What we learned last week in the NHL

27 February 2017 Monday 18:57

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Lessons learned from the last week of play in the NHL:

►Dean Lombardi is mad — or a genius

Although his team is desperate for scoring, the Kings’ general manager acquired goaltender Ben Bishop to be a co-No. 1 with Jonathan Quick during the 21 games that will determine whether the Kings make the playoffs. Huh? Lombardi’s theory: A winger who would make enough of a difference would cost too much financially and in assets, and he can’t give up first-round picks after having spent one on 16 games of Andrej Sekera and another on a season of walkaway free agent Milan Lucic. With deep goaltending and a team defense that has greatly limited opponents’ scoring chances, he’s counting on some underachievers — that would include you, Anze Kopitar, and you, Marian Gaborik — to step up. Translation: He’s hoping for a lot of 1-0 wins. If Lombardi loses this bet and the Kings miss the playoffs for the second time in three seasons, it could be the last bet he places in this job.

►Forsberg leading Predators toward the playoffs

Nashville forward Filip Forsberg scored a month’s worth of goals in his last four games. After recording hat tricks against Calgary and Colorado, he scored once and added two assists against Washington on Saturday and scored a goal against Edmonton on Sunday as the Predators completed a crucial homestand at 3-0-1. They’ve moved up to third in the Central Division, a long climb after their terrible start.

►A tough season got worse for the Canucks

Already near playoff elimination, the Vancouver Canucks found another foe they couldn’t conquer: the mumps. Coach Willie Desjardins had to scratch five players last Saturday after one was confirmed to have the mumps and four others showed symptoms and were quarantined. Two more players and a trainer showed symptoms of the mumps Sunday, according to the Canadian Press. This is the first outbreak in the NHL since members of the Ducks, St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild had the disease early in the 2014-15 season.

►Wild is going all-out for playoff run

The West-leading Minnesota Wild added size and depth by acquiring center Martin Hanzal and rugged forward Ryan White from Arizona for a first-round draft pick this year, a second in 2018, and a conditional 2019 pick that could be a second-rounder if the Wild wins two playoff rounds this spring. That’s a lot of picks, but Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher is going for it this season. Asked during a conference call with reporters what kind of message the deal sends to his team, he said players had sent him the message that they’re ready to roll. “They believe we’re a team that can compete and contend and I think this was the appropriate response from management and ownership,” he said. “Right now we’re just putting our chips in the middle of the table for this year. … We know it will be tough. I think our thought is we may as well take a swing and see how far we can go.” With Hanzal and Bishop off the trading block, there might not be much drama just before Wednesday’s noon Pacific time trading deadline.

Sights and sounds from Saturday's Dodgers FanFest at Dodger Stadium.

After a first half in which he played like that impostor in a Tom Brady mask, the New England Patriots quarterback put on a Super Bowl performance for the ages Sunday, leading his team back from a 25-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons in overtime, 34-28.

Chargers owners Dean and John Spanos talk about the team as it prepares to relocate to L.A.

New Rams Coach Sean McVay talks about his vision for the team.

Lindsey Thiry and Nathan Fenno discuss the Chargers' announcement they are moving to Los Angeles.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Twitter: @helenenothelen

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