Another week of NHL hockey is in the books, and there was no shortage of excitement. With all of the spectacular action on the ice, CBS Sports has got you covered with our weekly NHL Rewind.
Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon has been playing at an extremely high level with a 16-game home point streak to open the 2023-24 season. As a result of MacKinnon’s stellar play, the Avalanche currently sit atop the Central Division and have won three of its last four games.
Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers were previously riding an eight-game winning streak after a disappointing start. However, the team’s goaltending issues reared their ugly head yet again in back-to-back losses.
Let’s dive into the biggest stories and top highlights from the previous week around the NHL.
Goal of the week: Filip Forsberg does it all himself
Filip Forsberg definitely has had a flair for the dramatic during the first half of the 2023-24 season. During Friday’s 6-5 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes, he showcased that fact yet again.
Predators Jeremy Lauzon ended up tying the game at 5-5 midway through the third period, which led to the contest going to overtime.
Less than a minute in the overtime session, Forsberg was able to secure possession as he gloved the puck at the defensive blue line. Forsberg skated his way up the ice and weaved his way through the Hurricanes’ defense. The Predators star then made his way into the slot and ripped a shot past Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta, who has since been waived and sent down to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
It was Forsberg’s third overtime goal of the season and second in a three-day span after he netted the game-winner against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.
Robbery of the week: Petr Mrazek makes insane stick save
The Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks had a closely-contested matchup on Sunday, and Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek was certainly one of the reasons why.
During the third period of Sunday’s contest, Mrazek was able to keep the game within a goal with one of the more ridiculous saves the hockey world has seen this season. Canucks forward Brock Boeser had a point-blank one-timer that Mrazek was able to turn aside, which was impressive enough.
Following stopping Boeser’s shot, Mrazek was able to rob Nils Hoglander with a tremendous stick save. Mrazek slid all the way across, and using his stick was the only way he’d be able to make the save. He was able to stop the puck with the blade of his stick in an insane feat.
MacKinnon extends home point streak
Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon has entered some very elite company when it comes to the offensive numbers he’s putting up this season.
In Sunday’s 6-2 win against the San Jose Sharks, MacKinnon recorded a four-point night (two goals and two assists) and extended his season-opening home point streak to 16 games in the process. In addition, MacKinnon has a 15-game point streak overall.
During his home point streak, MacKinnon has tallied a mind-boggling eight goals and 19 assists.
Sunday’s performance marked the 17th career four-point game of MacKinnon’s career. In doing so, he tied Anton Stastny (16) for the sixth-most four-point games in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history. MacKinnon only trails Peter Stastny (52), Joe Sakic (32), Peter Forsberg (25), Michel Goulet (25 and Mikko Rantanen (19) in that department.
MacKinnon now has 806 career points and passed Milan Hejduk (805) for fourth place on the team’s all-time points list.
The Avalanche star has been enjoying a phenomenal month of December as he’s registered 18 points (six goals and 12 assists) during that span. MacKinnon has racked up two goals and four assists over his last two games alone.
Considering the historic level MacKinnon is currently playing at, it’s not a surprise the Avalanche have overtaken the Central Division lead over the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars. If he continues to play anywhere near this level, another Stanley Cup run certainly will be in the cards for the Avalanche.
Oilers’ goaltending issues arise again
The Edmonton Oilers had a rough start to the 2023-24 season, but recently climbed back into the playoff picture after rattling off eight straight wins. During that stretch, the Oilers yielded more than two goals in just two of those contests.
However, the Oilers have dropped back-to-back games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, with goaltending struggles being the main reason for defeat in each of those contests. Edmonton was outscored 12-5 in those two games and surrendered at least five goals in each game.
In Thursday’s 7-4 loss against the Lightning, goaltender Stuart Skinner surrendered five goals as he stopped just 17 of the 22 shots that he faced. The Lightning added a few of empty-net goals over the final two minutes when the Oilers elected to pull Skinner in favor of an extra attacker.
Oilers netminder Calvin Pickard got the call in net in Saturday’s 5-1 loss against the Panthers. Pickard ended up giving up five goals throughout that contest, including yielding three goals in the opening period.
Prior to that rough stretch, the Oilers had received some much better goaltending in recent weeks. Skinner has received the lion’s share of the work in the crease since Jack Campbell was sent down to the AHL.
Despite being lit up for five goals against the Lightning, Skinner has still enjoyed a strong stretch this month. Skinner has tallied a 3-1-0 record to go along with a 2.54 goals-against-average and a .904 save percentage. If the five-goal performance is taken out of the equation, Skinner owns a stellar 1.67 goals-against-average in those other three games.
It’ll certainly be worth keeping an eye on to see if Skinner can brush that five-goal showing aside and keep playing at the high level he has been. The Oilers will certainly need those types of performances if they want to climb back into the Pacific Division race.
Senators fire head coach D.J. Smith
On Monday, the Ottawa Senators became the third team to make a coaching change in the middle of the 2023-24 season. The Sens fired D.J. Smith following an 11-15-0 start that has them sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference, albeit with a handful of games in hand over every team ahead of them.
Ottawa’s current four-game losing streak seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Smith’s last game as head coach was a 6-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights that featured some truly awe-inspiring defensive sequences.
This losing streak will make it hard for the Sens to claw back into the playoff picture, and being completely out of that race is unacceptable for Ottawa this season. The Senators have a lot of young talent on their roster, and this was supposed to be the year they took a step forward, but it’s starting to look like a familiar story for a franchise that hasn’t been to the postseason in six years.
Of course, the blame can’t be laid entirely at Smith’s feet, even though he is the one who just got fired. The team’s goaltending has been putrid, with free-agent signee Joonas Korpisalo boasting an .892 save percentage through 17 games. Backup Anton Forsberg hasn’t been any better either with his .876 save percentage.
Smith leaves Ottawa with an overall record of 131-154-32 and no postseason appearances.
The Senators announced that Jacques Martin, who has 1,294 games of head coaching experience, will take over in an interim role. Martin was just hired as a special advisor to the coaching staff on Dec. 6 with Ottawa struggling to get out of neutral. Senators legend Daniel Alfredsson will also remain on as an assistant coach.
Appointment viewing this week
Rangers at Maple Leafs | Tuesday, Dec. 19: The Rangers have been one of the best teams in the league for the entire season up to this point, and the Maple Leafs might actually be starting to get their act together. This should be a fun one between two teams with plenty of firepower in the goal-scoring department.
Canucks at Predators | Tuesday, Dec. 19: The Predators are 13-3 in their last six games, and they’re making a charge up the Western Conference standings. Tuesday night’s game against the Canucks will be a good test for them, especially since Nashville already lost its first two matchups against Vancouver.
Oilers at Devils | Thursday, Dec. 21: Connor McDavid. Jack Hughes. Leon Draisaitl. Jesper Bratt. You won’t be able to sneeze without hitting a highly-skilled player in this game. On top of that, neither the Oilers nor the Devils got off to the kind of start they wanted this season, so both sides will be hungry for these two points.
Hurricanes at Penguins | Thursday, Dec. 21: Speaking of teams who got off to disappointing starts, the Penguins are just trying to stay out of the basement in the East, and the Hurricanes are barely clinging on to the first wild-card spot. That’s not where anyone slotted these teams in their preseason predictions. They’ll be looking for something positive to build upon going into the Christmas break.
Bruins at Jets | Friday, Dec. 22: I really wanted to make a matchup between the Ducks and Kraken a sicko watch here, but it is the holiday season, and I would like a visit from Santa. Instead, I’ll go with this game between two teams at or near the top of their respective divisions. The Bruins and Jets are both trying to keep rolling despite dealing with significant injuries.
