It is the first week of 2009 and there is intrigue all over the Eastern Conference map. Some teams are going to be more competitive than anticipated and have plenty of time to really make their push toward the post season, which will make for a crowded playoff race. This week, we highlight the players who are leading those teams. In addition, we identify the driving forces on the top contending clubs.
Atlanta - A 1-2-1 week was not kind to the Thrashers as they lost their leading goal-scorer,
Bryan Little, to a rib injury (he is listed as a questionable starter this week).
Ilya Kovalchuk once again paced the Atlanta attack with two goals and two assists. Amid the debris of a dismal season for the team,
Slava Kozlov continued to add to a solid comeback season, scoring a goal and assist to give him 36 points in 40 games. Despite that small positive note, rookie coach John Anderson came out and publicly challenged his club's work ethic.
Boston - The Bruins swept a pair of games against Pittsburgh before losing to the Sabres.
Marc Savard once again led the Bruins offense with two goals and four assists, giving the underrated pivot 49 points and a remarkable (+25) rating. Unsung defensive forward P. J. Axelsson added a goal and three assists to this diversified attack.
Dennis Wideman has emerged, once again, from the large shadow of
Zdeno Chara to put together a four-point week and ranks among the top scoring defensemen in the league with 26 points and a (+25) rating.
Buffalo - The Sabres lost to the Caps, before wining consecutive divisional games as
Ryan Miller went 2-1, turning aside 83 of 89 shots.
Jason Pominville is carrying the hot stick for Buffalo, scoring three goals and notching two assists in his last four games. Despite missing three veteran blueliners to injury (
Craig Rivet,
Teppo Numminen and
Andrej Sekeras) the Sabres are tightening things up with a better team defense approach. After a brief scoring flurry,
Maxim Afinogenov has also been sidelined indefinitely with a groin injury.
Carolina -
Cam Ward backstopped the 'Canes to a sweep of three games, allowing only four goals on 71 shots.
Sergei Samsonov led the way offensively, with two goals and three assists.
Anton Babchuk, generally a low-scoring defenseman, has two goals and an assist in four games.
Justin Williams played over 16 minutes per game and scored two points in a win over the Lightning. Williams would appear to be a good pickup if you can snag him in your pool.
Florida -
David Booth seems to be back in the groove with two goals and three assists to lead all Panthers last week. Fellow sniper,
Nathan Horton, added three goals and an assist. This high scoring defense was led by
Nick Boynton, with three assists, and
Bryan McCabe, with a goal and two assists. The trouble is that their goaltending tandem, which should be the team's strongest point, has been no better than questionable as
Tomas Vokoun and
Craig Anderson have both been pulled in a number of their recent appearances.
Montreal - Despite seeing
Alex Tanguay join a growing injury list (his injured shoulder will keep him out until mid-February), the Habs still managed to win three of four games behind a balanced offense.
Carey Price looked sharp in winning his two starts, stopping 47 of 50 shots last week.
Andrei Kostitsyn is one forward who has capitalized on the additional playing time by scoring five goals in his last five games. The Habs are still baffled by the poor production of
Tomas Plekanec, who continued to struggle notching only one point last week. He has to pick up the pace in light of the lengthy injured list in Montreal.
New Jersey - The Devils continue to lean heavily on their key offensive stars, who again delivered in a 3-1 week.
Brian Gionta had a goal and four assists,
Jamie Langenbrunner tallied two goals and three assists, and
Patrik Elias chipped in four assists.
Scott Clemmensen played all four games and has clearly frozen
Kevin Weekes to backup status, making Clemmensen an excellent long-term fix among free-agent goalies for poolies everywhere.
NY Islanders - The Isles scored 15 goals in their four games last week, yet only won once. Clearly their problems are currently focused on keeping pucks out of their own net. Joey McDonald has played much more than anyone expected, with periods of success offset by a recent cold stretch. He will likely give way to franchise goalie
Rick DiPietro, who appears primed to shoulder the load after prolonged injury woes.
Richard Park's three goals and three assists in two games snapped a personal five-game scoring funk.
Mike Comrie added three goals and one assist.
Mark Streit continues to pile up points from his defensive post with a goal and four assists.
NY Rangers - In a quiet week for the Rangers,
Henrik Lundqvist stopped only 20 of 24 shots but still managed to earn the win and then looked much sharper in shutting out the Pens with a 27-save effort on Monday. The offense has received a boost from an unlikely source as
Nigel Dawes added six points in his last five games. The Rangers grip on their division lead has been slipping though, and that can be traced in large part to the uneven play of high priced talents
Chris Drury (-6) and
Scott Gomez (-11).
Ottawa - The Senators went 1-1-1 last week, as they highlighted their season long scoring struggles by compiling only seven goals. To further make the point,
Daniel Alfredsson was in on four of them, with two goals and two assists. In fact, all year long this has been the issue. After the big line, the next highest scoring forward is
Mike Fisher with a paltry 12 points. Meanwhile in goal,
Martin Gerber is slowly re-staking his claim on the top job. He has allowed only 15 goals in his last six starts.
Philadelphia -
Martin Biron continues to benefit from playing behind this talented lineup. He went 2-0 last week, despite stopping only 52 of 58 shots (.897 save percentage).
Daniel Briere is expected to rejoin this potent offense later this week. Our advice - believe that when you see it. We've heard it before. There will be room for him on the top two lines as
Joffrey Lupul (abdomen) and
Simon Gagne (shoulder) are expected to miss significant action for the remainder of January.
Pittsburgh -
Sidney Crosby actually earned a fighting major last week. That fact merely draws attention to a frustrating week that saw the Pens lose four games quite decisively. He and
Evgeni Malkin each posted (-4) ratings for the week as well.
Ryan Whitney has been a non-factor while anchoring the defense in his first six games (one assist and [-5]). Despite finding a seemingly good fit in this potentially explosive offense, Miro Satan appears to be wearing out his welcome with no goals to show (and only three assists) in his last eight games. At least their other Islander import,
Ruslan Fedotenko, is scoring again with three goals and an assist in his last five games.
Tampa Bay - Despite a 1-2-1 week, there is some positive news to report in that
Vaclav Prospal was the big shooter with two goals and four assists.
Ryan Malone has also continued his recent surge, with three goals and five assists in his last six games. Of course, stalwart
Martin St. Louis is also counted on to produce as he did last week with two goals and four assists. The trouble is that goalie
Mike Smith kept up his trend of uneven play. He has given up 12 goals in his last four starts. A thin defense suffered the loss of
Paul Ranger, who is listed as questionable this week with an upper-body injury.
Toronto - Within a 2-1 week, the Leafs showed a renewed defensive commitment. Unheralded defender
Jonas Frogren stood out with his solid work. He notched two assists, a (+1), and four penalty minutes. Lynchpin
Pavel Kubina was a (+3) and added six penalty minutes while acting as a dominant blueline force. Up front,
Dominic Moore was a two-way factor, with three points, a (+2) rating, and some consistent physical forechecking.
Curtis Joseph earned career victory number 450 against Atlanta, while making consecutive starts in goal for the first time this year. A well-rested
Vesa Toskala followed that up with a great game against Ottawa (stopping 30 of 31 total shots on goal).
Washington - After a 3-0 week, the Caps have opened up a 10-point division lead. The key offensive weapons are rolling right now.
Nicklas Backstrom paced them with a goal and three assists. Defenseman
Mike Green continues to be an offensive force with two goals and two assists of his own. The loss of
John Erskine (concussion) and
Tom Poti (groin) will put more pressure on
Jose Theodore to shut the door in goal. Having won his last five starts and only allowing 10 goals along the way, he seems up to the task at this time. Should he falter,
Brent Johnson is healthy and waiting in the wings.
