It's Christmas in March in Calgary
New Flames acquisitions Olli Jokinen and Jordan Leopold pay off in their debut in Philadelphia
(Photo Credit: AP)
Calgary Flames (39-19-6) over the Philadelphia Flyers (34-19-10) 5-1
Flames GM Darryl Sutter looks like a genius just one day after the trade deadline. New acquistions Olli Jokinen (two goals) and D Jordan Leopold (one goal) scored in the 1st period to help Calgary jump out to a 4-0 lead heading in to the 1st intermission. Winger Mike Cammalleri added a goal and two assists for streaking Calgary, 9-1-2 since a four-game losing streak early last month. The new Calgary top line of Jarome Iginla-Jokinen-Cammalleri combined for seven points last night. Miikka Kiprusoff had 35 saves to help the Flames increase their lead in the Northwest Division to 10 points over second-place Vancouver. Mike Knuble had the lone goal for Philadelphia. The Flyers remained fourth in the Eastern Conference after their third loss in four games. It could be a costly defeat for Philadelphia because forward Daniel Briere tweaked a groin injury that already forced him to miss 51 games this season. He'll be examined on Friday. Briere, a high-priced free-agent acquisition in 2007, just returned to the lineup Sunday after sitting out 36 games.
ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...
Phoenix Coyotes (28-31-5) over the Boston Bruins (42-14-9) 2-1
Scottie Upshall scored in his first game with Phoenix (PPG), Steven Reinprecht scored the game-winner, and Ilya Bryzgalov made 25 saves to beat the top team in the East. Also in their first games with Phoenix was LW Nigel Dawes (1 assist), D Dmitri Kalinin (+1) and LW Petr Prucha (-1)
NY Rangers (33-24-8) over the NY Islanders (20-37-7) 4-2
Nikolai Zherdev and Chris Drury each had a goal and an assist, Markus Naslund scored in his 1100th NHL game, and Scott Gomez scored the game-winner in the final meeting against the Islanders this season. Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves but gave up Isles D Jack Hillen's first career goal on a beautiful move. In their first games with the Rangers, winger Sean Avery was a -1 (he took a physical pounding), RW Nik Antropov had an assist, and D Derek Morris had a solid game on the blueline.
Toronto Maple Leafs (26-26-13) over the Washington Capitals (40-21-5) 2-1
This would be a tight game until the 3rd period when Lee Stempniak and Pavel Kubina scored 3:42 apart for the Leafs. Alexander Semin scored his 27th goal of the season late in the period while G Martin Gerber made 37 saves in his debut performance with the Leafs. Alexander Ovechkin missed only the fourth game of his four-year NHL career due to a bruised right heel, the result of a shot taken off his skate during practice on Wednesday
Ottawa Senators (24-29-10) over the Edmonton Oilers (31-27-6) 4-2
They weren't trade deadline acquistions, but recent additions Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli (PPG) scored as Ottawa defeats their cross-Canadian rivals from Edmonton. Sam Ganger scored both Oilers goals in the loss.
Pittsburgh Penguins (34-26-6) over the Florida Panthers (33-24-8) 4-1
Sidney Crosby returned to the Penguins lineup and scored his 24th goal of the season on a beautiful move to help the Penguins gain some ground in the Easter Conference standings. D Kris Letang scored twice and G Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves for the road win.
Nashville Predators (33-28-4) over the Columbus Blue Jackets (32-27-6) 4-2
Steve Sullivan scored the tiebreaking goal on a breakaway with 1:46 left in the second period to lead the Preds to their NHL-best sixth straight victory. The win put a team that was ranked 14th as of Feb. 3 into a tie for sixth, and holding the tiebreaker with Columbus thanks to one more victory than the Blue Jackets. Nashville winger Martin Erat scored his 100th career NHL goal.
Los Angeles Kings (27-28-9) over theDallas Stars (30-26-8) 5-4 OT
Kings C Michal Handzus capped off his 2nd career hat trick with the game-winning goal at 1:31 of overtime to help LA beat division rival Dallas. The Kings rallied late in the 3rd period to tie the game thanks to Handzus' 2nd goal at 16:42 and Anze Kopitar's goal (he also had two assists) at 19:46. Los Angeles snapped a four game losing skid while Dallas has now lost six of seven after a 10-3 stretch.
Minnesota Wild (31-27-5) over the San Jose Sharks (42-11-10) 4-3 (OT)
The Sharks jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the 2nd period thanks to 2 goals from Joe Pavelski and Ryan Clowe's 22nd of the season, but it wouldn't be enough. Mikko Koivu and Pierre Marc-Bouchard both scored late in the 2nd period and Marek Zidlicky would tie the game in the 3rd period. In overtime, Koivu added his 2nd goal of the game with :14 remaining to snap the Wild's four game winless streak. The Sharks have lost four of their last five games but have earned a point in 46 of their last 55 games.
OTHER HEADLINES
-Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke remained busy one day after the trading deadline by signing free agent forward Jeff Hamilton. The 31-year old Hamilton had been playing with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. In 50 games he has 16 goals and 37 assists. The Englewood, Ohio native has 142 games of NHL experience split between the Hurricanes, Blackhawks and Islanders.
-The AHL has suspended the Norfolk Admirals' forward Steve Downie 20 games for deliberately striking an official with his stick. Late in the third period of the Admirals' game against the Hershey Bears on February 28, Downie slashed linesman Mike Hamilton before a face-off. Downie was given a game misconduct at the time, and the AHL announced Thursday he was being suspended. 21-year-old Downie has developed a reputation for aggressive behaviour in his young career. In 2007, before he even played his first regular season NHL game, Downie was suspended 20 games for elbowing Ottawa Senator Dean McAmmond in the head in a pre-season tilt. This is not the first time the pesky forward has been suspended by the AHL either, having sat out three games for hitting an opponent from behind earlier this season. He has already served three games of the current suspension, and should be eligible to return on April 11. Downie was drafted 29th overall by the Flyers in 2005. In 29 NHL games with the Flyers and the Lightning this season, Downie has three goals and three assists.
RUMOR MILL
-The Rumor Mill is taking a vacation after the deadline.
Calgary @ Carolina - 7PM
Phoenix @ Buffalo - 7:30PM
St. Louis @ Tampa Bay - 7:30PM
Montreal @ Atlanta - 7:30PM
%Dallas @ Anaheim - 10PM
% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern
*My weekly power rankings comes out Mondays and Tuesdays
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays
TO EMAIL FTS, write fromtheslot@gmail.com
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