconds into the game, but the Islanders would even the score at one later in the 1st period. The Penguins got the next goal early in the 2nd period, but again it was answered by the Islanders with Beavillier scoring against the Penguins again on the power play. Broke Nelson appeared to put the Islanders up for good with another power play goal with less than five minutes remaining, but the Penguins managed to tie the game with their goalie pulled and only 30 seconds left in the game.

For the second straight game, Brock Nelson would score in overtime, again his second goal of the game, to give the Islanders the 4-3 overtime win, stretching their point streak to 15-0-1, and setting a new franchise record.

The Islanders then hit the road to California with only one day in between their game against Pittsburgh before their tilt against the Sharks in San Jose on Saturday night. It was a Barry Trotz masterpiece as the only scoring for either team took place in a 30 second span midway through the 2nd period. It was a low shot, low scoring, high hitting game and it would need overtime to decide the winner. The Islanders had plenty of chances to win the game, going 0-6 on the power play and only taking one penalty of their own. However, the Sharks would hand the Islanders only their second loss since October 11, as Logan Couture would score for the Sharks 2:30 into overtime, but the streak lives on at 15-0-2.

The Islanders continue their trip through California on Monday night against Anaheim before completing the trip in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. The Islanders close what will be one of the best months of their franchise’s history on Saturday night in Brooklyn against the Blue Jackets.

Carolina hit a bit of a rough patch to begin November, but have turned it around the last few weeks. The Hurricanes began last week trying to sweep a three game road trip in Chicago. The Canes controlled the game for the most part, as they scored the first three goals of the game to lead 3-0 after 40 minutes. Chicago finally got on the board 12 minutes into the 3rd period and then added another goal quickly after that one to get the home crowd fired up and all the pressure on the Hurricanes. Petr Mrazek was clutch down the stretch as the Hawks fired 20 shots on goal in the 3rd period, and Mrazek wouldn’t allow Chicago to tie it. Sebastian Aho would score his 10th of the season into an empty net and Carolina held on for the 4-2 win, completing the three game road sweep and winning their fourth in a row.

The Flyers were the next obstacle for the Canes to make it five in a row. Carolina started out quickly for their home fans with two goals in the first five minutes, but the Flyers answered with three consecutive goals to head into the 3rd period with Philadelphia up by one. Lucas Wallmark evened the game at three 3:24 into the 3rd period, but the Flyers would go ahead for good 11:16 into the 3rd period before adding another into an empty net to bring the final score to 5-3 and ending the Canes’ four game win streak.

The Panthers were next in Raleigh on Saturday, and the Cats scored two goals 18 seconds apart to open the scoring for Florida. However, that was all the goals they would get in the game as Mrazek shut the door the remainder of the game and the Hurricanes would tie it at two before the end of the 1st period. Dougie Hamilton scored his 10th of the season in the 2nd period to give the Hurricanes the lead and Andrei Svechnikov sealed the deal with an empty net goal to give the Hurricanes a 4-2 victory over the Panthers.

Carolina has to be happy with the way the season has gone so far from them. There are still some players struggling to play the way they were in the playoffs last year, but their offense has come to life this season and they trail only the Capitals in goal scoring in the Metro a quarter of the way into the season.

Carolina has a busy week this week beginning today in Detroit after playing in Raleigh yesterday. They then head to NYC to play the Rangers on Wednesday night. Nashville will be in Carolina on Friday night before the Canes fly south to Tampa to play the Lightning to close out the month of November for Carolina.

Philadelphia Flyers v Carolina Hurricanes

The Flyers continue to be a different team on any given night. This week was no different. It began on the road for Philly in Sunrise against the Panthers on Tuesday night. Travis Sanheim scored his second goal of the season in the 1st period, but the Panthers answered with four straight goals to end Carter Hart’s night, and the Flyers were shut down by Sergei Bobrovsky (the one who got away) as he stopped 35/37 Flyer shots. However, one of those shots that got past him was from Morgan Frost who was playing in his first career NHL game, and his goal was one of the nicer first career goals you’ll see. However, it wasn’t enough as the Flyers lost the game 5-2.

The Flyers were in Raleigh two days later and were looking to rebound. However, things weren’t looking good for Philly as the Hurricanes scored two goals 1:20 apart before the game was even five minutes old. Philadelphia would respond, however, with two goals of their own to even the score after the first period.

Morgan Frost played in his second NHL game, and crossed off another big milestone when he scored short handed in the 2nd period to give the Flyers the 3-2 lead. The score would remain that way until 3:24 into the 3rd period when Lucas Wallmark tied the game at three. Claude Giroux gave the Flyers the lead with his second goal of the game, and fourth point of the game, with less than ten minutes remaining and Kevin Hayes would add an empty net goal with five seconds left to give the Flyers the 5-3 victory after allowing the Canes to tie it in the 3rd period. Frost would get the primary assist on Giroux’s goal, giving him three points in his first two games.

Philadelphia wrapped up their week at home against the Flames on Saturday afternoon. It was a back and forth game with both teams trading goals in the 2nd and 3rd period before Hayes looked to give the Flyers the deciding goal with less than five minutes in the game to go up 2-1. However, Elias Lindholm scored his 11th goal for the Flames with 1:23 remaining in the game to force overtime. Both goalies stopped the three shots they each faced, and Matthew Tkachuk would get the only goal of the shootout as the Flames late goal in regulation turns into a 3-2 shootout loss for the Flyers to end their week.

The Flyers resume action on Monday night at home against the Vancouver Canucks. Philly then heads one state over to face Columbus on Wednesday night. Detroit will be in Philadelphia on Friday afternoon before the Flyers wrap up November in Montreal for a Saturday matinee.

The Rangers have quietly been treading water this season, but are still five points behind the Flyers and only two points ahead of the Devils in last place. Just like the rest of their season so far, last week was a bit of an adventure for the Rangers. They began against a Metro rival when the Washington Capitals squared off at the Garden on Wednesday Night Hockey. It was a tightly contested game for the first period as neither team would score, but Artemi Panarin would get the first of the game, and his 10th of the season, on the power play a minute into the 2nd period, which would be the only scoring until the 3rd period when Panarin would add another PPG to double the Rangers lead. Pavel Buchnevich would make it 3-0 only 23 seconds later, and the Capitals did not have the answer but would finally get on the board with a power play goal 7:24 into the 3rd period. The Rangers would add one more to make it 4-1 and Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 30/31 shots in the victory, which tied him with Curtis Joseph for fifth all time on the NHL wins list. Congratulations are in order for King Hank. He’s had quite a career.

Lundqvist would attempt to surpass CuJo in Ottawa two nights later, but the Senators made it known quickly that they aren’t to be taken lightly this year. Thomas Chabot scored for the Senators 57 seconds into the game, and the Senators added another goal five minutes later on the power play to jump out to a quick 2-0 lead. Jacob Trouba scored late in the 1st for the Rangers, but that was as close as they would get as the Senators added two more in the 2nd period and Anders Nilsson stopped 30/31 shots, including 17 in the 2nd period and only 5 in the 3rd, to defeat the Rangers 4-1. It was also the end of Panarin’s 12 game point streak.

The Rangers had to regroup quickly after that loss, as they were in Montreal the next night to face the Canadiens. It was a disaster of a start for the Rangers, as Montreal scored three goals in the 1st period and one more early in the 2nd to fall in a 4-0 hole only 23 minutes into the game. But the Rangers rallied and rattled off three goals in a 3:20 span to cut the lead to 4-3 at the 10:30 mark of the 2nd period, where it would remain until the 3rd.

The Canadiens ended the Rangers rally with a goal 5:20 into the 3rd to go ahead by two again, but Panarin then began another rally from the Rangers 31 seconds later to cut the Montreal advantage to one. Brendan Lemieux would even the score at five with a short handed goal, and Jacob Trouba completed the shocking come from behind victory for the Rangers with his third goal of the season, and second in as many games, as the Rangers held off the Canadiens the rest of the way for the 6-5 victory.

The Rangers return home for two games to begin this upcoming week against the Minnesota Wild on Monday before facing Metropolitan opponent Carolina on Wednesday night. The Bruins and Rangers meet in the 2019 NHL Thanksgiving Showdown for a national audience on Friday afternoon before the Rangers and Devils have another showdown on Saturday afternoon to finish the month of November for New York.

The Blue Jackets were ranked last in the Metro last Sunday, but they rebounded last week with two victories and their offense had a good week with 13 goals in their three games. They began the week with their second game against Montreal in a week, this time in Columbus. The Blue Jackets got on the board early with a goal 1:24 into the game, but the Canadiens would score with less than five minutes in the 1st to tie the game at one. Both teams traded goals in the 2nd period to bring the game deadlocked at two going into the 3rd period. Columbus would run away with it with three goals from Emil Bemstrom to break the tie, before Boone Jenner added one on the power play and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his 9th of the year to put the Jackets up 5-2 which would be the final score.

Columbus then looked to make it three wins in a row against their old foe, the Detroit Red Wings, at Nationwide Arena on Thursday. Columbus broke the ice five minutes into the game before the Wings tied it after the first 20 minutes. Cam Atkinson scored a PPG to give the Jackets the lead, but Detroit answered with two goals in 43 seconds to end the 2nd period, with their third goal of the game coming short handed.

However, the Jackets came out strong in the 3rd period with three consecutive goals to jump out to a 5-3 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the game. Tyler Bertuzzi would score with just over three minutes left to make things interesting, but Joonas Korpisalo and the Jackets would not let the Red Wings even the score again and held on for the 5-4 victory.

The Jackets attempted to make it an undefeated week on Saturday when they flew to Winnipeg for one game before returning back to Columbus next week. Dubois would get the scoring started with his 10th goal of the season, but it was answered quickly by the Jets and the game remained tied after the 1st period. The Jets got the next goal in the 2nd period, but the Jackets got power play goals from Seth Jones and Gustav Nyquist less than a minute apart to give Columbus a 3-2 lead, but the Jets answered with one more goal to even the score at three going into the 3rd period.

Elvis Merzlikins got the start in goal for the Jackets, his first game in 11 days and only third game in November. He was playing well enough to win, but the Jets tilted the ice in the 3rd period and outshot the Blue Jackets 12-6 in the 3rd period. Unfortunately for Merzlikins, he attempted to send a dump in out of his zone, but it was intercepted by Andrew Copp of the Jets who threw it at the net and Merzlikins was not able to get back in time, and that would be the deciding goal as the Jets down the Jackets with that back breaking goal. and Merzlikins continues to look for that elusive first career victory.

Despite that disappointing end to their game against the Jets, the Blue Jackets had a positive week going 2-1. They return to action with a three game home stand this week, and some big rivals ahead. The Senators are first in line on Monday before the Flyers and Penguins are in Columbus the day before and after Thanksgiving. The Jackets then wrap up the week on the road in Brooklyn on the back end of a back to back on Saturday night to close out November for the Blue Jackets.

The Devils reclaimed their position alone in the basement last week after losing two out of their three games. They began action at home against the Boston Bruins. Matt Grzelcyk scored his first of the season and David Pastrnak would add another in a 14 second span in the 1st period, which doomed the Devils. New Jersey would get on the board late in the 2nd period from a Blake Coleman goal, but Pastrnak and Grzelcyk would both add another goal and Boston would add one more as the Devils went down without a fight in a 5-1 loss in front of their home fans.

New Jersey had two days to make the long distance travel to Pittsburgh on Friday night, and all those miles must have taken their toll on the Devils who came out slow against the Penguins. The Devils were outshot 18-6 in the 1st period and the Penguins got the first goal of the game nearly eight minutes into the game.

The Devils came out strong to begin the 2nd period when Taylor Hall got off the schneid with a power play goal 31 seconds into the period to tie the game at one. It was only Hall’s third goal of the season, and first goal in ten games. He’s still racking up points and shots on goal, but the goals just haven’t been going in for him right now.

That was the only highlight for the Devils in the game, as the Penguins regained the lead midway through the 2nd period and added two more goals early in the 3rd period to put away the Devils by a 4-1 final score.

The Devils were back in Newark the next day to take on the Detroit Red Wings in one of the most hyped games of the season. After both teams went scoreless in the 1st period, Taro Hirose scored three minutes into the 2nd period for the Wings, but that was answered 26 seconds later by Kyle Palmieri to even the score at one where it stayed until the 3rd period.

The Devils offense exploded in the 3rd period with goals from Will Butcher and Blake Coleman before Hall scored in consecutive games and Coleman would add one more into an empty net to give the Devils a satisfying 5-1 victory for their home fans to wrap up their otherwise disappointing week.

The Devils are in last place two points behind the Blue Jackets as of today, and will have two days off before hosting the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. New Jersey then makes a quick trip across the border to play in Montreal on Thanksgiving night before returning home on Saturday to face the New York Rangers at The Rock to wrap up their week and the month of November.