TOP STORY
Beast of the East vs. Least of the East
(Photo Credit: Shannon Stapleton: REUTERS)
Tomas Plekanec and Alexei Kovalev Celebrate the Comeback Win
Montreal Canadiens (8-1-1) over the New York Islanders (2-71) 5-4
AP/NHL.com Link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008020155
If you looked at the scoreboard halfway through the 3rd period, you thought "Wow, the Isles are going to get a huge win at home tonight". If you checked the scoreboard about 20 minutes later, you're first thought was probably "Wow the Isles are really that bad". The New York Islanders carried a 4-1 lead in to the 3rd period, but couldn't hold on.
Alexei Kovalev would open the scoring for the game two minutes in, but Montreal wouldn't sniff the scoresheet until the 3rd period. PPG's from D Mark Streit (first game against his former team), Bill Guerin, and even strength goals from Jon Sim and Frans Nielsen would give the Isles breathing room. But Tomas Plekanec would storm back with two goals within about two minutes in the 3rd and Long Island native Christopher Higgins (who always seems to turn it on against the Isles) tied it with just under six minutes remaining. Kovalev would score the winner about a minute later. Isles G Yann Dennis made his first NHL start in three years and made 27 saves in the loss.
The Islanders are winless in six games (0-5-1) since a 4-3 overtime victory at Tampa Bay on 10/16. Their next game is Tuesday when they travel to MSG to take on the Rangers. The Canadiens have now won three in a row and will have five days off before they travel to play Columbus on Friday night.
OTHER HEADLINES
-New York Islanders G Rick DiPietro underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a meniscus injury and will miss four to six weeks.The Islanders said DiPietro had the surgery on Friday. DiPietro is 0-2-0 in three starts this season with a 3.91 GAA. He underwent offseason surgery on his hip and right knee, played in only one preseason game, then dressed but did not play in the Islanders' first four games. He lost 2-0 to Florida and 5-3 to Dallas, then was lifted after allowing two goals in the first period to Carolina on Oct. 25 and replaced by Joey MacDonald, who had started the Isles' first four games. The Islanders have recalled Yann Danis from Bridgeport of the AHL to replace DiPietro on the roster.
This is why you don't sign ANYONE to a 15 year deal. I don't care how young or good someone is. This deal set the trend for a lot of 12 and 13 year deals. For a guy like Ovechkin, I can see wanting to lock him up as long as possible (there are very few sure things in this league, but AO is one of them). And Neil Smith was the crazy one according to owner Charles Wang.
-Mats Sundin was in attendance on Thursday night at the Canucks 4-0 win over the Kings at the Staples Center. Sundin, who watched the game from a luxury suite with his agent JP Barry, was also joined by Canucks GM Mike Gillis. He has a two-year, $20 million offer on the table from the Canucks. Other teams that have shown interested in acquiring Sundin's services include the New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens as well as his former team, the Maple Leafs. He has yet to start skating and begin his comeback training.
-Mats Sundin was in attendance on Thursday night at the Canucks 4-0 win over the Kings at the Staples Center. Sundin, who watched the game from a luxury suite with his agent JP Barry, was also joined by Canucks GM Mike Gillis. He has a two-year, $20 million offer on the table from the Canucks. Other teams that have shown interested in acquiring Sundin's services include the New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens as well as his former team, the Maple Leafs. He has yet to start skating and begin his comeback training.
RUMOR MILL
-The Senators are on the trail for a defenseman. Stars rearguard Trevor Daley is a name that has come up.
LAST NIGHT'S RECAP
Edmonton Oilers (5-4-1) over the Carolina Hurricanes (5-3-2) 3-1
-Ray Whitney would get the Hurricanes on the board first in the first period, but that would be all for Carolina for the day. Shawn Horcoff tied it with a PPG in the 2nd period and captain Ethan Moreau would score two goals within the last two minutes of the game to get and seal the win for Edmonton. G Dwayne Roloson would make 33 saves for Edmonton while Cam Ward would make 29 for Carolina. Carolina thought it had tied the score with 43.1 seconds left when Eric Staal poked his own rebound toward the net. But replays showed goalie Roloson covered the puck before it crossed the goal line. Carolina played its first home game since 10/13 after going 3-3 on a season long 6 game road trip last week. They also started a stretch in which they will play 14 of 19 at home. Edmonton snapped a give game losing streak and this was the second game of a seven-game road trip.
Boston Bruins (6-3-3) over the Dallas Stars (4-6-2) 5-1
-Marco Sturm scored two goals and Patrice Bergeron added a goal and a great defensive play to help the Bruins get win #6 on the season. This was a chippy game with 146 penalty minutes assessed on the two teams, including 77 against Boston. Seven misconducts were handed out. Phil Kessel scored his 7th goal of the season while G Tim Thomas made 35 saves, including 21 in a second period in which he held the Stars scoreless despite a series of power plays. Sean Avery scored the lone Stars goal.
Buffalo Sabres (7-2-2) over the Washington Capitals (5-4-1) 5-0
-Miller stopped 29 shots for his eighth NHL shutout and Thomas Vanek scored twice as the Sabres to end Buffalo's two-game losing skid. Vanek leads the league in scoring with 11 goals. Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, and Daniel Paille also scored for Buffalo. Andrej Sekera had two assists for the first multipoint game of his NHL career. Tim Connolly played for the first time after missing the first 10 games of the season due hairline vertebrae fractures. He assisted on Roy's goal. Capitals LW Alexander Ovechkin is scheduled to rejoin the Capitals in time for Tuesday's game at Ottawa.
Toronto Maple Leafs (5-3-3) over the New York Rangers (10-3-1) 5-2
-Miller stopped 29 shots for his eighth NHL shutout and Thomas Vanek scored twice as the Sabres to end Buffalo's two-game losing skid. Vanek leads the league in scoring with 11 goals. Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, and Daniel Paille also scored for Buffalo. Andrej Sekera had two assists for the first multipoint game of his NHL career. Tim Connolly played for the first time after missing the first 10 games of the season due hairline vertebrae fractures. He assisted on Roy's goal. Capitals LW Alexander Ovechkin is scheduled to rejoin the Capitals in time for Tuesday's game at Ottawa.
Toronto Maple Leafs (5-3-3) over the New York Rangers (10-3-1) 5-2
-This was a tale of two different games. The Rangers were outplaying the Maple Leafs through the first two and a half periods and held on to a 2-0 lead. The Leafs would storm back with five goals on backup goalie Stephen Valiquette in the last half of the 3rd Period and would steal the home victory from the Blueshirts. Toronto got it's goals from John Mitchell (he had two), Jason Blake, Pavel Kubina, and former Ranger Dominic Moore. Blake played his 600th NHL game The Rangers goals came from Ryan Callahan and Blair Betts.
New Jersey Devils (7-2-2) over the Atlanta Thrashers (2-7-2) 6-1
-The big news in this one is Devils G Martin Brodeur left the game in the 2nd period with a left elbow injury. It appears to be muscular, but the reports right now are saying it's a bruise. This would be the Devils 4th major injury of the year, losing already Brian Rolston (ankle), Bobby Holik (pinkie) and Andy Greene (hand). LW Zach Parise had two goals, LW Patrick Elias chipped in a goal and an assist, and D Johnny Oduya had three assists.
Chicago Blackhawks (5-3-3) over the Columbus Blue Jackets (4-6-1) 4-3 (SO)
Chicago Blackhawks (5-3-3) over the Columbus Blue Jackets (4-6-1) 4-3 (SO)
-Blackhawks G made a career high 48 saves and Jonathan Toews would give Chicago the shootout winner in the first round. Patrick Sharp, Brent Seabrook (PPG) and Martin Havlat (PPG) would have the three Chicago goals while RJ Umberger (PPG), Fedor Tyutin (SHG) and Kristian Huselius would net the Columbus goals. Columbus outshot Chicago 51-24 for the game. The Blackhawks improved to 4-1-2 under coach Joel Quenneville.
Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3-3) over the Ottawa Senators (4-5-2) 3-2 (SO)
-Normally a tough guy, RW Evegeny Artyukhin would score the SO winner in the 8th round for Tampa Bay. Vincent Lecavalier and Matt Carle scored in regulation for the Lightning, who have won three in a row. Lightning G Mike Smith made 28 saves while Sens G Alex Auld stopped 32 shots. Antoine Vermette and Dany Heatley had the Ottawa goals. The Senators completed a four-game road trip at 2-1-1. Senators D Filip Kuba picked up his 12th assist in 11 games. Tampa Bay C Ryan Craig played for the first time since hurting his knee in 11/07. He started this season sidelined by a groin injury.
Nashville Predators (6-4-1) over the Florida Panthers (4-5-1) 3-2 (SO)
-Preds RW Martin Erat was certainly the star of this game. He scored the game tying goal halfway through the 3rd period and then scored the lone shootout goal to get the win. Ryan Suter now has assists in four straight games for Nashville. Shea Weber also scored for the Predators while Rostislav Olesz (playing his 200th NHL game) and Karlis Skrastins netted Florida's goals. Pekka Rinne made 24 saves while Craig Anderson turned away 30 in the loss. Florida's Nathan Horton played in his 300th career NHL game.
Pittsburgh Penguins (6-4-2) over the St. Louis Blues (5-5-0) 6-3
-Sidney Crosby WAS in the lineup despite suffering an injury against Phoenix and chipped in with two assists for the win. RW Miroslav Satan had a goal and two assists while Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal had a goal and an assist each (Goligoski, Kennedy and Talbot had the other three Pittsburgh goals). Ruslan Fedotenko left the Penguins' morning skate with an undisclosed injury and was scratched from the lineup. Pittsburgh placed Pascal Dupuis on the injured list with an undisclosed ailment and recalled forward Janne Pesonen from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL). Patrik Berglund scored the 10,000th goal in team history for St. Louis. Barret Jackman and T.J. Oshie had the other Blues goals. The Blues went 3-4 on their seven-game homestand and are 5-5 after a 4-1 start.
Minnesota Wild (7-2-1) over the Phoenix Coyotes (4-5-0) 3-2
-Eric Belanger scored with 9:25 left and Nicklas Backstrom stopped 25 shots to improve to 7-0-0 lifetime against the Coyotes. Benout Pouliot and Mikko Koivu scored the other two goals for Minnesota while Olli Jokinen had both Phoenix goals. The Wild, who are already without Marian Gaborik and Owen Nolan, lost defenseman Brent Burns minutes before the game to an upper body injury sustained in warmups. Tomas Mojzis, originally on the list of scratches, dressed and left in the second period with an upper body injury. Asked how long he could keep patching together lineups, Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said, "Until I die. And it's coming."
Calgary Flames (7-3-1) over the Los Angeles Kings (3-6-1) 3-2
-The Calgary Flames might have taken over the title as the hottest team in the NHL right now. Daymond Langkow scored the go-ahead goal with 3:37 remaining, Miikka Kiprusoff made 34 saves, and Calgary has now won 6 in a row. Adrian Aucoin and Eric Nystrom also had goals, and Todd Bertuzzi earned two assists in the Flames' seventh victory in eight meetings with the Kings. Kings C Oscar Moller scored both LA goals. Calgary has killed 25 of 26 power plays over the previous six games.
AROUND THE BOARDS
-The Blue Jackets activated Raffi Torres off of IR. He was acquired from Edmonton in exchange for Gilbert Brule on 7/1, but injured a shoulder during a preseason game against Chicago on 9/29.
-Team Canada may be forced to change the look of its jersey for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver (courtesy of the Canadian Press):
-The Ottawa Senators have been presented an ultimatum by Russian prospect Alexander Nikulin. Nikulin has stated that he will return to Russia if the Senators do not have a deal in place by Monday. He was a scratch Saturday night as the Binghamton Senators faced Bridgeport. The Ottawa Citizen is reporting that Senators general manager Bryan Murray has sent a memo around the league, but has received no interest in Nikulin due to the fact that teams are unsure if he will remain in North American if he is not given a roster spot on an NHL team.
GAME OF THE NIGHT
San Jose Sharks (9-2-0) @ Colorado Avalanche (6-5-0) - 8PM
-The Sharks are off to their best start in franchise history and are on a three game winning streak. The last two wins came against last year's Stanley Cup finalists. On the flip side, Colorado is reeling a little bit, losing two in a row (and not looking good in either game) after winning five in a row. The Avs went from leading the league in goals scored to only scoring two goals combined in two games (lost 3-0 to Calgary and 4-2 to Columbus). Look for the Avs to send Peter Budaj back between the pipes. Colorado and San Jose split four meetings last season.
Other Action:
Edmonton (5-4-1) @ Philadelphia (4-3-3) - 1PM
Toronto (4-3-3) @ Carolina (5-3-2) - 5PM
Calgary (7-3-1) @ Anaheim (6-5-1) - 8PM
Detroit (7-2-2) @ Vancouver (6-5-0) - 10PM
^ALL TIMES EASTERN
*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out on Monday evenings
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Wednesday evenings
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