from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

The Penguins are tops in the NHL with a .781 winning percentage, the Canadiens leads the league in wins and points, and both teams are doing a lot of good things as they prepare to hook up at the Bell Centre.

It's interesting that while discussing the 14-4-1 Habs with a number of media colleagues Monday night after the Hall of Fame festivities, most did not believe the Canadiens are for real and predicted them falling back to the pack. I believe they're for real as far as the mediocre Eastern Conference goes, and I'm sticking to the notion that it's a three-way battle for the Atlantic Division title between Tampa Bay, Montreal and Boston.

read on as the ESPN hockey folks either discuss Rangers/Lightning or HHOF...