This recap covers the period from April 16th to April 22nd.
Washington Capitals: The Capitals (25-18-2) went 2-1 this week. Alex Ovechkin leads the team in scoring with 51 points (30G/21A). Braden Holtby started all three games. Washington has scored 140 goals and allowed 123.
Trending: Steady. The Capitals started the week off winning their eighth in a row with a 5-1 home win against Toronto. Ottawa handed Washington their first loss in April the next time out. The Capitals quickly bounced back and finished off the week with an impressive 5-1 road win in Montreal. Alex Ovechkin continued to shine by scoring 3 goals and adding two assists in the three games. A regulation win tonight against the Jets gives the Capitals the division title and locks them into the three seed.
Winnipeg Jets: The Jets (24-19-2) finished the week with a 3-0-1 record. Andrew Ladd leads the team in scoring with 46 points (18G/28A). Ondrej Pavelec started all four games in goal and picked up his 20th win of the season against the Sabres. Winnipeg has scored 123 goals and allowed 135 so far this season.
4/16 @Winnipeg 4 Tampa Bay 3 (SO)
4/18 @Winnipeg 4 Carolina 3 (OT)
4/20 New York Islanders 5 @Winnipeg 4 (SO)
Trending: Steady. The Jets worked extra time and picked up points in all four of their games this week to remain in the chase for both the division crown and one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. If they are to claim the division crown, Winnipeg needs to pick up at least a point tonight in Washington. They will likely need to win that game outright and win their finale against Montreal at home on Thursday to make the playoffs, and they will need some help too.
Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes (18-24-3) went 1-2-1 this week. Eric Staal is their leading scorer with 49 points (18G/31A). Justin Peters started the first three games of the week while Dan Ellis returned to post the win against Tampa Bay. Carolina has scored 118 goals and given up 145.
4/18 @Winnipeg 4 Carolina 3 (OT)
4/20 Philadelphia 5 @Carolina 3
Trending: Up slightly. The Hurricanes were a bit more competitive this week, picking up 3 out of a possible eight points. They closed the week off with a nice 3-2 road win over the Lightning to move back into third place in the division.
Tampa Bay Lightning: The Lightning (17-24-4) went 0-2-1 this week. Martin St. Louis took over the team lead in points with 55 (13G/42A). Ben Bishop started the first two games while Mathieu Garon took the loss against Carolina. Tampa Bay has scored 140 goals while allowing 141.
4/16 @Winnipeg 4 Tampa Bay 3 (SO)
Trending: Down. Tampa Bay started the week off by gaining a point in a shootout loss in Winnipeg. The team dropped another tough one by a goal in Montreal. The Bolts returned home and fell to the Hurricanes by a 3-2 count and slid to fourth place in the division.
Florida Panthers: The Panthers (13-26-6) went 0-4 this week. Tomas Fleischmann leads the club in scoring with 31 points (9G/22A). Jacob Markstrom and Scott Clemmensen both saw time in goal this week. Florida has scored 104 goals and given up league-worst 162.
4/16 @New York Islanders 5 Florida 2
4/18 @New York Rangers 6 Florida 1
4/20 @New Jersey Devils 6 Florida 2
Trending: Down. The Panthers had a terrible week as they ended up getting pounded in every game of a four-game road trip. You know things are bad when the highlight of the week was a 3-0 shutout loss in Boston. The Panthers are one loss or a Colorado point-gained from finishing dead last in the league which means they will draft no lower than second overall in the upcoming Entry Draft.