We'll get back to the stats shortly...

A few days ago, Eric McErlain over at Off Wing Opinion wondered if hockey on TV in the US would ever improve . Well, you have to give VS. solid marks for effort, with the debut of the RailCam in tonight's Avs/Stars tilt. They'll have some work to do integrating it seamlessly into the telecast, but it really does help bring the speed and flow of the game to life for viewers.

For example: starting at 17:48 of the 3rd, they switch to the RailCam as Mike Modano picks up the puck near his own blue line and leads a charge up ice. As he enters the offensive zone, we are basically looking over his shoulder at a Colorado defenseman in good position, so Modano leaves it for Trevor Daley who carries it into the corner with a defender trailing. He then feeds it back to Modano who is now behind the net, and as Modano tries to center it, Tyler Arnason picks it up for the Avs and heads back the other way. The RailCam simply follows the action and takes us along like a wingman for Arnason's rush until it ends with a Sergei Zubov hipcheck. For a full 20 seconds, the RailCam follows the rhythm of the game in a way we haven't seen before.

Now if they could add a Bryan Marchment knee coming out of nowhere to knock the camera off-kilter, they'd have it nailed.

Oh, and by the way. That 4th Sabres goal against the Lightning tonight is one of the prettiest goals I've seen since the days of the Russian Five.