BRUINS KO CAPS IN OT
(Photo Credit: AP)
David Krejci scored a power-play goal off the leg of Capitals defender Shaone Morrisonn with 3:05 left in overtime Tuesday night and the Boston Bruins (35-8-5) beat Washington (30-15-4) 3-2 in a match-up of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. Tim Thomas stopped 34 shots for Boston and improved to 12-2-1 over his last 15 games.
The Capitals escaped a scare after reigning MVP Alex Ovechkin returned from an awkward crash into the boards. Team spokesman Paul Rovnak said Ovechkin had a "stinger" that felt better after about 15 minutes. Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 31 goals, missed the last 5:35 of the second period but returned for the third.
Mike Green gave the Capitals the lead just 2:08 into the game, on a pass from Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. But Boston tied it when Washington turned it over in its own zone and Shawn Thornton picked it up and backhanded it over Theodore's glove. It was the first even strength goal allowed by the Capitals in more than three games -- a span of 208 minutes. Michael Nylander gave Washington a 2-1 lead with 21 seconds left in the first. But Bergeron helped Boston tie it 2-all on a power play with 5:48 left second period when he dived to the ice to keep the puck in the zone and crossed it to Marc Savard at the right circle.
The Bruins have lost just four of its last 26 games in regulation (two of them to the Capitals - both on the road), and hold an 11-point lead over second-place Washington in the conference standings. Boston forward Patrice Bergeron, who missed most of last season with a concussion and then sustained another on Dec. 20 of this season, returned after missing 15 games
(Information from the AP was used in this report)
OTHER ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...
-The Rangers (29-16-4) beat the Hurricanes (23-21-5) 3-2 as Rangers backup goalie Stephen Valiquette turns away 33 shots
-The Blue Jackets (23-20-5) beat the Red Wings (31-9-7) 3-2 in OT behind Rick Nash's hat trick, giving him 22 goals on the season
-The Devils (30-15-3) hold on to first place in the Atlantic and beat the Senators (16-22-7) 4-1 thanks to two Jaime Langenbrunner goals.
-Vinny Lecavalier fed the Montreal frenzy of bringing him to the Canadiens (27-14-6) even more as his goal and assist helped the Lightning (17-21-10) to a 5-3 win over Les Habitents.
-The Panthers (22-17-8) continued their playoff push with a 3-2 win over the Flyers (25-13-9) thanks to a goal and 2 assists from Michael Frolik
-Pierre-Marc Bouchard's two goals and an assist helped to lead the Wild (24-20-3) to a big win over the Maple Leafs (17-23-8) 6-1
-Marty Turco made 25 saves for his 35th career shutout as the Stars (21-18-7) shutout the Thrashers (17-27-5) 2-0. Dallas is 5-3-3 in 2009.
-Drew Stafford netted a hat trick while Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy each had a goal and two assists as the Sabres (25-18-5) routed the Oilers (24-20-3) 10-2
-Milan Michalek scored twice and Evgeni Nabokov made 31 saves for his 43rd career shutout as the Sharks (35-6-5) shutout the Avalanche (23-24-1) 3-0.
-Chris Kunitz and Corey Perry each scored twice for the Ducks (24-21-5) ina 7-3 thrashing over the Coyotes (24-20-5).
OTHER HEADLINES
-The Detroit Red Wings have agreed to a contract extension with forward Henrik Zetterberg worth slightly more than $72 million over 12 years. Zetterberg, a 28-year-old native of Sweden, is in his sixth NHL season, all with Detroit. He has 43 points in 45 games this season.
I've said how much I hate this new trend of decade-long deals in the NHL, but this is a rare excpetion to my hatred of them. With everything Zetterberg has done for the Red Wings already, there's no reason to think he can't continue being one of the Top 10 players in the NHL. He is certainly a player that Detroit can continue to build their continuing dynasty around.
-The New York Islanders announced today that veteran forward Mike Sillinger will miss the rest of the season after undergoing hip surgery on Monday. Sillinger played in just seven games this season, and scored two goals. He had surgery on the same hip last year and missed the final 29 games of 2007-08 as well as the first 24 games this year. The 37-year old has played 1,049 NHL games over 18 seasons, and has scored 240 goals and 308 assists. He has played for a record 12 different clubs.
-Oilers F Sam Gagner had an MRI on Monday to help find out why the ankle, which has bothered Gagner most of the season didn't get any better during the All-Star break. Gagner has only missed three games this season so far, and has posted four goals and 13 assists. He averages over 16 minutes of ice time per game for the sixth place Oilers.
RUMOR MILL
-I'm hearing that the Maple Leafs will make a hard push for Flames forward Mike Cammalleri once the free agency period begins. While he is a very good player and there isn't a team in the league that wouldn't mind having him, I hope he won't be the center piece to Brian Burke's rebuilding project in Toronto.
-No real update on the Vinny Lecavalier to Montreal rumors...but know that they are trying to work towards something and that a 3rd team could be involved.
TONIGHTS ACTION:
NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh - 7:30PM
Buffalo @ Calgary - 8:00PM
%Chicago @ Anaheim - 10PM
Nashville @ Ottawa - 10:30PM
% = Game of the Night
^ALL TIMES EASTERN
*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", will return next week
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch returns tonight
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