FTS - 10/26/08

TOP STORY

RANGERS FREEZE PENGUINS

(Photo Credit: Frank Franklin - AP)

Frederik Sjostrom scores the SO winner on Marc-Andre Fleury

AP Story/USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2008-10-25-rangers-penguins_N.htm

New York Rangers (8-2-1) over the Pittsburgh Penguins (5-2-2) 3-2 SO

-If you were a Penguins fan, you enjoyed the first two periods. If you were a Rangers fan, you enjoyed everything after it. The Rangers looked flat for the first two periods. While the Penguins didn’t look dominant themselves, goals from D Darryl Sydor and C Sidney Crosby kept them ahead. In the 3rd period, the Rangers got a PP goal from Markus Naslund. The Rangers would trail 2-1 until 8.1 seconds left when LW Nikola Zherdev sent a bullet past G Marc-Andre Fleury. In the shootout, no one would score with the exception of Rangers winger Frederik Sjostrom. Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves and a clean sweep in the SO while Fleury made 42 saves in the game.

It was also good to see Tom Renney back behind the bench only one night after taking a stick blade to the head on the bench at Columbus. The Rangers remain undefeated at 3-0 in the division while the Penguins drop to 1-0-2. The Rangers outshot the Penguins 18-2 in the 3rd period. Zherdev’s goal was his 2nd goal in 2 games and 4th point in the same span. The Blueshirts move on to play the Islanders @ Nassau Coliseum on Monday night.

The Penguins had a 3 game winning streak snapped. Crosby has three goals and seven assists during a five-game point streak. Penguins D Hal Gill missed his second straight game. LW Matt Cooke returned after sitting out four games (abdomen). The Pens head west to play the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.

OTHER HEADLINES

Minnesota Wild star Marian Gaborik was placed on injured reserve because of an unspecified lower-body injury that has kept him out of four straight games. Fellow forward Owen Nolan was activated from IR on Saturday before the Wild faced Columbus to replace Gaborik. Nolan missed the previous three games because of a leg injury. Gaborik has battled a variety of ailments to leg muscles throughout his career in Minnesota. He's in the final year of his contract, and negotiations are at a standstill. This is what was holding up the deal with Montreal probably. It will be interesting to see how long Gaborik is out due to this and if the Canadiens get cold feet. This could open the door to other suitors.

RUMOR MILL

-Sources to tell ESPN.com the trade deadline will move from 3/3/09 to 3/4/09
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3664140

LAST NIGHT’S RECAP

Philadelphia Flyers (2-3-3) over the New Jersey Devils (5-2-1) 3-2 in OT
-After losing their first six games of the season, the Flyers have now won two in a row and sweep the home and home from the Devils. Flyers C Jeff Carter scored the winner in OT while Scott Hartnell and Mike Knuble had the other two goals. Zach Parise and Brian Gionta (who played in his 400th game) had the two Devils goals. Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner was scratched because of a hip injury that occurred Friday night. Riley Cote and Pierre-Luc Letourneau Leblond brawled for the second straight game in the second period. Philly C Daniel Briere underwent successful surgery to repair two tears in his groin.

Boston Bruins (3-2-3) over the Atlanta Thrashers (2-4-2) 5-4
-The format of the Bruins game against the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night was changed because of incorrect faceoff markings at one end of TD Banknorth Garden. In the third period, the teams switched ends with 10:02 to play. The Bruins issued a statement that said "the change in format is occurring due to incorrect markings on the West End of the TD Banknorth Garden ice. The two face-off dots are 24 feet from the goal line - 4 feet longer than NHL specifications." I guess this will happen when you don’t have more games at home to open the season. Bruins LW Milan Lucic was the difference maker in the game with a hat trick and one assist in the first home win of the season for Boston.

Anaheim Ducks (4-5-0) over the Montreal Canadiens (5-1-1) 6-4
-The Ducks won their third game in a row and swept the Canadian portion of their road trip. Montreal lost its first game in regulation this season. It was the most goals scored in a game this season for Anaheim. Ducks RW Corey Perry led the way with 3 points (1G 2A) and also got goals from their main scorers Getzlaf, Kunitz and Selanne. Jean-Sebastian Giguere was tested by the high-octane Canadiens, stopping 47 shots on 51 attempts. Montreal RW Alex Tanguay had 2 goals in the loss.

Carolina Hurricanes (4-2-1) over the NY Islanders (2-5-0) 4-3
-The Isles played their best game of the year and did all they could, splattering a franchise-record 60 shots on net. ‘Canes G Cam Ward would stop 57 of them and C Chad LaRose would pot 2 goals (including the game winner) for Carolina. Hurricanes winger Brandon Sutter went down on a hard, but clean check by Doug Weight and was taken to the hospital to be evaluated. The Isles started Rick DiPietro in goal and stopped 10 shots before being pulled for Joey MacDonald to start the second period. MacDonald took the loss while stopping 14 shots. Islanders coach Scott Gordon, who guards his team's injuries from being news, offered this explanation for the switch. "It wasn't his performance, and we'll know more on Monday," Gordon said. "I've been told that our policy is that we can't talk about injuries, and that's what I'm stuck with."

Toronto Maple Leafs (3-2-3) over the Ottawa Senators (2-5-1) 3-2
-The Leafs played a solid game from beginning to end and would get goals from Centers Dominic Moore and Mikhail Grabovski and the game winner from LW Alexei Ponikarovcky. Jonas Frogren was scratched for the Leafs, making him the team's seventh healthy player to sit out a game this season. Senators’ defenseman Filip Kuba has a point in all eight games this season.

San Jose Sharks (7-2-0) over the Tampa Bay Lightning (1-3-3) 3-0
-Sharks backup G Brian Boucher earned his 2nd straight shutout with 21 saves in the victory. Marcel Goc, Ryan Clowe and Devin Setoguchi scored for the Sharks, while Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith stopped 42 shots in the loss. The TB goalies aren’t getting much goal support, as they’ve only scored eleven goals in seven games. TB HC Barry Melrose referred to that fact as “embarrassing”. This was also a homecoming from Sharks D-men Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich, who were both on the 2004 Stanley Cup Champion team. Both received a warm ovation from the Tampa fans. New Lightning D Marek Malik made his debut while RW Radim Vrbata sat out with a groin injury.

Washington Capitals (4-3-1) over the Dallas Stars (3-4-1) 6-5 in OT
-Alexander Semin scored the winning goal for the Caps in OT (and also had two assists). Washington also got two goals from Tomas Fleischmann and Sergei Fedorov. The two goals gave Fedorov 475 career goals and he has now passed Alexander Mogilny for the NHL goals record for Russian born players. Fedorov also holds the Russian records for assists (678) and points (1,153). Alexander Ovechkin is without a goal in six straight games. Stars C Sean Avery scored his first goal as a Star and rookie RW Fabian Brunnstrom scored his 5th of the season.

Nashville Predators (4-4-0) over the Los Angeles (3-4-0) 5-4
-The Preds jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first period and held on despite a Kings rally. Nashville received goal contributions from five different players and has now scored 11 first period goals this season. RW Ryan Jones scored on the power play in the first period and ended LA’s perfect PK streak at 27 straight to open the year. Preds RW JP Dumont has points in seven of eight games, including the last four in a row.

Minnesota Wild (5-0-1) over the Columbus Blue Jackets (3-5-0) 2-1
-The Wild dodged a bullet in this game as a late Rick Nash goal with 11.5 seconds remaining was waved off due to a high stick. The call looked like it could have gone either way on video review. Wild G Nicklas Backstrom made 25 saves in the win and RWs Owen Nolan and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored their first goals of the season. D Rostislav Klesla scored the lone Blue Jackets goal. The Blue Jackets have become a dangerous team to play. After one of their errant sticks accidentally hit Rangers coach Tom Renney in a 3-1 loss to New York the night before, a loose puck ricocheted over the Wild bench and appeared to strike team trainer Don Fuller. He left with a towel pressed against his head.

Detroit (6-1-1) over the Chicago Blackhawks (3-2-3) 6-5 SO
-Red Wings RW Marian Hossa seems to be heating up as he scored the SO winner and also added a goal and an assist. Red Wings C Jiri Hudler and D Nicklas Kronwall each had three point nights (1G 2A for both). Red Wings backup G Ty Conklin made 36 saves while Nikolai Khabibulin made 39 saves. This was a seesaw battle that saw Chicago blow a 4-2 lead and then tie it at 5 on a Patrick Kane 5 on 3 goal. Detroit D Andreas Lilja returned after missing two games following an appendectomy. Chicago D Niklas Hjalmarsson missed his seventh game with bruised ribs.

St. Louis Blues (5-3-0) over the Florida Panthers (4-3-0) 4-0
-The Blues had big nights from RW Brad Boyes (2G), C Keith Tkachuk (1G 2A) and C Andy McDonald (3A). The Blues, who came into the game with a NHL-best 35.5 percent power-play mark, snapped a 2-for-13 slide by scoring on their first two-power play chances. They finished 2-for-7 on the night and outshot Florida 31-17. The Panthers finished a stretch where they played in Ottawa on Wednesday night, flew home for a game with San Jose on Friday night, then boarded a flight for St. Louis and didn't get in until 2:30 a.m. The Panthers recalled D Jason Garrison on Saturday from Rochester (AHL) because D Cory Murphy injured his shoulder Friday night against San Jose. F Stephen Weiss sat out the game with an injured groin.

Colorado Avalanche (5-3-0) over the Buffalo Sabres (6-0-2) 2-1 SO
-This was a classic offense vs. goaltending match-up coming in to the game and it lived up to expectations. The Avalanche were averaging an NHL-best four goals a game while Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller had a 5-0-0 record with a 1.74 goals-against average (best in the NHL). Danielle Paille scored the lone Sabres goal while D Jordan Leopold tied it for the Avs in the 2nd period. Ryan Smith scored the SO winner in 7th round after each team scored twice in the shootout. Sabres D Henrik Tallinder suffered a laceration on his lower leg in the first period and did not return. Avalanche C Paul Stastny failed to register a point for the first time this season. His seven-game points streak to start the season was the longest in franchise history since Joe Sakic scored in Colorado's first eight games at the start of the 1999-2000 season.

Vancouver Canucks (4-4-0) over the Edmonton Oilers (4-3-0) 6-3
-The Canucks turned it on with a big 3rd period after the teams headed in to the 2nd intermission knotted up at 3. Vancouver got two goals each from Jannik Hansen and from LW Mason Raymond. Four of the Canucks goals came on the power play, which is shocking considering they were 1 for 33 on the PP coming in to the game. After going on waivers last week and now stepping in for injured Pavol Demitra, C Kyle Wellwood scored the game winner. Vancouver took No. 7 out of circulation for the season, raising it to the rafters in a pregame ceremony as part of a new program called the 7th Canuck designed to honor fans who have sold out 217 consecutive games, a streak that will hit five years on Nov. 14. The Oilers lost defenseman Jason Strudwick to an undisclosed injury in the first period and forward Eric Cole to a game misconduct after a good bout with Mattias Ohlund in the second period.

Calgary Flames (4-3-1) over the Phoenix Coyotes (3-4-0) 4-1
-The Flames have now won 3 in a row after only winning one in their first five. Calgary got PP goals from Todd Bertuzzi and Dion Phaneuf in the victory while G Miika Kiprusoff made 23 saves. Jaromie Iginla added an empty-netter with two assists and had back to back 3 point games. Phoenix's Olli Jokinen played in his 383th consecutive NHL game, the second longest active streak. Minnesota's Andrew Brunette of Minnesota is the leader. LW Todd Fedoruk scored the lone goal for the Coyotes.

AROUND THE BOARDS

- The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Saturday that forward Jiri Tlusty has been assigned to the Toronto Marlies (AHL). He had been held scoreless in seven games with averaging 12:19 of ice time per game and registering 13 shots.

-Go here to see the jerseys that the Red Wings and Blackhawks will be wearing in their New Years Day game at Wrigley Field: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=388634

-St. Louis Blues G Ben Bishop made 12 saves before leaving with an undisclosed lower-body injury in the Blues' 4-0 victory over the Florida Panthers Saturday night. Bishop left the game with 15:27 to play. "I was going to make one of the saves and something (wasn't right) in my lower body," Bishop said. The former Maine star was replaced by Marek Schwarz, recalled Saturday from Peoria of the AHL after starter Manny Legace strained a hip flexor against Los Angeles on Friday night, and regular backup Chris Mason had an appendectomy last week.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

-NHL is off on Sunday. They are smarter than trying to schedule games against a Sunday World Series game.

Other Action:


^^All times Eastern

**My weekly power rankings, “Plus/Minus” comes out Monday Evenings.

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