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LA Kings fire Stevens. The axe falls on Joel Quenneville. Special night for Boyle.
In a week that has seen some big changes in the NHL, with not one but two coaches being relieved of their duties, the action has been centred on what has been happening of the ice, not on it.
On Sunday the LA Kings fired John Stevens, after the Kings had lost seven of their last nine games. The Los Angeles outfit have installed Willie Desjardins in charge for the remaining part of the season.
Three times Stanley Cup winners the Chicago Blackhawks also said goodbye to their coach Joel Quenneville. The experienced coach was fired on Tuesday after the Blackhawks had lost their last five games. Chicago have replaced Quenneville with the youngest coach in NHL history, 33-year-old Jeremy Colliton.
Meanwhile, on the ice on Wednesday it was a night to remember for Nashville Predators Colton Sissons who hit a hat-trick in the Preds 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center. Sissons scored a brace in the first period, and completed his second regular season hat-trick when he tipped in Kyle Turris’s shot on a powerplay with only three seconds remaining of the second period.
Another hat-trick maker this week was Cam Fowler of the Anaheim Ducks who completed a hat-trick 35 seconds into overtime to give the Ducks a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Honda Centre.
Henrik Lundqvist made 39 saves for the New York Rangers in a 3-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres, as the Rangers made it three consecutive victories, this after Rangers had three wins in their first eleven games before their current winning streak.
Congratulations all round to Brian Boyle after scoring his first NHL hat-trick to help the New Jersey Devils to a resounding 5-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday. It is remarkable that Boyle is simply just playing hockey after being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia on September 19th 2017. He was in remission in October this year, after originally being told by doctors that this could take up to eighteen months before the disease went into full remission. It actually took only 13 months, and Boyle is starting already to look back to his best.
An NHL Milestone was reached on Thursday evening when Zach Parise notched up his 700th NHL point to help the Minnesota Wild defeat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 at Staples Centre.
In the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division standings it is the Tampa Bay Lightning who lead the way by five points from the Maple Leafs. The Metropolitan Division is a much tighter affair with only a single point separating the Islanders, Capitals and Blue Jackets.
In the Western Conference Central Division Nashville top the table with 24 points, four ahead of the Wild and five clear of Dallas. The Vancouver Cannucks lead the way in the Pacific Division, with a lead of two points from the Flames.
