TOP STORY
I Think We Are Going To Need A Bigger Boat
(Photo Credit: Paul Sakuma - AP)
Pittsburgh Offense Turned In To Chum
San Jose Sharks (8-2-0) over the Pittsburgh Penguins (5-3-2) 2-1
When you see Sharks vs. Penguins on the schedule, your first thought is that will probably take at least four goals to win this game. It's tough to score more than one goal when you're held to only 11 shots. The Sharks cracked down defensively and beat backup G Dany Sabourin twice to earn the victory. Joe Pavelski scored an early SH goal while Mike Grier scored the game winner on a nice backhand (Ruslan Fedotenko had the lone Pittsburgh goal) with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. With C Marcel Goc sitting out again to rest his sore back, LW Jamie McGinn made his NHL debut for the Sharks, but only played a little bit on the 4th line. Sabourin made 32 saves in the Pens first regulation loss of the season.
Sharks HC Todd McLellan has been stressing defense in practice over the past week after San Jose allowed 6 goals against the Flyers and being shutout by the Panthers 4-0. The win keeps the Sharks undefeated at home at 5-0 and gives them the top record in the conference. They'll get a chance to prove they are the best in the West when they host the Red Wings on Thursday night.
As for Pittsburgh, this is their 2nd straight tough loss. After allowing the Rangers to tie the game with 8 seconds left on Saturday, they couldn't muster up any sort of offensive rhythm against the Sharks. Pittsburgh scratched C Maxime Talbot with an undisclosed injury and D Hal Gill also sat out his third straight game due to an injured right hand.The Pens will get a chance to rebound at Phoenix on Thursday night.
OTHER HEADLINES
-Which rookies are staying and which are going (courtesy of TSN.CA):
RUMOR MILL
-Nothing to report today
LAST NIGHT'S RECAP
LAST NIGHT'S RECAP
Washington Capitals (5-3-1) over the Nashville Predators (4-4-1) 4-3 (SO)
-Caps LW Alexander Semin chipped in a goal and an assist to continue leading the league in points while C Michael Nylander scored the winner in the shootout. Washington won the game despite being without Alexander Ovechkin (he is home in Russia tending to family matters). Including Semin, six different Washington players had points. The Predators did rally late in the 3rd period to earn a point. Jason Arnott had two goals while JP Dumont chipped in with three assists. Nashville is 1-3-1 on the road this season and has been outscored 22-15. The Preds have scored at least three goals in eight straight games, but have allowed at least three in the past six.
-Caps LW Alexander Semin chipped in a goal and an assist to continue leading the league in points while C Michael Nylander scored the winner in the shootout. Washington won the game despite being without Alexander Ovechkin (he is home in Russia tending to family matters). Including Semin, six different Washington players had points. The Predators did rally late in the 3rd period to earn a point. Jason Arnott had two goals while JP Dumont chipped in with three assists. Nashville is 1-3-1 on the road this season and has been outscored 22-15. The Preds have scored at least three goals in eight straight games, but have allowed at least three in the past six.
Philadelphia Flyers (3-3-3) over the Atlanta Thrashers (2-5-2) 7-0
-The Eagles went down to Atlanta and beat the Falcons by a touchdown...wait wrong sport. The early season swoon seems to be behind thew Flyers as they've now won three in a row and are back to .500. Mike Knuble, Simon Gagne and Joffrey Lupul each scored two goals for Philadelphia and Antero Niittymaki stopped 24 shots in his fourth career shutout. If losing by seven goals wasn't bad enough, Thrashers rookie D Zach Bogosian, the No. 3 pick in this year's draft, didn't return after Philadelphia's Darroll Powe slammed him into the boards midway through the second. He left under his own power, but you don't want to see someone take a hit like that.
Tampa Bay Lightning (2-3-3) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-3-3) 3-2
-Toronto played a very, very good game last night. The problem was that Vinny Lecavalier had his best game of the year (by a long shot), scoring two highlight-reel goals while Mike Smith made 37 saves (and even had an assist) en route to the win. Rookie C Steve Stamkos earned his first NHL point (assist) and Jussi Jokinen scored the other goal for Tampa. D Mike Van Ryn and winger Matt Stajan had the two Toronto goals. Toronto D Jonas Frogren, scratched Saturday to make room for Jeff Finger, was out of the lineup again along with Ian White and Carlo Colaiacovo.
Montreal Canadiens (6-1-1) over the Carolina Hurricanes (4-2-2) 3-2 (SO)
-Captain Saku Koivu potted the lone shootout goal and the Canadiens snapped a 9 game winning streak for the Hurricanes in Montreal. Alex Tanguay scored on a penalty shot in the final seconds of the first period (Alexei Kovalev scored the other goal) and Price stopped 31 shots for Montreal, which closed out their homestand at 4-1. Rod Brind'Amour and Anton Babchuk scored the Carolina goals and G Cam Ward made 23 saves in the loss. Andrei Kostitsyn returned to Montreal's lineup after missing two games because of a concussion. Rookie center Brandon Sutter and defenseman Joni Pitkanen were both out of the Hurricanes' lineup because of injuries sustained Saturday in a 4-3 road win against the New York Islanders.Sutter is out indefinitely with a concussion from an open-ice hit by the Islanders' Doug Weight. Pitkanen tore the meniscus in his knee and is expected to be sidelined for a month.
Calgary Flames (5-3-1) over the Colorado Avalanche (5-4-0) 3-0
-Curtis Glencross scored his first goal as a Flame and it broke a scoreless tie in the 3rd period to give the Calgary the shutout victory. Rene Bourque and Mike Cammalleri scored the other goals for the Flames and Miika Kiprusoff stopped 22 shots to earn the shutout. Colorado had it's five game winning streak snapped (coincidentally, their last loss came to the Flames). Calgary C Matthew Lombardi missed his second straight game with an upper body injury.
Boston Bruins (5-2-3) over the Vancouver Canucks (4-5-0) 1-0
-Michael Ryder scored his second goal of the season midway through the first period and that would be all the Bruins needed to win their 2nd straight 1-0 game (3rd straight overall). G Tim Thomas stopped 31 pucks for his 2nd straight shutout in consecutive nights. The Bruins, who went into Edmonton on Monday with the NHL's worst-ranked penalty-killing record, turned aside all three PP opportunities for a second straight night.It was also the first hometown game for second-year Bruins LW Milan Lucic. Canucks D Sami Salo was back after missing three games due to a groin injury and Roberto Luongo made 29 saves for the Canucks, who have npw lost four of five.
AROUND THE BOARDS
-The Montreal Canadiens honored the three most successful coaches in their history on Tuesday night when they unveiled columns in the Bell Centre mezzanine for Dick Irvin, Hector (Toe) Blake and Scotty Bowman. The line of columns on Builders' Row is to feature the 10 former Canadiens coaches and executives in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Each has pictures and brief biography of the coaches, who between them won 16 of the Canadiens 24 Stanley Cups. The unveilings were part of the club's 100th anniversary celebrations. (courtesy: Canadian Press)
-Stars C Joel Lundqvist will miss 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury.
-The Coyotes have claimed defenseman Ken Klee off re-entry waivers from the Anaheim Ducks. Klee appeared in three games with the Ducks this season. Last season, he played in 72 games with the Atlanta Thrashers, recording 1-9-10 and 60 penalty minutes.
-The Panthers have agreed to terms with D Jassen Cullimore on a one year deal. Cullimore played in 65 games with the Panthers last season and paced the club with a +21 rating, with three goals and 10 assists, while averaging 18:04 of ice time per game. He was originally signed as a free agent by Florida last season
-New York Islanders defenceman Andy Sutton is expected to play Thursday at Philadelphia. He missed the first eight games of the season due to hand surgery. The Isles will take any rearguards they can take right now because they are also missing defensemen Brendan Witt, Radek Martinek and Freddy Meyer.
-The Panthers have agreed to terms with D Jassen Cullimore on a one year deal. Cullimore played in 65 games with the Panthers last season and paced the club with a +21 rating, with three goals and 10 assists, while averaging 18:04 of ice time per game. He was originally signed as a free agent by Florida last season
-New York Islanders defenceman Andy Sutton is expected to play Thursday at Philadelphia. He missed the first eight games of the season due to hand surgery. The Isles will take any rearguards they can take right now because they are also missing defensemen Brendan Witt, Radek Martinek and Freddy Meyer.
- Vancouver Canucks C Rick Rypien will be out indefinitely and needs to undergo surgery for a sports hernia. He was out last week because of a viral infection.
-The Columbus Blue Jackets have assigned forward Nikita Filatov to the Syracuse Crunch (AHL). Filatov recorded one goal and had a plus/minus rating of +1 in four games with the Blue Jackets this season. He was only the fourth player in franchise history to score a goal in his NHL debut.
GAME OF THE NIGHT
Detroit Red Wings (7-1-1) @ Anaheim Ducks (5-5-0) – 10 PM
-It’s a rematch of the Western Conference Finals from 2007 and it features two of the hottest teams in the league. Detroit has won five in a row and the Ducks have won four in a row after starting the season 1-4. This is the first game at home after a four game road trip for Anaheim. The Red Wings have scored at least a PP goal in 7 straight games and are now a lethal 12 for 37 on the season (32.4%)
Other Action:
Toronto (3-2-3) @ New Jersey (5-2-1) – 7:30PM
Minnesota (6-0-1) @ Dallas (3-4-2) – 8:30PM
^All times Eastern
*My weekly power rankings, "Plus/Minus" comes out Monday Evenings
~Andrew Bogusch's weekly column debuts tonight!
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