Sean Avery battles Chris Drury in front of the net in his MSG return
Dallas Stars (2-3-1) over New York Rangers (6-2-1) 2-1
AP Story - http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jr6zHAmmthMlLRUu1Mhguqi9lwsQD93UJ9LO0
-In Sean Avery’s return to Madison Square Garden, he took a bit of a beating and dished out some of his usual mix of verbal and physical punishment. He wouldn’t factor much on the score sheet, but Marty Turco outdueled Henrik Lundqivist in the Stars victory.
Turco gave up a PP goal to Markus Naslund within the first minute of the game, but settled down to make 28 saves. Lundqvist made 25 saves and is now 1-2 against his twin brother, Joel, in the Lundqvist Series. Brendan Morrow got Dallas’ first goal on the PP and Mike Modano scored the game-winner about halfway in to the 3rd period. Modano now has 6 points in 6 games for the Stars.
This was a good, solid road win for the Stars. I was very impressed with the play of their defensemen as a group (despite missing Sergei Zubov). This game was very reminiscent of the last time the Rangers and Stars met last November (another Stars victory).
Avery did his share of talking to the Rangers before the game. His main targets were backup goalie Stephen Valiquette, center Brandon Dubinsky, and Lundqvist. When the clock hit zero, he was very excited on the bench and wasn’t shy about showing it. When you think about it though, he probably hasn’t beaten his former teams much. Last year, in his fist match against the Kings, the Rangers played an ugly game against a bad Kings team. When he was with LA, they didn’t beat the Red Wings much, so this was a good night for him.
The Rangers are 1-2-1 since opening the season 5-0. Next up for them is the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Friday night. The Stars play the Devils at The Rock on Wednesday night.
RUMOR MILL
-Things are still quiet on the Marian Gaborik-Montreal front. It always seems like these big deals end up dragging out
-Look for the Flames and Capitals to make a deal in the coming days
LAST NIGHT’S RECAP
Pittsburgh Penguins (4-2-1) over the Boston Bruins (2-1-2) 2-1 SO
-The Bruins were the last team in the NHL to have their home opener and maybe they should have waited a little longer. Miroslav Satan scored the first goal for Pittsburgh and Phil Kessel would tie it up on the power play in the 2nd period. Evgeni Malkin scored in the 2nd extra round of the shootout to give the Pens the win. Bruins LW P.J. Axelsson missed his second straight due to muscle spasms. Sidney Crosby has a three-game point streak with a goal and six assists while Malkin has a goal and seven assists in his last three games. Pens backup goalie Dany Sabourin had a solid outing, turning away 35 shots.
Montreal Canadiens (5-0-1) over Florida Panthers (2-3-0) 3-1
-Florida played Montreal tough tonight, but the Canadiens are simply a better team. Captain and center Saku Koivu opened the scoring with his 600th career point on a feed from Andrei Markov. Panthers D Keith Ballard would knot it up seven minutes in to the 3rd, but Francis Bouillon gave the Habs the lead for good four minutes after that. Montreal has now won 5 in a row. Canadiens backup G Jaroslav Harak made 35 saves while Tomas Vokoun turned away 31 pucks on 33 shots.
Colorado Avalanche (3-3-0) over Los Angeles Kings (2-3-0) - 4-3
-Avs Winger Ryan Smyth had two goals and fellow winger Milan Hejduk extended his season-opening goal streak to six games in the Colorado victory. C Paul Stastny had two assists, giving the line a combined total of 11 goals and 24 points. Not bad for a line combo this early in the year. Peter Budaj made 26 saves for his first victory this season, after coming in to the game 0-3. Kings C Oscar Moller and D Drew Doughty each scored their first NHL goals. L.A. goalie Jason LaBarbera was replaced by Erik Ersberg after two periods (he had started every game). On a positive for LA, they are one of only three teams who have yet to yield a PP goal (Buffalo and Minnesota are the others).AROUND THE BOARDS
-The NHL named it’s 3 Stars of the Week: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=387632
-Devils C Bobby Holik is temporarily sidelined by a broken pinky finger he suffered Saturday in Washington. Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond was called up by the Devils from Lowell (AHL) under emergency conditions and took part in Devils practice Monday. He will likely see time on the left side of a line with Mike Rupp at center and David Clarkson at right wing.
-The Carolina Hurricanes have returned forward Zach Boychuk to his junior hockey team, the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL. Boychuk, the Hurricanes’ first-round (14th overall) selection in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, made his NHL debut at LA on Friday, and played Sunday in Anaheim. “This has been a good experience for Zach,” said GM Jim Rutherford. “Despite the fact that he was recovering from hand surgery, his play progressed very well. Another year of junior hockey will be good for his development.”
GAME OF THE NIGHT
Boston Bruins (2-1-2) @ Buffalo Sabres (4-0-1)
-The Bruins are coming off their home-opening loss to the Penguins last night. The Sabres are coming off a shootout loss to the Thrashers on Saturday night. While it’s clear that Montreal is the top team in the Northeast, expect these two teams to be battling for 2nd best in the division all year long. Tonight is Round 1 of 6 for these bitter rivals.
Other Action:
Anaheim (1-5-0) @ Toronto (1-2-2) - 7PM
Vancouver (3-3-0) @ Columbus (2-3-0) – 7PM
Atlanta (2-2-1) @ Tampa Bay (0-2-3) – 7:30PM
Washington (3-1-1) @ Calgary (1-3-1) – 9:30PM
^^All times Eastern
**My weekly power rankings, “Plus/Minus” comes out every Wednesday evening.
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