Devils, Rangers, and Whalers

There is a lot at stake tonight. The seemingly unstoppable New Jersey Devils take on the slumping New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Should the Devils win their tenth straight game they will move into second place, passed the Carolina Hurricanes (should they lose in Detroit tonight), behind Ottawa in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa managed to put a halt to their free fall, but they have to watch out for the Devils, who seem to be back into their old menacing form. Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist has lost his two last starts, giving up four goals in each of those, and the team is on a three-game skid. The Rangers have been victorious in all three meetings with New Jersey this season, and they will certainly make sure the Devils have to work hard for this one.

Detroit are looking to extend their winning streak to six. They also have a good chance of being the first team in the league to score a hundred goals, they need three against Carolina. Three goals doesn't seem like much of a challenge for the awesome Red Wings, but the Hurricanes would sure like to win this one. The last time they managed to win one in the Motor City was as the Hartford Whalers back in 1989.

Rangers roll into Philly

Fresh off their first road win, 18 games into the season (which still amazes me), the New York Rangers are looking to keep the momentum as they take on the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wachovia Center. Of course this is easier said than than done as the Flyers are a perfect 6-0 at home.

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Poor Detroit Red Wings. As if dropping two straight games on a very disappointing road trip wasn't enough, the plane got stuck in mud on the way home from St. Louis. The team was supposed to have Wednesday off, but instead they had to suit up for practice. The reason for this was, according to The Detroit News, that there is nothing else to do in St. Louis. The Chicago Blackhawks are due in the Motor City on Friday, let's hope the Wings are back by then.

Wanna be like Mike?

Scott Gomez is not Michael Nylander, but boy, is he wishing he were. He and Jagr are desperately trying to replicate the on-ice chemistry that the Czech shared with Nylander. However, with two players that similar in style it has been more difficult than perhaps the Rangers expected. So while they carpool to and from practice every day, trying to figure out a way for this to work, Nylander is doing fine in Washington and the New York Rangers are trying to forget the $10 million they pissed away.

Busy night

Two thirds of the league's teams were in action last night and here are some thoughts.

The Colorado Avalanche remain strong on home ice (6-0 so far) as they rallied from a 0-2 deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. The Penguins continue to struggle with inconsistency.

Henrik Lundqvist took all 31 shots fired at him by the Washington Capitals to, once again, bail out his team. The Rangers managed to score a goal in each of the last two periods to seal a 2-0 win. Forward Brendan Shanahan said, "You have to give all the credit to Hank...in the first period it was really just him." Couldn't have said it better myself.

The seemingly unstopable Henrik Zetterberg was named NHL's player of the month for October, and against the Calgary Flames he just kept on rolling. The visiting Red Wings won the game 4-1 and Zetterberg was credited with two goals. Chris Osgood was solid in goal. After his 26 save, .963 night in Alberta he is a perfect 7-0 this season.

The Nashville Predators were looking for their first win on the road, and who better to get it from than the hopeless Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks were 1-5 in their own building and of course they lett this one slip through their fingers as well as the Preds won it 3-0.

What is going on with the Minnesota Wild? After the beating at home against St. Louis, they have no wins in the last five games. That 7-0-1 season start seems ever so distant right now.

In Ottawa the Senators collected their fifth straigh win after a close call with the Atlanta Thrashers. Sens were up 5-0 after two periods, but then saw the Thrashers come within a goal before Daniel Alfredsson scored a short-handed goal to seal the win. Three of Atlanta's goals came from Ilya Kovalchuk who appeared in his 400th NHL game.

Mathieu Schneider made his long awaited debut for the Anaheim Ducks in a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. To top it off he also scored the game-winner in the shoot-out. Rob Niedermayer, who returned after missing three games (groin), also scored for the Ducks.

Philadelphia are 4-0 at home this season, but on the road they have now dropped three of the last four games. After losing twice down in Florida and then winning in Beantown, they fell short 5-2 against the Montreal Canadiens. Flyers forward Daniel Briere, who turned down an offer from the Habs to sign with the Philadelphia, was booed every time he touched the puck throughout the night.

The Boston Bruins bounced back from their only loss on home ice, against Philadelphia, to beat visiting Buffalo. Marco Sturm got the winner in overtime.

The Blues is back in St. Louis

It is interesting how little is heard about the St. Louis Blues considering the comeback they have made. Under the new ownership and management the team has made a more than solid recovery, from posting their worst record in 27 years in the 2005-06 season to once again be a contender for a playoff spot.

In 1999-2000 the Blues finished the season with a franchise record 114 points, also earning the President's Trophy. The team consisted of, to name a few, Chris Pronger, Pavol Demitra, Al MacInnis, Roman Turek, and Pierre Turgeon. In 2001 the team went all the way to the Western Conference Finals where the eventual Champions Colorado Avalanche proved to be too much to handle for the Blues. Due mostely to a series of bad trades, including sending Pronger to Edmonton, the team's success slowly but surely faded.

For years the St. Louis Blues had been considered a contender, while never able to go all the way. In 2004 they missed the playoffs, ending a 25 season long playoff streak - the third longest in North American pro sports.

After a few years of steady decline in home-game attendance, something had to be done. To bring back the fans hockey had to be made appealing again, and the best way to do that is to put a quality hockey team on the ice.

At the end of last season Andy Murray arrived as the new head coach and in the offseason a few key acquisitions were made. Forward Keith Tkachuk was brought back and star-winger Paul Kariya was signed to a three-year $18 million deal. The team is younger than in resent years, but also well balanced. Andy Murray has a good mix of veterans and young talent, like Brad Boyes, Lee Stempniak, and Erik Johnson, to work with, and waiting for their turn is also a bunch of promising prospects ready to bring the St. Louis Blues even further.

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Not only did the New York Rangers score three goals, they did it in one single game, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 at Madison Square Garden. What is even more astonishing, both Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan (both members of the 600 goals club) contributed with one tally each.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs continue their roller-coaster ride this season with a 1-7 loss to the Washington Capitals on home ice. "If we're going to be a playoff team we need to win at home," said Leaf captain Mats Sundin. That would be a start, Mats.