Friday’s top NHL player
Steven Stamkos, Lightning
Yes, the Lightning had seeding on the line, and they succeeded in wrestling the third Atlantic Division seed away from the Bruins. Personally, I wouldn’t have played Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, or Andrei Vasilevskiy here. Not with all the mileage on these top players, and the injuries they’ve navigated.
But a lot of NHL teams stubbornly trotted out key players despite minimal gains, including some with literally nothing to gain on Friday. Aside from a few savvy teams like the Panthers, a lot of teams shrugged their shoulders and played most/all of their workhorses anyway.
At least this allowed Steven Stamkos to keep his absolutely absurd hot streak going.
Stamkos is now on an absolutely absurd nine-game multipoint streak after collecting a hat trick during the Friday NHL games. Over those nine games, Stamkos:
Generating four points twice.
Collected three points on four occasions.
Settled (ho hum) for two points three times.
Ludicrous, ludicrous stuff. That hat trick helped Stamkos cross the 40-goal barrier. He ended the season with 42 goals and 106 points in 81 games (his first-ever 100+ point season).
There were some other standout NHL performances on Friday, including a Cole Caufield hat trick, but Steven Stamkos took the cake on what was essentially the last night of the season.
(The Kraken and Jets play a make-up game on Sunday. No one emailed me back about calling it “The Irrelevant Bowl.”)
[NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2022 schedule, TV info]
Friday NHL highlights
Watch highlights from that stunning Coyotes comeback against the Predators.
Here’s Steven Stamkos notching that hat trick.
Is this a sign that Zdeno Chara will retire? It at least looked that way.
We’ll also need to wait and see if Keith Yandle‘s career is over. If so, could that mean that Phil Kessel may eventually pass Keith Yandle as the NHL’s all-time “ironman?”
Along with Stamkos, Cole Caufield also produced a hat trick,…