As we hit the stretch run of the season, I’m bringing back my weekly round-up. Let’s take a look at this week:
-The New Jersey Devils came in to January in third place in the Atlantic, had struggled through a few games to close out 2008, and only had 3 home games on tap for the month. Yet here they are on February 1st, sitting in first place in the division, with some breathing room and on an 8 game winning stream. The addition of Brendan Shanahan to the lineup has livened up the power play and after his third goal in 5 games Friday night is looking more and more like a brilliant move by GM Lou Lamoriello. If you’d asked any Devils fan on November 1st if they thought there was a chance a Brodeur-less Devils would be sitting near the top of the league as Marty readied himself to return to action, most would have thought you were crazy (I know I would have). But that’s the situation now, and you have to figure the rest of the NHL is starting to take notice.
-On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Vancouver Canucks. Winless in their last 9, the team is searching for answers as they plummet in the Western Conference standings. The return of Roberto Luongo hasn’t been the spark the team hoped and Mats Sundin hasn’t been a “savior” either. Tempers within the team have reached the breaking point. They need to put some wins together fast if they want to remain in the playoff picture.
-With Manny Fernandez out with a back injury and the Bruins playing back-to-back games against the Rangers and the Canadiens, the Bruins looked to netminder Tuukka Rask Saturday against the Rangers. With only 5 previous NHL starts to his name, Rask came up big for the B’s, making 35 stops en route to his first career shutout, a 1-0 victory that bumped the Bruins into first place in the NHL.
-After his shootout competition victory All-Star weekend, Alex Ovechkin has come out flying for the second half of the season. With 5 goals in 2 games this weekend, Alex has started to pull away in the race for the Rocket Richard trophy, scoring his league-leading 36th goal this afternoon.
-The hockey world is buzzing about the Pittsburgh Penguins and their free fall. What can be done to rescue this team? There’s no doubt this is a talented bunch – they put the Rangers to shame in the third period of their 6-2 victory earlier this week, and have shown all season they are capable of being an elite contender. But their power play is terrible (something which will change with the return of Sergei Gonchar), their defense has been porous at times (should also be helped by the return of Gonchar, but may need more help than that), and thier offense has been mostly a 2-man show. The team has time to get it together and sneak into a low seed, but they need to right the ship soon.
-Henrik Zetterberg signed a 12-year, $72-million contract with the Red Wings this wing, the longest and most lucrative (in total) contract in the history of the franchise. The contract averages out to $6 million a year with the last two years paying only $1 million. This will keep Zetterberg in Motor City until he retires. Now the Red Wings just have to figure out what to do about Johan Franzen and Marian Hossa.
-With the trade deadline about a month away, everyone’s focus has started to turn to those players likely to be on the move on March 4th. Jay Bouwmeester is high on everyone’s list. However, with the Panthers surprising everyone and being in the playoff hunt (they’re currently 9th in the East with 2 games in hand on the 8th place Hurricanes), the chances of Bouwmeester being dealt seem to drop dramatically. The Panthers haven’t clinched a playoff berth since 2000 and management and the fanbase are desperate for a succesful season. Their chances drop dramatically if Bouwmeester is lost. But watching him walk away for nothing doesn’t do the team any favors either. Jacques Martin has a tough few weeks ahead of him.
IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TOMORROW:
Eastern Conference:
Boston Bruins (1) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (8)
Washington Capitals (2) vs. Buffalo Sabres (7)
New Jersey Devils (3) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (6)
Montreal Canadiens (4) vs. New York Rangers (5)
Western Conference:
San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Edmonton Oilers (8)
Detroit Red Wings (2) vs. Minnesota Wild (7)
Calgary Flames (3) vs. Dallas Stars (6)
Chicago Blackhawks (4) vs. Anaheim Ducks (5)
PLAYS OF THE WEEK:
Jamie Langenbrunner has scored 6 goals in 3 games this week (including overtime game winners), but this goal wouldn’t have been possible without an incredible pass from Zach Parise. I have no idea what language this clip is in but it was the best video I could find 
Ville Leino scored his first NHL goal against the Caps on Saturday — and it was a pretty one.
Alex Ovechkin just continues to amaze. The first goal here was just….pure awesomeness.
Look for a live blog sometime this week.
