LOS ANGELES, CA (BDCi) – The story of the NHL this week has been the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their massive winning streak, their ability to trade for top notch talent, and an injury to one of their top players have ruled the NHL airwaves. Who did they acquire and who did they lose? Is a Brazilian born player making the move to Hollywood? Read ahead to find out!
Sidney Crosby out again with another head injury
The Pittsburgh Penguins captain has enjoyed a fantastic season and has seemed to have put his concussion problems behind him. Unfortunately he suffered a gruesome injury Saturday against the New York Islanders when he was hit in the mouth by the puck and suffered a broken jaw. Crosby underwent surgery and is now out indefinitely. The team announced they have not set any timetable for his return yet and will re-evaluate him in several days once the swelling goes down.
Pittsburgh Penguins cap off perfect month in March
The Pittsburgh Penguins suffered a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes back on February 28th; however since then the Penguins have not lost and completed a perfect March, going 15-0. The streak started on March 2nd with a 7-6 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Their most recent victory was a 4-0 victory over the New York Islanders which gave the Penguins 15 in a row to tie them for the second longest streak of all time. The NHL record is currently 17 wins in a row which is held by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins.
Calgary Flames trade longtime captain Jarome Iginla
With the NHL trade deadline coming up, the Calgary Flames decided to jump the gun and shipped out their long time captain about a week before the deadline. The team acquiring the star winger is the Pittsburgh Penguins. To acquire Iginla the Penguins gave up two college prospects and a 2013 first round pick. Iginla is expected to give the Penguins a huge boost offensively and makes the Penguins one of the heavy favorites to win the Stanley Cup.
3 Stars of the week (3/24 – 3/30)
Joffrey Lupul (Toronto Maple Leafs) – After missing much of the season with an injury, the Maple Leafs winger was one of the hottest players last week registering 5 goals and 4 assists while the Leafs went 3-1 on the week.
P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadiens) – The young blue-liner was an absolute force this week as he scored a goal and chipped in 4 assists while helping the Habs to a 2-1 record on the week.
Antti Niemi (San Jose Sharks) – The Sharks goaltender had a stellar week as he went 4-0 with a 1.22 GAA, .952 save percentage and two shutouts.
League Leaders (As of 3/30/2013)
Goals – Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning) – 25
Assists – Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) – 41
+/- – Chris Kunitz (Pittsburgh Penguins) – +27
Wins – Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota Wild) – 19
GAA – Corey Crawford (Chicago Blackhawks) – 2.02
Save Percentage – Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets) – .926
Shutouts – Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators) – 5
Brazil Player Watch
Robyn Regehr
After a solid week by his team the Buffalo Sabres last week, Regehr watched as his team regressed to a 0-3 performance this week. Regehr was able to net his second assist of the season and finished with a -1 rating and two penalty minutes on the week.
But the biggest news for this Recife-born skater is that he has been traded to the defending Stanley Cup Los Angeles Kings for two second round draft picks. The Kings needed to shore up their defense due to injuries.