I looked on the Jumbotron, trying to see what went wrong in the play. Thought something just looked a little weird on my upper back, and saw that the 'T' was gone, and there was an 'A' there instead that probably shouldn't be there.
Hershey clinched a spot with a 5-1 win over one of their in-state rivals, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and a 7-1 loss by the other, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, to the Springfield Thunderbirds.
With the NHL not happening due to the 2026 Winter Olympics, more eyes were on the AHL All-Star Showcase taking place during their break. And the Toronto Maple Leafs' representative absolutely shone above the rest. Toronto Marlies netminder Artur Akhtyamov was chosen to be the member of the Leafs organization that went to Rockford, Illinois to play in an East vs. West matchup and during the skill competition went completely off. The 24-year-old Russian goalie shut the door in just about every opportunity he had.
Friday's game was against the New York Rangers, who have put up the for-sale sign on some of their veteran players, and had won just one of their last eight before their game at SAP Center. With that backdrop, the Sharks did what they had to do, getting two first period goals from Macklin Celebrini and a solid performance from goalie Alex Nedeljkovic in a 3-1 win over the Rangers before a sellout crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.
David Pastrnak is having a career year when it comes to creating scoring chances for his linemates. The superstar forward is routinely landing on Bruins highlight reels - which isn't unusual for him. But Pastrnak is doing it with his passing even more than his scoring, which is a bit uncharacteristic. Pastrnak has averaged at least 1.00 points per game for the last eight seasons.
