Friday Four: Bishop, Stars getting hot at right time

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

Dallas Stars

The red-hot Stars have won four straight games, including
4-0 against the Colorado Avalanche
on Thursday, their second straight shutout, to strengthen their hold on the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference and are closing in on the St. Louis Blues for third place.
Coach Jim Montgomery has done a great job during his first season. He wanted to make them better defensively and they have been. Goalie Ben Bishop, who has allowed one goal in starting the past three games, and backup Anton Khudobin have stabilized a position of weakness in recent seasons for Dallas and turned it into a strength.
And let's not forget about Alexander Radulov. He had his first NHL hat trick in the win Thursday after being scratched from their previous game for showing up late to a meeting. If the Stars are going to make the playoffs and succeed, they'll need Radulov to contribute like he did Thursday.

Boston Bruins

The Bruins had an
amazing comeback win Thursday, 4-3 against the Florida Panthers
, to extend their point streak to 18 games (14-0-4). They were losing 3-2 with 37 seconds left before Matt Grzelcyk scored to tie it and Patrice Bergeron's goal won it in regulation. It was a gutsy effort for a team that never quits.

Tuukka Rask improved to 15-0-3 in his past 19 games and the Bruins continued to win without injured forward David Pastrnak. Jake DeBrusk, who has eight goals in his past 10 games, didn't play Thursday because of a lower-body injury, but all four lines have been contributing and the bottom-six forward group has played better.
The way they are playing, Boston can compete with any team, including the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning. Remarkably, since the Bruins last lost in regulation, Jan. 19 to the New York Rangers, they have gained two points on the Lightning in the standings; Tampa Bay has gone 14-3-2 during that same span.

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets have nine losses in their past 14 games (5-7-2) heading into their game against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, FS-CR, TSN3, NHL.TV), but arguably are the deepest team in the League, along with the Lightning and Nashville Predators. However, they just are not engaged enough in some games. If that happens during the playoffs, they'll be in for a short postseason stay.
Patrik Laine is one player who has to get more involved. With his skill set he should be a 40-goal scorer every season, maybe even 50. His idol was Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, someone who tries to be a top-10 player in goals and hits every season. If Laine wants to be that kind of player, he needs to add that physical element to his game and compete harder with and without the puck and when the Jets are not on the power play. Laine has six goals in his past 34 games.
And Connor Hellebuyck, the Vezina Trophy runner-up last season, hasn't played near that level this season and hasn't shown any signs of consistency. He'll need to turn that around in the playoffs.

Ted Lindsay

The hockey world lost a legend Monday when
Mr. Lindsay died at the age of 93
. I saw him a lot when I played with the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League in the late 1990's. He always was so gracious to us all the time and always had something positive to say.
We all know he was a great competitor and named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in 2017. He was instrumental in the founding of the NHL Players' Association, and the players renamed their annual award for the most outstanding player the Ted Lindsay Award in 2010. Lindsay was a hockey player through and through, and it's been great to see the League and teams honor him.