LOS ANGELES, CA (BDCi) – We are inching closer and closer to the NHL playoffs and almost every team is still in it, especially in the Western Conference. Unfortunately there were more key injuries this week and one head coach losing his job. What is new in this week of hockey? Read ahead to find out!
Wild Wild West
In the Western Conference pretty much not a single team has been eliminated from playoff contention as the difference between the current eight seeded team (Dallas Stars) and the last place team (Colorado Avalanche) is only seven points. Currently San Jose, Nashville, and Columbus are all within a point of the eight seed.
Tampa Bay Lightning fire head coach Guy Boucher
The Tampa Bay Lighting came into the season with high hopes thanks to their offseason acquisition of goaltender Anders Lindback, however the Lightning have struggled mightily this season and currently sit six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot. Due to the poor play the Lightning decided to part with head coach Guy Boucher and had assistants Martin Raymond and Dean Lacroix serve in place for him in their most recent game against the Winnipeg Jets.
New Jersey Devils Ilya Kovalchuk out two to four weeks with injury
The New Jersey Devils have been hampered with injuries to their players all season and the news got worse this week as they lost top winger Ilya Kovalchuk for two to four weeks with a shoulder injury. The good news is that head coach Lou Lamoriello says that the injury will not require surgery. The Devils however will need to tighten their belts as they have seen their fast start to the season dwindle and they will need to play tough hockey to hang onto their playoff spot.
3 Stars of the week (3/18 – 3/24)
Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) – The enigmatic forward put on quite a show this past week as he scored a goal in every game he played last week finishing with five goals and three assists in four games played.
Sergei Gonchar (Ottawa Senators) – Gonchar has been impressive for more than just a week now as he set a team record with assists in 10 straight games and recorded a goal and four assists in his three games played last week.
Cory Schneider (Vancouver Canucks) – The Canucks backstop had a stellar week as he won all four of his starts compiling a stat line of four wins, a GAA of 1.25, save percentage of .957 and one shutout.
League Leaders (As of 3/24/2013)
Goals – Steven Stamkos (TampaBay Lightning) – 22
Assists – Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) – 39
+/- – Chris Kunitz (Pittsburgh Penguins) – +24
Wins – Marc Andre-Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins) – 17
GAA – Corey Crawford (Chicago Blackhawks) – 1.86
Save Percentage – Tuukka Rask (Boston Bruins) – .928
Shutouts – Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators) – 5
Brazil Player Watch
Robyn Regehr
Regehr had a typical defensive week for himself as he had a +/- rating of even on the week as he helped the Sabres to a 3-1 record on the week, including two tough road wins over the Montreal Canadiens.