Most productive player
Two players managed seven points last week but Vegas' Jack Eichel needed fewer games to reach that mark. He managed to add two goals and five assists in just three games, and his Golden Knights won them all.
The team's most productive player stood out during a clear 6-3 win over Detroit, scoring and assisting three times. He scored his third game-winning goal of the season against Tampa, with only five shots on two goals.
Goaltender of the week
Minnesota are holding on to the first Wild Card spot in the playoff race, but they are far from done. As a result, the great form of the 26-year-old Swedish goalie Filip Gustavsson at the Wild is certainly pleasing at the franchise.
Gustavsson consecutively held off Los Angeles, Seattle and Buffalo, stopping 82 shots, and conceding only two goals in the run with none against the Kraken. With that, he recorded his fifth clean sheet of the season (the second-best in the NHL) and had a 97.6% save percentage.
Highlight of the week
Admit it, who among you thought before the season that the Washington Capitals would be the first NHL team to secure a playoff berth in 2024/25?
It's been almost a year since the club announced that Nicklas Backstrom would not play a full season due to injury, and when it was announced in September that another mainstay, T.J. Oshie also won't play, nobody would have bet on the club from the capital.
And yet the Capitals did it after Thursday's 3-2 win over Philadelphia in their 69th game of the regular season out of a possible 82. In addition, team captain Alexander Ovechkin contributed his 888th goal in his quest for the league record.
"Advancing was our goal this year. Especially at the end of the season, it's tough, everyone is fighting for points," the Russian forward told NHL.com about fighting for the Stanley Cup.
But it's not all about the team's main offensive star,. The undrafted goalie Logan Thompson for example, who had only four losses by the time he reached his 30th win of the season, deserves a pat on the back. Only two goaltenders in NHL history had that stat before him: Linus Ullmark three years ago and Tiny Thompson in 1930.
There's one more hero to mention: Belarusian forward Aliaksei Protas, among others the current leader of the whole competition in +/- statistics, in which he has already scored 42 positive points.
The 91st overall player in the 2019 draft is having a breakthrough year and is the new record holder for his country. He currently has 63 points, with the best Belarusian to date being Yegor Sharangovich with 59 points.
Statistic of the week
Patrik Elias, Doug Gilmour and Jaromir Jagr couldn't do it but Swedish forward Jesper Bratt became the New Jersey Devils' fresh record holder for assists in a single season, notching number 61 on Saturday against Ottawa (2-3), surpassing defenceman Scott Stevens, who had held the record since the 1993/94 season.
Social media highlight
American veteran John Carlson, even at 35 years old, is Washington's most productive defenceman thanks to his 45 points and 41 assists. But he could have had significantly more goals...
He has scored four this season but the referees haven't awarded him the same amount.
Pic of the week
Montreal are fighting fiercely for the playoffs, and so far, they're actually succeeding. Against Colorado, they pulled back a three-goal deficit in the third period to grab a point and they also beat strong Florida and Ottawa sides in the week. The comradery of the team is really showing.
Ladislav Smid's take
"Washington are definitely one of the biggest surprises of the season, but when you see them play, you feel that it's not a coincidence. The Capitals are playing honest hockey, they don't miss a beat and they are playing really well.
"The offence is balanced, the defence is strong and no one is out of the game in terms of points. Dylan Strome, Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois are having great seasons. In defence, John Carlson continues to shine, Jakob Chychrun has fit in nicely, and goaltender Logan Thompson is top-notch.
"But the key will be in the playoffs, anything can happen. The experience of a good regular season and a weak playoffs has been seen in recent years in Winnipeg and Boston. We'll see.
"The fight for the Stanley Cup is very unpredictable... Still, it's hard for me to rank the Capitals alongside the other favourites to win the title. They are not that experienced of a team and I'm not sure they'll have enough for teams like Florida or Tampa Bay.
"Of course, we can't overlook Alexander Ovechkin, he's still a superstar. Even at his age. He's having a great season and he's still putting it all out there, he's unreal."
