Trending Up, Trending Down: Ovechkin and Co. capitalizing, Lightning failing to strike
Each week, theScore looks at the teams, players, and other hockey figures trending upward and taking a step back.
▲ Washington Capitals
Everything is coming up Washington Capitals these days.
Captain Alex Ovechkin wasted no time reaching 1,000 points this week. The effort was capped off by a two-goal effort against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it was his strong play since the holiday break that made Wednesday's achievement possible.
Related: Watch: Ovechkin rips home 1,000th point in opening minute vs. Penguins
Ovechkin has amassed six goals and 11 points in nine games - a much more potent pace than his eight goals in 17 games to start the year.
And Ovechkin isn't the only Capital firing on all cylinders of late. Evgeny Kuznetsov has 11 points since Christmas, Nicklas Backstrom has 10, and then there's Braden Holtby.
Holtby has allowed just three goals against in four games since being pulled against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 3. He posted his first set of back-to-back shutouts following the loss and has put up an outstanding .974 save percentage in that span.
With seven straight wins under their belt, it seems another Presidents' Trophy is certainly not out of the question for the Capitals.
▼Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning are saying all the right things, but those sentiments have had little impact on their success of late.
The club currently sits four points out of a playoff spot, nestled sixth in the Atlantic Division, and Jon Cooper knows it's time for his team to rally. This weekend he went on record saying now is the time for the Lightning to climb back into the playoff picture.
There's no better opportunity to do so than with the Maple Leafs - who sit a win above them in the standings - on their bye week. However, following those comments, Tampa Bay dropped its fourth straight game, a 6-2 shelling by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The club will get back to it Thursday when it plays the first game of a back-to-back against the Buffalo Sabres.
It won't be an easy road back up the standings, with games against the Blue Jackets, the Blackhawks, and all three California clubs over the next two weeks.
▲ Brent Burns
Forget the Norris Trophy - Brent Burns has his eyes on the Art Ross.
Thanks to a quartet of multi-point games over the last week, the San Jose Sharks defenseman - let that sink in for a moment - is now just four points behind Connor McDavid for the NHL scoring lead and one point from matching Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane for second spot.
This season, only McDavid and Crosby have more multi-point games than Burns - who's posted 13.
Burns' torrid pace of late has given him a solid cushion in the defenseman scoring race, leading in both goals and points by a margin of seven in each category.
If he keeps it up, he might just squeeze his name into Hart Trophy consideration as well.