-As this NHL hockey Saturday night goes on, here are some random thoughts:

1.Is there a more predictable team than the Devils? Is the only way they can win games is by scoring once and milking it for all it’s worth? Sorry. But if you have the talented Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, Brian Gionta and Travis Zajac, you can open it up a little bit and make it a bit more fun for your fans. And then they want to know why nobody goes? Toss in Scott Gomez who will return soon. There’s certainly enough speed, youth and talent for them to play more of an up-tempo. Toss in the checking line of Pandolfo-Madden-Langenbrunner, who all aren’t slow and they are capable of attacking more rather than sitting back trying to get Martin Brodeur (83 and counting) the shutout record because that’s exactly what it looks like. This from the same organization who claims they don’t care about individual accomplishments. Bull!

2.The new look Pens featuring hockey’s most dynamic duo in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are for real. The first career hat trick Crosby scored (and if anyone saw how he did man oh man) and goal and two helpers for Malkin in an 8-2 dismantling of the Flyers at Wachovia Center. If you watched how lethal these two are as well as talented second overall pick Jordan Staal who centers their second line, their speed and playmaking abilities is just so phenomenal. The thing that makes this talented 20-and-younger trio special is their unselfishness and effort. It’s all there. They work extremely well with their teammates. If Marc-Andre Fleury continues his renaissance, there’s no reason to believe these Pens won’t be in the postseason in 2007.

3.There’s nothing better than taking in a game between two Canadian teams. Tonight up in Montreal, it was the Leafs outshooting the Habs 5-4 to pickup an exciting win at Bell Centre. Whenever two Canadian teams play, you never know what’s going to happen. For two periods, the Leafs were far superior and dominated the Habs and led 4-2 and outshot them 32-12. But late third period goals by Sergei Samsonov and Sheldon Souray forced OT and then a shootout, which was won by Kyle Wellwood on as patient a forehand deke as we’ve seen. The atmosphere as usual was electric. And that’s what separates Canadian games from American ones. The passion and energy is just much more amped up. There’s a reason it’s their game which is very evident whenever you tune in.

4.Kudos to the Sabres for showing a lot of resiliency in attempting to set a new league record for best start to a season. In a back and forth game in which they trailed four times by a goal, they never gave up and when Jochen Hecht’s backhand rebound tied it with under 2:00 left in regulation, it setup the kind of dramatic finish this kind of start deserved. An epic 5:00 OT which saw both the Thrashers and Sabres get glorious chances to win it but both goalies were equal to the task. In the shootout though, it would be Atlanta’s Slava Kozlov improving to 8-of-10 in his career by wristing one by Ryan Miller who would win it for another good NHL team and end Buffalo’s run at winning its first 11. Still, as I watched talented sophomore Thomas Vanek’s shot sail off the crossbar to officially conclude the streak, I could see how much it meant to the Sabre fans who packed HSBC Arena. There was a nice moment where they gave their team a deserved ovation for at least a minute before the entire team came out and saluted their sticks. It was really nice to see. Maybe Buffalo didn’t win and make it 11 straight. But they sure made it exciting for the fans. This was good for hockey.

5.So there’s been an actual Rangers sighting tonight in Phoenix. We’ll see if they can continue this in a couple of nights at LA. Still, these are the teams they have to beat on a four-game Western swing which includes stops at San Jose and Anaheim. But it’s nice to see team captain Jaromir Jagr playing with passion again instead of complaining about his shoulder. Question is will he get as much open space against the Rangers’ next three foes? Phoenix just sucks.

-Did anyone else think Oregon State was trying to find a way to help USC win that game earlier? It’s amazing it even came down to a two-point conversion. And even more amazing that USC didn’t complete the comeback to force OT which everyone knew they’d have won. I don’t have much love for the Trojans but how can you not admire their heart. They sure play you to the buzzer.