FTS 11/3/08

TOP STORY

Ducks Hotter Than Flames

(Photo Credit: Christian Petersen - Getty Images)

Ryan Getzlaf gets one on net in the Ducks victory

Anaheim Ducks (7-5-1) over the Calgary Flames (7-4-1) 3-2

AP/NHL.com Link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008020166

Something had to give in this game. The Ducks have had a complete resurgance after starting the season 0-4. The Flames were riding a six game winning streak. Both teams have great goalies. In the end, it was the Ducks who would glide over Calgary when they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 2nd period and never looked back.

Ryan Getzlaf would get things going the Ducks in the first period with his fourth goal of the season. In the 2nd period, Chris Pronger and Ryan Carter would tack on goals to give the Ducks a 3-0 home lead. Calgary would rally with goals from Curtis Glencross and Todd Bertuzzi (PPG), but that would be as close as Calgary would get. The Flames had some good opportunities late in the game but couldn't capitalize. Jarome Iginla would assist on both Flames goals.

Ducks G Jean-Sebastian Giguere and Flames G Miika Kiprusoff each made 34 saves in their respective divisions. Giguere improved his home-mark against Calgary to 11-2-2. Corey Perry extended his career-high assist streak to seven games (11 assists, three goals) and is one game off the franchise record set by Scott Niedermayer during the 2006-2007 season. Teemu Selanne's one assist in the game leaves him one shy of tying Paul Kariya for the franchise history lead. The Ducks' victory was their eighth straight at home against the Flames, their longest active home win streak against any opponent.

Mike Keenan felt the Flames were flat early. "The intensity level wasn't high enough for a team as good as the team we were playing tonight," the Calgary coach said. The Flames return home for a quick two-game homestand starting with Phoenix on Tuesday night. The Ducks travel up I-5 to the Staples Center to take on the Kings tomorrow night.

OTHER HEADLINES

-Devils G Martin Brodeur will sit out tonight's game against the Buffalo Sabres with a "bruised elbow" (or at least that's what Devils GM Lou Lamoreillo is calling it). Team officials reported that Brodeur is going for tests and that no other information will be offered on his condition until he is evaluated. Brodeur seemed to injure his left elbow scrambling to make a stop during a flurry of activity in front of the Devils' goal. season until being relieved by backup Kevin Weekes Saturday night. Weekes will get the start against Buffalo tonight.

RUMOR MILL

-It looks like the Islanders, Kings and Predators may be close on making a three-way deal.

-Sundin Update: Montreal seems to be the front runner for him (is anyone keeping tally on how many times that statement has been made?)

-It looks like the Pittsburgh Penguins are making a run at Brendan Shanahan. He would be a perfect fit for the Pens. While he might not put up the numbers we're accustomed to seeing, he would pay off HUGE dividends in the Pittsburgh locker room. If this happens, this move should scare the rest of the Atlantic Division.

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Edmonton Oilers (6-4-1) over the Philadelphia Flyers (4-4-3) 5-4
-The Oilers played tough throughout this game and pretty much controlled it from beginning to end. Ales Hemsky had two goals and an assist, Erik Cole and Dustin Penner each added a goal and Sheldon Souray added a PPG. Edmonton D Tom Gilbert chipped in with three assists. The Oilers have now won two in a row on the road after opening the road trip with a loss. The Flyers would get PP goals from Jeff Carter, Braydon Coburn and Mike Knuble. Simon Gagne would tack on an early 3rd period goal but the Flyers could not complete the comeback. The loss snaps a four game winning streak for Philly.

Carolina Hurricanes (6-3-2) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (5-4-3) 6-4
-Tuomo Ruutu had a goal and an assist, and Carolina scored three times in less than 4 minutes during the second period en route to the win. The Hurricanes trailed twice in this game (1-0, 3-1) in a big come from behind at home against a team that was starting to heat up. Dwight Helminen, Chad LaRose and Ray Whitney each had a goal and an assist, Joe Corvo also scored and Eric Staal added an empty-netter for Carolina. Mikhail Grabovski scored two goals less than 4 minutes apart, Niklas Hagman had a goal and an assist, Ian White also scored and Nikolai Kulemin had two assists for the Maple Leafs, who entered having won four of five.RW Patrick Dwyer made his NHL debut for the Hurricanes. He was recalled earlier in the day from Albany to replace C Matt Cullen (leg). Toronto C Matt Stajan's five-game points streak was snapped

Atlanta Thrashers (3-7-2) over the Florida Panthers (4-6-1) 5-3
-Thrashers LW Ilya Kovalchuk had his first big performance of the year with two goals and an assist in the home victory. Kovalchuk scored both goals and assisted on Bryan Little's sixth goal in the second period, giving the Thrashers a 4-1 lead at that point. Erik Christiansen assisted on both of Kovalchuk's goals. The Panthers made it close when Nathan Horton scored at 18:20 of the second period and Noah Welch got his first goal of the season 3:17 into the final period. Thrashers G Ondrej Pavelec got his first NHL start and made 18 saves. Atlanta C Todd White played in his 500th NHL game. Florida D Jay Bouwmeester played in his 400th game and C Kamil Kreps took part in his 100th.

San Jose Sharks (10-2-0) over the Colorado Avalanche (5-6-0) 5-3
-The Sharks got their 10th win of the season thanks to two goals each from Devin Setoguchi and Milan Michalek. The Sharks built and early 2-0 lead and held on despite the Avs tough play throughout the game. Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau each chipped in with two assists. Milan Hejduk, Jordan Leopold and John-Michael Liles were the goal scorers for Colorado. G Evgeni Nabokov made 33 saves in his 8th win of the season (in 10 appearances). D Christian Ehrhoff earned his 100th career point on an assist on Setoguchi's first goal.

Detroit Red Wings (8-2-2) over the Vancouver Canucks (6-6-0) 3-2
-The power play proved to be the difference at GM Place last night. All three Red Wings goals came on the PP (Mikael Samuelsson, Brian Rafalski, Henrik Zetterberg) and the Red Wings held 3 for 5 on the night. Vancouver's penalty kill was perfect at home until then. Chris Osgood made 25 saves in the win and Jiri Hudler added two assists. Detroit snapped a two-game road losing streak and held the lead from 13 minutes in the game until the end. Henrik Sedin and Kyle Wellwood scored the two goals for Vancover.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Buffalo Sabres (7-2-2) @ New Jersey Devils (6-2-2) - 7PM
- Before last night, this was shaping up to be quite the goaltender duel between Martin Brodeur and Ryan Miller. With the elbow injury to Brodeur, Kevin Weekes gets a chance to prove his merit in his first start of the season. New Jersey has called up Jeff Frazee, the team's second-round choice in 2005, from Trenton of the East Coast Hockey League to serve as Weekes' backup. The Devils snapped a three game skid with a 6-1 win over Atlanta on Saturday night. The Sabres also broke a three game losing streak with an impressive 5-0 win over Washington on Saturday. All four meetings between New Jersey and Buffalo last season went to shootouts, with the Devils winning three of them.

Other Action:
Columbus (4-6-1) @ NY Islanders (2-7-1) - 7PM
Colorado (5-6-0) @ Chicago (5-3-3) - 8:30PM

^ALL TIMES EASTERN

*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out on tonight!
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Wednesday evenings

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