Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it. I'm not one of those people who thinks that professional athletes can't be MVP candidates unless their team makes the playoffs. That takes a rather dim and nuanceless view of what constitutes "value," because imagine how bad, say, Calgary would be if Miikka Kiprusoff were plying his trade elsewhere. That said, I honestly no longer see how anyone at all can support Steven Stamkos, he of the loftiest goal total in the league and pretty much the only reason the Bolts aren't a lottery team, over Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins. Even as Stamkos has continually filled opponents' goals with pucks — he was the league's first to 50 when no one else had more than 40 — Malkin carried one of the best teams in the league, one dealing with injuries to the world's best player and its own best defenseman to a 11-game win streak that was snapped on Sunday, and even then, his team still got a point. I will say that the "you gotta make the playoffs to be an MVP" crowd has one thing right: It's probably not easy being as mind-bendingly good as Malkin has been in the thick of a playoff hunt in the most difficult division in the league. Three teams in the Atlantic have 92-plus points. The same number as in the rest of the league combined. And under that weight, Malkin has been simply dazzling, picking apart all comers to the tune of a league-best 88 points in just 64 games. That's seven less than Stamkos, and he has eight more points and just nine fewer goals, which is no small feat. This weekend, against the Devils and Flyers, Malkin had three points, which you might consider unspectacular. But consider this: Prior to the Penguins ambling into town for those contests, those Devils had conceded a total of eight goals in their previous eight games, and the Flyers had allowed 11 in eight. In short, these are staunch defenses that Malkin and the Penguins picked apart for seven total goals and took three points in the standings, closing the gap on a Rangers squad whose eight-point division lead seemed insurmountable just two weeks ago. Now it has been reduced to just one, and lies at Malkin's feet. ( Coming Up : Ominous injury for the Blues; Patrick Kane is in Beast Mode; Bryzgalov's huMANGous turnaround; Craig Anderson coming back; why the Panthers are in the Southeast driver's seat; the Red Wings are hurt; Bruins need a wake-up call; we weep for Svensanity; Cory Sarich blows up Taylor Hall; Zajac on the mend; in praise of BizNasty; Dion vs. goal cam; Varlamov rules; and a Rick Nash trade to ... Anaheim?)

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After missing out on the rare NHL feat of four straight shutouts by less than seven minutes, Russian goalie Ilya Bryzgalov showered his teammates with praise after a close win over the New York Islanders. Bryzgalov, who signed a nine-year $51 million contract with Philadelphia last summer and has struggled at times this season, made 29 saves to lead the Flyers over the Islanders 3-2 on Thursday...

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UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Ilya Bryzgalov was less than seven minutes from the rare NHL feat of four straight shutouts, and he showered his teammates with praise after a close win over the New York Islanders.

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Ilya Bryzgalov was less than seven minutes from the rare NHL feat of four straight shutouts, and he showered his teammates with praise after a close win over the New York Islanders. The Russian-born Bryzgalov, who signed a nine-year $51 million contract with Philadelphia last summer and has struggled at times this season, made 29 saves to lead the Flyers over the Islanders 3-2 on Thursday night...

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PHILADELPHIA - Another early goal was enough for Flyers coach Peter Laviolette to rip into his players. It worked.

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) Another early goal was enough for Flyers coach Peter Laviolette to rip into his players. It worked.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. - After struggling to stop anybody during a gruelling nine-game road trip, Antti Niemi and the San Jose Sharks stopped everything against the NHL's most prolific offence.

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PHILADELPHIA - Ryan Callahan scored three goals and the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.

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PHILADELPHIA - Ryan Callahan scored three goals and the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.

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PHILADELPHIA - Evgeni Nabokov faced a barrage of shots from all angles, stopping everything that came at him.

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