Leafs have a bear of a mountain to climb
The Leafs have faced the reigning Stanley Cup champs the Boston Bruins 3 times this season and does not matter if they have one win in four games (Bruins 6 - Leafs 2) or are coming off a win and have not had back-to-back wins all seasons (Bruins 7 - Leafs 0) or even if they are 11-0-1 in their last 12 games (Bruins 6 - Leafs 3). Also does not matter if Tim Connolly is in the lineup or not as he has been in the lineup for the 7-0 shutout and the 6-3 Bruins win both at the ACC and was not in the lineup for the 6-2 Bruins win at the TD Gardens which means that the Bruins have beat the Leafs at home and on the road. For the Leafs the scary parts of facing the Bruins is that Phil Kessel has not scored a goal in his three seasons as a Leaf against the Bruins which is scarier than Crosby not scoring against the Blues as they play once a season at most and the Leafs and Bruins play 6 times a season. So in the first half of their season series for the 2011-2012 the Bruins have outscored the Leafs 19-5 and the Leafs have been well rested, playing back-to-back games, and even 3 in four nights and the only thing that the Bruins have not faced this season is James Reimer as he has not a second in the Leafs goal against the Bruins and if the reports are true he will be backing up to Jonas Gustavsson on Saturday when the teams meet again. As Reimer had is first game off of the season in game 6 of the season which was the 6-2 drubbing and was out with his injury the other two games while the Leafs have not faced Tuukka Rask. So in the end the Leafs need to find away to beat the Bruins because it is not the only way to make the playoffs but if they want to stay higher in the standings and have a chance at the end of the regular season for a division tittle they can not go 0 and 6 against the Bruins and it be good if Kessel can get that bear off his back which would better his season.
The Montreal Canadiens need to desperately get Gomez out of the Locker room
Scott Gomez has 4 points in 13 games which would be embarrassing to someone but not Scott Gomez and with the team struggling to put that frozen piece of rubber in the net as they have only scored 61 goals in 25 games and are a game under .500 and have given up one more goal. So there is no way anyone would want Gomez's salary of 7.35 for the next three seasons and it is not a good thing to a player like Gomez in the locker so the upper management of the Canadiens should put him on waivers and after he does clear the waivers send him to the Hamilton Bulldogs which is the Canadiens AHL affiliate and just let him rote there and if he turns it around and figures out how to score goals again then they can put him on reentry waivers and do not know a club would take have his contract. In the end it is only money and as the Canadiens have a 20,000 plus seat stadium which is pretty full for every game and they also are credited with the second highest average ticket price in the NHL and one of the top two best selling merchandise in Canada with the Leafs so the Molson beer company has the money to eat the contract and then be able to find someone to fill his shoes and have the 7.5 cap hit that goes to Gomez.
Ottawa fighting to barely be in the playoff picture
The Senators have gotten some get play from Jason Spezza 23 points in 24 games which is just over 30 % of the Senators 75 goals that he has been in on and the defense has not been great as they are still given up 8 more goals than they have scored and are now two games over .500 with a 12-10-2 with a 3 and 1 shootout record this season. The biggest surprise this season is ERIK KARLSSON who has 21 assists and 22 points while MILAN MICHALEK is a strong CY young candidate with 14 goals and 6 assists this season. When you really think about it the Senators are overachieving this season and if they are in contention for a playoff spot or not they really should think about their future and the best to better themselves is by trading Daniel ALFREDSSON and get something back to help the team for seasons to come and it would give Alfredsson a chance at the Stanley Cup with a contender as he has been in one Stanley Cup final in his 14 seasons in the NHL so it would be a win win situation and then he have Jersey retired by the Senators. In the end Craig Anderson will be the one player that will keep the Senators in a playoff race in late March and he has a 11 and 7 record while given up 65 goals in his 21 games and has almost a 3.50 GAA and if the Senators play even better defense for 60 minutes that GAA will go down and the wins will go up.
The Jets are strange breed
The Jets can win high scoring games like 9-8 against the Flyers and lose them too like losing to Buffalo 6-5 in overtime while also winning the low scoring games like beating the Penguins 2-1 and also losing the close game by losing to Columbus 2-1 so night to night U really do not know what to expect. The good news is that EVANDER KANE is destroying the league as he has got a point in 6 of the last 7 Jets games and has 9 of his 18 points over that 7 game stretch while DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN has been a streaky player but has more than a point in 5 of his last 12 games and has 13 of his 17 points over that 12 game stretch. Just like every other team it begins and ends in the net so it is up to ONDREJ PAVELEC who is 7-9-4 in his 21 games so far with his 3.29 GAA and a save% of .896 so if he can get stronger defense he can make the key saves to help win games but it looks like a long Manitoba winter for the Jets.
Thanks for reading
Tom Mehegan
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