Teams	Pts	Games Left	conf Games	Playoff spot % right now	Last 10
Dallas	82	15	10 (5 vs playoff fight teams)	98%	4-3-3
Vegas	82	14	13 (13 Vs Playoff teams)	98%	9-1-0
Edmonton	80	14	8 (4 vs playoff teams	93%	5-3-2
Calgary	77	14	9 (7 vs playoff fight teams)	82%	6-3-1
Minnesota	75	15	10 (5 vs playoff teams)	75%	7-3-0
Vancouver	74	16	13 (9 vs playoff teams)	50%	4-5-1
Nashville	74	15	9 (5 vs playoff fight)	30%	5-4-1
Winnipeg	74	14	13 (11 Vs fighting teams)	22%	5-4-1
Arizona	74	14	12 (9 vs fighting teams)	39%	5-4-1

Inspired by a similar post I saw recently in /nba, I decided to give the OpenAI GPT-2 language model a shot at discussing 20 random top NHL players. For those who are unfamiliar with the model itself, it works by predicting the next word it thinks it will occur in a chain of text and is best known for its use on /subredditsimulator. for those familiar with that sub, the model can be very odd and nonsensical in what it spits out, even if the GPT-2 variant seems to form more coherent sentences.
None of the text below has been modified in any way, it is straight from the source. Although some have been trimmed due to the nature of the upper word limit being an issue and cutting samples off mid-sentence. But alas, here you go!

Nikita Kucherov

Nikita Kucherov didn't have an answer after getting his first goal against Ottawa to give the Flames a 5-4 win Saturday.
While Kucherov scored his first NHL point on a penalty shot by Ottawa's Erik Karlsson just over a minute into the game, the Blues were also shorthanded and the Senators were down 2-0 heading into intermission.
"We made our mistakes," Kucherov said after the game. "Our first goal wasn't good, so we made some big mistakes."
Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars, his third goal during the Blues' six-game winning streak, assisted on another goal from Kucherov with 16:39 left after the winger got Montreal's Sean Monahan in front of the net with a wrist shot at 15:20 through tight neutral zone coverage. "It was great," Kucherov said of the goal. "It's a little disappointing, when you're the goalie getting a goal, but it's something you're going to fight for, obviously a little bit." It wasn't the first time Kucherov had had trouble with Ottawa, though. They were 4-0-2 against the Blues in their four previous meetings, so the loss doesn't mark too many positives. "You're not going to score four goals against us on the road," Blues winger Zach Sanford said. "That's pretty disappointing."
Petr Mrazek of the Canadiens ended a five-game home losing streak with a short-handed goal, setting up a fourth goal with 2:03 left in the game. Chris Kelly of the Blues scored from the left circle to cap their 10-4 run, setting up Seguin's fourth and deciding the game. The Blues are 10-3-1 when scoring four goals in their last six games. They're a point ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card in last year's Eastern Conference, which would require clinching the final wild-card spot. "They're getting good goaltending," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "They're getting great speed back defensively as well. They're coming on the rush on a lot of their power plays, which is very good."
Mrazek scored on a penalty shot when the Stars didn't have anyone in their lineup.

Sidney Crosby

"I don't think it matters. I think our guys do what they got to do. We've got a talented group of defensemen playing against top competition and they have a little bit of a feel for how to work back. Some guys have just had a tough couple weeks or a bad couple weeks or two weeks. So it doesn't matter if you take a guy out at this time of the year. You have to get a little bit more rested. And some guys that are dealing with injuries to guys like Matt Irwin and Evgeni Malkin are in their fifth week. You just gotta get a little bit better for our guys and you get them into a better rhythm." Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are in the midst of a three-game-in-a-row losing streak against the Capitals, and defenseman Martin St. Louis is dealing with a knee injury. Crosby admitted it's a grind getting ready for games when they play Washington. The Penguins have been held without a point in their last four games against Washington but have improved their record to 12-2-2 when they do bring the home ice advantage. The Penguins are 4-2-0 vs. Washington over their last nine home games, including 5-1-0 against the Capitals so far this season. Washington's Braden Holtby has five goals and six assists in the road series with Pittsburgh. He and Sidney Crosby won't be on the ice for Sunday's game at Gillette Stadium (7 p.m. CT, NBCSN). Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen (lower body) will take on Crosby with goalie Braden Holtby not participating.
Crosby didn't play for the Capitals back in February because his concussion was too much for him to handle on a daily basis. That was when the team drafted defenseman Karl Alzner, also a forward, in the seventh round, just after he scored three goals in 12 games when he was hurt. Alzner didn't get his shot until his second game back, in March, but he did enough in practice and in games to get noticed by the coaching staff. He played well in the playoffs after a slow start to the season began. Alzner is one of the Capitals' best players. He's also the team's primary penalty killing weapon -- he's 2.18 PIMs per game on the season, and 694 hits -- and he continues to do damage.
In fact, it was during the second period versus the Devils in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final that he found just what he needed to help propel the team into the series. Crosby turned the puck over on an offensive zone faceoff and Alzner had to make his way across the ice and score from near the edge of the Devils zone. Crosby did a good job, going with the outside of his crease and scoring as he went. That's the kind of play he makes that will help his team win games.

Connor McDavid

To be fair, however, as you look at just the top 15 players in the league – at least for a period of time – the talent is still going to have a bit of a ceiling. Even the most highly touted players, including Sidney Crosby of the Penguins, Connor McDavid of the Maple Leafs and Jordan Eberle of the Flyers, could all end up taking a hit in his career. That has never happened before with these four prospects and one player (Tyler Seguin) will likely walk before the age of 23. To give a concrete example: Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs – the No. 2 goaltender of the decade in the world, and the first overall pick of this year's draft – is going to turn 30 in 2015-16 and won't have played since June 13.
All this is just too good to ignore, though, as some draft experts argue that it could be more important to invest in a player with a "true ceiling," which is defined as a player having a goal-scoring potential with a high plus-minus rating (i.e, an upper-90 in that category) and above average shot totals.
To that end, some fans of the big men will be looking for an asset with potential to play in the future; for example, Jonathan Drouin and Alex Ovechkin (and even Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars) have great scoring potential with a lot of upside, both of whom could easily end up in Minnesota.
The Leafs and Flyers may be looking to add a third top-line winger as their primary go-to forward. This is just one area where the trade deadline could be something of a crapshoot. The Leafs and the Blue Jackets, both of whom are in much deeper trouble on their depth charts due to injury, may find themselves in a position where they can afford to look elsewhere with some luck. Of course, some teams, including the Philadelphia Flyers, have a lot of cap room already, and they could try to use this to try to fill out their roster before making trades.

Johnny Gaudreau

Johnny Gaudreau had 10 shots on goal, eight of them coming with 4:20 left in regulation, and two more coming with 1:28 left in the first period. The Senators trailed 5-3.
The Sens went to town.
"They were going to score and we were going to score," recalled Lindy Ruff, in which he and Gaudreau were at times booed. "For them to bring the energy was pretty good. They had some confidence and if the puck came out of there, they were going to make a play.
That said, it was the second time in as many games Ruff said he had the Sens fans booing him.
"For me, the first one was pretty important, and I was just glad my teammates were up to that very thing. It's never a good feeling, but for the guys I think it's a good step, a sign they're committed to us, and they're going to work as hard as they can to do it."
So yes, that's two more points coming to Dylan Olsen. He played two shifts, got the guy one-footeded and was immediately assessed a major penalty. This is why you should never start a game without one and let him go to sleep after that shift.
Oh, and to make things even worse, the referee called an "OVERTIME BLOCK" to save the team's honour. That's right - the guy who played his best hockey last week was penalized after having a player give the puck up, even if it wasn't his fault. At least that's what a neutral official thought.
I'm not gonna lie, it was a bit weird to watch. As it turns out, a minor penalty was in order (there was no penalty on Charlie Coyle). It was only about 30 seconds later that the referee issued an OVERTIME BLOCK from his bench in the first period so we got another one late. It turns out he was pretty annoyed that Oliver Kylington's first and only point ended up in the bottom 10 in the end (he got a one-timer as well).

Brad Marchand

Brad Marchand of the Tampa Bay Lightning says it's about time that a coach got the benefit of the doubt.
"The game needs the coach to let players go where they want and he has shown that he can, that is the biggest difference I have noticed between being a coach and a leader at this game," Marchand said Monday night when asked if it should be the coaches calling the shots. "A whole lot happens in the game, you have to look at your team every once in a while, I think I will have my say on when to let some guys go and when not."
On a team where it has been two weeks since the Tampa Penguins, Marchand had been asked what his role was and if he saw the coach having anything to do with it, he said, "Well I guess the next question is why are you guys having fun?"
It could be a question, perhaps an in-joke. But if the Penguins continue to slide, you really want to know where Marchand sits on a team that has fallen out of love with him recently. If you're Marchand, you're going to get fired.
I am trying to understand the difference.
That was not a question Tuesday in the Capitals' game against the Winnipeg Jets at Verizon Center.
That was never what Marchand was about.
When the news broke this week that he had been fired by Washington, it was as if the entire universe had turned on him. Marchand got into an argument with Capitals fans in a hotel room over the season he put in with the Washington Capitals for two years, one that involved a girlfriend who has since moved out of state for health reasons.
In his first news conference ever in his job, after learning of the firing, Marchand tried to spin a no-holds-barred narrative.
"I've never experienced anything this bad in my life," he said. "And as an athlete, especially in an area you like, you want to win and as well to compete. I didn't want to lose for a year. … I'm a competitor. I've worked as hard as I can for this organization."
Marchand then admitted he was fired.
If you think about this situation, in the eyes of Marchand and for this team as a whole, the timing is not off by too much. It's not a perfect fit.

Nathan MacKinnon

At least twice every three days the Stars need four-on-four, no, five-on-five, to score goals and to compete because they have the players to do it.
When you are in the defensive zone – no, wait, when you are in the offensive zone – they are all playing.
You're the one who's not playing because of a late red-eye – no, wait, you're not playing because a team is calling you late, too!
So we're in the defensive zone, and everyone except Benn, who is at the front of the circle, stands in it and then he and his teammates try to block the shot. There's no way to stop it, and when it comes he goes for it. Benn, and most of last season, when he doesn't have a lot of speed offensively or when he's on you, can't keep up on your guys because he's in a defensive box. You're giving away the game. It's a tough box that he has to be in.
He's in his body, and your team can't get to him and stop him.
It's a little bit frustrating because we love the guys, and we know they're ready, but we don't believe they have as much upside that they thought the year before.
But I think the problem for Benn is how to play the game of hockey in the right situation because it's so hard in the defensive zone. To me, that's part of the appeal of play on the wing. That's his ability to skate in the offensive zone, even though a lot of you saw how he couldn't skate in the offensive zone as a wing last year.
When you can see things on a different plane than it used to be maybe it gets easier as a player, and they're learning that.
It took them a year and a half to go from having two guys and one goalie that is good, two guys that are excellent and two guys that would start any game in the league to seven guys who are really good and two better, in the best line in the league, as we're seeing today. This year that line has been fantastic.

Alex Ovechkin

"[I] did not expect to be the one that has to answer that question," Ovechkin said of his comment to the media Monday night. "Obviously, I am disappointed that someone would say that that isn't something I need to address."
Asked whether the media should cover that story more prominently, Ovechkin said he wouldn't be "happy if my story was ignored by people in the media."
"I think it was kind of a shock, honestly," Ovechkin continued. "[I] don't know why people would bring it up. I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and said, 'Yeah, that happened.' " The Washington Capitals star was asked Monday on a local news talk show what would happen to those around him who aren't able to accept his admission.
Ovechkin explained that his teammates would not have been willing to speak out about what they experienced because they are "used to people covering them and making us take actions," but he and teammates "are the ones who have to accept what we have to accept."
"It sounds harsh, but that's my opinion at this point," Ovechkin added. "So far what the world has seen seems pretty good."
A number of NHL players have come forward over allegations of sexual assault. Five were fired this season for their roles in incidents of alleged misconduct, while seven players pleaded guilty to serious criminal charges. That is more arrests than all but two players during the last 100 years combined -- Mike Smith and Ron Francis -- combined.
In response to the revelations, some NBA players in Portland, Maine, filed a complaint with the NBA against New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, saying Anthony had touched them inappropriately while on a business trip.

Patrick Kane

"We just wanted to take this game one at a time," Kane said of his play. "It was an important game that we needed to take to get back into the race and not have to be so focused on our results. We just tried to take this game one at a time and we did a pretty good job tonight." The Hurricanes came into this season on a four-game losing streak after winning nine of their first 12 games. The Hurricanes went out and scored twice in the second period to put the game away before giving the Predators a 3-2 shootout win. The Hurricanes outshot the Predators 27-25, holding Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne to a .94 goals-against average and 3.33 save percentage.
The Predators held a 1-0 lead midway through the fourth and couldn't respond until Alex Ovechkin, who was 1 for 5 on the power play, was pulled after four seconds to give the team its first goal.
Tampa Bay tied it with 1:33 left in regulation before Jonathan Drouin's low-latitude, high-energy shot made it 4-1 at 20:33.
After playing shorthanded for five of the first seven minutes, the Hurricanes came right back. The game-winner was scored on a breakaway with 2:02 to go.
"It's been a struggle for us on the top line," said Andersen, who led the Panthers with 14 goals last season and is also 1 of 13 in Tampa Bay this season. "You look back, we've been playing hard, especially early in our games at home. We've been hitting some shots too. We knew all the time that there was going to be a shot for some of us and for some of them. It's just the confidence of the other guys and having the confidence of this coach."

Mark Giordano

Mark Giordano's team was just 5 points shy of fourth in the standings at the end of last season. They had yet to score a home win.
In a season full of controversy, only a season ago the Bruins decided not to play against Boston University when the school beat them in the Stanley Cup finals. This season, the only two team with fewer wins than Boston University was the New York Islanders. In the standings, the team with fewer wins got just eight points, while Boston University got 38.
"We have to take our share (of blame) and get it together," Giordano said. "We have to go out and compete and do a lot better than we were last year."
It wasn't just the injury problem.
"Obviously we had a long summer and there were a lot of injuries in our organization," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "We need a lot more consistency, a lot more stability and we know that we can't have this type of team just hanging around and struggling. They can't come back at us like last year."
On the ice, players said the Bruins' defense looked good, particularly along the blue line. Giordano said they were at the bottom of the power play, but they also were not nearly as good on the man advantage as their opponents from last season.
Defenseman David Pastrnak of the Bruins scored his first goal of the season at the 10:24 mark of the first period. The play gave his team a 2-0 first-period lead. But that was when things got interesting.
The Bruins had been outshot 9-7 after the first goal. The Devils had scored the last five, but their power-play chances were just 12 to 12, with 14-7 after that.
The Bruins looked pretty good without defense pairings like the two they used in those first two games, the Brad Marchand-Mike Reilly pairing.

Sebastian Aho

Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho returns to the lineup after missing several games with a hamstring injury.
Ducks forward Matt Belford was sent back on long-term IR after an MRI revealed structural issues in his right leg.
Facing a pair of second rounders in the 2016 NHL Draft, the Predators have three forwards who could make a major impact for them come playoff time: Adam Foote (fifth round, 2016), Nick Bonino (third round, 2017), and Jason Demers (second round, 2018).
Predators forward Sam Reinhart (lower body injury) is a game-time decision for Thursday. This one-off game marked the first time this season that the Sharks began their postseason with an injury-marred season – but will they be able to bounce back to qualify for another trip to the playoffs this year?
With an impressive run through the first three games of the season that ended in San Jose's loss to Nashville – the same Sharks team that lost to Calgary last weekend – the Sharks are now 1-5-2 during their first six road games.
San Jose, now 12-2-3 in its past 13 games, is also without top line defensemen John Scott and Joe Pavelski who played a combined 12 minutes in all three games against Nashville (including the 5:33 missed in the game on Tuesday). If they are healthy, Alex Killorn-Karlsson, Alex Burrows and Patrick Marleau should both be getting back to form.
There is some uncertainty at forward despite returning from a two-game suspension for hitting and fighting last season, but forward Nick Spaling should be a part of something special this season. The former first rounder was the first of six Sharks that were traded after the NHL's weekend break, and he looked good in the Sharks' two victory games this week.

Jordan Binnington

Blues goalie Jordan Binnington had a decent save in the shootout, but the Coyotes were able to get a quick 1-0 lead.
At 14:50 of the first period, it looked like the first-period penalty that tied it up. With 2:42 remaining, Arizona forward Sam Bennett was hit with an illegal check to his head. Bennett left the game, which he did to the point where officials asked him for time out. Bennett played six minutes and 27 seconds. He did not play in the second period when Arizona came back to tie it, but it did not come close enough.
A powerplay goal by defenseman Johnny Gaudreau set the scores at 2-2 for the Coyotes and the Lightning. They would not let the game get to that point, however.
In fact, there were 14 penalties made throughout, but only four were called in the third period.
The Coyotes came away with the win, having outshot the Lightning 22-8 during the span. Travis Hamonic scored twice after a nice play by Lightning defenseman Matt Carle gave him a one-timer, which he put on the power play.
The Lightning took to the ice with the Lightning 2-0 ahead in net with 18:51 remaining for a 1-0 lead. Tampa Bay, however, would find the back of the net twice more after the period to pull even once. Forward Ben Bishop stopped 15 of their final 18 shots.
There were some nice saves by the Lightning during the third period.
Forward Tomas Tatar had some nice stops, giving up no goals in the final 15 shifts of the third period.
In the overtime period, with the third period tied at 2, Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop looked for his first goal of the night after being picked up by Anton Stralman.
He did not find it; but he did score, putting the Lightning up 2-0 after a goal by defenseman Matt Carle. This was Bishop's first goal of the season, and it came three years ago in the first game of the season between the Lightning and Lightning Bay on October 30, 2009 when he scored his second goal of the season. The only other Florida player to record a goal in overtime against the Lightning was Joonas Donskoi on January 22, 2011 when Florida beat Tampa Bay 1-1.
Bishop was named the Lightning's Game-winning special teams star.

Auston Matthews

Auston Matthews has had a rough game against the Blues. He's on a goal differential of minus-4.8 (15th in the NHL) while dealing with two goals and seven shots on goal. His defensive game has been a concern, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to keep him up, at least for a bit.
The good news for the Maple Leafs is that they're on top of the play of defensemen William Nylander and Luke Glendening, in the last 20 games. It was pretty nice when they were on top of this whole thing, but now they're a few points behind the Oilers. The Oilers are off to a losing start, and the goalies are going away as well, but overall, it's been a pretty good first half of the season for the Leafs. We can also make a couple predictions from watching that season.

I'll not expect the Leafs to repeat as Stanley Cup champions during the playoffs. That would be an incredible upset because I think the team that finishes in the top two will finish in the Cup Finals after only 19 games. I doubt it; though they have a chance, it won't happen.
I'm not going to argue with that because the Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 2008. That's the closest to an all-star season I've seen this season: Connor McDavid led the Oilers to the Stanley Cup. (He's no McDavid, but it can't hurt that he was the Leafs' best player and helped them win it all.) Last season, when there really was some sort of star power, Edmonton finished first and second. It's the same story this year. The team that ends first will finish fourth or fifth, and the one that finishes last will finish ninth or tenth. They are still the same team and are just the Leafs. Not great, but if you want to see who is really the best, you can watch the Stanley Cup Final every year on Fox.

Last summer, while the Stanley Cup was still in the spotlight, we saw some real magic on the big stage with the Maple Leafs. It's all part of sports drama and it has been a great time for hockey fans. I'm glad for the Toronto market that got exposed to that in the past. We still have to keep the team as fresh as we can, because the big question remains about what the playoffs will bring to the franchise going forward.
Here's hoping this season will be a true turning point.

Erik Karlsson

And while fans of the deal were happy with their end result, general manager Ray Shero was not willing to give up the $65 million the team was expected to cost last season, leading to an undermanned, underperforming squad coming off of a playoff berth the past two seasons.
Shero also said he was not willing to pay $45 million to bring Marian Gaborik to San Jose this offseason. As expected, that was a big blow to the Blues as no team wanted to give up a quality, young scoring forward.
"We wanted a player who brings us a big, skilled forward," Shero told reporters after the deadline, according to Dave Rubenstein of CSN Bay Area. "We had a list of players we weren't going to part with. We were not going to put Gaborik on the table. I felt like to do that we were looking at putting forward a player who, when your team makes it to the Stanley Cup finals is not going to be available for an easy return.
The Blues traded Gaborik to Minnesota and brought in Gaborik to Chicago this summer to fill the void left by Gaborik's departure. In his first 10 NHL seasons, Gaborik has never posted a point, despite posting a plus-5 point ratio in just over 30 games per season. He is coming off a career year when he scored 38 points in 63 games, but also had his contract purchased in advance of his first year free agency.
As Shero admitted in the same radio interview on Tuesday on 102.7 the Game, he still isn't 100 percent happy with the trade.
"There's a couple of things that we did not go through," Shero said. "We still have to figure out how to get through this, so it's going to take some patience and hard work for us to build our team again and to be effective. I've been in this business for so long that I've done this on a consistent basis, and I have seen teams lose for a long time.”

Mitch Marner

Mitch Marner may have been dealt a similar blow by the news that his parents weren't expecting him to play in the 2015 Winter Classic, but the Ontario native has made it clear he has no regrets about being left out in Toronto.
"I've got no regrets about playing here. I didn't choose it, I just had to play it," he said. "So, it's a perfect storm."
He was the oldest player at the Winter Classic, joining the team that was struggling for roster and confidence heading into the game. He was the youngest player, sitting at just 19 years old. Still, he never doubted he had a shot playing against the likes of Crosby, Doughty, Martin Jones and Alex Ovechkin.
"I think it goes without saying, that the team was lacking a spark. It all came down to having that spark and making plays in games at this time," he said. "As long as that stuff was there for me, the team couldn't complain that I was not there for them."
Mitch Marner's goals have not been flashy, but they have proved to be quite good this season. In 16 games, he has scored five goals, but his goals-against average is a decent minus-3. In that period, he has been shut out on 10 occasions. The last time, it was 2013-14 when he shut out Columbus.
Even with some of the offensive struggles, Marner's possession numbers seem to have steadily improved. He's been involved in just 16 of Toronto's goals and his 11 shots against are the least among all three forwards. He is on pace to be the second most valuable Toronto forwards this season.
He'll still have to find a way to get the puck into the net this year, but given the way things look now, the chances are he makes a name for himself there — even if the Flames' top three forwards aren't doing much to help him.

Mikko Rantanen

Mikko Rantanen made 17 saves, including five stops, in a 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Rantanen won the matchup with the Hurricanes on his 25th birthday.
"Obviously I don't have the right to complain that it was kind of sloppy," said the 24-year-old. "I think our lines got really excited and we played some really good hockey but again I felt like our defence was just outplayed. I think it might have had something to do with my body."
While Rantanen's performance wasn't exactly the story, the 22-year-old has been an integral part of Vityaz's success this year.
He allowed seven goals on 51 shots in 22 shifts and turned aside two shots on goal to score both goals on Friday.
"It was like this really strange thing where he's been at that level and he still hasn't cracked an NHL lineup," Vityaz said of Rantanen. "You never know with the young defencemen they're going to improve or even continue improving, which is why we don't like to play in their systems until they've developed enough to get us there."
The Vityaz-based VHL club is trying to find a way to improve on the numbers it posted in 2016-17 and is hoping to be part of the 2018 NHL draft in February.
"I think for us there's definitely something more there," said coach Timo Lindberg.
Lindberg was impressed by the young defensemen, which includes 22-year-old Rasmus Rau and 20-year-old Matt Stajan, who both scored goals in their teams' 5-3 loss to Rask on Friday. He said they're playing the right way and showing flashes of promise that have earned them playing time for Vityaz.
Rau leads the club in shots-on-goal (23.9), but Stajan is second in the league in blocked shots with eight.
"Matt has certainly shown some really good offensive instincts this year," Lindberg said of Stajan. "He works hard and goes to the net but he also makes plays on his own and really gets into the net as a playmaker."
Lindberg wants to see more than just the youth as part of his plans for the future. "We are all looking to get a couple of players and more depth up front," Lindberg said.

Ben Bishop

"We can't even win with the current line," Bishop said. "Everytime a guy gets a goal we haven't touched his stick since the 4th quarter all the way through the 2nd. He has been terrific the past two weeks. If someone came out of San Jose we'd just start calling a timeout."
San Jose's defense is still a strength. The Sharks allowed just six goals in Thursday's 3-1 win over Atlanta due in large part to good hockey by veteran defender Dustin Brown, who had a goal and three assists. But their offense has stalled. The Sharks rank last in the NHL in goals allowed, and the top goal-scorer is second-line left wing Logan Couture.
"We still don't generate a lot of offense," winger David Schlemko said. "If we get our chances, we have to work on shooting on the outside."
While the Sharks haven't found their magic on the road, their first trip across the country has been a successful one. They have four points all-time, tied with the Detroit Red Wings (and one shy of the Red Sox for the all-time series record, according to STATS LLC). Boston, who hosts the visiting Sharks Wednesday, has allowed 14 goals in its 17 tries.
"We've won five in Vancouver," captain Joe Thornton said. "It's a tough place to play when the whole atmosphere is good. Last year it was a very nice place to play. I don't think anyone is as happy as us, and that's just because we're so young and we have so much talent. I'm looking forward to continuing to go to Boston."
Even that isn't enough. Sharks coach Peter DeBoer has had more success at home than on the road. He is 22-19-8 this season at PPL Center.

Brent Burns

And neither was voted on for voting purposes by the media. I can at least point to three reasons why they weren't chosen and why I'm disappointed the Sharks did not. First, the Sharks were a top-25 team last season. They won the Pacific Division without taking a point. Here are the numbers:
The San Jose Sharks were 20-14-2 this past season. They lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4. They beat the Anaheim Ducks in six games with a combined goal-scoring of 27 goals, but had their top-four forward (Patrick Marleau of the Anaheim Ducks) and backup goalie (Scott Gomez) suspended and left the lineup all season because they were found to be having an affair.
They're a great team but there had to be a reason why only one of the top five forwards is up there and only one goaltender has them winning with such regularity. This was a team that seemed capable or at least capable of leading the Pacific Division if it wasn't for poor goaltending from Joe Pavelski and the goaltending of the rest of the NHL.
Second, this season's Sharks are just the sort of team that makes you wonder: Can the Sharks be the team they were when they played for winning championships?
A lot of it is just how the roster has been assembled because of injury. I mean, last season's Kings had a big defenseman and a center of the future that can contribute and they also had a good defense in Vlasic and Muzzin. Well, if that wasn't enough, last season's Sharks had some trouble with their forwards when they were shorthanded. They were very turnover heavy in the defensive zone and very inconsistent off the puck.
But again, this team has to make the playoffs, and even though they were a strong team in the playoffs, they're not one that can stay in the hunt unless they can win the Stanley Cup. The Sharks will miss Stanley Cup Champions Joe Thornton and Brent Burns, but they're still not going to let that get in the way of their overall aim of winning the Stanley Cup.
Third, I think the reason that I don't think the Sharks will be a contender has more to do with the fact that the club that drafted them is going to be terrible again next season in a weak Eastern Conference.
The Montreal Canadiens, as the only team not to win the Stanley Cup, will almost certainly not make it.

Ryan O’Reilly

He recorded the best power play scoring average of the season (six goals) for the fourth time in his career, tying Mike Modano for second overall in the league, and also tied his career-best.
The St. Louis Blues won the award in addition to two other awards, the NHL rookie of the year (Mike McKenna of the St. Louis Blues), and defenseman of the year (Ryan O'Reilly of the Atlanta Thrashers).
O'Reilly became the fourth Blues forward to win the award since 1997 when he was with the Chicago Blackhawks. He tied Mike Bossy for fourth place after winning the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers. O'Reilly also tied Tony Granato for fourth place with a career-best nine goals and 12 assists. This is O'Reilly's sixth time on the award's list.
O'Reilly also becomes the first Blues player in Vegas Golden Knights history to earn the rookie of the year honor for a full playoffs campaign. O'Reilly also matched the record for most games won by a defenseman in a rookie season, having won 17 games in 1988-89. Prior to 1988-89, only one other defenseman won the award.
He had his best regular season with 14 victories, one shy of his NHL season record of 16 set in 2003-2004. O'Reilly broke that mark with six goals and 13 assists during the first 50 games at the all-star break. As a team, the Blues finished the season with a 56-25-28 record, winning their four playoff games to reach the finals. O'Reilly also won his first-career Stanley Cup Championship and became the first Blues player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy after leading the league in goals in six of the last seven elections.
As the Blues are currently three points out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the first overall, no player has been the winner of the award three consecutive seasons. O'Reilly broke that record with five consecutive seasons as a Leaf.

Artemi Panarin

"It's not the case, but there is interest," Panarin told Sportsnet. "I'm talking to some people in the [receiver] department, some coaches, a number of people. Some people are here for next year."
It took some time, but Panarin is starting to move in a positive direction in Toronto. He's now on the first-line power play at even strength, and ranks second on the team with one goal and six points — the same number he got in last season's playoffs.
Panarin leads the team with 16 assists through 40 games, which is tied for the most in the NHL.
That's just a big jump from his 2012-13 rookie season, when he missed a third-straight game with an ankle injury. He wasn't quite as healthy in 2014-15, but the team managed to finish 30 points without him. In 2015-16, he went 0-for-3 while playing all 82 games. In 2016-17, he has one goal and 12 points in 18 games.
"In my experience, [recovering] after injuries is a good thing," the former Ottawa Senators teammate Mike Bossy told Sportsnet before Tuesday's season opener against the Boston Bruins. "You get your confidence back and you feel like you can play some more, and then that's when you're on the other side of the glass and the guy in front of you can be more effective with the puck."
In addition to his goals and points, Panarin has become a reliable pass-catching power forward in some situations. He's finished at even strength four times in the past five games, and he's not far off that total this season (4-for-7). His assist total hasn't really increased, either, dropping to two this season after going on a streak of 11. He's done that on occasion without giving up a power-play goal, and he has four assists in 15 games so far.
On the other hand, the Leafs have allowed a ton of scoring chances.

John Tavares

He followed that up with a big-time performance with the Boston Bruins this past January, when he scored 22 goals and 48 points in 70 games played.
And while the 25-year-old has played a few seasons after signing his entry-level contract in 2014, Tavares says he's comfortable where he stands now that he's signed by Vancouver for the next two decades.
Speaking to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, Tavares said it's not about his age, it's the amount of people around him who feel like hockey players on a consistent basis and the players on Vancouver's roster, which is growing every year.
"I can definitely appreciate the fact that I'm not the best player there," Tavares said. "I want to get myself healthy and the way I look at it, is as a player I understand how to grow as an athlete - I understand that it goes into size, strength, ability, skill. It is a constant game. I know that."
In six seasons with the team, Tavares played in over 100 games and collected over 434 points with Vancouver and Toronto. His season has looked pretty strong so far this year, with his offensive totals increasing as Vancouver has played him more. He will likely get a chance to showcase his true potential in Vancouver next year, while also getting more than his salary in arbitration at some point in 2015-16.
Cody Franson has been making significant progress into a top-line centre in Calgary this season. He has posted a 2.59 GAA, a .918 save percentage, and 2.20 goals against average in 536 career games with a Flames team that finished 12th in the Western Conference standings. With no goals against to start his career, Franson has been performing on a nightly basis and should be playing with his big brother as well.
Jiri Hudler has been playing at a very high level, and is enjoying a great season in Winnipeg so far. He was named the team's top defenceman for the first time in his career and leads all Jets blueliners with 21 goals. He has scored at least 30 goals in two consecutive seasons. Jiri Hudler will likely be playing alongside his brother Jacob, but that is not the only player with some success with the new team.

/r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 7 White & Blue Edition

/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Nov 12, 2018 - Nov 18, 2018

Thank You

Thank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.

Rankers

Spoiler

Organizers

Spoiler

Visualization

The visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /hockey opinion.
It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it here

Process

How does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.
The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /hockey!

Rankings(25/31 Rankers Reporting)

Ranking (avg)	Team	Delta	Overall Record	Record This Week	Comments
1 (2)	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	14-6-0	3-0-0	Great week for the Leafs as they swept the California road trip for the first time since 1995! Dominated a very weak Kings team, outplayed (and outsmarted) a super salty Sharks team, and squeaked out the OT win against the Carlyles despite playing tired vs a rested group. Did I mention they did all this without their top duo of Matthews & Nylander? Quick notes...Tavares is 14th in the league in pts and tied for 6th in goals. He actually has the 3rd lowest shot% among the top 25 goal scorers...Rielly is tied for 6th place overall in pts(still 1st among d-men in pts & goals) and has tied his career high in goals scored (9g) after only 20 games...Marner is tied for 3rd place in pts and leads the league in primary assists with 18 (next closest has 14)...also worth noting is the Leafs depth upping their production. Pre-Matthews injury: Matthews + Marner + JT + Kap = 26 goals--every other F combined = 6 goals. Post-injury: Marner + JT + Kap = 9 goals--every other F combined = 15 goals.
2 (2.19)	Tampa Bay Lightning	-	14-5-1	2-1-0	Over two years ago Brayden Point debuted for the Lightning and I don’t think anyone could have predicted at that time that he would become this great of a player this quickly. Unless of course you are Brayden Point himself. The Lightning organization as a whole has been a masterclass of how to develop young forwards. Of the 12 currently rostered forwards only 2 of them are not home grown and when Palat returns that number could potentially reduce to 1 (sorry Cally but Erne deserves to stay on the roster). The problem with developing all this young talent is somewhere down the line we aren’t going to be able to keep them all. It is a good problem to have and is going to guarantee the Lightning’s continued success well into the future.
3 (2.5)	Nashville Predators	-2	14-5-1	1-2-1	Well... I would say "a week like this was bound to happen eventually, because you can only expect outstanding 5v5 play to bail out abysmal special teams play for so long." But in saying that, I wouldn't have expected a week like this to also include losing Arvidsson for 6-8 weeks with a broken thumb and P.K. being placed on IR with an vague lower body injury. Thankfully the week wasn't all doom and gloom and "the sky is felling" hot takes, as it was closed out with a win featuring two whole PPGs and Jarnkrok's first career hatty. Performances like that are what will make or break this team in the coming weeks; if someone stands up and provides the heart that Arvy usually brings the Preds will be fine, but if they don't get that then expect more games like the beginning of the week.
4 (5.85)	Winnipeg Jets	1	11-5-2	1-0-1	Jets are finally looking like the Jets of last season: dominating puck possession, cycling well, and punishing teams with a killer forecheck and PP. Unfortunately, we're also looking like the Jets of previous seasons: bad stick infractions, Big Buff being called for being Big Buff, and other dumb, needless penalties. A well played Caps game, marred by 2 stupid plays that mercifully only cost a few bucks in the wallet, followed by Hutton turning into a brick wall sums up the rest of the week. Jets finished their homestand 3-0-1, and are headed into a 4 game road trip against (and I quote Beyak here) the "tenacious Canucks, energetic Flames, A strong Wild team, ... and St. Louis". Watch out Nashville, we're back and coming for that top spot
5 (6.35)	Columbus Blue Jackets	6	12-6-2	3-0-0	Something is definitely going right for the Jackets right now. Since writing about their awful power play a few weeks ago, they've jumped to 22nd on the season (16.7%) and in the month of November they're 12th overall with a 20.7%. Bob and Korpi are playing out of their minds. Scoring is the most spread out of any team in the NHL. They're the only team with 10 players with 10+ points and have another two players at 9 points. Oh, this is all during Parnarin's longest goal drought of his career, too.
6 (7.31)	Minnesota Wild	-2	12-7-2	1-3-0	A very uneven week for Minnesota - a letdown home return against Washington, a stomp against a tired Vancouver team, then back-to-back losses in which they threw away two points against Buffalo and dug an early hole against Chicago from which they battled but could not fully recover. Aside from the Washington game, the team still is still playing at a high level but it's worth monitoring what next week will bring for a team trying to stay in the top half of the toughest division in hockey.
7 (7.92)	Buffalo Sabres	6	12-6-2	3-0-0	Five game win streak. Everybody kept saying that they would be happy with four points on the road trip; we've got four points already and two games to go! Every single time we go into the third down by a goal or two I write it off as a loss... AND THEN WE WIN! Against a perennial playoff team in Minnesota and a team in Winnipeg that was one win away from the SCF last spring. RJ may get to call Sabres playoff games again sooner than we thought.
8 (8.35)	Boston Bruins	-2	11-6-3	1-1-1	Oh look, more injuries! Chara ran awkwardly into the boards and is out for about a month. John Moore is day-to-day with an LBI. Bergeron is day-to-day with an UBI. Brad Marchand has already been a "healthy scratch" for a game with a League-leading 66PIM. The Bruins have now dressed 12 D-men this season and goaltending is keeping this team afloat in a competitive Atlantic Division. Secondary scoring is starting to pop up and take pressure off the top lineas well.
9 (9.42)	San Jose Sharks	3	11-7-3	2-1-0	Not a bad week for the Sharks. We had a divisional win against the Flames, comeback against the Preds, loss to the Leafs, and got revenge on the Blues. While our offence is shaping up nicely, defense still needs some work. While there were no overall terrible games this week, defense felt pretty soft against the Preds and especially against the Leafs where the Sharks gave up way too many breakaways and odd man rushes. As soon as the defense tightens up and we get Hertl back in we're fucking set.
10 (9.81)	Calgary Flames	-3	11-8-1	1-1-0	After benching Mike Smith in favour of Big Save Dave, the Flames overpowered the triggered and struggling Oilers on their way to feisty victory on Saturday night. The Flames have a hot goalie, consistently dominant possession and shot metrics, each member of the first line and Matthew Tkachuk all at or over point per game pace, and a D-Core finally living up to expectations. This team is gelling, and are continuing to keep pace at the top of the Pacific Division.
11 (10.96)	Montreal Canadiens	-2	11-6-3	2-1-0	In almost any other division our record would put us in the top two of a division (pending winning the game in hand against the Wild). Instead we currently sit in the final wild card slot. The Atlantic Division is both a terrifying and exciting place to be in this year.
12 (11.12)	Dallas Stars	-2	11-7-2	2-1-0
13 (14.04)	Washington Capitals	3	9-7-3	2-1-0	Everyone's ded and it hurts, but thankfully Nicky B, Ovi, and their son Pheonix are holding down the fort. Oh and Wilson. My goodness Wilson. 3 points in 3 games since coming back, career high in ice time (24:24) against Colorado, and most importantly zero (0) questionable hits. He's the real deal bucko, and I'm going to love him flaws and all because that's what family DO. Our game itself hasn't been perfect but it's safe to say it's improved, I think. our next nine (!) games are against easy prey, Montreal maybe aside, so if we're going to seperate ourselves from the glob of mediocrity that is the Metro this is the time. I'm not holding my breath but I'm hopeful, especially if Kuz, Osh, and Holtby come back soon. Go caps y'all.
14 (14.12)	New York Islanders	4	10-7-2	2-1-0	Anthony Beauvillier finally woke up, but the Islanders bottom 6 took some serious losses with Cizikas, Martin, and Ladd getting hurt. Their goaltending regressed to the mean and will need to improve if they want to be contenders. However, their coaching in what appears to be a week metropolitan division is going to keep them in the hunt for a playoff spot.
15 (14.15)	Colorado Avalanche	2	10-6-4	2-0-1	1000 Wins since the Avs have come to Denver!. This week was solid, the team seems to be righting the ship. Avs are playing better and depth players keep getting points. Biggest question this week was Zadorov. He is a great player and I love watching him, but his style unfortunately clashes with regular season hockey. I hope he keeps playing though cause only 1 of Nemeth or Barberio should see ice time. We played three injured teams this week. The Bruins game saw their AHL defense crumble to our offense and our PP clicked. The Stanley Cup Champions proved they were such powering through injuries and with some nice work from Ovi and Backstrom beat us in OT. Against Anaheim we finally broke the OT curse and the RMLine imposed themselves upon the Ducks.
16 (17.81)	Arizona Coyotes	2	9-9-1	1-2-0
17 (18.19)	Vancouver Canucks	-9	10-10-2	0-4-0	Snagging a player like Pettersson may accelerate your rebuild a bit, but it certainly doesn’t right the ship overnight. Injuries have exposed the Canucks’ lack of depth over the past 2 weeks, particularly when it comes to skilled wingers. The blue line has actually been surprisingly resilient during this period, but the Canucks just haven’t been able to score enough since the 8 – 5 Boston blowout. Silver lining: players like Hutton and Virtanen that need to take a step forward continue to do so, and Bo Horvat is playing some of the best hockey of his life despite extreme deployment of 22 or 23 minutes a night. If this continues, the Pettersson-Horvat 1-2 punch at center doesn’t seem so bad at all. But until more prospects graduate to the NHL and veterans find a way to stay healthy, the lineup is swiss cheese. The team may not be the total dumpster fire many expected, but November has been a reminder that the losing side of mediocrity doesn’t feel that great, either.
18 (18.46)	Carolina Hurricanes	3	9-8-3	2-1-0
19 (19.81)	Philadelphia Flyers	-4	9-9-2	0-2-1	At some point Dave Hakstol needs be fired. The team is absolutely atrocious on defense. Easily the worst penalty kill in the league, almost let in as many goals as the Ottawa Senators and the longer he is coach the more chance he has of ruining all the young players we have on the roster.
20 (20.38)	New York Rangers	3	10-8-2	2-1-0
21 (21.12)	Edmonton Oilers	-1	9-10-1	1-2-0	Oilers have now lost 5 of their last 6 games, and they look poised to lose more. TMac looks like he's run out of ideas, and he'll likely be fired soon (hopefuly Chiarelli is next). Talbot is playing the worst hockey of her entire career. We are bad again. I don't have much to say because it's been horrible. The team looked like they were turning a corner beating Montreal, but one bad third period against Calgary later, and I can confirm that we are indeed bad.
22 (22.15)	Ottawa Senators	5	9-8-3	2-0-0	1 goal and 2 assists in his first 2 NHL games
23 (23.08)	Detroit Red Wings	5	9-9-2	2-1-0	This team is winning a lot of close games but the strength of the completion has not been the most challenging in recent games. The upcoming schedule of Boston, Washington, and Buffalo will be really telling how well this team is going to be. Dylan Larkin has become the heart and soul of this team but will need more help going forward if this team wants to compete long term.
24 (23.65)	Pittsburgh Penguins	-10	7-8-3	0-3-0	Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a Penguin etherized upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted seats, The muttering defeats Of restless nights of four-goal PK fells And losses to the Sens and Jersey Devils, Losses that are followed by a tedious argument About which goalie we should have kept; To lead you to an overwhelming question, Oh, do not ask, "Is this it?" Let us just quit turning over the biscuit. --- We have lingered in the chambers of the East, By Senators wrapped in jerseys red and brown, Till power rankers drop us all the way down.
25 (23.77)	New Jersey Devils	-1	8-9-2	2-1-1	Well, it would been nice to squeeze another point or two out of this week, but it didn't happen. The Bad: Cory is still a mystery. 2 goals in 30 seconds, then a shutout the rest of the game. He seems fine to play, but his ability to steal a game is missing. I think the devils need to will him a win, just shove the puck down the other team's throat, give him a bit of confidence back and see what happens. The power play is trash. 4 for 28 in November and 0 for 7 this week, and we need the powerplay to click to turn this week from 2-1-1 to 4-0-0. The Good: 10 goals by 7 skater, including 2 by Zacha, who looks to have gotten the monkey off his back. Kinkaid is still playing great, stonewalling Philly and looking decent in his 3 games. The penalty kill has continued to impress and Pickles got a nice shorty. The Rookies (Seney, Anderson, Yakalev) all looked decent, and I could see Seney sticking in a lineup spot consistently. The Ugly: All this without Nico at 1C and most of it without the Vatman
26 (25.85)	Florida Panthers	-1	7-7-3	1-2-0	The streak was bound to end at some point, just maybe not like that. 11 goals in two games isn't exactly what we had hoped for when we got Lu back and started winning games. The upside is in games played--we're still about 2 or 3 behind, which means this next week will be huge for positioning going forward.
27 (25.96)	Anaheim Ducks	2	8-9-5	1-1-2	First they push the first unanimous number 1 (in the history of hockey power rankings) team to a shootout. Then they look like a junior team against Vegas who was ranked 26th. Then they look bad and then good and then bad again against the leafs (also a top 3 power ranked team throughout the season, but also now minus Matthews). Full confession I'm about to watch tonight's (Sunday vs. COL) game on dvr, so I cant speak to it, but holy hell are we up and down. Fowler took a puck to the dome and had surgery on Fri (16th). I still have not heard an update on how long he'll be out. But one thing's for sure: For the first time in a long time, Anaheim's defense depth with be seriously tested.
28 (25.96)	Chicago Blackhawks	2	8-8-5	2-0-2	The Blackhawks ended an 8-game losing streak and are now 2-0-2 in the last 4 games. Thanks mostly to the excellent play of Crawford. Toews also has a 4-game point streak.
29 (26.04)	St. Louis Blues	-7	7-8-3	1-2-0	Everything is fine! It's not like we've been consistently picking up weak wins and then responding with lackadaisical efforts all season long or anything. What team could keep that up for 18 games after doing what we did in the off-season? Surely it would click at some point, right? It's not like we're in the most competitive division in the league or anything, right? Not like we've dropped important games to teams we hope to be fighting for a playoff spot against, right? Surely the coach would've been fired, the captain demoted? The players couldn't just keep saying the same thing after every loss, right? Right? RIGHT?!
30 (26.88)	Vegas Golden Knights	-4	9-11-1	2-1-0	Vegas start has been rocky but this week gave us all hope. The Golden Knights are undefeated this season when Nate Schmidt is in the ice! With his addition, defense should start looking up and committing less mistakes. Another important news is that finally the 1st line clicked again, with all 3 players scoring 1 goal on Sunday's game against the Oilers.
31 (30.81)	Los Angeles Kings	-	6-12-1	1-2-0	#lose4hughes Campbell (the lone bright spot in our season) is out for an extended period of time. Welcome to LA Carl Hagelin, who single-handedly doubles the Kings' speed. Good-bye Tanner Pearson.

/r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 4 Injury Season Begins Edition

/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Oct 22, 2018 - Oct 28, 2018

Thank You

Thank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.

Rankers

Spoiler

Organizers

Spoiler

Visualization

Process

Rankings (29/31 Rankers Reporting)

Ranking (avg)	Team	Delta	Overall Record	Record This Week	Comments
1 (1.9)	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	8-3-0	2-0-0	Welp. Our Lord and Savior is down and out so please excuse all of Leafs Nation as we collectively panic and offer to sacrifice all of our shoulders for Papi. Kidding aside, this is a big blow to the team and it'll be interesting to see how they adjust. Oddly enough I think the top 2 lines will be fine as Kadri & Tavares are very capable 1Cs. Not so sure about those Lindholm + Gauthier lines though... There's a lot to nitpick in the Leafs' performance this week (and so far this season) but at the end of the day they pulled out two wins against the 2019 Cup Winning Jets^TM and improved to 2nd in the league in PTS%. This was the kind of bounce back most fans were hoping for after a couple of disappointing losses. Now despite the somewhat flukey looking win on Saturday night (3 goals in the last ~15 mins with 2 of those 26 seconds apart) they arguably "deserved" both win
2 (3.41)	Nashville Predators	-1	8-3-0	1-2-0	So you know how last week I said this team looks calm, comfortable, and relaxed? Well, this week they took those things a bit too far, and it bit them in the ass. Okay, maybe I'm just still salty from the two goal lead that was pissed away to the Sharks, but this was still not a good week for the Preds. Some bright spots: Forsberg bagged a hat trick, and was tied for league lead in goals for a day. We also got our first taste of overtime this year, with a win to boot! Oh, and the PP doubled their goals for the year! Actually... that sounds more sad than good now that I've typed it out. Hopefully this was just an off week, because the Preds are heading into what looks to be a tough next 5 games.
3 (3.59)	Tampa Bay Lightning	-	7-2-1	2-1-0	Anytime a team comes off a long road trip with 7 out of 10 points that usually is considered a good outcome. Unfortunately for the Lightning they lost 2017 Norris winner Hedman & valuable (and underrated) two-way forward in Palat in a tough game against Vegas. It clearly showed on Saturday as the Bolts played their 3rd game in 4 nights and got pummeled by the Yotes that the team needs these two back. Of course Cooper will do things and the players will have more than 24 hours to adjust to life without Hedman. Sidenote: Ryan McDonagh is making a strong case fore best defensive defensemen in the league this season. Shutting down the leagues top line as he did in Colorado was no easy feat
4 (4.59)	Pittsburgh Penguins	5	6-1-2	3-0-0	Pens fans have started a petition to move the Penguins to the Pacific division. After a solid performance by Matt Murray last week in Toronto, Pittsburgh has continued through Canada, dismantling the Oilers in OT before cruising through Calgary and Vancouver 9-1 and 5-0. Malkin, Crosby, and Kessel are all firing on all cylinders right now. Malkin especially has been terrifying, with 18 points in 9 games and a 7 game point streak. On another note, I've always thought one of the strongest aspects of sports is the way they bring people together. With that in mind, the Penguins will also be holding a collection during Tuesday's game to benefit victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, as well as a blood drive tomorrow. If you're in the area and want to help, you can find out more here.
5 (6.45)	Winnipeg Jets	-1	7-4-1	2-2-0	As the Jets head to Finland, they do so in the comforting (?) knowledge that they have yet to play a full 60-minute effort in their first 12 games. The result is decent in the standings, but is a real bummer in the eye-test. Laurent Broissoit continues his excellent play, while Morrissey and Connor continue to impress. Patrik Laine is playing on the fourth line, but some argue he'd be in the ECHL if it wasn't his shot -- a shot that has notched only 3 goals so far this season. Let's hope he's out to impress his home country this weekend, or we won't be able to fake winning much longer.
6 (6.72)	Colorado Avalanche	-1	7-3-2	2-2-0	Mikko Rantanen Leads the NHL in Scoring!! He and the rest of the RML (Rocky Mountain Line, Rantanen, Mackinnon, Landeskog) are dominating right now. Landeskog has been on fire scoring goals and Mackinnon is Mackinnon We have problems with our second line. Kerfoot, Jost and Wilson were quiet all week. and Soderberg is once again the bright spot for our Depth. Sakic gave the opportunity and challenged the other guys to try and prove they were second line players in the NHL and they have not so far. Good news Marko Dano is great adding some bite to the line up and a heavy shot. Also Kamenev has looked good so far and can win faceoffs a concept foreign to much of this team. As for the games we had 4 this week. First the top line handled the Flyers. Second we played a playoff like game with the Lightning, but never found the net. Third we Welcomed Duchene back with a four goal third against the Sens and finally we played a tired game against the Wild.
7 (8.14)	Boston Bruins	-1	6-3-2	2-1-0	October Rask is almost over! Yet, the Halakness monster is a top-5 goalie in the League. Don't buy into the media narrative of Halak replacing Rask. Fans should be comfortable with Halak getting more starts and resting Rask more. Not much has changed from this past week. The D-core is still severely injured and the secondary scoring is still nonexistent with Bergeron and Pastrnak combining for 17 of the Bruins' 34 goals. Bruins are beating teams they should and losing to the Habs because I assume the Bruins players stayed up the previous night watching the longest World Series game. When was the last time the Expos won the World Series? Red Sox beat LA and the Power Rankings did too!
8 (9.76)	Carolina Hurricanes	5	6-4-1	2-1-0	Beating the Red Wings isn't anything to write home about these days, but it was the first game our Special Teams really showed up. We continue to be the most fun team to watch and the Storm Surge is evolving quickly. By the end of the season, I'm sure it'll be a full song and dance number.
9 (11.38)	Washington Capitals	-1	5-3-2	2-1-0	#2 cop on the force Pheonix Copley got his first NHL win in a gimme game that almost got away from us. We leave western Canada with 4 of 6 points, a perfectly fine total that feels less than fine thanks to a lethargic effort in Edmonton. Todd's still jumbling lines so I'll give some ratings. Vrana top line: A+. Burakovsky second line A-. Jaskin fourth line A++. Orpik anywhere in the lineup D-. I'm disappointed that with a new coach and mostly new assistant coaches the staff is still rotating rookies on the third pair and keeping Orpik as the rock there. Caps don't play again until November, during which they play 16 times. This feels like a pivotal month coming up, let's hope the Caps separate from the pack in some (positive) way.
10 (11.55)	San Jose Sharks	-	6-3-2	2-0-1	Not a bad week, the Sharks saw a very nice comeback against the Preds and an OT loss to the surprisingly good Canes. Everyone on the team seems to be getting into the flow of things, especially Meier and Hertl who look to be taking big steps this year (hopefully Hertl is ok after leaving the Canes game partway through). Karlsson hasn't been bad with 6 assists in 10 games, but he hasn't been game breaking, hoping he starts developing more chemistry with the team as the season progresses and reaches his full potential.
11 (12.21)	Minnesota Wild	6	6-2-2	2-0-0	All of a sudden, the Wild have a tidy five-game winning streak. There are still glaring issues - giving up the first goal in 7 of their last 8, taking way too many penalties - but this is proving to be a resilient team that can battle back in games. A very long road trip awaits - seven straight including two west coast trips over a period of 17 days - which will prove a challenging test. Battling back on the road is tougher than at home, and two back-to-backs means that early Vezina favorite Devan Dubnyk will not be able to start them all. Backup Alex Stalock is serviceable at best and if he gets an early hook, that could be all it takes to make this team look as pedestrian as they did to start the season.
12 (12.24)	Montreal Canadiens	6	6-2-2	2-1-0	First shutout for Price. Domi already with half the number of goals he had last year. Petry pacing the team with 8 assists. Positive Corsi due to up tempo style. 4th line has not fit in well though.
13 (12.28)	Chicago Blackhawks	-2	6-3-3	2-1-1	Patrick Kane (11G, 7A) leads the NHL in goal and is in second for points. He has only been held off the scoresheet in one game this season. Alex DeBrincat (8G, 6A) continues to produce, while playing a larger role. On the other hand, Jonathan Toews (6G, 5A) has cooled off after a strong start and only has 1G, 0A in the last six games. Marcus Kruger leads the team in PIM with 14, not good for a PK specialist. Team defense remains inconsistent, and special teams ranks near the bottom of the league. Perhaps fatigue set in after 7 games in the past 11 days.
14 (12.9)	Columbus Blue Jackets	-	6-4-0	2-1-0	The goalie situation in Columbus continues to get weirder. Bob loses vs the Yotes and Korpi wins two with a 4.00 GAA. Both goalies right now are <.900 SVA (.897 for Korpi, .872 for Bob). Jackets are also 4-0-0 in front of Korpi and 2-4-0 for Bob. Is this a picture into suffering defensive play, mindset of the goalies, or is it nothing and we'll return to "normal" play soon?
15 (13.17)	New Jersey Devils	-3	5-2-1	1-0-1	Devils started the season off strong 4-0-0 but followed it up with 2 regulation losses and an overtime loss to the Preds. However, they looked very strong in that OT loss and followed it up with a very strong win against the Panthers. So I couldn't justify putting them any higher but I also felt like they have been playing well so I also couldn't justify moving them lower.
16 (16.07)	Dallas Stars	5	5-5-0	2-1-0	Bounceback week against weak teams. We'll see if they can sustain and win on the road.
17 (16.24)	Edmonton Oilers	8	6-3-1	3-0-1	5-1-1 since the first two losses to start the season. This team is on a roll with great goaltending, McDavid, and Nurse and Klefbom stepping up big time. Last week could easily have been 3-0-0, but went 2-0-1. The week started with Crosby burning Strome in OT, but ended with breaking loss streaks against the Capitals and the Predators in regulation. That's right; we beat last week's power rankings number 1 and last year's Stanley Cup champion. Just a note: the Sunday games are not considered for rankings for those interested.
18 (16.86)	Buffalo Sabres	6	6-4-1	1-0-1	I'm excited for hockey in Buffalo...ten games into the season? We played great against Montreal, coming back to tie the game three times and then sinking the winner with a minute left in regulation, then we came out and played great (offensively) against Columbus, coming back from a two goal deficit in the third only to lose in OT. We really could work on not allowing odd man rushes every other minute though, that would be cool. Jason Pominville has returned to 2006 form alongside Captain Jack and Jeff Skinner on the top line; those three have combined for 14 points in the last three games. Dahlin is the real deal, Risto looks great, Reino got his first and Okposo is on fire. LETS GO BUFFALO
19 (19.28)	Arizona Coyotes	11	5-5-0	3-0-0	The supposed story of this team- they just can't bury. In Chicago last week, some puck luck came barreling around the corner as the Coyotes have scored 22 goals in the last 5 games, winning 4 of the last 5, with the most recent win being against Tampa Bay with a whopping 7-1 score, ending one of the NHL's best teams 7 game point streak.The offense seems to be rolling, but the defense and PK have been outstanding, with the Yotes leading the NHL with 5 shorthanded goals, 2nd in the NHL for PK percentage (89.3%), and also leading the NHL with goals allowed, which is a big thanks to Kuemper and Raanta. Not to mention with the return of Alex Galchenyuk (0-2-2, 3GP), and Jakob Chychrun coming off of the shelf soon, this teams future is looking better and better.
20 (19.72)	Calgary Flames	-5	5-5-1	0-2-1
21 (21.14)	Vegas Golden Knights	-5	5-5-1	1-1-1	The Golden Knights have just finished their five-game homestand 3-1-1. We have seen some great scoring coming from the second and fourth line as Tuch has returned and Ryan Reaves has scored goals in back to back games. Things may be challenging for VGK as they head out onto the road with Pacioretty injured. I would rank them higher due to their homestand but the following losses that Vancouver and Tampa had to the Coyotes keeps me from being able to rank them much higher. While important, the wins over the Ducks, Sabres and Senators aren't impressive. Marchessault got himself back on the board which is a must. The team has had trouble getting goals and their first line has to continue to keep the points up. We have finally seen a goal from a defenseman as well so with that in mind and Karlsson showing life the team is showing some promise but perhaps it won't be until Nate Schmidt is finished serving his 20-game suspension for the team to fully click.
22 (21.34)	Anaheim Ducks	-15	5-5-2	0-2-1	The advanced stats have caught up to Anaheim after a hot start. They haven't changed their play and continue to give up an absurd amount of shots against the saving grace of John Gibson. If it weren't for him the Ducks would be in the basement right now. The bright side is their record is still decent for all the poor play. It will get better but it will take time. They are still running a lot of rookies and a new system for the players and coach. Looks like the rookies on the 10gp option are all going to surpass that mark (Lundestrom is currently in the lineup tonight vs. Sharks, typing this 2 hours before that game). That said, Ducks fans are going to have to be patient with this group. Everyone wanted a rebuild because thats the trendy thing to do these days. Everyone wanted us to play more rookies because that too is the new trend. But when we do, the same people complain about letting 50 SOG a game. Can't win.
23 (22.66)	New York Islanders	3	5-4-1	2-0-1	The Islanders are showing clear improvement in many facets thanks to Trotz. They are playing way more organized and responsible than they had in the past, but they are still giving up too many shots and need to improve. The Mitch Korn effect is undeniable as their goaltenders are putting up career best stats (small sample size considered). The offense is also starting to pick up and Anders Lee and Josh Bailey are proving they are top players in the league, and not just products of John Tavares. They need Beau and Eberle to play better but hopefully rekindling them with Barzal on one line will do the trick.
24 (22.72)	Vancouver Canucks	-4	6-6-0	1-3-0	Coming off surprisingly strong start that saw them steal several games against top teams, this week the Vancouver Canucks looked a lot more like basement dweller many expected to start the season. Pettersson and Boeser are back, which is swell, but Tanev and Edler are gone. This development doesn’t look good for anyone hoping for the playoffs (yes, those people exist), but it is ultimately good for those who want to see prospect development this year and a high draft pick in June. This is a great time to invest early in team tank memes. Your highlight of the week is the Rogers Arena Beer Boy catching a puck and tossing it to the crowd.
25 (23.45)	St. Louis Blues	-3	3-4-3	1-1-1	Jake Allen died so Mike Yeo could live. Zach Sanford has 6 points (3G/3A) in his first 5 games this season after missing the last season entirely. This is all going about as one could expect out of Blues hockey. Everyone looked better in our game against Chicago, but it's hard not to have a bad taste in your mouth when you lose that way to Columbus. We're going to need a solid winning streak to get us out of the hole we buried ourselves in, but it's certainly doable..
26 (25.03)	Ottawa Senators	-3	4-4-2	0-2-1	Pretty shit week. Got killed by two good teams in the Bruins and Avalanche, which has shown that this team has absolutely no way to stop top lines. We have one game against Vegas, one game against a pretty hot Coyotes team and two games against a suprisingly good Sabres team next week, so we're going to have to show a pulse for more than half of the game to bounce back.
27 (25.86)	Philadelphia Flyers	-8	4-7-0	0-3-0	This week has been an absolute mess for the flyers (You're welcome, Pens fans). Being outscored 13-2 in the past 3 games, there hasnt been much to like. Many fans are calling for the heads of the front office, others are calling for the players to step up, but most just want them all to get their act together and start bringing some energy and jam to the game. Everyone is frustrated, but no one is doing anything about it. Our 4th line has looked the best over the past 3 games, and Gudas/Sanheim have looked probably the best from the defensive core. Positive news, Sanheim and Hagg have been looking fine recently. Thats pretty much it. We still have Gritty. Gritty help us in these times.
28 (27.41)	Florida Panthers	-	2-4-3	1-2-0	Seems like the team's terrible Powerplay has spread to the PK, goaltending is atrocious too. Until Lu comes back, I don't expect much here
29 (28.38)	New York Rangers	-	3-7-1	1-2-0	The Rangers went through one of the worst weeks in recent memory. Getting a win against the disappointing Panthers felt nice but we were outshot nearly 2:1 that night. Little did we know that this was a preview of the week to come. We followed that up with a 4-1 loss in Chicago where we got only 1 shot on goal in the third period and 19 the whole night. Ending the week with a pathetic collapse in LA that triggered traumatic memories of 2014 was the icing on the cake. The Rangers have a pretty mediocre roster, and they're still managing to play even worse than that.
30 (28.76)	Los Angeles Kings	-3	3-7-1	1-2-0	Good news: The Kings got Dustin Brown back (who scored), Alec Martinez triggered all NYR fans with a GWG, and the Kings got 2 points. Bad News: Quick is hurt again (different injury), and Stevens' firing has likely been postponed with the win.
31 (30.79)	Detroit Red Wings	-	2-7-2	1-2-0

vegas odds on tonight's hockey games video

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The official YouTube channel for the National Hockey League. Check out this other video I made explaining betting odds: http://youtu.be/ostbAM8STRkIn this video I explain NHL betting odds for those who don't fully unde... ⤵️ Get today’s Daily Best Play on Patreon for just $1.99 below! ⤵️https://www.patreon.com/join/brockpage/checkout?rid=2608940*FRIENDLY REMINDER: Patreon will... 👥 Become a Board Member and get EVERYTHING (buy all my premium personal plays here): https://www.patreon.com/join/brockpage/checkout?rid=2884863 ***REMEMBER:... In a special edition of Puck Time, The Prez and Andrew McInnis look at the 2020 National Hockey League All-Star Game (65th NHL All-Star Game) from a sports b... Founded as an expansion team, they began play in the 2017–18 NHL season. The team is owned by Black Knight Sports & Entertainment, a consortium led by Bill Foley and the Maloof family. The team plays its home games at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.

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I fear we may be in trouble tonight

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How tight is the playoff race in the West? lets explore!

The /r/hockey Trade Deadline Game - Day 1 Thread

NO TRADE IS OFFICIAL UNTIL POSTED IN THIS THREAD!

NHL Tuesday: 7 Game Slate

So I asked OpenAI's GPT-2 language model what it thought about 20 pretty good NHL players

Nikita Kucherov

Sidney Crosby

Connor McDavid

Johnny Gaudreau

Brad Marchand

Nathan MacKinnon

Alex Ovechkin

Patrick Kane

Mark Giordano

Sebastian Aho

Jordan Binnington

Auston Matthews

Erik Karlsson

Mitch Marner

Mikko Rantanen

Ben Bishop

Brent Burns

Ryan O’Reilly

Artemi Panarin

John Tavares

/r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 7 White & Blue Edition

/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Nov 12, 2018 - Nov 18, 2018

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/r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 4 Injury Season Begins Edition

/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Oct 22, 2018 - Oct 28, 2018

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Rankings (29/31 Rankers Reporting)

vegas odds on tonight's hockey games video

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NHL Picks (2-3-21) Pro Hockey Expert Predictions & Daily ...