Nhl Eastern Conference

Sporting News, The, Nov 27, 2000 by Paul Grant

WHO'S HOT

A five-game winning streak has to come from the statistical leadership of someone, and for the Flyers, Simon Gagne gets the nod. The sophomore helped extend the streak Saturday with two goals--including his third game-winner--an assist, a plus-2 and two takeaways. Gagne scored six goals in six games to help the Flyers get back in the hunt in the Atlantic. Through 20 games, he led the club with 17 points.

WHO'S NOT

We hate to pick on the Hurricanes, especially after they beat the Leafs once and the Senators twice last week, but this is a larger issue. Since being traded to Carolina for Keith Primeau, Rod Brind'Amour has struggled. In 52 games in Carolina, Brind'Amour has averaged .404 points a game; he was at .900 before that. Tampa reportedly is interested. Imagine the faceoffs tutorial the could give Vincent Lecavaller.

CHALKDUST

Some free advice for Mike Keenan's Bruins: Practice shooting. On the net, In Saturday's embarrassing 6-1 home loss to the Wild, the Bruins won more faceoffs than they lost (42-30) and outhit the Wild (28-23). Didn't matter. The Bruins, who were outshot 31-24, had 15 shots go wide, compared with the Wild's eight. Another key stat that speaks to the team's level of commitment: The Wild blocked 13 shots, the Bruins eight. Time for a gut check in Beantown.

GAME OF THE WEEK

The Lightning and the Panthers are lousy, for different reasons. Tampa is young and inexperienced and finds new ways every season to be bad. Florida has suffered through a gaggle of injuries to key veterans, but even before that they were awful. This Saturday matchup is the second in two nights between the clubs. With frustration by both teams at an all-time high, the sunburn on the referees' necks won't be the only example of being hot under the collar.

STICK & STONES

At the Hall of Fame inductions last week, Penguins owner Mario Lemieux praised inductee Joe Mullen for being a dedicated team player. He added that it was hard to find good team players these days. His comments were in the wake of the Jaromir Jagr-Ivan Hlinka tete-a-tete, during which Jagr refused to go on the ice during a power play. Coincidence, surely.

DROPPING THE GLOVES

"I don't give a crap whether (Eric Lindros) ever plays again or if I ever see him again. All he ever did was cause aggravation to our team."

--Flyers G.M. Bob Clarke