theScore's new series, "The Noise," is published every Monday. It kicks off each week with a quick look at three teams or players making headlines, good or bad.

Wild ride

The Wild won't give an inch.

Bruce Boudreau's Central Division leaders prevailed in the third with go-ahead markers in consecutive nights this weekend. They beat Dallas after coughing up a lead, and then extended their remarkable winning streak over the second-place Blackhawks to eight games Sunday. More important than winning in ways that precede Boudreau's arrival, the Wild now sit two points up on Chicago with four games in their pocket.

Minnesota has 17 wins, one shootout loss, and one regulation loss in its last 19 games. Wild. Its NHL-best plus-46 scoring margin is greater than the combined goal differential of every Western Conference team that's outscoring the competition this season.

Still, Minnesota isn't running away with the Central, let alone the President's Trophy and top record in the NHL. Despite their run, the Wild have the league's third-best points percentage. The absence of complacency should bode well for a team that hasn't advanced past the second round in 14 years.

Flyers shook?

For a while, Philadelphia ran with the lead pack in the NHL's top division. The Flyers were one of five Metropolitan teams sprinting ahead in the Eastern Conference, their pace established with 10 consecutive wins into the middle of December.

Philadelphia was two points from both first and fifth at the end of its streak. So when the Flyers inevitably cooled, they immediately lost ground while the other four teams challenging for three postseason seeds - the Blue Jackets, Capitals, Penguins, and Rangers - kept a relentless pace.

Now, with just a single regulation win in 14 games, and having been outscored 51-27 since their hot streak, the torpedoing Flyers are fortunate to have taken nine of a possible 28 points.

Philadelphia still clings to a wild-card spot, largely due to the weakness of the Atlantic Division, but when it return from the mandated bye week, the task will almost certainly be regaining the postseason spot it's lost.

Useful Juuse

One trend in this compressed NHL season has been the scramble for capable support in net. Too many teams have dropped points because backups haven't given them a chance while its starter catches their breath.

There has been no such dilemma for the Predators.

Juuse Saros' arrival, and his sterling contributions behind Pekka Rinne, have been the difference in Nashville becoming the eighth-best puck-stopping team after finishing in the bottom tier a season ago.

With 35 saves in a 2-1 win over the Bruins last week, Saros now sports a 1.25 goals-against average and .957 save percentage across eight starts. He's let in one goal for every 23.4 shots faced in his first taste of NHL action.

Fresh, having not been used in consecutive nights since Saros' recall, Rinne's offered one of his better statistical seasons.

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There's a reason Taylor Hall immediately skated over to Travis Zajac before embracing the rest of his teammates Sunday night.

Zajac's impressive backcheck nullified a chance by Vancouver Canucks forward Sven Baertschi, and Zajac then fed Hall, who went end-to-end for the game-winner in overtime.

It was Hall's 11th goal of the season, but it wouldn't have been possible without Zajac's play in the Devils' defensive zone.

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Blink and you'll miss Patrick Kane's goal scoring.

The Chicago Blackhawks star pounced on the loose puck in the faceoff circle off an offensive-zone draw and roofed a wrist shot over Devan Dubnyk for his second goal of Sunday's game against the Minnesota Wild.

Kane opened the scoring on a knuckler less than five minutes into the game. The goals were his 13th and 14th of the season.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning aren't planning to have Ryan Callahan back in the lineup until mid-February.

The veteran forward will be out for about another month with what the Lightning are calling a lower-body injury, the club announced Sunday.

Callahan hasn't played since Jan. 7, and he's only appeared in 18 of Tampa Bay's 44 games this season.

He underwent hip surgery in June that prevented him from representing the United States at the World Cup of Hockey.

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Nathan MacKinnon won't elaborate, but says he's learned his lesson.

The young Colorado Avalanche center confirmed he was benched by head coach Jared Bednar for several shifts in Saturday's loss to the Nashville Predators, adding that the matter has been resolved.

“I wasn’t playing that (well) and just needed to sit down for a bit and regroup,” MacKinnon told reporters, including The Denver Post's Mike Chambers, on Sunday. “I played a good second half."

The 21-year-old also had a short discussion with Bednar before Sunday's practice.

“(We talked for) 15 seconds,” MacKinnon said. “I get it. It’s all good.

"It was a good reminder to stay focused,” he added. “It’s just in-game stuff that happens in sports. It was like three or four shifts. It wasn’t a big deal.”

The 2013 first overall pick played 16:32 on Saturday, his third-shortest ice time of the season and his least since Dec. 10 when he played a season-low 15:12 against the Montreal Canadiens.

MacKinnon took a stick to the hand in the first period against Nashville, but Bednar confirmed his forward's brief absence wasn't injury related.

"Well, certainly it wasn’t because he got dinged up," Bednar said. "He played a good game for us. He missed a few shifts there in the second period.”

MacKinnon had scored in back-to-back games before Saturday's benching. He ranks second on the struggling Avalanche with 11 goals and leads Colorado with 28 points in 41 games.

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It's the Washington Capitals' turn to ride a magnificent wave in the Metropolitan Division.

The Capitals won their ninth consecutive game Sunday afternoon, crushing the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 to move back into top spot in the Metro.

While based on length, that doesn't quite measure up to the Columbus Blue Jackets' 16-game ride, or even Philadelphia's 10-game run a few months back, but it may already be as impressive.

Because they're destroying everything in their path.

• The Capitals have outscored the competition 39-11 on their streak, which works out to 4.3 goals for and 1.2 against. This has pushed their per-game output beyond three goals, and dropped them to a league-low 1.91 against.
• In their last six games - each against a postseason team at the time - they have more shutouts (4) than goals allowed (3), none of which came at even strength. In fact, they haven't allowed at evens in nearly 300 minutes.
• Looking beyond the last nine games, the Capitals have taken 34 of a possible 40 points dating back six weeks.

Up next is Pittsburgh on the second of a back-to-back, with starter Braden Holtby on sufficient rest.

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WASHINGTON - Justin Williams and Matt Niskanen each scored two goals and Philipp Grubauer stopped all 24 shots he faced and the Washington Capitals extended their winning streak to nine in authoritative fashion by crushing the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 on Sunday.

The Capitals lead the NHL with 63 points.

Despite a sluggish start, the Capitals came alive with four goals on seven shots in the first seven minutes of the third period to turn the game into a laugher.

Washington has outscored its opponents 40-11 during the streak and passed the Columbus Blue Jackets for first place in the Metropolitan Division, Eastern Conference, and the league.

Andre Burakovsky also scored a power-play goal for the Capitals, who haven't allowed an even-strength goal in six games.

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