Detroit Red Wings - Wherefore Art Thou Fans?

While last night was text book example of how a team can get caught on their heels and not recover I have to say how interesting it was to see so many empty seats at Joe Louis Arena. Cheap seats, Expensive seats – Did not matter. Empty clusters and Half-empty rows were scattered throughout as if this was “just another Detroit game.

I thought for a moment I was watching a Nashville game. Did anyone put the word out that Detroit is known around the league as “Hockeytown, USA” where every seat should be filled, after all … these are the conference finals, the bridge to the championship, the last push for that beloved battle to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup. Maybe it was because they are playing against Dallas, a team that hasn't been here for the playoffs in 10 years, when Detroit knocked them out of the Conference Finals in 6 games. Also, maybe because they are playing against a goalie that has yet to add a tick mark to the Win column when playing against Detroit. Even IF those are all true – Why would you still not pack the arena during the Conference Finals to show your team (Hockeytowns Team) that they have fans behind them? Is it because this is what you have come to expect from your team? Is it because it does not mean anything until your team is IN the Finals? Let us not forget the Month of February where your team went 4-8-2 being outscored in that month 28-38.

So what's the problem, I know the economy is bad and I am not telling people to go farther into debt for a Hockey game … but seriously, we're not talking 100,000 seats to fill at Joe Louis either. I would want to think there are enough fans and money in Hockeytown to fill those empty seats. Come on - if Detroit can fill Lions seats, why can’t they fill Red Wings seats.

Some great hockey is being played this year and this post season has given us games that will be relived for many years to come. Ever since Game 5 against Nashville, the Wings have been a different team. Grinding, hitting and hat-tricking. They haven't lost in three weeks. They look tight and enthused. They've gotten production from their stars and their supporting cast. They're protecting the puck and they're getting an enormous boost from Osgood, the goalie. This is the combination every great Stanley Cup winner possesses – The stars of the team shine, the supporting players back them up and before you know it, your lifting the Cup with tears running down your face … because since your 4th birthday when you were given those “New Skates” … THIS is the moment you have dreamed of.

If you missed last nights game, here's my quick wrap up. The Wings started off the night with too many opportunities. They got a 5-on-3 chance less than five minutes in. Nine seconds later, they scored -- a beautiful ricochet slapper by Brian Rafalski. How about Franzen, redirecting a puck for his 12th playoff goal and his fifth straight playoff game with a score -- tying a team record held by, ahem, Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay. Even captain Nicklas Lidstrom said, when asked to evaluate the seven-game winning streak "It's comparable to some of the great teams (we've had).”

I still don’t think you can pin this win soley on the stellar game Detroit brought to the table. Dallas did not even show up, I think they were caught off guard early in the first period and never recovered. It looked, to me, as if the Stars were watching the puck to much and standing around waiting for something to happen. Well, Marty did the best he could … after all, I would assume knowing your playing in an arena where you are 0-8-2 might do something to your confidence. That is where the 5 guys in front of him have to say … Not Our Goalie!

I am excited about the Philly/Pittsburgh matchup tonight and I will wait to see how the Stars answer back in Game 2 before I cast my judgment.

San Jose Sharks / Dallas Stars - We Meet Again!

As I have been reading over the past couple weeks since the playoffs have started, there are more than 2 view points as to who is doing well, who is struggling and who shouldn't be in the post season. The first round in the Stanley Cup playoffs proved that every team in Round One deserved to be there and they fought to be there. Well with exception to Ottawa … they “wanted” to be there, but Pittsburgh had a difference of opinion. Now, looking forward the San Jose Sharks survived the most physical and intense playoff series in the first round with a strong game 7 performance against the Calgary Flames. The Flames pushed the Sharks so close to their breaking point, but they would not allow the Flames the opportunity to capitalize on anything. A fifth seed Dallas Stars lineup will be an even more difficult match up. The Stars, as with Calgary, had regular season success registering a 4-2-2 record against the Sharks. Dallas has established a high intensity work ethic 5-on-5, on the penalty kill, and on the power play that is perfectly suited for playoff hockey. Dallas also plays a smash mouth, gritty style of hockey, relies on a more balanced offense, and puts most of their faith and superstitious beliefs on an aging athletic goaltender named Marty Turco - Who will probably not be pulled from the net at the first sign of adversity.

Watching and reading game recaps about the first round proved to me there were a number of warning signs exhibited by the Sharks, primarily their performance early in game 1, allowing Calgary the ability to net four unanswered goals in game 3, and then there is the entire 60 minute performance en route to a 2-0 shutout loss in an elimination game 6. San Jose has depth unmatched by any team left in the postseason, but the shift-to-shift intensity needs to improve in order to realize that potential. A strength for San Jose during the regular season, a mobile puck-moving defense that initiates offense, had trouble getting into gear against the Calgary forecheck. The Flames gave the Dallas Stars a blueprint for how to shut down the Sharks offense. San Jose will need to rely on its leaders, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Ryane Clowe, Milan Michalek, and Joe Pavelski to win battles and score goals from in front of the net.

The Dallas Stars will not get the free penalties that helped them dethrone last season's Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks in the first round. In fact, if the Sharks coaching staff could take anything from the first round and apply it to round two it should be to lobby the referee's more often. They have been labeled "the hardest working team in the NHL". Defenseman Stephane Robidas may be the MVP of the first round for Dallas, scoring a goal and 5 assists while defenseman Sergei Zubov and Philippe Boucher were recovering from injuries. It is pretty much guaranteed that Mattias Norstrom and rookie defenseman Matt Niskanen will face a heavy load trying to contain a Shark attack that will keep pressing the action. Mike Ribeiro, Brenden Morrow and Brad Richards may be the most difficult offensive threats on the surface, but the Stars have a gritty lineup top to bottom that will make San Jose pay for turnovers and inopportune penalties.

Lets jump into the Way Back Machine and remember that the Sharks and Stars met twice in 3 years (1998, 2000), and, at least one of those series was a big one. Ed Belfour, Owen Nolan, Bryan Marchment, Joe Nieuwendyk, Derian Hatcher, Mike Ricci. Ah, the good ole days!!! Can we take this round and cultivate some new leaders, some new stories and re-write some of the past history that haunts us every year? I think we can … I think San Jose can beat the Stars … they just need to play Sharks Hockey!!!

Western Conference Showdown - Nashville, Vancouver and Edmonton

If you have not checked in the past 2 minutes you will see that currently (3/30 @ 2am ... yes, I am up blogging at this time ... SO!) there is a 3 way tie for the coveted 8th slot in the Western Conference playoffs. Both Nashville and Vancouver hold 2 games in hand to Edmonton. Nashville's last 4 games are against Detroit, St Louis and Chicago, while Vancouver gets to play with the Flames, Avalanche and Oilers. 3 out of 4 games for Nashville are on the road while Vancouver hosts their last 4 opponents. Here is a snapshot of how the the Western Conference looks right now:


(Source: NHL.com)

Nashville has not really dominated any of the teams they are going up against this season. It will be interesting to watch if Nashville can pull out a playoff berth in the end - especially with the new owners, now wouldn't that be nice! Here is where the Predators stand against its remaining adversaries!
Detroit @ 3-3-1
St Louis @ 3-2-1 (Nashville plays them 2 times in their last 4 games)
Chicago @ 3-3-1

Vancouver has seen their ups and downs this year, special thanks must go out to Roberto Luongo who has helped them as best as he could this year. He is sitting with a 34-26-9 record with 6 shut outs. He has a 2.33 GAA and a .919 SV% ... according to the Fantasy Hockey universe Roberto is #2 right behind Henrik Lundqvist. According to the NHL stats in Wins he is tied for 6th with 34, His GAA has him in 10th and his SV% has him tied for 4th ... Not to shabby when he has to sit and watch the team in front of him fall apart and play inconsistent hockey. With that said, lets look at Vancouvers series tallies against their final matchups.
Calgary @ 4-2-0 (Calgary plays Vancouver 2 more times in the next 4 games)
Colorado @ 2-4-1
Edmonton @ 4-0-3

Seeing how Vancouver has been able to take Edmonton past regulation I am sure they will be hoping for at least one point in the column when that game is played. Colorado has figured out how to play Vancouver hockey, and with the Avalanche being one game in the hole to Vancouver and only 4 points in front of them - I am certain they are reviewing the play book for this game.

This has to be one of the most exciting ends to regular season Hockey in a long time. The emotion and physical energy exerted each night - I swear some of these teams are already in playoff mode.

San Jose Sharks Relish In Their Pacific Divsion Champion Title

And how do they celebrate - how about ordering up some Roast Duck with Mango Salsa! San Jose has not lost in regulation since Feb 20 … taking their record to 16-0-2. Brian Boucher helped the Sharks win last night by making 23 saves, and at the same time helped snap the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks' 10-game, home-winning streak. Brian Boucher is going to grow with the Sharks and we have been given a glimpse into how this kid owns the crease since being signed by the Sharks on Feb 26th. Since then he has played 4 games for a total of 198 minutes - he is 3-0-1 with a GAA of .90 and a .966 SV% ... he has allowed 3 goals on 88 shots. It definitley will be interesting to watch him grow – as we did when Toskala was Nabby’s back up. Boucher helped San Jose add another notch when it won for the 10th time in 11 road games to improve its NHL-best mark to 27-8-4 away from home.

San Jose clinched this with 4 games remaining in the season, they have home games against Phoenix and Los Angeles and away games with Los Angeles and Dallas. All Pacific Division rivalries, all passionate about the sport but looking at the standings - the Kings are positioned for a great spot in the draft and Phoenix is looking at a 6 point spread between them and the 8th spot in the playoffs. However, as we all know – it’s not over till they skate around the ice with the Cup.

For the Sharks season series with the final 3 teams they play are:
Phoenix @ 4-1-2
Los Angeles @ 3-2-1
Dallas @ 4-3-0

As I am sure you all know, tow of these teams might not be in the playoffs but our record against them shows they know how to slow down the Sharks play and convert opportunities into Wins! Dallas has been a strong force against us and with their position in the Western standings it looks like they will need to polish their game play if they want to make it into the 2nd round. For the Sharks, these last 4 games give them the opportunity to break San Jose’s season record of 107 points – currently they are 3 points away from that mark.

Good Luck San Jose!

Ray Emery's Chance

Martin Gerber made his 11th straight start this evening in a huge game against conference and national rivals the Montreal Canadiens. He has a 2.60 GAA over that span with a .915 save percentage. Tonight's start, however, did not go as planned. Gerber allowed 3 goals on 14 shots and was pulled after the 1st period. The much maligned back-up, Ray Emery, has taken to the ice for the first time in nearly a month.

Emery, who led the team to the Stanley Cup finals last year, has had the kind of year, both personally and professionally, that makes PR management firms smile. He's struggled on the ice, dropped the gloves with a teammate, been late to practice numerous times prompting his coach to throw him out, had altercations with the police and been singled out for his questionable work ethic. It's the kind of year that can taint a career.

Emery, after returning from wrist surgery, split starts with Gerber which seemed to be a point of contention for him. In many ways, he had a good amount of responsibility in the firing of John Paddock, the Senators coach, only a month ago. Bryan Murray, the Senators GM, took over as head coach, a role that is pretty familiar to him after being behind the bench throughout the playoffs last year. Since Murray has taken over Gerber has been the starter as the team tries desperately to develop some consistency and find a way out of a slump that has less to do with goaltending and more to do with the team as a whole..

Now Ray Emery has found himself unexpectedly back on the ice in a clutch game that his team truly needs. Thus far, he's made 5 saves and couple of critical stops and the Senators have been able to cut the lead to two. My prediction is that this won't be the last time we see Ray Emery this season and we won't go through the playoffs without him in the net. Whether he will yank the starting reins away from Gerber, I'm not sure, but I think he could be the surprise player of the post-season. The biggest obstacle he'll need to overcome is the damage he's caused to his teammates' faith in him. A team has to believe in their goaltender, otherwise that doubt manages to spread into all aspects of the game. If Ray Emery can lead the Senators to victory tonight it may just be the first step to doing exactly that.

Post-Game

Ultimately, it wasn't mean to be for Emery or the struggling Senators. After Ottawa cut the lead to 2 midway through the second period, the Canadiens roared back scoring four goals in less than 8 minutes. The Senators seemed to wake up in the third and were able to score four goals but fell 7-5. Emery was good early on, but it wasn't enough as the Senators are clearly not a playoff hockey caliber team right now. Martin Gerber will search for retribution as he makes his 12th straight start tonight against the high-flying Buffalo Sabres.

Dwayne Roloson, Edmonton Oilers and How To Build A Brick Wall

If you did not catch the Sharks/Oilers game last night then you missed probably the best game of the season that demonstrates how incredibly important the goalie is to a teams success. San Jose out shot Edmonton 49-23 ... as impressive as that sounds nothing was getting past Roloson on Sunday night - certainly not the Sharks' shots, and not their 11-game winning streak, either. Roloson made 48 saves and was able to turn aside three more pucks in the shootout. Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said "I think I've seen him at that level before, but I've never seen him better than he was tonight, I'm really happy for him." MacTavish and the Oilers are still in the playoff race sitting in 11th place, five points behind eighth-place Vancouver.

Captain Patrick Marleau was able to net the Sharks only goal (out of 4 tries). One incredible play was when Brian Campbell was able to strip the puck away in the neutral zone and found himself with wide open ice and one Dwayne Roloson standing poised for action. Campbell took a couple strides, cocked back and fired his cannon ... right into the glove of Roloson as if he knew exactly where that puck was going. Brian Campbell flipped his stick away in disgust and skated away. "We had probably more chances than I can remember, and he made a ton of saves," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "Glove saves, stretch saves, split saves. He just had one of those nights. You thought he might be a little tired, but he hasn't played in about a month. We did a lot of things, but he robbed us." When asked Jonathan Cheechoo said "We played well, and we created a lot of chances, We just didn't create enough traffic in front of him, and I know I didn't convert a couple of good rebounds. Any goalie that sees the puck is going to stop it." Jonathan finished the games with 7 shots on goal.

As if we had to further reinforce this point, Detroit out shot Columbus 46-17, yet the Blue Jackets had a different plan in mind for the outcome of the game. Columbus' second-string goalie Fredrik Norrena got the starting nod and had barely seven minutes to prepare for what became the best performance of his career. Norrena made a career-high 43 saves in place of No. 1 goalie Pascal Leclaire, who sat out with flu symptoms. "I would prefer to know the day before, but those are the things you have to get used to as a backup goalie," said Norrena, who won for the first time since Feb. 7. Dominick Hasek was pulled from the crease when he allowed 4 out of 10 pucks find the back of the net and was replaced by Chris Osgood. Detroit is having to reinvent themselves every time they take the ice, I am not sure what is going down in motor city. Maybe its in the water?

The Return of the Senators

Ottawa was flat out the better team last night at the Bell Centre. The Montreal Canadiens had a difficult time handling Ottawa's speed and ferocious forecheck, while the Sens were able to break out the Habs transition game in the neutral zone essentially hamstringing their ability to produce opportunities off the rush. Anytime Ottawa failed to accomplish that objective, Martin Gerber was there to back them up. It's a winning formula and it's the exact formula that resulted in Ottawa's astounding start to the season.

In fact, this game reminded me quite a bit of the Pittsburgh Penguins - Ottawa Senators first round match up last year. Ottawa was perfectly content with softly chipping the puck into the corners and either out-skating the Habs to the puck or simply out working them in the corners. They wore down Montreal's defense, forced turnovers in the offensive zone and ultimately controlled the pace of the game as a result.

Montreal was much better in the third as they were more decisive and quick to move the puck in their own zone but Gerber held his ground on 11 third period shots. This was one of those games where the shots on goal don't give an accurate picture of what transpired. Montreal was able to actually out-shoot the Senators 28-24, mainly due to an 11-5 shot differential in the third, but the game never seemed in doubt. Carey Price was solid and can't be faulted for any of the goals allowed and Montreal struggled to get quality scoring chances through most of the game. Many of the attempts on Gerber were unscreened and from the outside as Montreal had a difficult time establishing possession in Ottawa's end and setting up any kind of consistent offense. Ultimately the Sen's powerplay and Jason Spezza's two goal night were too much for Montreal to handle as the Habs fell to the Senators 3-0. Perhaps Ottawa is finding their stride at the right time as they've now moved into second in the East and are one point behind the conference leading New Jersey Devils.

Eastern War: Ottawa Senators at Montreal Canadiens

The game of the night is, without question, the Northeast Division battle between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens. The teams are separated by 2 points in with Montreal leading the division and 2nd in the conference. A win by Ottawa tonight would have them swap spots in the East with Montreal, putting the Canadiens in fifth and the Senators in 2nd. Historically, the Senators have gotten the better of the Canadiens in these games but with Montreal winning 6 of their last eight behind the stellar play of Carey Price and Ottawa still struggling to regain the consistency and intensity that lead to a phenomenal start to the season, perhaps the tables will finally turn. Thus far, Montreal has only won one out of the five games against Ottawa this season with the last being an embarrassing 6-1 shellacking in Ottawa.

The top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley has give the Habs troubles all season long, notching a total of 33 points in the five previous meetings. However, one part of the Sens triangle of power will be missing as Alfredsson will sit for his fifth straight game with back spasms. Martin Gerber will make his seventh consecutive starts, the highest this season as Ottawa has clearly placed their season squarely on the shoulders of the 33 year old goaltender relegating Ray Emery to the backup role. Gerber has been good in his last three games where he's won twice and hasn't allowed more than 2 goals in a game and has a 1.35 GAA with .959 save percentage.

This will the first of the teams' three remaining games in the season. It should be playoff intensity with a tremendous amount of pressure on a young goaltender looking solidify his role, an aging goaltender looking to prove his critics wrong, and two teams battling for the coveted division title.

Update: Daniel Alfredsson will play after all which gives Ottawa a huge boost and shows just how important this game is to both teams. We're in for a good one.

Goaltending Wins Championships and Another 18 Year Old Pro?

With only 10-13 games left in the season for each team we are on the verge of my favorite time of the year. While the playoff picture has gotten slightly more clear over the last few weeks, there are still a number of teams that are forced to play playoff style hockey right now, if they want an opportunity to play it come April.

Goaltending wins Stanley Cups. It's just that simple. The old adage is "defense wins championships" but while it certainly helps in the playoffs, goaltending is the ultimate X-factor and last night there were multiple goaltending performances worth mentioning, including the aforementioned Carey Price and his 38 shot shutout. The one that stood out the most to me was Martin Biron and the Philadelphia Flyers.

After being one of the best teams in the East this season the Flyers are now desperately hanging on to the 8th spot after free falling through the standings about 3-4 weeks ago. The Flyers faced the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are truly in a must-win situation every night from here on out. After failing to perform the large scale fire sale, which was intended to include their captain Mats Sundin, Toronto has suddenly come alive. They are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and 7 points out of the 8th spot. I'm sure a number of Leafs fans are wondering why the team couldn't do this earlier, why they had to wait until the very end to start playing well, and why a team in desperate need of rebuilding wouldn't just throw in the towel and purposefully put them in a great position for the Steve Stamkos sweepstakes. The Maple Leafs are certainly in an uphill battle to make the playoffs, but they are also on the downhill slope to ruining their draft pick and I wonder how Leafs fans feel about this right now. Would you rather your team throw in the towel and look towards the future? Even if they make the playoffs, do you think they can do well? In some ways, it'll more heartbreaking if the Leafs just barely miss the playoffs as it'll take them out of the running for a prospect in next year's remarkably deep draft and Toronto went a long ways towards doing that last night.

Toronto flat outplayed the Flyers last night outshooting them 30 - 12 through the first two periods. However, goaltending was the ultimate equalizer as Martin Biron had a shutout going into the third while Vesa Toskala had allowed 2 goals on 12 shots. Unlike Montreal, who repaid their goaltender's efforts with a great third period, the Flyers fell apart. Daniel Briere scored first to make the game 3-0 but Mats Sundin scored 3 and a half minutes later to make it 3-1 and then the game seemed to change. With a little less than 7 minutes left in the game Pavel Kubina scored followed by Jeremy Williams 3 minutes later to tie the game. Toronto ended up with 21 shots on goal in the third and forced overtime, where with less than a minute left Pavel Kubina would score again. Martin Biron ultimately made 51 saves to Toskala's 22, but it wasn't enough to get the Flyers anything more than a single point. The two teams face each other again tonight and I can't imagine Biron being on goal. Not because he played poorly, obviously he was pretty amazing, but because after facing 55 shots he probably needs a few days off.

Corey Crawford, another young goaltender, also had a great performance in net last night keeping the Chicago Blackhawks in the game against the Detroit Detroit Red Wings by making 44 saves on 46 shots. It wasn't enough as the Red Wings buried an open net goal to win 3-1. However, it appears that Chicago may have a new starting goaltender next year as this kid is showing that he's ready. What does that mean for Nikolai Khabibulin and his bloated salary?

One other note, Darren Pang mentioned that Kyle Turris may be coming to the Phoenix Coyotes once his season at Wisconsin concludes. Kyle Turris was drafted third overall by the Coyotes and Gretzky was incredibly high on the young man going into the draft and many thought he would be picked 1st over Patrick Kane. Luckily for Phoenix, that didn't happen and they were able to secure the player they wanted most. Turris is only 18 years old, stands 6'1 and hasn't quite filled out yet at only 170lbs. Regardless, he has world class skill and led the Canadian World Junior team to the goal medal with four goals and eight assists. The college season ends in mid-March, so Phoenix could receive a big boost to their playoff hopes if the kid decides to turn pro. After beating Anaheim last night, Phoenix is clearly a talented team on the verge of great things.

Carey Price Carrying the Habs in New Jersey

Montreal Canadiens fans, myself included, and most hockey analysts around the world roared their disapproval when Bob Gainey traded Cristobal Huet at the deadline. It placed the season and the playoffs squarely on the shoulders of the highly touted, but inexperienced, phenom Carey Price. Thus far, it's Bob Gainey 1 and the rest of us 0 as Price continues to play an absolutely stunning game in net.

Tonight's game against the New Jersey Devils is huge for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that the Devils are competing with the Habs for the top seed, and Montreal should be losing. Overall, New Jersey has carried the play and out shot the Habs 33 to 18, but Montreal is up 3-0. The only reason the Canadiens are not only in a position to win this game but dominating on the scoreboard is the phenomenal play of the youngster in goal. I'll write more about Carey Price tomorrow, but if you get Versus it's worth tuning in to see the last period of the game. You're most likely watching the next great goaltender, possibly the next Patrick Roy, and it's something to remember. If you live in Montreal, I assume you're already watching and dreaming of what this kid might do if he can carry this confidence and momentum into the playoffs.

Update:

Montreal repaid their young goaltender's two periods of incredible play with a stellar third where they only allowed 5 shots on goal and registered 15 themselves. The much maligned Michael Ryder scored with less than 3 minutes left to close out the Devils 4-0. A huge win for Montreal as they move into the top seed of the East.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard - It Is Sloppy, But It Counts!

Pierre-Marc had to show Brian Campbell that the fancy spin shots are anyones game. Here is the Minnesota Wild Center pulling off a sloppy yet effective 360 spin goal on Nabby. Enjoy it Mr Bouchard ... or should I say Monsieur Bouchard?

Marc-Andre Fleury Makes Ammends and the Capitals Make Mistakes

After being pulled in the first intermission of his previous start against Florida, where he allowed 3 goals on 19 first period shots, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was right back between the pipes against the Washington Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin. The game was everything one would expect from a tilt that featured many of the greatest young stars this game has to offer, including Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin.

Ovechkin came out flying and took a huge run at Evgeni Malkin but ultimately got the worst of the hit as Malkin ducked at the last second, sending Alexander flying over top and into the boards bringing both players down to the ice. It was a slightly manic 1st period that frantically alternated between an incredibly physical and chippy game and a fast, counter-attack filled contest. In typical Pittsburgh style, they were grossly outshot in the 1st period 11 to 4 but Fleury held his ground and kept the game even at 0.

The second period didn't bring any rest for Fleury as yet again the Penguins were outshot this time by a whopping 22-9. Washington would be the first team to get on the board when Brooks Laich deflected Alexander Semin's shot on the powerplay. Ovechkin would get an assist giving him 92 points on the season. One minute and 19 seconds later, Evgeni Malkin, not to be outdone by his Russian competitor, blasted down the wing and made a beautiful cross ice pass to Petr Sykora who buried his 22nd of the season. Despite the overwhelming amount of shots and scoring chances, it would take 10 minutes before another goal was scored and it would be Sidney Crosby from Malkin and Sergei Gonchar just as a powerplay expired. Crosby was able to collect a rebound at the side of the net, perform a quick toe drag to open up the five-hole and throw the puck between Cristobal Huet's legs to put the Pens up 2-1. One minute and 38 seconds later Alexander Semin would get on the board with a play that looked somewhat similar to Crosby's where he grabbed the puck at the side of the net, dusted it off and slid it through the shortside as Fleury, expecting a pass to the slot, leaned off the post. Ovechkin collected his second assist of the night and the Russian trifecta of Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin would send the game into the third period tied at 2.

Pittsburgh finally came alive in the third period and would ultimately out shoot the Capitals 13 to 5 but with less than a minute left, the game was still tied. Washington appeared to turtle a bit as they were hoping to hold off the Penguins and get into overtime, securing an enormously important point especially after blowing a huge game only 24 hours earlier. Huet was great in net and seemed to have things under control before a puck was thrown to the front with 28 seconds left. The puck slid across the crease and Huet pushed it to the side where rookie-of-the-year candidate Nicklas Backstrom was standing. There was heavy traffic in the slot but Backstrom had time to quickly slid the puck behind the net, which is what he attempted to do. Instead, he fired it past Huet on the gloveside and into his own goal. Ovechkin immediately fell to his knees and put his forehead on the ice as the Caps seemed destined to lose yet another tilt in an incredibly painful fashion. The Caps would pull Huet shortly thereafter but Malkin would quickly put the game out of reach. A Washington defenseman was coming up the wing and Malkni blocked a pass attempt by sliding on his hip along the ice before immediately jumping up to his feet to form a 2-on-1 with Jordan Staal. Malkin unselfishly snapped the puck over to Staal who would score his 10th goal of the season in the empty net and send the Penguins to a 4-2 victory.

When it was all said and done, the Penguins had allowed 38 shots on goal, 10 of which from Ovechkin, while generating 25 themselves but Fleury was the difference yet again. Ryan Whitney had another typical disaster of a game as he seemed to singlehandedly provide the Caps with at least a quarter of their scoring chances. Of course, this is an exaggeration but there were at least 6 or 7 turnovers in Pittsburgh's zone who's fault falls directly on him. Somehow he ended up a +1 in the game, but that's mostly because Fleury bailed him out multiple times. He continues to be the player most likely to cost the Pittsburgh Penguins a game and, I'm willing to bet, a playoff series.

The Caps suffered their second disaster in as many days. They had their game in hand on Saturday against the Bruins but chose to continue to run four lines with 5 minutes left in a 1-0 game. The Caps were absolutely controlling the play until Donald Brashear made a crucial and typically idiotic mistake. He accidentally high sticked a Bruin and drew blood, which happens to everyone but the mistake came afterwards when a player skated up to him to say something and Brashear threw a big left hand haymaker knocking the opponent down. Ultimately, the Bruins came out of the situation with a 6 minute powerplay and a 2 minute two-man advantage. Just under 2 minutes later, Zdeno Chara would send a rocket of a slapshot past Huet to tie the game. Of course, the problem was that John Erskine took a hooking penalty just before that extending the two-man advantage. When Chara scored, Brashear's first penalty came off the board but the Caps were still two-men down. With nearly 3 minutes left, and still one man down, Tom Poti took another penalty for slashing which would lead to Marco Sturm putting Boston up 2-1 only 40 seconds later. The Capitals went from controlling the play, to down 1 goal in 2 minutes and 45 seconds. The Caps, in shock, were unable to generate any opportunities in the last minute of the game and would lose a game that was in-hand only minutes before. Donald Brasher only played 8 minutes and 9 seconds but ultimately managed to cost his team the game which begs the question, why is Donald allowed to play especially at the end of a game when you're only up by 1? That win should have moved the Caps into a tie with Buffalo for 9th, but instead leaves them 7 points back of the streaking Carolina Hurricanes with a playoff berth seriously in question.

Welcome Back Avalanche

Colorado Avalanche seemed to have recovered from an injury-plagued, inconsistent season and have gone 6-3-1 in their last 10, winning 5 straight to move within one point of their division lead. A surprisingly busy team at the deadline, with a surprisingly hot goaltender in Jose Theodore, the Aves went back to their roots and made the shocking signing of Peter Forsberg while adding Adam Foote at the deadline to give them depth up front and toughness in the back. Since doing so, the Avalanche have been a very difficult team to play against and despite the loss of Ryan Smyth, who was checked into the "turnbuckle" at the end of the team's bench by young defenseman Jack Johnson and is out with a concussion and separated shoulder, the Aves are soaring and climbing the standings. The Calgary Flames (79 points in 67 games) are tied with Minnesota (79 points in 68 games) for the lead in the Northwest Division, but the Avalanche are only one point behind and will face the Flames two more times and the Wild three before the end of the season. Much of Colorado's success can be attributed to the great play of Jose Theodore, and the Colorado defense to a lesser degree, who have only allowed more than 2 goals in one out of their last seven games. Peter Forsberg has yet to register a point in either one of his two games played this season, but he's been on the ice for more than 20 minutes in both games and has looked anything but rusty. The Avalanche are hopeful that Ryan Smyth will return before the end of the season, giving them just the boost they need to be a dangerous team in the playoffs. The West has only gotten more interesting since the deadline, and we may be in for the one of the greatest playoff pushes in history.

A Coach's Conviction Rewarded

The Montreal Canadiens' decision to start Carey Price paid off as he essentially stole two-points for his team by making 37 saves on 39 shots and leading them to a 4-2 victory behind Alexei Kovalev's 3 assist night. Montreal was only able to muster 20 shots on goal, but Mikael Tellqvist was not up to the task as Montreal used a three goal third period to came back from a one goal deficit about 4 minutes into the third. Had Ilya Bryzgalov been in net, it might have been a significantly different story but regardless, Montreal's victory and Pittsburgh's loss moves the Canadiens to the top seed in the East.

Brian Campbell Notches An Assist For The Sharks

Manny Legace and the Blues are in a slump - not just any slump, but one that spans 6 games and a possibility of losing their playoff contention (Colorado and Vancouver are tied with 74 points in the West for 7th and 8th)- they are 8 points away from Nashville in their division, so every point and win helps. Sadly - Manny and the Blues have ONLY been able to convert 4 goals out of 179 shots in their 0-5-1 streak that has them on the verge of losing ALL hope!!!

Tonights game was no different than the past 4 for San Jose, and once the Sharks were firing on all 8 - the game was over. The Sharks outshot the Blues 34 - 24 and move within 1 point of taking over the 2nd spot in the Pacific division from the Ducks! San Jose started Nabby's back up, Boucher, and he held strong the first period while the Sharks got their bearings. Boucher, a former first-round draft pick and member of the NHL's all-rookie team in 1999-2000, had four shutouts for the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms this season to earn another chance. He picked up his first win since March 3, 2007, at Phoenix and first shutout since Nov. 12, 2006, against the Blue Jackets.

Joe Pavelski scored on a power play and Mike Grier had a short-handed goal for the Sharks, who won the last five games of an eight-game trip after dropping the first three. Wilson also set a franchise record with his 193rd victory, passing Darryl Sutter, with a game that he said was "close to perfect" considering they've been on the road so long.

Good Job San Jose - Lets keep this train rolling!

Earning Shutouts

Shut-Outs are always hard on the losing team ... especially when the opposing goalie is a brick wall, and they do everything they can to squeak a puck by. But when the losing team (Edmonton) doesn't even try ... and Nabby doesn't even break a sweat stopping the 13 shots taken, you know it was a shut out handed over.

To add insult to injury, Edmonton's Craig MacTavish is quoted saying "It was a humbling effort. I didn't see this effort coming, you can say that we got outbattled but we didn't even get to the battle."

Don't get me wrong, there have been many times when I have watch San Jose look like the keystone cops ... but a win is a win, and a shut out is wonderful when Nabby is my go to goalie on my Head 2 Head Fantasy Team!

Looks like we have some good matches tonight - I'll throw my predictions up later this afternoon.

How Do You Say Goaltender In Swedish?

Ed Belfour is about to find out - The 17 year NHL veteran appears to be heading across the pond to Sweden. Word on the street has him close to signing with Leksand of the Swedish League. Evidently Ed has not been able to land a job with an NHL team since becomeing an Unrestricted Free Agent, however, the veteran goaltender is looking to continue his career overseas.

From Yahoo Sports - "According to a report in Swedish sports publication Expressen, Belfour is "very close" to signing a contract with second-division Leksand of the Swedish League. Belfour became an unrestricted free agent in July after spending last season with the Florida Panthers.

Belfour, 42, went 27-17-10 with a 2.77 goals-against average for the Panthers last season. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner has 484 career wins in 17 seasons with Chicago, San Jose, Dallas, Toronto and Florida."

On the list of All Time Wins - Ed holds the third spot behind Brodeur and Roy. He is also a 5 time All Star. Belfour and Auld were allowed to hit the UFA market after the Panthers acquired Vokoun from Nashville.

Just to help Ed out a bit ... Goalkeeper is spelled - mål|vakt in swedish. Just please dont ask me to pronounce that!

Preparing for the 2007/2008 NHL Season!

Its to early to start a countdown - that would just depress us! However - Free Agency starts in 4 days ... July 1!!! Are YOU ready?