Sean Hill

There was a lot for the St. Louis Blues to feel good about after shellacking the Mighty Ducks, 5-1, at the Arrowhead Pond Sunday. Of course, none of it will matter when the playoffs begin in April. Something the Blues know all too well. Gathering dust in various trophy cases are all those wonderful awards St. Louis players won last season. The collection included the President's Trophy, given to the team with the best overall record during the regular season.

The new Glendale Arena should be an asset to the Phoenix Coyotes in the long run. On opening night it wasn't much help against the Nashville Predators. Scott Walker had a goal and two assists, helping the Predators spoil Phoenix's first game in its new arena by beating the Coyotes, 3-1, Saturday night at Glendale, Ariz. Marek Zidlicky had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Vokoun made 32 saves to further silence the standing-room-only crowd of 19,052 in the 17,799-seat building.

The Montreal Canadiens have turned once again to an NHL coaching novice to lead them back to their winning tradition. Claude Julien became the storied franchise's 26th head coach Friday. He replaced Michel Therrien, fired by General Manager Andre Savard after Montreal won only twice in its previous 12 games. Julien coached the Canadiens' AHL affiliate in Hamilton, Ontario.

This isn't what the Toronto Maple Leafs had in mind for their final meeting with the New York Rangers. Coming off a two-day holiday break that culminated in a game-day trip to New York, the Maple Leafs pulled out a 6-5 overtime victory Friday that stretched their point streak to 16 games. Mats Sundin scored 3 minutes 35 seconds into overtime to lift Toronto, which led, 4-1 and 5-2. "It was a strange game, a wild game," Coach Pat Quinn said. "We're happy with the win, to say the least."

Mikael Renberg agreed to a new four-year contract worth $6.4 million Sunday, then went out and started earning his money. Renberg scored twice and linemates Eric Lindros and John LeClair each added their third goal of the season as the Philadelphia Flyers got their fourth victory in as many games, 7-1, over the winless Edmonton Oilers.

The injury the Mighty Ducks couldn't afford happened, and on Wednesday night, they celebrated surviving it. Anatoli Semenov was the Ducks' leading scorer--and really, their only offensive threat--when he dislocated his left elbow on Dec. 7 by being caught in a check by his own teammate, Stu Grimson. Seven weeks later, the Ducks had a 9-10-2 record without him, and he returned to the ice with the team still in the chase for a playoff spot.

The New York Rangers have won 32 games this season, more than any team in the NHL. But no matter how many more they win, they won't win one against the Mighty Ducks. The Ducks, who beat the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in the franchise's first road game Oct. 19, completed a sweep Friday night with a 3-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 17,174 at Anaheim Arena. "To win against the best team in hockey at home in front of our fans is special," Coach Ron Wilson said.

While those around Patrick Roy hinted that the Kings would be easy pickings for the Canadiens on the road to their 24th Stanley Cup, and while local newspapers declared the Kings would pose less of a challenge to Montreal than the Maple Leafs because of Toronto's supposedly superior defense, Roy's was a voice of dissent. "I never thought we were the favorites," the Canadiens' goaltender said. "I never thought this would be an easy series."

For Jimmy Waite, the wait was worth it. Starting for the first time since Jan. 27, the backup goaltender of the Chicago Blackhawks saved a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames Sunday at Chicago. Waite, who earlier gave up a goal by Robert Reichel, stopped shots by Reichel and Joel Otto to preserve the victory. "Yes, he let in a soft goal to pull them within one goal, but he showed what he can do during crunch time," Chicago's Christian Ruuttu said.

When Jarrod Skalde rewinds the mental tape of his first game with the Mighty Ducks, he can fast-forward past the missed opportunity on a breakaway and cut straight to overtime. That's when Skalde broke up the goaltender's duel between Guy Hebert and St. Louis' Curtis Joseph by stuffing in a rebound at 2:56 of the extra period to give the Ducks a 2-1 victory before 17,017 Sunday at Anaheim Arena. "I just went to the net and got my stick on it.