NHL Rink Wrap: Entering playoffs after strange end to season

Yes, the Lightning had seeding on the line, and they succeeded in wrestling the third Atlantic Division seed away from the Bruins. Personally, I wouldn’t have played Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, or Andrei Vasilevskiy here. Not with all the mileage on these top players, and the injuries they’ve navigated.

But a lot of NHL teams stubbornly trotted out key players despite minimal gains, including some with literally nothing to gain on Friday. Aside from a few savvy teams like the Panthers, a lot of teams shrugged their shoulders and played most/all of their workhorses anyway.

At least this allowed Steven Stamkos to keep his absolutely absurd hot streak going.

Stamkos is now on an absolutely absurd nine-game multipoint streak after collecting a hat trick during the Friday NHL games. Over those nine games, Stamkos:

Ludicrous, ludicrous stuff. That hat trick helped Stamkos cross the 40-goal barrier. He ended the season with 42 goals and 106 points in 81 games (his first-ever 100+ point season).

There were some other standout NHL performances on Friday, including a Cole Caufield hat trick, but Steven Stamkos took the cake on what was essentially the last night of the season.

(The Kraken and Jets play a make-up game on Sunday. No one emailed me back about calling it “The Irrelevant Bowl.”)

[NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2022 schedule, TV info]

Watch highlights from that stunning Coyotes comeback against the Predators.

Here’s Steven Stamkos notching that hat trick.

There's no better way to end a season than with an @Enterprise hat trick! Right, Steven Stamkos (@RealStamkos91) ? pic.twitter.com/2yTEgrwD4J

— NHL (@NHL) April 30, 2022

Is this a sign that Zdeno Chara will retire? It at least looked that way.