Baby Bruins - a mystic mess

Despite playing about .300 hockey, the Providence Bruins may not as big a mess as would be expected. Of course, they may be even more of a mess than expected as well.

The first line is playing, on average, -18 hockey, but the rest of the team is near even. The team's leading scorer is Jiri Jakes, averaging .69 points a game - thirty-four points in fifty-four games, with sixteen goals - including three game winners - and eighteen assists. To go with his team leading scoring, he has also accumulated one hundred seven penalty minutes. He is closely followed by Brett Nowak (12-20) with thirty-two points in forty-seven games.

If the Providence defense is to be relied upon when they hit the pros... the pros are screwed. Currently, the team's top four defenseman all have more than 125 penalty minutes this season and are each averaging three-and-a-half penalty minutes per game.

The team's top goaltender is playing simply terrible hockey and letting beach balls by, but the back up played even worse. On the plus side, the team at least has one of the worst penalty kills AND power plays in the league.

"While we thought the previous management had dug us quite the whole before, at the pro level, it was nowhere near as bad as what we have down in the farm," GM Joshua Anderson stated when discussing the farm club. "All sorts of lines have failed to work, and we're actively searching some trades for picks... but we'll see what happens. It won't be quick, but we'll see."

O6 OT

Sure, it was only a Junior League game. But there's always something special when Original Six teams get together, as occurred when Montreal ventured into Providence to face off with the Baby Bruins.

This game would be no different, going to overtime before Providence pulled out the win. Plus, in the spirit of healthy competition, the Bruins managed to only be whistled for one penalty - a season low.

Just like a night for Ryan Long in the bar, this got ugly early. Montreal's Alex Naurov was almost immediately whistled for a highsticking penalty at 00:15, setting up the power play for the hosts. Despite a flurry of activity, the Bruins were unable to capitalize. When play returned to full strength and the pace was set, Rick Kozack felt the need to disrupt things by making the twine sing. Kozack buried his fourteenth goal of the year past Olivier Michaud at 09:36, assisted by Tomas Makela and Brett Nowak.

The on-ice play was silent until Tomas Malec got sloppy and was penalized for cross checking with only forty-six seconds left to play. While he was sat for two minutes, the teams retreated for the first intermission, with Providence up 1-0.

That penalty would pay immediate benefits for Boston in the second period. As the face off was taken five-on-four, Providence immediately capitalized, with Pierre-Luc Edmon crashing the goal to net the power-play goal at 00:10.

The joy would be short-lived, as at 06:33, the Li'l Habs broke into the goal column when Konstantin Zakharov scored his first goal of the game and eleventh of the year, followed by Loui Eriksson tying the game at two all, where the period would end.

Come the third period, Jake Taylor was slapped with a misconduct for an elbowing penalty. The ensuing power play led to Zakharov's second goal to give the visitors the lead, as Jordan Sigalet - making his return to the net after an extended absence for "personal issues" - was left guessing, evidently wrongly.

As things looked dire for the hosts, Christian Larrivee interfered with Sigalet's puck play, earning himself a two minute stint. Trying to set up a goal chance, Providence nearly wasted the full advantage. With only four ticks left on the power play, Paul Gaustad fed Jiri Jakes a set up for a one-timer, which Jakes scorched past Michaud at 15:30. With that, the teams headed to oooooooovertime.

Providence clearly went on the assertive in the extra frame, taking double the shots as Montreal. Finally, Martin Samuelsson paid off with the game winner at 04:14 to put this baby to bed.

While Zakharov took home the top star, Samuelsson earned the third and a place in Providence lore for years to come before the 10,000 gathered fans who went home happy.

Junior Capitals Fall to Panthers

The Washington Junior Capitals dropped a tough 3-2 overtime decision to the Florida Junior Panthers on Day 107. With the loss the team falls to 22-26-6 for the season.

After a fight that saw Greg Mauldin beat up by Florida's McNeill, the Panthers opened the scoring through Bobrov at 8:22. Borodkin and Pushkarev assisted on the goal. Washington answered with a pair of goals late in the period to take the lead. Jean-Claude Sawyer netted the first from Ryan MacMurchy and Cory Urquhart at 17:05, before Urquhart made it 2-1 when he scored from MacMurchy and Mikhail Kuleshov at 19:43.

Neither team scored in the second period, and the Capitals clung to its 2-1 lead late into the final 20 minutes. Florida finally tied things up when Nielsen scored from Paetsch and Koivisto with just 1:08 remaining to force overtime.

The Panthers dominated the overtime session, outshooting Washington 3-0 before Bobrov netted the game-winner at 2:34.

Brad Topping made 30 saves in the loss for Washington. Lukas Mensator made 15 saves to earn the win for Florida.

The Junior Capitals return to action on Day 109 against Detroit.

Allison a true leader in Edmonton

Captain Jason Allison has stepped up to take the lead of his Edmonton squad as of late. Allison has had points the last 8 games in a row, and he has scored a total of 19 points in the last 12 games. Finally, Edmonton managment is getting their bang for their buck as far as their Captain is concerned.

Paul Kariya, Although not as successful on the scoreboard as Allison, has been a major contributor to Allison's success as well, with those two power houses on the ice, it's dangerous for even the best defense in the league, Kariya in the last 12 has scored 16 points, just 3 shy of Allison.

Defensive depth has finally become a reality in Edmonton, With the 1st line duo of Boughner & Aucoin being solid as they have been all year, the problem lied with their 2nd and 3rd string defensman, The #2 duo is a very solid defensive minded duo containing of newly acquired Smith and previously acquired Wallin, These two players don't contribute much on the offensive end but in their own end they are almost unbeatable. The #3 tandem is still up for grabs, Tough-Guy's McAllister, Moro & Grand-Pierre compete with decent all around defensman Benysek for the spot, who will get the nod during playoff time could vary but right now it looks like Grand-Pierre & McAllister will win the starts.

After getting rid of Ference and adding some more disciplined players, the Oilers Average Penalties/Game has dropped signifcantly and that will be a key factor in the Oilers making the play-offs this season.

Thilbault Sits - Attacks Dunham

"YOU DID THIS! YOU DID THIS!" came the screams from the Rangers dressing room at their practice facility as a furious Jocelyn Thilbault attacked Mike Dunham. Thilbault could be heard screaming at coach Neilson and other players in the dressing room for close to twenty minutes before he attacked Dunham.

"I *^%)ing practicaly *&(&ing die of from poisoning and nobody does anything! I come here and I get treated like sh*t! This isn't the first time you *&^(ers have told me I'm going to start and then put Dunham in! Mix up my ^%&ing *ss!"

When Dunham entered the room Thilbault ran at him threw him to the ground and started choking him. He was pulled off him by several team mates while screaming

"DEVILS EYES! DEVILS EYES! DEVILS EYES!"

It took several hours but Thilbault was finally subdued.

The event did not seemed to affect Dunham as he started out strong in net but folded like a lawn chair in the third when he was suddenly overcome with stomach cramps. He was pulled after giving up 5 goals to the Capitals and was rushed to hospital with a suspected case of food poisoning. Thilbault was seen on camera actually giving the finger to Dunham as he skated off the ice.

With Dunham out Thilbault will surely start against his former team the Lightining tomorrow night.

New Reviewer in Town

Bruins General Manager Joshua Anderson has accepted an appointment to be a trade reviewer for the CLUTCH league.

"I appreciate the honor in having been selected by Commissioner Long, and intend to give this position the respect it deserves. Commissioner Long has wrangled this league into fine shape, with the exception of the open teams and the GMs who are on their way to being fired, as well as the hiring of Earl, but by and large things are heading in the right direction. When he called on me, I felt a duty to answer the call."

When asked for comments, Commissioner Ryan Long shrugged his shoulders and said "Well... he seems like he was enough of a sap to go along with it. So why not, you know?"

Anderson's first day on the job will be Wednesday, May 31st. At this time, there are no trades pending approval, as the Capitals-Penguins deal was rejected Tuesday morning.

Are the Pens for real?

Coming off of a big win against the struggling Senators, and with the Devils only managing a tie against the Kings, The Pens find themselves only a point behind New Jersey and tied with the Flyers for the 9th spot in the Eastern Conference Playoff race. With 26 games to go the Penguins very well could be able to salvage somethig out of this season and make the playoffs after all. Their next game however will test whatever they may have when they take on the Islanders in New York. Their last meeting back on Day 47, saw the Islanders blow out the Pens 8-4. That of course was before they fired their old GM and hired youngster Earl Jackson to run the front office. Still looking for that one big trade to put them solidly in the playoff race the Pens with their #1 star Patrick Elias, continue to impress.

Capitals Tie Rangers

The Washington Capitals earned at least a point in its third straight game on Day 109 in a 4-4 tie with the New York Rangers. Washington is now 19-26-9 for the season. The two teams will meet again on Day 111 in the second half of the home and home series.

New York jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on a pair of goals from Ponikarovsky. Spiller and Lukowich assisted on the first at 7:29, before Blake and Lukowich earned the helpers on the second at 13:20. Washington battled back with two goals of its own in a 20 second span to tie the game. Frantisek Lukes made it 2-1 from Dan Boyle at 15:08, and Artem Chubarov tied the game from Lukes and Radoslav Suchy at 15:28.

The Capitals took its first lead of the game late in the second period when Bryan Berard netted from Patrick Marleau and Mikael Renberg at 16:53. The teams combined for 20 shots in the second, but Berard's marker was the only one of the middle stanza.

Trailing 3-2, the Rangers once again came out quickly and tied the game after just 5:44 on Bure's 28th goal of the season. Ribeiro and Dumot assisted on the goal. Just less than 10 minutes later New York took a 4-3 lead when Knutsen tallied from Pyatt and Dvorak at 15:35. Washington's backs were against the wall, but Berard saved the day with just 2:16 to play when he scored his second of the game and seventh of the season to make it 4-4. Mikael Renberg and Zigmund Palffy earned the helpers on the crucial goal.

Manny Legace stopped 27 shots for the Capitals, while Mike Dunham made 23 saves for the Rangers.

Washington returns to action on Day 111 in New York.

Providence to appeal ejection

The Providence Bruins today released a statement requesting a formal appeal for Andreas Lindstrom's third period ejection in the team's loss to the San Jose Junior Sharks.

The statement was as follows:

"At 04:07 of the third period in the Providence Hockey Club's game against the San Jose Sharkettes, Andreas Lindstrom was whistled for a goalie interference call and assessed a game misconduct, resulting in his ejection. Thirty seconds later, San Jose scored it's game winning goal.

Based on our review of the game tapes, we feel this game misconduct call was unnecessary and, frankly, ludicrous. We are asking the league to investigate the officials refereeing the game and reprimand them as appropriate. While there have long been whisperings of improper gambling among players, this could be indiciative of the first tainted referees.

Furthermore, the Providence Hockey Club believes the investigation will vindicate the Club and Andreas Lindstrom. As such, when the investigation is concluded and we are found to be in the just, we ask the league allow us to replay the remaining 15:53 of the game. While we know this is doubtful, it is a just request for the CLUTCH Jr to be a fair league.

Should Commissioner Long reject this request - as is expected, given his level of effectiveness is somewhere among that of Pat McCoy of the GFHL, Bud Selig of Major League Baseball, and a Mall Rental Cop - the Club requests a payment of $500,000 from San Jose for the stolen victory."

Asked for additional commentary, all GM Joshua Anderson would state was "Who the [bleep] ever heard of a game misconduct on a goalie interference call?"

Bruins to rest of Adams - ha!

After weeks of morbid expectations to open the season, the Boston Bruins have arrived.

With their win over the Buffalo Sabres, the team moved into a tie for the top spot in the division, and would hold the tiebreaker edge based on wins.

Tied with the club were the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning, last year's top Conference squad. Tampa Bay has been on a recent resurgance, winning several in a row to move into a tie for the top.

Toronto has been plugging away with consistency in a division it once that was a clinch to win. They have not trailed off significantly, if at all, but have been caught by surging teams.

According to Robbie Ftorek, the Boston Bruins head coach, "We're just happy to be in contention. We'll let the chips fall as they may, but right now, we cannot complain too loudly."

GM Joshua Anderson was a little more boisterous, saying "I knew we should have traded our first rounder earlier in the year. Now, its not worth anywhere near as much. Curse the luck, I guess. But what a good problem to have, eh?"

Shark Bait - Redux

Last week, the Boston Bruins went into San Jose and got their tails beat. This week, the farm team went in and did likewise.

In a brutally dull game from an offensive standpoint, San Jose narrowly outshot and outscored Providence, leading by one in each column. The only Bruins goal came at 03:45 of the third period when Zach Tarkir scored on a power play opportunity, one of only four for the Bruins.

What will be remembered is the game featured more whistles than a gym teacher convention. The first period alone had eight penalties, split evenly at four apiece. Two fights broke out in the period - Providence's Milan Jurcina took Jevon Desauntels to a draw, while Andreas Lindstrom beat up Mike Jefferson - and San Jose was penalized for two high sticking calls, including one which also saw Jake Taylor get shuttered in for roughing at 07:59.

The second period was less barbaric, but was all Boston - four penalties in all, including two Jake Taylor elbows, an Andreas Lindstrom goalie interference, and Paul Gaustad's charging penalty as the seconds expired on the period. The Sharks' first goal came at the 02:57 mark of the period when David Johansson scored.

Come the third period, the Baby Bruins tied the game on Tarkir's power play goal, but then gave up the game winner less than a minute later in a five-on-three situation. Roman Vopat had been called for goalie interference at 03:49, as was Andreas Lindstrom at 04:07, which got him an ejection from the game and a game misconduct. With Zach Tarkir in the penalty box for Lindstrom, the rush was on, and Marcel Rodman netted the game winner at 04:41.

Before the game was over, Mark McRae beat down Jake Taylor as if he were a punching bag, injuring Taylor and getting McRae ejected.

Brock Hooten was hung with the loss, dropping him to 1-4-0 on the year despite stopping twenty-seven of twenty-nine shots.

Oleg Saprykin - On the Move?

Since the location of holdout RFA Oleg Saprykin was determined late last week, it has been learned that the Bruins have been contacted by at least two teams about the possibility of acquiring him.

"Well, as with everyone else, there's always the possibility of moving him," GM Joshua Anderson said. "While we continue to hope to sign him, let's be honest - we may not necessarily NEED him on board. If need be, dealing him for a player, prospect, or pick or two could be realistic."

Anderson continued, "What we told the suitors thusfar is we need a pick or two or junior campable players. Any combination or offer would be considered - we're not going to be brash or stupid here. There is no need to hold out on an offer if it fits for both teams. And his scoring could fit for someone who needs it - like an Atlanta, perhaps."

Contacted for comment, Saprykin's agent slammed down the phone, thinking reporters were disguised police agents.

"Win the ones you should win"

"Win the damn games you're supposed to win. Otherwise, what the hell is the point of trotting your sorry asses out there?" Robbie Ftorek screamed at his team in the lockerroom, punctuating the scream with a slammed door. "I swear, you lose this game, I'll make arrangements to start trading people!"

Squaring up to host one of the worst teams in the conference, the Boston Bruins had been palling and joking around as the waited for their cue to take the ice. Evidently, Ftorek thought they were doing too much of it.

Ftorek was correct - the defense came out sloppy in the first half of the opening period, allowing thirteen shots by the Sabres to only nine for the Bruins. But while the offense was tepid, eventually it would come through.

At 12:27, Sean Brown intercepted a Jason Spezza cross-ice pass, taking it up the rink past the center line. There, he skidded the puck in a sloppy attempt to feed Jochan Hecht, who made the best use of it he could. While it may have been ugly, Hecht skated right, then wrapped around the net where Rick DiPietro had fallen in an attempt to block the shot, and Hecht flipped it over the sprawled Sabre netminder, giving him twenty-four on the year.

Three and a half minutes later, Andy McDonald scored for the eighteenth time this season on a Keith Tkachuk-Richard Jackman pass to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. The period was capped off with a Richard Jackman goal with a minute to play, making the margin at the period break 3-0.

The second period also opened quietly as the Sabres played stall tactics with the puck. Following a Sean Brown elbowing penalty, the Sabres power play found the back of the net when Andrei Zyuzin beat Andrew Raycroft to make the game 3-1. The margin would not maintain, though, as once again, DiPietro's focus faded in the end of the period. This time, Bill Guerin and Jochan Hecht were credited with assists when Sean Brown put his sixth of the season past the former top pick. The period ended with both teams taking six shots on goal, but with the Bruins up 4-1.

The final period of the game was even more boring then the other two. While highlighted by a Maxim Afinogenov and Sean Brown fight (ruled a draw by those scoring at home), Andrei Zyuzin again beat Raycroft, and once again, did so on the power play, this time at 15:37 after Richard Jackman was whistled for roughing.

That was the way the game would end - 4-2 and with Andrew Raycroft staking the win to improve to 22-16-3. Fourteen thousand, eight hundred thirty-seven were in attendance for the match-up. Otherwise notable was Richard Jackman's continued march for the Kruncher's Award of the Year for the Bruins, as he was penalized for six minutes, closing him in on the necessary two hundred for the year.

Forgotten Man to Get Start In NY

Jocelyn Thilbault (seen on the right letting in one of many goals he's given up this season) makes his return to action tonight against the Washington Capitals.

Thilbault, whose fortune has gone from cup winning champ to bench sitting chump, has had a year that would kill most players. In fact, it almost did. Thilbault played terribly when he came to the Rangers and then battled a mysterious illness for which he was hospitalized for some time. In one of the most stunning controversies in CLUTCH history Thilbault was suspected of being poisoned and team mate Mike Dunham was investigated. No proof of poisioning surfaced and no charges were laid.

"It'll be great to be back in there," smiled Thilbault. "It's been a weird year and I haven't started in....I can't remember how long. I think it's been 15 - 20 games. I'm obviously used to a little higher work load but I'm just happy to help out the team."

"Yeah, we're going back to Thilbsie," said coach Neilson. "Dunham's having a fine season but once in awhile you have to give him a rest. We're very confident that Jocelyn can win games for us."

Mike Dunham has not been gracious in sharing his duties with Thilbault and reporters were more than surprised to see he did not show up at practice today.

"Mike? He's not here? said Neilson. "Oh yeah...he....ahh...tweaked a hamstring. Just a minor thing he'll be here for the game. He just resting it."

Junior Capitals Tie Blackhawks

The Washington Junior Capitals earned a 3-3 tie with the Chicago Junior Blackhawks on Day 105 to fall four points out of the playoffs. The Caps are now 22-25-6 for the season.

Chicago jumped out to an early lead after Puncochar scored an unassisted goal on the power play at 1:56. Igor Shadulov was in the box for roughing at the time of the goal. The Blackhawks made it 2-0 just less than six minutes later when Malmivaara netted from Michalek and Luchkin at 7:46. With the team needing a spark, Shadulov dropped the gloves with Chicago's Malmivaara and paid the price. Malmivaara beat up Shadulov in the bout, but the fisticuffs seemed to do the trick. Sean Kotary scored his 15th of the season on the power play from Patrick O'Sullivan and Jakub Cutta at 17:27.

Washington pulled even early in the second period with another power play goal. Zbynek Novak was the scorer from O'Sullivan and Maxim Orlov at 4:12. The Capitals pulled ahead with its third power play goal in the later stages of the period. This time it was Cory Urquhart lighting the lamp from Branko Radivojevic and Novak at 14:24. After Washington surged into the lead, a second fight for Shadulov turned the game back in Chicago's favor. This time the Caps' pugilist fought Chicago's Taylor to a draw at 15:28, and just more than 90 seconds later the Blackhawks tied the game. Zeiler got the goal for Chicago from Wennerberg and Martin. Even worse for Washington, the goal came while the Caps were on the power play.

Neither team managed a goal in the final period or overtime as both goalies made a flurry of saves. Brad Topping stopped 36 shots for Washington, while Cam Ward had 35 saves for Chicago.

The Junior Capitals return to home ice against Florida on Day 107.

Jr CANES PULL OFF TIE

Carolina

With the Minnesota Wild in town, the Canes looked in tough against a very talented young squad. In fact, the Wild jumped out to an early lead when top prospect Thomas Vanek popped in his 8th of the season just over 14 minutes into the first.

The Wild would not stop there either as in the late stages of the second period, Marc-Antoine Pouliot put in his 4th of the year putting the Wild on top 2-0.

"It really did not go the way I had hoped it would," said head coach Craig Hartsbrug. "We had little jump early and thankfully, some of our guy got rolling in the third the third."

Mike Richards, the sound defensive center, got the ball rolling with his first of the season burying a laser off a slick pass by speedy left winger Sergei Mozyakin. The play all occurred when Brett Lutes was carrying the puck through the middle and Dion Phsaneuf buried the youngster and sent the puck up to Mozyakin.

Less than a minute later, Alex Goligoski, the young offensive blueliner took a shot from the point and the rebound squirted out to Ryan Getzlaf who made no mistake, notching his 14th of the season.

Jeff Glass stood strong with 33 saves and the Canes fought back to earn a much deserved tie. Glass, 19, earned the number one star honors.

"It was a big game for him," said captain Brandon Reid. "He's a great guy and he loves to play hard for everyone. I think we have let him down a lot this season. Tonight it was good to see that we came back to at least give him the tie. He deserved that much."

The Canes have a much needed night off tonight.

Redwings Recover!

After falling down to the 6th seed in the Campbell Conference and being within enough points you could count on your one hand to being out of the playoffs, Redwings stepped up their game. After going 2-8-0 which forced them into this desire position with only 25 games left to spare, Redwings recovered slightly and are now going 5-5-0 in their last 10. Nothing magnificent but enough to rebound them from the 6th seed in the Campbell Conference to 3rd seed and now look to have home ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs if it was to end today.

This was a team effort but most of the glory can be traced back to one person. That one person would be Olaf Kolzig, who is having an award winning season. Olaf Kolzig is posting a 2.59 GAA in 53 games, 3104 minutes total, in which he has that amazing GAA. Not one single other goalie could do that, start 96% of your teams games (53 games of 55 total started) and still be able to post a GAA of 2.59, only one other goalie has a better GAA and they did that in 12 less games played than Olaf Kolzig. Not only does he have a magnificent GAA which ranks 2nd in the league, but he has a .901 SV Pct which ranks 4th in the league along with 3 Assists and 3 Shut-Outs. So it's easy to trace the Redwings success back to Olaf Kolzig, however concern is rising in Detroit as many feel he is being overused. Being the 3rd most used goalie in the league, he is the only one that posts great numbers. However if he was to get injured or start producing not so great, the blame will go right back to the coach for overusing him and eventually leading him to his injured position. But as he continues to produce so greatly, there's really no reason not to bench him not as long as you still need points to stay in the playoff race and climb those rankings.

Lightning Bounce Back

(Tampa) - Tonight, the Lightning bounced back after a terrible game and beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2. A night after a 6-1 embarrassing loss to one of the worse teams in the League, the Minnesota Wild, the Lightning played a great game against a top team.

Hurme got his 2nd start in a row, to try and redeem himself after a sub-par performance and he played very well. He stopped 27 shots to earn the win and was strong, especially in the 2nd when the Wings outshot the Lightning 10-3. The Lightning held a one shot edge after 60 minutes and in the 3rd period, put the game away with 3 goals on 12 shots. Kolzig took the loss and was pulled in the 3rd for Shields after he gave up the 5th goal for the Bolts.

Offensively the team got contributions from the defence with Jillson leading the way with 2 goals. Kubina had 2 assists and Pothier, Svehla and Brewer all had assists to give the defence 7 points on the night. Nylander, Sullivan and Williams also scored for the Lightning while Jason Williams had both goals for Detroit.

15, 162 fans went home happy and the only concern for management was the loss of Pothier to an injury in the 1st. Thats 2 defencemen down in the last 2 games and it is starting to stretch the depth of the team. Demidov will see some time tonight in the game against the Flames and maybe more if McLaren is not ready to go.

The Lightning are looking to post back to back wins again and tonight it is rumored that Lehtonen will play in net to see if he can bring his personal win streak to 8. The team is starting to gell once again and look like the team from last season that went on to win it all. The division is up for grabs with a great race between the Leafs, the Bruins and the Bolts. It should be a great finish for sure.

Capitals Crush Canucks

Artem Chubarov and Zigmund Palffy scored two goals each to lead the Washington Capitals to a 7-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Day 107. The win was Washington's second in a row and moved the team to 19-26-8.

Washington scored three goals in the opening period and never looked back. Chubarov got the first from Frantisek Lukes and Dan Boyle at 10:17, before Palffy made it 2-0 just 1:40 later. Patrick Marleau and Mikael Renberg assisted on Palffy's goal. Todd Warriner extended the lead to three goals less than five minutes later when he converted from Andrew Ference and Greg Watson.

Vancouver pulled a goal back early in the second period when Arnott tallied from Zubrus at 1:53, but the Caps snared two more goals to blow the game wide open. Chubarov made it 4-1 at 16:49 when he scored from Anson Carter and Lukes, and Palffy scored his second of the game at 18:34 to make it a four-goal game heading to the final period.

The Canucks got on the board again early in the final period after Arnott's second goal of the game, but Washington would not be denied. Renberg scored his 15th of the season from Bryan Berard and Rob Blake on the power play at 9:42, and Jonathan Cheechoo finished off the scoring from Watson and Warriner at 14:32.

Manny Legace made 17 saves to earn the win for the Capitals and improve to 15-22-5. Byron Dafoe stopped just 15 shots in a losing effort for the Canucks. Alexander Auld made 10 saves in relief.

Washington returns to action on Day 109 against the New York Rangers.

Senators Dethrone the Kings

The Ottawa Senators have now won two games in a row! After defeating the Maple Leafs on Friday night, the Sens travelled to L.A. to face the Kings on a sweltering hot May day. The Senators have been playing surprisingly well of late but cannot seem to score the first goal. They are always coming from behind to try and catch their opponents.

Last night was no different. The Kings scored just 4:05 into the first period on a goal by Marian Gaborik to take an early lead over Ottawa. However, this pissed Ottawa off as they came back to tie it up at the 15 minute mark of the first.

They wouldn't stop there! By the 15 minute mark of the 2nd period, Ottawa had scored 5 unanswered goals on tallies by Alexeev, Grosek, Morrison with his 20th, and Lehtinen. Newly placed into the lineup was Wes Walz who notched 2 assists in the game to make an impact and let himself be known.

More surprising than the play of the Sens lately is the success of the Jr. squad from Ottawa who now sit only 1 point out of first overall in the league! The Jr. Sens, who were predicted to finish as poorly as their pro counterparts, are cleaning up in Jr. with the next closes team being those pesky Jr. Isles run by Commish Ryan Long. I am sure that if they end up winning that Ryan cheated!! Trust me!!

Pyatt, Rangers Look to CAP-italize

If the Washington Capitals want to shut down the New York Rangers tonight they should probably look past the first line of Pavel Bure, Mike Ribeiro and J.P. Dumont. The straw that has stirred the drink in Rangerland over the last few weeks has been young star Taylor Pyatt.

The young left winger has been a key factor in the teams success since coming to the team a few months ago. During that time he has scored more points than any other player on the team with 28 points in 28 games while leading the team with an astounding +22 rating during that time span.

The youngster is riding a 5 game point scoring streak into tonights game against the Capitals. Last game he recorded his second 5 point night of the season and has been held pointless in only 1 of the last 13 games.

Pyatt earned the respect of vetran star winger Daniel Alfredsson with the performance.

"He was dominant that's for sure. He's got a unique blend of skills and strength. Our defence had fits trying to move him in front of the net. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about him as the years move on."

A Question of Chemistry?

As is well documented in sports, chemistry can sometimes be the key to a line's success. To determine the role of chemistry we contacted world reknown chemist Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker.

"It is true that the chemistry might of the line might have a lot to do with Pyatts success," said Honeydew. "He's gelled well with speedsters Jason Blake and Alexei Ponikarovsky. Pyatt provides true power to the line. Ponikarovsky is a threat to score or pass at all times and Blake uses his speed to get back on defence and shut down opposing players. Pyatt bangs the bodies, gets the puck and creates havoc in front of the net. This line is more than the sum of its parts."

"MEEW, MEEW, MEEW, MEEW, ME, ME, ME, MEEW," said Beaker.

The line has a combined plus/minus rating of +67 prompting some to ask whether the line should be promoted to first line duties.

"We have a philosophy here in New York," said GM Burns. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Florida Rebounds Against Predators

NASHVILLE
The Florida Panthers came to town and were looking to rebound after a tough overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Panthers out shot the Preds 8-4 in the first period but it was Nashville who came out on top. Mike Modano set up Andrew Brunette for his 31rst of the season at 12:21 to give the home team a 1-0 lead that would stand up for the rest of the period.

The Panthers tied the game at 6:06 of the second when Pierre Dagenais scored his first of two on the night and 8th of the season. Joe Thornton gave the Preds the lead back at 9:27 and Nashville went into the third period with a 2-1 lead.

The Panthers must of got some kind of motivation speech in between period because they came out and scored 4 unanswered goals and two on their revamped power play that has been clicking on a regular basis lately. Mike Rathje scored the first power play goal and his 13th of the season at 5:43 to tie the game at 2. Just :30 seconds later Petr Bondra notched his 14th of the season to give Florida a 3-2 lead. The Panthers power play clicked again at 9:49 when Pierre Dagenais scored his second of the game and eventual game winner from Cole Jarret and Mark Parrish. Mike Cirillo added an insurance marker at 16:29 to extend the Panthers lead to 5-2. Nashvilles Ales Kotalik scored his 5th of the year at 19:20 to make the final score 5-3 in favour of the Panthers.

Florida has the next couple days off before they host the Philadelphia Flyers.

Lightning Strikes In Florida

FLORIDA
The Florida Panthers hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning who stormed into town on a 5 game winning streak and when all was said and done OT was needed and Lightning struck.

This game had two of the hottest teams in the league against each other and the game lived up to its hype as this was one of the most entertaining games of the season.

The Panthers Kim Johnsson got Florida off to a good start when he scored his 7th of the season at 1:53 to give his team a 1-0 lead. Just :16 seconds later Tampa Bays Ossi Vaananen went to the box for charging. The Panthers were unable to take advantage of the man advantage but the lightning's Matt Cullen broke up a pass and dished it to Daniel Cleary who was racing down the ice with Steve Sullivan on a two on none and Jamie Storr had no chance when Cleary passed the puck over to Sullivan who tapped it into the open net for his 13th of the year and while short handed at 2:35. After 20 minutes the teams were notched at 1.

Robert Svehla gave the Lightning the lead at 13:54 of the second scoring his 5th of the year. The Panthers power play has improved lately and it struck again tonight. Ivan Novoseltsev scored his team leading 25th goal of the year and 4th power play goal at 17:42 to tie the game at 2 apiece.

The Lightning stormed the Panthers in the third period out shooting them 10-4 and put the Cats on the defensive for the majority of the period. Panther goalie Jamie Storr was there and continually frustrated Tampa as he kept his team in the game stopping everything Tampa threw at him. After 60 minutes of play nothing was decided and overtime was needed.

Tampa Bay's Steve Sullivan scored his second of the game and the game winner at 2:03 of the extra frame and extended the Bolts winning streak to 6 games and handing the Panthers their second loss in 4 games.

The Panthers will travell to Nashville to play the Campbell Conference leading Predators.

Junior Capitals Fall to Panthers

The Washington Junior Capitals saw its four-game unbeaten run end on Day 103 in a 3-2 loss to the Florida Junior Panthers. The setback drops Washington to 22-25-5, three points out of the playoffs.

After a scoreless opening period, the game picked up in the second. Washington got on the board first when Greg Mauldin netted from Jean-Claude Sawyer and Ryan MacMurchy at 5:35, but it was Florida that would lead at the end of 40 minutes. Nielsen and Korpikari scored the goals late in the perid, but before the goals there were a pair of fights to entertain the crowd. In the first, Igor Shadulov and McNeill fougth to a draw at 7:28. Just less than seven minutes later, Branko Radivojevic beat up Enstrom and knocked the Panther out of the game. The bout energized the Panthers, and the two goals game in the next 4:01. Fleischmann and Korpikari assisted on Neilsen's goal at 16:28, and Nielsen and Paetsch got the helpers on Korpikari's goal at 18:26.

The Capitals pulled even near the mid-point of the second period when Kotary scored an unassisted goal, but once again a fight would spark a Florida tally. This time it was Mauldin battling Borodkin to a draw at 10:20, and 31 seconds later the Panthers netted the game-winner. Stonkus was the scorer from Korovkin and Southern.

Daniel Taylor made 22 saves in the loss for Washington and fell to 10-9-2. Lukas Mensator stopped 23 shots to earn the win for Florida and improved to 11-13-0.

The Junior Capitals return to action on Day 105 in Chicago.

GETZLAF SHOWING OFF NEW SKILLS

Two games after his solid camps, young Ryan Getzlaf is starting to pick up some points for himself. Getzlaf, 20, has been often thought of as a pure goal scorer, but lately, the talented young right winger has been picking up some assists.

Playing on a line with slender pivot Jeff Carter and their tiny left winger Nigel Dawes, the trio has been turning some heads as of late.

"Carts is usually the guy setting up everyone but I really have no problem tossing the biscuit to Dawesy and watch him put it in," said Getzlaf. "The two of them are better goal scorers than a lot of people give them credit for."

Getzlaf, the former Calgary Hitman, Getzlaf has won both Gold and Silver in 2004 and 2005 respectively at the World Junior Championships. Both times, Getzlaf was on a line with his centerman Jeff Carter and both times he made an impact.

"We've played together since the under 18's," said Getzlaf, "and we won gold there too. Actually, there are a big group of us on the Hurricanes that played in all three of those tournaments. Personally, I think we have a great potential for the future."

Getzlaf, the former captain of the Calgary Hitmen, is a physical force and uses his body effectively to make space for himself. A quick release and a knack for finding the open ice, Getzlaf has turned himself into a complete package. Not one to shy away from his defensive responsibilities, Getzlaf has taken on the task for being the banger on the junior Canes top line.

"It's pretty easy to go out there with those two," said Getzlaf. "Both of them pay a lot of attention to the small details and I think we maintain a lot of offensive pressure. Part of that is knowing one another. This is like the 4th year we've been together now so I guess that helps."

With Dawes and Getzlaf both finished with their camps for the season, Jeff Carter remains the last of the trio to attend. He has already been signed up for defensive awareness and skating. The hope is he will become a more responsible player when all is said and done.

"The offensive talents are there," said a scout, "he just needs to refine himself as the total package."

LUPUL WAITING IN THE WINGS

Acquired in an early season deal which sent top notch defenseman Scott Niedermayer to the San Jose Sharks, the Canes picked up several assets including gritty rearguard Jeff Woywitka and a first rounder. Another player who was picked up was right winger Joffrey Lupul.

An Edmonton native, Lupul has had a insignificant season for many onlookers of Clutch, however, for the Carolina Hurricanes, his stock has constantly been rising.

A gigantic second season for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League, had Joffrey lead the entire WHL in goals with 56 and was second in the league in points. His season led to a spot on the CHL prospects game and Joffrey did not disappoint. The gritty right winger potted two goals and earned game MVP status.

The former Medicane Hat put up 41 goals in his final year of junior hockey in the Western Hockey League. His season, coupled with his notoriety around the hockey circles, earned the talented winger a shot on Team Canada's world junior squad in 2002. Lupul played second line minutes and managed to pot 2 goals in the tournament and earn himself a silver medal.

Lupul's greatest asset is his ability to get pucks on net. The Carolina Hurricanes foresee the younger sniper to eventually fill the spot currently held by Marian Cisar on the team's top line. With a quick release and deadly accuracy, the potential for Lupul to become a 40 goals man in CLUTCH is a realistic goal for him to set. A undisclosed scout of an opposing team suggested "Cisar may only be the top right winger because of lack of depth at the position" but regardless, Cisar is there for now.

Lupul, however, is currently second fiddle on Detroit where speedy small forward Brian Gionta continues to rule the roost. Lupul's goal is to show he belongs up with the big boys.

"Right now, I just want to prove my worth," said Lupul. "When the Canes dealt to get me I was told right away that I was not going to be seeing any time up there and that I needed to prove myself on the farm. I didn't mind. Detroit is a great hockey city and I like it there, but I need more. I want to be in the CLUTCH, it is my dream and until I get the call, I won't be satisfied."

Lupul has made huge strides this season and the likelihood for the gunner to make the squad next season are high. With Darcy Tucker and Shane Doan currently on the second and third lines, and grinder Matt Bradley on the fourth, the chances for both Gionta and Lupul to get the call and play significant minutes is low. Tucker is said to be thought of as moving to the left side, to make room, but time will tell.

"These are not decisions that need to be made today," said Joel Quenneville, "We are currently in a season race and at the moment, who is coming up to us next year is about as significant as Matt Walker."

The Canes look to tangle with the Edmonton Oilers tonight, the hometown of Lupul.

Stalking the prey

Playing for pride, the Boston Bruins will welcome the Campbell leading Nashville Predators to town for their second battle of the year.

Back in the second month of the season, the Bruins headed to Nashville as part of their Road Trip From Hell and left on the short end of a 5-3 game. It was the last loss before a closed-door team meeting, a shuffling of the roster for positions, and a 10-1-2 run that catapulted the team into the thick of the Adams Division race.

The Bruins enter the game winners of six of their last ten, and are 6-3-1 in that stretch. The Predators are 5-2-3 in their last ten and tied the Kings in their last outing. Boston defeated the Buffalo Sabres last night to enter the game on a positive note.

"It will be a daunting task," GM Robbie Ftorek said, "but we faced the Wales Conference leading New York Islanders just six games ago, and took care of them - at their home rink. So what's to say this cannot go just as well?"

The Bruins face off in the late game tonight, then will host the Vancouver Canucks.

Capitals Stop Hurricanes

The Washington Capitals dominated from start to finish and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Day 105. The win moved the Caps to 18-26-8.

Carolina jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period despite being outshot 15-10. Friesen got the goal from Woywitka and Draper at 18:27. Washington had two chances on the power play, but the offense couldn't put one past the goaltender.

The Capitals struck back in the second period through Zigmund Palffy at 4:36. The goal, Palffy's 16th of the season, was assisted by Cory Sarich and Dan SNyder.

With the game tied 1-1 entering the final period, Washington played a great 20 minutes to earn the victory. Palffy scored his second goal, the game-winner, after just two seconds from Patrick Marleau and Rob Blake. The Capitals outshot Carolina 14-5 in the third period.

Manny Legace stopped 20 shots to earn the win and improve to 14-22-5. Robert Gherson made 34 saves in the loss for Carolina.

The Capitals are back in action on Day 107 against Vancouver.

Ottawa Loses Battle of the Schmucks

In the first of 3 meetings between the Schmuck Gm's this year, Edmonton pulled off a narrow victory versus the Senators. The game was very even as both teams fired 26 shots on net but Turek lost the battle as the Bulin wall wouldn't crumble.

The first period was a wash for the Oilers as they fired two goals past Turek on incredible plays. Less than 1 minute into the game, Kariya and Allison set the tone with a beauty to shock the Sens and take the lead. Shortly thereafter, Smith scored his 4th of the year when Frolov made an excellent pass to Primeau.

The second period saw Frolov and Allison get their 2nd points of the game as they set Donovan up for an early goal to give the Oil a 3 goal lead. The Sens fought back as Grosek scored from Bouchard and Novak at the 8 minute mark to cut the lead to two heading into the 3rd.

Morrison put the Sens within reach a few minutes in from Selanne and Ryder but that would not be enough. The Sens badly outshot and outplayed the Oilers in the 3rd but Nikolai Khabibulin shut the door to give the Oilers the victory.

The Ottawa powerplay was 0 for 6 and could have been the difference in the game against the undisciplined team from Edmonton. However, the powerplay has been relatively ineffective of late as the Sens cannot seem to find an effective combination.

The Sens suit up tonight against the Leafs in the 2nd game of their double-header on the road and hope for a better result.

Pens finally get 2 of their 4 holdouts!!

Eric Nystrom the talented 23 year old Center in the minors for the Pro Pens, finally accepted a deal from the Penguins GM today. Nystrom accepted a 3 year deal worth $1,400,000. GM Earl Jackson said, "I am so glad to finally get Eric signed. I have been trying since I came in and finally got him. This is a big snag for us. We did offer Mason, however he rejected. We wish him the best along with Tomas Surovy who we felt was not going to help out our team enough to make the playoffs." Earl did not mention the fact that Alexandre Mathieu also signed a 2 year deal worth $800,000. The Penguins had the night off but will return tomorrow night to play the Flyers and try to make up the 4 point deficit currently facing them from making the playoffs. The Pens also mentioned that they would like to find another goalie to replace Jean-Sebastien Aubin who, in Jacksons words, "Just is not getting the job done!!"

Pens forgot to show up!!

Day 105 was a devastating loss for the Penguins against the #8 seed, Flyers. The Pens got trapped early and simply could not comback from the deficit in the 2nd period. Only 8:35 into the 1st poeriod the Flyers struck first against the struggling Penguins. Michael Schutte got his 8th goal of the season in the 1st. Despite out shooting them 12-5, in the first, Felix Potvin was just unstoppable in the net. He stopped all 12 in the first to take Philly into the 2nd leading 1-0. Less then 5 minutes into the 2nd period of play the Flyers struck first again. This time it was Brian Savage for the 17th time. This goal however was on the Power Play after Willie Mithcell got called for hooking. Kozlov and Liles got the assist. Less then 3 minutes later the Flyers again score with Savage for the 18th time this season, and the 2nd time today. Liles got his second assist while White got his first. The Penguins finnally sturck 12:15 into the second period with Bates Battaglia getting his 20th goal of the year. Once again the Pens outshot them 12-8 however got outscored 2-1 in the second. The third, Potvin completly shut down the Pens limiting them to 11 shots. Aubin allowed his fourth goal to White, which was his 11th on the year. The Pens dropped to 22-24-7 while the Flyers improved to 25-23-5. The Devils leapfrogged the Pens in the playoff race and the Devils are now 2 spots ouuta eighth while the Pens are now 4. Next game for the Pens is on Day 107 against the same Flyers.

Providence takes day to rest

After a grueling stretch that, as normal, saw the Baby Bruins lose a lot more often than they won - and usually by large margins - the Providence Bruins were given the day off by their head coach, Maurice Plante.

"These players... bah! I spit on them for fun, because just like they cannot stop the puck, they cannot stop me from spitting on them! These players are such disappointments with their continual losing. I am disgraced to be associated with them, these pieces of feces!"

As Plante stormed off, Assistant Coachs Brett Lindros and Eric Messier 'translated' for Coach Plante.

"What he really means," Lindros began, "is that it is frustrating to lose with what we thought was a promising, well-rounded group of talent. And for a coach of his magnitude, even though he never made it to the big leagues, he has a massive amount of pride."

Messier continued, "He's fed up. Jordan Sigalet has been a human sieve. Players we hoped would develop have not, and the training camps have been disappointing for us more often than not. It just has been one of those seasons, you know? And we're barely half through it."

Both men went off to do some individual workouts with players who chose to come in, but it was noticable that most of the first line was home for the day.

Bruins Management - "We've found Oleg!"

A source close to Boston Bruins management reported that Oleg Saprykin has been found - alive - in Beacon, New York.

"A call came in from an acquaintance of our General Manager that Oleg was hanging out and making the strip club rounds under the name of 'Robbie Ftorek'. Not a good cover, since Robbie is known all throughout New England as being a cheap bastard, but it was working for him so far. This friend told our General Manager about Ftorek, claiming to have been a Bruins fan in her younger days.

"A couple of interns were dispatched to New York and verified the man was Saprykin. They called both the Bruins management and Saprykin's agent to report the confirmed sighting, and notified authorities he had been found alive so they could call off the investigation. What will happen from here... I don't know."

This is still unconfirmed with an official statement, but is looking likely as a drive-by past Saprykin's apartment revealed that the police watch had been called off.

Lightning Storm Through Washington

The Washington Capitals were burned by a severe Lightning storm on Day 104 as Tampa Bay skated to a 9-1 victory. The loss dropped Washington to 17-26-8.

Washington got off to a good start when Zigmund Palffy scored his 15th of the season from Rob Blake and Patrick Marleau at 1:30, but after the goal it was all Tampa Bay. Calder tied the game three minutes later from Brewer, and the Lightning outshot the Caps 11-5 in the period.

Tampa Bay continued to dominate in the second period, and the Bolts stormed the Washington net with five goals. Kubina got things started from Lemieux and Hejduk at 1:19, before Prospal made it 3-1 from Hejduk and Kubina at 3:21. Varlamov extended the lead to three goals just over three minutes later when he scored from Lemieux and Hejduk, and Sullivan made it 5-1 from Jillson and Cullen at 16:59. Lemieux completed the scoring in the second with his 25th goal from Kubina and Hejduk at 18:26.

The Lightning didn't let up in the final period as the team fired 12 shots on scored three more goal. Williams got the first at 3:04, before Savard scored a brace to finish off the scoring. His first came from Williams and Brewer on the power play at 6:22, and the second from Calder and Brewer at 11:04.

Manny Legace made 19 saves to take the loss for Washington, and Peter Skudra stopped just 10 shots in relief. Kari Lehtonen made 16 saves to earn the win for Tampa Bay.

The Capitals return to action on Day 105 against Carolina.

CANES OUTWORKED, OUTPLAYED AT HOME

Carolina

With a conference rival Washington Capitals team coming to town, the crowd expected a rough style of game. The problem is, only the fans showed up to represent Carolina.

"Terrible game for us tonight," said captain Shane Doan. "I was embarrassed to be out there tonight."

The Hurricanes were out shot heavily in the game and only because of the heroics of rookie netminder Robert Gherson, were the Canes able to even leave this game with any ounce of respect.

"We cannot depend on Gherson to steal games for us," said head coach Joel Quenneville. "He is there to stop the puck, but he is not the guy who has to score for us. We had no pressure on the Caps all night. We had about 2 quality shots on them. I think we had one solid check all night. The guys were asleep."

Of note, star sophomore center Kyle Wellwood, went down after trying to avoid a check. The general consensus is that Wellwood pulled his groin in that attempt and was helped off the ice. Team officials have not made it clear what the situation is but the general feeling is a pulled groin and an estimated 3 weeks of recovery time.

"I saw him go down and figured it had to be a groin," said Doan. "He is a pretty tough little kid and I doubt he would lay on the ice like that if he was not seriously hurt."

The Canes loss has put more pressure on them from the Panthers to hold the second spot in the conference. With Jose Theodore getting some much deserved rest, Gherson will go again next game. After that, the decision will have to be made to put the veteran netminder back in.

"We cannot blame Gherson for this loss," said Quenneville. "The kid played his life out tonight."

JUNIOR CANES PUT DOWN NUCKS

Carolina

After a decent two weeks of camps, Ryan Getzlaf returned to the junior Hurricanes and quickly made an impact. The big power forward set up two goals and was named 3rd star of the game.

"Ryan is a key member of this squad and we were able to play well even in his absence," said head coach Craig Hartsburg. "The best part about it though is that despite our successes without him, having him show up, better than ever, has really helped elevate other guys on this team. It showed tonight."

Getzlaf played with Jeff Carter, his usual centerman, and the diminutive sniper Nigel Dawes. Both Getz and Dawes ended up with two points while Carter buried his 16th goal of the season.

Veteran speedster Jeff Tambellini had two points as well as team captain Brandon Reid.

"We had a solid overall game tonight," said captain Brandon Reid. "The boys were able to hold the lead and we also notched a 4th goal late to seal the victory. It is a credit to the how the team is coming together. I think we are in for a solid ride until the end of the season."

Also scoring for the Canes was rookie defenseman Alex Goligoski. Little press has been given to the young defender, but the Canes organization has taken notice. Goligoski scored his 3rd goal of the season and pushed his point total to 9 points in 12 games. The slick playmaker has found a home on the top power play unit and has already impressed the big Canes squad.

"We want to keep an eye on this kids development," said one of the scouts. "He was a steal late in the first round last year and he has really picked up his game late in this season. I think we can expect bigger things for him as the season goes on. He will be a key member of this squad next year if he keeps rolling like this."

One Streak Will End, Another Will Continue

FLORIDA
Tonight the Florida Panthers will host the Tampa Bay Lightning. This game will see one streak end while the other continues.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are thundering into town on an impressive 5 game winning streak and 7-3-0 in their last ten but except for an impressive win against the Sharks and Bruins (both not during the current 5 game winning streak but in the last 10) all victories have come against sub .500 teams that are currently not in a playoff spot. The Bolts winning streak has vaulted them into a tie for 6th place with the Flyers and Bruins. A win tonight against the Florida Panthers would make their winning streak a little sweeter as the Panthers are currently one of the hottest teams in the league.

The Florida Panthers have been going through a mid season surge. The Cats are currently on a modest 2 game winning streak but are 8-1-1 in their last 10 and have only lost twice in their last 15 going 12-2-1 but the same could be said about the Panthers streak as was said about the Lightnings. Most of the teams Florida has played in that time were against teams that are currently not playoff bound and "should" win games. A win tonight could move Florida past the idle Carolina Hurrincanes and into 2nd in the Wales Conference as well as extending their winning streak to three games.

The Lightning will be looking to even the season series with Florida who beat Tampa 4-2 in their earlier meeting this year way back in sim 27 which was the third game of the year for the Cats and second for the Bolts.

The one thing that is on Tampa Bays side is the fact that the game is in Florida where the Panthers have been less then stellar with a 9-14-2. The bad thing for the Lightning is that they are also in the Wales Conference with Florida and the Panthers are an impressive 18-7-3 against Conference rivals.

Which streak will continue.....Will it be the Lightnings as they try and continue up the standings to secure a playoff spot or will it be the Panthers as their dominance of the Wales Conference and their quest for a number one ranking continue.

Bruins plan on grilling Buffalo Burgers tonight

The Boston Bruins will play host to the Buffalo Sabres tonight in what is sure to be a battle of teams struggling to get by.

Boston, which has played its way into playoff contention after opening the season 0-13, is 25-10-3 since then. The team currently sits second in the Adams conference, two points back of the leading Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston comes to the rink on the heels of a loss to the San Jose Sharks, 4-3, behind fill-in goalie John Grahame. The team is playing in memory of Oleg Saprykin, believed to be lost at sea in a recent plane crash.

Buffalo comes to Beantown standing 19-31-3, and 4-6-0 in their last ten. They lost their last outing to the San Jose Sharks, 6-3. They are currently playing without their top goalie, Marc Denis, who is out with a back injury, while defenseman Mathieu Dandenault is also sidelined with a sprained neck. Rick DiPietro, filling in for Denis, was ran from net by the Sharks offense last night, forcing Norm Maracle into the game.

Boston Head Coach Robbie Ftorek, speaking of the match up, said, "While you never like to see a player injured, sometimes you catch some breaks. Not facing Denis or Dandenault may work in our favor. Of course, you just never know."

Puck drops at 4:00 and an average crowd is expected - tickets are still available.

Baby Bruins lose, but look good

Every Bruin was Sharkie fighting
Those Bears were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they lost with expert timing

Jurcina and Lindstrom from funky Beantown
Chopping Jefferson up and chopping Desauntels down
It's an ancient hockey art and they knew their part
From a Morrison high stick, to Taylor kicking at the hip

Every Bruin was Sharkie fighting
Those Bears were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they lost with expert timing

There were more goals scored by that San Jose team
before Providence figgered what that means
But the Bears took a stand and bit their lip, then led with the fist
The sudden motion made the Sharks skip, now we're into a brand knew trip

Every Bruin was Sharkie fighting
Those Bears were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they lost with expert timing

Capitals Tie Senators

The Washington Capitals blew a two-goal lead and finished with a 2-2 tie against the Ottawa Senators on Day 102. The single point moved Washington to 17-25-8.

Washington completely dominated the opening period, outshooting Ottawa 17-7 and scoring a pair of goals. Todd Warriner got the first from Peter Tenkrat and Andrew Ference at 2:23. Mikael Renberg made it 2-0 when he netted from Dan Boyle and Frantisek Lukes at 18:11.

Ottawa played better in the second period, and pulled a goal back through Bouchard from Poti and Petrasek at 7:20. The shots were 9-9 in the period, but the Senators did kill two penalties.

The Senators continued to play better in the final period, and Selanne's 17th of the season from Morrison and Ryder tied the game at 2-2. Ottawa outshot the Caps 7-6 in the third period and 4-1 in overtime, but neither team scored the winning goal.

Manny Legace made 25 saves for Washington, while Fred Brathwaite stopped 31 shots for Ottawa.

The Capitals return to action on Day 104 against Tampa Bay.

Oleg Saprykin Found?

The continued search for Oleg Saprykin has taken a turn for the worse, as Coast Guard officials have contacted Boston Bruin officials, as well as his representative agent, about a showing.

While no word has been made official, one leaked report said that the Coast Guard fished out of the water Saprykin's jacket, wallet, and Rollex watch - a fake he had purchased on a road game trip to New York City for only thirty dollars, unknowingly - about two miles down river from the crash site.

Contacted for comment, GM Joshua Anderson would only issue a stern "No comment at this time." His agents issued a similar comment, and teammate Lars Jonnson, caught outside the arena following the morning skate around, grimaced when hearing about the Rollex. "Oleg loved that stupid thing," he said. "Wow... I mean.... " he trailed off, then wandered away.

Bruins have light skate

With two game days off and the chance to regroup after their last demoralizing loss, the Boston Bruins regrouped at the Fleet Center yesterday at 6 am to focus on their next game.

Head Coach Robbie Ftorek ran the team through light drills, focusing mostly on power play and passing. "We've seen way too many power play opportunities slip away from us in recent weeks," Ftorek said. "Converting just a few of those could catapult us into a home seed status."

"Furthermore," Ftorek continued, "we've also had a number of breakaway opportunities lately as the result of sloppy passing. We're reconsidering our center lineup and may shuffle a guy or two to stir things up slightly."

While several of the veterans on the team were unhappy about the early start, Ftorek did not overly care. "Look, if they want a later start - keep winning. You lose, you skate early. You win, you skate late - or not at all. You tell Keith Tkachuk that his sorry ass should have more than eleven goals by now and to shut up."

When asked about the probable loss of former winger Oleg Saprykin to the Air Russia crash the night before, Ftorek clammed up. "We continue to pray for him," he said. Some of the players though, were less emotional.

"I heard he's been spotted in both Washington and Atlanta," Bill Guerin said. "If that's true, then [bleep] him."

The team will have two days off, then host the Buffalo Sabres.

Oleg Saprykin spotted in Washington

Unconfirmed reports say Oleg Saprykin - believed to have been lost at sea in the crash of Air Russia's Moscow-bound plane from Boston - has been spotted in several locations.

Missy Krauss, a college student at American University who hails from Boston, said she was driving home from her job at a nearby Starbucks when a hoodie-clad young man darted across the street in front of her. As she slammed her brakes on, the sweatshirt donning fellow stared at her, then darted off like a deer on the highway. "I'm a life long Bruins fan, courtesy of my father, the jerk," Krauss said. "What torture, you know? Anyway, I've been following the negotiations with Oleg and the team, and was near tears when I heard he had been killed in that plane crash. I'm sure as heck certain that Oleg Saprykin is the guy who I almost hit."

The statement would give validation to the report that Saprykin snuck off the plane with the kitchen crew before it took off. While Saprykin is not suspected of having any involvement in the plane crash, it would be fortuitous timing for him that it happened to crash when he got off board.

Another man, speaking anonymously, reported seeing Saprykin hanging around the MCI Center in Washington, home of the Capitals. "I'm not saying he was there for hockey," the man was quoted, "But I thought I saw him talking to the big boss. Somethin' seemed sneaky about it, I tell you."

If this is true, and Saprykin had approached the General Manager of the Washington Capitals while still a restricted free agent of the Bruins, there could be tampering charges involved. However, it is of course not known if the Caps GM is a part of this scheme or if he was approached unknowingly of the situation.

Pens continue to impress

At the beginning of the season everyone thought that this team would be in no way shape or form a contender for the playoffs. Well with more then half of the season over, the Pens are a small 2 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot. Currently sitting on a 2 game winning streak and 6-2-2 their last 10, they have all of a sudden, despite the terrbile record, came into the playoff picture. A big upcoming game against the Philadelphia Flyers could determine where and how far they will go in the playoffs. The Flyers currently sit just 2 points ahead of the Pens for that spot. The Pens come into tonight 9-11-4 at Home while the Flyers are 13-11-2 on the road. One thing for sure, tonights game could be one for the ages!!!

Providence masters the Blues

Despite being the worst team in the Junior League - by far - the Providence Bruins entered Saint Louis intent on keeping their chins up.

While doing made them much more likely to get a cheap shot to the chin from Percy Foley's Tiny Thug Notes (they represented U-Town quite well), the Bruins skated tall - and apparently better than the Tiny Notes.

The first period was quiet save for two penalties, split between the teams. The capacity crowd of 10,000 booed at the figure skating going on, and was good and excited for the second period.


The action they really wanted didn't come. At 00:55, Martin Samuelsson made Joni Puurula look as effective as a statue getting pooped on by birds. Zach Tarkir and Pierre-Luc Edmond fed him the assists on the goal to move Providence out to a 1-0 lead. While St. Louis retaliated just over thirty seconds later to tie the game on Greg Black's seventeenth goal of the year, the momentum would not last long.

The Baby Bruins struck again at 07:10 on Rick Kozack's thirteenth siren-spinner to reclaim the lead, while Jiri Jakes intercepted an errant Antoine Bergeron pass and broke away for an easy goal for minutes subsequent. Just for good measure, he resumed his role as punk at 14:30 when whistled for a cross checking minor.

The action had been pretty furious in the period, but the home team went into the second intermission down 3-1 and with a sputtering offense that was being outshot eighteen to fifteen. The fans were drove to the bars at intermission to ger a beer to drown their worries (Budweiser, of course - this is St. Louis).

The third period did not boost the confidence of Tiny Note fans. Offsetting roughing penalties by Andrej Meszaros and Justin Maiser left four-on-four hockey for two minutes, though neither team capitalized on the open ice. A minute after the penalties ended, though, Andreas Lindstrom poked the puck loose from Bergreon again, fed it to Brett Nowak, who then wrapped around to beat Puurula for the fourth and final Bruins goal of the night. Gregg Johnson added a garbage goal with twenty-seconds left in the period to make the game look closer than it was.

Brock Hooten claimed his first victory of the season on twenty-two saves off twenty-four shots to improve to 1-3-0. Jordan Sigalet has rested for multiple nights, so is expected to be back on ice tomorrow, but the coaching crew has said that will be a game time decision. Brett Nowak (1-0-1) and Rick Kozack (1-0-1) claimed the first and second game stars, while Hooten was awarded the third.

New Faces in Edmonton appear to be a huge improvment.

With the new faces in the lineup last night, A cleaner more disciplined line-up took to the ice and played a very solid game to defeat the RedWings 4-1.The Oilers on Average have spend 23 minutes a game in the boxy, But with some of their more agressive players now scratched (or released in Ference's case) the Oilers only spent 8 minutes in the box, Probabley the notable difference. Donovan scored 2 goals and Smith in his first game in the Edmonton Uniform logged 21 minutes of ice-time, scoring 1 assist and a +2 rating. The Wallin/Smith combination proved to be an unbeatable defensive minded duo. The Oilers suit up again tonight vs. the Maple Leafs.

Despite Lack of Dough - Rangers on a Roll

Rangers Roll

Despite a lack of dough the Rangers team continue to rise. The New York Rangers currently have invested only 46 million in a team that is on a roll. Anyway you slice it the Rangers are definately growing into a contender. Some would say the team is too soft in the middle as it lacks a solid centre. There's no doubt that the team is popular with popular with fans, however, as ticket sales continue to be gobbled up by a hungry fan base.

"Defence. That's our bread and butter," said team Capatain J.P. Dumont in an interview. We were really feeling getting burnt earlier in the year. To be honest I thought we were toast. GM Burns did a good job by creating a solid mix."

"If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen," added defensive stalwart Brad Lukowich.

The Rangers walked into Montreal and really kneaded a win. Their confidence had been nibbled away as they'd been cooked several times without young defenceman Mathew Spiller for 5 games.

The game started off well as the first goal came off the FRENCH STICK of J.P. Dumont. The team looked overconfident as it loafed throught the remainder of the period and much of the second. Some have described young phenom Rick Nash as the greatest thing since sliced bread and he showed why on a pretty deke that tied the game in the second.

Ribeiro rounded out a fine night with another goal and two assits to seal the victory.

"A lot of people have criticised Ribsie throughout the year," said assistant captain Ponikarovsky, "but we know what side our bread is buttered on. He's the key ingredient of our success."

The Rangers hope that their roll continues to be hot and but that their next opponent, The Calgary Flames, don't serve them their breakfast.

Despite the pressure the team had scheduled a players only dinner after the game.

Wade Redden explained the philosophy of the event. "Bonding is important to success and you never really know your team mates until you break bread with them."

Junior Capitals Down Detroit

Brad Topping made 42 saves to lead the Washington Junior Capitals to a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Junior Red Wings on Day 99. The win moved Washington to 22-24-5, three points out of the final playoff spot in the Wales Conference.

The Red Wings came out flying in the first period and fired 22 shots on the Washington goal. Topping was spectacular, stopping all but one shot over the 20 minutes. Nepriayev scored the only goal for the Wings from Kristek and Nilsson at 15:52.

Washington bounced back to play a much better second period, and a pair of goals in the first 2:45 gave the Capitals the lead. Andrew Joudrey scored first from Brett Carson and Lance Moynch on the power play at 1:21, before Henrik Tallinder netted from Sean Kotary at 2:45. Greg Mauldin dropped the gloves with Grot just over five minutes later. The pair fought to a draw, but the action seems to fire up the home side. Detroit finally tied the game with just 31 seconds left in the period on Svensson's goal from Lehun and Bykov.

The Capitals jumped out quickly in the final period to seize a two-goal lead they would not relinquish. Maxim Orlov netted the eventual game-winner from Kotary and Zbynek Novak at 3:16. Fabien Laniel then added an insurance goal, his 10th of the season, from Carson at 5:27.

Topping earned the win for Washington to improve to 12-16-3. Oliver Dannel stopped just 20 shots to take the loss for Detroit.

The Junior Capitals are off until Day 103 when they visit Florida.

Matt Walker continues to be available

Like a grade school kid left out in front of the school while Mom smokes dick for crack money, Matt Walker continues to sit in his apartment, boxes packed, waiting to find out what team will want to acquire his services.

Walker, who has been available for trade ever since he returned from his season-threatening injury sufferred on the first day of the season, has been rumored to have been shopped to every team in the league. At various points, he was packaged with other players in a dumping deal, offered solo for draft picks or cash, and was once rumored to be outright released.

The Bruins cited Walker as a key to their plans to win the Lay's Krunchers Award when they enrolled in the plan before the season began. As a player who easily amassed more than two hundred penalty minutes last year, Walker seemed to be a shoo-in for the award. As the season began though, he was viciously assaulted by three Red Wings thugs during the opening game, and finally succumbed to defeat when a fourth joined the fray.

Since he missed nearly half the season - avoiding retirement, somehow - Walker was never in a position to win the award. Richard Jackman increased his thuggery, making him the Bruins leading candidate for the prize.

Upon his return from injury, the team was in the midst of an extended win streak, elevating them from cellar dwellars to the thick of the playoff race. Hoping to maintain chemistry, Futile Robbie Ftorek left Walker benched unless injuries or suspensions merited.

In a rare starting appearance late last month, Walker was able to notch a goal and an assist. The next night, though, he was humiliated by the Carolina Hurricanes - much like most other teams - and returned to the bench as a dreaded "DNP-CD".

GM Joshua Anderson continues to work the phones in an effort to deal Walker for an opportunity "he deserves", Anderson says. "We like and respect the hard work Matt put in to return this season. But when in position to contend, we have to do what is best for the team and set personal relationships aside. Matt Walker can fill an appropriate role on many a team out there - its just a matter of who will step up and make the offer."

Breaking News - Saprykin's plane crashes

In breaking news of relevance to Boston fans, the plane Oleg Saprykin boarded to flee the tyrannical Bruins management has crashed at sea.

Approximately twenty-five minutes after leaving Boston, the plane called in and reported lost pressurization and other technical aviation things. The plane then slipped under the radar. Rescue boats and helicopters were dispatched at once, where they immediately began pulling people from the choppy water.

At this time, all of the one hundred forty-eight passengers and crew have been accounted for - except for Saprykin. Several of the rescuees reported seeing him in the airport waiting area, but reports of his being on board were sketchy. One stewardess, speaking on the condition of anonymity, reported having sat on his lap in first class as they waited to taxi from the gate.

Another passenger who claimed to be a Bruins season ticket holder, though, told one reporter Saprykin had gotten off the plane as the kitchen crew wheeled out the empty carts which had brought refreshments on board. While police interview others at Logan International Airport, though, the Coast Guard is treating this as a search and rescue.