Ovechkin scored a goal in his return against the Rangers and the Caps haven’t won since, losing to the Habs on Thursday and handing the Leafs victory on Saturday. The Bruins will finally get Marc Savard back tonight as they visit the Blues in St.Louis.

The battle of the cellar dweller’s  played out pretty much how I expected it. Bad goal-tending  and a high scoring affair. The Bruins had some interest in this game and it wasn’t to see old friend Phil Kessel who by the way did not have one point in the 5 goals Toronto scored…still miss him? Anyways, the reason the Bruins have interest in the progress of Toronto is the repercussions of the Kessel trade. The Bruins own the Leafs first round draft pick and the way it is going right now, the B’s are looking at the number one pick overall.

On that note, the leafs go out on Saturday night against one of the best teams in the East and beats them in a shootout after a 1-1 tie. Some things don’t make any sense and that is one of them. Now we saw hockey’s version of a rally cap going on as the Leaf players wore their helmets  backwards on the bench during the shootout. And there was several thousand Leaf fans that attended their morning skate for support.

Streaks

One of the hottest teams in the NHL right now has been the Chicago Blackhawks who are riding a 7 game win streak and are 8-1-1 in their last 10. Rookie goaltender Antti Niemi stopped all 30 shots he faced Sunday night against the Vancouver Canucks to get his first career shutout.

After a shaky start, the Nashville Predators have something working for them of  late as they are 8-2-0 in their last 10, winning the last 5.

Both the Sharks and Blue Jackets are 6-1-3 in their last 10 games. San Jose has found themselves first in the West thanks to their recent hot streak. Another team to watch for is the Detroit Red Wings who have picked up the pace lately going 7-2-1 in the last 10.

After stopping  New Jersey’s run for the road record at 9 games, Philly beat the Kings but has now lost the last 2 games. The Flyers’ are 7-3 in their last 10.

The Canes finally snapped their 14 game skid and have now won 3 of their last 4. Manny Legace has been holding the fort down for the injured Cam Ward. The Hurricanes and Maple Leafs have been playing a game of leap frog all season for the worst record in the East.

Home Sweet Home

There are 2 teams in the NHL that have not suffered a loss at home yet. The San Jose Sharks are 7-0-2 and the Lightning who are 5-0-4. Both teams are home on Wednesday night with the Sharks hosting the Blackhawks for a battle of the titans. Tampa Bay should have no problem keeping their record in tact as they host the Leafs. Carolina is the only team without a win on the road so far at 0-7-3.

Key Match-ups coming up this week

The game of the week is clearly on Wednesday night as the 2nd place Blackhawks visit the first place Sharks at the tank in a Western conference battle. As I mentioned before, San Jose has not lost a game at home yet. The Eastern Conference has a similar match up on Wednesday night when the 3rd place Sabres visit the 1st place Capitals in DC. Both teams have struggled a bit lately but any time you put a top scorer like Ovechkin facing  a top goaltender like Miller, you will be entertained.

Tonight you have the 3rd place Avalanche who have struggled of late hosting the Philadelphia Flyers who are 5th in the East. Friday, the Bruins have their annual noon time start and this year they face the 4th place leafs. With Savard and Lucic back, this will be a great battle.

Retired and Un-Retired

Brendan Shanahan Retired after 21 seasons in the NHL, you can read my article on Shanahan here. Peter Forsberg decided to stay in Sweden and influences Markus Naslund to come out of retirement  to team up together to play with Modo.

The Toronto Maple Leafs finally get back the player they have been anxiously waiting for. Phil Kessel is expected to return to the NHL tonight in different colors that Phil wore when he last skated. Tonight instead of Kessel wearing the  Black and Gold paired up with Marc Savard, #81 in his new blue and white threads will be skating with Matt Stajan and Jason Blake. The Leafs with only one win this season are still looking for their first at the Air Canada Center tonight when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning. The big question will be , is Phil worth the future that Toronto gave up for him?

Two more stars out

Philly’s Simone Gagne will miss the next 6-8 weeks to recover from surgery on his abdominal and groin muscles. The Flyers are already without the services of Danny Briere who pulled  a right leg muscle.

Capital’s superstar, Alex Ovechkin is listed week to week with an upper body injury that he suffered during a shoving match with Jackets Jason Chimera over the weekend. There is not any word on whether Ovechkin will play Wednesdays showdown in New Jersey against the Devils.

Win or loss, what are the odds?

The up and down  Boston Bruins will visit Detroit tonight to face the struggling Red Wings. If the Bruins follow their season formula, you can be the house on the B’s as this would be the scheduled win. Vegas doesn’t see it that way, favoring the Wings at home at -190 although the line has dropped to -160 since opening. Last year these two teams among the best in the league and with both of them hovering around .500 but for different reasons. The Bruins have Savard and Lucic to their line up due to injury and Detroit remains to have goaltender issues. It remains to be seen if either team will return to the success they had a year ago. The Bruins won the only meeting between these teams last year 4-1 at the Garden.