This Week In The NHL's Southeast Division: 4/15/2013
The Washington Capitals continued their winning ways and held off the Winnipeg Jets to retain the division lead, while locally, the Cats have been officially eliminated from the post-season chase.
This recap covers the period from April 8th to April 14th.
Washington Capitals: The Capitals (23-17-2) went 3-0 this week. Alex Ovechkin leads the team in scoring with 46 points (27G/19A). Michal Neuvirth got the first win against Montreal, while Braden Holtby picked up the other two wins. Washington has scored 129 goals and allowed 118.
4/11 @Washington 3 @Carolina 1
4/13 @Washington 6 Tampa Bay 5 (OT)
Trending: Steady. The Capitals reeled off three more victories this week to extend their winning streak to seven games. The club is undefeated in the month of April. Winning four of their last six games should allow the Capitals to win the division and have home-ice for the first round of the playoffs.
Winnipeg Jets: The Jets (21-19-2) finished the week with a 2-0 record. Andrew Ladd leads the team in scoring with 38 points (16G/22A). Ondrej Pavelec started both games in goal. Winnipeg has scored 109 goals and allowed 123 so far this season.
Trending: Up. The Jets won both of their games this week and have now won three-straight, all on home ice, to remain in the chase for both the division crown and one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Winnipeg will need to keep the goals coming and continue to win at the MTS Centre, where all three of their games will be played this week, to make it a very meaningful showdown with the Capitals on April 23rd in Washington.
Tampa Bay Lightning: The Lightning (17-22-3) went 1-2-1 this week. Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis share the team lead in points with 52 apiece. Ben Bishop and veteran Mathieu Garon both saw duty in goal. Tampa Bay has scored 133 goals while allowing 131.
4/11 Pittsburgh 6 @Tampa Bay 3
4/13 @Washington 6 Tampa Bay 5 (OT)
Trending: Steady. Tampa Bay started the week off with a win on home ice against the Senators. Ben Bishop picked the win against his old mates. Reality struck the next time out as the Bolts were hammered by the mighty Penguins. The team rallied with three goals in the third period to pick up a point against the Capitals, but fell to the Sabres on Sunday to finish out the week on a sour note.
Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes (17-22-2) went 1-3 this week. Eric Staal is their leading scorer with 44 points (16G/28A). Justin Peters got most of the time in goal this week. Carolina has scored 107 goals and given up 131.
4/11 @Washington 3 @Carolina 1
Trending: Up slightly. The Hurricanes struggles continued as they dropped their first three games of the week. They closed out the week with a surprising 4-2 win over Boston on home ice to snap a seven-game losing streak. The Hurricanes who briefly looked like a playoff lock earlier in the season have now plummeted to 27th overall in the league.
Florida Panthers: The Panthers (13-22-6) went 0-2 this week. Tomas Fleischmann leads the club in scoring with 28 points (9G/19A). Jacob Markstrom started both games but got the hook against Winnipeg. Florida has scored 99 goals and given up league-worst 142.
Trending: Down. The Panthers recent spell of good play came to end this week as the Cats slipped back to 30th overall, and again, have surrendered the most goals in the NHL. After a competitive first half of the game in Winnipeg, the Panthers were ultimately routed by the Jets. The team, and goalie Jacob Markstrom, bounced back to put in a pretty respectable showing against a short-handed Pittsburgh club the next time out but fell short. After a brief rise in the standings, the Panthers now seem assured of a top three pick in the upcoming Entry Draft.
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