Friday Four: Zibanejad, Panarin have Rangers thinking playoffs

Each Friday throughout the season Kevin Weekes will bring you his Friday Four. The former goalie and current NHL Network analyst will be blogging about four players, teams, plays, or trends that have caught his eye.

New York Rangers

All of a sudden, the Rangers (36-27-4) are two points behind the New York Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Two of the biggest reasons have been forward Artemi Panarin, who has 93 points (32 goals, 61 assists) and had three assists in a 6-5 overtime win against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, and center Mika Zibanejad, who had five goals in that game, including the overtime winner.
Zibanejad has been productive all season and has 38 goals, including at least one in nine of his past 10 games, and has 14 goals in that span. And not only has he been producing offensively, but he is one of the better defensive forwards in the League and plays in all situations.
Tony DeAngelo had three points Thursday and has 52 points (14 goals, 38 assists) this season. He's the first Rangers defenseman with at least that many points in a season since Brian Leech had 55 points (10 goals, 45 assists) in 2001-02. Scoring from defensemen is something the Rangers haven't had in a while, so it's nice to see for them.

Minnesota Wild

The Wild (34-26-7) hold the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. They are 7-3-0 since firing Bruce Boudreau as coach and replacing him with Dean Evason, and seemingly being sellers prior to the NHL Trade Deadline, trading forward Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 10.
Forward Kevin Fiala has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in a six-game point streak, which included a five-game multipoint streak that ended against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Forward Zach Parise has scored a goal in four straight games and has 25 this season, showing he hasn't been affected by rumors prior to the trade deadline. Young players like 23-year-old forward Jordan Greenway, 22-year-old forward Luke Kunin and 25-year-old defenseman Carson Soucy have been great for them this season.
And goalie Alex Stalock is 9-2-1 with a 1.91 goals-against average, .934 save percentage and two shutouts in his past 12 starts.
Everything is going right for Minnesota right now.

Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights are in first place in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers, having won nine of their past 10 games. They've been winning high-scoring games, low-scoring games, you name it. And Vegas is a deeper team than when it went to the Stanley Cup Final two seasons ago, its inaugural campaign in the NHL.
Forwards Max Pacioretty, Reilly Smith and Mark Stone (who is out with a lower-body injury) and center Jonathan Marchessault each has at least 20 goals for a very deep offensive team. And they also have defensemen who can score, with Shea Theodore (44 points; 11 goals, 33 assists), Nate Schmidt (30 points; seven goals, 23 assists), and Alec Martinez, who was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 19 and has six points (two goals, four assists) in seven games with the Golden Knights.
Acquiring goalie Robin Lehner in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 24 was the final piece needed to make Vegas a complete team. Having two No. 1 goalies who you can start on any night knowing they give you a chance to win is a great luxury to have.
Lehner has won each of his two starts with Vegas, including one shutout, and allows them to give Marc-Andre Fleury time off when needed.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers (40-20-7) are tied with the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division after big wins against the Capitals (5-2 on Wednesday) and Carolina Hurricanes (4-1 on Thursday). Philadelphia has the same record as Washington, but the two teams are going in opposite directions. The Flyers are on a season-long eight-game winning streak and the Capitals are 4-7-2 in their past 13 games.
The Flyers are getting production up and down the lineup. It starts with the top two lines, but it's been more than just centers Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux and Kevin Hayes and forwards Travis Konecny and Jakub Voracek. They have a good goalie tandem with veteran Brian Elliott and 21-year-old Carter Hart, who is 19-2-2 with a 1.64 goals-against average and .942 save percentage at home this season.
Don't be surprised if Philadelphia wins the division and makes a deep run in the playoffs. The Flyers have all the pieces to do so.