Photo credit: Perry Nelson/USA TODAY Sports

8. San Jose Sharks (19-39-15)

Last week: 8

Move over, Columbus Blue Jackets. You’ve finally been replaced at the bottom of the league standings.

The Sharks went 0-2-1 in their Western Canada road trip and are now winless in nine straight games. They’re tied with the Blue Jackets in points but hold last place on points percentage due to having played one more game.

Erik Karlsson had five points on the three-game road trip, including a two-goal performance in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers. If the Sharks finish in last, will Karlsson’s season go down as the best any player has ever had on the league’s worst team?

With 90 points (22 G, 68 A) through 73 games, Karlsson has a chance to join some impressive company with Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis, and Brian Leetch as the only defensemen in NHL history to put up a 100-point season.

This week: VS WPG, VS VGK, @ ARI

7. Anaheim Ducks (23-40-10)

Last week: 7

The Ducks have now lost four straight games in regulation after dropping all three games they played last week, failing to play spoiler against playoff hopefuls in the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets.

Nikita Nesterenko joined the Ducks last week after completing his time at Boston College. He scored his first NHL goal in Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

This week: VS COL, @ SEA, @ EDM, @ CGY

6. Vancouver Canucks (34-34-5)

Last week: 6

The Canucks bounced back from a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights by winning their final three games of the week. Sure, two of those wins were against the Sharks and the Chicago Blackhawks, but they also beat a Dallas Stars team battling for the top spot in the Central Division for the second time in two weeks.

A Brock Boeser trade has felt inevitable for a while, but he wasn’t dealt by the trade deadline in part because he hasn’t had a great season. Talks with other teams seem likely to resume in the offseason, though, and a strong finish to the season could help build his market back up a bit, so Vancouver has probably been happy to see him put up three points over the last two games.

This week: @ STL, VS CGY, VS LA

5. Calgary Flames (33-26-15)

Last week: 5

The Flames picked up necessary wins over the Ducks and Sharks, but got blown out 8-2 by the LA Kings and also dropped a 3-2 game to the Vegas Golden Knights. .500 hockey isn’t going to be enough for Calgary at this point.

Four points back of the Jets for the second Wild Card in the Western Conference with eight games left, even if the Flames go 6-2-0 the rest of the way, they’d need the Jets to go no better than 3-4-1. It helps a bit that they have a game left against Winnipeg, but they also have to beat out the Nashville Predators, who are just one point behind them and have two games in hand.

An unlikely source in Walker Duehr has been helping to keep Calgary’s slim playoff hopes alive. He has five points over the last five games.

This week: VS LA, @ VAN, VS ANA

4. Seattle Kraken (40-24-8)

Last week: 4

The Kraken continued their march toward an unexpected playoff berth in just their second season by picking up five of six points on the road last week.

After a 5-4 overtime win over the Stars, they dropped a 2-1 shootout decision in the first part of a two-game stop in Nashville before crushing the Predators 7-2 on Saturday.

Eeli Tolvanen has been a great waiver pickup for Seattle with 25 points (15 G, 10 A) in 38 games since joining the team. He made Nashville pay for giving up on him with two goals against his former team on Saturday.

This week: @ MIN, VS ANA, VS LA

3. Edmonton Oilers (41-23-9)

Last week: 3

All three games the Oilers played last week were decided in overtime. They beat the Sharks and Arizona Coyotes to extend their winning streak to five games before it was snapped with a 4-3 OT loss to the Golden Knights on Saturday.

Connor McDavid scored his 60th goal of the season with the OT winner against the Coyotes. Somehow, he just keeps getting better. His 60 goals and 139 points through just 73 games have already blown away his previous career-high totals that he set last year with 44 goals and 123 points.

This week: @ ARI, @ VGK, VS LA, VS ANA

2. LA Kings (43-20-10)

Last week: 2

The LA Kings are rolling. They blew out the Flames, 8-2. They beat the Jets, 4-1. Then they let what looked like was going to be a blowout win over the Blues on Sunday got closer than it should have been, but still came away with a 7-6 victory. They’re 10-0-2 in their last 12 games and with just two games left to play in their March schedule they have not yet suffered a regulation loss during the month.

Viktor Arvidsson had a huge week for the Kings, scoring five goals and adding two assists in three games.

 

This week: @ CGY, @ EDM, @ SEA, @ VAN

1. Vegas Golden Knights (46-21-6)

Last week: 1

The Kings could be deserving of being moved up to the top spot at this point, but the Golden Knights never lose either. They swept their Western Canada road trip and have won eight of their last nine games.

Jack Eichel looks like he’s heating up as he gets set to play in the playoffs for the first time in his career. After a hat trick against the Blue Jackets last Sunday, he put up a goal and two assists in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Oilers.

This week: VS EDM, @ SJ, VS MIN

Tags:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *