01-29-2006, 11:29 AM
The Leafs have now lost 8 straight after last nights OTL to the Habs. They did get Darcy Tucker back and he paid immediate dividends, but their freefall continues. Luckily for the Leafs the teams around them are struggling as well, and it's now a 3 way tie between the Leafs, Habs, and Thrashers for the 8th spot.
The Rangers slaughtered the Pens yesterday in one of the most one-sided games i've ever seen, and the shots on goal can attest to that, 51-14 in favor of the Rangers. The Penguins were absolutely horrible in the game and the Rangers were very sharp, which wasn't a good combination for the Pens. Their defense was pathedic and they just left Marc-Andre Fleury out to dry. The entire game was played in the Pens zone.
And how about those Hurricanes, they are something else! They had a nice ceremony honoring Ronnie Francis last night, and then came out with another strong effort and yet another victory (36-11-4, 1st in NHL). Their offense is terrfic and goes well beyond Eric Staal. Rob Brind'Amour IMO has been the MVP of that club. Not only is he scoring at exactly a point-per-game clip, he's mr.everything to them. He leads the entire NHL in icetime among forwards (at almost 25 minutes a game), is the best faceoff man in the league, plays the powerplay, kills penalties, is their unquestioned leader & captain, etc. They are playing without their 2nd leading scorer in Cory Stillman right now (48 points in 44 games), but they have a bunch of forwards picking up the slack and having career seasons, including Justin Williams and Eric Cole. Ray Whitney has been a great signing from them as well, and they are getting terrific goaltending from Martin Gerber. I wouldn't wanna face this team in the playoffs.
The Rangers slaughtered the Pens yesterday in one of the most one-sided games i've ever seen, and the shots on goal can attest to that, 51-14 in favor of the Rangers. The Penguins were absolutely horrible in the game and the Rangers were very sharp, which wasn't a good combination for the Pens. Their defense was pathedic and they just left Marc-Andre Fleury out to dry. The entire game was played in the Pens zone.
And how about those Hurricanes, they are something else! They had a nice ceremony honoring Ronnie Francis last night, and then came out with another strong effort and yet another victory (36-11-4, 1st in NHL). Their offense is terrfic and goes well beyond Eric Staal. Rob Brind'Amour IMO has been the MVP of that club. Not only is he scoring at exactly a point-per-game clip, he's mr.everything to them. He leads the entire NHL in icetime among forwards (at almost 25 minutes a game), is the best faceoff man in the league, plays the powerplay, kills penalties, is their unquestioned leader & captain, etc. They are playing without their 2nd leading scorer in Cory Stillman right now (48 points in 44 games), but they have a bunch of forwards picking up the slack and having career seasons, including Justin Williams and Eric Cole. Ray Whitney has been a great signing from them as well, and they are getting terrific goaltending from Martin Gerber. I wouldn't wanna face this team in the playoffs.