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.
Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like the American job market pretty much everything these days. It's a neat little segment entitled Buys and Sells. There are a few teams/players/issues to buy and a few to sell.
The playoff race in the middle of the Eastern Conference has taken a lot of twists and turns over the past week. The Rangers fired their coach and hired another, the Penguins shipped off Ryan Whitney and the Buffalo Sabres lost their starting goalie to an ankle injury.
The Buffalo Sabres' playoff hopes took a huge hit last night during their 4-2 win over the New York Rangers. The win pushed them to 68 points and a tie for seventh place in the East with the Rangers, three ahead of the ninth place Carolina Hurricanes.
That's all good news for a team in serious playoff battle.
The bad news is that they may have to go the rest of the way without Ryan Miller, their star goaltender.
As the NHL All-Star Break continues, keep up with FanHouse's coverage of hockey's unofficial midway point.
Plenty of exciting goals throughout the first half of the NHL season, and here are the top five that stood out above the rest:
5) Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals -- December 26, 2008: It wouldn't be a list of best goals if it didn't contain at least one from Alex Ovechkin. In a game in late December against Buffalo, Ovechkin took a loose puck coast-to-coast, undressed a defender, and ripped a shot behind Patrick Lalime while in the process of falling down. Vintage Ovechkin. Check it out right here.
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.
There are a lot of big names still on the board through the early stages of free agency today. The one position that there's been no shortage of movement at? Goalie. Goalies are changing teams left and right today and the effects of some of the moves are going to be pretty wide-ranging. Let's take a look at some of the moves that have taken place and what they might mean. All of the exhaustive contract details are via TSN.
Jose Theodore to the Capitals- It's a two-year, $9 million deal and Eric's got the details below. Theodore did seem to regain some of his form this past year with the Avalanche, but he melted down in the playoffs against the Red Wings while suffering from a bad case of the flu. He'll probably give the Caps an upgrade over what Olie the Goalie was giving them earlier in the year, but he won't carry them the way Huet did down the stretch last year. And $4.5 million seems like a lot of money for a guy that just might be washed up, doesn't it?
Cristobal Huet to the Blackhawks- With a ton of moneyalready tied up in Nikolai Khabibulin (~$7 million a year), the 'Hawks are now paying Huet $5.635 a year as well. Huet's an upgrade over what the Blackhawks have, for sure, but I'm trying to wrap my mind around paying more than $12 million a year for their top two goalies.
Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.
It wasn't so long ago that Pascal Leclaire was a struggling young goaltender who let in more things between his legs than a Parisian call girl. All of a sudden, Leclaire is stingier than Scrooge McDuck and continues to pile up the shutouts.
Last night was blank sheet #7 (a 2-0 win over the Thrashees) for the young Blue Jackets netminder this season, continuing a string of dominating performances that Pascal has put out since the season started.
At 25 years of age, Leclaire is at the point where most goalies are just starting to establish themselves. It shouldn't be a surprise that Leclaire is finally showing his potential, even after years of being shell-shocked behind a poor Jackets D. With his skill-set, Leclaire should be able to maintain a high level of performance as long as his team can continue to play a stifling style for coach Ken Hitchcock.
What a difference a year can make ... from struggling goalie to Vezina candidate.
It looks like the Blackhawks have found a backup goaltender they are comfortable with, after having to go through the disaster that was Brian Boucher. Go figure that the Blue Jackets went and claimed Boucher ... What the hell? Doug MacLean's last laugh? 0.o
Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon announced today that the Blackhawks have agreed to terms with goaltender Patrick Lalime on a 1-year contract.
Lalime, 32, 6'3", 189 pound netminder appeared in 12 games with the Blackhawks this past season posting a record of 4-5-1 with one shutout, a 3.07 goals against average and a .896 save percentage.
After suffering through a miserable post-lockout season with the Blues, Lalime started the year on the sidelines as he was recovering from a herniated disc and shell shock. I was at the game where he staged his comeback and shut out the Canucks at GM Place. He looked to have his agility back, and was hardly rusty behind a poor Hawks defence.
While he is highly unlikely to ever return to the level of a #1 goaltender, as he was with the Ottawa Senators, Lalime should provide the Hawks with a good backup to Nikolai Khabibulin, who has been fighting inconsistency and aches and pains during his tenure with the Hawks.
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.
Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like 
The Buffalo Sabres' playoff hopes took a huge hit last night during their 4-2 win over the New York Rangers. The win pushed them to 68 points and a tie for seventh place in the East with the Rangers, three ahead of the ninth place Carolina Hurricanes. 
As the NHL All-Star Break continues, keep up with FanHouse's coverage of hockey's unofficial midway point.
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. 
There are a lot of big names still on the board through the early stages of free agency today. The one position that there's been no shortage of movement at? Goalie. Goalies are changing teams left and right today and the effects of some of the moves are going to be pretty wide-ranging. Let's take a look at some of the moves that have taken place and what they might mean. All of the exhaustive contract details are via TSN. 
Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.
It looks like the Blackhawks have found a backup goaltender they are comfortable with, after having to go through the disaster that was Brian Boucher. Go figure that the Blue Jackets went and claimed Boucher ... What the hell? Doug MacLean's last laugh? 0.o
