Nitpicking!

I've got a couple of bones to (nit)pick with Sean Leahy's 3 stars of the night for 11/22. A light plate no doubt and I don't disagree with his selections. It's the detail he goes into and the fact that this blog has been inactive for a while now, so on guard for barely deserved criticism!

No. 1 star: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning

The 2008 No. 1 overall pick continued his breakout year as his 15th goal of the season in overtime gave the Lightning a 4-3 win over the Atlanta Thrashers. Currently tied for fourth in the NHL in goals scored with Jarome Iginla, Stamkos, along with Ryan Malone, is carrying the Lightning offensive load as Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis struggle with a combined nine goals.

Not quite sure I'd call on pace for 100+ points a "struggle". I know what he meant, that St. Louis isn't scoring goals, but the dude's on pace for 71 assists. And ya know, I can live with him saying St. Louis is struggling to score if it weren't for...

Honorable mention: Martin St. Louis had three assists including one on Stamkos' overtime winner ...

You really couldn't contradict yourself any harder. If the dude is dishing the King Don, you don't need to put it in the net. Plus, Marty has never really been a HUGE goal scorer. He had that 43-goal '07, and is generally near 30. Obviously, his pace is below his mean, but he's playing a ton with Ryan Malone who eats goals for breakfast and only gets assists when he shits out a goal and someone else shovels it in the net. If anything, it seems like St. Louie! St. Louie! has adapted his game to adjust to his linemates and is hardly struggling.

No. 2 Star: Antti Niemi, Chicago Blackhawks

The 26-year old Finn backstopped the 'Hawks to a 1-0 win in Vancouver by making 30 saves for his second shutout of the season. Chicago swept the Western Canadian portion of their roadtrip and will finish things up with three games in California beginning Wednesday at Anaheim. With the win, Niemi improves to 4-1-1 on the season.

Well done, young man.

Honorable Mention...Roberto Luongo did all he could for the Canucks making 16 saves, but was let down by his offense ...

So which one is it? Did Niemi earn the 2nd star or was Vancouver's offense pathetic? No room for luck here. Plenty of room for what the hell actually happened.

No. 3 Star: Antero Niittymaki, Tampa Bay Lightning

Making 28 saves on the evening, Niittymaki won his sixth game of the season and his 15th straight over a Southeast Division opponent. Atlanta rallied back with three goals in the third period, but was unable to record a shot in overtime before Stamkos won it. Niittymaki currently owns the NHL's best save-percentage at .936.

With his win against Atlanta, Niittymaki is now 15-0-0 against the Thrashers in his career. (AP)


"With his win"....ugh. But anyway, it's Atlanta, they suck. Admittedly, 15-0-0 is impressive. According to Yahoo's Game Log for Shiittymaki, he's only played Atlanta 14 times. His team is averaging exactly 4 goals per game in those 14 contests, so it's not like he's had to stand on his head. He's 1.92/.935 career vs. the Trashers, but I'm talking about 14 games (clearly they are talking about some other 15th game where, undoubtedly, Anterro was 90/90 in three overtimes in the playoffs).

You know what happens in a short amount of time? This guy goes on a Hard-Lessons-set-length shutout streak and this guy wins a Vezina.