A Good Start, Sort of

The Sens have earned their first two wins of the season but should be capable of playing at a much higher level. They managed to squeeze out two victories mostly on the talent of their top trio and some pretty good goaltending by Martin Gerber. With the Rangers coming into Scotiabank Place on Saturday, the team is going to have to pull together much more. The odd thing about the two games against the Leafs was that individually most of the players looked okay but as a team they seemed out of sync. The normally crisp passes were just a little bit off and, especially in game two, there was a reluctance to take the shot that was there. The penalty killing was generally excellent with Phillips and Volchenkov picking up right where they left off. Also notable was Antoine Vermette who looks not only as fast as ever but also much stronger on the boards and in front of the net. If he can become a really forceful player that will stand the team in good stead. It does, however, remain to be seen how long John Paddock can maintain the Spezza, Heatley, Alfredsson unit if the rest of lineup fails to produce more than one goal in two games (their tally so far).

Elsewhere in the league, Paul Stastny had a monster opening night for the Avalanche. Unheralded last year because of the Evgeni Malkin hype, Stastny was probably a more complete player and may in the long run prove to be better, especially with the model of Joe Sakic to pattern himself on. His continued success will be a big key to making the Avalanche troublesome to all they play. New Jersey started the Brent Sutter area on the wrong foot, getting beaten by Lecavalier and St.Louis and the rest of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Niklas Backstrom started the season with a shutout as if to say "I'm for real," to anybody who doubted. And Daniel Briere started off on the right foot with the Flyers, potting two goals in game one.

The MLB playoffs are proving that the National League West is much better than the other two divisions and that you have to be able to pitch and hit to win in October, which doesn't bode well for either the Yankees or the Angels. It has, however, only been one game in the AL and it is always too early to write off the Yankees.