This is starting to get ridiculous, and it's almost enough to make you wonder if the Coyotes will ever lose another game.
The combination of their 3-2 shootout win in Dallas on Sunday night, along with San Jose's embarrassing 5-1 loss in Edmonton has not only put Phoenix -- PHOENIX! -- in first place of the Pacific Division, but also in a tie for the top spot in the Western Conference with the Chicago Blackhawks, a team they just beat on Saturday with an impressive come-from-behind win.
No team in the Western Conference has more wins than Phoenix (46), while only the Washington Capitals have more in the entire league. The Coyotes haven't lost since their shopping spree at the trade deadline earlier this month, ripping off a nine-game winning streak after adding Lee Stempniak, Wojtek Wolski and Derek Morris, and they've also won 19 of their past 25 games, with eight of them coming by way of the shootout.
I suppose that can either be a good thing or a bad thing in the long run; after all, there's no shootout in the playoffs, but it's nice to keep taking advantage of it and improve your standing in the conference while you still can.
An 8-2 loss isn't the most fun thing ever for an NHL team. But for the San Jose Sharks, Tuesday's embarrassing game at Dallas might be just what the team needs: a kick in the rear.
Sharks general manager Doug Wilson put it a little more delicately, explaining to FanHouse that San Jose has let some "details" slip lately. That was addressed by head coach Todd McLellan in what Wilson described as a detail-oriented practice on Wednesday -- i.e., a strong late-season primer on exactly what the Sharks need to do to be a top-tier contender in this league. Dropping three games in a row to non-playoff teams provides a good opportunity to brush up on some basics, and the message wasn't subtle: McLellan added a 10 a.m. practice to Wednesday's schedule, wedging in the workout en route to the airport.
"It's in some ways a little bump in the road," Wilson told FanHouse by phone. "An indication of some little details that have slipped.
"To me, it's more about finding solutions than making excuses. ... You look at it and say, 'The way we've played as a group the last couple of games, hey, that's not us.' We need a collective response to that. "
Every Friday, FanHouse sifts through the rubble and picks the best NHL fight, with the help of HockeyFights.com.
With a full week of games, we're back to having some great bouts to choose from. While the best fight this week might not have been the best fight, you're not going to hear one called any better by any television broadcaster this season.
Chico Resch's line highlighted a top fight of the week, but we also have some good middleweight bouts on the card. Meanwhile, one of Anaheim's top skill guys has clearly spent too much time watching George Parros.
We don't see many 8-5 final scores in the NHL these days, but Nashville and San Jose provided us with one on Thursday night thanks in large part to a third period that saw the two teams combine for seven goals, including six from San Jose.
U.S. Olympian Joe Pavelski was leading the charge for the Sharks as he recorded four points in the third period explosion, including this spin-o-rama game-winning goal -- while falling down -- with just over five minutes to play in regulation.
SAN JOSE -- Frequent travelers on Virgin America's early-morning Boston-San Francisco route relax: Jamie McGinn appears to be in San Jose for the rest of the season, thanks to roster expansion. You're all safe.
McGinn, a 21-year-old left wing, compiled as many miles this year as just about anyone in hockey. The Sharks, cognizant of keeping costs down under the NHL's salary cap, make liberal use of their Worcester (Mass.) affiliate, recording more than 100 transactions with the AHL team this season.
That's a 3,000 mile journey each way, 6,000 total for a round-tripped player, when the Sharks are at home. So McGinn spent a lot of time on airplanes: he was recalled and then reassigned 11 times, 22 total transactions. A Worcester TV station told him that he'd flown the equivalent of three trips to Australia (from the East Coast of the U.S.) and back, and that was before McGinn's most recent recall.
A pity, then, that McGinn doesn't sleep on planes, and for a specific reason: fellow passenger safety, and of course, a desire to avoid embarrassment.
This is starting to get ridiculous, and it's almost enough to make you wonder if the 
An 8-2 loss isn't the most fun thing ever for an NHL team. But for the San Jose Sharks, Tuesday's embarrassing game at Dallas might be just what the team needs: a kick in the rear.
Every Friday, FanHouse sifts through the rubble and picks the best 
SAN JOSE -- Frequent travelers on Virgin America's early-morning Boston-San Francisco route relax: Jamie McGinn appears to be in San Jose for the rest of the season, thanks to roster expansion. You're all safe. 
