Sunday, November 30, 2008

FTS - 12/1/2008

TOP STORY

Stars & Stripes

(Photo Credit - Canadian Press)

Mike Modano's late goal gives Dallas the win and 1300 career points

Dallas Stars (8-11-4) over the Edmonton Oilers (10-11-2) 4-3
TOP PERFORMER = Mike Modano - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

It hasn't been a good year for the Stars. They have the worst record in the West and the injury bug has infected this team consistently since camp. That just makes a milestone like Mike Modano's 1,300th NHL point even sweeter. Modano scored the game-winning power play goal on Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers on a set up from Brad Richards with 2:21 remaining for the win over Edmonton. His 537th career goal made him the 31st player in the history of the game to break the 1,300 point barrier. Modano also had an assist and extended his lead among U.S.-born goal-scorers.

Dallas had a 2-0 edge after the 1st period thanks to goals from Mike Ribeiro (PP) and Toby Petersen's first goal in two seasons. In the 2nd period, Ales Hemsky would score on the power play to cut the lead in half. In the 3rd period, Kyle Brodziak would tie the game at 2. Ten minutes later in the period, Sean Avery would give Dallas a 3-2 lead, but it would be short lived when Brodziak scored his 2nd goal of the game two minutes later. Modano scored his 10th goal of the season just a minute after that. Oilers D Sheldon Souray would chip in 3 assists in the loss.

Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said leaving Modano alone on a late-game power play was a major tactical error. "It was missed execution on a pretty elementary part of our penalty kill," MacTavish said. "The game was there for us. It was ripe for opportunity. We squandered a pretty good second and third [periods] with boneheaded mistakes." Edmonton has lost 6 of their past 8 games and will get another chance to right the ship when they host Dallas on Wednesday night in the back end of the home and home.

This was a solid win against a playoff rival for Dallas. They haven't had much to cheer about this season, but this was a nice win on Thanksgiving weekend. The Stars improved their regular-season home record against Edmonton to 23-4-2 since they moved from Minnesota in 1993. Among the missing for the injury-riddled Stars were D Sergei Zubov (lower body), C Steve Ott (hand) and RW Jere Lehtinen (upper body). Zubov will be out for another week, said Tippett, who would not elaborate on the nature of the injury. Up next for Dallas is a two-game road trip, starting with Calgary tomorrow night.

OTHER HEADLINES

-New Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke doesn't expect to see Mats Sundin in a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater this season. He spoke with Sundin recently and came away from that meeting thinking that the Swede was hoping to join a contender. "I don't think we fit the profile he is looking for," Burke said Saturday after officially joining the Leafs organization. Sundin has spent the past few weeks working out in Los Angeles and has yet to commit to a return to the NHL. Several teams are believed to be interested in his services. The 37-year-old spent the past 13 seasons with the Maple Leafs. He's an unrestricted free agent and has been pondering retirement since the end of last year.

-The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has acquired D Andrew Hutchinson from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for right wing Lauri Tukonen, who is currently playing for Lukko Rauma in the Finnish Elite League. Hutchinson is expected to join the Stars in time for their upcoming two-game road trip to Calgary and Edmonton. Hutchinson, 28, has gone scoreless in two games with Tampa Bay this season. In 20 games with Norfolk (AHL) this season, he has a goal and 13 assists for 14 points, tied for the team lead in assists and tops among Admirals D in scoring.

-Josh Bailey, the No. 9 pick in this year's NHL draft, will remain with the New York Islanders for the entire season instead of returning to his junior team. Bailey, who missed the first 14 games of the season with an injury, made his debut on Nov. 11. The 19-year-old centre had no goals and five assists in his first nine games. "In a short time, Josh has met and exceeded all of our expectations of him both on and off the ice," Islanders general manager Garth Snow said in a statement. "We look forward to watching him continue his development this season as an Islander."

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Florida Panthers (9-11-3) over the New York Rangers (17-8-2) 4-0
TOP PERFORMER = Panthers G Craig Anderson - 37 saves
-The Rangers were never in this game after the 1st period. Ville Peltonen, Stephen Weiss, and Gregory Campbell each scored in the 2nd period (Weiss and Campbell's goals were 12 seconds apart) for Florida. Michael Frolik added a goal in the 3rd period. Radek Dvorak added two assists in the win. New York was 0-for-5 on the power play including a late 5-on-3 advantage for 1:45. Craig Anderson earned his 2nd shutout of the season and 6th of his career. Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist was replaced in the 2nd period by Stephen Valiquette.

St. Louis Blues (10-10-2) over the Atlanta Thrashers (8-12-2) 4-2
TOP PERFORMER = Blues RW Brad Boyes - 1 goal (PP/GW) & 1 assist
-David Backes got the Blues on the board first early in the 1st period. Colby Armstrong answered back for Atlanta 2 minutes later and Niclas Havelid would give the Thrashers the lead at 18:35 of the 1st. In the 2nd period, Keith Tkachuk scored on the power play in the 2nd period to tie the game for St. Louis. In the 3rd period, Brad Boyes would score on the power play to give the Blues the lead for good. Jay McClement would add an empty net goal. Chris Mason made 28 saves in the win while Ondrej Pavelec made 43 saves in the loss. This was the only game between the two teams this season.

Anaheim Ducks (14-8-3) over the Carolina Hurricanes (12-11-2) 4-1
TOP PERFORMER = Ducks C Ryan Getzlaf - 1 goal, 2 assists
- Ryan Getzlaf scored his 10th goal of the season almost two minutes in to the game. Matt Cullen would answer back 5 minutes later to tie the game at one. Both teams would stay scoreless in the 2nd, but Anaheim would rally late with three goals from Teemu Selanne (PPG) and Rob Niedermayer (2 goals). Rookie G Jonas Hiller made 36 saves in the win and Anaheim tied a team record by earning at least a point in their eighth consecutive road game. Carolina goalie Cam Ward left after the first period because of what was announced as a lower-body injury. He was replaced by Michael Leighton.

RUMOR MILL

-Panthers D Jay Bouwmeester is the new big name on the league trading block. Florida should be able to net a big return for him.

AROUND THE BOARDS

-The Colorado Avalanche placed D Adam Foote on injured reserve, retroactive to November 22, on Saturday. Foote is suffering from upper back and knee injuries and has just one assist in 19 games this season. The 37-year-old veteran was checked from behind by the Kings' John Zeiler late in the second period of last Saturday's 4-3 shootout victory over Los Angeles. Foote was motionless on the ice momentarily before eventually skating off hesitantly under his own power. Zeiler was suspended three games for the hit. In a corresponding move, Colorado recalled D Aaron MacKenzie from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League.

-The Ducks have recalled D Brett Festerling from the Iowa Chops (AHL). In addition, the Ducks have reassigned goaltender David LeNeveu to Iowa.

-The Ottawa Senators assigned D Brian Lee and forwards Cody Bass and Zack Smith to the Binghamton Senators (AHL).

-The Los Angeles Kings have assigned forward Brian Boyle to the Manchester Monarchs (AHL). Boyle, 23, has played in 14 games with the Kings this season, recording one goal and 12 penalty minutes.

GAME OF THE NIGHT
Anaheim Ducks (14-8-3) @ Detroit Red Wings (15-4-4) - 7:30PM

Detroit collected at least a point in seven of its first eight November contests (7-0-1), but has since posted a 1-2-1 mark. One of those losses was a 4-1 loss at Boston on Saturday night. Detroit boasts the second-best offense in the Western Conference with 82 goals, but has scored just nine times in its last four games. On the flip side, Anaheim has been on roll lately, yielding just three goals in winning its last four contests. The Ducks are coming off a 4-1 win over Carolina last night. Anaheim C Ryan Getzlaf currently has four goals and eight assists during an eight-game point streak. The Ducks are 7-2-1 on the road this season, but is 2-7-2 in Detroit since March 19, 2002.

Other Action:
Nashville (11-10-2) @ Buffalo (11-9-3) - 7PM
Vancouver (14-8-2) @ Columbus (10-10-3) - 7PM
Colorado (11-12-0) @ Minnesota (14-7-1) - 8PM
Toronto (8-9-6) @ Los Angeles (10-9-3) - 10:30PM

^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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