(Photo Credit: The Tennesseean)
Nashville Predators D Ryan Suter completes the comeback win against the Penguins
Nashville Predators (18-19-3) over the Pittsburgh Penguins (20-18-4) 5-3
The struggling Penguins held a 3-0 lead early in the 2nd period, but would blow it by the midway point of the 3rd period when Ryan Suter scored on the power play. Martin Erat, David Legwand, and Greg Zanon each had a goal and an assist for the Preds. Martin Erat needs only one goal to tie Scott Walker for the franchise record for career goals with the Predators. Prior to the game, the NHL presented Nashville captain Jason Arnott with a silver stick in honor of his 1,000th game played on Dec. 20.
Boston Bruins (30-7-4) over the Ottawa Senators (13-20-6) 6-4
The Bruins would have a 3-1 lead midway through the 2nd period, but Ottawa stormed back to tie it heading in to the intermission. The Bruins would pull away in the 3rd period thanks to goals from David Krejci and Marc Savard (who was playing in his 700th NHL game). Ottawa lost for the seventh time in its last eight games. Boston avoided losing three straight for the second time this season.
Atlanta Thrashers (14-23-5) over the New Jersey Devils (23-14-3) 4-0
Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal (PPG) and an assist, and Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season as well as Atlanta's first shutout. The Devils were shutout just once in their first 31 games but have been blanked three times in their last nine contests. Colby Armstrong, Jim Slater and Marty Reasoner also scored for the Thrashers.
Philadelphia Flyers (22-10-9) over the Minnesota Wild (20-17-3) 3-1
Mike Knuble, Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall all scored goals for the Flyers as they returned home from two weeks on the road (2-2-2). Wild G Nicklas Backstrom was trying for three straight shutouts. Philadelphia is 11-0-2 in its last 13 home games and has regained sole possesion of 1st place in the Atlantic Division.
Detroit Red Wings (28-7-5) over the Dallas Stars (17-17-5) 6-1
Marian Hossa, Dan Cleary, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg each had a goal and an assist in the blowout of the Stars. Kirk Maltby and Tomas Holmstrom also scored in Detroit's fifth straight victory.
Montreal Canadiens (24-10-6) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (16-19-6) 6-2
Andrei Kostitsyn had a goal and two assists, and Jaroslav Halak made 30 saves, and Patrice Brisebois assisted on each of the Canadiens' three first-period goals (Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse). The Canadiens, fresh from a 6-2 road win over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night, extended their winning streak to three. Montreal is 8-1-1 since a season-high three-game losing streak.The Maple Leafs have lost six of their last eight and are 1-2 against the Canadiens this season.
Florida Panthers (19-16-6) over the Carolina Hurricanes (21-16-5) 4-2
Jay Bouwmeester broke a tie 31 seconds into the third period to help end the Carolina Hurricanes four game winning streak. Nathan Horton and David Booth also scored for the Panthers, who returned home from a four-game trip. After failing to get points in three of four games, the Panthers have now registered at least a point in four straight. Florida G Thomas Vokoun has now won two straight starts after losing five of his previous seven. Carolina D Tim Gleason left the ice midway through the third period with an injury to his lower-left leg. He was injured when he was checked into the boards by Campbell. 'Canes head coach Paul Maurice said Gleason likely would undergo an MRI today.
Calgary Flames (25-12-4) over the New York Islanders (12-26-4) 5-2
Daymond Langkow scored his 15th goal and added two assists in the Flames sixth straight home win. Mike Cammalleri, Rene Bourque, Curtis Glencross, and Adam Pardy also scored for Calgary, who improved to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. In his 12th straight start, Miikka Kiprusoff made 24 saves to win his NHL-best 25th game (25-11-3). The Islanders are 0-13-1 in its last 14 road games..
Colorado Avalanche (21-19-1) over the Chicago Blackhawks (22-9-7) 2-1
Avalanche goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped a career-high 43 shots, including a late flurry, to improve his record to 8-1 on the season (including six straight starts). Colorado wingers Wojtek Wolski and Ryan Smith each had a goal and an assist. Chicago F Patrick Kane returned after missing the last two games with a right ankle sprain. He had an assist, his 26th of the season. The Blackhawks have already lost more games in January (2-2-0) than in all of December (10-1-1).
Phoenix Coyotes (20-17-5) over the Tampa Bay Lightning (11-19-10) 3-2
Rookie center Kyle Turris broke a tie with 11:51 remaining and the Coyotes beat Tampa Bay 3-2 on Thursday night for their first victory over the Lightning in nearly eight years. Olli Jokinen and Peter Mueller also scored to help the Coyotes end a two-game losing streak. Besides a three-game win streak from Dec. 23-27, 2008, the Lightning have won just three games since they fired Barry Melrose on Nov. 15, 2008.
Los Angeles Kings (17-17-6) over the Anaheim Ducks (21-16-5) 4-3
Despite the hat trick for Ducks rookie winger Bobby Ryan (15 points in his last 10 games), the Kings managed to pull out the win thanks to Alexander Frolov's (who also had an assist) go-ahead power play goal midway through the 3rd period. Kings winger Anze Kopitar also had a goal and an assist and Dustin Brown scored his 14th of the season for LA. The Kings have two wins in their last seven games vs. the Ducks. A 4.5 earthquake with its epicenter about 55 miles east of Staples Center in San Bernardino was felt in the press box about 12 1/2 minutes into the game. During the next play stoppage, the audio crew played Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move (Under My Feet)."
OTHER HEADLINES
-Maple Leafs D Tomas Kaberle hinted to the Toronto Sun prior to the Leafs' game in Montreal Thursday that he wouldn't stand in the way of a trade if general manager Brian Burke told him he was no longer part of the team's future. "Obviously when the GM is going to tell you he doesn't want you here any more, you don't want to play for a team if someone doesn't want you any more," he told the Sun. "That's a different story." Kaberle added that he has not been approached by Burke with any requests for a trade. "It's pretty much with Brian if he's going to talk to me or not," Kaberle told the Sun. "I haven"t talked to the GM and my agent didn"t talk to him. Let's leave it at that for now. My thing never changed. I signed here because I love to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That never changed. Let's leave it at that." Kaberle has a no-trade clause in his contract, a deal that pays him $4.25 million a season through the 2010-11 campaign.
-The Pittsburgh Penguins have locked up Jordan Staal with a four-year, $16 million contract extension. The new contract begins next season will run through the 2012-13 season. Staal, 20, will play the remainder of this season under the terms of his entry-level contract. He has played 204 games with the Penguins over three NHL seasons, scoring 52 goals and 39 assists for 91 points, along with 98 penalty minutes. This season, Staal has 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points in 41 games. He also became the youngest player in NHL history to play his 200th career game
-Two severe concussions, one hip surgery and numerous broken bones later, Buffalo Sabres center Tim Connolly is looking forward to his latest comeback. "Yeah, I'm excited to get back," Connolly said. "I'm feeling good." Connolly is ready to return tonight when the Sabres host the New York Rangers. He's back this time after missing 24 games with a broken rib. Before that, he missed the first 10 games of the season with a broken vertebra. And that's just this year for the eight-year veteran who's missed 249 of a possible 368 regular-season games over the past four NHL seasons. "His greatest gift is his ability to draw people to him and open other people up," coach Lindy Ruff said. "And sometimes he puts himself in harm's way. But that's his greatest gift, and there's no fear when he does it." Connolly broke his rib while attempting to make a play at the boards, where he was checked by St. Louis' Keith Tkachuk. Three years ago, Connolly sustained his second concussion when he was skating through the middle with his head down and failed to avoid a clean check by Ottawa's Peter Schaefer. Then there's simple bad luck. In February 2007, Connolly was close to returning from his concussion when he sustained a stress fracture in his leg while working out. He also missed the entire 2003-04 season after sustaining a concussion in a pre-season game.
RUMOR MILL
-It appears the New Jersey Devils are interested in Jaromir Jagr. They big road block would be him Jagr getting out of his KHL contract. I doubt this will happen, but you never know.
-It looks like Northeast Division rivals Montreal and Boston are both in pursuit of Thrashers D Mathieu Schneider
-Expect Doug Weight to head to Western Canada. It's just a matter of if it's Edmonton or Vancouver
AROUND THE BOARDS
-After three and a half years with the Oshawa Generals, John Tavares, the best player in junior hockey, has been traded to the London Knights (OHL). Along with the 18-year-old star, the Knights will also receive defenceman Michael Del Zotto and goaltender Darryl Borden. In return, the Generals will get defenceman Scott Valentine, forward Christian Thomas, goaltender Michael Zador, four second-round draft picks (2009-12) and two third-round picks (2010-11). Del Zotto is expected to play tonight. Tavares was highly sought after by a handful of OHL teams, but the Knights (30-8-0-1) – along with the league-leading Windsor Spitfires – were frontrunners to land the junior phenom, expected to be the top pick at June's NHL draft.
Blue Jackets @ Capitals - 7PM
%Rangers @ Sabres - 7:30PM
Sharks @ Oilers - 9PM
Blues @ Canucks - 10PM
Lightning @ Ducks - 10PM
% = Game of the Night
^ALL TIMES EASTERN
*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Mondays
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out Wednesday evenings
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