Dallas misses the boat, McDavid at full speed

Share

Tweeter

Share

Share

E-mail

Pittsburgh division champion, the finalist of the last Stanley Cup who will miss the playoffs and Connor McDavid always more impressive, back on what happened this week in NHL.

It slips for Pittsburgh Penguins

This time it’s official: Pittsburgh will win its division for the first time since the 2013/2014 season. By beating Philadelphia and then Buffalo twice, the Penguins secured their first place by widening a definitive gap with the Capitals, their main rivals in the East Division. The Pennsylvania franchise has established itself as one of the league’s best attacks this season (3.45 goals / game, 11.5% shooting) and will now have to confirm by going beyond the first round, a stage they have not crossed since 2018.

2 minutes for Dallas stars

An unlucky Stanley Cup finalist last year, the Stars won’t have the opportunity to play for the title again this year. In the fight with the Predators for the last qualifying place in the playoffs in the Central Division, Dallas suffered from its two losses (@ Panthers & @ Lightning) in three games this week that mathematically eliminated the franchise. Yes, because at the same time Nashville won two defeats to secure its fourth place and at the same time its place for the postseason. The Texas franchise pays in particular a very bad month of February (eight defeats in ten games), with setbacks which ultimately cost dearly in the final sprint.

Player of the week: Connor mcdavid

The NHL cut its season to 56 games this year, but Connor McDavid still found a way to hit the hundred point mark! For the third time in his career, the Canadian will surpass this legendary bar, becoming the fastest player to reach this total since Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux during the 1995/1996 season. This week, the Edmonton center – who faced Vancouver four times – once again shone with three goals and ten assists. On another planet, the first choice of the 2015 Draft is more favorite than ever to win the second Hart Memorial Trophy of her career.

🙌 #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/kYgvZDS1RN

– Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) May 9, 2021

The stat of the week: 15

Fifteen, as the number of franchises officially qualified in the playoffs for the moment. While the regular season will definitively deliver its verdict next week in most divisions, virtually all places for the postseason have been awarded. In the Central Division, Carolina has secured first place and will be joined by Florida – who will try to win her first series since 1996 – as well as defending champions Tampa Bay and Nashville. In the East, Pittsburgh is guaranteed to finish on the throne and will go to the playoffs alongside Washington, Boston and the Islanders.

Final slightly more undecided in the West where Vegas, Colorado, Minnesota and Saint Louis have secured their spot but where the division champion is not yet known. The only suspense as to the qualified teams remains in the North where Toronto, assured of winning the division, Edmonton and Winnipeg will go to the playoffs but are waiting to see who will be the last to qualify. Montreal should in all likelihood be the lucky winner, but mathematically can still be caught by Calgary and Vancouver, both more than ten points behind the Canadians. Verdict next week.

French Corner

As a reminder, here are the French who currently play in NHL:

• Alexandre Texier (C, Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Antoine Roussel (LW, Vancouver Canucks)
• Pierre-Édouard Bellemare (C, Colorado Avalanche)

Gloomy end of the season for Alexandre Texier with the Blue Jackets. Affected at the start of the week against Nashville, the Frenchman missed his last three meetings this season. The center ends this exercise with fifteen points in forty-nine games and a ± negative (-13), a consequence of the poor performance of Columbus this year.

Still injured, Antoine Roussel has not played a game with the Canucks this week. With seven more games to play, Vancouver can hope for the Roubaisien to return before the end of the season.

An assistance but a ± negative (-1) this week for Pierre-Édouard Bellemare with Colorado. The Ile-de-France is still fighting for first place in the West Division with the Avalanche who are currently four lengths from the Golden Knights, the former franchise of the French veteran.

The landmark action

100 points. 53 games.

Remember this day, Connor McDavid (@ cmcdavid97). pic.twitter.com/NJl7ChreXW

– NHL (@NHL) May 9, 2021

Classification

---

---

---

Statistical leaders

Skaters

Points

1. Connor McDavid (C, Edmonton Oilers) → 100 points
2. Leon Draisaitl (C, Edmonton Oilers) → 79 points
3. Brad Marchand (LW, Boston Bruins) → 67 points
4. Mitchell Marner (RW, Toronto Maple Leafs) → 67 points
5. Nathan MacKinnon (C, Colorado Avalanche) & Auston Matthews (C, Toronto Maple Leafs) → 65 points

Goals

1. Auston Matthews (C, Toronto Maple Leafs) → 40 goals
2. Connor McDavid (C, Edmonton Oilers) → 32 goals
3. Leon Draisaitl (C, Edmonton Oilers) → 30 goals
4. Mikko Rantanen (RW, Colorado Avalanche) → 30 goals
5. Alex DeBrincat (LW, Chicago Blackhawks) → 29 goals

Assistance

1. Connor McDavid (C, Edmonton Oilers) → 68 assists
2. Patrick Kane (RW, Chicago Blackhawks) → 49 assists
3. Leon Draisaitl (C, Edmonton Oilers) → 49 assists
4. Mitchell Marner (RW, Toronto Maple Leafs) → 47 assists
5. Nathan MacKinnon (C, Colorado Avalanche) → 45 assists

Goalies

Goals Against Average (GAA)

1. Jeremy Swayman (G, Boston Bruins) → 1.44 GAA
2. Petr Mrázek (G, Carolina Hurricanes) → 1.77 GAA
3. Filip Gustavsson (G, Ottawa Senators) → 1.88 GAA
4. Alex Nedeljkovic (G, Carolina Hurricanes) → 1.90 GAA
5. Semyon Varlamov (G, New York Islanders) → 2.02 GAA

Save Percentage

1. Jeremy Swayman (G, Boston Bruins) →. 946
2. Filip Gustavsson (G, Ottawa Senators) → .942
3. Petr Mrázek (G, Carolina Hurricanes) → .934
4. Alex Nedeljkovic (G, Carolina Hurricanes) → .932
5. Semyon Varlamov (G, New York Islanders) → .930

Image on top credit: Scott Audette / NHLI via Getty Images