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(Photo Credit - Darryl Dyck - Canadian Press)
Kyle Wellwood celebrates a late goal against Red Wings G Chris Osgood
After missing the previous two games with the flu, D Sami Salo returned in a big way last night. He set up the tying goal with 2:25 left in regulation and scored the winner on a power play 2:33 into overtime, lifting Vancouver to a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings. The tying goal that Daniel Sedin scored came 50 seconds after Pavel Datsyuk gave Detroit the lead with a power-play goal. The Red Wings outshot Vancouver 34-16 through regulation, but the Canucks took all 8 shots in OT.
Taylor Pyatt scored the other Vancouver goal while Mikael Samuelsson scored the other Red Wings goal. Curtis Sanford made 32 saves in his first start since star goalie Roberto Luongo was injured while Chris Osgood made 21 saves in the loss. The Canucks did Vancouver lose RW Steve Bernier to an undisclosed injury midway through the first period and he never came back.
While you never like to lose, this is no big deal for the Red Wings. They are bound to lose games from time to time and ran in to a very hot Vancouver team. They still managed to escape with a point, but had their 5 game winning streak snapped. Detroit finished the Western Canada road trip at 2-0-1 and head home for a two-game home swing, starting with Montreal tomorrow night.
If you're the Canucks, this is a huge win. They have won four in a row and got a big performance from Curtis Sanford in net. You could do a lot worse than Sanford as your backup and could be a starter on some teams. When you can get a win against a team like the Red Wings after losing your captain/starting goalie when you were already on a roll, look out. Up next for Vancouver is a home and home against the rival Flames.
OTHER HEADLINES
-The St. Louis Blues have traded forward Lee Stempniak to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for D Carlo Colaiacovo and winger Alex Steen. I think this is a pretty even deal for both teams. St. Louis needed some help on the blue line and what they are losing in Stempniak they are getting most of that back in Steen. As for the Leafs, a guy like Stempniak could jump start the offense a little bit.
-After missing seven games with a lower-body injury, G Evgeni Nabokov will start for the Sharks tomorrow night against the Chicago Blackhawks. He felt ready to play for most of the past week, but coach Todd McLellan refused to rush his franchise goalie back into action before he was fully ready. "It's been how many, three weeks?" Nabokov said after a full practice Monday. "You've got to get back in it and make sure everything is the way it was. I'm looking forward to it." Brian Boucher went 5-1-1 in Nabokov's absence.
LAST NIGHT'S RECAP
New York Rangers (15-7-2) over the Phoenix Coyotes (8-10-2) 4-1
TOP PERFORMER = Rangers RW Nikolai Zherdev - 3 Assists
-This was a pretty even contest until the 3rd period, when the Rangers took control of the game. The Blueshirts seem to be making a habit of taking over games in the 3rd period after sleepwalking through the first two. Blair Betts, Brandon Dubinsky, Dan Girardi (PPG) and Scott Gomez (EN) were the 4 goal scorers for the Rangers while Enver Lisin scored the lone Coyotes goal. Henrik Lundqvist made 35 saves to earn his league-leading 13th win of the year while Ilya Bryzgalov made 32 saves in Phoenix's 6th straight loss. The Coyotes are 3-for-33 on the power play during their skid.
Philadelphia Flyers (10-6-4) over the Dallas Stars (6-10-4) 4-3
TOP PERFORMER = Flyers LW Mike Knuble - 2 Goals
-Atlantic Division look out, because the Flyers are on a five-game winning streak. Dallas kept things close, but a late Mike Knuble goal gave Philly the edge. Jeff Carter and Scottie Upshall had the other Flyers goals while Landon Wilson and Mike Modano (2 goals) scored for Fallas. Stars G Marty Turco, who was playing in his 400th NHL game, made 21 saves in the loss. Flyers winger Simon Gagne had two assists in the win.
New York Islanders (9-10-2) over the Montreal Canadiens (11-5-4) 4-3 (SO)
TOP PERFORMER = Canadiens D Ryan O'Byrne (scored in his own net to give the Isles a chance to win)
-Ryan O'Byrne allowed the tying goal when he put the puck in his own net on a delayed penalty, and Bill Guerin scored the shootout clincher for the New York Islanders in a 4-3 victory over Montreal on Monday night.Bill Guerin was credited with the goal on O'Byrne's gaffe, which made it 3-all at 15:13 of the third period. Richard Park and Trent Hunter also scored for the surging Islanders, who won for the fifth time in six games. Each of the Canadiens' last six games has been decided by one goal or in a shootout and forward Alexei Kovalev has no goals in his last 10 games. Islanders D Thomas Pock served the fifth and final game of his suspension for elbowing Ottawa forward Ryan Shannon in the head Nov. 13.
Florida Panthers (8-11-1) over the Carolina Hurricanes (11-9-2) 3-2
TOP PERFORMER = Panthers LW Ville Peltonen - 1 goal, 1 assist
-David Booth scored his 10th goal of the season and Ville Peltonen scored to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead after the 1st perio.d Tuomo Rutut and Chad LaRose answere back early in the 2nd period to tie things up. Late in the 2nd, Gregorry Campball would score the game winner. Panthers G Tomas Vokoun made 27 saves in the win. Carolina has scored two goals or less in nine of its last 10 games. The Hurricanes lost their second straight game following a three-game winning streak.
TOP PERFORMER = Wild RW Cal Clutterbuck - 2 goals
-Cal Clutterbuck would score career goals 1 and 2 (the 2nd on the PP) to get the Wild going. The Wild would take a 4-0 lead in the 3rd period thanks to goals from Marek Zidlicky (PPG) and James Sheppard. Washington would make a charge in the back half of the 3rd period with goals from Matt Bradley, Alexander Ovechkin, and Nicklas Backstrom (PPG - btw, Nicklas Backstrom scored on Nicklas Backstrom...go figure). Caps G Jose Theodore made 29 saves in the loss while Wild G Nicklas Backstrom stopped 25 shots in the win. Washington lost its third consecutive game, its first three-game regulation losing streak since Bruce Boudreau became coach.
Anaheim Ducks (12-8-3) over the Colorado Avalanche (9-11-0) 4-1
TOP PERFORMER = Ducks RW Teemu Selanne- 2 goals (both on the PP)
-The Ducks controlled this game from beginning to end. Selanne would get the Ducks on the board with the first of his two PP goals. Chris Kunitz and Chris Pronger (Pronger also had an assist) would have Anaheim 3-0 heading in to the 3rd period. Ian Laperriere scored the lone goal for the Avs. Jean-Sebastian Giguere looked like the Giggy of old, making 29 saves in the win. The win ended a 1-3-1 stretch on home ice for the Ducks. Colorado center Joe Sakic missed his seventh game with a back injury. Ducks center Brendan Morrison returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch in Dallas on Saturday. He assisted on the goal by Kunitz. The Ducks provided a video tribute to Colorado defenseman Ruslan Salei, who made his first appearance in Anaheim since leaving as a free agent in 2006
RUMOR MILL
-Nothing for today
AROUND THE BOARDS
-Claude Lemieux has signed a tryout contract with the San Jose Sharks in hopes of returning to the NHL after a five-year absence. The 43-year-old Lemieux is expected to report to the Sharks' AHL affiliate in Worcester this week. Lemieux hasn't played in the NHL since the 2002-03 season, which he spent with Phoenix and Dallas.Earlier this year, Lemieux played a two-game stint with the China Sharks, San Jose's affiliate in Shanghai, while gauging his ability to make a full comeback. Lemieux is a longtime friend of Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, who has taken a chance on veteran players before.
-The Dallas Stars announced on Monday that forward Steve Ott will miss at least a month with a broken right hand. Ott suffered the injury in a fight against Anaheim Ducks D Steve Montador, and will undergo surgery. The 26-year-old has two goals, six points and 51 penalty minutes in 14 games this season for Dallas. The club recalled forward Chris Conner from Peoria of the AHL to fill the roster spot
-Los Angeles Kings forward John Zeiler has been suspended for three games without pay for hitting Colorado Avalanche D Adam Foote from behing in a game on Sunday. Zeiler will miss Tuesday night's game against the Calgary Flames, Wednesday's game in Edmonton against the Oilers and Saturday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks. He will be eligible to return Dec. 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
-The NHL named it's 3 Stars of the Week:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=394127
GAME OF THE NIGHT
Los Angeles Kings (8-8-3) @ Calgary Flames (11-9-1) - 9:30PM
The Kings begin their first Canadian road trip of the season on the Red Mile. 14 of the 19 Kings games have been in the Staples Center (and two of the 5 road games were at Anaheim & San Jose) so far this season. LA has played well, but has gone 1-2-1 in their last four games. They are coming off a 3-2 SO loss to the Avalanche on Saturday night. The Flames are coming off a 5-2 loss to the Red Wings on Saturday night, but they swept a home and home with the Avalanche before that. Calgary is 7-3-1 at the Saddledome this season.
Other Action:
St. Louis (8-8-2) @ Nashville (10-9-1) - 7PM
Atlanta (7-10-2) @ Toronto (7-8-5) - 7:30PM
^ALL TIMES EASTERN
*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Monday evenings
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes our on Wednesday evenings
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