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.
Perhaps "automatic" suspensions should be more common in the NHL rule book. After all, they make it difficult for anyone within the league to screw up.
Tuesday night, Leafs goalie Martin Gerber subjected himself to one of those automatic suspension thingies. Angry over a game-tying Capitals goal in the final minute of regulation, Gerber took out his frustrations on referee Mike Leggo. That probably was not a good idea.
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead. Canadiens 6, Thrashers 3: For one night, all is well in Montreal as the Canadiens managed to put their epic collapse on hold, pulling out a convincing 6-3 win over the Atlanta Thrashers. Montreal received a five-point effort from Alex Tanguay and a two-goal performance from Alexei Kovalev, while Carey Price picked up the win in net.
With the win, Montreal claims sole possession of the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference, taking a two-point lead over idle Florida. Montreal bombarded Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen with a four-goal onslaught in the second period, while the Canadiens also went 3-for-6 on the power play.
Toronto goalie Martin Gerber was ejected in the final minute of Tuesday's game with Washington for making contact with an official following a controversial goal. With the Maple Leafs leading, 2-1, there was a scrum in front of Gerber, resulting in Capitals forward Brooks Laich jamming a loose puck in for the game-tying goal.
We're in the home stretch of the NHL season, and both conference playoff races are heating up as the standings change on a daily basis. The Eastern Conference has seven teams separated by just seven points in the No's 4 through 10 spots, while everybody except Phoenix and Colorado is still competing for a playoff spot in the West.
Sabres 5, Canadiens 1:Patrick Lalime faced 39 shots on Wednesday night and turned aside all but one in Buffalo's 5-1 thrashing of Montreal. Derek Roy and Paul Gausted each scored a pair of goals for the Sabres, as they raced out to a commanding 5-0 lead.
Lalime weathered the storm in the first period, turning aside 18 Montreal shots, until Roy started the party for Buffalo netting a power play goal at the 17:53 mark of the period.
Predators 6, Oilers 5: Edmonton and Nashville entered Tuesday's game separated by only one point in the standings. Thanks to the Predators 6-5 overtime win, the two teams are now tied with 68 points at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture.
Jason Arnott scored the game-winner in overtime, as the two teams combined for five goals in the third period. Nashville has now won 11 of its past 16 games, including four in a row.
Brian Burke's acquisition of tough-guy Brad May helped add to some of the intensity and entertainment value in Thursday's Montreal-Toronto game, as the two teams beat the snot out of one other physically, while the Canadiens dominated on the scoreboard, pulling out a 6-2 win. The victory for Montreal is its third in a row, and eighth in its past 10 games.
Bruins 6, Senators 4: Boston snapped a brief two-game losing skid on Thursday night with a 6-4 win over Ottawa. The Bruins let a 3-1 lead slip away late in the second period, and then scored three consecutive goals of their own in the third, as Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber had a rather forgettable start in goal, stopping only 16 of 21 shots. Marc Savard scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, while also adding two assists.
Thanks to a series of injuries to goalies Jose Theodore and Brent Johnson, the Washington Capitals have had some rather unfamiliar faces suiting up the past two nights. On Friday, Ted Starkey told you the story of Brett Leonhardt, the Capitals web producer who had the opportunity to sit on the bench and serve as the backup goalie until Simeon Varlamov could make it to the arena, fresh off his callup from the minors.
On Saturday, it was Varlamov's moment to shine, as the 20-year old rookie turned aside 32 shots in his first NHL start, helping lead the Capitals to a 2-1 win in Montreal. The Canadiens peppered the former first-round pick with 27 shots over the final two periods, but he was up to the challenge, keeping the game tied at one until Michael Nylander scored his third goal of the season at the 17:28 mark of the third period, giving Washington the lead.
The Ottawa Senators are a highly-skilled team with a horrible disease of some sort. Call it cancer, but realize that something was amok as the Sens' season spiraled into a sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
How else can a team with the likes of Wade Redden, Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson, Andrej Meszaros, Jason Spezza, and a bunch of other talented players completely collapse after starting the season 15-2?
There has been a lot of speculation about the nighttime exploits of certain players, as they prefer to party and booze it up rather than worry about their hockey job.
The #1 culprit, as everyone knows, appears to be Sugar Ray Emery, the guy who showed up late for practices, loves to get into fights, and is far too immature to be counted on as a #1 goaltender.
Ray Emery wore out his welcome as an Ottawa Senator because of his unprofessional approach to being a professional athlete, arriving late for practices and not working hard enough.
He also tested the patience of the team when stories reached general manager and coach Bryan Murray of Emery's partying in various Ottawa nightspots.
Friday, Murray said enough was enough. After talking to the 25-year-old goalie on Thursday, Murray put the For Sale sign on Emery, and will now try to trade him. If Murray can't trade Emery, then he'll have to decide whether to buy out the remaining two years of his contract.
"My plan is not to have him back," said Murray.
A buy-out may be the only option, because I just can't see anyone taking on Emery and his expensive contract right now.
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.
Perhaps "automatic" suspensions should be more common in the NHL rule book. After all, they make it difficult for anyone within the league to screw up.
Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.
Sabres 5, Canadiens 1: Patrick Lalime faced 39 shots on Wednesday night and turned aside all but one in Buffalo's 5-1 thrashing of Montreal. Derek Roy and Paul Gausted each scored a pair of goals for the Sabres, as they raced out to a commanding 5-0 lead.
Predators 6, Oilers 5: Edmonton and Nashville entered Tuesday's game separated by only one point in the standings. Thanks to the Predators 6-5 overtime win, the two teams are now tied with 68 points at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture. 
Thanks to a series of injuries to goalies Jose Theodore and Brent Johnson, the Washington Capitals have had some rather unfamiliar faces suiting up the past two nights. On Friday, Ted Starkey told you the story of Brett Leonhardt, the Capitals web producer who had the opportunity to sit on the bench and serve as the backup goalie until Simeon Varlamov could make it to the arena, fresh off his callup from the minors. 
The Ottawa Senators are a highly-skilled team with a horrible disease of some sort. Call it cancer, but realize that something was amok as the Sens' season spiraled into a sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
