EP Rinkside 3 Stars: Rise to the occasion

One thing I've noticed lately is that there are a lot of weirdly bad streaks going on. The Penguins have lost six in a row, the Avalanche dropped five straight, and the Oilers just ended a five-game home losing skid by beating the Islanders.

Most of these teams were supposed to be good or great this season. All of them are in tenuous-at-best positions for the playoffs: Edmonton is currently the only one of those teams in a playoff spot, but the Avs have a better points percentage (by .004) and the Oilers' record is currently worse than the Sabres'.

It's been a wacky season so far.

Speaking of three stars, as we technically are right now, those teams' best players need to step up ASAP because I think we're starting to see the value of elite talent, and how few teams can really count on their d