Week 13 of NHL 2005-6

The Flyers’ lead over the one-line wonders (NY Rangers) continues at five points with the gap only being one game now. They’re definitely holding up really well in the injuries department too. Their winning road-game streak sadly came to an end Saturday with a shootout against the Washington Capitals (could’ve been worst, could’ve been against the St. Louis Blues) but it doesn’t bother me because they still get a point which is way better than a zero. As I feared, Niitymaki let two goals by in the shootout since he just isn’t as sharp as Esche. Today I looked at the stats. Sure Nitty has more wins, a lower GAA and a higher save percentage. So did a pyschopathic European who wore 32, had Clarke trade Brian Boucher to Phoenix and still had a meltdown on soft goals in the 2003 playoffs. For those who lost track of Philly goalies since Ron Hextall, it was Roman Cechmanek. Now Nitty is no Cechmanek in the personality department. I just feel that Philly needs to stay with Robert Esche for the season. Juggling starting goalies every season and midseason tells other steady goalies that you’re poison and fickle. 
 
Also a big salute for Sami Kapanen. He scored the winning goals in the overtime periods, twice! Both in less than two minutes too. He still has speed and skill. I believe he nailed a short-handed goal in the Washington game. 
 
The road trip continues this week with the NY Rangers, Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils. They should at least nail four points unless the injuries start to final catch up with them. Their PK has finally stayed out of the cellar but they’re still in the bottom five. The upside is that several of the teams ahead of them percentage-wise, don’t have that much of a lead so it could fluctuate over this week. The longer-term solution is to have more discipline avoiding penalties and then killing the few they will get.