East Division Update - March 6th

There were three games in the division today, all being played this afternoon. The Penguins squared up with Philidelphia again at PPG Paints Arena, the Islanders took on the Sabers in Long Island, and the Rangers played in New Jersey once again. These games all featured some goals, so let's get right to it.

(Image Credits: 1 - East Oregonian, 2 - ESPN, 3 - All About Jersey)

FLYERS @ PENGUINS

The Penguins and Flyers went at it for the third time this week, and this might've been the best of the three games. The Penguins were coming off a heartbreaking loss to these Flyers 4-3 on Thursday, after allowing four unanswered and providing no push back in the ladder of the game. The Flyers were riding high after coming back in that same game and looked to beat the Penguins two/three times in Pittsburgh. The Penguins got their special teams corrected in this game, and got the 4-3 win over the Flyers, improving to 2-1 against them at home this season. Pittsburgh's struggling powerplay was revived and their penalty kill got right, which helped them in this game, and will hopefully get them back into a playoff spot. The Flyers gave up critical goals in this game, and goaltender Brian Elliot was less than perfect, getting beat 4 times on 27 shots. Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry, however, continued his solid play, saving 19 of 22 shots he faced.

Scoring:

1st Period: Penguins: Evgeni Malkin (5, PPG), Bryan Rust (8, PPG). Flyers: Travis Konecny (6, ES).

2nd Period: Penguins: Zach Aston-Reese (4, ES). Flyers: Kevin Hayes (8, PPG), Shayne Gostisbehere (3, ES).

3rd Period: Penguins: Jared McCann (3, ES). Flyers: No Goals.

SABERS @ ISLANDERS

This one was about what you would expect from a slumping Buffalo team at rock bottom, heading into a tough building, and a surging New York Islanders team that is getting better with every minute they play. The Isles skated away with a 5-2 win in this one and got a highlight-reel goal from Matt Barzal in the process. He went down the wall, fended off the Sabers defender one on one, and put a puck between his legs, and over the goalie's shoulder, for the finishing touch on what would've already been impressive enough on its own accord as a goal. He is a heck of a player and really doesn't get enough credit for being as good as he is in my opinion. The Islanders continue to surge, and Buffalo continues to pile up losses at the bottom of the division standings.

Scoring:

1st Period: Sabers: Jacob Bryson (1st NHL Goal, ES). Islanders: No Goals.

2nd Period: Sabers: No Goals. Islanders: Matt Barzal (9), Brock Nelson (7), Cal Clutterbuck (2), Scott Mayfield (2), (Even Strength).

3rd Period: Sabers: Sam Reinhart (9, ES). Islanders: Anders Lee (11, ES).

RANGERS @ DEVILS

This game was similar to the previous one I mentioned, with one team getting hot and one team very cold. The Rangers have been catching fire lately and scoring plenty of goals while doing it. The Devils, on the other hand, have been getting no bottom-six scoring and came into this game as a loser of four straight. The Rangers cruised to a 6-3 victory in this game, handing New Jersey another loss at home, and their 5th in as many contests. The Rangers got scoring from their defense in this one, and the goaltending was good enough to get two points, which is important in a division as tough as this.

Scoring:

1st Period: Rangers: Adam Fox (2, PPG), Kevin Rooney (4), Ryan Strome (7) (Even Strength). Devils: P.K. Subban (2), Mikhail Maltsev (3) (Even Strength).

2nd Period: Rangers: Libor Hajek (1, ES). Devils: No Goals.

3rd Period: Rangers: Filip Chytil (3), Ryan Strome (8) (Even Strength). Devils: Nathan Bastian (2, ES).

Division Standings After Tonight:

1. NY Islanders

2. Washington

3. Boston

4. Philidelphia

5. Pittsburgh

6. NY Rangers

7. New Jersey

8. Buffalo