The Luongo Road
Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo is becoming everything they had hoped he would be when they traded for him at last year's NHL Entry Draft.
Luongo spent Monday evening in the hospital after taking a Daniel Sedin shot to the throat during practice. He responded last night on little to no sleep by stopping all 30 Montreal Canadiens shots and help Vancouver to the 4-0 shutout win. The victory was his third this season by shutout. The Canucks win was their fifth in a row on the road, and they have now won nine of their last 10 games.
For a team that was finding difficulty putting the puck in the net a month ago, they are finding scoring everywhere now. Ryan Kesler, Josh Green, Jan Bulis, and Lukas Krajicek (who has one of the coolest names in the NHL) provided the tallies for the Canucks last night.
The Vancouver Canucks now hold sole possesion of first in the Northwest Division and the third seed in the Western Conference.
For Montreal, things probably couldn't look worse right now. The Habs have dropped nine of their last 13 games, and have had some trouble rebounding from the recent flu epidemic that devestated their line up a week ago. Forward Sergei Samsonov was scratched last night as his frustrating season continues to labor on. In 46 games this season, the UFA acquisition by the Canadiens has scored just 19 points (6 goals, 13 assists), and is a -2 rating.
Quick Shave:
Marian Hossa does it again. The Atlanta Thrashers forward joined the NHL HTC for the second time this season, scoring three in his team's 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Kings keeper Yutaka Fukufuji as pulled early in the second period after allowing three goals on nine shots, in his first ever NHL start. Hang in there guy! Do you think Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hasek are having a shutout battle this season? The two veterans are making a huge case for the Vezina Trophy right now. Martin Brodeur continued his amazing campaign by shutting down the New York Rangers 1-0, for his 8th shutout of the season. The New Jersey Devils goaltender stopped all 26 shots he faced, and forward Jay Pandolfo shut down Jaromir Jagr successfully once again, allowing him to take only one shot on net. The Devils have the formula to stop the Rangers premier right wing, and the personell to execute it almost every time. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins continues to light the lamp. Crosby netted a pair against the New York Islanders (who are losing often lately to everyone but the Rangers) and helped his club to the 5-2 win. Pittsburgh is now 3 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot, and Crosby extended his NHL scoring lead to 68 points (23 goals, 45 assists) in 41 games played this season. Imagine how good this kid is going to be when he hits 21! The Anaheim Ducks woes continue in the wake of their injured star players. The Ducks were hammered by the rising St. Louis Blues 6-2 last night, and Ilya Brysgalov did little to help his case with Coach Carlyle allowing 4 goals on 13 shots.....not to mention completely destroy my goaltending stats for the week! Little side note here....Fantasy Hockey is driving me insane lately! All of my players are either on IR, Day to Day, or mired in massive slumps......I thought this was supposed to be fun? The Ottawa Senators appear to have completely rebounded from their awful start, and have been laying waste to everyone they play. Last night's victim: the Washington Capitals, who the Sens handily defeated 5-2 on a pair of goals by new arrival Mike Comrie. The Senators have now won five in a row, and injured forward Jason Spezza has resumed skating and should be returning to the lineup soon.
Game of the Night:
Nashville at Detroit 7:30 PM
How about this one? The best of the Central Division get down tonight! Four points separate these two teams, and a win by Nashville tonight could put them in the top spot in the Western Conference! Maybe someone will recognize them then? Perhaps, if they can put a puck past Hasek. Enjoy the games!
Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh
Comments
Bosh, regarding Allison I don't see him getting a contract this year with any team. He has just missed too much time and he was pretty sluggish last year with the Leafs(what will the time off do to that?). Detroit does have some late round gems that are playing better then expected(mainly Johnathan Ericcson).
Datsyuk is another player getting tossed around in trade rumours since he is a UFA this year and not sure if Holland wants to deal with his agent tugging his chain again this time around, He will also command a large chunk of change (close to league max) even though from his playoff disappointment he does not deserve it.
Posted by: Paul | January 17, 2007 06:34 AM
Paul - I agree Allison may not get a contract this year, but I disagree that he couldn't be effective. One need only look at ALL-STAR Yannic Perrault (God that sounds weird!) to realize old slow dudes can still score and Allison racked up PP points last year when he wasn't injured. I checked my math and to be exact, Allison put up a very respectable 60 points in 66 games last year - 39 of those points on the PP. I have no idea why he doesn't have a contract. For God's sake, Montreal needs a center like crazy. Allison to Kovalev? Could work.
Yesterday you asked the question if the Predators were the best team in hockey. I put off saying it but last night left me with no choice. As much as it kills me, I think the New Jersey Devils are the best team in hockey right now and Gary Bettman better be shaking in his more scoring boots at the thought of the Devils riding this wave of 1-0 victories all the way to the playoffs. Brodeur is inhuman. There's nothing else to say. The Devils are ten points ahead in their division and only six behind the Sabres for the conference lead.
That's six points away from me wanting to jump off a roof.
Posted by: Stache | January 17, 2007 07:42 AM
The biggest reason Allison didn't get a contract offer this year is because he was demanding $3million + per season....similiar to Anson Carter.....who got smarter as the opener approached. From what I've heard, the man has been working out daily, and as Stache said, was a point a game player last season. His +/- rating was dreadful, but if you use him as a powerplay specialist he might be an affordable pickup. I think he could be had for around $500k right now, especially if a contender came calling.
As for the New Jersey Devils, Stache, I can give you little argument. They are amazing at shutting down teams. Their biggest weakness however is their own offence. The Devils are horrible when they are playing from behind, but if you give Brodeur 1 goal, that is usually enough...as we saw last night.
Posted by: Captain Bosh | January 17, 2007 09:43 AM
I don't know if you can say that the Devils are the best TEAM. They've got a great goaltender, but that's really their star.
I mean, if Brodeur got injured, what do you think would happen to the Devils? Honestly?
I'd actually go with Nashville over the Devils. They've got more going for them than a (fucking awesome holy shit this guy is great) goalie. Or the Ducks, when they've got all their players healthy. Their Defense is so good it's scary.
And then there's the Sharks, who have the freakin' scariest power play I've ever seen.
Did anybody see the shot totals from the Detrot/Nashville game? 19 detroit vs. 17 Nashville. I was just floored when I saw that.
Posted by: jeff | January 17, 2007 10:25 PM