A winning week for Minnesota

 

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

 

Pittsburgh 1-0-1 Points 3  Total 21

Philadelphia 2-0-1 Points 5  Total 18

NY Rangers 3-1-0 Points 6  Total 17

New Jersey 2-1-0 Points 4  Total 13

NY Islanders 1-1-0 Points 2  Total 10

It was a good week all around in the Atlantic division, no team failed to pick up points and although the Pens are still top the Flyers are starting to breathe down their necks a little, they’re only 3 points behind and have played a game less. They also proved this week that they have kept their scoring touch, beating Columbus by 9-2. The Rangers have also picked up speed, their coach John Tortorella wouldn’t answer media questions after a game last week but i’m sure he’s feeling a little friendlier now that his team have managed to pick up six of eight points over the last few days. Similar weeks for New Jersey and the Islanders, both improved on last week’s performances and while they both trail the leaders by several points they can definitely build on this form next week.

 

North East Division

 

Toronto 2-1-0 Points 4  Total 19

Buffalo 2-1-0 Points 4  Total 16

Ottawa 0-2-1 Points 1  Total 15

Montreal 1-1-0 Points 2  Total 12

Boston 2-0-0 Points 4  Total 10

Toronto continue to win consistently and find themselves behing only the Dallas Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins in the entire league as of Monday. Phill Kessel finding his scoring touch haas been big for this team, as has the performances given by the back up goalies since Reimer’s injury. They may want to forget the Boston game on Saturday though. Buffalo and Ottawa changed places this week as the Sabres found some winning form and the Sens  completely collapsed after the great results that they had last week. Unfortunately i don’t think that this dip in form will surprise many. Neither Montreal or Boston had much chance to make up ground in the division this week, both played only two games but it was bottom of the pile Boston who took advantage by winning both of their games and hammering Toronto in the process. They’l want a big week this week to build on that result.

 

South East Division

 

Washington 2-1-0 Points 4  Total 18

Tampa Bay 2-1-0 Points 4  Total 16

Florida 0-0-3 Points 3  Total 15

Carolina 1-1-0 Points 2  Total 13

Winnipeg 2-1-1 Points 5  Total 12

Only 6 points separates top from bottom in this division and the only movement this week was Tampa Bay leap frogging the Panthers into second place, a combination of Tampa’s winning week and a week that Florida will forget very quickly. Losing all three games in overtime must hit the confidence hard but they have to know that given a little luck this week could easily have been a winning one. A good week in Winnipeg saw the Jets pick up five points to keep them afloat and they are only another good week away from getting off the bottom.

 

Western Conference

Central Division

Chicago 2-1-1 Points 5  Total 19

Nashville 2-0-1 Points 5  Total 16

Detroit 1-1-1 Points 3  Total 13

St Louis 1-1-0 Points 2  Total 12

Columbus 0-2-0 Points 0  Total 5

Chicago turned in another winning week and managed to stay top of the Central for the time being but Nashville are close on their heels, matching them for points on the week and only three behind in the standings. Another frustrating week for Detroit after losing all their games last week they only managed three out of a possible six this time oout and if they don’t pick up soon a gap will begin to form between themselves and the top two. At the start of this week most people where pretty sure that a head coach would be fired if his results didn’t pick up, and that coach was Scott Arniel right? Wrong. The St. Louis Blues have fired their head coach Davis Payne and appointed veteran coach Ken Hitchcock to take over the reigns. To me this looks like the Blues wanted to get to Hitchcock before the Blue Jackets which is where he was touted to be taking over. If so it will be interesting to see what Columbus do next as they continue to flounder at the bottom of the league.

 

North West Division

 

Edmonton 1-1-0 Points 2  Total 18

Minnesota 3-0-0 Points 6  Total 17

Colorado 0-2-0 Points 0  Total 14

Vancouver 2-2-0 Points 4  Total 15

Calgary 2-2-0 points 4  Total 13

 

The poor effort from Colorado this week has meant that even though the Oilers only won one of their two games they remain atop the North West for the time being, The Wild had a great week though, winning all of their games and jumping in to second in the division, a big week from them could see them replace Edmonton at the top. A mixed bag for Vancouver and Calgary as they both win only two of their four games but you could maybe argue a little lead in the legs in a grueling four game week.

 

Pacific Division

 

Dallas 2-0-0 Points 4  Total 20

San Jose 2-0-1 Points 5  Total 17

Phoenix  2-1-0 Points 4  Total 16

Los Angeles 0-1-1 Points 1  Total 15

Anaheim 0-1-2 Points 2  Total 13

 

As of Monday morning Dallas sit second in the league, just a point behind the Pens. A surprisingly good start for the Stars but they had a good first half last season and they couldn’t keep it up all the way through and ended up missing the playoffs so i wouldn’t be too excited yet Stars fans.  A good week from both San Jose and Phoenix saw them overtake a sluggish LA Kings side who only managed one point from four. The Anaheim Ducks aren’t playing like the team that made it to the play offs last season and if they don’t want to fall further behind in this tough division they’re going to have to start picking up wins quickly.

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