Central Division
Colorado Avalanche
Back to the kind of week Reto Berra got used to in the past few months – no playing time this week for the Swiss goaltender. His Avs are 7-3-0 in their last 10, but still only sit sixth in the wild card race in the West with 69 points in 65 games.
Minnesota Wild
Nino Niederreiter’s week has been very eventful. First, the Wild were very active at the trade deadline and acquired both Sean Bergenheim from Florida and Chris Stewart from Buffalo, two wingers rivaling Niederreiter for his ice time. Those two trades had no effect on Niederreiter’s time on ice in his first game of the week though, as the Swiss winger played 15:19 in a 3-2 shootout win against the Ottawa Senators. He had two penalty minutes and two shots on goal. Niederreiter was injured in that game and missed one outing with a lower-body injury before returning to the lineup against Carolina on Friday. He had one assist and one shot on goal in 14:17. The Wild are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now, going 8-2-0 in their last 10 games. They are now leading the wild card race with 79 points in 65 games, four points ahead of the LA Kings.
Nashville Predators
Roman Josi and his Preds got to taste the bitter feeling of losing two straight games for the first time this season. The Predators encountered their first slump of the season this week, losing all four games. Josi played 28:35 in a 1-4 loss to the Rangers on Monday and had a minus-2 rating and two shots on goal. They travelled on to New Jersey, where they were they just came up short (1-3 loss), with the Swiss D playing 28:40. He finished the game with a minus-1 rating and five shots on goal. Back home, the Islanders beat Nashville 4-3. Josi got on the score sheet with an assist but could not prevent a fifth straight loss. He had a plus-1 rating and two shots on goal in 26:12 minutes time on ice. Their losing streak reached six games with a 1-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, a game where Josi had a negative rating for the fifth time in the Preds’ last six games (he is a minus-6 over the course of their losing streak). Nashville still leads the Central Division with 89 points in 67 games, but lost the league lead to the Anaheim Ducks.
Pacific Division
Calgary Flames
Jonas Hiller seems to have lost the starting spot to Karri Ramo, at least for the last few games. He made a rare appearance in an away game at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit this Friday, where he carried the Flames to a 5-2 win with 33 saves and a .943 save percentage for his 20th win of the season. Raphael Diaz saw 10:54 of ice time in that game and had two shots on goal and a plus-1 rating. Earlier this week, he played 10:13 in a 4-3 shootout win over Boston (one shot on goal) and only 6:59 in a 3-2 overtime win over Philadelphia (two shots on goal). Calgary sits in a playoff position as they’re the third ranked team in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the LA Kings.
San Jose Sharks
Mirco Müller got back into the lineup for the 4-0 win against Montreal on Monday and saw 18:33 of ice time. His time on ice shrunk to 16:59 in Vancouver on Tuesday (minus-1 rating, two shots on goal) and even further to 14:06 in a 2-3 home loss to Vancouver on Saturday (two penalty minutes). The Sharks (72 points) are still slumping and are four points out of a playoff position.
Vancouver Canucks
Two of the three Swiss players in the Canucks lineup had a huge game last Sunday in a 6-5 shootout win over St. Louis. Ronalds Kenins had two assists and a plus-2 rating in 13:05, while Yannick Weber had a goal and an assist, along with a plus-3 rating, two penalty minutes and two shots on goal in 22:58. Luca Sbisa had a bad night with a minus-2 rating and two shots on goal in 25:56. He followed up that game with a minus-3 rating in a 2-6 loss to Vancouver. He finished that game with one shot on goal in just 18:45. Kenins had a negative rating as well and was a minus-1 with one shot on target in 14:18, while Weber went minus-2 with one shot on goal in 24:13. The Canucks lost a second consecutive game, when they dropped a 2-3 shootout decision to the Coyotes on Thursday. Weber had three shots on net in 22:12, Kenins was a minus-1 with one shot on goal in 10:55 and Luca Sbisa recorded an assist and had a plus-1 rating along with five penalty minutes and two shots on goal in 19:08. While Kenins was scratched on Saturday in San Jose (3-2 win), Weber was a minus-1 and had two shots on goal in 13:55, while Sbisa was a plus-2 with two penalty minutes and two shots on goal in 22:26. The Canucks still hold a playoff position with 78 points in 65 games.
Metropolitan Division
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers could count on Mark Streit to pot the late equalizer in the 2-3 overtime loss to Calgary on Tuesday. Streit had a goal and a minus-1 rating, along with three shots on goal in 23:10. He also contributed two assists in the two games against Saint Louis (3-1 win, even rating, two shots on goal in 20:28) and Boston (2-3 OT loss, plus-1 rating, two penalty minutes, three shots on goal in 21:59) and now is on a three-game point streak. His Flyers are still fighting for a playoff berth and trail the Boston Bruins by five points with two more games played.
AHL – Quick Look:
Sven Bärtschi (Adirondack Flames – CGY) indeed got traded at the trade deadline as I guessed. He reported to the Canucks’ AHL affiliate in Utica. Sven Andrighetto (Hamilton Bulldogs – MTL) collected two assists in four games this week. He was a combined minus-two, had seven shots on goal and picked up one minor penalty. Kevin Fiala (Milwaukee Admirals – NSH) had one assist in three games this week, along with a minus-2 rating and seven shots on net. Tanner Richard (Syracuse Crunch – TBL) went scoreless this week, but had a combined minus-2 rating in two games. Teammate Joel Vermin (Syracuse Crunch) shared Richard’s fate – he went pointless in both games and had a combined minus-2 and one shot on goal in two games. Sven Bärtschi (Utica Comets – VAN) had a phenomenal start to his tenure with the Comets. He had three assists in his first three games for his new team, along with a combined plus-3 rating, three shots on goal and two penalty minutes.
