(Photo Credit: Stuart Cahill - The Boston Globe )
Andrew Ference & PJ Axelsson take down Saku Koivu and the Canadiens
NHL/AP Link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008020228
Boston Bruins (10-3-3) over the Montreal Canadiens (9-3-2) 6-1
Bruins-Canadiens is one of the top rivalries in the NHL. It's the 3rd biggest rivalry in Boston behind Yankees-Red Sox and Jets-Patriots. For a long time, just like Yankees-Red Sox, this was a one-sided rivalry in favor of the non-Boston team. Since 2004, the tide has turned in favor of the Red Sox. Maybe last night was the beginning of the tide turning in favor of the B's.
Boston snapped a 12 game regular-season losing streak against Montreal, and did it in a big way. Shawne Thornton, Stephane Yelle, and Marco Sturm (PPG) would give the Bruins a 3-0 lead after the 1st period. Marco Sturm would add another PPG in the 2nd period before the Canadiens would finally crack the scoreboard on a Saku Koivu goal. Milan Lucic and Stephane Yelle (2nd of the game) would add goals to complete the route. Backup G Manny Fernandez made 27 saves and is 4-0-1 in his last five starts. Carey Price would make 25 saves and took his first career loss against Montreal.
The Bruins have scored 21 goals in their last five games and improved to 21-8-3 in November since the 2006-07 season. The Bruins have allowed one power-play goal in the last 21 chances.Boston is now three points behind the Rangers for first place in the Eastern Conference and have outscored opponents 28-13 over the last nine. Coincidentally, the Bruins next game is Saturday night when they travel to MSG to take on the Rangers. Boston needed a win like this on a night where their Patriots would lose to the Jets (sorry, as a Jets fan I had to get that in). The Canadiens next game is Saturday when they host the Philadelphia Flyers.
-Flyers C Daniel Briere will be out of action for the next five-to-seven days due to a slight left groin strain. Briere, who has five goals and four assists for nine points in eight games so far this season, The new injury is not related to his last injury, which had him sidelined for the previous six games before Tuesday at the Islanders."It's not related. It's another injury, and that's what's so frustrating," he said. "It's not the same area." "It's unfortunate," added John Stevens. "I thought he came back and played well and obviously he's a big part of our team."
RUMOR MILL
-We are supposedly "days away" from a Brendan Shanahan decision, so stay tuned for that.
LAST NIGHT'S RECAP
-The Islanders snapped a three game losing streak behind a solid 29 save performance from G Joey MacDonald. D Filip Kuba scored his first goal of the year, but that would be the only offense Ottawa would generate all night. Josh Bailey notched his first NHL point setting up a Kyle Okposo goal (Isles fans should dream about those two for the future) while Trent Hunter (PPG) & Bill Guerin scored the other Islanders goals. G Alex Auld lost back-to-back starts for only the second time this season.
Pittsburgh Penguins (10-4-2) over the Philadelphia Flyers (5-6-4) 5-4 (SO)
-If you like see-saw, volatile hockey games, become a Penguins fan. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead (Matt Cookie, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby-PP), Philly would rally back with 4 straight goals in the 2nd period (Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne-B2B SH goals, Joffrey Lupul-PP). Pens G Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled after that four goal stretch. Sidney Crosby would net his 2nd PP goal of the game with 2:33 remaining in the 3rd period to force OT. In the shootout, Alex Goligoski would score the lone goal to give the Pens the win against their cross-state rivals. Eight of the Penguins' first 16 games have gone into overtime or a shootout; they're 6-0-2 in those games.
-The Lightning are going to be that team that plays opponents close and tight, but hardly come away with the win. Mark Recchi and Jussi Jokinen (PPG) would give Tampa a two goal lead at the end of the 1st period, but that would be the last time they led. The Red Wings would score four straight goals (Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg-PP, Mikael Samuelsson-PP, Johan Franzen) to rally and win the first of their back-to-back Florida games. Matt Pettinger scored the other goal for the Lightning. Chris Osgood earned his 370th career win passing Tom Barasso for 14th on the all-time list. Osgood also improves to 17-0 in his career against the Lightning (longest active win streak by a goaltender vs. one team). Henrik Zetterberg has a goal in 10 of his last 11 games and Marian Hossa has scored a point in 12 of his last 13 games (two assists last night).
Minnesota Wild (9-4-1) over the Phoenix Coyotes (8-7-0) 4-0
Los Angeles Kings (7-6-2) over the Dallas Stars (5-8-3) 3-2
-Michal Handzus and Kyle Quincey scored power-play goals and Erik Ersberg made 24 saves to help the Kings extend their winning streak to four games with a 3-2 victory last night. The Kings' four-game win streak is their longest winning streak since they won four in a row in October of 2007. Jarrett Stoll scored the other Kings goal in his 300th NHL game to complete the sweep of the home and home. Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro scored the Dallas goals in the power play. The Stars still have yet to win two games in a row.
Toronto Maple Leafs (7-6-4) over the Edmonton Oilers (8-7-1) 5-2
-The Oilers played the Leafs well through the first period and a half, keeping the game tied at 2. The 2nd half of the game was a different story. Sam Gagner would score a PP goal to open up the scoring. Tomas Kaberle and Nikolai Kulemin scored PP goals to give Toronto the lead. Ethan Moreau would tie things up for Edmonton, but Nik Antropov would give the Leafs the lead for good at the end of the 2nd period. Ian White and Mikhail Grabovski (PPG) would cushion Toronto's lead in the 3rd period. Edmonton Oilers HC Craig MacTavis was not happy with his team after the game. "I give credit because they are a hard-working group that is structured and we lack that structure in our game right now," MacTavish said. "And that's why we got pounded."
San Jose Sharks (14-3-1) over the Calgary Flames (9-8-1) 6-1
-There were hockey fans and analysts around the league that said that Calgary is one of the few teams that could match-up well against the Sharks. San Jose responded to those comments with a 4-goal 1st period to beat a struggling Calgary team. Milan Michalek and Joe Pavelski (2PPG) scored two goals apiece, and the Sharks' defense corps set a franchise record with nine assists (3 by Dan Boyle) in the win. Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton chipped in with a PP goal each as well. Brian Boucher made 23 saves in his fourth straight start in place of injured Evgeni Nabokov, but Michael Cammalleri scored a power-play goal with 9:47 left to break up his shutout bid. Curtis McElhinney stopped 24 shots in relief of Kiprusoff during the final two periods for the Flames, who lost for the fifth time in seven games since a six-game winning streak.
AROUND THE BOARDS
-Flames D Jim Vandermeer will be out of the lineup for at least six weeks with a broken ankle.
Playing alongside Dion Phaneuf, he averaged over 17 minutes per game. "It's definitely a huge loss for our team and our back end," Phaneuf told the Calgary Herald. "He plays a lot of big minutes and he's very consistent and he brings a lot every night. He moves the puck well and he's tough. For now, it appears Adam Pardy will draw into the lineup and take up some of Vandermeer's minutes.
-The Minnesota Wild activated right winger Owen Nolan from the IR. Nolan missed eight of the last 11 games with a leg injury. He has one goal and three assists in five games this season. To make room for Nolan, the Wild sent center Krys Kolanos to their AHL affiliate in Houston. Kolanos scored one goal in two games while filling in for Nolan.
-The Flyers have waived D Lasse Kukkonen
-The Washington Capitals signed first-round draft pick John Carlson to a three-year entry-level contract. The 18-year-old Carlson was the 27th overall selection in the 2008 NHL entry draft. He is in his first season with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.
-The St. Louis Blues returned promising rookie defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to his junior team.
The 18-year-old Pietrangelo was the fourth overall pick in the draft. He played eight games with St. Louis, recording an assist and an even plus-minus rating. The Blues could use Pietrangelo in nine games before his season counted as a full year. Instead, he'll be with the Niagara Ice Dogs of the Ontario Hockey League.
-The Canucks have unveiled their new 3rd jersey:
http://canucks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=392222
Nashville Predators (7-7-1) @ Anaheim Ducks (9-7-1) - 10PM
Anaheim is 15-1-2 all-time at home against Nashville, with the regulation loss coming in January 2001. Since then, the Ducks have gone 11-0-2 while outscoring the Predators 44-22. The Ducks hope that kind of production will continue. After scoring 35 goals in an 8-0-1 run from Oct. 21-Nov. 5, Anaheim has totaled only three goals in losses to Dallas and Florida. After losing the first three games on their six-game road trip, Nashville got a superb effort on Tuesday from Dan Ellis, who made 54 saves in a 4-3 overtime win against Pacific Division-leading San Jose. J.P. Dumont leads the Predators with 15 assists and 17 points, but hasn't scored in seven games. He has four goals in his last six visits to Anaheim. This will be the first game for the Ducks with Bob Murray as GM.
Other Action:
New Jersey (7-6-2) @ Washington (9-4-2) - 7PM
Columbus (7-7-2) @ Buffalo (9-3-3) - 7PM
Carolina (8-6-2) @ Atlanta (6-7-2) - 7:30PM
St. Louis (5-8-1) @ Chicago (7-3-4) - 8:30PM
*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out on Monday evenings
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out Wednesday evenings
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