As we close in on the mid point of the season every game gets that much more important to a team’s potential playoff hopes. We have seen teams like the Philadelphia Flyers turn their season 180 degrees with a nice little winning streak. 

Everyone is still waiting for Chicago to lose in regulation. (Detroit might have something to say about that Sunday afternoon) Boston, Montreal and Anaheim have put together some nice streaks to position themselves at the top of their conferences also.

Statistically speaking, the scoring race is looking about as we expected it to. Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos are lighting it up at a pace that would see each of them finish at around 120 points in a full season. Thomas Vanek has cooled off a bit but still sits in the top three. Martin St. Louis and Chris Kunitz have benefitted nicely from the Crosby and Stamkos scoring race, filling out the top five. Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek have come to life with the suddenly red-hot Flyers and have both moved up the scoring list.

Goaltending has been the biggest shocker so far this season. Of the three Vezina Trophy finalists, only Pekka Rinne is approaching the form of an elite goaltender. Even his numbers aren’t too spectacular. If Nashville could figure out how to score some goals, Rinne’s numbers might look even better.

Henrik Lundqvist seems to have found his groove a little bit, but his New York Rangers are struggling in front of him with a record just above .500. Jonathan Quick has probably been the biggest disappointment. The Los Angeles Kings had a terrible start to their season, and Quick was certainly a part of that. His save percentage is up to .901, which is a testament to how bad it was earlier.

It seems like so long ago that the lockout had put this season in doubt, so let’s take a moment to appreciate another great NHL season. We won’t get the benefit of the full 82 games, but we have a trade deadline approaching, and we are halfway to the best playoffs in all of professional sports. Stay tuned!