Panthers, Lemieux, Talk Of Nhl
The Florida Panthers and Mario Lemieux have passed their “midterm examinations” with flying colors.
As the NHL approaches the halfway point, the Panthers have been the league’s most surprising team and Lemieux its most spectacular player. At the Christmas break, the Panthers have the top point total among the 26 teams with 52, while Lemieux leads in scoring with 76 points.
The third-year Panthers, who haven’t made the playoffs in their brief history, didn’t figure to make an impact in a division that included the defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers.
As it has turned out, the Devils have had a tough time keeping up with the other three, as have the other teams in the league. At the break, the Atlantic Division has three of the top four teams in the league in the Panthers, Rangers and Flyers. The other is the Detroit Red Wings of the Central.
Although they have yet to face the Rangers, the Panthers are 10-5-0 against teams in their division.
Florida’s Doug MacLean, who will coach in the All-Star game, is coaching a disciplined, tight-checking game much like the style that led the Devils to the Cup last season. He’s the early leader for NHL coach of the year. And John Vanbiesbrouck is making a bid for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. He is No. 3 among goaltenders in goals-against with a 2.14 average, and his 16th win Saturday night tied him with the Rangers’ Mike Richter for most goaltending victories.
“He’s got the team playing the way he wants them,” New Jersey coach Jacques Lemaire said of MacLean following the 2-1 loss to the Panthers Saturday night. “The guys are responding. For his first year, he’s doing a great job.”
MacLean said, “Our penalty killing has been unbelievable for us, and it’s a big reason why we are where we are.”
So is Vanbiesbrouck.
“We’ve been executing well,” Vanbiesbrouck said. “We’re getting timely goals and our power plays have been kicking in. And right now the result is winning.”
The Devils, meanwhile, are finding out how tough it is to defend the Cup. They are sixth in the division standings.
Rangers coach Colin Campbell likes the competition in the Atlantic because “the situation brings out the effort in everyone. There is quality top to bottom.” The Rangers are on a torrid home-ice streak with a 13-0-3 record in their last 16 games at Madison Square Garden.
Teams in the Western Conference are aware of the Atlantic Division’s strength.
“They are good teams and hard to beat, especially in their buildings,” Colorado’s Peter Forsberg said.
Forsberg is among the reasons the Avalanche got off to such a good start in the Pacific Division, challenging the Red Wings for supremacy in the West.
An oddity of the season: The Red Wings lead the West, yet don’t have a scorer in the top 25.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, meanwhile, lead the Northeast, largely because of Lemieux’s dramatic return. After taking a year off because of health reasons, Lemieux has returned with a vengeance. He is the NHL’s scoring leader despite having missed four games. The Penguins’ superstar has points in 28 of the 29 games he’s played.
The careers of Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky, both in their mid-30s, have been revived as well. Campbell had not expected the kind of production he is getting from Messier, who has 22 goals.
When Messier was told after a recent two-goal game that Campbell originally had only penciled him in for 17 this season, the 34-year-old center quipped: “I didn’t think I was that old.”