European Vacation Concludes

Rangers v. Tampa Bay Game 2

It should have never been this close. The Rangers absolutely dominated this game through two periods. After the second period shots were 33-9 in favor of the Rangers. The mind boggles.

- Once again, the Naslund, Drury, Gomez line looks very good both at even strength and on the powerplay. Gomez seems to have an extra step in his game and Naslund seems to "get" Gomez better then Jagr ever did. As a long time Devils fan the only other person I've ever seen have this kind of chemistry with Scott is Alexander Mogilny. That should have Rangers fans very excited.

- Redden showed some flashes of the guy he used to be today. 1 goal and 1 assist, plus a knack for pinching into center ice at the right time could lead to a very successful year for the derided defender. I'm still not sold on his defensive game, as I don't think the Rangers have been tested in that regard yet, but offensively he looks like he could be exceptional.

- The Rangers powerplay clicked today. Redden's goal came after 1:20 or so of consistent pressure by that line. They literally tired the penalty killers out to the point that Redden was able to walk in and blast it top shelf.

- Were you paying attention early in the second period? If you were you got a dazzling glimpse of what a Gomez, Zherdev and Naslund line would look like. I think the Rangers top line has good chemistry as is, but should a personnel shift occur, this line would kill.

- I'm being cautious on my Rangers predictions here. I think they are a very good team but I think Tampa might just be awful.

- Defensively speaking the Lightning are pretty abysmal. They are trying to force shots from the perimeter by collapsing around their goalie. That's all well and good (and is padding the save %'s of both Kolzig and Smith) when done properly. The Lightning are failing miserably at it. They are winning NONE of the races to the puck meaning that they will get absolutely deluged by shots and have virtually no time on attack. 33 shots to 9 through two periods is unacceptable.

- Tampa seemed to figure something out in the third, actually giving Lundqvist some work with their 10 shots. Maybe that something was "Give Stamkos the puck." If he had sunk that instead of banging it off the cross bar Tampa very well could have stolen this one. Whose fault is that? I've got to point at Lundqvist here. That Adam Hall goal in the first was disgusting.

- Carle led all Tampa skaters on Saturday in ice time with 29 minutes. I think Melrose saw what I saw in game 1 though as today he was shifted to the third defensive pairing and saw a decrease in his total ice time by 9 minutes.

- So who is it gonna be in Tampa? Kolzig? Smith? They both looked good, and neither one managed to get a W, so I think we may have our first goaltending controversy here. Our second of course was born out of today's other contest.

Ottawa v. Pittsburgh Game 2

Not a whole lot changed for Ottawa today. They still got most of their offense out of their star players. Their D was still mostly underwhelming and they still got to M.A. Fleury 3 times. What was different? Alex Auld baby.

- Daniel Alfredsson arrived today, getting two assists, one an absolute beauty for Heatley's second goal of the game. Speaking of Heater... he looks absolutely fantastic thus far.

- Vermette had the goal of the game, getting his own rebound off of Fleury's chest and then banging it home.

-The Sens D improved slightly, largely because there was less of it. Brian Lee and Cristoph Schubert saw their ice time shaved significantly. Filip Kuba on the other hand had yet another point, this time on the powerplay and another outstanding game, receiving the most ice time of any Senator. Of the two defenders I'm recommending from this game I think he is your best option if you had a lousy defender draft (or say drafted Sergei Gonchar, Sergei Zubov or Ryan Whitney).

- Now is probably the time to talk about M.A. Fleury. I've made no secret that I don't think the guy is an elite option this year, particularly considering the loss of Whitney and Gonchar. Today you saw why. He gives up a ton of rebounds and without seasoned defenders to cover him, guys like Vermette are going to walk in on him all game. I don't so much blame him for either of the Heatley goals, he's gonna score those every time, particularly when there is so much open real estate in his zone. The Pens have a lot of reshuffling to do before they are a team to be feared again.

- "You've failed me for the last time Miroslav." The panic has already begun in the quest to find Sid the Kid suitable linemates. Maybe they should hold a reality show. Call it "Center of Attention." Guests can compete to make Sid feel like he is the greatest player ever to play the game and to do and skate and shoot exactly how and when he tells them to. It would be a ratings smash and Sid is just whiny and unlikable enough for reality TV.

It took less then a game and a half for Sid to tire of Miroslav Satan and for him to be replaced with Tyler Kennedy. Don't go running to pick him up just yet though. Until Sykora returns expect to see Sid go throgh linemates like Darth Vader does Admirals. "Apology accepted Captain Satan."

-How about that Alex Auld? He played a little above his head today but it looks like he and Gerber are going to be battling it out all season. Auld has the early lead, carrying a shutout to the last two seconds of this game before giving one up on the man advantage, and will likely get the start the next time Ottawa laces them up on the 11th. Of course he may not want that honor as whomever gets it will be the the first goalie to be tested (after Vesa Toskala is mercilessly disembowled) by the 2008-2009 Red Wings. My advice... get a cold Alex. Twist an ankle or something, and then tell everyone how you could have done better than Gerber. There's no winning this one.

- The one bright spot for the Pens was the debut of Alex Goligoski. He looks a little suspect defensively but he absolutely blasted one past Gerber from the right circle with 2 seconds remaining. He's not the answer for the this term long term but could be a stop gap in the short term. As such he could be the same for you if you were unsatisfied with your draft crop of D-men. Keep an eye on him over the next week or so.

So that wraps up the "PRE" season. I intend to watch as many games as possible at the beginning of the year so I can give all of you an idea of what is going on. Requests? There are only 4 games opening night so I'm going to try to watch the Toronto v Detroit massacre and then grab some of Boston v Colorado before switching over to San Jose at Anaheim. I'm skipping Calgary at Vancouver but will grab as much of it as possible during commercial breaks.