NHL Crosses Halfway Point of Regular Season
John Divuolo
Staff Writer
The NHL is currently at one of the most entertaining portions of its season. We are a little over halfway through the season and each division has teams fighting for playoff contention. In the Atlantic Division, one of the hottest teams in the entire league is the Boston Bruins. The Bruins have played 51 games and have won 39 of those games. The Bruins are second in goals per game, first in goals against per game, and first in save percentage. The starting goalie for the Bruins, Linus Ullmark, has 26 wins and only four losses this season with an average of only 1.9 goals allowed per game. The right winger David Pastrnak has 72 points this season and the Bruins are looking very good for a deep playoff run this season.
In the Metropolitan division, the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils are two teams that have played with excellent poise and great athleticism so far this season. The Hurricanes lead this division with 34 wins while the Devils are trailing right behind them with 33 wins. The Hurricanes are in a four-way tie for leading the league in shutouts with five and they are third in the league for goals against per game. Martin Necas is the leading point scorer for the team currently with 47 and the goalies are only allowing 2.61 goals per game. While the Devils are not top five in any notable statistics, they have a very well-rounded team. Jack Hughes is leading the team in points with 67 as well as goals with 35. Dougie Hamilton is leading the team with assists with 36 this season, and another notable player to bring up is the goalie, Vitek Vanecek. He has been a great goalie for the Devils only allowing 2.34 goals per game.
In the Central division, the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars are the two leaders. The Stars have 29 wins and 13 losses with an astounding 10 overtime losses. Even with this, they are still number one in their division. The Jets have 32 wins and 19 losses, right behind the Stars. The Stars are second in the league in goals against per game, third in save percentage, and they are also tied for first in shutouts with five. The Stars have some great players on this roster. Jason Robertson leads the team with 67 points and 33 goals. He also leads the team in assists with 34. He has been a great offensive weapon for the team this season. Another superstar is the goalie, Jake Oettinger. This goalie is leading the league goals-against avg with a very low 2.25 goals. He also leads the league in save percentage. These two have done an exceptional job so far this season. The Jets also have a great goalie. Connor Hellebuyck has an average of only 2.45 goals allowed this season, and he is the player with the most wins in the entire league.
Finally, in the Pacific Division, the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken are the two teams neck and neck for first in the division. The Golden Knights have 30 wins with 18 losses and lead the division. The Kraken has just one less win with 29 and 16 losses. The Golden Knights’ point leader is Chandler Stephenson who has 46. He also has the most assists on the team with 34. He’s been an all-around great center for the team with the help of Reilly Smith who is leading the team in goals. The Kraken has the fourth-highest goals per game in the league with 3.61. This can be credited to the highly talented Andre Burakovsky, Jared McCann, and Jordan Eberle. These three have great chemistry with one another and it has led them to the success they are having in their division. Burakovsky leads the team in points with 39, McCann leads the team in goals with 23, and Eberle leads the team in assists with 28. Their goalie, Phillip Grubauer, is also having a great season being second for the most wins in the league and having 2.74 goals allowed per game. All in all, this season of the NHL is going great so far and every team is fighting for a spot in the playoffs. The postseason this year is going to be extremely entertaining, as all of the teams are very balanced and a lot of these teams have great odds to win the coveted Stanley Cup.
Contact John at john.divuolo@shu.edu