NHL History & News

The Eastern Conference is a wide open conference with some great battles at the top of the standings starting with two divisions, the Southeast Division and the Northeast Division.

The Southeast Division is even up with the favorite, the Washington Capitals and the long shot, the Florida Panthers. Both teams are cutting their way through the competition. The Caps expectations were high going into the season but the Panthers are surprising everyone. Both teams have 21 points and if the playoffs started tomorrow one of them would be heading home.

The Northeast Division is also in a dead heat. The Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs are neighbors just across the Niagra Falls from each other but the two teams are also neighbors in the standings. The two teams are identical except the Maple Leafs are have given up 19 more goals than the Sabres.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are leading the NHL in points, tied with the Western Conference leaders, the Blackhawks, with the 25 points. The Penguins are doing this despite their star player, Sidney Crosby, being out of commission with concussion issues.

There are several teams that are already eliminated from the NHL playoffs before we ever get to the month of December but only one team, the New York Islanders, is so far gone they can be considered a candidate for the No.1 draft pick.

Who is the favorite to win the Eastern Conference? Pittsburgh can win this conference easily if their star Crosby comes back but they will still win the conference without No. 87.

Which Eastern Conference team has the best odds to win the Stanley Cup?

One of the more interesting match ups will be between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins with another full line up of NHL games scheduled for Saturday night.

The Pittsburgh Penguins trail the Philadelphia Flyers by just three points for first place in the Atlantic Division as Carolina currently sits three points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

For this matchup NHL betting Odds have not yet been posted.

As the Penguins deals with the loss of star center Sidney Crosby, who is still out with a concussion, recently they have been playing average hockey. The Penguins are just 2-3 and have only scored more than three goals in a game once, in the last five games that Crosby has missed. The team hopes to have him back in time for this weekend’s game as it is certainly no secret that the Penguins miss Crosby’s offense when he is not in the lineup.

Carolina seems to be coming into their own recently while having struggled at different points of the season. The Hurricanes may be peaking at the right time when they are scheduled to face one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference having won four of their last six games. Carolina has been able to stay within striking distance of the last few playoff spots this season unlike last year when the team was out of contention in the early part of the schedule, using a balanced offensive attack that has seen the Hurricanes average 2.9 goals per game and an 18.3% power play.

The Penguins should have little trouble beating the Hurricanes on their home ice, must Crosby return for Saturday’s game. Carolina has a chance to pull off the mild upset due to Pittsburgh’s recent lack of scoring if Crosby is still out of action though.

On New Year’s Day at Heinz Field, home of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, the Arch NHL rivals Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals will battle against each other in the Winter Classic and NBC will broadcast the match at 1 pm ET.

For this matchup NHL Odds are not yet available.

The Penguins beat the Capitals 3-2 last Thursday in Washington when the teams met just last week.

The game went seven rounds of a shootout before Pittsburgh winger Pascal Dupuis scored the winning goal on Washington Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth, even though it was not easy matchup.

In the first minute of the game the tone was set early when Alex Ovechkin put a big hit on the Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin. In order to stretch his scoring streak to 23 straight games, it took just one shot and three minutes for Sidney Crosby after that. To give his team a 1-0 lead Crosby scored on a tip-in off a pass from Kris Letang.

When Mike Green scored to stop his 14-game scoring drought, Washington later scored on a five-on-three advantage.

Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau said of Green’s play that, “I thought it was his best game in a long time, He played good defensively and yet he jumped into the play to make things happen offensively. You could see when he scored – it was like the weight of the world came off his shoulders.”

In an Atlantic Division battle this coming Sunday; the Philadelphia Flyers will lock horn the New York Islanders.

The Flyers will be looking to raise the space between themselves and the rest of the division as they are presently tied with the suddenly red hot Pittsburgh Penguins with 34 points each. On the other hand the Islanders are struggling extremely again this season. On the season with only 15 points and just 5 wins at present the Islanders sit in the bottom of the Atlantic Division.

In order to reach the number one spot in the division, the Flyers have used a balanced scoring and defensive attack. By averaging 3.3 goals for each competition the Flyers are 4th in the league in goals per game. Allowing a mere 2.4 goals per game, Philly also has one of the better defensive units in the league. You are going to have a pretty good record as the Flyers currently do as anytime you can get this big of a difference between goals for and goals allowed per game.

Both offensively and defensively in the NHL, the Islanders continue to be one of the worst teams. Yet allow 3.2 goals per contest, the Isles only manage to score 2.1 goals per game on average. For 29th and 28th overall correspondingly those numbers are good. The Islanders are going to have to find other ways to score goals while limiting their opposition’s chances if they want to turn their season around and have any chance of beating the Flyers on Sunday.

Tampa Bay Lighting visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at the CONSOL Energy Center. on Friday, and they are the two top goal scorers in the National Hockey League last season.

Right down to the final day of the 2010-11 season, Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos took their battle for the NHL goal-scoring race and by finishing with 51 apiece, they ended up sharing the Rocket Richard Trophy.

For the Friday’s matchup, NHL Betting Odds are not yet available.

Between Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, this is the second meeting of the season.

When the Lighting beat the Penguins 5-3 on Oct. 27, the tiebreaking goal was scored by Martin St. Louis early in the third period and added a late empty-netter.

In regulation this season, this was the Penguins first road loss.

Starter Mike Smith was pulled at 12:15 of the first period allowing three goals on seven shots, Tampa Bay goalie Dan Ellis took over thereafter.

St. Louis said that he has been thrown by you there and you have been given a chance by him to get back in and said that was great.

Vincent Lecavalier, Teddy Purcell and Dana Tyrell also had markers for the Lightning.

On June 23, this year’s 2010 NHL Awards will be held in Las Vegas and there are several hotly contested categories. Below are the four most closely watched of the award.

For the Hart Memorial Trophy, this year’s finalists, which is awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team by the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association, are Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, and Sidney Crosby from the Pittsburgh Penguins. To the President’s Cup, Ovechkin led his team and he is a two-time defending champion, but there are some who believe that Sedin played on a weaker team and thus was more valuable, overall to his team.

For the Vezina Trophy, which is given to the league’s best goalie as voted on by the NHL clubs’ general managers, are Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils, Ilya Bryzgalov of the Phoenix Coyotes, and Ryan Miller, the goalie for the Buffalo Sabres, are the goalies vying. Miller is a sentimental favorite for his outstanding play for Team USA in this year’s Olympics games, even though, what happened in the Olympics shouldn’t be a factor in the awards.

For the James Norris Memorial Trophy, which is given to the best defensemen as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association include Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, Mike Green from the Washington Capitals, and the Chicago Blackhawks‘ Duncan Keith, are the nominees.

For the James Norris Memorial Trophy, which is given to the best defensemen as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association include Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, Mike Green from the Washington Capitals, and the Chicago Blackhawks‘ Duncan Keith, are the nominees. With 76 points, Green had an outstanding year and has the best plus/minus of the three with a plus 39.

For the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year, which is voted on by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association, are Joe Sacco of the Colorado Avalanche, Dave Tippett of the Phoenix Coyotes, and Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators, are vying for the award. After just plain ugly seasons last year, Both Sacco and Tippett unexpectedly brought their respective teams back into contention.

On June 23rd, the other awards presented include the Frank J. Selke Trophy for outstanding defensive forward. Detroit Red Wings‘ Pavel Datsyuk, Vancouver Canucks’ Ryan Kesler, and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Jordan Staal are included as nominees. Up for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct is Pavel Datsyuk of the Red Wings, Brad Richards of the Dallas Stars, and Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning, are the nominees. Nominees for the Calder Memorial Trophy for outstanding rookie are Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene, Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings, and Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres. Lastly, for the Masterton Trophy, which is awarded to a player for perseverance and sportsmanship is Tampa Bay Lightning‘s Kurtis Foster, the San Jose Sharks‘ Jed Ortmeyer, and the Washington Capitals’ Jose Theodore, are the nominees for the award.

In game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Montreal Canadiens, on Saturday May 8, 2010 at Mellon Arena. At two wins a piece, the teams are all tied up in the second round of the playoffs.

Even though the Montreal Canadiens have been counted out several times already, they are showing the world that they belong in these playoffs. In what is considered to be a huge upset, in the first round, they knocked off the Washington Capitals.

Against the Penguins in Game 4, Montreal Goaltender Jaroslav Halak had another hot game, stopping 33 shots the Penguins fired at him. The Penguins need to find a way to get the puck into the net and Halak has been a force to deal with in these playoffs.

After having surgery only six days before, Jordan Stall played in game 4. Stall’s foot was sliced open by a skate and he had to have the tendon surgically repaired, on April 30, 2010.

In the first period, Tom Pyatt of the Canadiens scored early, but was answered by Max Talbot and Chris Kunitz of the Penguins. With goals by Maxim Lapierre and Brian Gionta in the third period, saw Montreal rally back, giving the Canadiens a 3-2 victory.

Will Montreal shock the world with another upset and knock the defending Stanley cup Champions out of the playoffs or can the Penguins take the series back over and go on to a third straight Stanley Cup Final.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs continues for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Montreal Canadiens in game 4 of the semi finals, on Thursday night May 6, 2010. At the bell Centre on Thursday, the Penguins lead the series 2-1 and have a chance to take a commanding lead in the series.

In game three on May the 2nd at the Bell Centre, the Penguins had a 2-0 victory over the Canadiens. Early in the third period on a Power Play, Evgeni Malkin was able to sneak one by the red hot goalie, Jaroslav Halak, giving the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh goaltender, got his fourth career post season shutout, with his win on Tuesday night. He stopped every one of the Canadiens’ eighteen shots at him. There has been a lot of negative talk about Fleury’s performance so far in the post season, but he has helped the penguins reach the Stanley Cup Finals the last two years and is on his way to a third.

Sidney Crosby is another standout player for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who has taken his game to another level in this post season. Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sidney Crosby were the co-winner of the Rocket Richard trophy in the regular season.

Will the defending Stanley Cup Champions be too much for Halak and Montreal or can the Montreal Canadiens pick up a win in game four. On Thursday night, at the Bell Centre, we will find who wins the game.