East Division Update - February 18th

The NHL had an action-packed night tonight, and four of the nine games were played in the East Division. The Penguins played host to the red-hot New York Islanders, the Caps played host to a slumping Buffalo team, the Bruins played host to a hot Devils team, and the Flyers hosted the Rangers at Wells Fargo Center. My analysis of the games below. I am starting a new system because of the increase in games per evening, by doing a bit of a shorter summary than I usually do. This summary will still contain the same content though, it will just be a little bit shorter in length.

(Images Credits - NBC Sports, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, New York Times)

First Game - ISLANDERS @ PENGUINS

This game was another important one for Pittsburgh, as they were coming off a tough 3-1 loss to Washington on Tuesday night. The Islanders were on the other side of the coin, coming off a 3-0 win in Buffalo on Tuesday, and riding a nine game point streak. The Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry kept them in the game on Tuesday night, and looked to keep it up in this one tonight.

1st Period - The first period was pretty uneventful early, with the teams trading some chances and trying to inflict their playing style on the other. The Islanders are a defensive first team, and they didn't like the Penguins trying to skate all over them. Isles forward Casey Cizikas picked a fight with Brandon Tanev, and he accepted. The two went at it, and Cizikas definitely got the better of Tanev. The thing about this fight was that Brandon Tanev isn't known for fighting, he just wanted to go and spark the team a bit. The fight did spark Pittsburgh and they had the better of the play after the first. Crosby also scored on a broken play, tipping one past Isles goaltender Simian Varlomov.

Scoring: Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby (Redirect) 6th of the season.

2nd Period: The Penguins kept pressing and had the better of the play in this frame, with goaltender Tristan Jarry having another good game. The Pens and Isles traded some chances throughout, but Pittsburgh got the better of the play offensively. The Pens got another goal late in this frame from fourth-line forward Teddy Blueger, as he added his fifth of the year.

Scoring: Pittsburgh center Teddy Blueger (wrist shot) 3rd of the season.

3rd Period: The Penguins got a lot more chances, and goalie Tristan Jarry stood tall once again, turning away 31/32 Islanders shots. The Pens also added another goal from Jason Zucker, after a sweet play from Bryan Rust behind the net to set him up. Rust recorded two points on the night, as he added an empty netter with about a minute left. The Islanders stole Tristan's shutout though, when forward Brock Nelson scored on a powerplay with about four minutes go. The Pens improved their home record to 6-1, and the Islanders saw their eight game point streak snapped.

Scoring: Jason Zucker (wrist shot) 4th of the season, Islanders Brock Nelson PPG (redirect) 4th of the season, Bryan Rust (ENG) 6th of the season

Second Game - BUFFALO @ WASHINGTON

The Caps were coming off a big win in Pittsburgh to snap their four game skid, and the Sabers were struggling coming off that big covid layoff.

1st Period: The Sabers would start off slow as usual, getting some big saves from goaltender Linus Ullmark. The saves wouldn't last however, as the Caps broke through late on a powerplay goal from forward Nick Backstrom. The Sabers didn't generate much, and didn't force Vanacek to make a lot of saves in this period.

Scoring: Nicolas Backstrom PPG (tip in), 8th of the season

2nd Period: The Caps would pour it on at this point, and force Buffalo on their heels. They added another goal in this period, from forward Tom Wilson, which was shorthanded. The Sabers didn't have defense back on their powerplay, and Wilson took it right down the middle, and went forehand/backhand past the leg of Ullmark. The Caps were surging with energy at this point, and Buffalo had no answer.

Scoring: Tom Wilson SHG (snap shot), 6th of the season

3rd Period: The Caps had control of the game at this point, and added another goal off a net front scramble to solidify the game. Another good stat for Sheary, is he scored goals against his former teams in back to back games. The Caps would almost preserve the shutout, but Buffalo broke through on the powerplay in the waning minutes of the third. Vitec Vanacek made 21/22 saves for the win for Washington, while Buffalo lost their third since returning from a covid lockdown last week.

Scoring: Conor Sheary (snap shot), 4th of the season/ Victor Olofsson (slap shot), 6th of the season

Third Game - DEVILS @ BRUINS

For these next two, I'll just give a quick scoring update and the result of the games.

This one was sure to be a good one, with Boston being as good as they are, and the Devils rolling after their return to play from covid a few nights ago. The Devils won this one 3-2, which was a big surprise against this loaded Boston team.

1st Period Scoring: None

2nd Period Scoring: NJ: Kyle Palmieri (1, Even Strength), (2, Short-Handed), Pavel Zacha (4, Even Strength). Boston: Jake Debrusk (1, PPG)

3rd Period Scoring: Boston: David Pasternak (6, PPG)

The Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves for the win, while Boston dropped only it's third in regulation in season.

FOURTH GAME - RANGERS @ FLYERS

This game was also an entertaining one, as these two interdivision rivals met for the first time this season. The Rangers were struggling lately, and at the bottom of the division. The Flyers were coming off a long stay on the covid-postponed list, and looking for a win at home.

1st Period Scoring: Flyers: Nicholas Aube-Kubel (2, Even Strength)

2nd Period Scoring: Rangers: Colin Blackwell (3, PPG)

3rd Period Scoring: Flyers: Joel Farabee (7, Even Strength), Rangers: Branded Smith (1, Even Strength)

Overtime/Shootout: No OT goals, SO: Kakko (NY), Couturier (PHI), Panarin, Game Winner (NY)

The Rangers got a MUCH needed win in Philly tonight, and goaltender Alexander Georgiev stopped 20 of 22 for the win. As for the Flyers, they didn't produce enough offense coming off the long break, and they relied too heavily on goalie Carter Hart.