Alain Nasreddine has watched New York Rangers
It wasn't like this back in his playing days.
Nasreddine scored one goal in 74 NHL games as a
Goals are coming from everywhere this season: lacrosse-style from Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Forsberg, a ton from the blue line and even one from Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne. A total of 661 different players have scored at least once this season, a testament to balanced attacks around the league.
“You want a five-man
There are an average of 6.12 goals per game so far this season, the second straight year that number has surpassed six and just the third time in the past 23 seasons. The top four goal scorers are all forwards 24 or younger; more impressively, 200
Washington's John Carlson is on pace to be the NHL's first 100-point
“Nowadays, everybody activates the D,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. “I don't think there's a team that doesn't try to get their D to join the rush. You can't just have your top two
Look no further than the Nashville Predators for a prime example of that. Even after trading P.K. Subban, Nashville's blue line can still pile up the goals and has combined for 29 through 48 games.
“Teams want their
The game is trending that direction so much that Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour tells his team, “You score off the rush and you score on the power play.”
Hurricanes
“You look at the young guys coming in: Heiskanen, Makar, some of these really young guys, and they come in and they're contributing right away,” Slavin said. “I think some teams are driven by their
Josi, whose 14 goals sit one off the league lead among
“You're a
Nasreddine points out that teams like the Rangers — who lead the NHL in
“That's why you're seeing more mobile
LIGHTNING STRIKING
Not long ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning sat outside a playoff position in the Eastern Conference. After winning the Presidents' Trophy as the top regular-season team and getting swept out of the playoffs in the first round last season, it was fair to worry about the Lightning not putting as much value in the 82-game grind this time.
Tampa Bay is 12-2-1 since just before Christmas and now trails Atlantic Division-leading Boston by just seven points with two extra games left to play.
“We don’t think about the future or think about the past,” Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy said. “If you’re going to think about your future, you’ll miss your present so that’s our philosophy for right now."
GAME OF THE WEEK
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will be looking to exact some revenge for a recent regulation loss to Philadelphia when the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Flyers on Friday.
LEADERS
Goals: David Pastrnak (Boston), 37; Assists: Connor McDavid (Edmonton), 49; Points: McDavid, 76; Ice Time: Thomas Chabot (Ottawa), 26:23; Wins: Vasilevskiy, 24; Goals-Against Average: Ilya Samsonov (Washington), 2.06; Save Percentage: Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh), .929.
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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
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Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press