Tuesday Night NHL Round-Up

The Capitals were idle tonight. Games and results around the league so far tonight:

Minnesota 4, Atlanta 2 in regulation;
Pittsburgh 3, Philadelphia 2 in overtime;
Calgary 5, Colorado 4 in regulation;
San Jose 5, Columbus 2 in regulation;
Los Angeles 6, Anaheim 3 in regulation.

So that means those team's records are now:
Minnesota: 2-0-0, first in the Northwest Division;
Atlanta: 1-1-1, third in the Southeast Division;
Pittsburgh: 2-1-1, second in the Atlantic Division;
Philadelphia: 0-2-1, last (fifth) in the Atlantic Division;
Calgary: 1-1-1, fourth in the Northwest Division;
Colorado: 0-3-0, last (fifth) in the Northwest Division;
San Jose: 4-0-0, first in the Pacific Division;
Columbus: 1-2-0, fourth in the Central Division;
Los Angeles: 1-2-0, third in the Pacific Division;
Anaheim: 0-3-0, last (fifth) in the Pacific Division.

Surprises in the NHL standings so far?

1) NY Rangers 5-0-0 start of the season and being firmly on top of the Atlantic Division. Given they started the season early in Europe, albeit against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the fact that since returning to this side of the pond the Rangers have gone 3-0 against 3 strong teams is pretty exceptional.

2) Philadelphia 0-2-1 start is pretty surprising given the strength and talent levels on the Flyers team. The Flyers schedule also doesn't get any easier any time soon. The Broad Street Bullies next five games are: first a two game West Coast road trip to face Colorado and San Jose; a home game against San Jose; and a home & home on back to back nights against the New Jersey Devils. Based on how teams have come out of the gates, the Flyers best chance for a victory is in Denver against the 0-3-0 Avalanche, since Colorado so far has been suffering from weak goaltending, however, the Mile High City is never an easy place for visiting teams to do well.

3) Chicago's 0-2-1 "surprise" start is even more confusing given they are spending 12+M on goaltenders this year an currently they have a team Goals Against Average in the first three games of 3.33 and they lost their last game in a shootout. None of the Blackhawk's remaining seven games this month are an easy two points but look for them to slowly begin to "dig themselves" out none the less.

4) Anaheim's 0-3-0 start is certainly a surprise and the 10 points they could easily find themselves behind San Jose after they finish the nine (9) remaining games this month will not be easy to make-up, even though it is early in the season to counting anyone out.

Next up for the Capitals are the Penguins Thursday night in Pittsburgh. Should be a nail-biter and fun game to watch. Marc-Andre Fluery looked tough tonight, hopefully Jose Theodore will match his intensity and stone both Crosby and Malkin. Look for Alexander Ovechkin to score at least one goal since he was kept off the score sheet in the Caps last game, a 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!
(Pummel those Penguins)

Sunday NHL on NBC and Other Musings

Final score Rangers 5, Flyers 4 (SO). Those expecting a defensive, goalie duel were disappointed during the first period but after both teams changed goalies at the start of the second period. The Flyers started the first period with Antero Nittymaki in net, the Ragners started their "ironman" Henrik Lundqvist. After both netminders allowed their opponents to score three goals in the first, each coach clearly had concerns about the stability of their netminders. The Rangers started period 2 with their back-up Stephan Valiquette in net. The Flyers replaced Nittymaki with their number 1 Martin Brion after the Rangers scored their fourth goal of the game 1:51 into the second period. For the remainder of the game it was the defensive battle most expected and ended with a 4-4 tie in regulation. Despite the Flyers dominating the 4-4 overtime, it remained scoreless, primarily through Valiquette's heroics and key saves. The Rangers won the shootout 2-0 scoring on their first two attempts while the Flyers were unable to capitalize. The results mean the Rangers are remain in 7th in the Conference tied at 76 points with the Bruins, though the Bruins have two games in hand on the Boys from Broadway, including tomorrow night's game against the Capitals here in DC. The Flyers remain in eighth place with 73 points. The Caps have 16 games left and by general consensus opinons probably need 24 points to ensure a trip to the playoffs, that's a pretty tall order - 0.750 hockey. Though the Caps ought to be able to win the Southeast Division with something less than 92 points (probably 88) and could get in playing 0.625 hockey.

Other musings around the NHL - per the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch (always a suspect source when talking "aboot" things to do with the Washington Capitals), Caps GM George McPhee might be on his way out. Apparently the San Jose Shark's # Goalie Evgeni Nabakov is glad to have some backup help in the form of Brian Boucher on board for the race to the cup. The thirty-one year old Boucher and the Sharks shut out the Saint Louis Blues in Boucher's first NHL game of the season after being acquired from the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms. The Nashville Preditors and former Dallas Stars netminder Dan Ellis beat the Stars in Dallas 3-1 and apparently Ellis enjoyed his homecoming. All in all cruising the web and looking over the local papers most of the deadline day trades seem to be helping their new teams, and the fan bases and main stream media in their new cities are glad they have the help.