Two minutes

THE GOOD...

Martin Biron, New York Rangers

Now, that's a Broadway-style debut! So what if it came in Toronto?

Biron made 24 saves, including a stop on a breakaway by Kris Versteeg on the power play midway through the third period of a 2-1 win over the Maple Leafs.

"As a team, I think this was the first time this year that we played a solid 60 minutes," Biron said. "We have to play up to that standard the rest of the season."

Biron came over as a free agent from the New York Islanders, giving the Blueshirts a better option as a backup to Henrik Lundqvist. Last season, Alex Auld, Chad Johnson, Stephen Valiquette and Matt Zaba combined to go 3-6-1 with a 2.84 goals-against average.

Kyle Brodziak, Minnesota Wild

Always a good feeling to stick it to your former team. It didn't take Brodziak long to do so.

The former Oiler scored twice in the opening 5:24 as Minnesota coasted to a 4-2 win over Edmonton.

"Both times, great passes from my linemates," the Alberta native said between periods. He played for Edmonton from 2005-09 before being dealt to Minnesota for draft picks.

Typical tactful response, careful not to rip his old team. You know he's amped on the inside, though.

Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins

Thomas may be the only player to allow a single tally - and see his goals-against average rise.

The US Olympian stopped 38 shots, and the Bruins won their home opener 4-1 over the Washington Capitals to complete the home-and-home sweep.

The 2009 Vezina Trophy winner was 3-0 with a 0.67 GAA coming into the contest. His GAA is now 0.75.

"I'm hoping this isn't just a hot streak; this is me now," said Thomas, who had offseason left hip surgery. "At times last year I felt like I was a one-legged goalie."

THE BAD...

The New Jersey Devils

Here is all you need to know about the Devils some two weeks into the 2010-11 season: Both their wins have been courtesy of shutouts by Martin Brodeur, including 3-0 over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

When he doesn't extend his NHL record for whitewashes, New Jersey is 0-4-1 and has been outscored 21-9.

Brodeur hasn't denied the club's slow start under new coach John MacLean.

"It looks like it so far but hopefully we'll get different kinds of wins eventually because it'll be tough to do that," he said. "It's been a rocky start but on the road the last few games with Buffalo and here in Montreal, it's nice to have shutouts but definitely wins is what we're looking for right now."

And you plan on doing this how?

The Calgary Flames

This is how bad things have gotten for Calgary: Rookie Mikael Backlund had his first two-goal game in a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

He also moved into a tie for the team's goal-scoring lead.

Calgary has split its first six games, but has managed only Backlund's markers in the three losses, and 11 goals overall - one from franchise scoring leader Jarome Iginla, none from the reacquired Olli Jokinen.

It's time to clean the House of Sutter.

Phoenix Coyotes fans in Arizona

I took fans of the Blue Jackets to task earlier this week after the smallest crowd in Columbus' franchise history showed up.

That was an overflow gathering compared to the 6,706 that watched the Coyotes post a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Chicago investor Matthew Hulsizer reached an agreement earlier this week on a new lease at Jobing.com Arena that should lead to him buying the club from the NHL.

He must really want this team bad. If there's any doubt, and having seen the sparse crowd on television, he should reconsider wanting a club in a region of the country not really suited for the sport, and whose fans are apathetic at best despite an unexpected playoff charge last spring.

I'll ask again. Kansas City with a new arena waiting for a tenant? Back to Winnipeg? Seattle? Milwaukee? Fold?

Anyone?

...AND THE QUOTABLE

"Everywhere I go, everybody asks me about Derian, and I'll put this one to rest right now. Derian, I respect you, and I'm jealous of you because of your Stanley Cup. But never, ever did I feel one bit of animosity for our competitive level and what we did on the ice."- Jeremy Roenick speaking at his induction to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame about fellow inductee Derian Hatcher, who broke Roenick's jaw in four places (impresssive!) late in the 1998-99 NHL season.