The Fifth Liners

User Actions   Following Zenon Konopka Verified account ‏ @ZenonKonopka If you don't think Ryan Miller is the Best Goalie in the NHL you haven't seen enough Sabres games #unreal Wow. That's one hell of a statement to make. One that warrants further investigation. Firstly I'll accept that I haven't seen every game that Miller has played, as a neutral, there's only so much hockey you can watch which still holding down a job. Sure he's a good goalie, but the best? In the same league as Marc-Andre Fleury, Mike Smith, Ben Bishop and Jonas Hiller, well that's some esteemed company. It's difficult to grade goalies, usually Save Percentage (Sv%) is the best reflection of how well a goalie is doing, but it doesn't always paint a true picture. Niklas Svedberg has the second best Sv% in the league (.943) but he's only played one game so far. That was against the Nashville Predators, not exactly prolific shooters. Fleury has t...

Today the Olympic Ice Hockey rosters for the upcoming Sochi 2014 games have been officially confirmed, after much speculation surrounding them there has been some interesting selections made and no doubt this will spark furious debate among hockey fans, let's take a look at the main contenders. Canada  The 25 man Canadian squad certainly isn't lacking in depth, and this year they will be the team to beat and 11 of 2010 Gold Medal team will make a return journey! The defensive selection is one I highly commend as they have mixed youth of players like PK Subban along with defensive quality like Jay Bouwmeester. The St Louis pairing of JB along with Pietrangelo could well be a wise selection! Offensively the star count is ridiculously high with Crosby, Toews, Perry, Stamkos and Kunitz among others being featured and Canada will rely on this goal power to see them through! There are few surprise selections with Marc-Andre Fleury missing out in favour of Roberto Luongo and the ...

After last nights 7-2 steamroller over the Colorado Avalanche , it would appear that the Chicago Blackhawks are the public's favourite to retain their Stanley Cup crown this year! If they do succeed in taking back to back titles, it will make them the first team to achieve this since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings and will already make them one of the big successes of this decade alone! After their up and down start to their title defense, the Red Express has got back on the rails and it ain't going to stop any time soon! But as always with winning, things are never straight forward because across from our brothers in Illinois are another team who are equally hungry and have a burning desire not to repeat last years play-off nightmare in the shape of the Pittsburgh Penguins ! Both sides have an equally strong case as they possess offensive units to die for- Chicago this season have been led by free scoring winger Patrick Kane, whose 21 goals have pushed them to the top of the...

The Boston Bruins won a dramatic late 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden last night in real end to end game which included two goals in the last 90 seconds. The Penguins started out very much on top with Chris Kunitz continuing his excellent run of form to put Pittsburgh ahead when his shot deflected off Dennis Seidenberg and crept underneath Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask on 6.33! But Reilly Smith tied the game only four minutes later. However the game soured when Pens D-Man Brooks Orpik had to leave the game after being hit whilst down on the ice by Shawn Thornton after a scrap broke out, resulting in a match penalty for Thornton! Bruons forward Loui Eriksson also had to leave the fame after suffering a concussion. James Neal then put the Penguins back in front on 13 minutes, when after being released from the penalty box, he deflected in Matt Niskanen's speculative blue line shot. In the second period, the Penguons failed to capitalize on several chances to ex...

The Pittsburgh Penguin s won a closely won 4-3 contest over the Vancouver Canucks last night at the Consol Energy Center which was only decided by a shootout! Vancouver got a somewhat fortunate start as Alex Edler's spectacular centre ice slap shot on 13.49 minutes bounced off the mask of Marc-Andre Fleury and crept into the goal but Pittsburgh didnt waste time and captain Sidney Crosby made things a tie game after 15.44 played. On the powerplay, Chris Kunitz pushed the Penguins in front after 7.56 of the second period following good work behind net by Malkin. But Vancouver weren't going down without a fight and Brad Richardson levelled things at 2-2 following some good drop passes. Into the third and Zach Kassian deflected Kevin Bieksa's shot past Fleury to put the Canucks ahead 3-2 after 12.50 played! But cruely only 22 seconds later Olli Maata scored a rebound off Luongo to claim his first ever NHL goal and tie the game at 3-3. But there was to be late drama as Bra...

Alex's question this week is " Anaheim are always a threat but have fallen short in recent years. What do they have to do in order to bring another cup home?" Since bringing home their first and only cup at the end of the 06/07 season, Ducks fans have been eager to lift the cup again, especially with close neighbours the LA Kings winning it so recently. A lot of the cup winning team have moved on, Chris Kunitz found further success with the Penguins, Rob and Scott Niedermayer have both retired from playing and Chris Pronger is currently signed to the Flyers. Although to be fair, he spent most of that winning postseason suspended for repeatedly elbowing people. The one thing that the Ducks don't have is consistency. Although the team has made appearances in five of the last seven postseasons, their performances have been variable at best. Offensively the team has been good. Scoring goals has never been an issue and Viktor Fasth and Jonas Hiller ...

It took a double overtime goal from Patrice Bergeron to secure the Boston Bruins a 2-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden to put them firmly in the driving seat in the Eastern Conference Final! Although this saw less goals than the one sided second game, it proved just as entertaining affair. David Krecji 's impressive streak continued with an impressive opening goal, with assistant from Milan Lucic , Krecji calmly waiting behind the goal and then with great skill was able to skate round and have his shot deflect off Niskanen to score his ninth playoff goal for the Bruins this year! Tomas Vokoun held his place in net and made several more vital stops to prevent Boston from extending their advantage. But Pittsburgh battled hard and were deservedly level 12 minutes into the second period , Paul Martin set up Chris Kunitz who buried past Rask to give the fans a tie game! However although the brighter team, the Penguins were unable to find a way past the brilliant Tuukk...

The Pittsburgh Penguins have successfully seen off the Ottawa Senators to advance to the Eastern Conference final. Game three saw the only dip in the Pen's performance when Ottawa thoroughly outplayed Pittsburgh to take their first win of the series but Dan Bylsma was able to inspire his team to take two convincing wins. The first was on Wednesday when the Penguins came out of the game with the win after James Neal , Chris Kunitz, Jarome Iginla, Pascal Dupuis and Sidney Crosby all found the net. Milan Michalek , Kyle Turris and Daniel Alfredsson netted for the Senators but it was wasn't enough. The Pens finished the game winning 7-3. Last night the action shifted back to the Consul Energy Center for game five. Pittsburgh controlled the game with Brendan Morrow 's controversial goal opening the game. James Neal and Kris Letang then put the game at 3-0. Milan Michalek was on hand to grab a goal for the Sens but Evgeni Malkin and James Neal responded with ...

After Sidney Crosby's horrific jaw injury suffered a few weeks ago, it cut short what was so far a stunning season and has officially ruled him out for the remainder of the year. Also it prevents him from being able to add another Hart Trophy is his already impressive collection! So with Sid the Kid out of the picture we must turn to another of the excellent candidates on show in the 2012/13 NHL Season. Ladels and Jellyspoons, here are your main contenders... Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning) The closest overall to Crosby points wise with 49 and the top overall goal scorer with 26 goals, Tampa Bay's renowned centre has proved to be a bright spot in their otherwise horrible season. With a goal scoring touch like this, we can only shake our heads in disbelief that his team doesnt follow his good example. Would be nice to Stamkos rewarded for his continually excellent play. Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks) This man is by far the most talente...

The Pittsburgh Penguins ' injury woes continue, according the  Trib's sport page . James Neal is out indefinitely after his head to elbow interface with New York Rangers' Michael Del Zotto left him with concussion. This is in addition to Sidney Crosby who is still out with a broken jaw.  To shore up the main line, Evgeni Malkin and Jussi Jokinen have traded places, with the Finn taking the center position on the 2nd line. Malkin will partner Chris Kunitz and the Pens' other big trade Jarome Iginla up front.  The positive news is that both Crosby and Neal are doing well, but it is not currently known if either player will be back in time for the playoffs. 

By Alex Watson The Pittsburgh Penguins are a team with a remarkable history, with three Stanley cup wins, near bankruptcy in 1998 to finally the acquisition of the brightest modern Hockey star in Sidney Crosby! But ever since their last cup glory is 2009, their recent follow ups haven’t quite lived up to expectations at the Consol Energy Centre and last season they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference quarter finals by the Flyers in six games. Arguably it could be said that their season had been interrupted by Captain Crosby’s persistent absence from the ice owning to the effect of post concussion syndrome. But it did leave the door open to Evgeni Malkin’s Hart Trophy winning performances where he led the team in scoring and was joined by breakout star James Neal and Jordan Staal. But even with all promise in Sid the Kid’s absence, their weak play-off performance left a sour taste in the mouth. However this season, Coach Dan Byisma has learned from last season’s m...