The Fifth Liners

With the hockey world caught up with a contagious case of Stanley Cup fever, in the AHL there was a moment worth of a highlight reel. This weekend has seen the Rangers amazingly dumped out the cup by an inspired Lightning team and seen the Hawks battle against Anaheim over 7 unpredictable games! But in Sunday's AHL West Conference Final, the Utica Comets won a hard fought 3-2 game over the Grand Rapids Griffins . But their win was made all the more impressive by this astonishing stick save by goalie Jacob Markstrom ! This one early in the second period would prove instrument to the Comets victory! Having arrived to the Canucks as part of the Roberto Luongo trade, Markstrom has struggled to get ice time. But this season, the Swede has put up great numbers in the AHL including a 10-7 record with a 1.97 GAA and a save percentage of .928 from 17 play-off games! Should either Miller or Lack be sidelined next season, this guy will be handy in net!

Today has finally seen an end to one of the longest and frankly most tedious sagas in the hockey world. The Vancouver Canucks have officially traded Roberto Luongo to his former side the Florida Panthers in exchange for goalie Jakob Markstrom and centre Shawn Matthias! Luongo has been a source of continuing speculation since the beginning of last season when he continually jostled for the number one spot with Cory Schneider. But when Schneider was traded to the New Jersey Devils earlier this season, it appeared the long time starter had at last reclaimed his place. However the emergence of young Swedish goalie Eddie Lack once again hindered his chances as the rookie has made a strong impression so far. The tipping point seems to have been since Luongo returned from warming the bench at the Sochi Olympics for Canada, Lack has been placed in net for every since then by coach John Tortorella. Tensions escalated further when after the 4-2 loss to Ottawa Senators in the Tim Horton...

The Pittsburgh Penguins perfect start has hit a flat spot as their road trip ended in a surprising 6-3 lost to the Florida Panthers ! So far the Panthers form has been nothing to write home about, but their fans will be dancing in the streets after this result Brad Boyes got the ball rolling when he gave the Panthers the lead after 1.55 of the first period but soon the home side were pegged back when Evgeni Malkin's first goal of the year tied the scores at 1-1! Kris Versteeg then restored their one goal lead as he bagged his first goal in a Florida jersey off an assist from Scott Gomez (yes you heard that right!). But Craig Adams ensured the Pens went in level at the break when he poked in from a goal mouth scramble to make it 2-2! Into the second period and the Panthers offense truly came alive with goals on two successive powerplans, first Jonathan Huberdeau scored off an assist from Versteeg and then Panthers 2nd overall draft pick Aleksander Barkov scored to push the adva...