Pacific Division Update: Friday, March 2nd 2012

Place/Team	Games Played	WINS	LOSSES	OTL	Points	ROW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	Streak
1. Phoenix Coyotes	64	33	22	9	75	28	168	160	+8	17-11-4	16-11-5	5-6	8-1-1	LOST 1
2. San Jose Sharks	63	33	23	7	73	27	178	160	+18	19-10-2	14-13-5	6-3	3-6-1	LOST 1
3. Dallas Stars	64	33	26	5	71	29	168	175	-7	18-12-3	15-14-2	4-4	5-3-2	OTL 1
4. Los Angeles Kings	64	29	23	12	70	25	138	137	+1	16-13-4	13-10-8	4-7	3-5-2	WON 1
5. Anaheim Ducks	64	27	27	10	64	24	161	180	-19	16-14-2	11-13-8	3-6	6-3-1	LOST 1

This week has brought about a change in the lead of the Pacific division. The Phoenix Coyotes now sit atop the division with a 2 point lead over the San Jose Sharks. The Dallas Stars have managed to move up into third place ahead of the struggling Kings and Anaheim continues to make a last half push. With only 11 points separating first from last, the pacific division could look entirely different by next week let alone the end of the season. 

Jonas Hiller

- Jonas Hiller brought February to an end on a very positive not being named the NHL's first star of the Week. Hiller had a .961 SV% and 0.98 GAA average going 3-0-1 with a shutout. He is a large reason for the Ducks success in 2012. 

- The Ducks added D Sebastian Erixon and F Dale Mitchell at the trade deadline. They lost F Mark Fraser and F Andrew Gordon in the process. 

- Continuing their impressive run in 2012 thus far, Anaheim have seen themselves climb into 13th, just 7 points out of the playoffs. 

- Los Angeles Kings prospect Linden Vey was named AHL Rookie of the Month for February. The Manchester Monarchs youngster recorded 14 points in 12 games along with a +9 rating. The Future is bright in Los Angeles.

- The Kings made a big splash in the trade market picking up F Jeff Carter from the Columbus Blue Jackets. In return they sent D Jack Johnson and a first round pick to Columbus. The trade reunites Mike Richards for the first time in 8 months when they played for the Flyers. Watch for the instant chemistry between the two and hopefully an increased offensive output for the team. 

- Willie Mitchell and the Kings agreed to a two-year contract extension that will see the 34 year old making $7-million. 

- Dallas Stars G Kari Lehtonen was the NHL's third star of the week, winning all three of his starts. Lehtonen posted a .962 SV% as well as his second shutout of the season. During this stretch, Lehotonen lead the stars past the first place Vancouver Canucks. As if this wasn't enough already, the second win in those 3 starts was the clubs 1500th all time. 

- Awaiting the Stars is a tough Canadian road swing that sees them in Edmonton on Friday night, Calgary on sunday and Vancouver on Tuesday. This is a make or break stretch for the Stars who would ideally like to grab at least 4 points. 

- Dallas 2010 3rd round pick Alex Guptill has 31 points in 35 games for the University of Michigan in the NCAA. The Stars have clearly made good use of their draft picks and would seem to have a lot of talent in their organization.

- San Jose was big on trade deadline acquiring F Daniel Winnik, F T.J. Galiardi and a 7th round pick in 2013 from Colorado. In return, the Sharks sent F Jamie McGinn, F Michael Sgarbossa and F Mike Connolly. The Sharks also acquired F Dominic Moore and a 7th round draft pick from Tampa Bay in exchange for a 2nd round pick. 

-  A record of 2-6-1 was the result of the Sharks 16 day road trip at the end of February. This sloppy stretch caused the Sharks to slip behind the Phoenix Coyotes in the division and to 7th in the Western Conference. 

- Coach Todd McLellan has been sidelined with a confusion after taking a stick to the head in a game in Minnesota on February 26th. The NHL is probably at the most dangerous level it has ever been at with the benches not even being safe. 

Keith Yandle

- The Phoenix Coyotes concluded the month of February with a record of 11-0-1, which saw them take control of the Pacific. They ended the month on a 6 game winning streak that was snapped by the Calgary Flames on March 1st.

- The Coyotes acquired F Antoine Vermette from Columbus in exchange for G Curtis McElhinney and a 2nd as well as 5th round draft pick.

- Divisional Games:

1. Anaheim @ Los Angeles - Saturday, March 3rd
2. San Jose @ Dallas - Thursday, March 8th 

What to Watch:

1. The Phoenix Coyotes - 11-0-1 in February is unbelievable, they are getting hot at the right time.
2. Carter and Richards - Should be great chemistry
3. Pacific Goaltending - Smith( First Star of the Month), Lehtonen and Hiller were all stars of the week at some point in February.

Expect this division to look different just about everyday as the final month of the season has now begun. Teams will be battling day in and day out as this is crunch time for the teams sitting on the bubble ( which is most if not all of this division). Probably impossible to pick a division winner but I must say that Phoenix is extremely hot right now and is a threat for any team they meet. 

Follow @DylanM33