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Pacific Division check-in: Turkey day mile marker

Posted on by Erika Towne
Nov 24, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; The Vancouver Canucks celebrate after a goal scored by Vancouver Canucks center Dakota Joshua (81) during the second period against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Before jumping into the Pacific Division standings, let’s talk about the jerseys the Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken unveiled for the upcoming Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.

Vegas unveiled these…well, these things.

In my personal opinion, putting them on the players doesn’t make them look any better. They’re boring. Plus, am I really supposed to get excited about the fact that the words on the helmet are in 3D?

Meanwhile, Seattle unveiled these jerseys that pay homage to the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans.

While the puck hasn’t dropped yet, I’d call Seattle the clear winner.

Okay, so now let’s talk turkey.

Thanksgiving is the unofficial mile marker for the teams that will likely make the playoffs and teams that will not. The idea is that if you’re in a playoff position by Thanksgiving Day, it’s likely that that position will hold through April. This is solely based on statistics of how things have worked in the past and not a predictor of how it will work this year, but as writers, we love a good opportunity to tell you why we think something will happen.

With that in mind, here’s how things appear to be shaking out. In the Central Division, if the standings are any indication, it looks like the Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche are in, while the St. Louis Blues hold onto the first wildcard spot in the conference. All four of those teams have played just 19 games and the other contenders have played more. As of Saturday morning, those teams are a playoff “lock” if you believe in the Thanksgiving Day marker.

The Pacific Division is a little harder to decipher. Here’s where it’s at:

1. Vegas Golden Knights (14-4-2, 30 pts.)

The Vegas Golden Knights hold steady to the top spot in the Pacific Division, but other teams are gaining ground. Vegas is one of just two teams that did not play yesterday; Arizona is the other.

The most recent five-game road trip was not kind to the Golden Knights. The team lost to the Washington Capitals, beat the Montreal Canadiens and then lost both of its games in the Keystone State. Vegas managed to push the Philadelphia Flyers to overtime to gain a single point. The Golden Knights finished out the road trip with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Dallas Stars. That said, five of a possible ten points isn’t great for a team looking to repeat.

Jack Eichel and William Karlsson are tied for the team lead in points with 20 points in 20 games. Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault share the goal lead with nine apiece. Meanwhile, Adin Hill and Logan Thompson are doing well sharing duties in the net. Hill has the edge with a 9-2-1 record, a 1.97 goals against average and .932 save percentage. Thompson appears to have settled into the backup role with a 5-2-1 record, a 2.48 goals against average and .920 save percentage.

Alex Martinez is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Other than that, the Golden Knights are currently healthy, which could be bad news for the rest of the league.

2. Vancouver Canucks (14-6-1, 29 pts.)

The Canucks continue to hold tight to the second spot in the Pacific Division and look to be gaining ground on the Golden Knights. Vancouver has the fourth-best power play in the league. It’s running at 28.9%. The Canucks also continue to lead the league in goals for per game with 4.0 and are fourth in the league in goals against per game with 2.5. Those stats got even better Friday night when the Canucks beat the Seattle Kraken 5-1.

Understandably, Vancouver’s top players are among the top players in the NHL. Quinn Hughes leads the entire NHL in scoring with 24 points. Filip Hronek and Elias Pettersson help round out the top five in leaguewide scoring. Pettersson has 20 points, while Hronek has 19. J.T. Miller was in the top ten until Friday’s games. Now, he’s eleventh in the league with 17 points. The Canucks are getting scoring from several different players. Amazingly, none of the names mentioned above are the goals leader for the Canucks. That honor goes to Brock Boeser, who is tied for third in the league with 13 goals.

Backing the team up is the tandem of Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith. Demko has ten wins this season, one of only four NHL goaltenders that has hit the double-digit wins mark to date. DeSmith has performed admirably in the backup role, going 4-1-1.

Pius Suter and Carson Soucy are both injured for the Canucks, who are otherwise healthy.

3. Los Angeles Kings (12-3-3, 27 pts.)

The Kings have won four in a row and are closing the gap on the Pacific Division leaders. Los Angeles’ most recent win came against Southern California rivals, the Anaheim Ducks. Adrian Kempe had two points in the 5-2 win over the Ducks and continues to lead the team with 20 points in 18 games. Close behind are Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala, both with 19 points this season. Kopitar also leads the team with ten goals. He’s shooting at an impressive 25% so far this season. Blake Lizotte is shooting at 20% so far this season and Carl Grundstrom is close behind at 19.35%.

Like the Canucks, the Kings lead the league with 4.0 goals per game and are fourth with 2.5 goals against per game. The penalty kill has helped the Kings immensely. L.A. is second in the league with an 88.9% penalty kill.

Cam Talbot has taken over the net for the Kings. He’s 10-3-1 with a .931 save percentage and 2.02 goals against average. Phoenix Copley, who was thought to be the goalie in waiting for the Kings, isn’t doing great. While his record is 2-0-2, he’s sporting a 3.75 goals against average and a .845 save percentage.

The Kings have a few injured players. Blake Lizotte is day-to-day and Tobias Bjornfot is on the injured reserve. Neither played against the Ducks.

4. Seattle Kraken (8-9-5, 21 pts.)

The Kraken is an interesting case in that the team currently holds the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference, but Seattle has also played at least two more games than the teams below them and in some cases, three or four. Everyone has games in hand on Seattle and that makes the Kraken’s current position in the standings inflated.

Seattle has regressed this season and the loss to the Canucks didn’t help. The team is 27th in the league in goals for per game and 24th in goals against. The penalty kill is operating at 73.8%, good for 26th in the league. The only thing that’s in the top 10 for Seattle appears to be the power play, which is currently 8th.

Oliver Bjorkstrand and Vince Dunn lead the Kraken with 19 points each. Bjorkstrand earned his share of the lead thanks, in part, to a four-point night against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Dunn has been a consistent scorer for the Kraken for most of the season. Jared McCann is the team’s leading scorer with nine goals.

Neither goaltender has been particularly good for the Kraken. Starter Philipp Grubaur has a 3.35 goals against average and a .885 save percentage. He was injured on Nov. 19 and has been day-to-day since then. Joey Daccord has received the starts since then. He hasn’t fared much better than Grubaur. Daccord has a 2.99 goals against average and .895 save percentage.

Grubaur is the only key injury for the Kraken.

5. Calgary Flames (8-9-3, 19 pts.)

The Calgary Flames are slowly trying to right the ship and a 7-4 win over the Dallas Stars on Friday night will help matters. Calgary has earned 13 of a possible 22 points in November, allowing the team to pull ahead of Anaheim in the Pacific Division. While going over .500 is a good start, Calgary will need to up its game if it wants to be in the wildcard mix. The only thing the Flames seem to have going for the team currently is the 84.8% penalty kill, which is 10th in the league.

Elias Lindholm is the team’s leading scorer with 15 points. Jonathan Huberdeau, who is in the first year of his 8-year, $84 million contract, has not played well. He has 12 points in 20 games and is a minus-12. Blake Coleman leads the team with six goals. Three players, Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane and Yegor Sharangovich, are close behind with five goals each.

Starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom hasn’t done poorly despite his team’s record. He has a 2.93 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.

There are no major injuries for the Flames, but there are a lot of contract questions. Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov are all unrestricted free agents at the season’s close. Dillon Dube, Martin Pospisil and Adam Ruzicka will be restricted free agents. None of them appear to be close to signing longer term deals.

6. Anaheim Ducks (9-11-0, 18 pts.)

Losers of five in a row, the Ducks are returning to earth. Anaheim has been outscored 22-9 in the past five games and while the team is still technically in the mix for a wildcard playoff spot, it will have to start winning soon, or all hope is lost.

Mason McTavish leads the Ducks with 21 points. Frank Vatrano is near the top of the league with 13 goals. Give him a few more games against the Sharks, and he’ll take the league lead. Leo Carlsson has played just 14 of the Ducks’ 20 games as planned. He’s doing well in his rookie season. He has nine points, including six goals.

Interestingly, Lukas Dostal has more wins than John Gibson. Dostal has a 5-3-0 record, while Gibson’s record is 4-8-0. That said, Gibson has the better numbers. Gibson has a 2.64 goals against average and a .914 save percentage to Dostal’s 3.77 goals agaisnt average and .893 save percentage.

The Ducks are missing some major top players. On the blueline, Jamie Drysdale is still on injured reserve. Drysdale was immediately added to the IR list after he signed his new contract in October. Trevor Zegras is also injured. He was added to IR on Nov. 9 with a lower-body injury.

7. Edmonton Oilers (7-12-1, 15 pts.)

Things are looking pretty bleak in Edmonton. The Oilers won two games straight after firing Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12, but then quickly fell back into not so great territory. The Oilers lost three games in a row after beating the Kraken in overtime on Nov. 15. It pulled out of the funk on Friday, beating the Washington Capitals 5-0.

Edmonton’s latest record tells you where the team stands among the league’s best and it’s not good news for Oilers fans. The most recent losses came at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes, three teams that made the playoffs last season.

For the first time in a very long time, the Oilers power play is not the best in the league. It’s firing at a 25% percent, good for seventh. A lot of this is because the team’s top players are not at their best. Leon Draisaitl has 26 points in 19 games, which is off pace though close to his 128 points in 80 games last season. It’s Connor McDavid that has people worried. McDavid has 20 points in 17 games, far off from his 153 points in 82 games last season.

Without McDavid and Draisaitl going at full power, Edmonton cannot outscore its goaltending problems as it has previously done. The Oilers are 19th in the league in goals for per game and 30th in the league in goals against.

Stuart Skinner has taken over the net since Jack Campbell was sent down to the AHL. Skinner is 3-4-0 since becoming the starter on Nov. 6. The biggest issue happened on Nov. 22, when Skinner was yanked from the game less than 15 minutes in. Skinner allowed four goals on eight shots. Perhaps the Oilers should have known something was wrong when they saw this play during warmups.

Meanwhile, Calvin Pickard has played just two games since his callup and has yet to register a win. His .881 save percentage is not something to write home about.

Dylan Holloway is out with a lower-body injury. Other than that, there are no major injuries for the Oilers.

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