Reimer & Niemi Smoking Hot/Carolina Looking Good

     Last night featured plenty of good goal tending and saw teams move closer to a play-off position. Carolina's young team lead by Eric Staal, hosted the Buffalo Sabers last night in an OT thriller. It was a back and forth game, seeing both teams trade goals till they came to a deadlock at 2 a piece. Both goalies gave their respective teams a chance to win, but Jamie McBain for the canes potted his 5th goal of the season to win it in OT. The Hurricanes leap frog the NY Rangers to hold on to 7th spot in the east (71pts).

11 straight w/o a loss

8 straight wins

   Heading into the the play-offs, goal tending is key. Two of the hottest goalies in the NHL right now happen to be James Reimer of the Maple Leafs, and Antti Niemi of the SJ Sharks. Both Goalies can be credited for their teams wins last night.

Optimus Reim is a nick name that has caught on in leaf nation. At start of the season Reimer was in the position that a 4th Round(99th overall) pick should have been in, on the AHL affiliate team (Toronto Marlies) . With injuries to both Maples Leafs net-miners, James Reimer has had a chance to shine, and shine he has. People keep asking "Is Reimer the real deal"? I say yes. Since the all-star break  Toronto has been playing with heart, from the back end right up to Phil Kessel who has 8 goals in 8 games. The first look at Reimer for leafs fans in early Jan has left a lasting image from arguably the only good move by former GM John Ferguson Jr. Although the leafs are blocking lots of shots for Reimer(Luke Schenn especially), he has been unbeatable only losing 4 games since Jan 21. If  Toronto ends up sneaking into the play-offs I think Leafs Nation knows where to point the finger. The SJ Sharks on the other hand have had an intense goal tending duel. Antero Niittymaki started the season for the sharks as their #1. When he started to struggle, (only appearing in 3 games since way back on December 21st) watching his GAA sky rocket to an even 4 in his last 3 consecutive losses. That play forced coach Todd McLellan to ride the former Stanley cup winner Antti Niemi. Niemi has been outstanding taking over the full time position in net. Antti has recorded 5 shut outs this season and is in the drivers seat of an 8 game winning streak. Over the last 5 wins Niemi has a GAA of 2. With all of the offense (Heatley-52pt, Thornton-54pt, Marleau-49pt), the Sharks are sitting comfortably atop the Pacific division. The only fight they will encounter will be with the Detroit Red Wings, who they have beat twice in recent games. Vancouver has basically run away with the western division, but with 17 games remaining the sharks could challenge for the #1 seed in the west.