March 05, 2011
Jeff Angus
2011-03-05
Lubomir Visnvosky exploded offensively last night with three goals and an assist against Dallas. He had been slumping for the past 10-15 games.
Jakub Voracek had two assists and four shots on goal in only 12 minutes of ice time.
Curtis Glencross continued his hot streak with a three point game. He will be highly-sought after on the free agent market this summer.
Dobber – Kris Russell has seven points in his last eight games. The more he starts to show, the less Grant Clitsome will show. Since Russell has the pedigree, I think the Jackets would prefer to give Russell the opportunities, if given a choice. But he’s young and inconsistent, so do not rely on him for any sort of extended run. This ramble is brought to you by The Committee for Kris Russell in the Ramblings
My THN column today is on the Islanders, but I later touch upon Sekera as well. With two points in each of his last three games, he is filling in admirably for Jordan Leopold, who has been out for those three games with a UBI. The production may not continue when Leopold returns, but Sekera is at least making a statement to us poolies not to write him off just yet.
A solid read on Andrej Sekera here. His offensive game seemed to regress over the past two seasons but he has picked it up in a big way as of late.
Chris Campoli had two helpers for the Blackhawks last night. He's a pretty solid depth defenseman, and I like his upside to be 30-35 points in Chicago if he sticks around. Smart player in the offensive zone.
Patrick Sharp has 12 points in his last eight games. Where does he go from here? Is this his upside (40 goals, 75 points)? Can he go higher? He long ago dispelled any notion of this being a streak or an anomaly.
I am busy working on the 2010-11 edition of the Prime Cuts. Check out the past three years here: 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10. I love writing this series and I hope you have enjoyed reading it!
Sergei Gonchar does, in fact, still play in the NHL. He scored a goal on the power play last night to go along with his dozen turnovers.
Gaborik missed his fifth straight game but skated before and looks to be progressing.
Ilya Kovalchuk's recent stretch is incredibly impressive – he scored ANOTHER game-winner last night for the Devils.
He could hit the 35 goal mark by the end of the season – well below where he should be, but respectable considering the horrid start he got off to.
Andy Greene recorded his first point in over 13 games for the Devils.
Mats Zuccarello scored his first in 19 games – Tortorella usually doesn't give small offensive players such long leashes… perhaps he sees something?
The Rangers are going to be a very good team in about two years. They have a core of players who are just on the cusp of hitting their prime (Staal, Dubinsky, Callahan, Stepan, Kreider, Grachev, Anisimov, Girardi, McDonagh, Del Zotto, and so on), and the best goalie on the planet.
Taylor Hall out for the season with a high ankle sprain. On one hand I hate it when star players fight (injury risk, hurts the league when they are out), but you have to like him sticking up for himself. Catch 22.
Steve Kampfer is out with a concussion, so the Bruins recalled another talented young defenseman from the AHL – Matt Bartkowski.
Brad Richards has taken a step back with his recovery from a concussion – he experienced symptoms after skating this past week.