Sports

‘We’ve gotta do something with it:’ Pens’ veterans back and hungry for another Cup

Published

2 years ago

October 3, 2022

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7:00 AM ET

PITTSBURGH — SIDNEY CROSBY DOESN’T scare easily. But the future of the Pittsburgh Penguins had him unnerved.

Center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang, Crosby’s teammates on all three of his Stanley Cup victories, were at the end of their contracts last season. Free agency loomed. Rare was the team, in hockey or any other sport, that would keep an aging core together that hadn’t advanced past the playoffs’ opening round in four straight seasons — let alone find a way to do so under a flat salary cap.

“I was sweatin’,” Crosby told ESPN. “You know how it works. The longer it goes, the closer it gets to free agency, the greater the chances are you might want to test it. You’re trying to balance being optimistic with being realistic about the fact it was a possible [they’d leave].”

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan led all three players to Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017. He couldn’t begin to imagine how Crosby would captain a Pittsburgh team without Malkin and Letang on the roster.

“It would have been hard for him. Those three have been through a lot together,” Sullivan said. “They’ve had their fair amount of successes, but they’ve also had their disappointments. I think it means a lot to him to continue to try to win; but in particular, to continue to try to win with those guys.

“I can’t imagine what it would have been like for Sid to go through. I’m glad we don’t have to find out.”

Letang, 35, signed a six-year contract extension on July 7 worth $36 million. Five days later, Malkin, 36, signed a four-year, $24.4 million contract. That was right after news leaked that Malkin intended to test free agency, when tense talks with Pittsburgh finally stalled.

Sullivan remembers being optimistic that they’d both return to Pittsburgh — until hearing about Malkin’s negotiations, that is.

“I always believed we’d get it done, up until maybe the last 48 hours before free agency with Geno,” he said. “That was the only time that doubt crept into my mind. But in my heart I believed that we’d be able to retain these guys. I know what it means to them.”

What did it mean to Crosby?

“Just … happy,” he said. “Relieved. And then immediately thinking, ‘OK, we’ve got an opportunity. These guys are staying. And now we’ve gotta do something with it.'”

How to watch the 2022-23 NHL season on ESPN networks — including 103 exclusive games and the out-of-market package (over 1,050 games)

BRYAN RUST IS part of the band, too.

“Yeah, I might be the third backup singer,” he said.

Rust, 30, was expected to generate significant interest as an unrestricted free agent. The winger has been a perfect complement to Crosby and Jake Guentzel on the Penguins’ top line, and skated well when matched with Malkin, too.

There were times Rust wasn’t convinced the core would stay together. He remembers sitting at his locker after losing Game 7 in overtime to the New York Rangers last May and being unable to shake that dread.

“I was like, ‘Oh s— … is this my last chance with this team?'” he said. “Because of how the business works, and because the cap is the way it is.”

Turns out, Rust was the first member to stay with the band, signing a six-year contract extension on May 21 worth $30.75 million. He didn’t test the waters to see what other riches were out there from NHL contenders. He feels the free agents who stayed with the Penguins made out fine financially, with Pittsburgh understanding they weren’t going to take steep discounts to stay.

“Everyone has to do what’s best for them and the business, but [also] as a team and as individuals,” he said. “Those guys want to win. They want to be here. I’m no different. That point was made clear, but we weren’t going to lose out individually.”

Letang was another player many expected could test the market. Despite entering his 17th NHL season, his effectiveness as a defenseman hasn’t waned. He played 78 games last season and posted 68 points, with an average time on ice per game of 25:47. Letang finished seventh in the Norris Trophy race, the fourth straight season he received votes.

He would have elevated the blue line of many contenders. There was also talk of him joining his former agent, Kent Hughes, in Montreal, where Hughes is now the Canadiens‘ general manager.

Letang was never sure if he would end up staying with the Penguins. “Otherwise I would have been signed the summer before. Would have been easier, right?” he said with a laugh.

His conversations with Crosby hinted at that uncertainty.

“Sid is probably my closest friend. We talked about the entire summer and the entire year,” Letang said. “We weren’t sure if it was going to happen. So we’re glad it’s behind us and we can look forward.”

OF THE PENGUINS’ holy trinity, Crosby and Letang don’t have many doubters about their continued excellence at their advancing age.

Malkin is a different story.

The former Hart Trophy and Conn Smythe Award winner had major knee surgery before last season, as his right ACL was repaired for a second time. While his point production remained strong — he posted 42 points in 41 games, including 20 goals — it appeared he had lost a step. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that Malkin’s rush attempts had trailed off significantly, as he generated 0.57 per 60 minutes two seasons before his 2021 knee surgery compared to just 0.22 rush attempts on average last season.

“On numerous instances, Malkin’s skating looked like what you’d expect from a 35-year-old less than a year removed from his second significant knee injury,” wrote the Gazette’s Mike DeFabo.

As the transition game is a key to Sullivan’s system, that impacted Malkin’s effectiveness at even strength. Sullivan called Malkin’s 5-on-5 game “sporadic” last season, but said last week that he hasn’t made many adjustments to Malkin’s usage based on that decline.

“Nothing’s really changed in how we use him,” Sullivan said. “He’s still a dynamic offensive talent who has the ability to single-handedly take over a game. There aren’t a lot of those guys around the league.”

One change Sullivan made last season that could stick for 2022-23: Moving Rust to play with Malkin. Sullivan said Malkin’s best games came with Rust on his wing, thanks to the latter’s ability to forecheck and his defensive awareness. Crosby and Guentzel have spent time this preseason with winger Rickard Rakell, who isn’t a “band member” per se but who signed a six-year, $30 million contract to stay in Pittsburgh before free agency this summer.

Rust was happy to see Malkin back. Much like with Letang, Rust couldn’t fathom how the Penguins could improve their impact on the ice without sacrificing something off the ice if they let the duo walk.

“Someone else could come in here, but why disrupt this chemistry in the face of getting more of the same, when we know we have a team that can do something?” he said. “[Without Malkin and Letang], there would have been a lot of conversations floating around about not having them in this room. Thank god those aren’t happening.”

Letang said the feeling was mutual about Rust and Malkin.

“If you lose Geno, if you lose Rusty, can you actually replace them? Are you getting better by not having them? I don’t think so.”

Does Letang believe there’s another Stanley Cup in this group?

“That’s what I want. For sure.”

MIKE SULLIVAN MIGHT not skate with Crosby, Malkin and Letang during games, but he’s a member of the band, too. The contract extensions weren’t exclusive to the players: Sullivan, who has coached the Penguins since the 2015-16 season, signed a three-year deal that pays him into 2026-27.

“We’ve been through a lot together. This hasn’t been all apple pie and ice cream. We’ve had hard conversations over the years,” Sullivan said of his core. “I couldn’t be more humbled to continue to get to coach these guys. I just think the world of them. It’s hard to keep a team together in sports. That’s what I think is so great about this circumstance.”

The Fenway Group, the Penguins’ new owners, didn’t balk at approving new contracts for Letang and Malkin. Neither did general manager Ron Hextall, who sought to build around the veteran stars as they play out the rest of their years in Pittsburgh.

“In a perfect world, Geno retires a Penguin. And I think Tanger’s the same,” Hextall said before free agency. “These two are generational players. They don’t come along very often.”

Rust believes the Penguins’ recent playoff performances made Hextall’s call easier.

“There’s such a fine line in the playoffs between winning and losing. There are some years when you get in when you can just tell,” he said. “You’re getting dominated and you’re like, ‘OK, maybe we need to make some changes.’ But you could see not just last year, but the year before, that those were series we could have and should have won. Management saw that too.”

On paper, they were opening-round failures: a six-game loss to the New York Islanders after the COVID-shortened 56-game season in 2020-21, and a seven-game loss to the Rangers last postseason. Yet both series had mitigating circumstances.

The Islanders defeated the Penguins in a series that saw goalie Tristan Jarry implode, with backup Casey DeSmith unavailable to bail them out due to injury.

Against the Rangers, nothing went right for the Penguins. DeSmith was injured during a brilliant Game 1 performance, leaving the game in double overtime with a core muscle issue that put him out for the series. Jarry was out with an injury until Game 7, when he replaced the struggling Louis Domingue only to lose in overtime. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin and Rakell were both lost after Game 1, too.

Pittsburgh had a 3-1 series lead when a Jacob Trouba hit injured Crosby in Game 5, turning the series on its ear: The Rangers scored three goals in 2:42 to take the lead for good, and rallied with three straight wins to take the series.

“We had a good team. It didn’t go our way. We played some of our best hockey in the playoffs and we didn’t manage to win those series,” Letang said. “We had the team to make a run for it, but we didn’t get the bounces we needed. To take a run at it again was the right thing to do.”

That hunger thrives as part of the Penguins’ culture. Defenseman Jeff Petry, whom they acquired from Montreal, felt it immediately when he arrived for training camp.

“What those guys have together is special,” he said. “They’ve obviously been to the top. The thing I noticed is that’s not enough. They want to do it again.”

That’s why the band is back together: To make another push toward a fourth Stanley Cup in the Sidney Crosby era. They know there will be skepticism. Some will see this as a nostalgia play from a team that refuses to turn the page on past glory. Some will note that Father Time is undefeated and that the Penguins’ core has a combined age of 106 years old — the window to contend must close at some point.

But Sullivan and his players make the following counterargument: Gaze upon the past two postseasons and tell us that window isn’t still agape. Tell us that this band doesn’t have another chart-topper in it.

“When you look at those two series — and both of those opponents went to the conference finals — we felt good about our team,” Sullivan said. “Our core players were a big part of it. They’re providing evidence that there’s still elite play in them.

“We recognize that we’re getting older. But we’re not old. There’s a difference.”

Sports

Bell rings up first Cup 3-race win streak since ’21

Published

2 hours ago

March 10, 2025

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Bell rings up first Cup 3-race win streak since '21

Associated Press

Mar 9, 2025, 08:17 PM ET

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Christopher Bell became the first NASCAR Cup Series driver to win three straight races in the NextGen car, holding off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin by 0.049 seconds to win the second-closest race in Phoenix Raceway history Sunday.

Bell started 11th in the 312-mile race after winning at Atlanta and Circuit of America the previous two weeks. The JGR driver took the lead out of the pits on a caution and stayed out front on two late restarts to become the first driver to win three straight races since Kyle Larson in 2021.

The second restart led to some tense moments between Bell and Hamlin — enough to make their team owner feel a bit queasy.

“I was ready to upchuck,” JGR Racing owner Joe Gibbs said.

Bell became the fourth driver in Cup Series history to win three times in the first four races — and the first since Kevin Harvick in 2018. The last Cup Series driver to win four straight races was Jimmie Johnson in 2007.

“We’ve had four races this year, put ourselves in position in all four and managed to win three, which is a pretty remarkable batting average — something that will be hard to maintain, I believe,” Bell’s crew chief Adam Stevens said.

The Phoenix race was the first since Richmond last year to give teams two sets of option tires. The option red tires have much better grip, but start to fall off after about 35 laps, creating an added strategic element.

A handful of racers went to the red tires early — Joey Logano and Ryan Preece among them — and it paid off with runs to the lead before they fell back.

Bell was among those who had a set of red tires left for the final stretch and used it to his advantage, pulling away from Hamlin on a restart with 17 laps left.

Hamlin pulled alongside Bell over the final two laps after the last restart and the two bumped a couple of times before rounding into the final two turns. Bell barely stayed ahead of Hamlin, crossing the checkered flag with a wobble for his 12th career Cup Series win. He led 105 laps.

“It worked out about as opposite as I could have drawn it up in my head,” Bell said. “But the races that are contested like that, looking back, are the ones that mean the most to you.”

Said Hamlin: “I kind of had position on the 20, but I knew he was going to ship it in there. We just kind of ran out of race track there.”

Larson finished third, Josh Berry fourth and Chris Buescher rounded out the top five.

Katherine Legge, who became the first woman to race on the Cup Series since Danica Patrick at the Daytona 500 seven years ago, didn’t get off to a great start and finished 30th.

Fighting a tight car, Legge got loose coming out of Turn 2 and spun her No. 78 Chevrolet, forcing her to make a pit stop. She dropped to the back of the field and had a hard time making up ground before bumping another car and spinning again on Lap 215, taking out Daniel Suarez with her.

“We made some changes to the car overnight and they were awful,” Legge said. “I was just hanging on to it.”

Logano, who started on the front row in his first race at Phoenix Raceway since capturing his third Cup Series at the track last fall, fell to the back of the field after a mistake on an early restart.

Trying to get a jump on Byron, Logano barely dipped his No. 22 Ford below the yellow line at the start/finish. NASCAR officials reviewed the restart and forced the Team Penske driver to take a pass through on pit road as the entire field passed him on the track.

“No way,” Logano said on his radio. “That’s freakin’ ridiculous.”

Logano twice surged to the lead after switching to the red tires, but started falling back on the primary tires following a restart. He finished 13th.

Preece took an early gamble by going to the red option tires and it paid off with a run from 33rd to third. The RFK Racing driver dropped back as the tires wore off, but went red again following a caution with about 90 laps left and surged into the lead.

Preece went back to the primary tires with 42 laps to go and started dropping back, finishing 15th.

The series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend.

Sports

Who aced the NHL trade deadline? Eight winners and seven losers

Published

16 hours ago

March 9, 2025

admin

Who aced the NHL trade deadline? Eight winners and seven losers

Multiple Contributors

Mar 7, 2025, 08:20 PM ET

The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.

After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.

Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:

Sports

NHL playoff watch: Is Jets-Hurricanes a Stanley Cup Final preview?

Published

16 hours ago

March 9, 2025

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NHL playoff watch: Is Jets-Hurricanes a Stanley Cup Final preview?

There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.

Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.

Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.

Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?

There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.

Note: Playoff chances are via Stathletes.

Jump ahead:
Current playoff matchups
Saturday’s schedule
Friday’s scores
Expanded standings
Race for No. 1 pick

Current playoff matchups

Eastern Conference

A1 Florida Panthers vs. WC1 Ottawa Senators
A2 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. A3 Tampa Bay Lightning
M1 Washington Capitals vs. WC2 Columbus Blue Jackets
M2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. M3 New Jersey Devils

Western Conference

C1 Winnipeg Jets vs. WC2 C algary Flames
C2 Dallas Stars vs. C3 Colorado Avalanche
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC1 Minnesota Wild
P2 Edmonton Oilers vs. P3 Los Angeles Kings

Sunday’s games

Note: All times ET. All games not on TNT or NHL Network are available to stream on ESPN+ (local blackout restrictions apply).

New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers, 1 p.m. (TNT)
Seattle Kraken at Washington Capitals, 3:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Minnesota Wild, 3:30 p.m. (TNT)
Winnipeg Jets at Carolina Hurricanes, 5 p.m.
Columbus Blue Jackets at New York Rangers, 6 p.m.
Los Angeles Kings at Vegas Golden Knights, 8 p.m.
Dallas Stars at Vancouver Canucks, 9 p.m.
New York Islanders at Anaheim Ducks, 9 p.m.

Saturday’s scoreboard

Ottawa Senators 4, New York Rangers 3 (OT)
Seattle Kraken 4, Philadelphia Flyers 1
Boston Bruins 4, Tampa Bay Lightning 0
Florida Panthers 4, Buffalo Sabres 0
Colorado Avalanche 7, Toronto Maple Leafs 4
Calgary Flames 1, Montreal Canadiens 0
Nashville Predators 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2 (OT)
Los Angeles Kings 2, St. Louis Blues 1 (OT)
Edmonton Oilers 5, Dallas Stars 4
New York Islanders 4, San Jose Sharks 2

Expanded standings

Atlantic Division

Points: 83
Regulation wins: 34
Playoff position: A1
Games left: 18
Points pace: 106.3
Next game: @ BOS (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 79
Regulation wins: 31
Playoff position: A2
Games left: 19
Points pace: 102.8
Next game: @ UTA (Monday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 78
Regulation wins: 32
Playoff position: A3
Games left: 19
Points pace: 101.5
Next game: @ CAR (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 69
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 20
Points pace: 91.3
Next game: vs. DET (Monday)
Playoff chances: 85.4%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 66
Regulation wins: 22
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 19
Points pace: 85.9
Next game: @ OTT (Monday)
Playoff chances: 8.3%
Tragic number: 37

Points: 66
Regulation wins: 21
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 19
Points pace: 85.9
Next game: @ VAN (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 19.8%
Tragic number: 37

Points: 66
Regulation wins: 22
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 83.3
Next game: vs. FLA (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 2.5%
Tragic number: 33

Points: 54
Regulation wins: 20
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 20
Points pace: 71.4
Next game: vs. EDM (Monday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 27

Metro Division

Points: 90
Regulation wins: 34
Playoff position: M1
Games left: 19
Points pace: 117.1
Next game: vs. SEA (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 78
Regulation wins: 32
Playoff position: M2
Games left: 19
Points pace: 101.5
Next game: vs. WPG (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 72
Regulation wins: 29
Playoff position: M3
Games left: 18
Points pace: 92.3
Next game: @ PHI (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 86.5%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 68
Regulation wins: 22
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 20
Points pace: 89.9
Next game: @ NYR (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 27.1%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 68
Regulation wins: 29
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 19
Points pace: 88.5
Next game: vs. CBJ (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 31.1%
Tragic number: 39

Points: 65
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 20
Points pace: 86.0
Next game: @ LA (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 29.7%
Tragic number: 38

Points: 62
Regulation wins: 17
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 18
Points pace: 79.4
Next game: vs. NJ (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 9.5%
Tragic number: 31

Points: 58
Regulation wins: 16
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 73.1
Next game: @ MIN (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 25

Central Division

Points: 92
Regulation wins: 36
Playoff position: C1
Games left: 18
Points pace: 117.9
Next game: @ CAR (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 84
Regulation wins: 34
Playoff position: C2
Games left: 19
Points pace: 109.3
Next game: @ VAN (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 78
Regulation wins: 33
Playoff position: C3
Games left: 18
Points pace: 99.9
Next game: vs. CHI (Monday)
Playoff chances: 99.6%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 76
Regulation wins: 29
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 19
Points pace: 98.9
Next game: vs. PIT (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 94.4%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 69
Regulation wins: 22
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 87.1
Next game: @ PIT (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 37.2%
Tragic number: 34

Points: 66
Regulation wins: 20
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 19
Points pace: 85.9
Next game: vs. TOR (Monday)
Playoff chances: 26.4%
Tragic number: 35

Points: 55
Regulation wins: 20
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 19
Points pace: 71.6
Next game: @ SJ (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 24

Points: 49
Regulation wins: 17
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 18
Points pace: 62.8
Next game: @ COL (Monday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 16

Pacific Division

Points: 82
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: P1
Games left: 20
Points pace: 108.5
Next game: vs. LA (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 78
Regulation wins: 27
Playoff position: P2
Games left: 19
Points pace: 101.5
Next game: @ BUF (Monday)
Playoff chances: 99.7%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 73
Regulation wins: 28
Playoff position: P3
Games left: 21
Points pace: 98.1
Next game: @ VGK (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 84.1%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 70
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 19
Points pace: 91.1
Next game: vs. VAN (Wednesday)
Playoff chances: 27.5%
Tragic number: N/A

Points: 69
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 20
Points pace: 91.3
Next game: vs. DAL (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 30.9%
Tragic number: 40

Points: 61
Regulation wins: 19
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 20
Points pace: 80.7
Next game: vs. NYI (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 32

Points: 58
Regulation wins: 22
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 18
Points pace: 74.3
Next game: @ WSH (Sunday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 25

Points: 43
Regulation wins: 12
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 17
Points pace: 54.3
Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 8

Race for the No. 1 pick

The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.

Points: 43
Regulation wins: 12

Points: 49
Regulation wins: 17

Points: 54
Regulation wins: 20

Points: 55
Regulation wins: 20

Points: 58
Regulation wins: 16

Points: 58
Regulation wins: 22

Points: 61
Regulation wins: 19

Points: 62
Regulation wins: 17

Points: 65
Regulation wins: 23

Points: 66
Regulation wins: 20

Points: 66
Regulation wins: 21

Points: 66
Regulation wins: 22