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| Monday, October 11 | |||||||||
With some of the dust settling as the NHL enters its second full week, it's time to test the early-season performances of the top teams.
The Senators, sans Alexei Yashin, are for real. And if St. Louis ever wants to surpass the Red Wings in the Central Division, a win in Detroit would be a solid precedent to set. Two other much-ballyhooed teams, the Sharks and the Rangers, have key matchups as well.
New Jersey at Ottawa, 2 p.m. ET Monday This game pits last year's two best Eastern Conference regular-season teams. Both squads are also gaining reputations as perennial playoff disappointments. But none of that matters right now because the playoffs remain many months away.
The Detroit Red Wings own the Central Division. This season, the St. Louis Blues want to make that past tense.
With the injuries to Mike Modano and Darryl Sydor, the Dallas Stars suffered through quite a bit last week. Throw in a 3-0 defeat against the now-hated Mighty Ducks, and things looked bleak. But Saturday night, that changed. The Stars went to San Jose and defeated a team many think will challenge the Stars this season. Like the Sentaors, Dallas' team style wins them games more than individual performances. "Their game hasn't changed much even though they're missing some key people," Sharks forward Stephane Matteau said. "They played us very tight in typical Dallas fashion, just waiting for our mistakes." Despite Saturday's game, the Sharks have made several prognosticators -- who picked them to have a big year -- look prophetic. San Jose, with a nice blend of youth and experience, has plenty of talent, and it is just a matter of how well players like Owen Nolan and Jeff Friesen play up front, as well as Steve Shields and Mike Vernon between the pipes. Pittsburgh at N.Y. Rangers, 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN2 Any game involving the Rangers and Jaromir Jagr's Penguins is worth watching. Theo Fleury and the Rangers aren't quite at full speed with Mike Richter and Valeri Kamensky injured. But the Blueshirts now have a little momentum after winning twice over the weekend. One of the keys to the recent resurgence of the Rangers has been the play of backup-turned-starter Kirk McLean, who made 27 saves in Sunday's win over Phoenix. "We're coming along nicely," McLean said. "Guys are coming back from injuries. Mike (Richter) could be back next week. If we have a full lineup, we can get on a roll and build some confidence." For the Pens, Tom Barrasso is out for at least a week with a knee sprain. But that may actually be good news. Barrasso, 34, is 0-1 with a 6.46 GAA and an eye-popping .731 save percentage in two games this season. Peter Skudra will start in Barrasso's place, with Jean-Sebastien Aubin called up from the minors to back him up. If that's not odd enough for the Pittsburgh, seeing Jagr without his trademark long hair is a little like seeing Wayne Gretzky wearing a number other than 99. Pittsburgh fans hope Jagr isn't like Samson, losing his power with the loss of his hair. | ALSO SEE NHL Power Rankings
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