NHL Metropolitan Division Weekly: Let’s Talk Turkey

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Brad Marchand isn’t the league’s most beloved player and Artemi Panarin used the televised game between the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers to let the world know. In the third period, the Bread Man handed a well-placed dirty glove to Marchand’s face – but not as you would expect.

Everyone has a different account of what happened. Some are funnier than others.

After the game, Marchand said Panarin looked into what to eat for Thanksgiving dinner.

In the Rangers locker room, everyone was more discreet about the incident. Arthur Staple of The Athletic said, “Marchand made Russian-centric comments to Panarin – like ‘nobody likes you over there’ when referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Panarin has been critical of in the past. Panarin clearly had had enough. It doesn’t sound like a newsworthy comment, but it might not be suitable for the league. “

The Rangers beat journalist Vince Mercogliano and heard something similar.

Marchand and Panarin both received a 10-minute misconduct penalty during the game. The league followed suit by fining Panarin $ 5,000 for “unsportsmanlike conduct”. Marchand was not penalized for his comments.

Carolina Hurricanes (15-3-1)

The Hurricanes bounced back from adversity. Well, so much adversity that a team with just four losses on the season can face. After losing 2-1 to the San Jose Sharks in overtime on Monday and the Seattle Kraken 2-1 on Wednesday, Carolina lost six points to the Philadelphia Flyers, winning 6-3 on Friday.

Sebastian Aho scored two goals and the Hurricanes ended their two-game losing streak. Aho and Andrei Svechnikov are tied for the team lead with 20 points each. Aho has 10 goals to lead the Hurricanes.

The only player missing from the Hurricanes is defenseman Ethan Bear, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

Columbus Blue Jackets (12-7-0)

Columbus lost to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday by a score of 6-3, but it was still a good week for the Blue Jackets. The team have taken six of eight possible points over the past week. They beat the Buffalo Sabers 7-4 on Monday, shut out the Winnipeg Jets 3-0 on Wednesday and beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Friday.

Oliver Bjorkstrand leads the team with 18 points while Boone Jenner leads the team with 9 goals.

Finally, our condolences to Patrik Laine and his family. Her father, Harri, passed away earlier this week. Laine is in Finland to be with his family.

New Jersey Devils (8-6-4)

The Devils are starting to drop in the Metro Division standings and last week hasn’t helped. They lost to the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday and lost 4-2 to the Nashville Predators on Friday.

The Devils suffer from a few injuries. Jesper Boqvist is on the injured list with an upper body injury, Tyce Thompson is expected to have shoulder surgery and miss several months, Christian Jaros, Miles Wood and Corey Crawford also remain in IR.

Meanwhile, Jack Hughes is set to join the team. After dislocating his shoulder in October, Hughes finally returned to training with his team on Wednesday. He was wearing a non-contact jersey, but it’s a step in the right direction.

On the business side, the Devils took advantage of Kraken’s mismanagement and pulled Nathan Bastian off waivers. Bastian is the winger the Kraken picked from the Devils in the Extension Draft. He is just the latest in a line of Kraken expansion draft players who have been gifted to their former squad.

As All About the Jersey will tell you, getting Bastian back is a smart move for the Devils.

Oh yeah, and New Jersey unveiled their third jersey … and maybe a hat.

New York Islanders (5-10-2)

Even a new arena can’t save these guys. The Islanders started the season with such high hopes, but are now the basement dwellers of the Metro Division.

They lost 3-0 to the Toronto Maple Leafs last Sunday, then lost 4-1 to the New York Rangers on Wednesday. The losing streak extended to eight games on Friday when the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tristan Jarry shut out the Isles 1-0.

Despite the eight-game losing streak, head coach Barry Trotz isn’t worried, so neither should you. After Wednesday’s loss to Rangers, he said: “It has already been done. One team won a Stanley Cup being where we were at that time a few years ago. “

As a Sharks fan, you feel for the Islanders. COVID-19 is tearing the roster apart and it took the Islanders too long to get the same break as the Ottawa Senators.

In addition to a lower body injury that will put Brock Nelson out of action for two to four weeks and Ryan Pulock’s lower body injury, Zdeno Chara was added to the COVID protocol on Monday. Chara is the seventh Islanders player to enter the COVID protocol. He joins Kieffer Bellows, Andy Greene, Adam Pelech, Anders Lee, Ross Johnston and Josh Bailey.

New York Rangers (13-4-3)

It’s been a good week for the New York Rangers. They beat the Buffalo Sabers 5-4 last Sunday, then triumphed over the Islanders 4-1 Wednesday. The Rangers followed that up with a 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins, which we highlighted above.

Igor Shesterkin backed the wins over the Bruins and Islanders, allowing just three goals on 54 shots. Shesterkin is 11-3-2 this season with a 2.22 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.

On the injury side, Sammy Blais came out with a torn ACL.

Philadelphia Flyers (8-7-4)

Philly is another one of those teams that isn’t having a good week. The Flyers fell victim to Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who shut out Philly 4-0 on Tuesday. The following night, they lost to the Florida Panthers 2-1 in overtime. Aaron Ekblad had the winning dagger.

Then on Friday, they were beaten by the Hurricanes 6-3. Carter Hart was in goal for all six goals. Although Hart is considered the team’s starting goaltender, he is overshadowed by his replacement, a certain Martin Jones.

Jones is 3-2-1 this season with a 2.67 goals-against average and .927 save percentage. He’s the reason the Flyers reached overtime against the Panthers.

Derick Brassard is daily with a lower body injury. Nate Thompson is evaluated for a possible dislocation of the shoulder. Kevin Hayes and Patrick Brown are still absent.

Pittsburgh Penguins (10-6-4)

The Penguins’ winning streak is over. Pittsburgh lost to the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 on Saturday. Prior to the loss, Pittsburgh had won five in a row, feasting on failed teams.

The Pens beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 on Monday, then added to the Vancouver Canucks’ woes with a 4-1 win on Wednesday. They followed with a 1-0 win over the Islanders.

Some unlikely players lead the way for the Penguins. Jake Guentzel is the team’s leading scorer with 17 points and 8 goals. He is followed by Evan Rodrigues, who has 14 points and 7 goals.

Sidney Crosby is still trying to regain his form of play after missing the start of the season with injury. Crosby has just 3 points in eight games. Meanwhile, Evgeni Malkin is getting back into shape. Malkin was captured on video skating in Pittsburgh earlier this week. He has missed the entire season so far with a knee injury.

Washington Capitals (13-3-5)

For the Capitals, let’s just name this watch Ovechkin.

Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick in Washington’s 4-3 win over the Panthers on Friday. He also had a goal in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken and 3 assists in the team’s 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.

Ovechkin leads the team with 18 goals and 36 points in just 21 games. He now has 748 career goals, fourth on the NHL’s all-time scoring list and just 18 goals behind Jaromir Jagr for third on the list.

The Capitals will now face injury issues. Justin Schultz has an upper body injury. Conor Sheary too. TJ Oshie is on IR with a foot injury and Lars Eller is currently on COVID-19 protocol.

These injuries are in addition to Anthony Mantha’s shoulder injury and Nicklas Backstrom’s hip problems.


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