With his team in a three game losing funk, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson switched up his lines Thursday night in an effort to get his troops to play better defense and spread out his scoring. One of the riskier moves saw Wilson separate Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul—the NHL’s most potent duo this season. Lupul (who now leads Phil Kessel in team scoring with 51 points on the season to Kessel’s 50) had a three point night, while Kessel scored his 25th goal of the season, albeit on the power play with Lupul notching an assist on the goal. At the end of the day, Wilson’s changes helped catapult the Buds past the slumping Minnesota Wild (2-6-2 in their past ten games) to the tune of a 4-1 victory. Goaltender Jonas Gustavsson was near perfect on the

Three weeks and one calender month into the 2010-2011 NHL season, we’ve already begun to be able to pick out the surprises and disappointments of the year. Teams like Buffalo and New Jersey, two top-ranked teams from the Eastern Conference last season, have both struggled to get going and posted a combined 0-8-2 home record, while franchises such as Montreal, Boston, and Tampa Bay have burst onto the stage with a combined 20-7-2 record. Meanwhile, in the West, Nashville, Edmonton, and Dallas started out strongly but have faltered lately, while, on the other hand, youthful squads such as St. Louis, Colorado, and Los Angeles have already begun to prove their legitimacy. But how does the NHL look from a divisional standpoint? Which five-team groups have been the toughest to play in so far, while which divisions have struggled despite their

Numerous rumor mills are suggesting that the Ottawa Senators and Minnesota Wild are kicking the tires on a trade scenario, leaving many NHL experts to speculate on a number of possible scenarios. The Senators are off to one of their worst starts in the history of the franchise, going a paltry 1-4-1 in their first six games, leaving them in a toe for last place with the fledgling New Jersey Devils, who also own a 1-4-1 record. Heading into Thursday night’s game action the Sens own the 26th ranked power play, 17th ranked penalty kill and still have all kinds of question between the pipes. On-again, off-again sniper Alex Kovalev is yet to find his stride (again) and many of the Senators top prospects just don’t look anywhere near ready to compete at the level general manager Bryan Murray needs

With the NHL pre-season behind us it’s almost time to start the regular season where all 30 NHL teams will drop the puck in anger for the first time. There was plenty of movement this summer, which should help change the landscape of the NHL standings in a big way from where the teams finished in 2009-10. Sure, the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils are bound to be amongst the NHL’s elite teams, it’s in the bottom ranks that we will see the most change. Off-season improvements from teams such as the Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlanta Thrashers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins should equate to big changes in the Eastern Conference, while Western Conference teams such as the Los Angeles Kings, Calgary Flames and Phoenix Coyotes should help determine the playoff

With the regular season just a few days away from commencing there are still a lot of roster decisions to be made. That said, for the most part, the top three lines on most NHL rosters are all but set, which makes it all the easier to make some solid predictions for the upcoming 2010-11 season. The following is a look at the Eastern Conference teams and where I see these teams finishing. Washington Capitals: Prediction- 1st In the Eastern Conference. After an excellent regular season which saw the Capitals earn the Presidents Trophy and set all kinds of franchise records along the way, the Caps fell victim to Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak’s superb goaltending in the first round of the playoffs. Consdering just how poorly the Capitals season ended,  you just got to believe that the Capitals will come back with a

As much as it pains me to write this, Toronto Maple Leaf fans look to be headed for another long/frustrating season in 2010-11. While the Leafs will be a tougher team to play against, if general manager Brian Burke hits the floor running with the likes of Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri, Mikhail Grabovski, and Christian Hanson down the middle they will lose more battles and more games than they win. Want proof? Here is a sample of the top three centres from the top eight Eastern Conference teams as projected by The Hockey News: Boston Bruins: Marc Savard, David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron  Buffalo Sabres: Derek Roy, Tim Connolly, Paul Gaustad Montreal Canadiens: Scott Gomez, Tomas Plekanec, Dustin Boyd  Ottawa Senators: Jason Spezza, Mike Fisher, Peter Regin Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal Philadelphia Flyers: Mike Richards, Jeff Carter,