Feb. 22--What we learned from the past week in the NHL:
* Philadelphia Flyers rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who wasn't promoted from the minor leagues until mid-November, is making a push for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. The Florida native has a 15-game point-scoring streak, a record for rookie defensemen and the longest by any defenseman since Chris Chelios' 15-game streak in 1995-96.
Gostisbehere has five goals and 18 points in that span. He scored his fourth overtime goal last week, tying the single-season record for OT goals by a defenseman set in 2001-02 by the New Jersey Devils' Scott Niedermayer.
* Firing Coach Mike Yeo and replacing him with John Torchetti has awakened the Minnesota Wild. Under Torchetti, who's more vocal behind the bench, the Wild scored five goals in winning each of its first three games and routed the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-1, in a Stadium Series outdoor game Sunday.
"I think Torch has definitely stepped in and kind of gave us freedom to make more plays offensively and came in with new ideas and created a spark for our team," forward Jason Pominville said Sunday.
* Montreal Canadiens Coach Michel Therrien apparently wants to get fired, a process he might have hastened when he singled out high-risk, high-reward defenseman P.K. Subban for making "an individual play" that led to a goal by the Colorado Avalanche last Wednesday.
Subban slipped and lost the puck and Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla scored the winner; Therrien benched Subban in the final minute, which is more of an individual play than what Subban did.
It's tougher to find talented, charismatic players such as Subban than coaches such as Therrien, who hasn't been able to stop his team's free-fall since goaltender Carey Price suffered a knee injury.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs are continuing their voyage to the bottom of the standings and better odds of getting the No. 1 draft pick in June. They traded bruising defenseman Roman Polak and forward Nick Spaling to the San Jose Sharks on Monday for forward Raffi Torres and second-round draft picks in 2017 and 2018.
Polak, who's in the final year of his contract, could help the Sharks against physical West teams such as the Kings and Ducks. Torres will stay in the minors while the Maple Leafs stockpile draft picks for a long rebuilding process.
