He won only six of his 21 NHL appearances to begin the campaign, going 6-8-5 with a 3.23 GAA and .904 save percentage with the Islanders, who underachieved collectively before the firing of head coach Jack Capuano in January.
Three teams reportedly expressed interest in Halak before the trade deadline, but New York held on to the 31-year-old, who is under contract for this season and next at a cap hit of $3.55 million.
Andrew Cogliano doesn't always get the headlines, but he's proven to be an invaluable piece of the Anaheim Ducks' core and one of the NHL's most reliable players for nearly a decade.
Cogliano reached another milestone Wednesday night against the Edmonton Oilers, and the latest feat in his remarkable run further emphasizes just how impressive the streak has been.
Incredibly, he hasn't missed a game in his NHL career, which began with the Oilers in 2007-08 after they selected him 25th overall in the 2005 draft.
Assuming he's able to play the remaining nine games on Anaheim's regular-season schedule, that would give him an astounding 10 seasons without sitting out a single contest.
He could then catch former NHL forward Steve Larmer for third all time if he plays another full season and the first 16 games in 2018-19.
Rank
Player
Consecutive GP
1
Doug Jarvis
964
2
Gary Unger
914
3
Larmer
884
4
Cogliano
777
5
Ramsay
776
Cogliano hasn't been a typical first-round talent, but he averaged 14 goals in his nine previous campaigns and he's already equaled that figure this season.
The 29-year-old is often overshadowed by Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Rickard Rakell, and Ryan Kesler on a Ducks squad that's loaded with talent up front, but he's playing top-six minutes and is also one of the league's best penalty killers.
Cogliano isn't flashy and his skills are sometimes underappreciated, but he deserves more credit for what he provides and for the fact that he's done it for almost 10 years straight.
The New York Islanders seem to be getting their money's worth after all.
Eyebrows across the league were raised after general manager Garth Snow signed veteran winger Andrew Ladd to a seven-year, $38.5-million contract last summer after allowing both Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen to jet as unrestricted free agents.
The questions only grew louder as Ladd proceeded to score three goals through October and November.
But in scoring the game-winning goal against the New York Rangers on Wednesday, Ladd reached 20 for the sixth time in his career, while more importantly, helping the Islanders move within two points of the Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
"Obviously it was a very tough start for me, but I found a way to get a couple to go and found the confidence to start to play the right way," he said on the NHL Network following the win.
Ladd only has eight assists to go with the 20 goals, and that contract continues to sit heavy against the salary cap. But for the time being, however, he's making good on it by finding the back of the net and giving the Islanders a fighting chance, neither of which seemed likely a few months ago.
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Each week, theScore looks at the teams, players, and other hockey figures trending upward and taking a step back.
▲ Leaning on Leon
Connor McDavid is getting most of the attention around the hockey world these days (and rightfully so), but another Edmonton Oilers forward has outperformed the phenom as of late.
In fact, over the past two weeks, Leon Draisaitl has recorded more points than any other player in the NHL.
Player
Team
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Leon Draisaitl
Oilers
7
2
10
12
Sidney Crosby
Penguins
7
7
4
11
Connor McDavid
Oilers
7
4
7
11
Nicklas Backstrom
Capitals
7
1
10
11
It's a small sample size to be sure, but Draisaitl - who was drafted third overall the year prior to McDavid's arrival - is proving to be a key piece of the puzzle for the suddenly successful Oilers.
▼ Bruins lacking bite
A three-game losing streak has bumped the Boston Bruins out of third place in the Atlantic Division and put them in danger of losing their playoff spot altogether.
Over the past week, the Bruins fell prey to Edmonton, Toronto, and Ottawa, losing all three games in regulation. Overtaken by the Maple Leafs in the division standings, Boston now sits only two points ahead of the New York Islanders in the race for the second wild-card spot, and with one less game to play than the Brooklynites.
Still, late March is not a great time to pile up losses.
▲ Blues singing a different tune
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)
Since the decision was made to fire head coach Ken Hitchcock and promote assistant and heir apparent Mike Yeo to the position of bench boss, the St. Louis Blues have posted one of the best records around the league.
In 22 games played since Feb. 1, the Blues have gone 15-7-0, amassing 30 points, tied for fifth among all teams in that span. More recently, the Blues have won eight of ten games in the month of March, and are riding a three-game winning streak.
Add it all up, and St. Louis has jumped out of a wild-card spot and into third place in the Central Division, setting up a possible first-round series with the Minnesota Wild, a team trending in the opposite direction.
▼ Burns losing grip on Norris
Once thought to be a lock for the Norris Trophy as well as a possible Hart Trophy candidate, San Jose's Brent Burns is struggling at both ends of the ice and rapidly losing ground to Ottawa's Erik Karlsson as a result.
Brent Burns is a worthy Norris candidate. But I hope the Super Bowl was a good example of why you shouldn't declare winner at halfway point.
The play occurred in the third period of Wednesday's contest between the Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets. Polak was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct, while Bjorkstrand left with an injury and didn't return.
A quick decision is expected, with the Maple Leafs back in action Thursday against the New Jersey Devils.
NEW YORK - Andrew Ladd scored the tiebreaking goal with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining in the third period and the New York Islanders rallied for 3-2 victory over the crosstown-rival Rangers on Wednesday night.
Anders Lee had a goal and an assist, and Nikolay Kulemin also scored for the Islanders, who pulled two points behind Boston for the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot. Anthony Beauvillier had two assists and Thomas Greiss stopped 34 shots.
Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash scored, and Antti Raanta finished with 25 saves for the Rangers, who remained six points behind Columbus for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Islanders, who beat the Rangers for the third time in four games this season and seven of eight over the last two, won for just the second time in six games (1-3-1). The Islanders also improved to 17-9-4 since interim coach Doug Weight replaced the fired Jack Capuano.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were forced to defend an on-ice personnel disparity for almost seven minutes Wednesday versus the Columbus Blue Jackets because their coach decided not to send a man over the boards to serve a five-minute major penalty assessed to Roman Polak.
It's unclear why Babcock hesitated on the decision (or how the rational hasn't burned him previously after more than 1,100 games behind an NHL bench) but coaches do have the option to wait on that selection, instead sending a player to the box during a stoppage.
In most cases, the whistle will come. But it's not something Babcock will take for granted again.
"It's all my fault .. that will never happen again," Babcock said, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton.
"I can tell you I will never wait to put a guy in. You're going whether you like it or not."
As it turns out, the penalty killers picked up their coach. Columbus was without a shot more than four minutes into its power-play try, as the Maple Leafs clamped down on the opposition even well before the near-two-minute bonus was inadvertently added.
Toronto scored twice more after the kill, earning a massive 5-2 win.
Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri also scored, and Frederik Andersen had 32 saves as Toronto stayed in the thick of the playoff hunt in the Atlantic Division. Nikita Zaitsev scored an empty-net goal after the Blue Jackets pulled their goalie for a sixth skater near the end.
David Savard and Brandon Saad scored for Columbus, which lost for the first time in the last five games. Backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped 26 shots. The Blue Jackets stayed in third place in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind leader Washington and one behind Pittsburgh. They play the Capitals in Washington on Thursday night.
The Blue Jackets fought back from a 2-0 first-period deficit to tie the game in the second, but were held scoreless in the final period, despite playing with a man advantage for nearly seven minutes because Toronto had failed to put a player in the box to serve a penalty.
Toronto struck first with 8:55 left in the opening period when the Blue Jackets' Zach Werenski turned the puck over deep in the defensive zone. Nazem Kadri collected it and chipped to Komarov, who beat Korpisalo from the doorstep.
The Maple Leafs took a 2-0 lead less than two minutes later on a power play when 19-year-old rookie Matthews, in the right place at the right time for a rebound, tucked in his team-leading 33rd goal of the season.
Columbus closed it to 2-1 just 43 seconds into the second period. Savard buried a slap shot from the right dot off a sweet pass from Brandon Dubinsky from behind the goal line. The Blue Jackets tied it 6:58 into the period when Saad deflected in a Werenski shot from the left point.
Toronto answered 6:37 left in the period, making 3-2 on a goal by another of its sensational rookies. Nylander, after being leveled by Savard and recovering, caught up with Tyler Bozak pass, found himself on a breakaway and wristed a shot in off the top bar.
A hard-hitting game was punctuated by Toronto's Roman Polak, who unloaded a hit that plastered Oliver Bjorkstrand face first hit into the glass, earning the big defenseman a five-minute major penalty. Bjorkstrand crumpled to the ice and looked as if he may have been unconscious briefly before being helped off.
The Leafs failed to send a player to the box to serve the penalty so ended up playing a man down for close to seven minutes. But the Blue Jackets couldn't capitalize.
Kadri swept in an insurance goal off a rebound with 4:14 left in the game, and Zaitsev had the empty-netter with 2:47 left.
NOTES: Nylander has three goals and six assists in a career-high nine-game point streak. ... Columbus C Alexander Wennberg returned the lineup after missing Sunday's game with a stiff neck. ... Columbus signed forwards Markus Hannikainen and Lukas Sedlak, and D Scott Harrington to two-year contract extensions this week. All would have been restricted free agents this summer. ... Blue Jackets F Scott Hartnell was a healthy scratch.
