While the leaguewide trend in penalty killing has been to pursue
the puck aggressively up ice, the Senators' forward duo of Joe
Juneau and Andreas Dackell play a more passive system with
outstanding results. (Ottawa was second in the NHL with an 88.2%
kill rate.) The reason Juneau and Dackell are successful is that
they keep their sticks on the ice in the defensive zone, they
get into shooting lanes early (either blocking or altering
shots), and they clear the puck quickly when given the
chance....
Rambunctious wing Todd Harvey, whom the Sharks acquired from the
Rangers last week, has been playing with gritty forwards Marco
Sturm and Mike Ricci, giving San Jose one of the most physical
and irritating lines to play against in the league....
The Bruins still haven't recovered from the off-season loss of
center Tim Taylor, who signed with the Rangers as a free agent.
Taylor's ability to win face-offs and help shut down the
opponents' top line allowed coach Pat Burns to free his more
talented forwards to concentrate on offense. Taylor has been the
free agent whose move has done the most to hurt his former team
and help his new one since the Maple Leafs signed goalie Curtis
Joseph from the Oilers in 1998.
