Are we seeing a "new" Malkin; beware of can't miss goalie prospects like Gibson; Markov far from done; don't ignore WONABLs or cellar dwellers, plus much more….

 

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KANE HAS BEEN DEALT – analysis now posted (and minor issues fixed)!

 

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Glad to be back for my second Ramblings this week – did you miss me since Monday?

 

There were 18 teams in action Tuesday; and fortunately for me being in the Eastern time zone, no games started after 8pm.

 

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The marquee match-up was arguably Boston vs. Dallas, as it marked another return to Boston for Tyler Seguin, this time fresh off his and Jamie Benn's questionable remarks about the Sedins. If your pool counts shorthanded points, this was your kind of contest – with Dallas potting two shorties and Boston one of their own.

 

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So much for Tuukka Rask getting his first night off in a month, as Niklas Svedberg got lit up for three goals in the first and was yanked. Meanwhile, after a goal last game, David Pasternak was back skating with Milan Lucic and David Krejci and had an assist. If the past is an indication, look for this to continue long enough for Pasternak to be a good start into next week.

 

Interesting stat of the night – John Kligberg's assist gave him 11 points in his last seven games, while before posting a goal on Tuesday, Dan Boyle – making five times a much as Klingberg – had 11 points (in 35 games) for the entire season.

 

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Speaking of Seguin, who was held scoreless, he passed Taylor Hall in career points within the past few weeks (and should pad the lead with Hall likely out until at least well into March). Although Seguin has played in 50 more games, this is still impressive given where things stood after 2012-13 (121 points in 203 games for Seguin, 145 in 171 for Hall).

 

The big question is how this will play out. While obviously not determinative, it seems when the first two overall picks are both forwards, it nearly always works out amazing for at least one of them, but rarely both. After all, look at the previous seven times it’d happened before 2010:

 

2007 (Patrick Kane, James van Riemsdyk); 2006 (Sidney Crosby, Bobby Ryan); 2004 (Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin); 2001 (Ilya Kovalchuk, Jason Spezza); 1999 (Patrick Stefan; Daniel Sedin); 1998 (Vincent Lecavalier; David Legwand); 1997 (Joe Thornton; Patrick Marleau)

 

Only 2004 had both guys named first team all stars, while from 1997, 1999, 2006, and 2007 one guy made the first team all-star list at least once. Neither guy was a first team all-star from 1998 or 2001 (Kovalchuk and Lecavalier were second team). And although Ryan and JVR are solid players and still not past their peak, chances are neither one will ever make the first team list.

 

Not only is this interesting food for thought, but it also makes me a bit more concerned about Hall, since Seguin seems like he's boarded a fast train to superstardom and could achieve first team all star status as soon as this season.

 

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One final note on Boston/Dallas – how could I resist linking to the video of Eric Cole's bizarre empty netter.  We know you planned it that way Eric.

 

 

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Bobby Ryan missed the Ottawa/Buffalo game after a suffering a strain of sorts in practice. Thus he didn't see Robin Lehner inch closer to maybe coaxing the Sens to trade Craig Anderson at the deadline or over the summer to seize upon a weak goalie UFA market.

 

Lehner now has given up a total of just ten goals in his past five starts. More on Lehner below, and how he – and other elite goalie prospects – often don't live up to the hype.

 

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As for Buffalo, while their woeful team SOG totals have been well-documented, how about this – when was the last time any individual Sabre had more than five SOGs in a single game?  If my math is right, it was December 6th, when Matt Moulson – who managed a PP assist last night and has three points in his last five – fired seven shots at Roberto Luongo, meaning they've gone more than a third of an entire season since this last happened!

 

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Cam Talbot notched a win but once again didn't inspire confidence. But unlike last season, the Rangers have a pretty firm hold on a playoff spot, so chances are they let him run with things while King Henrik remains out.

 

I'll confess to wanting Talbot to get shelled, so we can see this guy take the net:

 

 

Seriously – seeing Skapski in his equipment, all I can think of is the shrunken head guy from Beetlejuice!

 

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Meanwhile James Reimer got his third start in four days and continued his 2015 pattern of following a good game with a bad one. Here are the goals allowed in his 2015 starts – 5, 2, 4, 1, 4, 1 and then 5 on Tuesday. I'm no GM, but to me that's not a starting NHL goalie right there.  Of course this could just be the Leafs showcasing Reimer to try and put together a trade.  Good luck with that guys…..

 

Which Maple Leaf misses Randy Carlyle the most? While there are many choices, I'd say it's James van Riemsdyk, who went scoreless on Thursday and now has three points in his last 13 games.