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Pacific Division Round Up: Knights break major slump with huge win

Posted on by Haley Van Horn

The San Jose Sharks are riding high on a six-game winning streak. Finally, things are on the up.

What makes this even more enjoyable is that the Vegas Golden Knights haven’t been so lucky. Sure, they had a huge 6-0 win over the Calgary Flames on Sunday, but don’t let that distract you from the fact they lost five-straight games.

Here’s the latest news and notes from the rest of the division:

Anaheim Ducks (10-9-2)

The Anaheim Ducks still sit above the Sharks in the Pacific. They played three games this week, all of which ended very differently. The first was a 4-3 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The Ducks held a 3-2 lead going into the third period, but the Red Wings were able to tie it up and they couldn’t finish it off in overtime, still earning a point in the loss. Then the Sharks came to town. I will happily remind you that the Sharks won that one 5-3. Lastly, they beat the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the St. Louis Blues, 4-1. It was an interesting week, indeed.

You’ll never believe this, but a Blues player hit someone in the head. Anaheim goaltender John Gibson was struck by Oskar Sundqvist, who clearly left his feet and intended to land a dangerous hit. He was given a maximum fine from player safety topping out at $7,392.47. John Gibson seems to be okay.

The Ducks will see the Washington Capitals today at 4 p.m. PT.

Arizona Coyotes (12-7-2)

The Arizona Coyotes are having a good time. They played four games this week and only lost one of them. They’ve made their way into second place in the division, because in the NHL, anything is possible. Their first two wins of the week came as a result of shootouts. The first was a 4-3 win over the Capitals, the second 3-2 over the Blues, making them the first team to beat back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions in consecutive games. Their lone loss of the week came from the Minnesota Wild. The 2-3 final score was a comeback game from the Wild, so Arizona nearly won that one too. Finally, they shut out the Calgary Flames 3-0. That game saw a full line brawl, so there’s that.

The Coyotes will hopefully beat the Los Angeles Kings today at 6 p.m. PT.

Calgary Flames (10-10-3)

The Calgary Flames had a tough week. They slipped in the standings after falling 3-1 to the recovering Dallas Stars. Guess who scored two goals in that game? You’re correct, it was Joe Pavelski. Calgary went on to get shutout by the Coyotes, which erupted into a line brawl, as I mentioned before.

They wrapped their week up against the struggling Vegas Golden Knights, though they surely didn’t struggle against the Flames. The 6-0 blow out was ugly in all aspects for Calgary. Travis Hamonic left the game with a lower body injury. It was not a good week for this team.

The Flames will face the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT.

Edmonton Oilers (13-6-3)

The Edmonton Oilers are still in first place, though the Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks are creeping upon them. They started their week off with a glorious 6-3 loss against the Sharks. They quickly rebounded, though, beating the Avalanche 6-2. Connor McDavid is good at hockey, apparently. He had a hat trick and three assists against Colorado. Finally, the Dallas Stars beat them 5-4 in OT.

The next game for Edmonton is against the Sharks at 7:30 p.m. PT on Tuesday.

Los Angeles Kings (8-11-1)

I am always happy to report to you that the Kings are in last place. They haven’t budged and for that reason we are lucky. The best part of all of this is they won three games this week and STILL find comfort dead last in the division. They beat the Wild 3-1 on Tuesday, the Red Wings 3-2 in overtime and, most importantly, the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3. Jeff Carter scored the winning goal of that game, which happened to be his 1,000th game.

The Kings will face the Coyotes today at 6 p.m. PT.

Vancouver Canucks (10-7-4)

The Vancouver Canucks are still in third place of the division. This week, they played three games and won only one of them. They took down the Nashville Predators 5-3, thanks largely to Tanner Pearson and Elias Pettersson, who each had a pair of goals. The Stars took them down 4-2, where Joe Pavelski assisted two of those goals. Finally, the Avalanche defeated them to the tune of 5-4 in overtime after a controversial goal. The Avalanche’s Matt Calvert received a head injury after blocking a shot. Instead of calling the play dead with a player bleeding on the ice, the referees allowed the play to stay alive where the Canucks, who were down by two, scored. The game came to a draw after. The Avalanche did end up winning, but that was rough to watch. Below is a Twitter clip of the incident.

The Canucks will play the Stars on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. PT.

Vegas Golden Knights (10-9-3)

The Vegas Golden Knights have been doing a lot of losing lately. You absolutely love to see it. The Chicago Blackhawks handed them a 5-3 defeat on Wednesday. Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves. The Kings delivered a fifth-straight loss to the Golden Knights on Saturday. Malcolm Subban found himself in net for that one and also made 21 saves. Finally, they saw the Calgary Flames, where they bounced back from their terrible week. They won 6-0, bringing them from second-to-last in the standings to fourth place because life is cruel.

I hope you Sharks fans enjoyed the 24 hours they spent on top of the Knights in the standings.

Vegas will face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. PT.

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