I say bright, not because they were smart, because let’s face it, that is about as rare as a Wayne Gretzky rookie card. I say that because there was a lot of lighting up done today.
The Penguins, who are still relatively unhealthy, routed the Flyers with a 7-1 win. I don’t know if the Flyers are really intent on making the playoffs, but as of right now, if they don’t get their shiat together, they aren’t going to make it. With 2 losses in a row, things are looking dim as they hit the stretch run.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Florida Panthers are rattling off wins like there is no tomorrow. Maybe because if they don’t… there is no tomorrow. They have now won 7 in a row and sit 2 points behind the Flyers, but have played more games than all of the other teams on the cusp.
Speaking of rattling wins off, the Sharks finally lost! They went down to the Oilers tonight, in a shoot-out (go figure). Before tonight they had won 11 games in a row on their way to the Pacific Division lead, and with two games on hand on the Ducks, they are looking good to lock up 2nd in the West.
Finally, the other bright spot tonight was Joe Corvo, who lit up his former team. Corvo recorded a hat-trick in his first game against the Senators since he was traded just prior to the trade deadline. With Carolina climbing comfortably into the division lead, and playing much better hockey than the Senators, one might think that Corvo is happy with the trade that had him and Patrick Eaves sent to Raleigh for Commodore and Stillman.
Again, with every passing day, the play-off picture is starting to clear up, and I look forward to it. Look for my predictions as soon as the match-ups figure themselves out.
