-Ottawa overcame a 3-1 deficit to defeat Washington 6-4 last night (boxscore and Amelia L‘s excellent recap), where the team overcame a mediocre start from Craig Anderson and received scoring from a variety of players (including Colin Greening) who have struggled this season.
-With Anderson getting the start against Vancouver tonight Travis Yost reminds us of Eric T‘s article looking at the statistical decline of goaltenders when they make back-to-back starts. I’m not sure what to make of Eric Gryba and Mark Borowiecki sliding into the lineup for Jared Cowen and Patrick Wiercioch. No one has an issue with Cowen sitting, but I’d prefer to keep a puck-mover like Wiercioch in the lineup. Travis offers some thoughts ahead of the game.
–Scott jots down Bob McKenzie’s rumour-that’s-not-a-rumour from the radio last night where Evander Kane‘s name came up in connection with Ottawa. I agree with Scott that Melnyk doesn’t have the peso’s for the deal (although the team does have the assets to get it done). Could such a thing happen? It seems unlikely, but this is the same Jets management that signed Olli Jokinen and chased Alexander Burmistrov to the KHL, so who knows?
-Binghamton continued to roll as they defeated Syracuse 5-1 last night (boxscore, highlights, and Jeff Ulmer‘s recap), but lost Nathan Lawson to injury in the process (no word on the severity yet). Andre Petersson (whom some fans left for dead in the off-season–as the organisation nearly did as well) scored a pair in the win.
–Jeff offers up his quarterly grades for Binghamton and I have a few questions: I’m not sure (from what’s written) why Buddy Robinson gets a B-; Shane Prince‘s grade (A-) doesn’t reflect his early struggles in the season; not sure Stephane Da Costa has improved enough to warrant an A; why is Wacey Hamilton a veteran player (a season & a half?). It’s a good overview and I agree with the bulk of the grades.
–Mark Volain writes about the AHL’s Eastern Conference, but other than praising Mike Hoffman has nothing to say about Binghamton.
-Elmira lost 4-3 in a shootout; Jakub Culek picked up a pair of assists, while Ludwig Karlsson was held pointless.
–Nichols transcribes the last Eugene Melnyk interview and for once the Euge didn’t insert both feet into his mouth so there’s not much to comb through.
–Michael McCann looks at the concussion lawsuit facing the NHL and concludes:
The NHL may adopt a similar strategy [to the NFL]. NHL lawyers probably feel confident they will convince a judge to dismiss Leeman v. NHL. Some NHL owners, however, will probably prefer a more risk-averse strategy and will encourage settlement talks. A settlement could take on the features of the NFL’s concessions: improved benefits for retired NHL players and funding for research to make the sport safer. Don’t expect settlement talks anytime soon. The NHL concussion litigation has just begun and will probably take months, if not years, before there is any resolution.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)