FTS - 1/21/09

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

MARLEAU THE MAGICIAN

(Photo Credit: San Jose Mercury News)

Sharks Captain Patrick Marleau failed on the first two chances but banged home the 3rd in OT

San Jose Sharks (34-6-5) over the Vancouver Canucks (22-19-7) 2-1 (OT)
The Sharks proved last night that they are a different team (in a very good way) than the Sharks playoff teams of previous seasons. San Jose played poorly through 59 minutes of the game, but Devin Setoguchi would tie the game with 40 seconds remaining. In overtime, the Sharks would keep the pressure on. Patrick Marleau had two great chances to win the game but missed on both. On the insuing play after the second chance, Joe Thornton found Marleau again for the winning goal. Taylor Pyatt had the lone Canucks goal. The game also marked the return of winger Claude Lemieux from a 5 1/2 year break from the NHL

New York Rangers (28-16-4) over the Anaheim Ducks (23-20-5) 4-2
Markus Naslund and Scott Gomez would both score power play goals while Frederik Sjostrom and Blair Betts (empty-netter) both scored shorthanded goals. Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry both scored their 14th goals of the season while Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves for the Blueshirts.

Atlanta Thrashers (17-25-5) over the Montreal Canadiens (27-12-6) 4-2
Chris Thorburn and Zach Bogosian each had a goal and an assist for the Thrashers while G Kari Lehtonen turned 34 tough saves to give the Thrashers the upset win.

Ottawa Senators (16-21-7) over the Washington Capitals (30-15-3) 3-2
Ottawa gets some payback against a team that has beaten them a lot lately. Dany Heatley had two goals in the 1st period and Antoine Vermette chipped in with three assists. Sergei Fedorov and Dave Steckel would fight back with goals for the Caps in the 2nd period, but Brendan Bell scored his fourth of the season on the power play with 1:22 remaining to give the Sens the home win.

Carolina Hurricanes (23-20-5) over the Pittsburgh Penguins (23-21-4) 2-1
Evgeni Malkin (19th of the season) and Ray Whitney (14th of the season) would trade power play goals in the 1st period. In the 2nd period, Eric Staal scored his 20th of the season to give Carolina the lead for good. Cam Ward made 32 saves in the win while Marc-Andre Fleury made 38 saves in the loss.

Los Angeles Kings (18-20-7) over the Minnesota Wild (23-20-3) 5-2
The teams would be tied at 1 after the 1st period thanks to goals from Kyle Calder and Owen Nolan (PP), but the Kings would explode in the 2nd period with goals from Anze Kopitar (PPG), Dustin Brown, and Derek Armstrong. Defensemen Drew Doughty and Matt Greene each had two assists and goalie Jonathan Quick made 25 saves in the win.

Edmonton Oilers (24-19-3) over the Columbus Blue Jackets (22-20-4) 4-3
Ales Hemsky had two goals and two assists and Lubomir Visnovsky had a goal and an assist in Edmonton's come from behind win over the Blue Jackets. Hemsky's game winner came with 34.9 seconds.

Phoenix Coyotes (24-19-5) over the Detroit Red Wings (31-9-6) 6-3
Enver Lisin had two goals, and Olli Jokinen, Ed Jovanovski, Derek Morris and Keith Yandle each chipped in with goals of their own. Ilya Bryzgalov made 34 saves to clinch Phoenix' first home win against the Red Wings in almost five years. The win moves Phoenix in to 5th place in the west.

OTHER HEADLINES

-Rick DiPietro's season is officially over for the New York Islanders. Lingering persistent swelling and soreness in his left knee that required surgery twice in four months kept DiPietro out for all but five of the team's 46 games this season and led to yesterday's decision to shut him down. "Everyone's consensus is that Rick should rest the knee, allow the postoperative swelling from two surgeries in a relatively short timeframe to resolve, and get him ready for next season," said Dr. Elliott Hershman, an associate team orthopedist, who participated in the second operation. "At this time, we're not anticipating any further surgery but we're certainly following this knee to make sure that the inflammation and swelling does resolve on a more permanent basis so he is able to return fully," Hershman added. DiPietro is in the third season of a landmark contract, having agreed to a $67.5 million, 15-year deal in the summer of 2006. Islanders general manager Garth Snow said he isn't concerned that DiPietro won't be able to play through the remaining years of the deal. "We've taken all the correct measures and the right steps throughout this process. Talking to the doctors, that scenario has never come up," Snow said. "Obviously, when you have a goalie of Rick's caliber, it's disappointing when you don't have him in the lineup."

Everything you just read right there is why these 12, 13, 15 year deals need to stop.

-Columbus announced yesterday that G Pascal Leclaire will have ankle surgery and is expected to be sidelined 10-12 weeks. Leclaire's operation is scheduled for Friday. This will probably end his season.

-The Oilers placed newly acquired G Dany Sabourin on waivers Tuesday. Sabourin came to Edmonton in a trade earlier in the week that sent Mathieu Garon to Pittsburgh.

RUMOR MILL

-Leafs winger Nik Antropov's name is the hot one today. It looks like Boston and Calgary are the two teams that are the front runners right now and that would certainly give both teams an edge in their respective divisions and conferences.

-Look for Ottawa Senators tough guy Chris Neil to be traded. Montreal and San Jose are the two top suitors right now.

AROUND THE BOARDS

-Rehabilitating Minnesota Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster hopes to play in a game within a month. Foster broke his left leg 10 months ago and has been working his way back since. The Wild's plan is to send him to Houston sometime after the all-star break to play for their top minor league team before being cleared for NHL action. He can spend a maximum of two weeks with the Aeros for his conditioning assignment. ''The idea is just to get him practising at a higher level and hopefully playing,'' general manager Doug Risebrough said Tuesday. Risebrough said there's no timetable for Foster's return. Foster said he'll see a specialist at the University of Minnesota on Wednesday for strength testing and evaluation of the muscles that were damaged and weakened when he fractured his femur in three places in a collision last March that required major surgery and the insertion of a stabilizing steel rod in the bone. He's been practicing with the team for several weeks, slowly increasing the amount of contact and working through pain in his quadriceps that comes from the months he was unable to use it. ''I just keep pushing it more and more every day,'' Foster said before Tuesday's pre-game skate. ''When I feel like I'm ready to go, I'll let 'em know. It gets sore as practice goes on, but strength-wise it feels pretty good. It's just trusting and knowing it's not going to break. It might hurt a little bit, but the pain goes away.'' Foster went with the Wild to Chicago for Monday's game against the Blackhawks, his first road trip since the injury. - COURTESY of TSN.CA

TONIGHT'S ACTION:
%Montreal @ New Jersey - 7PM
Anaheim @ NY Islanders - 7PM
Atlanta @ Philadelphia - 7PM
Buffalo @ Tampa Bay - 7:30PM
Boston @ Toronto - 7:30PM
Dallas @ Florida - 7:30PM
Colorado @ St. Louis - 8:30PM
St. Louis @ Chicago - 8:30PM
Los Angeles @ Colorado - 9PM
Columbus @ Calgary - 10PM

% = Game of the Night
^ALL TIMES EASTERN

*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", will return next week

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch will return next week