FTS - 12/5/08

TOP STORY

Joyeux Anniversaire Les Habitents

(Photo Credit: Paul Chiasson - Canadian Press)

George Laraques, Maxim Lapierre and Steve Begin celebrate a goal in their romp over the Rangers

Montreal Canadiens (15-6-4) over the New York Rangers (18-9-2) 6-2

TOP PERFORMER = Canadiens LW Steve Begin - 1 Goal, 1 Assist, +2

The Montreal Canadiens celebrated the franchise's 99th birthday in a big way. What better birthday gift is there than to beat up on an Original 6 rival at home. The Canadiens scored four goals (Andrei Kostitsyn, Steve Begin, Alex Tanguay, Maxim Lapierre) before the Rangers would finally get on the board midway through the 2nd period. Markus Naslund (PPG), and Nigel Dawes would cut the lead in half, but that would be as close as the Rangers would get. Robert Lang and Matt D'Agostini tacked on two more goals to complete the win.

Canadiens G Carey Price made 18 saves in the win while Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist made 33 saves in the loss. The six goals tie a season-high for Montreal, who also scored six in an Oct. 11 win over the Maple Leafs. Montreal is 3-0-0 so far on their seven game homestand.

The Canadiens, founded on Dec. 9, 1909, as an inaugural member of the National Hockey Association, unveiled bronze statues of Howie Morenz, Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Jean Beliveau and Guy Lafleur outside the Bell Centre earlier in the day. As part of the team's centennial year celebrations, Montreal wore throwback uniforms in the style of the franchise's first Stanley Cup champions in 1915-16, one year prior to the NHL's formation. "We wanted to win, especially tonight, with this uniform," Begin said. Price, who stopped 18 shots, wore brown goalie pads and gloves as part of the promotion, the first of four variations of retro jerseys from the Canadiens' first decade that the team will wear for certain games over the course of the next 12 months.

Next up for the Canadiens is the Devils at the Bell Centre on Saturday night while the Rangers will host the Flames on Sunday night.

OTHER HEADLINES

!!!THE NHL HAS SUSPENDED SEAN AVERY FOR THE COMMENTS HE MADE BEFORE TUESDAY NIGHT'S GAME AGAINST THE FLAMES. MORE ON THIS IN TOMORROW'S FTS!!!

-To unload Avery's $3.875 salary this season, the Stars could place Avery on waivers and if he clears, send him to the AHL. The Stars have a partial affiliation with the Manitoba Moose and currently have five Dallas players on their AHL roster; however the Moose have made it clear they are not interested in providing a place for Avery to play. Moose owner Mark Chipman told TSN, ''We wouldn't take him under any circumstance.'' Chipman says the Stars approached Moose general manager Craig Heisinger recently, several days before Avery's latest offensive remarks on Tuesday to ask if Manitoba would make room for Avery if he cleared NHL waivers. Following a brief internal discussion, the Moose declied and Dallas decided not to waive him. The Stars also have players assigned to Hamilton, Grand Rapids, Peoria, Iowa and Houston. We are still awaiting word on Gary Bettman's decision on Avery's future after their meeting yesterday. (Courtesy Darren Dreger - TSN)

-Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios is expected to be assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) for conditioning on Friday and play in the Griffins' home games against Toronto and Hamilton this weekend. The 46-year-old Chelios fractured his leg blocking a shot in a preseason game on Sept. 30 and returned to practice with the Red Wings this week. Chelios, who has played in 1,616 NHL games, is preparing to play in his 25th NHL season, which would tie him with Mark Messier for second all-time behind Gordie Howe's 26 campaigns. Chelios, who would also be the oldest player to ever suit up in the 73-year history of the AHL, is the NHL's active leader in games played and penalty minutes. He also ranks 12th all-time with 2,873 penalty minutes and eighth all-time among defensemen with 763 assists.

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Pittsburgh Penguins (15-6-4) over the Carolina Hurricanes (12-12-2) 5-2

TOP PERFORMER = Penguins C Sidney Crosby - 4 assists

-Hurricanes HC Paul Maurice's coaching debut was spoiled by an offensive onslaught by the Penguins. Petr Sykora scored two power play goals for Pittsburgh and Evgeni Malkin had two assists to stay atop the league leaders in points (he's ahead of Crosby by two points). Dany Sabourin made 32 saves for Pittsburgh.

New Jersey Devils (13-8-2) over the Philadelphia Flyers (12-7-6) 3-2 (OT)

TOP PERFORMER = Devils LW Patrick Elias (2 goals - 1 was the GW)

-Flyers D Kimmo Timonen and Devils LW Zach Parise (14th of the season) would trade goals in the 2nd period and Scottie Upshall (PPG) and Patrick Elias would trade goals in the 3rd period. In overtime, Elias would score on a feed from Parise and Colin White to end a three game winless streak against the Flyers. Elias extended his points streak to eight games and Brian Gionta extended his points streak to five games. Flyers LW Simon Gagne, who leads the Flyers with 31 points, was taken out of the game after the second period when he became dehydrated and started to cramp up.

Washington Capitals (14-9-3) over the New York Islanders (10-13-2) 5-2
TOP PERFORMER = Capitals LW Alexander Ovechkin - 1 Goal (PPG), 1 Assist

-The Capitals received goals from five different players (Oveckin-PPG, Viktor Kozlov-PPG, Donald Brashear, Erik Fehr-PPG and Nicklas Backstrom-EN) and Brent Johnson made 27 saves to help the Capitals to victory. AO has 14 goals and 20 assists in 24 games so far this season. Trent Hunter and Mark Streit (PPG) scored for the Isles and Joey McDonald made 42 saves in the loss.

Detroit Red Wings (17-4-4) over the Vancouver Canucks (14-10-2) 6-5

TOP PERFORMER = Red Wings D Nicklas Lidstrom - 1 Goal, 2 Assists

-Taylor Pyatt opened up the scoring for Vancouver early in the 1st period, but Detroit would answerr back with two goals from Jiri Hudler. In the 2nd period, Kyle Wellwood (PPG) and Mason Raymond put Vancouver back ahead, but Daniel Cleary would tie it up heading in to the 2nd intermission. In the 3rd period, Detroit came out on fire with goals from Derek Meech, Nicklas Lidstrom and Daniel Cleary (PPG) within the first 6 minutes. Henrik Sedin and Alexandre Burrows would make a late rally for Vancouver, but they would fall short. This was the final meeting between the teams for this season.

Boston Bruins (17-4-4) over the Tampa Bay Lightning (6-11-8) 3-1

TOP PERFORMER = Bruins G Tim Thomas - 30 saves

-Martin St. Louis scored for the Lightning 1:21 in to the game, but that would be the end of their offensive output for the game. Phil Kessel tied things up in the 2nd period and David Krejci scored a beautiful shorthanded goal in the 3rd period to put Boston up for good. Phil Kessel added an empty net goal. Tim Thomas improved to 7-1-1 in his last 9 starts. Boston C Marc Savard had two assists, giving him 14 assists and 16 points in his last 10 games. Lightning G Mike Smith made 23 saves in the loss.

Florida Panthers (11-11-3) over the Buffalo Sabres (11-11-3) 2-1

TOP PERFORMER = Panthers C Gregory Campbell - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

-The Panthers would get on the board in the 2nd period when Gregory Campbell and Keith Ballard would score 37 seconds apart. In the 3rd period, Ales Kotalik would score a PPG to cut the lead to 1, but that's as close as the Sabres would get. G Craig Anderson made 45 saves in the win (and Peter DeBoer is still trying to tell us that Anderson isn't the starter in Florida, c'mon man). Florida D Jay Bouwmeester extended his points streak to five games. Sabres D Craig Rivet missed his second consecutive game because of an upper- body injury.

Nashville Predators (13-10-2) over the Colorado Avalanche (12-13-0) 3-2

TOP PERFORMER = Predators C David Legwand - 1 Goal (GW)

-If you had to stop watching this game after the 1st period, you didn't miss anything. Vernon Fiddler scored his 3rd goal of the season for Nashville to open up the scoring. Ryan Smith would answer back on the power play four minutes later to tie the game. Shea Weber gave the Predators the lead back on the power play. Wojtek Wolski scored a shorthanded goal four minutes later to tie the game again. With one second remaining in the period, David Legwand (who played in his 574th game for the Predators, a team record) gave the Preds the lead for good on a set up from Dan Hamhuis and Antti Pihlstrom. Nashville G Pekka Rinne improved his record to 5-0. It was his second win in a row. The Predators are 7-0-0 when leading after the first period and 10-2-0 when scoring the first goal. They're also 8-1-0 when Weber scores.

Phoenix Coyotes (12-11-2) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (9-11-6) 6-3
TOP PERFORMER = Coyotes C Martin Hanzal - 3 Goals

-Martin Hanzal would score two of his three goals in the 1st period, but Alexei Ponikarovsky would score two of his own to keep the game tied. Martin Hanzal would complete the hat trick in the 2nd period, but Jason Blake would answer back 14 minutes later. In the 3rd period, the Coyotes would pull away thanks to two goals from Steve Reinprecht and one from Todd Fedoruk. Phoenix's weeklong goalie saga took another twist when Mikael Tellqvist was pulled in favor of Ilya Bryzgalov after allowing three goals on nine shots in the first two periods. Tellqvist, the Coyotes' backup, had started five of Phoenix's last six games. "We're a team that needs all 23 guys contributing at all different times," head coach Wayne Gretzky said. "I felt Telly had got us to that point, Bryz had worked hard the last three games and we needed a pressure cooker out of him in the third. I had the gut feel it was the right time to make the change. I did it more to push the team."

San Jose Sharks (22-3-1) over the Columbus Blue Jackets (11-11-3) 3-2

TOP PERFORMER = Sharks G Evgeni Nabokov - 29 saves

-Rick Nash drew first blood in the game on a feed from Jan Hjeda and Kristian Huselius. In the 2nd period, captain Patrick Marleau tied the game on his 76th career power play goal (team record) and 250th career goal. In the 3rd period, Jeremy Roenick scored on the power play :44 seconds in to the period. Three mintues later, Fredrik Modin tied the game, but Joe Thornton would give San Jose the lead for good three minutes after that. Sharks D Marc-Edouard Vlasic contributed three assists in the win. The Sharks improved to 15-0-1 all-time at home against Columbus and 14-0-1 at home this season. San Jose is now 22-0-2 in their last 24 home games dating back to last season. Sharks D Brad Lukowich injured his groin in the second period and didn't return. RW Jonathan Cheechoo missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury.

RUMOR MILL

-Panthers D Cory Murphy could be on the move soon. The rumored destination is Montreal, who is still trying to fill the void of Mark Streit.

-An interesting intradivision trade could happen between the Leafs and Senators for G Vesa Toskala.

-Blackhawks G Nikolai Khabibulin's name is surfacing in trade rumors again. Just like last time, New Jersey is the rumored destination.

AROUND THE BOARDS

-Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta is out indefinitely after being placed on the IR yesterday because of a head and neck injury. Kaleta, who ranks second on the team with 49 hits, was hurt in a 3-2 loss at Montreal last weekend and did not play in a 2-0 loss to Nashville on Monday. The fourth-line player has a goal and assist and 48 penalty minutes in 21 games this season. The Sabres, who open a three-game road trip at Florida on Thursday, recalled D Mike Weber from their AHL Portland (Maine) affiliate to bolster a banged-up blue-line.

-Blue Jackets left-wing Raffi Torres was set to have arthroscopic knee surgery Friday. He will be sidelined two to four weeks. The 27-year-old Torres, acquired from Edmonton in exchange for Gilbert Brule on July 1, has a goal and three assists in 14 games with Columbus.

-Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke has made an attempt to strengthen his front office, offering Dave Nonis the position of Senior Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations. The offer was made Thursday morning, however Nonis hasn't accepted the position yet, and negotiations are ongoing. A decision is expected by the weekend.

-Florida D Noah Welch was assigned to Rochester of the AHL on a two-week conditioning stint.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Vancouver Canucks (14-10-2) @ Minnesota Wild (15-8-1) - 8PM

The Canucks look to prevent a fifth consecutive loss for the first time in almost three years on Friday night, when they aim for a third straight win over the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center. Vancouver went 8-0-2 from Nov. 4-24 with Luongo winning five of seven starts as he compiled a 0.97 goals-against average. But the captain went down with a strained groin in a Nov. 22 win at Pittsburgh, and the Canucks have gone 1-4-0 without him. They have lost four in a row including a 6-5 loss to Detroit last night. After allowing a season-high six goals on Monday in a loss to Colorado, the Wild bounced back on Wednesday when Niklas Backstrom made 22 saves en route to his third shutout of the season in a 4-0 victory over St. Louis. "I think we learned our lesson Monday that we're not going to get anything for free in this league," said Backstrom, who has a 2.27 GAA. Though Backstrom lost both matchups against the Canucks last month, he is 7-3-3 with a 2.10 GAA in 14 career meetings. Minnesota has won four of its last six games, thanks in part to a resurgent offense that has scored 26 goals and converted 40.6 percent (13-for-32) of its power-play opportunities in that span.

Other Action:

Calgary (14-10-1) @ St. Louis (10-11-2) - 8PM

Colorado (12-13-0) @ Dallas (9-12-4) - 8:30PM

Edmonton (11-11-2) @ Los Angeles (10-11-3) - 10:30PM

^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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