At Midseason, Philly Keeps Flying High Rangers, Penguins Try To Keep Pace As Nhl Campaign Hits Midway Point
The New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins are both playing at a high level, but can you beat the Philadelphia Flyers?
No team has been able to do that since Nov. 27 when the Flyers lost 4-1 to the New York Islanders. Since then, they have been on a 16-game unbeaten streak (13-0-3), including Saturday night’s 4-4 tie at Colorado.
The Flyers’ streak is the most dramatic team story in the NHL as the league reaches the season’s midpoint Tuesday.
“I can’t say what I expected (but) we are pleased,” Flyers coach Terry Murray said after the tie between the conference leaders.
The Flyers have been playing exceptionally well since the return of Eric Lindros. The team captain has been in the lineup for 18 games following his absence from an injury that originated in the pre-season World Cup of Hockey tournament.
“We missed him,” Flyers defenseman Eric Dejardins said. “With him out of the lineup, it was tough.”
With their recent surge, the Flyers have taken the lead in the Atlantic Division from the Florida Panthers, who had held the top spot since the start of the season.
“The Flyers are natural goal scorers and they are not shy about throwing their bodies around,” Colorado’s Mike Keane said.
In some ways, the Flyers’ streak has been surprising to Murray.
“How do you know what to expect?” he said. “The league is so close. We stumbled coming out of the gate. We lost seven or eight one-goal games in the first month or so of the season.”
The defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche, meanwhile, are tied with the Flyers for the highest point total with 54 despite a spate of injuries to key players.
“When you lose players like Peter Forsberg, Scott Young and Claude Lemieux for an extended period of time, you can’t expect to keep winning, but we have,” coach Marc Crawford said of his Pacific-leading Avalanche. “This team has found ways to win with the players it’s had.”
The same thing could be said for the Rangers and Penguins. With their 6-4 win over Ottawa Saturday night, the Rangers improved to 15-3-1 in their last 19 games. The Penguins were on a 16-3-3 tear since an 8-3 home loss to the Rangers Nov. 16.
“We’re scoring goals and that’s taking pressure off our defense,” Rangers captain Mark Messier said of the team’s turnaround after a 7-13-4 start. “We’re scoring five, six goals a game now and that gives you room for error. Early in the season, we were making mistakes and we were not scoring.”
Among the keys to the Rangers’ recent success has been the play of goaltender Mike Richter and the line centered by Wayne Gretzky. Richter is on a career-high 15-game unbeaten streak (14-0-1). Gretzky has been in a season-long battle for the NHL scoring lead.
“Anytime you stick with the same guys, you read each other better,” Luc Robitaille said. “I know Wayne Gretzky is behind the net, so you know you’ve got to get open, and so does Sunny. If we keep working and getting open, Gretzky is going to find whoever is open … and that’s what we’re doing.”
The Penguins have been on fire with the hottest line in hockey: Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis. The trio has accounted for 49 goals in 20 games since it debuted Nov. 22 and for 176 points since the start of the season.
“We complement each other in the offensive zone,” Lemieux said. “We’re trying to read each other on the ice and it’s been going well the last two or three weeks.”
Lemieux has said this is his last season and is playing like he wants to make it one of his best. As of Saturday, he was leading the scoring race with 67 points, five ahead of linemate Jagr. Gretzky was third at 59.
A recent eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1) pushed the Penguins into first place in the Northeast Division going into Sunday’s games.
If there have been any major surprises so far, it has been the play of the Dallas Stars, who led the Central Division over Detroit. The Stars finished out of the playoffs last season, while the Red Wings finished with a record number of victories.