Friday Four: Nelson, Bennett give their teams a boost

Each Friday throughout the season Kevin Weekes will be bringing you his Friday Four. He will be blogging about four players, teams, plays, or trends that have caught his eye.

Brock Nelson, New York Islanders

Quick -- who leads the Islanders in goals? John Tavares? Nope. Kyle Okposo? Try again. If you said Brock Nelson, chances are you're either an Islanders fan or lying. Nelson has been on a surge lately with four goals in three games and five in four games. He had his first NHL hat trick and an assist in a 5-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Nelson is scoring goals, and he's getting them in different ways. That has been impressive during an up-and-down stretch in a good season for the Islanders. Nelson has 28 points, second on the team behind Tavares (31) and Okposo (33).

Nelson scored the tying goal in the Islanders' 3-1 come-from behind win against the New York Rangers on Thursday that moved them past their archrival into second place in the Metropolitan Division. He should surpass the 20 goals he scored last season and is a big reason why the Islanders are where they are in the standings.

Sam Bennett, Calgary Flames

Calgary has battled back after a poor start, and Bennett is finally starting to come around. He scored four goals, including three in the first period of a 6-0 win against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday. The rookie has five goals in two games after getting off to a slow start. He also had his first NHL fight this week, taking on Marc-Edouard Vlasic of the San Jose Sharks. Being a younger, smaller guy and sticking up for his teammates was impressive.

The Flames just find ways to win in big games. They're getting offense from their defensemen now, and their goalies are playing better. I know Jonas Hiller wasn't tested much Wednesday, but he made 15 saves for the shutout. The key for them will be to see if their goaltending can hold up.

San Jose Sharks

Center Logan Couture, who missed time twice this season with injuries, is back. He's another playmaker for them and scored his first goal of the season on Monday. Couture is an underrated player and a real key piece for the Sharks offensively; he makes plays, scores goals and is unselfish. He sets up teammates but can finish himself and is able to play any forward position and in any situation. Couture had more than 20 goals in each of the past five seasons.

Center Joe Thornton is scoring again. He has five goals and 17 points in his past 13 games and has points in all but one of those games. Brent Burns leads all NHL defensemen with 18 goals and had six goals and six assists during an eight-game point streak before being held off the scoresheet Thursday. There are other guys scoring as well, like Jonas Donskoi and Tomas Hertl; it's not only their star players

Washington Capitals

The Capitals are the most complete team in the League right now. If it were playoff time, I'd give the edge to the Chicago Blackhawks or Los Angeles Kings, but right now, it's Washington. I was just in Washington with owner Ted Leonsis and coach Barry Trotz. Speaking to them, there is no doubt why the Capitals are where they are in the standings. It's great ownership. General manager Brian McLellan has done an excellent job and had a really good offseason in bringing in Justin Williams and T.J. Oshie. Williams gives them a lot of swagger. He's the best Game 7 player in the history of the NHL. Not to mention he and Oshie have combined for 28 goals.

And we all know about Alex Ovechkin. How incredible was it for him to score his 500th NHL goal and celebrate with his teammates. That was my big takeaway after he scored the goal, and his teammates poured on the ice.

Something else that's been impressive is that Washington hasn't missed a beat while defensemen Brooks Orpik and John Carlson have been out with injuries. Orpik hasn't played since Oct. 10 because of a lower-body injury; Carlson (lower body) hasn't played since Dec. 26. For players of that caliber to be out and the Capitals to play this well defensively is beyond impressive. Washington has allowed the fewest goals in the League (91), an average of 2.1 per game.

Their coaching deserves a lot of credit, the whole staff. It starts with how great Trotz has been, but even being in Washington on Wednesday for "Soul on Ice: Past, Present & Future" with Anson Carter, who played for Trotz in Portland of the American Hockey League (Washington's former affiliate) in 1996-97, you could just see the level of respect they had for each other. That is exactly what everybody in the room talks about, how good Trotz has been to everybody and how well he treats everybody.

HONORABLE MENTION

How about the season Blake Wheeler of the Winnipeg Jets is having? He's a point-per-game player (12 goals, 31 assists in 44 games) and should set a career-high in points (he had 69 points in 82 games in 2013-14).

Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews probably has the quietest 17 goals I've seen in a while. He goes about his business and keeps helping them win games. He may have taken a back seat with all the attention Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin and Corey Crawford have gotten this season, but the captain has still made an impact.