| Place/Team | Games Played | WINS | LOSSES | OTL | Points | ROW | GF | GA | DIFF | HOME | AWAY | S/O | L10 | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Boston Bruins | 74 | 43 | 28 | 3 | 89 | 35 | 241 | 182 | +59 | 22-13-2 | 121-15-1 | 8-2 | 5-5-0 | WON 1 |
| 2. Ottawa Senators | 76 | 38 | 28 | 10 | 86 | 33 | 230 | 223 | +7 | 20-15-4 | 18-13-6 | 5-4 | 4-4-2 | WON 1 |
| 3. Buffalo Sabres | 76 | 37 | 29 | 10 | 84 | 30 | 197 | 209 | -12 | 20-11-8 | 17-18-2 | 7-6 | 7-1-2 | WON 4 |
| 4. Toronto Maple Leafs | 76 | 33 | 34 | 9 | 75 | 29 | 217 | 239 | -22 | 16-14-7 | 17-20-2 | 4-5 | 3-5-2 | OT 1 |
| 5. Montreal Canadiens | 76 | 29 | 34 | 13 | 71 | 24 | 197 | 211 | -14 | 14-15-9 | 15-19-4 | 5-9 | 4-3-4 | LOST 1 |
Standings Update:
The Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins have once again flip-flopped atop the division. Where Ottawa stood last week, Boston is now, atop the division. They both won tonight, so Boston remains 3 points ahead of the Senators. The Bruins also have 2 games in hand over Ottawa. Buffalo, with their win tonight, move ahead of the idle Capitals for 8th, after winning 4 straight to get there. Toronto continues their slide, now in 13th in the conference, just 4 points ahead of Montreal, who has moved back into 15th in the conference after a brief stint in 14th, ahead of the Islanders.
Toronto Drubbed.
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| Kessel, and the rest of the Leafs, aren't taking enough shots. |
Shots, Shots, Shots, Shots, Shots, Shots.
While Toronto recorded just 13, yes 13, shots the entire game against Boston they mustered only 14 shots in their next game against the Islanders on Tuesday. That's a total of 27 in two games, 7 less than the 24 the Islanders put up on them in that game. The title of this one almost makes it to the correct number of times saying shots.
Anderson Returns
Ottawa's Craig Anderson finally made his return from his.. err.. unfortunate "incident" involving kitchen utensils, Friday against Montreal, and it really didn't turn out very well for him. He gave up 2 goals on 4 shots and got pulled. He was then put back in after the first intermission and played solidly from then on, stopping all 12 shots in the second and giving up just one goal in the third. He turned around the shakey start and looks to bring back the momentum he gained from the second and third along with him as Ottawa tries to pass Boston for division lead.
Cole The Natural
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| Cole gets his first 30-goal season since 2005-06. |
Two 30 Goal Men
With Cole's hat trick, he now has 30 goals. This tie a career-high that he set in 2005-06. It also gives the Canadiens two 30-goal scorers for the first time since 1995-96 when Vincent Damphousse and Pierre Turgeon did it for the Habs.
Buffalo Moves Into 8th
With Buffalo's 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild, and with the Capitals idle on Saturday night, the Sabres have moved into 8th place. Not bad for a team who, as late as February 18th, was last in the conference. Since that day, the Sabres have gone 11-2-4 and have vaulted up the standings.
Ottawa Sliding
Ottawa beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 8-4 tonight, but before that they had lost their last 3 and were 1-4-1 in their previous 6 games. With Boston also having their struggles of late, it would have been a good opportunity for the Sens to remain over the Bruins, and they hope that with this win they can build momentum. At this time last week, Ottawa was first in the division and Boston was chasing them. Ottawa has now moved moved back to within just 1 point of the Bruins, though Ottawa has played 2 more games.
Kadri Good Call-Up
Because of a rash on injuries, Toronto had to called up Nazem Kadri. In his first game of the call-up, he certainly impressed. Toronto beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in the shootout and Kadri scored one goal, and recorded the shootout winner on a beautiful move on veteran Martin Brodeur.
Karlsson Owns Goal
In last Saturday's game between the Senators and Leafs, there was a very strange play. Here's a look at it:
Ben Bishop went out behind the net to stop the puck for defenseman Erik Karlsson, and Bishop took his time returning to his net. Karlsson went to fire the puck out the side Bishop was on, it hit Bishops leg then hit his skate and went into his own net. Toronto won the game 3-1, and the two of them have a very embarrassing moment. This isn't even the first time for Karlsson, have a look:
No Inter-Division
Normally there is at least one game a week that involves two Northeast division rivals, especially during the final month of the season, but this week is the exception. There are no inter-division games until next Saturday, March 31st when the Maple Leafs host the Sabres.
Keep Looking Positive
I've kept bringing up the plus-minus ratings of the Boston Bruins because Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron have been leading the league much of the season. Well now, there are 3 Bruins atop the rankings. Bergeron and Seguin are still up there, and are joined by teammate Chris Kelly who is now tied with Seguin. Prior to tonight's games, Zdeno Chara was 4th in the rankings, but was passed by Ottawa's Filip Kuba who was a plus-2 against Pittsburgh,
| Greening has been busy as a rookie, playing all 76 of Ottawa's games. |
Relying on Rookies
There are just two teams in the NHL who have had 3 rookies on their team that have played in 50 or more games for the team. Ottawa is one of those teams with Jared Cowen and Colin Greening both suiting up in 76 games and Kasper Daugavins playing in 59 games for the Sens. The other team is the Philadelphia Flyers, who are also the only team other than the Sens to have more than 1 rookie play more than 70 games.
Price Plays A Lot
There are 10 goalies so far this season who have played in 60 games or more. Montreal's Carey Price is the only one from the Northeast division to be in that top ten. And despite being tied for 5th in games played with Ondrej Pavelec at 63, Price is ranked 19th in wins with just 26.
Overtime Heroics
There are a lot of players tied for 3rd in overtime goals scored. Three of these players are from the Northeast division: Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson, Buffalo's Jason Pominville, and Toronto's Tim Connolly. The first two are not surprising to see in this position, they are both star, top line forwards for their team and are near the top, if not are the leading scorer on their team. Connolly though, is another story. He has been having a troublesome season in Toronto, not being able to find a rhythm, but has been clutch for his team in the extra period.
Habs Officially Out
The Canadiens, with their loss to Philadelphia tonight, are officially eliminated from the playoffs. This is the first time the Habs have missed the playoffs since 2006-07 when they finished 10th in the conference and just 2 points out of 8th. This year is much different, and they are the first team in the east to be officially eliminated.
Players to Watch:
- Cody Hodgson. It took Hodgson a while to get going after he moved to Buffalo, but he's stepped it up of late. He's got 3 goals and 6 points in his last 4 games, including the game winner in Buffalo's game against the Habs. As Buffalo hopes to hold their 8th spot, he will have to keep contributing to the offense.
- Aaron Palushaj. Who? He's a rookie for the Canadiens who scored his first career NHL goal last Saturday against the Islanders. He has 3 points in his last 4 games which, for a guy with just 5 points in 32 games, is a great improvement. With the Habs officially eliminated, look for the younger guys to get some more ice time.
- Daniel Alfredsson. Alfie had been on a 3 game pointless streak heading into Saturday's game. He exploded for 2 goals and 4 points including the game-winning goal. Ottawa is pushing for first in the division and they will need their captain to continue to lead them effectively, especially on the scoresheet.
- Chris Kelly. He's had 4 points in his last 3 games before the game tonight, where he added another goal, and it ended up being the game-winner. The Bruins hope to continue getting offense from their bottom 6 centre.
- Nazem Kadri. The young call-up with silky mitts will get increased responsibility as the Leafs fall further from the playoff picture. Carylyle believes in playing all the players he has in the lineup, so Kadri will definitely get some ice time, and he hopes to duplicate how he played in his first game back up, and not his second game where he was held pointless, was a -1, and was stopped in his shootout attempt.
What do you think of the Northeast this year? Are you excited for the battle at the top?
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