FanHouse Cal Clutterbuck

When you watched the Minnesota Wild the last eight years, there were some things that could be counted on almost every game.

The teams coached by Jacques Lemaire weren't known for being lazy, uninspired, or unprepared. In fact, Lemaire has developed a reputation for getting the absolute maximum out of even the most marginal NHL players. They might not have been the most exciting team in the league, but they were competitive.

The defending champs claim the top spot in this week's power rankings, while the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes make jumps of their own as they look to earn playoff berths in their respective conferences.

There's also a new team taking over the basement, thanks to a pair of blowout losses on home ice in the past week.

Not much has gone right this season for Minnesota. Marian Gaborik was hurt for way too long, and now that he's back, Mikko Koivu's hurt. The Wild are still outside of the top eight in the Western Conference, and it looks like they'll have a hard time getting into the playoffs.

A bright spot most of the season has been the play of rookie Cal Clutterbuck. The 21-year-old has been consistently physical, and has shown great energy throughout the season. His reward won't be the Calder Trophy, but he has put himself in the record book.

It's been pretty obvious since his consecutive games streak ended February 21. Minnesota Wild forward Andrew Brunette has only missed one game since, but he hasn't looked right since, either.

Speculation was rampant that Brunette had suffered some sort of ligament damage to his knee. Were he to have surgery, his season would likely (depending on the severity of the damage) be over. Instead, Brunette has forged ahead, continuing to be a fixture in the Wild lineup.

As I mentioned last week, I'm a huge fan of the Canadian hockey broadcasters. CBC does a wonderful job with Hockey Night in Canada, and now fans across America can watch the weekly doubleheader on NHL Network. The pregame show, postgame show, and intermission programming are all first-rate.

Certainly, whether you love him or hate him, Don Cherry's "Coach's Corner" segment is one of the highlights of HNIC. Saturday, Cherry spent time talking about Doug Gilmour, whose number was retired by the Maple Leafs, and then ripped Minnesota Wild rookie Cal Clutterbuck.

It's great to see quality NHL action return to Chicago after years of disappointing hockey, and man, what a team the windy city has. With their 4-1 win in Minnesota on Sunday, the Blackhawks picked up their ninth straight victory, improving their record to 20-6-7, good enough for the fifth best record in the league.

Chicago received a four-point performance from Dustin Byfuglien, who scored a pair of goals in the first period and also added a pair of assists later in the game, as the Blackhawks dominated Minnesota. Cristobal Huet faced only 19 shots, turning away 18 of them to pick up his fifth consecutive win in goal. During his personal winning streak, Huet has allowed only four goals, posting a .967 save percentage.

Cal Clutterbuck scored Minnesota's only goal, while Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg added tallies for the Blackhawks.

While Chicago has been reeling off win after win, the Wild have been going the opposite direction winning just two of their past 10 games.

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Ryan O'Byrne has yet to score a goal this season, and thus far, only has one in his brief NHL career. Unfortunately for Montreal, the 24-year old rearguard scored on his own net with just under five-minutes to play in regulation on Monday night, sending the game to overtime. The own-goal proved to be costly for Montreal, as the Islanders took the game in a shootout, 4-3, picking up the extra point and winning for the fifth time in their past six games.

The O'Byrne gaffe happened on a delayed penalty call, which led to Canadiens goalie Carey Price heading to the bench for the extra-attacker. O'Byrne, unfortunately, sent the puck backwards toward the yawning net -- as seen in the above video -- tying the game at three, much to the chagrin of the Bell Centre crowd.

Seriously, that's just painful to watch. O'Byrne instantly covered his face and looked like he wanted to dig a hole in the ice and crawl out of the arena. What do you even say after that?

Islanders forward Bill Guerin was credited for what will surely be the easiest goal of his career.

Richard Park and Trent Hunter scored the other goals for the Islanders, while Steve Begin, John Gorges and Maxim Lapierre scored for Montreal.