Let there be no question that the St. Louis Blues have character. They have guts. They have fire. Oh, and they have some great young players who will only get better as the years go by.
Trailing 2-0 in the game and 3-0 in the series, the Blues showed zero quit, rallying to tie the score on two second-period goals, and then getting some great goaltending from Chris Mason, who dueled with Roberto Luongo through a scoreless third period. That duel continued deep into overtime, before Alex Burrows scored his second of the game to eliminate St. Louis, 3-2.
Three of the teams fighting for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference were in action on Tuesday night, and thanks to wins by Buffalo and Florida, and Carolina's loss to Boston, there is a major pileup at the bottom of the playoff picture.
Buffalo burned rookie netminder Justin Pogge for three goals on nine shots in the first period, while the Sabres pulled out a 4-1 win in Toronto. Meanwhile, in Miami, the Panthers cooled off New Jersey with a 4-0 win thanks to Tomas Vokoun's 36-save shutout.
There are certainly at least two really good teams in the NHL's Western Conference. Defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit and fast-starting San Jose appear in the clear to duke it out for the right to play for the Stanley Cup later this year.
Of course, we know that anything can happen in a best-of-seven series. In addition, we still have half a season left to play. What we don't know is which team in this conference is set up to challenge either the Red Wings or Sharks. They've beaten - at least once - pretty much everyone who has stood in their way, including each other.
While the top of the conference appears to virtually locked in place at this point, there are still serious battles to be fought, especially for the last four positions in the West. Currently, eight teams are separated by just six points. St. Louis, the last-place team in the West, is just nine points out of eighth.
The Florida Panthers scored three third period goals, including a game-tying score from Radek Dvorak with 1:38 to play, to force overtime at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Sunday afternoon. Defenseman Andrei Markov, one of four Montreal players voted to start in the All-Star game, scored the lone goal in a shootout helping lead the Canadiens to a 6-5 win.
The Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to goals from Brett McLean and David Booth, only to have Montreal come out in the second period and take over the game, scoring four goals -- including a pair in the first two minutes of the period -- while outshooting the Panthers by a 19-5 margin.
Florida rebounded in the final frame with goals from Dvorak (two) and Jassen Cullimore, sending the game to overtime. .
As long as we're on the subject of the Panthers, Greg Wyshnyski over at Puck Daddy passes along the report (from George Richards of the Miami Herald) that Brett McLean thinks Sidney Crosby is a liar, and that no challenge was ever issued prior to the drop of the puck in Saturday's game. So, basically, it's all coming down to a bunch of he said, she said. Moving on ...
It's been a rough stretch for the Minnesota Wild over the past two weeks, and it continued on Sunday as they dropped their fifth in a row -- and sixth in their past seven games -- as they fell to Anaheim, 4-2. During this current losing streak, Minnesota has scored only five goals, and is finding out that it's quite difficult to win every game 1-0.
After overcoming a 2-0 deficit thanks to a pair of goals by Marc-Andre Bergeron and Eric Belanger, the Wild allowed Brendan Morrison and Bobby Ryan to reclaim the lead for the Ducks. From that point on, J.S. Giguere shut the door for Anaheim, as he turned aside 26 shots in the win. The Ducks also received goals from Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, as they won for the third time in their past four games.
Josh Harding received the start in goal for Minnesota, making 30 saves on 34 shots.
Before we dig into last night's action, this was passed on to us here at FanHouse in the spirit of the holiday season. The National Hockey League and the Salvation Army have partnered up this year to help raise money during the holidays, and you can help the cause by creating your own online NHL team kettle (you provide the bell) to help raise money. The fan that raises the most money will win an All-Star prize package, including two tickets to the game in Montreal. You can find all the details right here.
As for the Wednesday night schedule, Henrik Lundqvist had a relatively short night in net for the Rangers, as he surrendered five goals on 17 shots in just over a period of action. He was ultimately lifted in favor of backup Steve Valiquette, as New York fell to Vancouver, 6-3, at the Garden.
Just five minutes into the second period, the Canucks had a 5-1 lead thanks to goals from Alexandre Burrows (two),Kyle Wellwood, Ryan Johnson and Pavol Demitra. Demitra's power play goal at the 5:33 mark of the second period was the final straw for Lundqvist, as coach Tom Renney sent in Valiquette, who turned aside all 15 shots he faced. Daniel Sedin added an empty net goal for Vancouver with three seconds to play in the third period.
Yesterday we talked about how the Devils haven't been able to find the back of the net in recent games, making their backup goalies hard-luck losers since the injury to Martin Brodeur. Well, last night against the Capitals, New Jersey had an offensive explosion of sorts as it snapped a four-game losing streak, winning in a shootout, 6-5.
It certainly wasn't easy as Alex Ovechkin tied the game with 0.8 seconds to play in regulation, continuing what had been an insane night in Newark. Ovechkin finished with two goals -- his fourth straight game with a goal -- and an assist, while Nicklas Backstrom had a five-point night for the Capitals in the losing effort.
Alexander Semin, who entered play on Saturday night as the league's leading scorer, did not play for the Capitals as he sat out with a shoulder injury suffered on Friday night.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, under Interim/Semi-permanent GM Cliff Fletcher, have been busy this summer trimming the fat from the roster in anticipation of a new GM *cough*Brian Burke*cough* coming in to right the ship. Kyle Wellwood's fat ass, Darcy Tucker's temper, and Andrew Raycroft's five-hole have all been told to get the hell out, and Trader Cliff isn't done yet.
Cliff's next target seems to be Bryan McCabe, the highly-paid defenseman with the big shot and woeful defensive ability.
The problem? McCabe has a no-trade clause, a huge contract, and the Leafs are unwilling to pay to have the rest of his $10M contract bought out.
Sources tell TSN the Maple Leafs approached McCabe's agent, Ian Pulver before the NHL Entry Draft hoping to encourage the veteran defenceman to waive his no-movement clause to open the door for a trade.
However, this time, whether intended or not, Toronto turned up the heat and according to sources, hinted McCabe may be asked to stay home, rather than join his teammates for training camp if he wasn't willing to change his mind.
Of course, these 'sources' could easily be the janitor at the Air Canada Centre, or Cliff Fletcher's nephew's brother's friend. Take it all with a grain of salt.
All I can say is that IF the Leafs decided to play such games, they can ensure themselves that future free agents are going to stay the hell away from Leafland. What player is going to want to put up with that? It's not McCabe's fault the Leafs lavished him with one of the worst contracts this decade.
Ask any hockey expert, wanna-be expert, or fan about the NHL's Lady Byng Trophy, and you'll likely get some snarky comments about how it's awarded to the league's biggest twinkletoes and/or is an award for soft players who don't like to get touched too hard.
I'm not sure the Lady Byng is actually a trophy. I think at the NHL Awards Ceremony they just give the winner a bunch of roses and a tiara. I could be wrong about this.
The official wording is to give the award "to the National Hockey League hockey player voted to have shown the best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with performance in play." In recent times, this has simply meant a player with a lot of points and the lowest penalty totals, even if said player whines a lot.
Despite what the naysayers tell you, I believe there is value in this award. Far too often, the media hype up big penalty minute totals as a sign of a tough, gritty player. Me? I see careless stick-work and a lack of discipline by the likes of a Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Witt, or Keith Tkachuk as putting their teams on the penalty kill and giving the opposition great chances to score.
If you can play the game with a high level of skill AND stay out of the penalty box, then you have added a lot of value to your team but not giving the opposition more time with the man advantage.
Looking at the leader boards, many of today's top scorers tend not to take a lot of penalties, so it becomes a matter of picking out the players with exceptionally low penalty minute totals.
So, who are the top candidates for the tiara ... err ... trophy?
If anyone wanted to start a movement to rename the NHL's Lady Byng Trophy, this season might be the time to do so.
There hasn't been a candidate as good as the Maple Leafs' Kyle Wellwood – he of zero penalty minutes this season – since Butch Goring went 0-fer in the PIM column back in 1980-81. Wellwood has missed a considerable amount of time with a hip/groin injury, but has still skated in 46 games and hasn't been whistled down once for an infraction – coincidental or otherwise.
Here's a look courtesy of HockeyZonePlus of the top players in terms of career points per penalty minutes:
Player
Years
GP
Pts
PIM
Pts/PIM
1. Clint Smith
36-47
483
397
24
16.54
2. B. O'Connor
41-51
509
397
34
11.68
3. V. Fonteyne
59-72
820
229
26
8.81
4. Butch Goring
69-85
1107
888
102
8.71
5. Dave Keon
60-82
1296
986
117
8.43
6. S. Apps (Sr)
36-48
423
432
56
7.71
7. Bobby Bauer
36-52
327
260
36
7.22
8. Rick Kehoe
71-85
906
767
120
6.39
9. R. Middleton
74-88
1005
988
157
6.29
10. C. Henry
53-70
727
528
88
6.00
Wellwood had 14 PIM last season, which works out to just more than six points per penalty minute for his career.
Let there be no question that the St. Louis Blues have character. They have guts. They have fire. Oh, and they have some great young players who will only get better as the years go by.
Three of the teams fighting for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference were in action on Tuesday night, and thanks to wins by Buffalo and Florida, and Carolina's loss to Boston, there is a major pileup at the bottom of the playoff picture. 
There are certainly at least two really good teams in the NHL's Western Conference. Defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit and fast-starting San Jose appear in the clear to duke it out for the right to play for the Stanley Cup later this year.
The Florida Panthers scored three third period goals, including a game-tying score from 
It's been a rough stretch for the Minnesota Wild over the past two weeks, and it continued on Sunday as they dropped their fifth in a row -- and sixth in their past seven games -- as they fell to Anaheim, 4-2. During this current losing streak, Minnesota has scored only five goals, and is finding out that it's quite difficult to win every game 1-0. 
Before we dig into last night's action, this was passed on to us here at FanHouse in the spirit of the holiday season. The National Hockey League and the Salvation Army have partnered up this year to help raise money during the holidays, and you can help the cause by creating your own online NHL team kettle (you provide the bell) to help raise money. The fan that raises the most money will win an All-Star prize package, including two tickets to the game in Montreal. You can find all the details 
Yesterday we talked about how the Devils haven't been able to find the back of the net in recent games, making their backup goalies hard-luck losers since the injury to 
The Toronto Maple Leafs, under Interim/Semi-permanent GM Cliff Fletcher, have been busy this summer trimming the fat from the roster in anticipation of a new GM *cough*Brian Burke*cough* coming in to right the ship. 
Ask any hockey expert, wanna-be expert, or fan about the NHL's Lady Byng Trophy, and you'll likely get some snarky comments about how it's awarded to the league's biggest twinkletoes and/or is an award for soft players who don't like to get touched too hard. 
