The Fifth Liners

People of New York, we have a new year miracle- the New York Rangers scoring seven in a game... And actually looking impressive for once! The 94 cup champions have one of the leagues more inconsistent teams of this year, but you wouldn't have thought this last night as the notable performances of 1st star Dominic Moore and Chris Kreider tore apart the Toronto Maple Leafs ! Yes the Rangers were aided by Cam Talbot's 26 saves in net and also by an unusually poor performance by Leafs normally solid goalie Jonathan Bernier, who had a torrid time against the big apple side and was yanked from his after conceeding a fifth goal and the Leafs being down 5-0! James 'Optimus' Reimer would fare little better and conceded two more goals before the Leafs misery was finally ended! On this kind of performance, New York should be in the playoffs, but one game doesn't always make the difference and the Rangers will have a lot of work before them if they want to reach the promi...

As the 2013/14 season rumbles on, one of the biggest surprises so far is how impressed we've been with some of the back up goaltenders. Usually only rolled out for the easier games, or when the superstar goalie gets injured, the back up usually spends most of his time sat on the bench. Patiently waiting, but never hoping, for something to go wrong. Scrivens, standing guard. Before moving to the LA Kings from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the start of the season, Ben Scrivens had spent most of his professional career so far in the lower leagues. When Jonathan Quick picked up an injury in November, a huge amount of pressure was then shifted to Scrivens' shoulders. He had to step into Quick's Stanley Cup winning skates. Just like The Beatles with Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever, it turned out that the LA Kings had a double a-side between the sticks. Right now both goalies have played 16 games each and despite playing less minutes than Quick; Scrivens has faced m...

The Vancouver Canucks capped an emotional night at the Rogers Arena that saw the Number 10 jersey of Pavel Bure retired to the rafters with a great 4-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs ! James Reimer made a flurry of good stops in a row after 3 minutes to deny both Mike Santorelli and Chris Higgins from putting Vancouver in front, but then captain Henrik Sedin scored off an assist from Dan Hamhuis to put the Canucks ahead after 06:03 of the first period played. Early in the second period, Zack Kassian made it two when he scored a rebound off Reimer after only two minutes played before Chris Higgins put the Canucks firmly in the driving seat when his quick shot made it 3-0 after only five minutes played. Toronto offered little in offense but came close briefly when Phil Kessel had his stop stopped by Roberto Luongo, but they would get no closer than that before Hamhuis scored to complete the perfect night in British Columbia. But the score wasnt the real celebration as the Vanco...

The swings and roundabouts of the playoff lottery were on display for all to see last night as we march onto to more game 7 action! Derek Brassard's second period goal for the New York Rangers earned them a 1-0 win against Washington Capitals and sets up an interesting final tie at the Verizon Center! So far this series has been a back and forth affair and I think any betting man would have a hard time putting a wager on this one! The Toronto Maple Leafs have also leveled their series against Boston and have impressively fought from 3-1 down to bringing things to a 3-3 tie! Their 2-1 win against the Bruins at the Air Canada Center was inspired by a first star performance from James Reimer- with Optimus Reim making an impressive 29 saves to keep the Bruins offense at bay! Leafs fans had to wait until the third period for the goals to come with Captain Dion Phaneuf scoring after just two minutes and after nine minutes of play, once again former Bruin Phil Kessell put the Leafs...

Toronto Maple Leafs gave back strong against the Boston Bruins last night to tie their series at one game all with an entertaining 4-2 win at TD Garden. Nathan Horton gave the Bruins the lead early in the second period which was eventually given after a video replay confirmation. But they found themselves shocked soon after by a Joffrey Lupul double that put the Leafs in control! 53 seconds into the third period, former Boston man Phil Kessel raced away to beat Tuukka Rask and to leave his former fans in a state of silence and give Toronto a 3-1 lead. The Bruins briefly rallied with a goal from defensemen Johnny Boychuk which deflected off Bozak, but with three minutes remaining- James Van Riemsdyk scored a bizzare goal where as he fell to the ice he knocked the puck into the Bruins net to seal a 4-2 win! The Maple Leafs were aided by an impressive goaltending performance by James Reimer- Optimus Reim may have had his fair share of critics this year but this performance is the ki...

The regular season is over, all the games are played and the fixtures have now been completed. Here's my quick guide to the games in the Eastern: New York Islanders Vs Pittsburgh Penguins The Pens are 4-1-0 against the Isles and are easily favourite to walk this round. Golden boy Sidney Crosby is back in training after his broken jaw but no word on if he'll make the playoff games. The is doing well enough without him though, having made some good trades this season. Prediction - Penguins Ottawa Senators Vs Montreal Canadiens This fixture is a going to be close, the Sens are 2-1-1 against the Habs this season and have recently found a run of form. The Habs on the other hand have a better defensive record and I reckon this will give the Canadiens the edge. Prediction - Canadiens New York Rangers Vs Washington Capitals 6th seed Rangers actually have the edge over the 3rd seed Washington this season. Going into the playoffs 2-0-1 against Ovechkin and Co. The te...

Toronto Maple Leafs' goalie James Reimer is one of the most frustrating goalies in the NHL. Both to play against and to watch as a spectator. There is no doubting his ability between the posts and as the following videos show, he's a top notch shot-stopper. Optimus Reim is a superb goalie to watch, especially as a neutral, but when you look at the NHL's  official stats page , he isn't in the top 10 for any category. He's rarely in the top 20. Toronto is 4th on the 'goals for' list so far this season but 19th on the 'goals against' category. Why the big difference? While up front, the shooters are doing the job, Kadri, van Riemsdyk, Kessel and Bozak are all in double figures for goals. While the forwards are scoring for fun, it's a different story on the other side of the blue line. The defencemen's +/- are all over the place. They range from +14 to -12. From an offensive point of the view, the Leaf's D-Men are doing pretty...