That's not the hockey saying to live by however. As it was stated on "24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic" (courtesy HBO), "No team is ever as good as it's high point, and no team is ever as bad as it's lowest point". That could not be more true about the two teams that will meet on January 1st at Heinz Field in the 2011 Winter Classic.
The veteran goaltender is 6 5 1 with a 2.58 goals against average in his career versus the Rangers.New York, meanwhile, had a three game winning streak snapped Saturday after dropping a road test against the Nashville Predators. The Blueshirts, who are holding onto the first of two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference, lost 3 2 in regulation.Ryan McDonagh tied the game at 2 2 for the Rangers early in the third period, but Mike Ribeiro delivered the game winner for the Preds with 7:14 remaining in regulation.The Rangers are having to deal with the absence of their No. 1 goaltender.
Don think people would accept that so other guys in the room have to find a way. After taking on the NHL top team on Tuesday, the Canucks continue their six game homestand Friday against the league worst Buffalo Sabres. Bieksa is expected to miss six to eight weeks with a broken hand suffered in Vancouver last game prior to the all star break.
The only positive to come out of an otherwise disappointing (not to mention snooze worthy) Thursday night for the Canucks was that they didn't lose any ground in the race for top spot in the Western Conference and the overall NHL standings with both the Red Wings and Flyers falling in their respective games on Thursday as well. Vancouver enters today sitting four points ahead of Detroit and three points ahead of Philadelphia, albeit they owe the Flyers two games in hand. The Red Wings and Flyers are both in action today as well..
The Flyers might as well get what they get can for veteran pieces who won't be part of the solution going forward, right?Do that and you maybe drop a few more spots in the standings, which would mean better odds as winning a very special 2015 NHL Draft lottery that will give a lucky club the choice of two center prospects who have been hailed future superstars.Win this lottery and you get your pick of Connor McDavid of the OHL's Erie Otters or Boston University freshman Jack Eichel.These guys probably aren't the next Sidney Crosby, but they could become another John Tavares, who is pretty darned good.The Flyers, barring what now would amount to a miracle finish, will be in the lottery with a chance to draft either McDavid or Eichel, who have been ranked a very close 1 2 in that order for a couple of years now.The question is what kind of odds will the Flyers end up getting?The short answer: Not good . No matter where they end up.First off, tank or not, the Flyers aren't finishing at the bottom of the standings.As bad as they've been 45 games into this season of great disappointment, their 41 points almost as close to a playoff spot as cheap nhl jerseys they are to the league worst Edmonton Oilers, who have 29 points.And besides, if you finish last in the NHL this season, you get just a 20 percent shot of winning the draft lottery, down from 25 percent last year. Finishing next to last gets just a 13.5 percent shot at the top pick, down from 18.5 percent.That means the worst two clubs combined have a one in three shot at the first overall pick in the 2015 draft, which will be held in Sunrise, Fla., wholesale mlb jerseys on June 24 25.Thus, the reward nowadays for tanking isn't close what it was when the 1983 84 Pittsburgh Penguins used late season lineups that led to accusations that they tried to finish below the Devils and guarantee themselves the top pick in the 1984 draft.They finished last and drafted Mario Lemieux, leaving a good player but not a future all time great for the Devils at No.
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