(4/1/12) Shea Weber has been a scoring machine of late.  Saturday he notched two more goals in the Predators' loss to the Blackhawks, and now has 19 on the season, which is good for a tie with Erik Karlsson for the lead in goals by defensemen.  After going goal-less in 12 straight, Weber now has 5 goals and 6 points in his last 5 games.  

The race amongst defensemen has changed a touch over the final two weeks.  Zdeno Chara has shot up the standings and currently sits tied for second with Brian Campbell.  Chara is currently on a 4 game scoring streak (1G, 6A) and has 3G and 8A over his past 10 games.  Heading into the playoffs, this is a useful tidbit of news to tuck up your sleeve.  The Bruins have a great shot to go deep this spring and Chara - the team captain - is playing the best hockey of his career.  His current 51 points represents a career high, while  39 assists is also a new career best.  And, with 6 games to go Chara will likely continue to up his point total.

Other playoff defenders sitting in the top 10: Karlsson (1st - 77 points), Campbell (2nd - 51), Pietrangelo (4th - 50), Edler (7th - 48), Wideman (8th - 46), Suter (9th - 46) and Dan Boyle (10th - 44).  Consult the FREE ​2012 Playoff Pool Draft Guide ​for  complete rankings and a full profile breakdown of all the playoff-bound defenders.