The Bolts are in fifth (last) place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Washington Capitals by twelve points. Tampa Bay is in 15th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference, twelve points out of a playoff spot.

After 44 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with 30. He leads the Bolts in points with 50 (third in the NHL). Martin St. Louis is tops in assists with 25. Marc-Andre Bergeron leads the team in rating with a +8.

Forward Steve Downie is last in rating with an alarming -19 and has accumulated 107 penalty minutes. Goalie Mathieu Garon has 11 wins, a 2.94 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:18 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 152.

The Lightning have scored 119 goals (12th in the NHL) and allowed 153 goals (30th (last) in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams remain bad. The power play success rate is 14.1% (26th in the NHL) and the penalty kill is at 78.9% (26th in the NHL). The league average power play percentage is 17.3% and the average NHL team kills off 82.7% of their penalties successfully. Currently, the Lightning is mired in a 4-41 power play drought, including a 1-34 road power play skid.

Tampa Bay is 23rd in the league in faceoff percentage, winning just 49% of their draws.

Box Scores

Game 41 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Vancouver Canucks 5 SO

Game 42 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Carolina Hurricanes 5

Game 43 – Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – Washington Capitals 4

Game 44 – Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – Pittsburgh Penguins 6

Three Stars of the Week

Vincent Lecavalier – One goal and four assists.

Martin St. Louis – Five assists.

Steven Stamkos – One goal and three assists.

Transactions

The Lightning announced a two year-one way contract extension for $600,000 per year for forward Tom Pyatt.

The Lightning called up forward Trevor Smith from Norfolk (AHL).

Injuries

Forward Ryan Shannon is out 2-4 weeks with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Defenseman Victor Hedman is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Forwards JT Wyman is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Adam Hall is out 6-8 weeks with an upper body injury.

Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Dana Tyrell is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Bolt Notes

The Bolts went 0-4 this past week. Tampa Bay has dropped their last seven games and nine of their last twelve. They are at the bottom of the Southeast Division and the Eastern Conference. They are 27th of the 30 NHL teams. Tampa Bay is an awful road team going 6-16-3 so far in 2012.

The numbers don’t lie. The Lightning are a last place team with a brutally bad defense and ineffective goaltending. Of the 77 NHL goalies that have suited up this season, Mathieu Garon and Dwayne Roloson rank 58th and 72nd in goals against average respectively. The duo is 58th and 71st in save percentage.

While many believe this is a team that has the ability to come back after trailing…don’t believe it! The Bolts have won only 26% of the games when they have trailed in the first period.

The Lightning is giving up 31 shots per game on average, while getting 28 shots on goal.

At this point, Tampa Bay looks like a seller, but one without much to offer. GM Steve Yzerman will not trade a prospect, as one player, not even a goalie can save the season.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Boston on Tuesday, travels to Dallas on Friday and Phoenix on Saturday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The Norfolk Admirals faced off for a rare Tuesday night meeting with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins at home in the “friendly” confines of the Norfolk Scope. The previous meeting, a week ago, resulted in a win for the Admirals. This meeting would not be as nice as the Penguins had revenge on their minds.  Paul Thompson and Ben Street of the Penguins would give the Baby Pens an early 3-0 lead in the first period. Michel Ouellett and Radko Gudas would get the Admirals on the board in the second. Unfortunately for the Admirals these would their only goals of the night. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton held Norfolk scoreless the rest of the way and went home with the 3-2 win.

Next, the Connecticut Whale and Sean Avery arrived in town for a weekend series with the Admirals. The Fans were disappointed when Avery was scratched for disciplinary reasons. The Admirals were not focused on the former NHL bad-boy, but instead, focused on the game and getting two points. Mike Kostka opened up the scoring midway into the first period. Cory Conacher added another goal early in the second period. Matt Fornataro score five minutes later to put the Ad’s up 3-0. The Admirals shut-out was ruined as Aaron Voros put the puck past Admirals netminder, Dustin Tokarski. The Voros goal would be the Whales’s only score as the Admirals shut down the Whale for the 3-1 win.

The Whale and the Admirals were back at it on Saturday night for Norfolk’s annual “Pink in the Rink” night to benefit the Susan G. Komen Cure for Cancer and Breast Cancer Awareness. A season high crowd of 7,227 was on hand to see the game and the bonus was an appearance by Sean Avery. The night was Richard Panik’s night as he gave Whale goalie, Cameron Talbot, a “Panik Attack”. Panik opened up the scoring with a goal in the first and another midway thru the second period to give Norfolk a 2-0 lead. Kelsey Tessier and Aaron Voros would score later in the second to tie the game at two each. Mike Kostka and Matt Fornataro would combine to put Norfolk ahead early in the third period. Fornataro deflected Kostka’s pass past Talbot for his second goal in two nights. Mike Angelidis added the insurance goal late in the third.Norfolk won the game 4-2 and swept the Whale.

Trevor Smith (16G 28A 44Pts +17) and Cory Conacher (22G 21A 43Pts +7) find themselves at the top of Norfolk’s scoring list. Smith and Conacher continue to keep moving forward. Mark Barberio (4G 31A 35Pts +20) leads all Norfolk defensemen and is in third place amongst all Admirals in scoring. Carter Ashton (15G 13A 28Pts +9) is seriously falling behind the leaders, but maintains a hold on fourth place in scoring. Dustin Tokarski (16-9-0 2.9GAA) went 2-1 this week. Jaroslav Janus (7-5-2 3.04GAA) did not play this week.

For the Season the Admirals are 23-13-1-2 with 49 points. They are currently 6 points behind the East Division leading Hershey Bears. Norfolkis currently on a 2-0-0-0 streak and is 6-2-1-1 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Richard Panik – Two goals.

Mike Kostka  – One goal and two assists.

Mark Barberio – Three assists.

Transactions

Kevin Quick – Assigned to the Florida Everblades (ECHL).

Charles Landry – Assigned to the Florida Everblades (ECHL).

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

Tuesday night was not pretty. The Penguins totally outplayed Norfolk. While the score on paper looked close, it was nowhere near that. Friday and Saturday the Admirals played like they played at the beginning of the season. I don’t know what went on in practice, but whatever they discussed they were on point this weekend. Mark Barberio is having a great season. He is all over the place on the ice and holds the defense together. Richard Panik has shown what he is capable of doing, but needs to keep doing it on a regular basis.

Sean Avery lived up to his reputation. He was scratched from the first game for disciplinary reasons. He was spotted out on the town sitting at a bar being ignored by fellow members of the Whale. During warm-ups on Saturday night he was heckled and challenged a few of the hecklers to come on the ice. During the game he would argue with the referees, slashed an Admirals player, and got tossed for abusing the officials. Yes, he definitely lived up to his reputation. Even though he was very entertaining, I wouldn’t want him on my team.

The Week Ahead

Next up for the Admirals is a three-game road trip starting Wednesday night in Albany, N.Y.against the Devils, Friday night against the Syracuse Crunch, and a rematch with the Whale on Saturday night in Connecticut.

Follow WB Philp on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

Dwayne Roloson reacts to giving up game winner

With just over three minutes left in the second overtime, the Penguins James Neal flung a bad angle shot from the side board that tipped off of goalie Dwayne Roloson’s glove and then the crossbar to give Pittsburgh a hard earned 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and a 3-1 series lead.

It’s hard to blame Roloson who was terrific most of the night and made fifty saves in the loss, but allowed two bad angle, unscreened goals. In comparison, Marc-Andre Fleury only had to make 29 saves in the game. Roloson’s goaltending was a big reason that the Bolts were able to stay in this game, but the goals he allowed were soft. Even though the Bolts trail 3-1 in the series, Roloson has not allowed more than three goals in any of the four games.

It’s hard to blame the heartbreaking loss on lack of effort. The Bolts came back from yet another two goal deficit to tie the score. The heart and soul, Marty St. Louis scored late in the second period off a beautiful flip pass from Vincent Lecavalier. Marty made a highlight reel move as he brought the puck from his backhand to his forehand and beat Marc-Andre Fleury to pull the Lightning within a goal. Sean Bergenheim played like a man possessed all night and was rewarded late in the third period as he found the puck amidst a scrum around the goal and fired it home to tie the score. I believe that Bergenheim was the best player on the ice for the Bolts. Talk about effort. Eric Brewer and Marty St. Louis played just short of 35 minutes in the game.

Perhaps the blame can be placed upon the special teams. The Bolts effective power play (4-11 going into the game) was silenced by the leagues top penalty killing unit. Tampa Bay went 0-4 with the man advantage last night. Pittsburgh scored their first power play goal of the series when Lightning killer Tyler Kennedy beat Roloson short side at 8:14 of the first period.

Perhaps you can blame it on the inability of the Lightning to win a faceoff that mattered. The final numbers looked okay, but Tampa Bay seemed to lose every draw in the defensive zone.

Perhaps you could put the blame on the Bolts struggling superstar Steven Stamkos who took a pass from Marty St. Louis in front of the Pittsburgh net with five minutes to play and missed everything despite having an open net to shoot at.

Ultimately though, the blame needs to be put upon the Lightning’s inability to start fast. Tampa Bay was off its game for the first 30 minutes last night. Players could be seen standing around and not skating. Getting the puck over the blue line and through the neutral zone seemed impossible. Much of this was due to the playoff savvy Penguins who refused to give the Bolts an inch of ice to maneuver.

This may be as far as the Lightning can go this season and that’s okay. This team and organization has come a long way in just one year. But, there is still a glimmer of hope and Tampa Bay need look no further than their teammate Simon Gagne for inspiration. After all, Gagne was a big part of the never say die Flyers of last season. Philadelphia, the number seven seed in the East, overcame a 3-0 series deficit and a 3-0 deficit in the first period of Game 7 before rallying to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

The barely breathing Bolts have two days to rest and get ready to start their steep, uphill climb.

The Panel

Josh Sargent (@Josh_Sargent)- Minnesota Wild correspondent for NHLHotStove.com.

Andy Ajer (@FightNightAtJoe) – Detroit Red Wings blogger. Runs Fight Night At The Joe.

Mike Murgani (@Draft_Mike) – LA Kings correspondent for NHLHotStove.com.

Kevin Navarre (@Jabberwockkie) – Dallas Stars Correspondent for NHLHotStove.com.

Brian Haenchen (@Brian_Haenchen) – Covering the St. Louis Blues on HockeyIndependent.com and operates HanksSportsBlog (@HanksSportsBlog).

Christina Roberts (@franzenmuth) – Detroit Red Wings Correspondent for NHLHotStove.com.

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Are the Red Wings back as an elite force in the conference after a slight let down in 2009-10? Why or Why not?

JS: I don’t think they have changed, the only difference between this year and last is that the talent in their division is a little lower, all last year they had to try and keep up with Chicago and may have put too much pressure on themselves.

AA: Yes, the let down last year was mainly because of the 311 games lost to injury, but this year’s team is scarily deep and once they get over their inability to play a full 60 minutes they are going to be even better than they are now.

MM: The Red Wings really never went anywhere. No team in the league drafts as well or develops talent better then Ken Holland. With a team decimated by injuries the Wings still managed to finish 5th in a tough conference and won a playoff series. That just proves the depth the Wings have in the system.

KN: Yes. The Red Wings are healthy again (until Datsyuk went down to injury) and doing what they do best which is intimidate every opponent with that winged wheel.

BH: When healthy, the Detroit Red Wings have proved themselves to be a very good team in the Western Conference. Just based on their experience and skill, I’d say they are the team to beat in the Central Division. However, I think it’s too early to label them as an elite force in the conference.

First of all, the Western Conference standings are such a mess right now. The top 12 teams are all within striking distance of each other meaning that a team currently sitting outside of the playoffs all together could find itself atop the conference with any sort of significant win streak.

Also, I’m not completely sold on Jimmy Howard. I think the juggernaut Detroit has offensively makes up for any shortcomings Howard has. Don’t get me wrong, Howard’s a damn good goaltender, but I question his consistency and it will be interesting to see how he and the team as a whole respond to the recent injury to star forward Pavel Datsyuk.

CR: At the start of the season, I would have immediately said yes, the Wings are an elite force. But the stuttering for the past few weeks has me thinking that they may not be “elite.” But they’re still a force to reckon with. Despite the losses as of late, they’ve only lost eight games in regulation. And their blue line is deadly. As of last Monday, they were ranked second for the most offensive with eighteen goals, just behind Atlanta’s twenty goals. The 2009-2010 season had everyone wondering if age was finally catching up with the Red Wings (which is thrown around after pretty much every season now), but if you look at the team’s stats from after the Olympic break, they were back in that prime form, having all of their major injuries back in play. And the second-round loss to the San Jose Sharks gave them a few extra weeks of well-needed rest. Pavel Datsyuk’s injury will also be a test of how well the team can cope without him and whether Datsyuk can come back and perform to the same level he had before; it was a Hart Trophy season prior to the injury

Are the Dallas Stars the biggest surprise or biggest overachiever in the conference?

JS: They are the overachiever in the Pacific but what is helping them out the most is that San Jose, Los Angeles, and Phoenix are not playing up to their levels. I think second half of the season Dallas falls out of the top.

AA: Surprise for sure. But they are dependent on staying healthy and their top players performing cause they definitely aren’t the deepest team in the league.

MM: I feel the Stars are the most over rated team in the NHL we are almost 3 months into the season and the Stars have played the most home games in the league and have yet to go on more the a 3 game road trip and that trip had 5 days off between games. Also the Stars have only played 2 back to backs fewest in the league. The Stars have no more the a 3 game trip the rest of the season and a season high 9 game home stand in March and only 3 more back to backs.

KN: The Stars are definitely surprising and turning heads and I follow the team and feel that way.  The big “if” this year was defense and goaltending and they’re getting a good effort in the former and an A++ in the latter with the same offense they ha last year.  We all thought they could be as good as they are but a couple years down the road.

BH: I have been shocked with how well Dallas has been playing this year. Heading into this season, I definitely thought the Stars were a playoff team, but I did not see them battling for the top spot in the Western Conference at any point during the season.

Right now, they’re a team that seems to have everything going for them. Brad Richards is having a solid year offensively and their goaltenders in Andrew Raycroft and (now that he has returned) Kari Lehtonen have been good enough in tight games to help ensure the team manages to get at least a point each game.

I don’t think anyone could have predicted the 30-year-old Richards to be having the season he’s been having. Right now, he’s on pace to set a career high in goals scored and could come close to matching his career high point total from last season.

It will be interesting to see if the Stars are able to maintain this pace over the long haul. I think these next few games will be very telling as to if this team is a legitimate Conference Title contender or just a flash in the pan.

Right now, I see Dallas sustaining this high level of play and contending with Vancouver for the Western Conference title. Between the one-two punch in net with Raycroft and Lehtonen and the offensive production from Richards, the Stars should have no problem hanging in there with the other division leaders.

CR: I would say neither, though I would probably lean more toward the overachiever part of it. But thinking about it, the Stars made it to the Western Conference Finals three years ago and had to struggle with injuries these past few seasons. Finally getting healthy and consistent and picking up some solid players they needed (like Adam Burish and Andrew Raycroft) and although it’s hard to say, getting rid of Mike Modano certainly helped them align themselves much better. They seem to have found that groove they’ve been grasping for the past two seasons and if people were paying closer attention, maybe it wouldn’t be such a surprise to them.

Which team is the biggest underachiever to date?

JS: With the addition of Jaroslav Halak to the Blues along with a healthy Erik Johnson I thought they would be a lot better but can’t completely place blame on the team when they are missing key players on IR.

AA: The Kings and Coyotes are both better teams than their point totals indicate at the moment. I’d say the Kings, I think they should be good enough to challenge for the division title.

MM: I feel the St Louis Blues getting a starting goaltender would improve the club, but the Blues have struggled all season.

KN: I’d have to go with LA.  they started off hot and dangerous but have fallen down quite drastically.  on paper I don’t see many weaknesses but maybe they lack the confidence or the expectations this year are weighing them down.

BH: Calgary Flames. Jarome Iginla is heating up, but it’s not enough to make up for the lack of production from his teammates and the underwhelming performance thus far from Miikka Kiprusoff.

CR: Calgary. This team has struggled the past few seasons and hasn’t really found its groove just yet to get on a hot streak and parade up the rankings. But with star players like Jarome Iginla, Miikka Kiprusoff, Jay Bowmeester, and Alex Tanguay, wouldn’t you think this team should be doing better than they are? Right now, they’re sitting three points above fifteenth in the conference, but look at the flip side and they’re only seven points out of eighth. They do still have a chance to make something of this season; it hasn’t hit the halfway point quite yet.

Who has done the best coaching job as of the end of December?

JS: Colorado’s Joe Sacco, at the start of the season I thought that Vancouver was the clear winner in the Northwest but he has this Avalanche team believing they can win the division.

AA: Hate to say it, but Marc Crawford in Dallas and Joe Sacco in Colorado have both gotten very good stuff out of rosters that should have holes and that in Sacco’s case have seen a flurry of injuries.

MM: Barry Trotz. Losing 2 of your best forwards one of your best blue liners and your starting goaltender and sill in play off contention amazing.

KN: I would like to be a homer and say Marc Crawford but I’m not a fan. Probably go with Alain Vigneault as the Canucks are even more dangerous this year and flying under the radar.

BH: Davis Payne. The Blues have been decimated by injuries and are playing with a roster chalked full of AHL call-ups. Yet, Payne has kept his team motivated and, as a result, in a position to make a run at a spot in the top 8 of the Western Conference.

CR: My initial response is Mike Babcock, just with how much he’s been able to help his team rebound from last year’s injury-riddled season (not to mention how he still managed to get them to yet another 100+ point season) and remain at the top of the Western Conference so far this season. Dealing with Pavel Datsyuk’s injury will be a difficult task to see how the team can fare; the loss of Modano is something Babcock has had to work around as well. Thankfully this season, injuries haven’t been as serious and numerous as last year and Babcock has enough “healthy scratch” players to come up and fill in the gaps to the best of their abilities. I’d throw Joe Sacco into the mix as well. Colorado’s a team that shouldn’t be undermined for how well they’re doing. But his challenge will be to see if the team can stay afloat with the injuries so far this season.

Who is the conference MVP to date?

JS: Tossup between Cory Perry and Brad Richards due to the fact that I didn’t see either of their teams being viable playoff contenders but both players giving their teams hope and leading by example along with averaging over a point per game

AA: The best player has probably been Pavel Datsyuk, he is really on this season, but Brad Richards is the one that is most valuable to his team. Without him Dallas would be in trouble.

MM: Henrik Sedin

KN: No question but Brad Richards is an elite force this year and has done and is going to do some amazing things. I can’t imagine where the stars would be without their MVP.

BH: Brad Richards – Dallas

CR: Honestly, you can name at least a dozen players that deserve the MVP title for the conference so far. But I’ll settle for the guy who received the Conn Smythe trophy in 2002: Nicklas Lidstrom. Last season, his play was mediocre to his normal standards of beyond-human defense. His offensive side struggled, too, and this led everyone to wonder if age was finally catching up to “The Perfect Human.” But it seems that it was due to half of his teammates being injured that hurt Lidstrom’s output last season. Look at his statistics after the Olympic break and you’ll see that he definitely was back on track once the team was healthy.

Contrary to all of that, so far this season he’s looked like a twenty-five-year-old playing hockey. He’s nearly everyone’s favorite to win the Norris for the seventh time. And just last week, he managed his first career hat trick at the nice young age of forty and currently has 28 points in 34 games; it puts him on pace for 66 points this season, just below his output in his Cup-winning 2007-2008 season. That sounds like a pretty good MVP, right?

The top 8 in the East were dramatically outscoring the top 8 in the West. Is the style of game play out west more about defense and goaltending than before?

JS: I think that style of play between the 2 conferences are starting to become more alike. Colorado is the highest scoring team in the league while only 2 teams out east have outscored the #8 seed Chicago at the moment. The lower scoring teams such as Nashville, Dallas, and Anaheim have to play more defensive to stay competitive and in the playoff hunt.

AA: The West plays a much sounder game with more focus on a two-way game, while the East is more run and gun with more sloppy play and turnovers.

MM: Simple, the goaltending in the west is much better also there is a tighter style played in the west. Take a look at the top teams in the East and how many have goaltending issues. Tampa, Philly, Washington, cant decide on a starter New Jersey Buffalo injuries. Other then Carey Price and Tim Thomas tell me who is playing well in the East.

KN: I think the quality of the teams in the west is better and so with fewer high quality teams in the east, the upper echelon east teams can score more against the bottom feeders.  The stars finished 12th last year in the west and had the same number of points as the 7th & 8th place teams in east. Enough said.

BH: The West is definitely more about defense and goaltending than before. While the East has an advantage in terms of star goal scorers, the West is far superior between the pipes. Teams seem to be much more balanced in the Western Conference compared to the East. Teams in the East (i.e. Washington) seem to rely completely on their offense while in the West you could look at teams like Detroit, Vancouver, and Dallas who have been successful due to their balance of goal scoring and solid goaltending.

CR: I think it’s more about the defense and goaltending in the West than the East for sure. Games in the West seem to be much closer than in the East. In the East, you have the scoring demons on particular teams that jettison them over their opponents (Crosby and Malkin, Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin to name the well-known combos); in the West, you have those same combination (Getzlaf, Ryan, and Perry, Datsyuk and Zetterberg, Sedin and Sedin), but even if these lines are dominant in a game, that doesn’t mean they’re the only ones scoring or even blowing the opposition out of the water. But I think more of the factor is how the conference standings are much tighter in the West. The top eight teams in the east are so much better than the bottom seven in the east. If you look at the standings, in there’s a decent gap. In the East, it’s ten points separating first and eighth and twenty points separating eighth and fifteenth. But compared to the West, it’s so much tighter; ten points separate eighth and fifteenth while six points separate first and eighth. The tight play makes for a harder push on solid defense and goaltending.

First impression of the kids out in Edmonton?

JS: Very bright future in Edmonton and can’t wait to see what they will do to build around Hall, Eberle, and Paajarvi. 2-3 years and the Oilers could be the class of the conference.

AA: They have played pretty well and are exciting, but they’re not gonna turn the team around without some help and a few seasons of experience.

MM: What impression? The Oilers are the Kansas City Royals of hockey. They are a very good AHL team playing with the big boys. Taylor Hall is just a skater and the rest of them will not stay around in Edmonton to see it threw. First chance they get there gone.

KN: Talented but green.  Fun to watch though.

BH: I haven’t seen enough of Edmonton this season to answer this question, but I will say from what I’ve heard and the few games that I have seen, they’re a team that’s headed in the right direction.

CR: Taylor Hall has some great potential in him for sure. I was lucky enough to see him play when he was on the Windsor Spitfires (I saw him play against Tyler Seguin, no less) and he impressed me then, too, even though he didn’t score on the penalty shot he received. He will definitely be a player to watch in the upcoming years. First overall draft picks are usually like that.

Jordan Eberle seems like a solid player. I haven’t been able to see as much of him as I would like, but to me he seems like he could be one of those excellent players that sneaks under the radar a lot of the time. But maybe not – I mean, his first NHL goal coming on a penalty kill will definitely make people look at him twice.

And Linus Omark just now caught people’s attention with flashy shootout attempts? Did people not see the one when he was playing in Sweden, the one that Datsyuk replicated against Chicago last season? Omark will be a great player for sure, just as long as his flashiness doesn’t get the best of him.

Which team in the league is the toughest to play when 100% healthy?

JS: Detroit is a stacked team from top to bottom and full of players that know what it takes to play at the top level of hockey.

AA: Detroit should be. Their lines can match their equivalent on any other NHL team. Vancouver can be a tough team too. For both of those it is as much about being ON as it is about being healthy though.

MM: Simple, Detroit Red Wings

KN: Detroit

BH: Detroit. They may not be an elite force in the West, but they’re still sick.

CR: I’ll go off on what could be considered a crazy limb here and say Montreal. After the upsets in last year’s playoff run, with Jaroslav Halak playing like a brick wall, and then proceeding to trade Halak away from the team and relying on Carey Price, everyone’s kept an eye on this team. And honestly, they are delivering. I went to the Original Six matchup game at Joe Louis Arena when the Habs visited and after the game, it was decided unanimously between me and my hockey-crazed brothers that a Wings/Habs Finals matchup would be absolutely epic. The Habs can definitely give the Red Wings a run for their money. Their play is amazing to watch.

The top line in the conference is?

JS: The Sedin line in Vancouver, it doesn’t matter who you put with them they are an unstoppable force that racks up points. I can’t prove it but I am pretty sure that they have some kind of twin ESP thing going on.

AA: I’m a total homer here, but Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmström, or the Circus line as we call it is probably the best. It has two of the best players in the league on both ends of the ice and they tend to play real well together. It also works great when Cleary plays instead of Homer. But Babcock has switched it all up lately, so who knows when we will see this one again.

MM: Getzlaf,Perry,Ryan

KN: Richards-Eriksson-Neal

BH: When Datsyuk’s in there, Detroit’s top line.

CR: Getzlaf-Perry-Ryan is definitely one of the top lines out there. This is one of the most annoying lines to play against. I honestly believe they are on the ice for about 57 minutes of every game; they are that annoyingly good. They dominate the play when they are out on the ice together; right now, they have a combined 46 goals and 58 assists. Compare that to the Sedin-Burrows-Sedin line, which has 33 goals and 68 assists, or the Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom line, which has 33 goals and 61 assists. The Getzlaf line definitely can be ranked up there among the elites.

Which team currently out of the top 8 (as of the Hlidays) has the best chance at making it back in?

JS: I don’t think Anaheim can keep up with everyone in the West. They are the only team that is in the top 8 with a minus in GF/GA and think that LA will make the jump in the second half to take their spot.

AA: The LA Kings will make the playoffs. They are way too good to miss them. The Coyotes should also have a pretty good shot.

MM: Los Angeles Kings

KN: Since 9 points separate 1st through 12th (as of this questions answering) I’d say at least 4 different teams.  Of the 4 currently out, I say for sure LA makes it back in by seasons end.

BH: St. Louis. Alex Steen is heating up. Oshie could be back sooner than expected. Defense is improving which only benefits an already solid goaltending tandem in Halak & Conklin. Oh, don’t forget they’re only 7 points out of first place despite all these injuries.

CR: With how close the standings are in the West, it’s honestly hard to say because one day, they could be in and the next day, they could be out. The St. Louis Blues seem fairly consistent and have a great chance. And with their goaltenders – Jaroslav Halak and Ty Conklin – always seeming to play solid games, it gives them a fighting chance. And their goalies have to be solid when their top guys like T.J. Oshie and David Perron are sidelined with injuries. When those guys come back, I’d watch out, honestly. This team can be dangerous.

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Look for further Q&A discussion regarding the West with another blogger as well as an Eastern Conference panel coming soon.

The Toronto Maple Leafs need for more offensive depth has kept them prominent in the NHL rumor mill throughout the summer.

Although it’s now apparent that, given the inability to move defenseman Tomas Kaberle for a scoring forward, Leafs GM Brian Burke has no plans to make any significant deals heading into pre-season and probably won’t make any to start the season that hasn’t prevented some from speculating Burke might still try to pull off a blockbuster for scoring help.

The Bleacher Report recently listed “five restricted free agents ripe for the picking”, suggesting unsigned RFAs like Colorado’s Peter Mueller, Atlanta’s Niclas Bergfors, NY Rangers Marc Staal, Dallas’ James Neal and Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan as potential targets.

Just because these players are unsigned however doesn’t mean they’re available for trade or an offer sheet.  In fact it’s probably safe to suggest none of them are available.

Anaheim management has repeatedly stated throughout the summer Ryan won’t be dealt. Contract talks continue between the two sides, as do talks between the other players and their respective teams. Odds are most if not all will be re-signed by the time training camps open next week.

Even if those players remain unsigned throughout training camp they’re not going to be dealt. Those RFAs have little leverage other than to stage holdouts, a tactic rarely used in today’s salary cap world.

It also makes little sense to suggest Burke should pursue Staal. The Leafs desperately need more scoring punch at forward, not another defenseman of which they have more than enough.

Yes, Staal is a terrific young blueliner but unless Burke intends to move out another defenseman in a trade pursuing Staal is pointless, not to mention highly unlikely since Burke has little to offer up in return which would entice the Rangers, who need as much blueline depth as they can get.

Of course anything’s possible and surprising moves can be made. Burke has displayed the ability to pull off deals no one foresaw and could do it again. That being said Leafs fans shouldn’t get their hopes up expecting any of the above playing for their team in the coming weeks.

Lyle Richardson

SpectorsHockey.net
twitter.com/spectorshockey

Let’s have a look at the remaining RFAs:
BOS, BUF, CAR, CGY, CHI, CBS, FLA, LAK, MIN, NJD, NYI, OTT, PHI, PIT, SJS, STL, VAN — none
ANA — B. Ryan
ATL — B. Little, N. Bergfors
COL — P. Mueller, C. Stewart
DAL — N. Grossman, J. Neal, M. Niskanen
DET — J. Abdelkader
EDM — A. Cogliano, S. Gagner
MTL — C. Price
NAS — C. Franson, P. Hornqvist
NYR — M. Staal
PHX — M. Hanzal
TBL — S. Downie, P. Ranger
TOR — C. Hanson

Now let’s have a look at the top 10 RFAs still without a contract for the upcoming 2010-11 NHL season:

Ryan was a key to the Ducks' offense last season

Ryan has scored over 30 goals in each of the past two seasons and played on the USA Olympic team this past season. There are rumors that Ryan is looking for two-year deal in order to cash in big time in his next contract. The Ducks reportedly offered him a five-year, $25 million deal that Ryan turned down. The Ducks have plenty of cap space to fit him under cap, but are looking to add another quality to their defensive corps.

Niclas Bergfors, Atlanta:
Nicklas Bergfors, is a talented right-winger who was traded to Atlanta as a part of the Ilya Kovalchuk deal in February of last season. Bergfors, who was drafted by the New Jersey Devils with the 23rd pick in the 2005 NHL draft, scored 21 goals and added 23 assists for 44 points 81 games last season.

Bergfors is great skater with soft hands who play a key role in the Thrashers up-tempo style on play under new head coach Craig Ramsay. Bergfors will likely receive a similar deal to the one year, $1.8 million deal the San Jose Sharks offered to winger Devin Setoguchi.

Stewart had a career-year last season with Colorado

Peter Mueller, Colorado
Another surprise last season was the play of forward Peter Mueller, who was acquired during the season from the Phoenix Coyotes along with Kevin Porter for forward Wojtek Wolski. Unfortunately for Mueller, he had to miss the playoffs due to a concussion. Mueller had a strong finish with Colorado, scoring 20 points in only 15 games for a total of 37 points in 69 games.

Mueller, who will enter his fourth year with the pros, will likely receive a multi-year deal paying him around $2 millions per year.

James Neal, Dallas
Neal, who was picked 33rd in the second round of the 2005 NHL draft had a good season in Dallas last year, increasing his offensive production from the 2008-09 season to the 2009-10 season going from 24 goals and 13 assists for 37 points, to 27 goals and 18 assists for 55 points in respectively 78 and 77 games. Look for Neal to also sign for around $2.75 million per season and get a long-term deal with the cash-strap Stars. The sale of the team is likely the main reason why Neal remains unsigned.

Sam Gagner, Edmonton
A former London Knights standout, the 20-year old Gagner is a talented playmaker who scored at least 40 plus points in the past three years. Picked sixth overall in the 2007 entry draft, Gagner, 20, will benefit from the additions of Taylor Hall, picked 1s overall in the 2010 NHL entry draft, and centre Jordan Eberle, picked in the 1st round of the 2008 draft by Edmonton.

Gagner’s numbers will likely improve and the Oilers have no choice, but offer him a long-term to keep him with the team, as he fits right in with the youth movement going on in Edmonton. He will likely receive a contract similar to what Peter Mueller will receive in Colorado.

Carey Price, Montreal
With Jaroslav Halak being traded to St. Louis for forward Lars Eller before the 2010 NHL draft, Price is officially the number one goaltender in Montreal. Price, 23, is a proven winner, winning CHL goalie of the year, a World Junior Gold Medal, a Calder Cup, and even appearing in the NHL All-Star team.

Drafted fifth overall in 2005 by the Canadiens, Price has gone 60-48-18 with a 2.73 GAA in the NHL. Price and the Habs are currently in a snag in discussions over both money and the terms. Negotiations between Price and the organization haven’t going very well as both parties don’t seem to be looking for the same kind of deal and with the Canadiens having little cap space to work with, they can’t sign Price for much more than $2.5 million per season.

Patric Hornqvist, Nashville
A steal at 230th overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft, Patric Hornqvist, who had a great year in 2009-10 with the Predators, is looking for a huge raise. Hornqvist, 23, scored 30 goals and added 21 assists for 51 points in 80 points to along an impressive +18. Hornqvist was also a member of the Swedish Olympic team.

The talented winger will likely get a similar deal to those of Matt Moulson and Mason Raymond (about $2.5 million per season over a few years). The Predators will really need Hornqvist’s offensive contribution as they are thin up front.

Marc Staal is one of the key RFAs that remains unsigned

The 6’4’’, 209 lbs, Staal is great shutdown defenseman used to face the opposition’s top players every night. The Rangers’ blue line is a key concern, and GM Glen Sather will be hard pressed to re-sign Staal, a key cog on the backline for the Blue Shirts. With the Rangers lacking the cap space to fit Staal under the cap, they will likely have to bury of their big contracts, likely Wade Redden, who had a horrendous season last year and who is slated to make $6.5 million next season. Staal will likely command an annual salary of $3.5 million, which is a little more than teammate Dan Girardi received this summer.

Steve Downie, Tampa Bay
Originally drafted 29th overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft by Philadelphia, Downie was traded by the Flyers to Tampa Bay in the 2008-09 season where he has seemed to have found a home clicking with linemates Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos. Last season, Downie was very productive scoring 22 goals and adding 24 assists for 46 points in 79 games while adding 208 penalty minutes his usual grit and edge that makes him very hard to play against.

New Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, indicated may times that Downie remains a priority and he wants to sign him as soon as possible. Look for Downie to get a multiyear deal paying him around $1.8 million annually.

Other notables include Bryan Little, Martin Hanzal and Matt Niskanen.

Ever since Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke returned from his mid-July vacation the denizens of Leafs Nation are wondering if he still has another trade up his sleeve to bolster his team’s offensive depth.

It’s well-known Burke is entertaining offers for defenseman Tomas Kaberle but doesn’t publicly appear concerned if he’s able to deal the blueliner by August 15th, when Kaberle’s “no-trade” clause goes into effect.

Some pundits and blogs in Leafs-land have looked around the league for potential trade partners for Burke (like he needs the help!) and centered upon the Dallas Stars, pointing to their strict budget, need for an experienced puck-moving defenseman and apparent difficulty in re-signing restricted free agent James Neal.

Now we don’t know if Burke has targeted the Stars or if Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk has contacted the Leafs, but that hasn’t stopped Leafs fans for speculating of a possible deal of Kaberle for Neal.

That might be the impetus behind the latest from “NHL Sources Say”, claiming in a recent “tweet” the Leafs were interested in Neal but in order to make the deal happen the Leafs would have to take back salary, going on to cite a source saying center Mike Ribeiro might be that piece.

http://twitter.com/NHLSourcesSay/status/19869385908

It’s been rumored Nieuwendyk would like to move Ribeiro and use the savings to re-sign Brad Richards but that’s only conjecture and we’ve seen nothing on his part so far to suggest he’s leaning in that direction.

If Nieuwendyk were to make that move he’d likely only want to move Ribeiro, maybe for Kaberle. He won’t want to move Neal as well. Giving up both for Kaberle would be a significant blow to the Stars offensive depth.

Furthermore there’s the problem with cap space.

The Leafs presently sit with just over $2 million in available cap space. Assuming Kaberle was the return to Dallas for Ribeiro and Neal it would still push the Leafs over the cap, meaning Burke would have to dump salary in the minors.

Of course he’s likely to do so with Jeff Finger or Mikhail Grabovski, but then there’s the matter of the Stars, since they’re not going to just give away two offensive forwards for a puck-moving defenseman they probably can’t afford to re-sign beyond next season, particularly one who has made it clear he prefers playing in the Eastern Conference as Kaberle has.

Of course stranger things have happened and I’ll be the first to admit anything’s possible but in this case I just don’t think the dollars fit nor do I believe the Stars would give up two offensive forwards for a defenseman who’ll likely depart next summer via free agency.

Lyle Richardson
SpectorsHockey.net
twitter.com/spectorshockey

Halak or Price?

With Pierre Gauthier’s arrival, following Bob Gainey’s resignation this winter, Halak was finally been given the opportunity to show what he can do in the No. 1 role and he responded very well. With the Stanley Cup run the Montreal Canadiens are having this season with Halak as their MVP, one could claim Pierre Gauthier’s decision will be easier after the season. But the (problem) with Halak’s great performance is that his agent Alan Walsh will seek big dollars for his client from the Montreal Canadiens when they meet with the Habs management to talk contract extension in June.

Ironically, earlier this season, former GM Bob Gainey made it clear to other GMs that he was ready to trade Halak and ride Price into the future. Heck, there were even reports that Gainey had talks with the Philadelphia Flyers about Halak, but GM Paul Holmgren denied that trade talks ever occurred.

When we looked at the Flyers’ problems in net this season, I’m pretty sure Holmgren and some of the 28 other GMs are biting their nails until it bleeds for not trading for Halak (he could have been had for a prospect and a draft pick at the time).

But now things have changed in Montreal as the Canadiens have defeated the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, both in seven games, thanks to Halak’s stellar play in the post-season. In 16 games, Halak has nine wins and seven losses, with a 2.55 GAA and an exceptional .926 save %. Save for three games where he was yanked in lopsided losses, Halak has been quite consistent and reliable this post-season for le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge.

Halak, who turned 25 years-old last week, is only two years older than Price, but he seems much more mature. Price, who will turn 23 in August, still has a lot of things to learn before he becomes a bona-fide all-star goaltender in the NHL, and many people wonder if he can do it under the bright lights of Montreal. Like Guillaume Latendresse, he might simply need a change of scenery to shine at the elite level.

However, Gauthier is well aware that he must make a decision quick, because other GMs could take advantage of the situation and make an offer sheet to Carey Price to pry him from Montreal a la Dustin Penner or Thomas Vanek (it could even come once again from the Edmonton Oilers).

But here are a few other teams that will be looking for a young starting goalie that could become great trade partners for the Montreal Canadiens:

St. Louis Blues: With only one NHL goaltender signed for next season (Ty Conklin at $1.3M/year), the Blues will be looking to upgrade the position for next season. The Chris Mason experiment has been a flop (the same thing happened to Team Canada at the World Championship with Mason as their starter).

GM Larry Pleau would be wise to call the Canadiens and inquire about Price’s price before July 1st. The Blues are loaded with young talented players up front that could be made expendable in the right deal. Youngsters such as David Perron, Patrick Berglund and TJ Oshie could very well interest Montreal.

Dallas Stars: With Marty Turco’s imminent departure from Dallas, GM Joe Nieuwendyk gave a three-year extension to Kari Lehtonen (I still don’t understand the move, especially at $3.5M per year), but he will have to get another quality netminder as we all know Lehtonen’s addiction for the infirmary. Youngsters like Jamie Been and James Neal would certainly appeal to Pierre Gauthier.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Mike Smith was supposed to become the number one goaltender in Tampa Bay, but a concussion derailed his development and his play was inconsistent all season long. Antero Niitymaki, set to become a UFA, is not the long-term solution for this struggling franchise. The problem for Tampa Bay is the lack of young talent, which would make this trade very difficult to happen.

Philadelphia Flyers: With only Brian Boucher signed for next season, likely as the back-up goaltender, the Flyers really need to find a quality starting goaltender for the years to come. Ray Emery has been injured most of the season with a severe hip injury that required surgery and we still don’t know what will be his physical condition for the upcoming season. Waiver-wire-wonder Michael Leighton is currently the Flyers’ starter in the playoffs after Brian Boucher went down with a knee injury in the series against Boston. Don’t expect miracles from Leighton over the longer term, as he’s been a quality sport starter in the NHL during his career.

Carey Price would be a great fit in Philly, a team that has not had a first-grade quality starter since the likes of Pelle Lindberg and Ron Hextall. The Flyers also boast a plethora of talented young players such as Claude Giroux, James Van Riemsdyk, Patrick Maroon and Ville Leino.

Which goalie should Pierre Gauthier trade? And what should he ask in return?

Do the risks outweigh the reward of the Bruins potentially shopping Tim Thomas (right) or is Rask (left) ready to take the reins?

Heading into this season, the Bruins knew they had something special in net. Leading the march would once again be Tim Thomas, in the first year of his new 20-million dollar contract, the reigning Vezina winning was coming off a 36-win season and possessed the NHL’s best goals-against-average and save percentage in 2008-09. Backing him up was the Bruins’ prized prospect and mechanical goaltending dream Tuukka Rask. Spending two years in the AHL with a combined regular season record of 60-33-6 with five shutouts, a 2.41 goals against average, and .910 save percentage, the Bruins-World was abuzz with the introduction of Rask into a Boston sweater full-time.

Out of the gate, the Boston Bruins didn’t live up to their daunting expectations, bumbling around lackadaisically and teetering on a .500 record. Their problems were on offense, defense, and their power-play, but one place where they weren’t any glaring issues was in net.

Through two months of play, Thomas had a disappointing 6-6-3 record, but still maintained a .917SV% and had four shutouts to his credit. Sidelined midway through the month with a mysterious hand injury (rumored to be from punching a wall after a frustrating 6-5 overtime loss), the starting job was quickly thrown to Tuukka Rask for a test run. Seizing his opportunity, Rask would finish the 2009 calendar year going 10-3-2 that included a .935 save percentage and even more impressive goals against average of 1.14.

That’s all the critics needed to begin their “Rask over Thomas” campaign, and with the struggles of the Bruins reaching an all-time high last weekend with the club’s ten straight loss (only to be snapped on Sunday in Montreal), rumors of the Bruins beginning to look to trade Tim Thomas were swirling.

As Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun wrote:

The Blackhawks are likely to add a goalie by the March 3 trade deadline. They’d have to bury goalie Cristobal Huet and his $5.625-million cap hit in the minors to make a Thomas deal work, but there is a sense GM Stan Bowman is willing to do it if it improves Chicago’s chances to winning the Stanley Cup.

With Marty Turco set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, the Stars could be in the market for Thomas as could the Blues and Blue Jackets, neither of whom have gotten the goaltending they expected this season.

First of all, given the Blackhawks’ absolute destruction of the NHL this season, along with two (seemingly) great goaltenders this season with Niemi and Huet, it’s hard to imagine the scenario where the already-cap-beleaguered ‘Hawks are ready to take on Tim Thomas‘ for another three years at five-million dollars. However, as rumor mongering works, the return would be 28-year old forward Patrick Sharp. On pace for a career year in Chicago, Sharp has three years remaining on a contract that pays him 3.9 million dollars.

On the topic of the Stars and Thomas, a rumored deal that would send Stars forward James Neal to Boston in return seems like a great fit, until you realize Neal is an impending restricted-free agent and on pace for 33 goals, the question becomes could the Bruins keep the winger in town in the event of a trade or would it become Phil Kessel II? When it comes to Columbus, Raffi Torres’ name has been thrown around all season long in trade rumors, but call me crazy, but if I’m Peter Chiarelli I’m not moving the 2009 Vezina for another third line player, the Bruins have enough of those.

Boston’s best deal in terms of teams rumored to be interested may be with the Washington Capitals. The offensive machine led by Ovechkin have gotten disappointing results in net from Jose Theodore since last season, and have yet to see Semyon Varlamov put together a healthy stretch in 2009-10. Much like Chicago, it seems unlikely that the Caps would make an Earth-shattering move given their excellence in the standings, but if the B’s are to make a deal with the Caps, a player who could be sent back to Boston and one to Washington that could please both sides could in fact be a Tim Thomas for Alexander Semin deal.

The 24-year old Russian who signed a one-year extension to remain a Capital in 2010-’11, is having another splendid season in the Nation’s Capital with 58 points and 26 goals to date, but has pointed to be yearning to test the open market when his deal is up, making his situation with Washington all the more interesting.

Despite the Armchair-GM’s and their franchise-changing moves, the best move for Boston in the now would be to keep Tim Thomas.

There’s no denying that Thomas has been more than difficult to watch in 2010, owner of a 3-6-2 record and 2.90 goals against average, but handing the keys to Rask after just 31 career games is incredibly dangerous and the latest example to prove it exists right in the Northeast Division. After being the Habs’ most highly touted prospect back in 2007, when Carey Price was called up to the Montreal Canadiens, Habs General Manager Bob Gainey felt his hand being pushed to deal Cristobal Huet out of town and hand the job to the 20-year old Price.

With shades of Patrick Roy, Price shocked Habs fans and the opposition, and eventually Huet was dealt out of town to the Washington Capitals for a second round pick in 2009. Finishing the season by getting knocked out of the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the Philadelphia Flyers, Price has a total of a 34-37-14 record since the start of the 2008-09 season when you include the playoffs with a goals against average approaching 2.80.

Just two years after being deemed untouchable, Carey Price‘s confidence of 2007-08 seems vintage and he is currently in the midst of being ousted out of Montreal by Jaroslav Halak‘s rather ridiculous play this season.

Not only is risking the confidence of Rask getting shattered at just 22-year old’s scare me if I’m Peter Chiarelli, but the lack of solid choices in the Bruins system below Rask are just enough to have me walk away from any sort of Tim Thomas trade. In Providence, former Penguins back-up Dany Sabourin is carrying the P-Bruins starting job with a 20-17-3 record and .919 save percentage. Below him, Kevin Regan sits on the Providence bench and with a 5-6-0 record on the season, the idea of Regan ever becoming an NHL-quality goaltender is quickly fading.

Facing facts, there’s no doubting that Rask is the goaltender of the future in Boston. The keyword though in that phrase is in fact ‘future’. Without question the Bruins need to make a move between now and the trading deadline, but is trading away the defending Vezina and handing the starting job to someone who has a 14-8-5 career record and no NHL playoff experience the right way to go?

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Dubnyk tries to make the save on Neal's game winner - Photo from John Ulan/The Canadian Press

Just like Wednesday night Oiler fans at Rexall Place last night thought that the home team might just pull out a win and end their losing streak, but it just wasn’t meant to be and the streak continues – the Oilers have now lost 10 straight games. By going winless in 10 the Oilers are now starting to creep into franchise record territory.

Despite the result last night the team did play really good hockey. The Oilers fell behind early on a point shot from Daley. It wasn’t an overpowering shot by any means, Dubnyk would probably like to have that one back.

Shortly after the first Dallas goal both Pisani and Horcoff were flagged for penalties at the same time resulting in a two minute long two man advantage for the visitors. The Oilers have the 29th ranked penalty kill in the NHL and with two of the teams better penalty killers in the box it seemed like a lock that Dallas would stretch their lead to two.

The Oilers came up big and killed off the two man advantage and then killed a stupid holding penalty by Gagner shortly after. It was another stupid penalty – this time a slash to the shin pads of a Dallas player by O’Sullivan – that proved to be too much for the Oiler penalty killers. Modano gets credit for the goal but Strudwick was the guy who deflected it in. It was a nice tip just too bad it was at the wrong end of the ice.

The shots at this point in the game were 14-2 in favour of the visitors and so far it looked as if the ice must be sloped towards the Edmonton end of the rink. But the Oilers battled back scoring a powerplay goal of their own from Potulny to cut the Dallas lead to a goal. After the Modano goal the Oilers really came on, outshooting the Stars 9-4 over the last seven and half minutes of the period.

Dallas restored the two goal lead in the second period on a goal from Benn. Coming out of the Oilers zone Chorney got caught between a pinching and falling back. That hesitation resulted in a two on one and Strudwick just could breakup the pass allowing Benn to score a pretty easy goal.

With time running out in the second, and just a few seconds after Visnovsky missed a wide open net Gagner scored on a beautiful pass from Gilbert. The play started with Penner who moved to the middle of the ice and then made a drop pass to Gilbert. Penner’s play opened up a ton of ice for Gilbert who was able to spot Gagner on the other side of the ice. Gagner didn’t waste the chance and ripped a one timer past Turco to again cut the Dallas lead to one.

Buoyed by the late goal from Gagner the Oilers took control of the game in the third period. They controlled the play and kept Dallas pinned in their end for what seemed like most of the period. But they just couldn’t get the puck past Turco. With the goalie pulled the Oilers finally were able to beat Turco but even then needed a lucky bounce to make it happen. Modano tried to control a rebound off a Gagner shot and accidentally kicked it into his own net.

Considering the period that the Oilers had played and the way things have been going for them over the last month it seemed fitting that they’d finally catch a break like that. It wasn’t meant to be though. Although the Oilers had tied the game up with just 1:09 left in the game they still couldn’t even get this one to overtime.

With a couple of veterans forwards on the ice – Horcoff and Moreau – the Oilers turned the puck over at the blue line. Strudwick was able to breakup the cross ice pass this time but lost his balance and played the puck back into the slot where Neal was waiting to slap it home. And just like that it was another heartbreaker for the Oilers. Hopefully the Oilers can draw something positive from a second consecutive good effort. If they keep playing games like that the streak will have to end soon.

Dubnyk looked good between the pipes for the Oilers again last night. The first goal was on the soft side but after that he was very solid and made a couple of really big saves that kept the Oilers in it and gave the the chance to tie the game up. Even though he still wasn’t able to nail down that first win he should be happy with how he played. Based on what I’ve seen over the past couple of weeks the Oilers should be giving him the lion’s share of the work for the next while.

The Oilers now have a few days off before hosting Chicago on Tuesday night. The Hawks have dominated the Oilers over the last couple of seasons so ending the losing streak that night will be a real challenge, stranger things have happened though.

Most predictions talked about the scoring depth of teams like San Jose, Chicago and Detroit while others talked about Calgary, Los Angeles and even Columbus. Rarely are Dallas ever mentioned, if at all.  I believe the Dallas Stars forwards are very underrated. Now it’s easy for me to say this, 12 games into their season, but I swear I’ve been meaning to write this blog for weeks now. Scouts honour.

As far as under the radar groups of top 6 forwards, you have to believe the Dallas Stars take the cake (or come pretty damn close). Take a look at their first two lines:

James Neal  -  Brad Richards  -  Loui Eriksson
Brenden Morrow  -  Mike Ribeiro  -  Jamie Benn

And that doesn’t include players like Fabien Brunnstrom (if he ever lives up to half the hype he brought over from Sweden), Steve Ott (who can score goals when not trying to get suspended), Mike Modano (when not injured), Jere Lehtinen (also when not injured) and Matt Niskanen (also when not injured, too).

To me, this group of forwards in Dallas is just as good as any in the Western Conference (except the San Jose Sharks). But despite being 6-2-4 after 12 games, it seems they still underrated and often overlooked. Both top lines feature grit, obvious skill, strong hockey sense and players who can score big goals.

It gets better, too. The majority of these Stars (the top 6) are relatively young and signed beyond next season (or longer) with exception of James Neal. Given the cap space the Stars have, resigning Neal shouldn’t be an issue. I like this group of forwards a lot and as the season continues, I think more people will begin to see how unheralded this group really is. Assuming they can remain healthy all season, the Dallas Stars could be this year’s sleeper team in the West.

A short blog for Friday. I’ll be back next week. Now go enjoy the weekend.

Stay classy, Dallas Stars.

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Burgundy is the chief editor for Stayclassy.net. Follow him on Twitter (@Stay_Classy) or email him.

In the Oilers home opener against the Flames, a game that they lost 4-3, the Oilers were the victims of a remarkably unlucky bounce at the end of the game when Khabibulin came out to play the puck that resulted in the games winning goal.

That bounce cost the Oilers a point but, like I said on Monday, bounces happen and we’ll get that point back. Sure didn’t have to wait long did we?

Last night against the Stars the Oil tied the game on a play where Grebeshkov’s shot was deflected over Turco, staying just out of his reach, and into the back of the net. No more goals were scored and the game went to overtime. Overtime decided nothing so it came down to the shootout.

In the shootout more luck went the Oilers way. After the first four shooter missed, Hemsky came in and took a shot high to the gloves side, funny thing is he fanned on the shot and it slid along the ice into the bottom corner. As if that wasn’t enough Neal – who by the way was the best Star in the shootout last season – ripped the Stars last chance off the post.

The Oilers could have easily won the Flames game and lost last night. They could have just as easily lost both after 60 minutes and been awarded a single point for their effort. Either way they probably deserve to have two points right now and that is exactly what they have.

See it all balances out.

Besides the work of higher powers looking to make sure that the world remains on an even keel there was also quite the hockey game played last night. If you’re an Oiler fan there is a lot to be excited about right now.

There is the type of game that they’re playing to be excited about. Saturday night the Oilers played a very physical style that could have been attributed to the energy of opening night. But they played the same game last night to show that it wasn’t a one time thing. Fast and physical, who doesn’t like that style of hockey? These two games have been very entertaining, something that I can’t say about many games last year. Even if the Oilers were to lose if the game was fun to watch I can at least go home with that.

There is the resiliency that the team is showing to be excited about. Last season if the Oilers had surrendered a short handed goal to fall down 2-1 like they did last night, they most likely would have folded their tents and headed home. Instead they came right back and scored on the same power play to tie it back up. They also came back from 3-2 and 4-3 deficits last night and 1-0 and 3-1 deficits on Saturday night.

There is Sam Gagner to be excited about. Gagner had a bad preseason and started the season on the fourth line between Moreau and Stortini, not exactly players of an equal skill level. To say the least he has looked a little bit irked by it. To show his displeasure he’s scored two goals, taken six shots, and gotten into a fight all while playing 11:27 a night. If he wasn’t playing so good with Stortini they’d have to move him up but I’m not sure breaking that combination up would be a good idea right now so he might have to stay on the fourth line a little longer.

There is Dustin Penner to be excited about. I’ve already gone on record as saying I think this will be his year. Last night was more of the same. He scored a goal coming out of the corner that was text book for how to use size and speed together. Penner is playing so good right now that Quinn switched him with Jacques to help get Horcoff and Hemsky going. I can’t believe I just wrote that but it’s true.

There are even faceoff wins to be excited about. Right now the Oilers are winning more faceoffs than they’re losing – 52.1% of their faceoffs to be exact. This was one of the Oilers biggest weaknesses last year and so far there have been far fewer reasons to complain this season.

Granted not everything is great. Allowing two power play goals against per game for example, isn’t great. But three of the four have been a little lucky going of bodies or being tipped from four feet wide of the net and the other was on a four-on-three which is always tough to kill. So the number might be bad but I don’t think the play has been as bad it might seem.

If you haven’t noticed I’m pretty excited right now. I can’t wait until Thursday for the next game.