NHL Weekly: Skinner reaches an unwanted record and a car gets wrapped in toilet paper
Most productive player
The battle for the league's top scorer is coming to a head, and all three men vying for the Art Ross Trophy are finishing in style. In the last five editions, the most productive has always been one of the trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov.
Last week it was the latter. Tampa Bay's Russian forward only scored one goal in four games but he added nine assists and easily escaped his rivals; the Edmonton captain by six points and the Colorado star by three.
Goaltender of the Week
The recently written-off Pittsburgh Penguins are suddenly fighting for the post-season and have a realistic chance of making the Stanley Cup playoffs. In the last week, backup goalie Alex Nedeljkovic has been a big help, appearing in four games and winning them all.
Moreover, there were no easy battles in there as the American goalie stopped the NHL-leading New York Rangers, rivals New Jersey, Washington and a strong Tampa Bay side. He conceded just 10 goals from 121 shots and maintained a 91.7% save percentage.
Highlight of the Week
The number one overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, Jeff Skinner, entered the league in style, scoring 31 goals, adding 32 assists and winning the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year. He continued to thrive, delivering goals on a regular basis to the 2017 world runner-up with Canada.
Still, the Hurricanes got rid of him in August 2018 and traded him to Buffalo. There, in his first season, he reached the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career and that season earned him the contract of a lifetime, an eight-year, $72-million deal. He seemed unsuccessful there at first but Skinner has started to thrive again.
However, the man who has 357 goals, a remarkable figure that most NHL players will never come close to, has set a new - slightly sad - record. Tuesday's game against Washington was his 1,000th in the competition, and no player before him has played so many without playing for the Stanley Cup at least once. The Sabres still have a chance this season, but an outside chance at best.
Stat of the Week
Ottawa are having a surprisingly bad season; if it weren't for Columbus in the Eastern Conference, the Canadian club would be at the bottom of the standings. One of their few bright spots is mercurial captain Brady Tkachuk. He tops in the goal-scoring charts for the Senators, is decent in the +/- stats, and gives it his all.
On Saturday against New Jersey, for example, he recorded 16 hits, an NHL record for a player in a single game.
Social media highlight
"I'm sorry, it was a communication error," the referee said in the game between Florida and Montreal, disallowing a goal to the amazement of the Canadiens' bench, which lost out of the score. Their players were still happy in the end, beating the favourites 5-3.
Pic of the Week
Brandon Duhaime may have been traded from Minnesota to Colorado before the trade deadline, but that doesn't mean there aren't things that stay the same. Like pranks on famed joker Marc-Andre Fleury, for example. When the Avalanche players arrived in Minnesota, the famous goaltender found his car in this state...
"I don't know who did it," said Duhaime, but of course no one believed him. "I'm pretty proud of him," said Fleury, who was clear from the start about the author of the prank.
Ladislav Smid's hot take
"I guess nobody could have missed the mass brawl between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils, I just have to say I wasn't really surprised. Matt Rempe was on a rampage in the previous game, and he didn't accept the challenge to fight, so the Devils must have been pretty frustrated and it turned out the way it did.
"I'm by no means saying that you have to go for every hit to fight, but when someone is flying around the ice like crazy, they have to drop the gloves once in a while.
"New Jersey conceived it so that everyone was ready to fight on the opening faceoff, and it was great to see the Rangers were too. There are still unwritten rules in hockey that need to be respected, even though I know more and more people just don't like it.
"I say, if you don't like it, go watch the darts. Hockey is a physical sport, a couple of guys just went at it without gloves and everyone got sucked into the one. Even the coaches on the bench.
"The Devils aren't really fighting for the playoffs anymore, but you're still playing for the club, the logo you wear on your chest, and the organization. And the crowd enjoyed it, too.
With 10 pairs of gloves dropped in two seconds, the Battle of the Hudson didn't disappoint
"I myself experienced a similar situation ten years ago in a Calgary vs Vancouver game. The rivalry between the Edmonton-Calgary-Vancouver trio was always great, whether I played for the Flames or the Oilers I never really liked Vancouver.
"Back then, a fourth line full of bangers took the ice to start the game, which was a clear signal to the opposition. The Canucks put their lines out there too and it was clear to everyone what was going to happen. Plus, we had a tip from our linesman before the game that something like this could happen.
"When the puck dropped, we were all ready and everyone was fighting. Eight of us then headed straight to the locker room, which wasn't exactly pleasant for either team because a total of four goalies quit in the game and the clubs had to play without them. Emotions were still running high between periods, with Vancouver's John Tortorella leading the way, and he was completely done with the whole situation. He came almost all the way to our locker room and went at our coach.
"It was a great experience, I enjoyed it, it's still on TV as a memory."