NHL 4 Stars Nov 9-15: The Price Is Right & The Ducks Fly High

When reporters wanted to interview Phil Kessel after losing 6-2 to the Buffalo Sabres, he had this to say…

Before I get started on this ‘interesting’ week of hockey, let’s have a recap on the four stars I picked last week, and see how last week panned out for them.

Craig Anderson of the Atlantic division went 1-1-1 last week, with a goals against average of 3.67 and a save percentage of .884%. Both loses came on the road against teams from the Pacific division, which include an overtime loss against the Vancouver Canucks and a regulation loss against the Calgary Flames. Despite only earning three of a possible six points with Anderson in net, the Senators continue to be in the playoff picture as they currently hold the last wild card spot in the Eastern conference. This week they have two games at home against the St. Louis Blues and the Nashville Predators – two hardworking teams in the competitive Central division. Although Ottawa does have a great home record so far (4-1-3, earning 11 out of 16 possible points), Anderson will need to do his best to keep players like Vladimir Tarasenko and Filip Forsberg off the score sheet if Ottawa wants to continue doing well at home.

In the Metropolitan division, Jakub Voracek of the Philadelphia Flyers had another great week. Although the Flyers lost to the Blue Jackets and Habs this week, Voracek has not kept silent on the score sheet, earning 1G/1A against Columbus and 2A against Montreal. Because of the four points he earned this week, Voracek now leads the NHL in points with 26 points (7G, 19A); just one point more than last week’s leader, Sidney Crosby. However, the Flyers still have the same problem they have had since Bernie Parent retired in 1979… goaltending. Despite this issue, the team is only one win away from a playoff spot in the weak Metropolitan division. The team could possibly earn those wins against their division rivals this week when they face-off against the Rangers and Blue Jackets.

In the Central division, Ondrej Pavelec did not win a game starting for the Winnipeg Jets. In lieu of blaming these losses on the Jets’ goal tending, the blame must be on the forwards and defense-men who were not scoring goals for Pavelec. In his starts this week:= Ondrej had a save percentage of .923% against the Habs, allowing only two goals; and against Nashville, Pavelec had an even better performance with a save percentage of .931%, while still allowing two goals. But against Minnesota, Pavelec was pulled after allowing three goals on 11 shots (if you watched the game, you can see that some of these goals were really ugly). The problem in Winnipeg continues to be their offense, or lack there of. The Jets’ powerplay currently runs at 9.7% and they have a goals a game average of 1.84 (both are nearly last in the league). However, they still manage to be in the playoff discussion in the Western conference, because of their solid goal tending and defense.

Mark Giordano still continues to help lead the Calgary Flames in the tough Pacific division. He had points in every game this week (1G, 2A) and he still leads all defense-men in points with 21 (6G, 15A, +8). Overall, Calgary had an easy week (opponents-wise), going 2-1-0 where the only loss came in North Caroline against the Hurricanes. That aside, this week coming up will be huge for the Flames. They play at home against the Ducks, the Blackhawks, and the Devils – all teams with playoff seats. If the Flames are still serious about not being in a rebuilding phase, this week will test their skill, as well as defense, and see if Calgary actually could be playing hockey come April.

Now let’s get started on this week’s four stars.

1) Carey Price – The Atlantic Division

The Habs’ goalie won all three of his starts this past week, with a GAA of 1.3 and a .951 save percentage – including a shutout at home against the Winnipeg Jets. After the game against the Jets, the Boston Bruins were only able to score one goal on Carey – albeit, the Bruins did have a rough week where they were scored on a lot (including six goals against in Toronto). The only minor hiccup was against the Flyers, where Carey let in three goals… while the Flyers allowed six goals. As a result of Price’s work this week, he is now tied with Pekka Rinne for the most wins from a goaltender this season with 11 wins.

Because of Price’s excellent work this week, and this season so far, the Habs now not only lead the Atlantic division, but they also lead the overall standings, with a record of 14-2-1. Behind Montreal by three points is the Tampa Bay Lighting (also from the Atlantic division), and these two teams will be battling each other all year to try to get home ice advantage in the playoffs – as there is a good chance these teams will be facing against each other in a playoff round. However, if history repeats itself, the Habs might have the upper hand in this playoff match with an established goaltender, like Carey Price (who won the gold medal for Canada in the Sochi Winter Games).

Overall, with players like Max Pacioretty, Alex Galcheyuk, PK Subban, etc., the Canadiens are arguably Canada’s best team right now and a team that is in serious contention for Lord Stanley’s Cup. It would be nice to see Montreal go on a playoff run like they did last year (with Price healthy).

2) Jori Lehtera – The Central Division

With 4G/2A (+5) in three games for the St. Louis Blues, including the natural hat trick against the Buffalo Sabres, Jori Lehtera represents just one of the many things going right for the Blues.

Not only do you have players like Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Alexander Steen, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Alex Pietrangelo who are helping the Blues win lots of games, but you can now add Lehtera to this mix. Lehtera has 7G/10A (+12) in 16 games for the St. Louis Blues, and you can attribute his success this early to the season to who his line mates are. Tarasenko (10G,11A +15), Schwartz (7G, 11A +10), and now Lehtera have been dominating games with great play making and goal scoring, and they are slowly becoming the best line in hockey (even better than That 70′s line in LA).

Going 9-1-0 in their last 10 games with a record of 12-4-1, there doesn’t seem to be anything stopping the Blues from winning hockey games. However, the Blues will have a tough road trip this week playing the Bruins, Habs, and Sens – all teams with playoff spots right now. Nonetheless, the Blues should not worry about this road trip, and how they will win against these tough opponents, as they have such a deep team that is able to provide offense across the board.

3) Ryan Kesler – The Pacific Division

This was a hard week to pick a player from the Pacific division, as no team earned more than four points. However I decided to give this week’s star to Ryan Kesler who got 4G, 2A (+1) in four of the Ducks’ games this week.

Although the Ducks’ goal scorer Corey Perry was out this week with the mumps, Ryan Kesler was able to step up his game and help fill in the offensive gap left behind by Perry. You can tell this is what they wanted Kesler to do when they traded for him this past off-season… they wanted to get a center that would make them deeper down the middle, who could also score goals and help create great scoring chances. They got what they needed with the former Vancouver Canuck.

In 18 games with Anaheim, Ryan Kesler has scored six goals and has assisted on nine goals, tying him with Corey Perry for second in team scoring. The Ducks also led the Pacific division with a record of 11-4-4, which is also good enough for third in the league.

4) Rick Nash – The Metropolitan Division

Like the Pacific division, no team in the Metropolitan division won more than two games this week. Columbus went 2-1-0; Pittsburgh went 2-1-0; the New York Rangers went 1-1-2… I’m sure you get the idea. It was difficult to pick a player that really stood out this week.

However, I decided to pick Rick Nash this week from the New York Rangers, as he has been very consistent this year so far. Nash got 1G and 4A in four games for the Rangers, and is currently tied for the lead in goal scoring with 12. With a great regular season, we will have to wait and see if his current success will translate into playoff success, as Rich was pretty much invisible when the Rangers went to the Stanley Cup finals (scoring 3G/7A in 25 playoff games).

Overall, Rick Nash is doing very well playing on the Rangers’ first line, with veteran Martin St. Louis and Derick Brassard – and both are able to set each other up with great scoring chances. The line-changes seem to have benefited these players, and the team in general, as they are 7-6-4, which is good enough for the third seat in the Metropolitan division.