Avalanche clinch West; Kings win, Golden Knights lose

Saturday’s top NHL players

Mike Smith, Oilers

Look at the final score (4-0 for the Oilers), and you might charge the Golden Knights with a no-show in a big game.

While the Golden Knights certainly wished they would’ve produced, Mike Smith played a significant role in the Oilers locking up two more points. The veteran goalie pitched a 39-save shutout, his second goose egg of an up-and-down season.

After this shutout, Mike Smith’s save percentage climbed to .911 this season, just a shade under his career average of .912.

Nikita Kucherov/Victor Hedman, Lightning

At one point, the Jets held a 4-2 lead over the Lightning. Tampa Bay ended up winning (wait for it) 7-4. Yeah.

No big surprise here, but Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman played a big part in that win. Kucherov collected two goals and two assists, pushing his season total to 51 points in 40 games. Kucherov’s two points away from reaching 600 points, leaving him comfortably above the per-game mark (598 points in 555 career games).

With four assists, Victor Hedman reached 72 points in 75 games this season. One more, and he’ll set a new career-high. He’s been overshadowed by even more explosive defensemen in 2021-22, yet it’s worth noting that his underlying stats are improved from last year’s relative struggles.

Judging by his career xSPAR (expected standings points above replacement) chart from Evolving Hockey, this might not just be a rebound season for Victor Hedman. This could be, in some ways, his best year yet:

Anthony Mantha/Dmitry Orlov, Capitals

Like Kucherov and Hedman, the Capitals created a lot of offense thanks to four-point games for a forward (Anthony Mantha) and a defenseman (Dmitry Orlov).

Mantha, like Kucherov, got there with two goals and two assists. This leaves Mantha with 21 points in 30 games this season. If Mantha can give the Capitals more scoring balance, then … well, the East is already ridiculously…