IN THE ZONE - Hiller unbeatable, Flames forgot how to score

Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks, and especially their goalie Jonas Hiller, are still riding on a wave of success. In their four games of the week, they were able to extend their current winning streak from two to six games. Hiller’s statistics look even better: With victories over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday (4-3 OT), the Boston Bruins on Tuesday (5-2) and the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday (5-3), Hiller has now 13 straight wins, matching the Detroit Red Wings’ Chris Osgood for the longest winning streak by a goalie since 1995-96! Only on Thursday he received a well-deserved break when Frederik Andersen led the Ducks past Roman Josi’s Nashville Predators. However, Hiller is Anaheim’s undisputed starting goalie – and in a very good position for upcoming contract negotiations.

Calgary Flames

Whereas the week started well for the Flames with a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, they were not able to start a winning streak. On the contrary. Calgary faced extreme hardship in front of the net: In the three games against Phoenix on Tuesday (0-6), St. Louis on Thursday (0-5) and Pittsburgh on Saturday (1-2), they only managed to score once. Goalie Reto Berra got the start in their 0-6 meltdown against Phoenix (.800 SV%) and against Pittsburgh (.923 SV%). Especially on home ice, the Flames are currently an easy prey – they now lost six home games in a row and scored only twice. And as long as the forwards do not score, there is no need to start discussions about the two goalies.

Minnesota Wild

What a start into the week for Nino Niederreiter! At Staples Center in Los Angeles, his Minnesota Wild wrestled down the Kings 2-1 after shootout. Niederreiter not only scored the game-tying-goal early in the third period – he also scored the all-decisive shootout-goal with a nifty little move against the King’s goalie Jonathan Quick. Also in Minnesota’s 4-1 win against the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday, “El Niño” contributed two assists and proved that he is ready for the Olympics in Sochi where he could be a big asset for the Swiss team. The only downside of the week was yesterday’s 2-4 loss against the Colorado Avalanche which brought Minnesota’s four-game winning streak to an abrupt end.

Montréal Canadiens

It was kind of ironic that when Swiss national coach Sean Simpson presented his roster for the Olympics in Sochi on Monday, Raphael Diaz was scratched from the Canadiens’ line up for the second time in a row in their 2-1 home win against the Florida Panthers. Before these two games, Diaz had not had to watch a game from the press box the whole season. But he returned to the Canadiens’ defence on Wednesday when they fell 1-3 to Mark Streit’s Philadelphia Flyers. A loss to which the Habs reacted with a 2-1 overtime-win against the current Stanley Cup Champion and leader of the Central Division, the Chicago Blackhawks. Raphael Diaz received an average of almost 18 minutes of ice time in both games.

Nashville Predators

There was one rule during the past week: When Roman Josi scores, the Predators win. But unfortunately this was only the case on Tuesday in their game against the San Jose Sharks when Josi scored the game-winning-goal halfway through the game. In the end, the Predators defeated the Sharks 3-2 on home ice. In their other three games of the week, the Predators had to accept defeats themselves: On Sunday they fell 1-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes, on Thursday 3-4 to the Anaheim Ducks and on Saturday the Preds were beaten by Ottawa 1-2 after shootout. Especially the loss against Anaheim must have hurt, when the Predators conceded all four goals during the second period and gave away a 2-0 and 3-2 lead.

Philadelphia Flyers

With two victories in three games this week, the Philadelphia Flyers and their defenceman Mark Streit secured another four points in the race for the playoffs. After a 3-2 overtime-win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, the Flyers defeated the Montréal Canadiens 3-1 on home ice on Wednesday, celebrating their tenth straight home win. However, this joy was to be short-lived: Only three days later, on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning were able to end the Flyers’ winning streak at home with a 6-3 win. Mark Streit, who left the game with a -3 rating, was not able to prevent his Flyers from this fate. Throughout the week, Streit did not manage to put his name on the scoreboard. He received an average of 20:11 ice time, with 2:55 on power play.

Vancouver Canucks

With two defeats in three games, one could easily say that the Vancouver Canucks and Yannick Weber obviously did not have the best week. But this first impression has to be put into perspective: With the Anaheim Ducks, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues they faced current numbers 1, 2 and 4 in the overall NHL-standings. In both defeats against Anaheim (3-4 OT) and Pittsburgh (4-5 SO), the Canucks blew two-goal leads and conceded the game-tying-goals with less than two minutes on the clock. It was but a small consolation when they ended the St. Louis Blues’ seven-game winning streak with a 2-1 home win on Friday. Weber received his usual ten to twelve minutes of ice time and saw that the Canucks are able to beat any team – if they would only play more consistent.
 

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