The Fifth Liners

The Pittsburgh Penguins won a titantic back and forth battle against the Toronto Maple Leafs last night for a 6-5 shootout win at the Consol Energy Center! From the very outset, things were far from straight foward and despite Chris Connor putting the Penguins ahead after 1.57 of the first period, James Van Riemsdyk soon made thing a tie game after he scored on the powerplay after 5 minutes. From there things got very tricky for the home team as Nazem Kadri gave Toronto the lead after 11 minutes. Less than 43 seconds into the next period- the Leafs hit Pittsburgh with a double blow as a crucial mistake by Marc-Andre Fleury as he attempted to pass the puck behind his net to Jayson Megna let in Van Riemsdyk for his second goal after only 13 seconds! Thirty seconds later Phil Kessel would score to put Toronto 4-1 in front and add to the home fans frustrations! Powerplay goals by Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang midway through help raise spirits- but when Tyler Bozak popped up to score...

Boston have been playing well of late, quietly getting on with job. The result of which is a spot at the top of the Eastern Conference. Detroit's troubles this season have been well documented and last night the team had to go without superstar Pavel Datsyuk and dependable first-liner Todd Bertuzzi. On paper, this looked like another win for Boston. The first ten minutes were close, the Bruins looked dangerous when pushing and the Red Wings broke well, recently returned Darren Helm almost opened the scoring with a lightning fast breakaway, only to put the puck wide. Detroit's Johan Franzen then stepped up. The Mule set up the first and only goal of a penalty packed first period when his cross through the blue paint found Justin Abdelkader who tapped in the opener. This came straight after he stepped out of the penalty box after picking up a penalty for high-sticking on Zdeno Mt. Chara. Must have been a really high stick. The second period brought more goals for boys in ...

It seems that Washington's Czech fourth-liner isn't happy and wants out of the nation's capital. A few years ago Erat was the Nashville Predator's starting right winger, terrorising defences across the length and breadth of the NHL. But those days are gone, Erat was traded to the Washington Capitals in the 2013 trade deadline after waiving his no-trade clause and asking to move. It seems though that the grass is not always greener and Erat revealed to the Czech press (and subsequently the local press) that he's unhappy and wants to move on. "It's time for me to move on." He said. The Caps' GM; George McPhee has accepted that after averaging just 13 minutes ice time per game and totalling six points for the season, it's probably time to look elsewhere.

48 saves from James Reimer gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a much needed 2-1 shootout win over the Washington Capitals at the Air Canada Center last night. David Clarkson got the ball rolling when he deflected in Jake Gardiner's long shot after 10:08 of the second period. But Alexander Ovechkin then tied the game with 5 minutes remaining of the third to send matters to overtime! After an uneventful overtime, the game was pushed to a shootout where Grant Fehr gave the Caps an initial advantage when he deeked past Reimer but James Van Reimsdyk scored to level the shoot out. Niklas Backstrom then had his penalty shoot saved by the glove of Reimer which allow Joffrey Lupul to seal the win for the Leafs!

The Vancouver Canucks finally ended their five game winless streak with an impressive 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Rogers Arena. But when Matt Calvert scored with Columbus' very first shot after 2.47 of the 1st period, many Canucks fans must have thought this streak would be going to six games! Tom Sessito had a goal waived off for Vancouver before with 15 seconds left Daniel Sedin scored to tie the game at 1-1. A second period flurry ultimate would set the Canucks on their way and in a two minute flurry midway through, goals from Zack Kassian, Captain Henrik Sedin (although knocked in off Sergei Bobrovsky) and a stunning centre ice slap shot from Alex Edler pushed Vancouver 4-1 ahead after 14 minutes played! Daniel Sedin scored again after 9 minutes of the third to give Vancouver a more than comfortable cushion! Although Jannik Hansen missed a penalty shot when Bobrovsky easily saved his weak wrist shot! Artem Anisimov scored for Columbus with three minute...

It's been difficult for Detroit Red Wings fans recently. Of the ten games played so far in November, the Wings have lost seven of them, five of those at the Joe Louis Arena. Fans can almost forgive a road loss, but when a team comes to Detroit and wins? Well that hurts that little bit more. It's not like there was a shortage of goals either, in the seven losses, Detroit were only shutout by Nashville. For the season so far, the Wings are scoring 2.52 goals per game (average). Which is okay but it's not cup winning form. I met a Detroit fan today who'd stopped following the NHL a few years back. We reminisced about the days when Nicklas Lidstrom was a brick wall on the blue line, and how Detroit's Swedish contingent was unstoppable. Then we realised that those days are behind us. Lidstrom is retired and the Wings haven't found a replacement to fill that gap. I'm not entirely sure that anyone exists who's as good as Lidstrom was. There's hope t...

Last night whilst sat high up in the stands of the Air Canada Center in Toronto, I was witness to an offensive feast as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 5-2 in an entertaining game. The Leafs got off to a flying start when Trevor Smith beat Isles goalie Kevin Poulin after only 22 seconds played after great work by 1st star Joffrey Lupul The score remain this way for the rest of the period remainder but Jonathan Bernier was forced to make several impressive saves in net for Toronto! Mid way through the second period, Phil Kessel put the Leafs 2-0 up before Casey Cizikas gave the Isles a lifeline with 11.5 seconds left. Mason Raymond put Toronto firmly in charge after scoring a rebound early in the third period before a first leafs goal for David Clarkson pushed them 4-1 ahead! Frans Nielsen briefly gave New York hope with a goal late in the third before Kessel scored his second with 2.43 remaining. Bernier made 35 saves in net in an impressive performance but ...