Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Weekly Trends In The Eastern And Western Conference

03/16/2015 at 12:27pm EDT

from Katie Strang of ESPN,

Trending up

New York Rangers: The Rangers now lead the entire NHL with 95 points following a 2-1 win against a scrappy Florida Panthers squad hell-bent on earning a postseason berth. Cam Talbot can take a bow for his masterful effort in the absence of starting goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who has not played since early February because of a vascular injury in his neck. Talbot was a rock once again this weekend in snatching a pair of points for the Blueshirts, turning away a whopping 38 of 39 shots to hold off the Cats at Madison Square Garden. Hard to imagine he’ll remain a backup to "The King" following this season, because plenty of other teams have taken notice of his abilities since being thrust into the starting role.

Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals: The Caps' netminder continues to build on what has been a terrific season in D.C. The 25-year-old Holtby bounced back Sunday after a rough outing against Dallas on Friday, blanking the Boston Bruins for his eighth shutout of the season. Holtby turned away all 32 shots faced Sunday night to stifle a surging Bruins squad that entered the match on a five-game roll.

Trending down

Pittsburgh Penguins: A pair of disheartening losses this weekend cannot have left Penguins coach Mike Johnston very happy. Granted, the Pens were blanked by the Bruins on Saturday while playing without their two biggest stars -- Evgeni Malkin was injured on his first shift of the game and Sidney Crosby was ill -- but the team failed to bounce back Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings. Instead, the Pens took a few ill-advised, undisciplined penalties that gave Detroit’s top-ranked power play plenty of practice.

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Also from Strang,

Trending Up:

St. Louis Blues: With a 3-0 win against the Dallas Stars on Sunday night, the Blues passed the Nashville Predators for first place in a jam-packed Central Division. Though the two teams are tied with 93 points, the Blues have two games in hand on the Preds, who have won only two of their past 10. The Blues received key contributions from T.J. Oshie, Alexander Steen, Vladimir Tarasenko and goaltender Jake Allen, who made 28 saves in blanking a surging Stars team on Sunday. The Blues’ penalty kill also deserves some recognition after killing off all six of the Stars’ power-play opportunities. The Blues have now won four of their past five games.

Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks: The 30-year-old goaltender is 5-0-1 in his past six games and has surrendered just seven goals during that span, posting a 1.15 goals against average and .962 save percentage in what has been his longest point streak of the season. Meanwhile, the Hawks continue to hang in there in what has been the most competitive division in the league. Heading into Monday’s action, Chicago trails first-place St. Louis and second-place Nashville by five points each, though they have one game in hand on the Blues and three on the Preds.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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