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What better time for the eighth edition of Eastern Conference Thoughts than on MLK day? The guy's a legend - he would've wanted it that way. Back with the Senators game-day blog on Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.
Atlantic Division
New York Islanders - Rick DiPietro really needs to get healthy and stay healthy for this team, because neither Nate Lawson nor Kevin Poulin are really ready for the kind of barrage that this team's goaltending faces on a nightly basis. Both players are still in the developmental stages - Poulin's been steadily improving his game in the Q for the past few years, and Lawson's still trying to get a feel for the NHL game after a pair of solid seasons down in Bridgeport, but neither is remotely ready for prime-time just yet. And, even though the Islanders aer steadily improving in the offensive end, the defensive side of this team is still atrocious at times. Far too many shooting lanes are left wide open, and teams are skating freely in the offensive zone like it's Central Park on New Years Eve. If the Islanders aren't going to buckle down and keep the shot totals low, then the coaching staff is really going to be put in a precarious position each and every time they send out one of these two young goalies. Let the million dollar man face the music, because this team is still a long way's out right now.
New York Rangers - Two tough losses in a row against the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers have fans in New York City a little disgruntled, and why not? Teams below the Blueshirts are starting to pick up their game, and the Rangers just keep plugging along, playing as if they'll be content with an appearance in the playoffs rather than actually doing damage come April. The disappearance of Marian Gaborik is the most visible mark on the mediocre play lately, with just three goals and five assists since December 3rd. All players are allowed to have slumps, but this one is getting a bit too lengthy and the Rangers are already desperate for offense thanks to various injuries and always changing line combinations. Thankfully, Henrik Lundqvist has been playing out of his mind per the usual and continues to keep this team competitive on a nightly basis.
New Jersey Devils - Hear that cry in New Jersey? That's the sound of the Devils fan base, measurably upset with the team playing slightly better over the past few weeks. A lot of it has to do with the completely arbitrary fact that this team owns the Tampa Bay Lightning, and right now, both the Oilers and Islanders are back within eight points of the first overall selection. For most, that lead would be pretty comfortable, but this New Jersey team simply isn't as bad as the first 44 games would indicate - there's too much talent across the board, and Martin Brodeur is finally starting to get healthy again. And, comparatively, the amount of talent on the Devils roster makes an absolute mockery of the AHL caliber Islanders. The thought of a late surge by the Devils heading towards the end of the season would surely put a few more fans in the seats, but is it better for this franchise long term to start winning again? Methinks not.
Philadelphia Flyers - Bettors beware: When a team goes on the road, they're usually always undervalued by the public, as the casual player likes to take action on the home team. Hence, value city, baby! The Flyers are an astounding 16-5-3 on the road, far better than their already respectable 13-6-2 at Wells Fargo Center. Some will suggest that these splits are a bit of a statistical anomaly, but when you watch this team for sixty minutes away from their home confines, it really isn't all that confounding. They treat every roadie like a playoff game, simplifying their offense, getting pucks on net, and playing tight defensively. They know that their goalies aren't world class, so they play as if every shot from the opposition has a real chance at finding twine, and that sense of urgency has made them an absolute terror for teams trying to protect home ice. Give a ton of credit to Peter Laviolette and captain Mike Richards for getting this team prepared game in and game out.
Pittsburgh Penguins - Fans in Pittsburgh truly do have the life right now. As if watching the Penguins dominate through the first half of the season, currently sitting with 60 points (second most in the East) even with some time missed from their star captain, the Pittsburgh Steelers just drew the New York Jets in the AFC Championship game. Have to imagine that Steel City wanted nothing to do with heading up to Foxboro to take on Brady and the Hood - now, they'll get a team with an extremely respectable defense but the kind of offense that will turn it over with reckless abandon, and the Steelers defense will be ready to exploit at every moment. The icing on the cake is that pitchers and catchers haven't reported yet for baseball, so that means there is less than zero notable news about the Pittsburgh Pirates right now, a real step up from the usual Mickey Mouse operation stuff that comes from that club. On a more related hockey note: Great to see Jordan Staal back. The guy is a terror in the circle and gives the Penguins a ridiculous amount of depth down the middle, and a highly valuable trading chip should the 'Guins ever pursue that avenue.
Northeast Division
Boston Bruins - Is it me, or does the Nathan Horton - Marc Savard - Michael Ryder line look poised for a breakout? Although the Bruins lost 3-2 on home ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon, I thought that the aforementioned trio was the best on the ice, with Michael Ryder scoring a goal late in the second period and the entire line controlling the tempo and play for most of the night. Looking at pure totals, Horton, Savard, and Ryder managed to put seventeen shots on net against Marc-Andre Fleury, with a solid portion of these rips coming in high scoring areas and on solid scoring opportunities. For a team that's struggled with consistency on the offensive end, Claude Julien would be wise to keep these three together, as they are feeding off of one another and have the right amount of chemistry to become an invaluable unit.
Buffalo Sabres - Tough to get a feel for this team, with an impressive road trip followed up by rather ugly efforts in losses against the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders. Obviously this team is already looking long-term, as they have a sound base of talent and some solid prospects in various stages of the developmental process, but one has to wonder what's up with Ryan Miller's play recently. Team USA's go-to-guy between the pipes has been respectable all season long, but far from his Vezina-caliber self, posting a rather pedestrian .911 save percentage and 2.72 GAA with a 17-14-4 record. Obviously, a lot of his downturn has to do with the fact that the team in front of him isn't very good right now and the defensive lapses are gift-wrapping the opposition scoring opportunities in the juiciest of goal scoring areas, but on some nights Miller looks rather disinterested with the play and hasn't been making the usual Miller-esque save to keep his team alive. Obviously, trading a goalie the caliber of Ryan Miller is completely asinine and insane, but is it really all that crazy if the coaching staff and front office feel as though his best days are behind him? For the record, I think Miller's one of the best in the business and should be the cornerstone of this team moving forward, but I can only imagine the kind of returns Miller would bring to the franchise. Lord knows how respected he is across the league..
Montreal Canadiens - Gritty, gritty win in New York on Hockey Night in Canada. The Habs absolutely torched the Blueshirts for the first forty minutes before shelling up and playing with fire in the final twenty, but a win is a win is a wni, and the Canadiens remain in striking distance in the Northeast division race. With Buffalo, Ottawa, and Toronto all looking dead or on life support halfway into the season, the Adams division race has been shortened from five to two, and it looks like both the Bruins and Habs will battle for one of the coveted top three seeds for all eighty-two games. Touching back on the Saturday night game: Have to love the kind of effort that P.K. Subban puts forth on the ice game in and game out. He's been getting quite the bad rap from the media, blogosphere, and fans for his questionable decision making and amateur play, but the compete level for this kid is through the roof. The hit he laid on Derek Stepan isn't something you'll see from your average NHL defender - he wants to win, and he's going to do whatever it takes to do so. Take away whatever you want from Subban as a player, but if you're going to be more cutthroat with this kid than others because he's got a touch of swagger and confidence, make sure to commend him for what he does right.
Ottawa Senators - The last seven blogs have been about Pascal Leclaire's injuries, so I figure #8 really shouldn't change course. This guy is absolutely amazing, and his body should be donated to some form of science for future research study. When Leclaire went down with his latest injury, the reports were that he'd miss a week or two. When the two weeks went by, we heard another week, and that he'd be suiting up to back-up Brian Elliott for the next few games. Then, we heard that he'd miss another week, and now it sounds like there's no timetable for his return and a solid chance that he'll miss the rest of the season. Uh, come again?
Is it a Leclaire thing, or an Ottawa Senators medical staff thing? I mean, how can a player be this grossly misevaluated from an injury standpoint on four consecutive occasions, all of which should have been about the same ailment or ailments? And furthermore, how come the coaching staff has gotten a free pass about releasing any information about his injury? I've heard of tight lipped coaches before, but usually after a bit of time word gets around so that the fan base(you know, those that fund the franchise) has an understanding (to at least some degree) of what's going on. The mum-is-the-word approach on Leclaire's injury is Bill Belichick 2.0, except Leclaire isn't nearly the caliber of any player on the New England Patriots roster, and that includes the long snapper.
Toronto Maple Leafs - Jarome Iginla. Alex Semin. Ilya Kovalchuk. Thomas Vanek. Patrick Marleau. Dany Heatley. Anze Kopitar. Jonathan Toews. Alex Ovechkin. The list goes on and on and on. And, Maple Leafs fans recognize this grouping of players, all of which have scored equal to or less than Mikhail Grabovski, the Belarusian dynamo who has had a breakout season like few others. Through 43 games, Grabovski has amassed 18 goals and 17 assists, good for 35 total points and a +/- of 6, a respectable number on a team that's on the wrong end of the scoreboard most nights. Grabovski's emergence has come out of nowhere, too; he's always been a solid player, but pegging this guy for a 33-34 goal season in the beginning of the year would've been an absolutely laughable offense. Perhaps less surprising is Nikolai Kulemin's comparable breakout - the Russian youngster has sixteen goals on the season, and will look to challenge Grabovski for the team lead all season long. Here's to patting myself on the back for this, as I predicted Nikolai Kulemin to be one of the season's breakout players in my pre-season blog. Don't ask me who the pick was in the Western Conference, because I won't tell you. (Gilbert Brule)
Southeast Division
Atlanta Thrashers - Wake up, people! The Thrashers, one of the league's biggest surprises halfway into the season, are slowly falling into a melancholic lull that has crippled the team's performance and sunk them to third in the Southeast division. What's worse? The Carolina Hurricanes are just one point behind and playing much better than the Thrash, and the Panthers are suddenly hot, too, with points in seven of their last ten. Craig Ramsay called out the team's commitment to winning after a stunning loss to the Dallas Stars, a 6-1 drubbing that saw Ondrej Pavelec allow six on just twenty-four shots. Although I can appreciate Ramsay's attempt to light a fire under this team's backside, anyone watching the game knew the Thrashers wanted those two points badly. The game was a hit fest, with both teams gunning for one anothers star players, all due to the shoving fest and near brawl during the pre-game between Eric Boulton and a number of the Dallas Stars. We'll see how this team responds to more adversity when they head down to Florida on Monday.
Carolina Hurricanes - Last two entries of EC Thoughts, in its simplicity: This team is too Jekyll/Hyde. Right now, this team is too Jekyll, which has to be scary for every single team in the Eastern Conference. The Hurricanes, 7-1-2 over the past ten, are probably the league's hottest team, yet they continue to get no respect from media types because of the market they play in. Carolina's sitting in ninth place overall, but in all honesty, does anyone not expect this team to jump any of the handful of mediocre teams just ahead of them (Montreal, NYR, Atlanta) in the not-so-distant future? Eric Staal is a complete freak - a man on a mission, and that mission is scoring goals. Twenty-two of them to be exact this season, and he's starting to get help, too. Tuomo Ruutu, Jeff Skinner, Jussi Jokinen, and Erik Cole are all in double digits in the goal scoring column, and that kind of offense is huge when you have a Vezina-caliber goalie in Cam Ward. Of note:
Eric Staal jumped ahead of Rod Brind'Amour, the man he replaced as captain last season, with 474 all-time points in Carolina. Good for third in franchise history.
Florida Panthers - To all you fans in Sunrise: Appreciate this moment. The Panthers, mired in complete obscurity for years, have slowly turned the corner, and are playing a much better brand of hockey under the watchful eye of Dave Tallon and Pete DeBoer. With recent wins against the Washington Capitals and the Nashville Predators, there's a reason for optimism, and it's all starting with the sense of urgency that's been instilled inside of the Cats locker room. Instead of praising the team for an okay first-half, DeBoer ridiculed them for giving away too many close contests and not putting 100% on the ice each and every shift, and the team has responded admirably. Gutty OT win against the Capitals with Wideman's game winner, and the third period rally against one of the best defensive teams in the National Hockey League in Nashville had the fans at BankAtlantic Center on their feet. This team won't make the playoffs, but it is nice to see them steadily improving.
Tampa Bay Lightning - I don't think I need to be any more direct when I say that allowing four power-play goals is a quick way to lose a hockey game, and the Lightning did just that against Southeast division rival Carolina on Saturday. Lately, the specialty units have been trending in the wrong direction, and for a team with so much talent across the board, it has to be a little concerning for head coach Guy Boucher. It's not just the kill, either, as the power play has been stymied time and time again. The man advantage isn't just ineffective, either - they've now allowed a league high nine shorthanded goals, most of which have come on breakaways after errant passes and questionable decision making with the puck. Teddy Purcell has become the team's whipping boy due to the struggles, a healthy scratch for the first time all season on Saturday night. Purcell's fourth on the team in points, but has only one tally (a goal) in his past eleven games, and hasn't really been in sync with the offense.
Washington Capitals - Is there a more enigmatic team in the National Hockey League than the Washington Capitals? Okay, I'll give you the San Jose Sharks, but it's still pretty close. Every night, this team puts itself in extremely difficult spots and forces themselves to dig out. Sometimes, they're successful: A comeback against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday, a late rally against the Florida Panthers on the 8th. Other times, they fail miserably: A 4-2 bludgeoning by the Vancouver Canucks, a 1-0 loss in shootouts against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Amaznigly, it's the ineffective offense that's killing this team, an incredibly confusing statement considering the majority of this club was responsible for that 3.82 GPG run last season. This season, it's clocking in at 2.8 per, which is right around the league average. A woeful power play really hasn't helped matters, but the real nail-in-the-coffin has a lot to do with the disappearance of their major goal scorers in Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Knuble, all of whom have saw their numbers run south this season. Only Alex Semin's 18 goals are near his career averages, but he's currently nursing a thigh injury and will miss a few games going forward. It's time for the offense to wake up. because the Southeast division is rapidly improving, and they can no longer rely on half-assed efforts to win.
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