Streaks

The New Jersey Devils extended their road win record to 9-0 on Thursday night by beating the slumping Penguins 4-1. The Penguins had a streak of their own, losing 5 straight before Christmas coming early on Saturday night as Tim Thomas and the Bruins hand them a gift in OT.

Thrasher fans are loving the current 4 game win streak their team is on an they got a bonus with their star Ilya Kavalchuk that returned on Thursday.

Carolina fans may just boo their team right back to Hartford as they have a road record of their own…win-less so far. The Canes had dropped  7 in a row and were win-less in their last 14 at 0-10-4 before the Wild came to town on Sunday. It wasn’t pretty and the Canes tried to lose as they gave up leads of 3-0 and 4-1 eventually won in a shoot out. The Canes are just one point out of the cellar dweller title.

The leafs had a temporary boost with the return of Phil Kessel winning 2 out of the first 3 but since then, the Leafs are once again on another losing streak this time at 3 games. Kessel scored both goals Friday night as the Leafs lost to the Blackhawks 3-2 .

The Chicago Blackhawks are riding a 4 game winning streak and a 7 game win streak at home thanks to a comeback Sunday night against the San Jose Sharks. The Hawks were down 3-1 early in the second period before scoring two goals in the 2nd and the game winner a minute into OT. Although the Sharks lost, they haven’t lost in regulation in 13 games going 9-0-3 in their last 12.

Injury Bug

Cam Ward has been placed on IR which is just another blow to the Canes.

Doug Weight will miss 4 weeks for an upper body injury.

Capital’s Mike Knuble broke his finger when he crashed into Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding in the first period of he Cap’s 3-1 win on Friday night. Knuble will be out 3-4 weeks.

Back in action

Atlanta Thrashers captain, Ilya Kovalchuk returned on Thursday and impacted his team immediately by scoring a goal and having 2 helpers to lift the Thrashers over the Rangers 5-3. On Friday night, Ilya Kovalchuk’s had a two-goal, two-assist performance against the Los Angeles Kings  in a 7-0 win. Kovalchuk will still wear a walking cast for precautions after breaking a bone in his foot.

Roberto Luongo returned from his broken rib injury putting Andrew Raycroft back on the bench in Vancouver. Raycroft went 4-2 with a 2.00 GAA in the 6 games he filled in for Luongo.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere has returned from his groin strain and has fallen into a goalie controversy as Jonas Hiller has taken the #1 spot.

Milan Lucic started practicing with the Bruins on Thursday and is aiming a return against the Thrashers on Thursday night.

The Boston Globe is reporting that Marc Savard who will be a free agent at the end of the season will be signing an extension. Savard has been sidelined with a broken foot is looking to get back on skates next week, he is still about 2 weeks away from returning to the B’s line up.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere lost his first game back from a strained groin injury on Friday losing to Columbus 3-2 in a shoot out. Jonas Hiller also lost this weekend for the Ducks on Saturday night to the Red Wings 7-4. That should help that little goaltender controversy at the Pond.

Alex Ovechkin’s return over the weekend was postponed, look for him early this week, most likely against conference rival New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

On the Move

Michael Nylander decided to head to Moscow and play with the Red Army team after being placed on waivers at the begging of the week.

Peter Forsberg is still weighing out his option to stay in the Sweeden or entertain a pro contract from one of about 6 teams that are interested including the Bruins.

Milestone

Bruins Mark Recchi got his 900th career assist Tuesday night against the Penguins

Key Match-ups for the upcoming week

Obviously the game of the week is tonight as the New Jersey Devils go into Philly to face the Flyers. The Devils have a chance to tie the best road start of 10-0 that Buffalo currently owns if they can beat the Flyers and if they do, Thursday night in Nashville can be the record breaker when they face the Predators.

As if facing the Devils on Monday isn’t a tough enough task, The Flyers hit the road for three more games this week facing the Kings, Sharks and Coyotes.

The Capitals recent success has put them in a tie with New Jersey for the conference lead and they will be at MSG to face the Rangers who started out the season on fire before going -5-1 in their last 10.

Although this is not a marquee game it is worth mentioning. The Leafs visit Carolina in a battle of the cellar dwellers, attendance should be somewhere around a dozen people to watch this sleeper.