We're dedicating much of the very bottom of this edition to the goaltenders. Despite not just a little in the way of bad news in their teams' won-lost records, there were some noteworthy performances last week. The top, well, we should retire the No. 1 spot, which, it should come as no surprise, is again ably maintained by the older gentlemen from Detroit.
The Detriot Free Press recently released its midterm grades, player-by-player. Beyond the four incompletes, there was a D, for Darren, as in McCarty, who missed 16 games due to injury, four C's, nine B's and seven A's. Sounds about right for a team that was the class of the league in October, for most of November, the second half of December and, yes, last week, too.
Smoked Wednesday by the Avalanche, who dropped seven on Chicago, but we're not overlooking previous six games; six wins, two shutouts and a total of seven allowed.
They were waiting in Boston a full day before the Bruins arrived for a FleetCenter tilt. Still, we once said something about head-to-head matchups, and we'll keep our word. For now. Mats Sundin's first-half performance makes us feel pretty good about the Leafs mingling with the top five.
What is going on in Boston? The Celtics, the Patriots, and now this -- 30 goals from the Bruins in their past seven games. In that span, Joe Thornton has 15 points, Glen Murray has 14 and Bill Guerin has nine (eight goals).
A plea to Canadians that they please pardon this: We think Peter Forsberg's return is a bigger deal than Mario Lemieux's. Getting Patrick Roy back after his battle with the flu ain't too shabby, either.
What have you done for us lately? Well, Jochen Hecht and Rem Murray, who will see some time with Dan Cleary on the second line upon his return from a knee injury, figured in five of the seven goals the Oilers needed to beat Montreal on Sunday.
Who'da thunk that the Flyers would have heated up when John LeClair went cold? He scored nine goals in Philly's first 20 games, but has only four since. In that time, the Flyers went from four games above .500, to 11 games above. LeClair scored No. 15 in Tuesday night's win over the Thrashers, and the Flyers extended an undefeated streak in games in which he scores.
Interesting positive news: Adam Graves has scored five goals in the Sharks' previous seven games. Interesting negative news: Darryl Sutter and Teemu Selanne (minus-7) might have creative differences.
The Blues have juggled their lines a bit and it seems to have paid off for Cory Stillman. The offseason acquisition scored a hat trick against Dallas and the game-winner against Anaheim. St. Louis beat San Jose between those games and is riding a four-game winning streak.
This is the first of a four-team parade of teams with 50 points as of this writing. Why first among the foursome? Mike Modano and Joe Nieuwendyk have combined for eight goals in their last five games and the Stars 4-1-0-0 in that span.
There are dark days, there are really dark days, and there are those that the Senators slogged through as the NHL's laughingstock after joining the league. But never during those unhappy times had they been held to 10 shots in a game, as they were last Saturday in Toronto. (And yet they still sold for $116 million.)
Technically, December is the longest month, but the Hurricanes probably didn't want to see it end. After going 8-2-1-3 prior to the New Year, Carolina is winless against Boston, New Jersey and Philadelphia since.
You win some and you lose some, sure, but since Dec. 27, that theme has been all too familiar for the Islanders, who have followed a win with a loss three time. If form holds, they'll return from their five-game road trip (Montreal, Boston, Calgary, San Jose, and L.A.) respectably, with three wins and two losses, but not happy.
Between periods against the Kings, a pair of commentators (you know the formula, the younger straight man and the curmudgeonly lifer) speculated that if the Devils lost this game, Lou Lamoriello would chop some "dead wood." Let the heads roll. Or, wait a minute, maybe a 5-1 win over Calgary two nights later keeps the trade winds at bay.
While something like winning two straight on the road surely seemed trivial while they visited Ground Zero, where scouts Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis lost their lives, the Kings also moved one game above .500 for the first time this season. Against the Rangers on Wednesday night, it was three straight games and two above .500.
Twice this season the Coyotes have had the chance to go two games above .500, and twice they have followed that opportunity with disappointing hockey; the most recent being a three-games-and-counting losing streak.
Last Saturday night, after the Bruins dropped seven goals on Washington, Joe Thornton read the scouting report: "We knew they're not a very good team at the start of the game." You know what they say about those who do not learn from history ... On Monday night, the Caps coughed one up 1:06 into the first in a 2-1 loss to the Panthers.
Back to the head-to-head defense, your honor. The Wild beat Montreal on Tuesday night, 4-2, in a battle of teams that had previously won only 16 games.
After all the booing he's faced, let's not forget that Patrice Brisebois is the only regular plus-player among the top 10 scorers on his team. That group is a collective minus-49.
Welcome back, Martin Biron? Biron had stumbled into the New Year, but last Sunday earned his first win since Dec. 4 and, two nights later, picked up his first home win since Nov. 23.
A tale of two returns for Mario Lemieux, 2002 being the winter of discontent. Upon Saturday's revival, teammates admit that the room is crackling with nervous energy about changes that might be made. We'll assume Alexei Kovalev -- three goals, two less than a minute apart in the third period, in last Saturday's win -- will not be one of them.
Though Nikolai Khabibulin didn't add many fan club members while sitting out in Phoenix, it sure must have been sweet to shut the Coyotes out in the desert. Sunday's shutout was his franchise-record sixth of the season.
On Nov. 10, Nashville was five games below .500. On Dec. 11? Five games below .500. And on Jan. 10, you guessed it, five games below .500. Too bad, too, because it overshadows the fact that Mike Dunham picked up 14 of 20 points between Dec. 6 and Jan. 1. Didn't help that last week he lost to Minnesota, Columbus and Toronto.
While the Ducks have lost five straight games, Jean-Sebastien Giguere hasn't allowed more than three goals in his last eight appearances, a span over which he has saved 173 of 184 shots (.940 SP).
Remember what we said about the goalie appreciation? Let's cap it off with Damian Rhodes, who beat former team Ottawa on Wednesday in a 4-3 Thrashers OT win.
Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.
