FTS - 12/2/08

TOP STORY

Detroit Duck Hunt

(Photo Credit - Paul Sancya - AP)

Dan Cleary, Niklas Kronwall, and Brad Stuart celebrate the eventual game-winner with Marian Hossa

Detroit Red Wings (16-4-4) over the Anaheim Ducks (14-9-3) 2-1
TOP PERFORMER = Red Wings RW Marian Hossa - 1 Goal

The Red Wings rebounded from a stretch where they lost three of four with a quality win over one of the better teams in the West. The Ducks would strike first on a Chris Kunitz goal two minutes in to the game. In the 2nd period, Johan Franzen would tie the game and earn his 100th career point. RW Marian Hossa got the winner 1:48 into the third period when he beat Hiller from the right circle to convert a two-on-one pass from Dan Cleary. "Clears had the puck and I just tried to wait for him and I knew it was a matter of time when he was going to make the pass to me," Hossa said. "Basically I just tried to shoot at the net and I think it surprised the goalie by the five-hole." Hossa hesitated before shooting, which threw Hiller off. "I was expecting one-timer and I was already down," Hiller said. It was Hossa's 14th goal and the second straight Red Wings win in which he broke a third-period tie. Hiller made 8 saves in relief of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who stopped 37 shots before being removed after two periods. He has a history of groin injuries and was beginning to cramp up. "Decided after two periods that he had seen enough rubber for one game and not take a chance," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said.

The Ducks have been involved in some tight hockey lately as ten of their last 16 games have been decided by one goal. Next up for Anaheim is the 2nd and last game of their midwestern road trip at the Blackhawks. They defeated the Blackhawks 1-0 last week at home.

The Red Wings outshot the Ducks 47-16 in the game and have 23 wins in 29 all-time home games against Anaheim(three regulation losses, three ties). Detroit improved to 10-1-4 in one-goal games this season. Detroit right winger Tomas Holmstrom missed his seventh game with back spasms and RW Darren McCarty missed his second straight game with a groin injury. Next up for the Red Wings is a home game against the Canucks. The Red Wings will be trying to avenge a loss at Vancouver from last week.

OTHER HEADLINES

-Hubert (Pit) Martin, a four-time NHL all-star in the 1960s and '70s who played 11 seasons with the Blackhawks, died after his snowmobile plunged into an icy lake near his home town of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., a provincial police spokesman said. Const. Marie-Josee Ouellet said Martin, 64, was driving the vehicle on Lake Kanasuta in northwestern Quebec on Sunday when the ice cracked and he plunged into the freezing water. She said another man who was driving a separate snowmobile at the time has confirmed Martin ended up in the water. Divers were still attempting to retrieve Martin's body. "He always came back in the summer to play golf," Dale Tallon, now general manager of the Blackhawks, recalled of his fellow native of Rouyn-Noranda, a hockey hotbed that produced a long line of NHL stars. "I always admired him as a kid growing up in Noranda. "He was a wonderful guy. It's very sad." Martin, who would have turned 65 next week, lived on an island in the lake that was reached by boat in summer and snowmobile in winter, but there were always tricky periods in spring and fall when the ice had to be tested regularly, Tallon said.

-The NHL named it's Three Stars of the Week:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=395469

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Nashville Predators (12-10-2) over the Buffalo Sabres (11-10-3) 2-0
TOP PERFORMER = Predators G Pekka Rinne - 30 Saves (Shutout)
-Pekka Rinne has been everything that a team can ask from a backup goalie. When his number is called, he gives a solid effort in net and has resulted in a win each time (4-0-0), including his first career shutout last night. Jason Arnott and JP Dumont would score 2:33 apart in the 3rd period to give Nashville the win. Ryan Miller made 25 saves for the Sabres, who lost their second straight. Miller also had his personal three-game winning streak stopped. The Sabres played without captain Craig Rivet, who was scratched just hours before gametime because of an upper body injury. But Buffalo did get forward Ales Kotalik back after he missed seven games because of a hamstring injury.

Columbus Blue Jackets (11-10-3) over the Vancouver Canucks (14-9-2) 3-2
TOP PERFORMER = Blue Jackets LW Kristian Huselius - 1 Goal, 1 Assist (GWG)
-The game would stay scoreless until the 2nd period when Kyle Wellwood scored his 10th goal of the season on the PP to give Vancouver an early edge. Fredrik Modin would answer right back on the PP to tie the game. In the 3rd period, Kevin Bieksa (PPG) and Andrew Murray would trade goals to tie the game at 2. Kristian Huselius would score the game winner on a feed from Rick Nash (2 assists) and Marc Methot at 15:16 of the 3rd period to give Columbus the win. Steve Mason made 30 saves and improved to 6-2-1 on the season. Itt was the Blue Jackets their first win this season after allowing the first goal. The goalie problems continued for Vancouver as Curtis Sanford left with back spasms after stopping all 11 first-period shots. Cory Schneider faced 18 shots and stopped 15 in relief. The game was the 300th home game for the Blue Jackets (137-121-18-24).

Colorado Avalanche (12-12-0) over the Minnesota Wild (14-8-1) 6-5
TOP PERFORMER = Avalanche C Paul Stastny - 2 goals, 1 assist (GWG)
- The Avalanche snapped a five-game winless streak in Minnesota thanks to a 2nd period outburst of scoring. In the 1st period, Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored the first of his two goals in the game to open the scoring. Marek Svatos and David Jones would give Colorado a 2-1 lead, but Mikko Koivu would answer back for the Wild on the power play in the last minute of the period. In the 2nd period, Bouchard would score his 2nd goal of the game on the power play to give the Wild their last lead of the game. Colorado would then score four straight goals from Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk (PP) TJ Hensick, and Stastny again. Owen Nolan (PPG) and Brent Burns (in the 3rd period) would score to get Minnesota within striking distance, but they would fall short. Minnesota head coach Jacques Lemaire was less than thrilled with the effort. "Worst two periods that I've seen," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said, referring to the first two periods. "We made so many mistakes there in the first and second and we lost confidence a bit." Wild center Eric Belanger returned from a lower-body injury and skated in his 500th game.

Toronto Maple Leafs (9-9-6) over the Los Angeles Kings (10-10-3) 3-1
TOP PERFORMER = Maple Leafs G Vesa Toskala - 32 saves
-Kings winger Alexander Frolov would score less than a minute in to the game for Los Angeles, but their offensive output would end there. In the 3rd period, Matt Stajan and Mikhail Grabovski would score 1:21 apart on the same power play (Stajan on a 5 on 3) to give Toronto the lead for good. Jeff Finger would add an empty netter. Jason LaBarbera made 27 saves in the loss. Toronto RW Jamal Mayers sat out the last two periods with a broken right hand after sliding into the net and banging it on the goalpost. "You're looking at three weeks to a month, probably," Wilson said. Kings RW John Zeiler, who was suspended for the previous three games after checking Colorado's Adam Foote into the boards from behind on Nov. 22, was a healthy scratch. The Maple Leafs played at Staples Center for only the third time since the arena opened in October 1999. The other two visits resulted in a 4-4 tie on Nov. 13, 2003, and a 5-2 loss on Jan. 10. Their last victory in Los Angeles came on March 12, 1998, at the Inglewood Forum, when Felix Potvin outplayed Stephane Fiset in net for a 2-1 decision.

RUMOR MILL

-No rumors to report. BUT, it will be interesting to see whose status gets settled first between Mats Sundin, Marian Gaborik, and Jay Bouwmeester

AROUND THE BOARDS

-The Boston Bruins recalled defensemen Johnny Boychuk and Matt Lashoff from the Providence Bruins (AHL). Boychuk, 24, has posted four goals and 19 assists in 22 games this season for Providence. He currently leads all AHL defensemen in both points and assists. The 22-year-old Lashoff has scored four goals and 12 assists in 18 games. His 16 points rank third among AHL defensemen.

-The New York Islanders announced that center Mike Sillinger has been recalled following a three-game conditioning stint with the club’s AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. The team also announced that right wing Tim Jackman and center Jeremy Colliton were reassigned to Bridgeport following Saturday’s game against Ottawa. Sillinger, 37, has missed the Islanders’ first 24 games of the season as well as the team’s final 29 games of the 2007-08 season recovering from microfracture hip surgery. In 134 games with the Islanders, Sillinger has scored 38 goals and added 45 assists for a total of 85 points. The 18-year veteran has played in 1,042 career NHL games, tallying 238 goals and 308 assists for 546 points and 644 penalty minutes. Sillinger skated in three games during his conditioning stint at Bridgeport, logging one goal and three assists for four points.

-The Wild named defenseman Kim Johnsson captain for December. The veteran Swede leads the Wild in ice time (24:55) and has eight points. It will be Johnsson's first stint as captain since signing with Minnesota in 2006.

GAME OF THE NIGHT
Toronto Maple Leafs (9-9-6) @ San Jose Sharks (20-3-1) - 10:30PM

Tonight marks the return of Ron Wilson to San Jose. This will be his first game against the Sharks since being fired after the team's 3rd straight 2nd round playoff exit this past Spring. Hired by San Jose in December 2002, Wilson guided the Sharks to a 206-134-38 record with 19 ties in four-plus seasons with the club. He surpassed Darryl Sutter as the franchise's all-time wins leader on March 1. This will also be G Vesa Toskala's first game against the Sharks since being traded. The Leafs ended a five-game winless streak with a 4-2 victory over Philadelphia on Saturday, and got power-play goals from Matt Stajan and Mikhail Grabovski less than 1 1/2 minutes apart early in the third period of a 3-1 victory at Los Angeles on Monday. San Jose is on their 2nd seven game winning streak of the season and has outscored opponents 35-15 during the streak. The Sharks are coming off a 3-2 come-from-behind road win against Phoenix and still have yet to lose in regulation at home (12-0-1). San Jose is 2-0-2 in its last four meetings with Toronto.

Other Action:
Tampa Bay (6-10-7) @ Philadelphia (11-7-5) - 7PM
Florida (9-11-3) @ Washington (13-8-3) - 7PM
Atlanta (8-12-3) @ Montreal (13-6-4) - 7:30PM
Dallas (8-11-4) @ Calgary (14-9-1) - 9:30PM
Los Angeles (10-10-3) @ Phoenix (10-11-2) - 9:30PM

^ALL TIMES EASTERN


*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Monday evenings

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out Wednesday evenings

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