It was another exciting night in the NHL last night, with a
pair of division leaders squaring off in both conferences. The New Jersey Devils put their 11-1-1 home record on the line
against the league’s best road team, the Buffalo Sabres in the early contest. Though the Devils were able to hold Buffalo’s
league-best offense to just one goal through two periods, their defense broke
down a bit in the third as Daniel Briere threaded the needle with crossing
passes to Maxim Afinogenov and Jason Pominville to give the Sabres a 3-0
lead. The Devils answered with two in
the final minute, but came up just a bit shy as they dropped behind the Rangers
in the Atlantic.
In the late contest, the Nashville Predators grabbed a 2-0
lead early in the second behind goals from Vernon Fiddler and rookie sensation
Alexander Radulov only to see it evaporate when the Oilers answered with two of
their own 28 seconds apart. Alas, the
comeback would not be completed, as David Legwand
poked a bouncing puck past Dwayne Roloson with just 2:45 to play for the game-winner as the Preds extended
their lead in the Central.
In other news, San Jose
rookie Joe Pavelski scored twice in the Sharks 3-1
win over Los Angeles, and now has
seven goals in ten NHL games…. Columbus, left for dead by most after having the
worst record in the league through most of the first two months, won their
fifth straight, and first ever in Dallas behind the strong goaltending of
Fredrik Norrena… The league’s best team, the Anaheim Ducks, improved to 9-1 in
their past ten with a
5-4 win in Florida…
Both Vancouver and Calgary
had rare scoring outbursts in 5-2 wins over Phoenix
and Minnesota.
|
Team
|
Wins
|
Losses
|
OTL
|
Points
|
GF
|
GA
|
Last 10
|
|
Edmonton
|
16
|
12
|
2
|
34
|
83
|
78
|
5-4-1
|
|
Minnesota
|
16
|
12
|
2
|
34
|
87
|
83
|
4-5-1
|
|
Calgary
|
15
|
10
|
3
|
33
|
81
|
65
|
6-3-1
|
|
Vancouver
|
15
|
15
|
1
|
31
|
71
|
83
|
5-5-0
|
|
Colorado
|
14
|
14
|
2
|
30
|
95
|
87
|
5-5-0
|
Edmonton
Oilers
Hot: Marc-Andre Bergeron (2 G, GWG in Last
Three), Fernando Pisani (2 G, 2 A, +6, 8 PIM in December), Jarrett Stoll (1 G,
5 A, +7 in Last Five), Raffi Torres (2 G, 4 A, +6 in Last Five)
Cold: Joffrey Lupul (1 G, 0 A, -5 in
December), Shawn Horcoff (1 G, 0 A, -3 in December), Patrick Thoresen (Scoreless, -3 in Last Eleven)
Injuries: Ryan Smyth (Indefinite –
Fractured Thumb), Ethan Moreau (4-6 Weeks – Separated Shoulder), Ales Hemsky
(1-2 Weeks – Shoulder)
Despite Dwayne Roloson’s back to
back shutouts earlier in the month, the Oilers seem to have run hot and cold so
far this month, winning three in a row at one point but boasting just a 3-3
record so far. They’re having some of
the role players, such as Pisani and Torres, step up their play a bit in the
absence of their two biggest offensive stars (Hemsky and Smyth), but can’t seem
to get two lines consistently rolling for an extended period of time.
One of the keys to the offense has to be blue-liner
Marc-Andre Bergeron, who has a wicked slap shot from the point and is among the
fastest players in the league. Though
he’s not particularly strong in his own zone, he’s taken over lately as a force
from the point on the Power Play, and should give this team the QB that they’re
so desperately in need of after trading away Chris Pronger this offseason. Unfortunately, they can’t seem to get either
of the key components that they received in the Pronger deal going.
Joffrey Lupul was a big breakout candidate this season after
notching 28 goals and 53 points in just his second full season in the NHL with
the Ducks last year. The assumption was
that he wouldn’t be as handcuffed in Edmonton’s
system, where he’d be assured a spot as a top six forward and his natural
development as a sniper would continue.
Alas, through thirty games, he has just nine goals on the year, and
isn’t finding the net with frequency at all.
Ladislav Smid, the Oilers’ other main acquisition in that
deal, has played fairly strong in his own zone, but can’t seem to find a way to
make a difference up front. He has just
two points on the year, and hasn’t found his name on the scoresheet since October
21. On the positive side, Smid has consistently
seen 18-20 minutes of ice-time a night, which should help him down the road as
he develops. A twenty-year-old rookie,
we weren’t expecting that much out of
Smid this season, but were hopeful that he’d produce a little more than he has.
The Oilers will try to continue to hold on (which is all
they’re doing… the Wild just pushed back into a tie for first place last week)
in the Northwest until Smyth and Hemsky can come back. Hemsky is still being listed as day-to-day by
most sources, though he’s missed six games in a row. Smyth figures to be out for around another
month with a broken bone in his thumb.
Next Five: vs. Minnesota, at Colorado, vs. Colorado, at Phoenix, at Dallas
Up and down team, up and down schedule. The Wild are starting to get a little
healthier, and it’s showing. They put up five in Pavol Demitra’s first
game back from the IR, and Marian Gaborik just can’t be too much further behind him. You never know what you’re going to see out
of the Avs. They’ve had plenty of times when
they look like the Avs of the nineties, and plenty of other nights where
they’ve looked like this year’s St. Louis Blues. Phoenix
has stepped up their game quite a bit, and are a
fairly dangerous opponent right now. Dallas
will keep the scoring down, but they shouldn’t hurt Rolo. Feel safe starting Roloson and Markkanen throughout this stretch, but consider benching
some of your skaters against Dallas
at the end.
Minnesota
Wild
Hot: Brian Rolston (3 G, 4 A, 4 PPP, 6 PIM in Last Five), Mikko Koivu (3 G, 2 A, 3 PPP, SHP in Last Five), Pavol
Demitra (1 G, 2 A, 2 PPP, 1 SHP in Two Games Since
Return), Mark Parrish (3 G, 3 A, 3 PPP, GWG in Last Five), Nicklas Backstrom (3-2-2, 1.93 GAA, .937 Sv. % Since November 1)
Cold: Kim Johnsson (Scoreless, -4 in Last Nine), Branko Radivojevic (Scoreless, -3
in Last Eight)
Injuries: Kurtis Foster (1-2 Weeks – Broken Larynx), Marian
Gaborik (Indefinite – Groin Strain), Wes Walz (D2D – Hip)
After a woeful November, the Wild have started to pick up
the pieces a bit, which is to be expected as they start to get a little
healthier. Star pivot Pavol Demitra
finally returned Saturday, and was key in a 5-4 win
over the surging Blackhawks. Combined
with Brian Rolston and Mark Parrish, Demitra should make Minnesota’s
top line strong despite the absence of young superstar Marian Gaborik.
Speaking of Gaborik, he’s missed the team’s
past 22 games with his strained groin, and we still have no clue when he’s
going to be back. He didn’t travel with
the team for their current three-game trip through Canada,
but could be ready when the Wild return home to Minnesota
to conclude a home-and-home with the Canucks next Tuesday. Gaborik’s absence has really hindered an
offense that is full of great playmakers but lacks true snipers.
The Wild have gotten nothing from the blue line with
second-year monster Kurtis Foster on the shelf.
Foster had started to make his presence felt in the last few games
before he broke his larynx, with a couple of Power Play assists just before he
got injured. His absence in recent weeks
has forced Kim Johnsson to try and take more of an active role in his own zone,
which means he’s not taking as many chances up front. Johnsson, best suited to be a Power Play
specialist, hasn’t responded to the extra ice-time, and has gone scoreless in
his past nine games.
While the nets figured to be dominated by Manny Fernandez
after his outstanding 2005-06 campaign, he’s been very up and down for the past
month. Thankfully for the Wild, backup
Nicklas Backstrom has picked up the slack with a fine
month. Though Backstrom
still doesn’t figure in the goalie of the future talks (see Harding, Josh) in Minnesota,
he’s going to continue to see a lot of ice-time to keep Fernandez fresh the
rest of the way.
Next Five: at Edmonton, at Vancouver, vs. Vancouver, at Detroit, vs. Detroit
For a team that’s struggled to score over the past month,
it’s not about to get any easier.
They’ll square off with three top ten defenses in the next few weeks,
including two matchups with the Red Wings’ third-ranked defense. Consider keeping some of your skaters (not
Demitra or Rolston) on the bench in the upcoming weeks. Don’t feel bad about starting Fernandez or Backstrom, though.
The Red Wings rank 19th, the Oilers 20th, and the
Canucks 30th (or dead last) in goals per game so far this season.
Calgary
Flames
Hot: Jarome Iginla (9 G, 7 A, +7, 5 PPP in Last Nine… Six Game
Goal-Scoring Streak), Alex Tanguay (4 G, 8 A, +5 in Last Nine), Daymond Langkow
(3 G, 10 A, +7, 4 PPP During Nine Game Point Streak), Dion Phaneuf (2 G, 1 A,
+3, 3 PPP in Last Three), Chuck Kobasew (1 G, 4 A in
Last Six), Roman Hamrlik (2 G, 4 A, +6, 3 PPP in Last Six), Robyn Regehr (4 A,
+7 in Last Five), Miikka Kiprusoff (4-0-1, 1.58 GAA, .935 Sv. %, 1 SHO in
December)
Cold: Tony Amonte (Scoreless in Last
Eight), Jeff Friesen (Scoreless in Last Twenty-One)
Injuries: Andrei Zyuzin (D2D – Knee),
Marcus Nilson (D2D – Knee), Stephane
Yelle (Indefinite – Fractured Leg)
Look out Western Conference, here they come. The Flames have recorded at least a point in
each of their last six games, five of which were wins. The defense has been as stingy as ever, but
the transformation has come because of the offense, particularly the first line. Jarome Iginla has been terrific all season,
and has 37 points in 28 games. However,
he’s been particularly dominant as Alex Tanguay and Daymond Langkow have picked
up the pace around him. The three have
combined for 41 points in Calgary’s
past nine games, which is certainly a welcome addition on a team that struggled
to score more than two goals a game in the season’s first two months.
The play on the second line has improved as a result as
well. Matthew Lombardi doesn’t exactly
qualify as hot, but he’s still producing two points in every three games, and
he’s scoring meaningful goals. In the
Flames’ last nine games, Lombardi has scored three goals (all game-winners) and
added three assists. Chuck Kobasew has picked up his game to complement Lombardi, and
has five points in his last six games after producing just eight in his first
twenty-two games.
We expected strong contributions along the blue-line from
Dion Phaneuf, but it looked like after a couple of down years Roman Hamrlik
might be done. His performance in the
past few weeks says otherwise, as he’s stepping nicely into his role on the
Power Play’s second unit and has averaged a point a game in his last six. Like Phaneuf and stay-at-home defenseman
Robyn Regehr (who has four points in his last five himself!), he’ll benefit
from playing in a Calgary system
that always seems to lead to great +/- play.
Kipper’s just being Kipper.
While he has a long way to go to threaten Marty Brodeur for being the
best goalie currently in the league from a career
standpoint, there’s no question who has been the
best goaltender in the league since the 2003-04 season. Kiprusoff arguably should have won the Vezina
in 2003-04, despite wasting away as a backup with the Sharks for half the
season, and he was a runaway winner of the award last season. To nobody’s surprise, he’s been the top
goalie in the league so far this year.
Next Five: at Vancouver, at Phoenix, at Anaheim, at Los Angeles, at Colorado
I suppose there’s no better way to treat one of the league’s
hottest teams than to send them on a six-game road swing (the trip will end in San
Jose after these five) that will have them face the
two best teams in the West. We’re about
to see what the Flames are made of, as they figure to be starting to tire
before they head to the Pond to take on the Ducks in their third straight road
game and should be exhausted by the time they head to San Jose. On the positive side, everything in between
would seem winnable. The Canucks are
pretty strong defensively, but have the worst scoring offense in the NHL. The Kings and ‘Yotes have improved lately,
but they still have a long way to go before they’re ready to consistently
challenge the league’s top teams.
Consider benching your (second-line) skaters against the Ducks and
Sharks, but start everyone else. As for Kipper? You
don’t need to ask, do you?
Vancouver
Canucks
Hot: Henrik
Sedin (5 A, 3 PPP in Last Three), Daniel Sedin (3 G, 3 A, 4 PPP, GWG in Last
Five), Brendan Morrison (1 G, 5 A, 5 PPP in Last Five), Kevin Bieksa (2 G, 2 A, +4, 2 PPP in Last Two), Jan Bulis (Three Game Goal Scoring Streak)
Cold: Markus
Naslund (0 G, 2 A, -2 in Last Five), Sami Salo (0 G, 1 A in Last Six), Alex
Burrows (Scoreless, -4 in Last Nine)
Injuries: Taylor
Pyatt (2-4 Weeks – Shoulder), Sami Salo (D2D – Nerve
Damage), Rick Rypien (6-8 Weeks – Groin), Tommie Santala (D2D – Sprained Knee), Rory Fitzpatrick (2-4 Weeks
– Broken Foot)
Perhaps no team in the league has been as consistently
mediocre as the Canucks this season.
Over the past eight games, they’ve decided to scrap their early-season
methods of matching two and three game winning streaks with equal losing
streaks and just alternate wins and losses.
The goaltending and defense remains strong, even if it hasn’t been
spectacular, but the scoring punch up front just hasn’t been there.
The Sedin Twins continue to be the only players on Vancouver
that seem to want to buck that trend. A
year after they put the rumors that they’d never really have success in North
America to rest, the Swedish sensations seem to be the only real chance the
Canucks are going to have at making a playoff push. The two have eleven points in five games this
December, while the Canucks have combined for just fourteen goals as a team.
With the success of the Sedins, you would think that Markus
Naslund would be rolling right now himself.
However, he falls on the opposite side of the spectrum, with just two
points in December and five points in his last ten games. For a player that was the unquestioned
offensive leader of one of the league’s highest-scoring teams for half a
decade, we’re witnessing a dramatic decline in his twilight years. Naslund has averaged at least .975 points a
game in every season over the past five years, but has just .677 points a game
this year.
It’s been nice to see the second line crank it up a bit with
Brendan Morrison and Jan Bulis, who have been
monstrous in giving the Canucks a bit of an offensive identity for the past two
weeks. However, there’s no telling if
they can sustain it. Bulis
was supposed to be a breakout candidate, but that kind of hinged on the chance
that he would play with the Sedins.
Morrison is a scrappy Doug Gilmour type who clearly benefited from
playing with Naslund and power winger Todd Bertuzzi earlier in his career, but
has a history of success at the NHL level.
If Morrison can continue to prove that he can work with other (less
talented) skill players alongside him, the Canucks could establish a decent
second line and have a shot at moving up.
Kevin Bieksa disappeared for a
couple of weeks after establishing himself as the top offensive defenseman in Vancouver
in the first two months of the season.
However, he’s responded bigtime with a goal and an assist in each of his
last two games, and leads the club with 21 shots in their first five games this
December. While the Canucks as a whole
might be better suited working the puck in for some closer shots, Bieksa has a terrific shot from the point, and he’ll
continue to use it. If he’s not owned in
your league, go get him!
Next Five: vs. Calgary, vs. Minnesota, at Minnesota, at Boston, at Columbus
The league’s worst offense will face one of the five
stingiest defenses Thursday, which shouldn’t exactly be a recipe for success
offensively. The Wild are improving, but
the goaltending has been a little shaky for the past few weeks, so the Canucks
might find some scoring the rest of the way.
Feel confident starting your skaters in the last four, though they
should be on your bench against the Flames.
Roberto Luongo remains pretty much a must-start no matter who he’s
playing, but I’m considering leaving him on the bench against the red-hot
Flames Thursday, and so should you.
Colorado
Avalanche
Hot: Andrew Brunette (1 G, 5 A, 3 PPP in Last Five), Tyler Arnason (3 G, 4 A, 2 PPP in Last Six), Joe Sakic (4 G, 4 A,
5 PPP in Last Three), Patrice Brisebois (5 A, 3 PPP
in Last Six), Pierre Turgeon (2 G in Three Games Since Return), John-Michael
Liles (5 G, 5 A, 6 PPP in Last Ten), Brett Clark (2 G, 2 A, PPP, 10 PIM in Last
Three)
Cold: Paul Stastny (Scoreless in Last
Five), Milan Hejduk
(Scoreless in Last Four), Ian Laperriere (0 G, 2 A, 19 PIM in Last Ten), Brad
Richardson (Scoreless in Last Eight)
Injuries: Marek Svatos (D2D – Illness), Milan Hejduk (D2D –
Nose), Brad May (2-4 Months – Shoulder Surgery)
The last five games are truly an indication of what you can
expect from the Avalanche. While the
Canucks (just ahead of them in the division) are consistently mediocre, the Avs
are the most inconsistent team in the league.
They’re either amazing or look like they belong in the IHL depending
upon what night it is. In their past
five games, the Avs have beaten the Sharks (the second-best team in the West,
soundly… 5-2) and Hurricanes (the defending champs), which makes you think that
they must be flying high right now.
They’ve countered that with losses to the Canucks, Blue Jackets, and
Kings, all teams that clearly look like they’re going to have to pay for
tickets if they want to see a playoff game.
If there’s anything that’s certain about this team, it’s
that Joe Sakic is going to produce.
Their 37-year-old captain, who has spent his entire career in the
organization, continues to build on his Hall of Fame career, and is averaging
more than a point a game so far for the fifteenth time in eighteen years. You have to think his time in the league is
starting to run short simply based on his age, but he’s still one of the
league’s brightest stars, and finds himself just 64 assists away from being one
of only a handful of players with 500 career goals and 1,000 career assists.
Andrew Brunette and Tyler Arnason
will benefit from a little time with Sakic while Svatos and Hejduk are on the
shelf, and they’ve clearly jumped their game up a notch in early December to
earn the chance. Both should probably be
gone in fantasy leagues with any depth whatsoever at this point. Brunette’s a crafty veteran sniper coming off
a 63 point season last year, while Arnason brings a
little more grit and defense to the rink, but had 41 on a pretty poor
Blackhawks’ team in the first half of last season.
The return of Pierre Turgeon should help the Avs find a
little more consistency on their second line.
Turgeon, who has never stuck with any of the other five organizations
he’s played with despite wearing the C in both Montreal
and St. Louis for a time and
averaging more than a point a game over the course of his career, has scored
twice in his first three games back. An
opportunity to play with some of the kids (Wojtek Wolski, Paul Stastny) may help to
rejuvenate Lucky Pierre and help save the Avs season.
Still, if anything’s going to happen to save Colorado’s
season, it’s going to have to happen in net.
Jose Theodore, who has been noted as one of the more inconsistent
goaltenders from year to year, has taken that to a game-by-game level in
2006-07, and is the major reason that the Avs can’t seem to string many wins
together. Theodore continued to madden
his owners by looking terrific against San Jose
and taking a big crap on the ice as he allowed five goals to the low-scoring
Flames and Kings. As a Theodore owner,
I’m officially going on record as saying that Joel Quenneville
needs to make Peter Budaj his starter.
Reward performance rather than promise.
Next Five: vs. St. Louis, vs. Edmonton, at Chicago, at Edmonton, vs. Calgary
Ordinarily, a visit from the worst team in hockey would be a
welcome matchup. However, the Avs seem
to play to the level of their competition, so expect them to somehow lose 6-1
on Wednesday or something. Honestly,
this stretch should be as up and down as the Avs season has been so far. They’ll face the lifeless Blues, an improving
Chicago squad, and the two best
teams in the division. Scoring will be
tough to come by against the Oilers and Flames, but they won’t face a single
top-flight offense in the next two weeks.
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