JAWSTON
(Photo Credit: AP)
The Sharks bite the Bruins late to win the battle of the best in the NHL
This was billed as "the game of the year" so far going in to it. It had so many storylines...Joe Thornton playing back in Boston for the 3rd time since THE trade, the best record in the West vs. the best record in the East, the first top team in the NHL this season vs. the current top team. The first two periods lived up to the hype. Milan Lucic scored twice in the 1st period off of rebounds and had the B's up 2-1 heading in to the intermission. They would play to a stalemate in the 2nd period behind great goaltending from both Evgeni Nabokov and Tim Thomas. The Boston "blood in the water" would start to show in the 3rd period as Patrick Marleau (27th of the season), Milan Michalek (15th of the season), Joe Thornton (13th of the season), and Mike Grier (10th - empty netter) would beatdown the Bruins for the 5-2 win (Rob Blake scored the other Sharks goal on the PP in the 1st period). "They're a darn good team, probably one of the best we've played this year," said former Bruins captain Joe Thornton. "If the power play was on a little bit more it would have been a different game," Thornton added. "They're a good team. (The Bruins PP went 0 for 4). "We play fast, we play big. They came out really strong and we didn't have too many answers. I think the second half of the game, the ice kind of tilted." This was the first time this season Boston had lost by more than two goals.
I think last night's game showed that the West is still the stronger conference in the NHL. I'm not saying the West is clearly stronger than the East, but the West is better top to bottom than the East. In the West, other than the Blues, every other team still has a realistic chance of snagging a playoff spot (although the toe-tag is being made for the Predators). In the East, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, the Islanders, and Ottawa are clearly not going to be playing past early April. I'm not officially declaring this yet, but it looks like the Stanley Cup will be in either Detroit or San Jose.
ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...
-The Islanders (16-31-6) held a 2-1 lead heading in to the 3rd period, but Kings (24-21-7) winger Alexander Frolov potted his 22nd goal of the season (on the power play) to tie the game at the 6:41 mark of the period. In the shootout, D Jack Johnson scored the lone goal to make the Kings 7-1 in their last eight games. The Isles have registered a point in just 10 of their last 30 games and haven't beaten L.A. at home since 1998.
-Another rookie goal posted a shutout in Columbus (26-23-5) as 22-year old Dan LaCosta made 31 saves for his first career shutout in his second career start as the Blue Jackets beat the Avalanche (25-28-1) 3-0. Andrew Murray, Jason Williams and Frerik Modin were the three scorers for Columbus.
-Gary Roberts drew first blood for the Lightning (18-25-11), but that would be the end of the day for Tampa Bay as the Thrashers (19-31-5) beat their division rivals 3-1. G Kari Lehtonen made 40 saves and Slaza Kozlov scored his 18th of the season early in the 2nd period for the game winner.
-The Florida Panthers (26-19-8) rallied from a 4-1 deficit midway through the 3rd period to beat the Maple Leafs (20-24-10) in overtime 5-4. Winger Richard Zednik scored the game-tying and game winning goals on the one year anniversary of suffering a scary laceration ins his carotid artery in his neck. Toronto RW Niklas Hagman had two goals in the loss.
-Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg each had two goals and an assist and Marian Hossa scored his 31st goal of the season (PPG) to lead the Red Wings (36-11-7) past the Predators (25-26-3) 5-3. Red Wings D Brian Rafalski chipped in with three assists while Joel Ward scored two goals for Nashville in the loss.
-Mats Sundin scored twice to help lead the Canucks (25-20-8) in a come-from-behind road victory over the Blues (22-25-6) 6-4. Ryan Kesler added a goal and an assist and D Kevin Bieksa added two assists. Blues C Patrik Berglund
OTHER HEADLINES
-Less than a week after being placed on the injured list, Edmonton Oilers defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky's season is over due to an upcoming surgery on his injured labrum. The 32-year old will have surgery on his injured right labrum on Thursday. The procedure will be performed by Dr. Robert Balyk in Edmonton. Visnovsky hurt his labrum last Tuesday in the third period of Edmonton's 3-1 home ice loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Visnovsky had eight goals and 23 assists in 50 games this season.
-St. Louis Blues forward Paul Kariya underwent successful surgery on his right hip yesterday. The procedure comes just a month after the 34-year old had surgery done on his left hip. He is scheduled to be ready for the start of the 2009-10 campaign. Kariya played in only 11 contests this season, last seeing the ice in a November 5 game against Anaheim. He had two goals and 15 points this season. The 14-year veteran has scored 384 career goals with 946 points in 914 games with Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville and St. Louis.
-Sean Avery is one step closer to making MSG his home again:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=266456&lid=sublink07&lpos=headlines_nhl
When Sean Avery wasn't resigned by the Rangers, I applauded the move. My theory was that he was beginning to wear his welcome out in the Rangers locker room. With legends like Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan not returning, there was no one in the locker room that Avery would listen to, and keeping him around would be a recipe for disaster. Well, it's mid-February, the Rangers look like ass (I'm calling a spade a spade there), and they lack any sort of heart or effort on the ice. Avery brings toughness on the ice and he's going to be a jolt in the locker room one way or the other, and the Rangers need that. The New York fans love him, Avery has always said (even before becoming a Ranger) that MSG is his favorite place to play, so why shouldn't the Rangers take a chance. I've officially eaten my words on the Rangers letting Avery go.
RUMOR MILL
-Despite the rumors and strong lobbying from pal Ales Hemsky, don't expect Jaromir Jagr to be signing with Edmonton anytime soon. If you think the KHL is going to let
(Photo Credit: AP)The Sharks bite the Bruins late to win the battle of the best in the NHL
This was billed as "the game of the year" so far going in to it. It had so many storylines...Joe Thornton playing back in Boston for the 3rd time since THE trade, the best record in the West vs. the best record in the East, the first top team in the NHL this season vs. the current top team. The first two periods lived up to the hype. Milan Lucic scored twice in the 1st period off of rebounds and had the B's up 2-1 heading in to the intermission. They would play to a stalemate in the 2nd period behind great goaltending from both Evgeni Nabokov and Tim Thomas. The Boston "blood in the water" would start to show in the 3rd period as Patrick Marleau (27th of the season), Milan Michalek (15th of the season), Joe Thornton (13th of the season), and Mike Grier (10th - empty netter) would beatdown the Bruins for the 5-2 win (Rob Blake scored the other Sharks goal on the PP in the 1st period). "They're a darn good team, probably one of the best we've played this year," said former Bruins captain Joe Thornton. "If the power play was on a little bit more it would have been a different game," Thornton added. "They're a good team. (The Bruins PP went 0 for 4). "We play fast, we play big. They came out really strong and we didn't have too many answers. I think the second half of the game, the ice kind of tilted." This was the first time this season Boston had lost by more than two goals.
I think last night's game showed that the West is still the stronger conference in the NHL. I'm not saying the West is clearly stronger than the East, but the West is better top to bottom than the East. In the West, other than the Blues, every other team still has a realistic chance of snagging a playoff spot (although the toe-tag is being made for the Predators). In the East, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, the Islanders, and Ottawa are clearly not going to be playing past early April. I'm not officially declaring this yet, but it looks like the Stanley Cup will be in either Detroit or San Jose.
ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...
-The Islanders (16-31-6) held a 2-1 lead heading in to the 3rd period, but Kings (24-21-7) winger Alexander Frolov potted his 22nd goal of the season (on the power play) to tie the game at the 6:41 mark of the period. In the shootout, D Jack Johnson scored the lone goal to make the Kings 7-1 in their last eight games. The Isles have registered a point in just 10 of their last 30 games and haven't beaten L.A. at home since 1998.
-Another rookie goal posted a shutout in Columbus (26-23-5) as 22-year old Dan LaCosta made 31 saves for his first career shutout in his second career start as the Blue Jackets beat the Avalanche (25-28-1) 3-0. Andrew Murray, Jason Williams and Frerik Modin were the three scorers for Columbus.
-Gary Roberts drew first blood for the Lightning (18-25-11), but that would be the end of the day for Tampa Bay as the Thrashers (19-31-5) beat their division rivals 3-1. G Kari Lehtonen made 40 saves and Slaza Kozlov scored his 18th of the season early in the 2nd period for the game winner.
-The Florida Panthers (26-19-8) rallied from a 4-1 deficit midway through the 3rd period to beat the Maple Leafs (20-24-10) in overtime 5-4. Winger Richard Zednik scored the game-tying and game winning goals on the one year anniversary of suffering a scary laceration ins his carotid artery in his neck. Toronto RW Niklas Hagman had two goals in the loss.
-Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg each had two goals and an assist and Marian Hossa scored his 31st goal of the season (PPG) to lead the Red Wings (36-11-7) past the Predators (25-26-3) 5-3. Red Wings D Brian Rafalski chipped in with three assists while Joel Ward scored two goals for Nashville in the loss.
-Mats Sundin scored twice to help lead the Canucks (25-20-8) in a come-from-behind road victory over the Blues (22-25-6) 6-4. Ryan Kesler added a goal and an assist and D Kevin Bieksa added two assists. Blues C Patrik Berglund
OTHER HEADLINES
-Less than a week after being placed on the injured list, Edmonton Oilers defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky's season is over due to an upcoming surgery on his injured labrum. The 32-year old will have surgery on his injured right labrum on Thursday. The procedure will be performed by Dr. Robert Balyk in Edmonton. Visnovsky hurt his labrum last Tuesday in the third period of Edmonton's 3-1 home ice loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Visnovsky had eight goals and 23 assists in 50 games this season.
-St. Louis Blues forward Paul Kariya underwent successful surgery on his right hip yesterday. The procedure comes just a month after the 34-year old had surgery done on his left hip. He is scheduled to be ready for the start of the 2009-10 campaign. Kariya played in only 11 contests this season, last seeing the ice in a November 5 game against Anaheim. He had two goals and 15 points this season. The 14-year veteran has scored 384 career goals with 946 points in 914 games with Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville and St. Louis.
-Sean Avery is one step closer to making MSG his home again:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=266456&lid=sublink07&lpos=headlines_nhl
When Sean Avery wasn't resigned by the Rangers, I applauded the move. My theory was that he was beginning to wear his welcome out in the Rangers locker room. With legends like Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan not returning, there was no one in the locker room that Avery would listen to, and keeping him around would be a recipe for disaster. Well, it's mid-February, the Rangers look like ass (I'm calling a spade a spade there), and they lack any sort of heart or effort on the ice. Avery brings toughness on the ice and he's going to be a jolt in the locker room one way or the other, and the Rangers need that. The New York fans love him, Avery has always said (even before becoming a Ranger) that MSG is his favorite place to play, so why shouldn't the Rangers take a chance. I've officially eaten my words on the Rangers letting Avery go.
RUMOR MILL
-Despite the rumors and strong lobbying from pal Ales Hemsky, don't expect Jaromir Jagr to be signing with Edmonton anytime soon. If you think the KHL is going to let
TONIGHTS ACTION:
%Washington @ NY Rangers - 7PM
NY Islanders @ New Jersey - 7PM
Chicago @ Atlanta - 7PM
Ottawa @ Buffalo - 7:30PM
San Jose @ Pittsburgh - 7:30PM
Colorado @ Minnesota - 8PM
Phoenix @ Dallas - 8:30PM
Montreal @ Edmonton - 10PM
Calgary @ Anaheim - 10PM
% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern
*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Mondays
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays
TO EMAIL FTS, EMAIL FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM
%Washington @ NY Rangers - 7PM
NY Islanders @ New Jersey - 7PM
Chicago @ Atlanta - 7PM
Ottawa @ Buffalo - 7:30PM
San Jose @ Pittsburgh - 7:30PM
Colorado @ Minnesota - 8PM
Phoenix @ Dallas - 8:30PM
Montreal @ Edmonton - 10PM
Calgary @ Anaheim - 10PM
% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern
*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Mondays
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays
TO EMAIL FTS, EMAIL FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM
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