It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Southeast Division.
The Southeast is probably going to be the most boring division in hockey this offseason. Three of the teams don't have the financial capability to make the sort of splash they need, and the other two were good enough to mostly maintain the status quo.
Still, we've got two top-5 draft picks to look forward to, as well as the ongoing sagas surrounding the stars for both Florida franchises.
Senators 5, Canadiens 4: It could be argued that Montreal has already hit the panic button by firing Guy Carbonneau, but if there's another one hidden in the bowels of the Bell Centre, it might be time to press that one, as well.
Thanks to their 5-4 loss to Ottawa on Thursday, the Canadiens have now lost four in a row and six of their past eight, as they continue to flirt with the possibility of missing the postseason.
Panthers 6, Capitals 2: After a couple of blowout losses this past week, the Florida Panthers rebounded for a convincing 6-2 win in Washington on Sunday, thanks in large part to a 3-for-6 effort from their power play. After Alexander Semin gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead, the Panthers picked up three consecutive power play goals on their way to a four goal first period.
I never thought I'd say this but when the playoffs finally start, the Panthers are going to be a scary opponent for anyone to face presuming, of course, they make the playoffs.
Last night the Cats earned a 2-0 win over the Boston Bruins, the East's best team and arguably the best in the NHL. That is, if you look at the standings. The Panthers, currently tied for sixth in the Eastern Conference and caught up in a tight playoff race, are quietly emerging as a counterpart of the league's best teams.
Devils 4, Bruins 3: The premier matchup on Thursday's schedule had to be the New Jersey-Boston tilt, and it didn't disappoint as the Devils took a 4-3 decision in overtime. Jamie Langenbrunner scored a pair of goals for the Devils, including the game-winner 1:11 into overtime.
After jumping out to a 2-0 lead through the first two periods, New Jersey watched the Bruins roar back with three goals in the third period before Patrick Elias tied the game with just under two minutes to play in regulation. Zach Parise picked up his 29th goal of the season in the win, while Scott Clemmensen made 24 saves. New Jersey has now won seven consecutive games while allowing only 12 goals during the streak. Who needs Martin Brodeur, eh?
I don't know what's been happening across the NHL the past two nights, but it's almost as if everyone jumped into a time machine (perhaps a DeLorean) and traveled back to 1985. Have you seen some of these scores? I'm talking 9-2, 8-5, 6-5, 7-3. It's crazy, like somebody went into the locker rooms across the league and shrunk down the goalie pads, or something.
One night after the Penguins steamrolled the Islanders to the tune of 9-2, and four different players across the league registered hat tricks, the goal-scoring barrage continued on Friday. Let's start in Newark, where the Devils outscored the Rangers, 8-5, in a game that had to be played with empty nets.
Midway through the second period, New Jersey was sitting with a seemingly comfortable 5-1 lead, before the Rangers roared back to tie the game at the 11:18 mark of the third period, thanks to Ryan Callahan's eighth goal of the season. The Rangers actually outshot the Devils by a 16-4 margin in the third period, though, New Jersey made the best of its few opportunities, scoring on three of them. Just 11 seconds after Callahan's equalizer, Patrick Elias scored the game-winner, before Brian Gionta and Jamie Langenbrunner sealed the win.
Entering Thursday's game against the Islanders, Pittsburgh found itself with a three-game losing streak. Consider the streak over, as the Penguins systematically dismantled New York with a 9-2 thumping at Mellon Arena. The Penguins received hat tricks from both Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis (each player's first ever hat trick) as they never let up, while fans chanted "we want 10" during the final minute of regulation.
The Penguins scored four goals in both the first and second periods, before Dupuis completed his hat trick late in the third period. Defensemen Mark Streit and Andy Sutton scored the only goals for New York, as Penguins goalie John Curry picked up his second NHL win (both against the Islanders) making 24 saves.
The biggest problem for the Islanders was the fact they couldn't stay out of the penalty box, picking up 34 penalty minutes throughout the game, including three separate occasions where they handed Pittsburgh five-on-three advantages.
Pittsburgh had eight different players finish with multiple points, including Evgeni Malkin (goal, assist) and Sidney Crosby (three assists) who continue to distance themselves from the rest of the pack in the NHL scoring race. Amazingly, Jeff Taffe, recently called up from the minors, found a way to finish the game as a -1.
Should you feel sorry for the Islanders after a loss like this? Of course not. This is the big leagues, and as long as they're going to keep playing hard and physical (as they did), you should expect the other team to keep clicking on all cylinders in an effort to score as many goals as possible. You never know when the other team could mount an unexpected, late-game comeback.
What happens when the best team in the Eastern Conference hosts the worst team in the league? Well, you might expect a blowout, and for 40 minutes, that's exactly what you received. The Bruins scored three goals in the first ten minutes on Monday night and had to hold off a third period rally from Tampa Bay, before skating away with a 5-3 win.
Milan Lucic, Phil Kessel and Michael Ryder opened the scoring for the Bruins in the first, while Zdeno Chara added his fifth goal of the season in the second to help stake Boston to a commanding 4-1 lead.
Tampa Bay outshot the Bruins by a 15-4 margin in the third period, and picked up a pair of goals from Vincent Lecavalier and Paul Szczechura (his first career goal) before P.J. Axelson added an empty-netter to seal the win.
For the Bruins, it's their fifth consecutive win, and their 14th in the past 16 games. Actually, since starting the season 2-2-3, Boston has gone 17-2-1, which is just simply ridiculous. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, is the exact opposite, as the Lightning have been downright awful, losing eight in a row, and 15 of their past 17.
It's only a matter of time until they continue to shuffle the deck chairs.
Florida Panthers goaltender Craig Anderson turned aside all 37 shots he faced, while Henrik Lundqvist failed to make it beyond the second period for the Rangers, as the Panthers used a three-goal outburst in the second to roll to a 4-0 win.
The Panthers received goals from Ville Peltonen, Stephen Weiss and Gregory Campbell in the second, as Weiss and Campbell scored just 12 seconds apart, leading to Rangers coach Tom Renney lifting his all-star netminder. Michael Frolik added some insurance in the third period for Florida, picking up his second goal of the season.
For Anderson, it's the fourth time this season he's stopped at least 37 shots in a game, as he pushes his season record to 4-1-3 and currently boasts a .948 save percentage, best in the NHL. He had to withstand a 17-shot barrage from the Rangers in the final period to preserve the shutout.
Anderson's performance was good enough for him to earn yet another start on Tuesday, when the Panthers take on Washington.
Things have been bleak in New Jersey ever since Martin Brodeur went down with his elbow injury, and they didn't exactly get any better on Friday night when the Devils fell, 3-1, to Washington. The Devils are now 1-5 since Brodeur's injury, and have scored just five goals in the five losses. Perhaps instead of acquiring a new goalie to replace his injured star, Lou Lamoriello should consider picking up somebody that can actually fill the net. Just a thought.
Scott Clemmensen was the hard-luck loser for the Devils on this night, giving up only two goals on 26 shots (the third goal for Washington was of the empty-net variety).
It's already becoming a familiar script. A good effort by an undermanned Devils team, but the offense can't put the puck past a goaltender you wouldn't expect to play well and despite acceptable goaltending on their own end, it's all just good enough to lose. That's what's facing the Devils right now after their 3-1 loss in Washington, dropping them to .500 (7-7-2) just two weeks after being four games over.
Alex Ovechkin continued his recent hot-streak by scoring his fifth goal (empty net) of the year and also picking up an assist. He's now scored in three straight games, after going ten in a row without a goal. It was only a matter of time before he started to catch fire.
Unfortunately for the Capitals, the win came with a price as they lost the league's leading scorer, Alexander Semin, to an "undisclosed injury" in the second period. He did not return to the game.
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Southeast Division.
I never thought I'd say this but when the playoffs finally start, the Panthers are going to be a scary opponent for anyone to face presuming, of course, they make the playoffs. 
I don't know what's been happening across the NHL the past two nights, but it's almost as if everyone jumped into a time machine (perhaps a DeLorean) and traveled back to 1985. Have you seen some of these scores? I'm talking 9-2, 8-5, 6-5, 7-3. It's crazy, like somebody went into the locker rooms across the league and shrunk down the goalie pads, or something. 
Entering Thursday's game against the Islanders, Pittsburgh found itself with a three-game losing streak. Consider the streak over, as the Penguins systematically dismantled New York with a 9-2 thumping at Mellon Arena. The Penguins received hat tricks from both 
What happens when the best team in the Eastern Conference hosts the worst team in the league? Well, you might expect a blowout, and for 40 minutes, that's exactly what you received. The Bruins scored three goals in the first ten minutes on Monday night and had to hold off a third period rally from Tampa Bay, before skating away with a 5-3 win.
Florida Panthers goaltender 
Things have been bleak in New Jersey ever since 
