Nev

I don't know what's clicked in Smith's brain, but I'm glad about it. There was a play in the 1st last night, he was skating back into the zone with puck, being pressured by an Islander, with another coming in to add to the pressure. He was all alone with no-one to pass to. Being Smith my heart was in my mouth. So what does he do? He skates behind his net, holding the forechecker behind him with one arm, controlling the puck with the other, then skates up and out of our zone, leaving the 2 forecheckers behind, and carried the puck all the way up the ice and into the Islander zone. So glad he got 2 assists last night, just reward for his recent play.

No, Howard made several good saves in the 1st when it was still tight, and the D coughed up several brutal turnovers to Islanders in the slot throughout the game. It wasn't 1998 Hasek-in-Buffalo-49-save-shutout good, but it was a good performance. 3rd was a great stretch pass up the middle by Smith to a streaking Alfie who went high glove. 4th goal was 2on1, Franzen cross-ice to Nyquist who wristed it top corner far side. 5th goal was shot by Kronner, hit Abdelkader, cleared off the line and Alfie put it home.

So many positives - Franzen, Howard, whole second line. Smith looks like he's taking the same super-hero pills as Franzen. I barely noticed Quincey, but Smith seemed to be everywhere. Negatives - no points for Z, and several brutal turnovers in front of the net.

Its not often we play a 60 minute game, but that was a 60 minute game. Hot-damn was that enjoyable.

More good pressure in the their zone but not creating good chances....

Good road period, need to make more of our time in their zone though, and cut down on the turnovers in ours!

If Alfredsson doesn't come back, it's because we've won the Stanley Cup. I'll be sorry not to see him back, but its a trade-off I'd be willing to make

I think Osgood might have been in net for them........ Honestly, please Detroit, beat the Islanders, just to get that damn embarassing monkey off our backs. We're going to be seeing a lot more of them in the future, so we better learn to start beating them. In other news - 9pm local time puck drop, yay!

And they have Mindfly

As I stated in the lines thread, when everyone is healty, there are 2 spots for him atm - on Dats wing, or on the 4th line (at wing or Anderssons 4C spot). Lets be patient with the guy. He's ~ 20 games into a 400 game contract. Tell him just to concentrate on finding his feet, and his place in the team, let him gain some confidence.

No way can we split up the Franzen - Z - Nyquist line, they are absolutely on fire, even Franzen has woken up (2 great assists last night). Abdelkader - Helm - Alfie has been great as a 2nd line, imagine what they can do with as a 3rd line. Bert can stay with Dats on the 2nd line as they always play well together, then let Weiss or Tats provide the speed and energy on the other wing. Tatar if you need a goal, Weiss if you're protecting a lead. That leaves Tatar/Weiss - Andersson - Miller on the 4th line with Cleary and Sammy on the outside looking in. Not only are they playing themselves out of a spot, the other guys are keeping them out.

He never said Monster was going to play every game from now on - Jimmy still has to be given opportunities to play his way back into form. 2 starts for Monster, 1 for Jimmy is a fair ratio for now.

Who? There are maybe 10 or 12 defencemen in the NHL who are clearly better than Kronwall. Answers on a postcard please as to how to obtain Weber, Chara, Suter, Subban, Keith, Karlsson, Letang or Doughty.

Despite no Bert + Pav, the top 3 lines looked pretty good against Buffalo. BIG step up tonight though.

Bearing in mind that we've already got 6 defencemen on the books for next season (assuming DelKaiser is a given), Almquist is out of options, and Oullet is already knocking on the door, I don't see how or why we would re-sign Quincey. Use his cap space to see if a top-4 D-man becomes available via FA or trade, if not let them all go to training camp and battle for the 6th and 7th spots

The only one of those who needs to pick it up is Weiss, and he's stuck with Cleary and Sammy for now. Mule - Z - Goose has been a great line, Alfie is 3rd? in scoring, Helm is scoring despite not being a scorer. Tatar could do with a few more points but he had a great game Sunday.

Defintely defence. First of all, last seasons 5th place in goals against was almost entirely down to the play of Howard. The problems that afflict us this season are the same as last - the inability to get the puck out of the zone, and if we do we're often just chipping it off the glass and giving possession right back to the opposition. The brutal turnovers. The lack of composure when pressured by the forecheck. Quincey, Smith, and Kindl being particular culprits. This struggling transition game is IMO the biggest flaw in our team play, and directly impacts our ability to generate offense. The struggles of Franzen and Weiss, the lack of Nyquist and Tatar, and injuries have obviously impacted our goal scoring, but I think we're pretty set now (or will be when Bert and Pav are back).

Firstly, this isn't an over-payment, this is dead on the market value for a 29 year old top-4 defenceman who is a pending UFA. Good for Ericsson, he always had the tools, it was just a matter of putting it all together. His painful performance in the 2010 playoffs seems like a lifetime away.

The last I heard, NBC don't actually pay a penny for their NHL rights. It may have changed, but it certainly used to be the case.

Wow, ballsy decision by Babcock, but all things considered, probably the right one. Sucks for Pavel but (trying desperately to find a silver lining) gives Z a chance to get his name out there as a Hart candidate.

I still can't decide if Smith fighting Neil was brave or stupid.

Just like a young Ericsson, all his problems are between his ears.

I hope for your sake that you are never accused of a crime you didn't commit. Having been falsely accused in the past by a mentally unstable co-worker of intending to murder her, I'm kinda a big believer in Innocent Until Proven Guilty.

I've said before that the group of kids we've got coming through now are the best we've had since the mid 2000s when the likes of Kronwall, Franzen, Hudler and Filpulla were establishing themselves in the team, to supplement, the high end talent and veteran depth we had. The question is, will Nyquist, Tatar, Sproul, Oullet, Jurco, Mantha etc be able to establish themselves as cheap bona fide NHLers before Dats, Z and Kronner are over the hill (or gone)? Its why we need to be brave enough to feed the GR kids into the line-up as injury call ups (as we did with Oullet earlier in the season)

Any word on Sammy? looked like he might have injured his knee at the end of the game.