Central Division Update

Here's a little update on how the ultra-competitive Central Division fared during the month of October.


DETROIT

Positive: Pavel Datsyuk. While there are a lot of positives for this team firing on all cylinders at the moment, Datsyuk might the number one greatest thing about the Wings right now. He is on track for a career-high 45 goals this season, and on track to tie his career-best 97 points. He is definitely showing a rebound from last year's somewhat subpar season, but a lot of that may be attributed to the improved health of the Wings from this time last year. Datsyuk has not failed to dazzle every game for the past month with his stickhandling wizardry, goal-scoring prowess and strong two-way play.





Disappointment: Jiri Hudler. The young winger returned to the Red Wings after taking a year off to make more money in the KHL and has found that while gone, prospects and other replacements have come in and filled his role. Every line has been rolling strong except the third line, which Hudler was on until recently. With Justin Abdelkader returning from injury and replacing Hudler on the left wing, the third line has finally started producing and now it is tough for coach Mike Babcock to justify bringing Hudler back into the lineup as more than an injury replacement at this time.

The month ahead: After wrapping up a western Canadian road trip tonight in Vancouver, the Wings will spend a comfortable November with 7 of the next 10 games at home. The November 8th game vs. the Coyotes will be on Versus (and TSN2 for you Canadians) at 7:30, so make sure to tune in and catch a replay of last year's hard-fought first round match up!

CHICAGO



Positive: Patrick Sharp. The long-time Blackhawk is on track for a career year, currently on pace to smash the 50-goal mark and come close to the 100 points. Currently, Sharp is tied for the league lead in goals, power-play goals and game-winners, and is second only to Alex Ovechkin in shots on goal. Even more impressive, Sharp has yet to take a penalty this season. If the rest of the team can get behind Sharp and become as consistent as he has been, they will prove to the rest of the NHL that they will not let this summer's many roster moves affect them.

Disappointment: Consistency. This is probably expected given the roster turnover from last year and given that this is just the first month of the season, but the Blackhawks have had some rather surprising results recently. Over the past couple weeks, the Hawks won a close, low-scoring one against the Kings, then two days later lost a 7-4 decision to the Oilers. They responded nicely with a 3-1 win over the Wild, but then dropped the next two games to two Eastern conference teams, the Rangers and the lowly Devils.

The month ahead: November doesn't look like it'll be much easier for the Blackhawks as they play 3 out of the next 5 games at home, but then depart on a long week-and-a-half long road trip to the Canadian northwest and American Pacific coast.

BLUE JACKETS



Positive: Derick Brassard. As of late, Brassard has really began to show a lot of goal-scoring ability. With 5 goals in the last 6 games, Brassard has really helped share some of the goal-scoring that RJ Umberger and captain Rick Nash already bring to the offense. Brassard has been especially effective on the power play with 3 of his goals coming from the man-advantage. Hopefully his improvement foreshadows better success for the Jackets' power play, which has been abysmal in recent seasons.

Disappointment: Steve Mason. The young goalie still hasn't found the form he had in his Calder-winning season two years ago, and veteran Mathieu Garon is currently riding a shut out streak. The Jackets' defense is pretty stingy as it is, so Mason hardly has excuses for his poor statistics. Mason has a GAA of 3.30, which just won't give the Jackets many wins with an offense that averages only 2.42 goals per game. With the offense ranked 26th in the league, the Jackets need all the help they can get to keep the puck out of their net.

The month ahead: The Blue Jackets look to have a fairly balanced month ahead, starting with a 3 game home stand tonight against the Wild. They then depart on a 3 game road trip to the Pacific coast and then alternate home and away games, finishing with a home and home series against the division-leading Red Wings.


BLUES



Positive: Keeping the puck out of the net. It starts with goaltending. Jaroslav Halak, this summer's trade acquisition from Montreal, just broke a Blues record previously held by Jacques Plante as the fastest to three shutouts with his third of the season on Thursday night. Halak is tied for the league lead in shutouts and has a strong save percentage (0.940) and great GAA at 1.53. The defense has also been fantastic, allowing the fewest shots in the league. Anchored by Barret Jackman and captain Eric Brewer, the defense has also contributed a bit to the offense with rookie Alex Pietrangelo second on the team with 6 assists. Behind a steller defense and very strong goaltending, the Blues hold the league's lowest GAA.

Disappointment: On the road. It's hard to really find a negative with this team right now, especially considering they've played the fewest games in the Western conference and are still only one point behind the division-leading Red Wings. However, the Blues have played only four away games, but have lost three of them.

The month ahead: Tough schedule ahead for the Blues. They will have to improve on their road winning percentage since 9 of the next 13 games are away from home. They begin a 3-game road stretch to the Eastern time zone tonight before returning home for one game. After that, they immediately set back out for another 3-game road trip through various time zones before coming back home briefly for a set of back-to-back home games one weekend. They then finish out the month with 3 of 4 games on the road, including a home-and-home with the Stars.


PREDATORS



Positive: Strong start. The Predators got off to a strong start this season, getting balanced scoring from all four lines and winning quite a few close battles. In fact, 8 of their first 11 games were decided by only one goal, three of those games in overtime. Rookie goalie Anders Lindback had a great showing when Pekka Rinne went down with injury and posted a 0.925 save percentage playing against tough teams like division rivals St. Louis and Chicago, and last year's President's Trophy-winning team, Washington. Thanks to the Predators' team commitment to defense and help from abnormally tall Scandinvanian goaltenders, the Predators were at one point leading the West, but recent struggles have seen them fall in the standings. However, the Nashville faithful are hoping that the recent lack of success is just a slump and the Predators will remember what they did to win at the beginning of the season.

Disappointment: Killer instinct. In Wednesday's game against the Coyotes, the Predators were up 3-2 before allowing Phoenix to win the game with two unanswered goals in the 3rd period. A similar event happened a few games before that one against the Lightning, luckily the Predators hung on for the win in that case. Against the Penguins earlier in the month, the Predators again had the lead but allowed the Penguins to pull ahead and win the game in the 3rd, and after leading the Capitals 2-0 on October 16th, they allowed the Capitals to force overtime and eventually lost the game. The Predators just have to be better at finishing games and preserving the lead if they want to compete with the rest of the teams in the very competitive Central division this season.

The month ahead: The Predators will be living out of the suitcase for much of this month, with 8 of the next 12 games on the road. They are in the middle of a 5-game road trip around the Western conference at the moment and will come home only for one game before going back on the road for 4 of the next 6 games. They finally finish up November with a bit of a breather, two home games a few days apart.