The Penguins were struggling until recently. But now they are really on a roll. In the last 11 games they have gone 9-0-2 and look to be on the path to take the second place spot in the Eastern Division. This comes at a time when other strong teams seem to be falling off, from the Boston Bruins to the Chicago Blackhawks and several other teams. These teams have been sustaining losing streaks quite well. But the Penguins, with the leadership of Evgeni Malkin who has scored in 13 of the last 16 games, are on their way back to the level they were at last year at this time. USA Today says that it’s kind of funny that Sidney Crosby hasn’t been discussed much lately and that he seems to be having an off year, despite being the league’s second leading scorer. The Penguins are headed to the playoffs and it will be an exciting spring for them. If they can keep the momentum into next month, they’ll be in great shape.

New Jersey Devils’ general manager Lou Lamoriello isn’t foolin’ around anymore. After last season’s embarrassing fourth-worst goals per game ratio (2.42 per game), Lamoriello has added some much need firepower to the near-absent Devils offense, adding veterans Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik.

Bringing back Rolston, a former Devils player, from the Minnesota Wild should give the Devils incredible goal scoring power. Though Rolston is now 35, age has not slowed him one bit. In his last three seasons he posted 30-plus goals. Holik, too, is no stranger to double-digit goal scoring seasons. In his twenty year career (he is now 37 years old) he has never failed to put up at least 10 goals in the NHL. Often, he scored in the mid twenties.

The addition of these powerful attackers, as well as the retention of defender Bryce Salvador and goalie Martin Brodeur, should propel the Devils into the postseason. Brodeur, the backbone of the Devils, was one of the sole reasons that the Devils were able to stay in the playoff hunt for so long last season. Now that they have some scoring power the Devils can take some of the pressure off of Brodeur.

Minnesota Wild played one of the best first period sessions this season as they beat Edmonton Oilers 3-1 last Wednesday night. The Minnesota team scored two goals in the space of the opening seven minutes and further consolidated their lead to end with a final score line of 3-1 and avenging for their poor showdown in Edmonton. This victory has placed them in the first place in the NHL’s Northwest division and the coach of the Wild was pretty pleased to see his side put behind the loss to Oilers in their last match.

Rolston, the coach, said that this win puts the team in for bigger challenges ahead and wants them to continue their rich hockey skills that they showcased in the match to stay perched on top of the table. Nikalas Backstorm was responsible for Wild to win the game as he made 32 saves and was thrilled to get the better off the Oilers as they lost very badly to them last Monday.

The Pittsburgh Penguin boys were at the top of their game last Sunday when they displayed a clinical performance to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers by 7-1 courtesy of twin goals by both Malkin and Sykora. The victory for the Penguins came without their top player, Sidney Crosby, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury. The Penguins dominated the entire game leaving the Flyers no place to take cover for their humiliating performance. Penguins have now won five of their last six straight games and have scored 7 goals in two consecutive matches. The Penguins with this emphatic win moves into the 2nd place of the Atlantic division and Eastern Conference, behind the New Jersey team.

The strong offensive line up of the Pittsburgh Penguins will be further strengthened with the addition of Crosby into the team and Crosby who is the leading scorer in the NHL has not played a single game since his ankle injury in January. The Flyers coach John Stevens accepted the fact that there were several lapses in the defensive tactics of his team that left the gate open for Malkin to score freely. Malkin said that he was pretty much satisfied with his performance for the Penguins and wanted to score more points for his team in the future as well.

The Chicago Blackhawks stemmed their flow of continuous four game defeat by coming up with an impressive 6-3 performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets last Friday night and by beating the jackets they have put their foot on the playoff race. The Blackhawks coach Denis said that all his team members played a solid game and wanted his team to play like they did on Friday in a bid to enter into playoff race. The Chicago Blackhawks rallied to a three goal advantage in the first period itself and the Columbus team always had to fight from behind in the entire course of the game.

The Chicago goalie Patrick Lalime made 29 saves in the game and the only face saving players for the Blue Jackets were Nash, the new captain, Modin and Fritsche. The Blue Jackets are fast slipping off from the playoff race and have only won a single game of their last nine games at home. The Chicago Blackhawks at this moment are in danger of getting knocked out of the playoffs and will have to play out of their skin to enter it. The Blue Jackets have never made it to the playoffs so far in their history and there will be two more contests among these two teams in this season.

San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 at their home and ended their three week long touring program with a franchisee record of ten consecutive wins. The San Jose with this game have played 11 out of the last 13 games as away games and have the best record for away games by any team in the NHL. Douglas Murray, the Sharks defense man said that the players were really tiring and was glad that the team picked up the momentum in the second period. The Sharks won the game, but felt that this was not the way they ought to finish the game.

The Nashville Predators coach Bary Trotz coached the Predators for a record 727th game and grabbed the 11th position of all time for being the coach of a single NHL team. The first goal scored by Pavelski was awarded to the Sharks after a long video review. The Sharks extended their lead in the 37th second of the third period and the Sharks coach felt that the players did not put up a game as was expected of them, but have scored a victory nevertheless. The goalie of Sharks, E. Nabokov made 26 saves in the match and the Predators goalie D. Ellis made 40 saves.

The New York Rangers team is in a discussion to play their final game on the chilly ice at the Yankee Stadium. A report said that the Rangers are making rapid progress in this discussion and a final solution in their favor is likely to be the outcome of this discussion. The Yankees are in full support of this proposal as well. The NHL deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, said that they have spoken to both the Yankees and the team about this proposal, but the deal is not yet closed as there are lots of ifs and buts’ to be still discussed.

The Rangers want to ride on the noise that has been created by this year’s NHL winter Classic that had the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby fight against the Sabres at the Ralph Wilson Stadium. The New York Rangers opponents for their final match at the Yankees is not yet decided, and reports are filtering through that the NHL will be looking for a major team to compete with the Rangers in an attempt to woo a larger television audience. The Islanders Vice President Chris Botta said that he wants the Islanders to compete with the Rangers at the Yankees and he has been working for two years to get this deal through.

It was a busy Tuesday for the Dallas Star management as they went all out to acquire the Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brad Richards to play for them in a bid to reach the top of the Western Conference. The Dallas had to forgo their goalie Mike Smith, defensive center Halpern and specialist shootout player Jokinen, in order to bring in Richards ands Johan Holmqvist, he goalie into their team. Brad Richards was pretty much pleased with the Dallas for believing in him and he says that this opportunity will probably lead him to the playoffs and finally give him the opportunity to play in the Stanley Cup.

Les Jackson, the co- general manager of the Stars, feels that Richards can play a major role in the National Hockey League for the Dallas team and can help the team to get through their current troubles at the Western Conference. Les feels that Brad Richards is in the prime form of his career and has proved his abilities in the playoffs. Brett Hull, the co- manager of the Stars feels that Brad Richards is capable of playing with any combination of line mates and is a major addition to the Dallas Stars team.

After six games of excitement, Sheldon Souray announced last Tuesday February 12, to the disappointment of Oilers fans, that he is cutting his season short because of a shoulder injury, which left him with a torn labrum and bicep.  He will be undergoing surgery on Friday then will be on rehab afterward, and will not be able continue to play.

Thirty-one year old Souray signed a five-year $27 million contract with the Oilers last July.  He got his injury when playing against Vancouver Canucks.  After missing 25 games, he tried to come back on Dec 11 only to discover that it would take a while for his shoulder to heal.  He missed another game on Jan 3, went back to play in 10 games, then left again on Jan 29.  Souray describes the season as a challenging one.  He finally decided to have his shoulder fixed now instead of delaying it, so that he will be sure to come back in top shape next year.

Coach Craig MacTavish originally set up the Oilers defenceman to take 25 minutes of play time each night.  Souray also wanted to perform really well but was not able to do so because of his injury.  Apart from Souray, the Oilers also lost Shawn Horcoff and Raffi Torres this season because of shoulder surgery and knee surgery, respectively.

Fours after the fatal crash that killed Chicago Blackhawks Keith Magnuson, Toronto Maple Leaf Rob Ramage has been sentenced to serve  four years in prison. Ramage will then be banned from driving for the next five years after his release. Ramage told the Newmarket court that he could only imagine what a loving father and husband Magnuson was. Ontario Superior Court Justice Alexander Sosna made sure to note that Ramage was an “exemplary citizen”. The Ontario Court of Appeal decided that Ramage will be able to appeal the conviction. Ramage’s appeal says that the judge was in the wrong when he admitted evidence regarding the alcohol concentration of his urine samples. The appeal also states that the judge gave his opinion concerning factual findings and then made errors regarding critical evidence during the trial. Ramage was released from custody and is returning to his home in St. Louis.