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Who's Hot And Cold In The NHL: Stars Stand Out In The Playoff Race
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- Who's Hot And Cold In The NHL: Stars Stand Out In The Playoff Race
Stakes are sky-high at this point in the NHL regular season.
Top players are often the ones doing the heavy lifting. That was true this week, when many NHL stars stepped up to try to push their team into a Stanley Cup playoff position. But some stood out for the wrong reason.
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As we take a fresh look at NHLers who were hot and cold this past week, we're focusing on players in the playoff race.
The Pittsburgh Penguins ' hot week nearly guarantees their chances of making the playoffs and improves their chances of finishing second in the Metropolitan Division.
The San Jose Sharks , New York Islanders and Seattle Kraken , meanwhile, are still fully in the battle. There are no guarantees for them, but they can try to control their destiny by winning out.
Here's who has been hot and cold since Monday, March 30:
Hot: Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins
Sidney Crosby posted a league-best seven assists as well as eight points in five games.
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He's now up to nine assists and 10 points in his last nine games and a team-leading 72 points in 66 games this season.
His results this past week guarantee he will extend his point-per-game seasons to 21 straight.
Crosby's 29 goals thus far this year is a slight drop from the 33 he scored last season in 80 games. But he's missed 12 games this season, and he likely would've exceeded 33 goals if he stayed healthy.
Crosby's all-around game and consistency makes him the icon he is. But the 38-year-old's offense is what Pittsburgh needs as it's about to end its three-year playoff drought and try to lock in home-ice advantage in the first round.
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Cold: Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders
The Islanders are in the midst of a four-game losing skid at the worst time.
Ilya Sorokin lost all four games and put up sub-standard numbers, including an .852 save percentage and 5.02 goals-against average.
He allowed seven goals on 29 shots in an 8-3 loss to the Penguins last Monday, which skewed his numbers. But he still did not meet expectations the rest of the week, allowing 11 goals on 93 shots for an .882 save percentage and 2.13 goals saved below expected, according to moneypuck.com .
Sorokin remains a contender for the NHL's Vezina Trophy. He has a 2.65 GAA, .909 SP and 27.3 goals saved above expected in 52 games. Those numbers are better than his 2.71 GAA, .907 SP and 17.5 goals saved above expected last season.
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We'll see whether the Islanders hiring coach Peter DeBoer with four games left in the season leads to the team making the playoffs. They're only one point behind the second wild-card spot and third place in the Metropolitan Division.
That said, Sorokin needs to flush this past week and return to his strong play right away.
Hot: Macklin Celebrini, C, San Jose Sharks
Macklin Celebrini was terrific as the Sharks won three of four games this past week.
He generated five goals and eight points in four games. It's scary for opponents to think Celebrini is only scratching the surface of what he's capable of.
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Indeed, the center's 41 goals and 106 points in 75 games this season demolished his rookie totals, with a 43-point jump in production this year.
The youngster is already a beast and a Hart Trophy contender, and he's trying to carry the Sharks into the playoffs. After it looked like a cold streak crushed the team's playoff hopes, the Sharks are now only two points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild-card spot in the West, with a game in hand.
Even if Celebrini doesn't win league MVP honors this year, it feels like he'll soon be taking home a lot of hardware, and doing so for a very long time.
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Cold: Vince Dunn, D, Seattle Kraken
The Kraken have almost completely collapsed after flirting with a playoff position earlier this season.
While Dunn isn't expected to produce a point per game and put his team on his back, he has been cold for a while, including in three games this past week where he failed to generate a single point despite 10 shots on net.
Dunn's issues on offense stretch back to March 11. In the last 12 games, he produced only two points, and he's on a six-game points drought.
The 29-year-old has 30 assists and 41 points in 74 games this season, so he hasn't lost his ability to put up points at a respectable rate.
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But this player posted 50 assists and 64 points in 2022-23. That may have been an anomaly, but if Seattle is to keep its faint playoff hopes alive, it will need better production from Dunn. The Kraken are six points out of a wild-card spot with seven games left.
Hot: Rickard Rakell, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins
Rakell has had a rollercoaster season this year, coming out strong out of the gate with eight points in his first nine games before suffering a broken hand. He also went through a dry spell in February and early March when he posted only three points in 10 games.
But this past week, Rakell produced a league-leading seven goals and eight points in five games. It's no wonder the NHL named him the first star of the week, with Jack Hughes (three goals, nine points) and Robert Thomas (five goals, eight points) rounding out the three stars.
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Zoom back slightly, and Rakell has been even more effective. Since March 7, Rakell has produced 13 goals and 23 points in 17 games.
The Swedish right winger has 24 goals and 48 points in 57 games for the Pens this season.
At 32, Rakell is capable of stepping up his efforts and helping Pittsburgh win. He might play in the shadow of Crosby and Pens star Evgeni Malkin, but that clearly doesn't seem to be a problem.
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