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SENATORS SLIDE CONTINUES
(Photo Credit: Thomas A. Ferrara - Newsday)
(Photo Credit: Thomas A. Ferrara - Newsday)Henrik Lundqvist stones Antoine Vermette in another close win
New York Rangers (14-5-2) over the Ottawa Senators (6-9-3) 2-1 (SO)
Things are getting real bad in Ottawa real fast. They have now lost five in a row and with their upcoming schedule, it's not going to get any easier. Ottawa has scored two goals or less in 12 of 18 games this season and had their five game winning streak @ MSG snapped.
Daniel Alfredsson would get the Senators on the board first in the 2nd period on a set up from Dany Heatley and Alexandre Picard. In the 3rd period, Frederik Sjostrom would things up to force OT. Nikolai Zherdev would score the only goal in the shootout and Henrik Lundqvist to give the Rangers their 2nd straight shootout win and 3rd win in a row. This was Rangers D Wade Redden's first game against his old team.
Henrik Lundqvist improved to a league best 12 wins and has clearly been the Rangers MVP this season. The Rangers are winning a lot of close games, and he has been the difference every time. Lundqvist has allowed two goals or less in 12 straight games. The Rangers have allowed two or fewer goals in 16 of their 21 games this season (13-2-1). It's only the second time in the NHL's modern era (since 1943-44, when the center red line was introduced) that they allowed no more than two goals in at least 15 of their first 20 games of a season. They did that 15 times in 1957-58.
If there was ever a case of team's going in opposite directions, last night's game was a textbook example of it. It's still early in the season, but it looks like the Rangers will be a top 3 team in the East throughout the season. For Ottawa, they need a shake up quick before they fall further in to the abyss. The Rangers next game is Wednesday night when they host Vancouver while the Senators are off until Thursday when they host the Canadiens.
For more on this, NHL/AP Link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008020258
OTHER HEADLINES
-The NHL named it's 3 Stars of the Week
-The NHL is cracking down on hits to the head even more:
-St. Louis center Andy McDonald is expected to be sidelined eight weeks after breaking his left leg during a 3-2 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday. Blues coach Andy Murray said Monday that McDonald was hurt when he crashed into the corner boards late in the first period. MRI results revealed no further damage and surgery is not required. He isn't expected back until at least mid-January. "I was kind of right there. I just heard him screaming and you could tell," said winger Brad Boyes, who has played regularly on the top line with McDonald. "He was in agonizing pain. You could tell right away something was wrong." McDonald, who leads the Blues with 18 points, had scored five goals in five games prior to Sunday. He appeared to be avoiding taking a stick to the face when he suddenly buckled awkwardly into the corner and went down immediately. He had to be helped off the ice and did not put any weight on his left leg.
RUMOR MILL
-It's sounding like the Brian Burke-Toronto Maple Leafs relationship is beginning to develop. Nothing official yet, but expect both parties to begin talking about the GM spot soon.
LAST NIGHT'S RECAP
New York Islanders (7-9-2) over the Vancouver Canucks (10-6-2) 2-1
-Pavol Demitra would get the Canucks on the board less than a minute in to the game, but that would be the end of the Canucks offensive day. Doug Weight would tie things up for the Isles on the power play in the 2nd period and Frans Nielsen would score the shootout winner. G Joey MacDonald made 31 saves for the win while Roberto Luongo stopped 34 shots against his former team. The Isles have now won three in a row. Islanders D Andy Sutton played in his 500th NHL game. Canucks D Alex Edler, who missed Saturday's game against Toronto because of the flu, sat out again.
Detroit Red Wings (12-2-3) over the Edmonton Oilers (8-8-2) 4-0
-Talk about an exciting time for Red Wings G Ty Conklin. He wins a game, then his wife gives birth to their 3rd child, and then makes 20 saves to his 5th career shutout last night. Niklas Kronwall (PP_, Mikael Samuelsson, Jiri Hudler and Johan Franzen scored the four Red Wings goals. Dwayne Roloson stopped 37 shots in the loss for Edmonton. Edmonton fell to 4-8-2 in its last 14 games after starting the season 4-0-0 and have scored just eight goals in their last five games. Oilers center Fernando Pisani broke his ankle as he slid into the boards feet first as he battled for the puck with the Red Wings' Nicklas Lidstrom with a little under 15 minutes left in the third period. MacTavish said that Pisani, who was on crutches after the game, would be out at least a month. Edmonton forward Dustin Penner was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.
Boston Bruins (11-3-4) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (7-8-4) 3-2
-The Bruins would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st period thanks to goals from Phil Kessel and Matt Hunwick. Jason Blake would cut the lead in half before the 1st intermission. In the 2nd period, Toronto was really moving around well and getting scoring chances, but Michael Ryder would score a highlight real goal to give the Bruins the lead for good. Claude Julien won his 100th game behind the Bruins bench (Mikhail Grabovski scored the other Toronto goal). Tim Thomas made 28 saves in the win while Vesa Toskala stopped 19 in the loss.
Boston Bruins (11-3-4) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (7-8-4) 3-2
-The Bruins would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st period thanks to goals from Phil Kessel and Matt Hunwick. Jason Blake would cut the lead in half before the 1st intermission. In the 2nd period, Toronto was really moving around well and getting scoring chances, but Michael Ryder would score a highlight real goal to give the Bruins the lead for good. Claude Julien won his 100th game behind the Bruins bench (Mikhail Grabovski scored the other Toronto goal). Tim Thomas made 28 saves in the win while Vesa Toskala stopped 19 in the loss.
San Jose Sharks (16-3-1) over the Nashville Predators (9-8-1) 4-1
-San Jose would jump out to a 4-0 lead after two periods and improved their record to a league-best 33 points. Devin Setoguchi (PP), Jody Shelley, Tomas Pilhal and Patrick Marleau scored for San Jose and David Legwand scored the lone Nashville goal (SH). Brian Boucher made 32 saves to improve to 6-1-1 on the season. The big story here was Jason Arnott being taken to the hospital during the game. San Jose's Joe Pavelski and Arnott collided and crashed into the net as they both were charging toward the puck. Arnott was pushed headfirst into Sharks goalie Brian Boucher and was carried off after lying motionless on the ice for several minutes. He was taken to the hospital as a precaution. "Arnott is going to be fine," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "He was released from the hospital and came back to the arena to change clothes before going home. It looks like it is just a neck strain." Trotz said Arnott might miss Tuesday's practice due to soreness, but that he expected him to be ready for Friday night's game at Tampa Bay.
AROUND THE BOARDS
-The Colorado Avalanche signed 22-year-old center Paul Stastny to a five-year contract extension through the 2013-2014 season. Last season, Stastny led the Avalanche with 71 points in 66 games and was selected to play in his first All-Star Game. He leads the Avs with 15 points in 16 games this season.
-NHL Central Scouting will released its fall preliminary rankings today:
-NHL goal scoring leader Alexander Semin skated for about half of the team's practice on Monday and traveled with teammates to Anaheim. The Capitals are hopeful that he'll be ready to go Wednesday. Semin missed the third period of the Capitals' 3-1 win over the Devils in Washington on Friday with an undisclosed upper-body injury. He skated out for the pre-game warmup Saturday, the second game of the home-and-home series, but quickly left the ice. He had 13 goals and 27 points through Friday.
-Reports out of Sweden indicate that Victor Hedman will be out around three weeks with a separated shoulder. Hedman is a top candidate to be taken No. 1 overall in the 2009 NHL entry draft. If the prognosis is accurate, the injury should not prevent him from playing for Sweden in the 2009 World Junior Championship in Ottawa. There were some initial fears late last week when Hedman was checked into the boards that he may have broken his collarbone, but it's now identified as a separated shoulder. (Credit Bob McKenzie - TSN)
GAME OF THE NIGHT
Minnesota Wild (10-4-1) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (11-4-2) - 7PM
The Penguins will be looking for the 7th straight win against the Minnesota Wild at home tonight. They'll have to give it a shot without their starting goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury, 8-3-0 with a 2.86 goals-against average on the season, will be replaced by Dany Sabourin, 3-1 with a 1.68 GAA. "It's not a major injury," head coach Michel Therrien said Monday. "We just don't want to take a risk." The Pens 6 game winning streak has been sparked by Evgeni Malkin. Malkin has a 13-game point streak, recording six goals and 21 assists in that span. If not for inconsistent offense, the Wild might also be carrying a lengthy winning streak into Tuesday's game. Minnesota won its second straight Saturday, 3-2 in a shootout over Columbus, but the Wild went 2-4 prior to the consecutive victories, managing 10 goals during that stretch.Other Action:
Montreal (10-4-2) @ Carolina (9-7-2) - 7PM
Edmonton (8-7-2) @ Columbus (8-7-3) - 7PM
Florida (6-9-1) @ Tampa Bay (5-7-5) - 7:30PM
Colorado (8-8-0) @ Calgary (9-8-1) - 9:30PM
Chicago (7-4-5) @ Phoenix (8-8-0) - 9:30PMMontreal (10-4-2) @ Carolina (9-7-2) - 7PM
Edmonton (8-7-2) @ Columbus (8-7-3) - 7PM
Florida (6-9-1) @ Tampa Bay (5-7-5) - 7:30PM
Colorado (8-8-0) @ Calgary (9-8-1) - 9:30PM
^ALL TIMES EASTERN
*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out tonight
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out Wednesday evenings
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