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Sunday, November 10, 2002

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

When the Red Wings skated circles around the Penguins three weeks ago, it hardly appeared they were on the verge of an offensive lull. But they have gone 2-3-1 since then, scoring 11 goals in that time.

More ominous, the oldest players are among those struggling the most. Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Brendan Shanahan combined for 97 goals last season but have only eight through 14 games. Both of Robitaille's came in the 7-3 rout of the Penguins, and Shanahan has none in his past nine games.

"Guys like myself are struggling to score," Hull told the Detroit Free Press. "You lose your mind. I'm not the same happy-go-lucky guy I always am, because I'm losing it, because I see what's happening within the team."

Those three are not the only ones to blame. The defense has been slow to adjust to the obstruction crackdown with the notable exception of Nicklas Lidstrom, and Curtis Joseph has yet to star.

Dave Lewis, Detroit's rookie coach, is trying to spin positively.

"It's a healthy thing to go through because you teams tend to get better once you get through it," he said. "We have players who expect a lot out of themselves."

They're writing about the Penguins' sensational power play across North America, but no one seems to mention the team ranked No. 1 at the other end of the job. The Canucks lead the NHL in penalty-killing at 90.9 percent and have been perfect in eight of 14 games. Their approach is decidedly aggressive. "We're all on the same page," center Matt Cooke told the Vancouver Province. "Not one guy is going to force things. All four are going to force because you don't want to give them time."

Jacques Lemaire insists he won't break his steady rotation of Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson in the Wild net, no matter how hot either of them gets. And why should he? Only once has he used the same goaltender in consecutive games, and each has a goals-against average under 2.40 and a save percentage of .920 or higher. "Competition is healthy," Lemaire told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "If the other guy wins, you want to go in and win your game."

Kevin Lowe, general manager of the Oilers, didn't enjoy seeing his team get toasted in road games against the sagging Rangers and Islanders this week. "Collectively, if we don't get better, we'll have to try and make some changes," Lowe told the Edmonton Journal. "And if we're going to do something, it will be something major." Ten of their 14 forwards have one goal or less.

Eyebrows were raised across the league by a national report that the Sharks would be willing to deal unsigned but highly promising defenseman Brad Stuart. False alarm. General Manager Dean Lombardi told the San Jose Mercury News in emphatic terms Stuart, 21, is not available. What he couldn't say with any degree of certainty is whether the Sharks will sign him. The sides hit an impasse this week which prompted Stuart to leave the team's facilities, where he had been training.

Take this for what it's worth, but ... the Predators have come up with the clever nickname of the Vowel Line for the forward trio of Martin Erat, Denis Arkhipov and Vladimir Orszagh. That means there is a clever nickname for those three, but nothing original or inspiring for the Penguins' Mario Lemieux, Alexei Kovalev and Aleksey Morozov. And spare us the "KLM" line, please. It has been taken, and this group deserves its own.