FTS - 12/11/08

TOP STORY

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

(Photo Credit: AP)
Brent Johnson keeps Chuck Kobasew's efforts at bay

Washington Capitals (16-10-3) over the Boston Bruins (19-5-3) 3-1
TOP PERFORMER = Capitals G Brent Johnson - 33 Saves

It may still be December, but anytime you get a match-up of two divison leaders within the conference, it usually provides some top-notch hockey. The fans at the Verizon Center in Washington last night got a great hockey game and also a huge win for their Capitals.

In a game that was referred to as a "measuring stick" for the Caps, they showed up and played a strong game from the opening face off to the final horn. Nicklas Backstrom opened the scoring for Washington in the 1st period on a feed from Alexander Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov. In the 2nd period, Alexandre Giroux, who was recently called up, scored his first goal of the season on a set up from Kozlov and Tom Poti. With 35 seconds remaining in the period, Milan Lucic cut the deficit to one with Phil Kessel (who extended his points streak to 13 games, tied with Malkin for the longest streak this season) and Zdeno Chara getting the assists. That would be as close as the Bruins would come to the Caps. Ovechkin added an empty netter to seal the deal for Washington. Brent Johnson made 33 saves, many of them quality saves, and Manny Fernandez made 23 saves in the loss.

Rave reviews were being passed around about the performance of Brent Johnson last night from both teams. "Pretty outstanding," Caps head coach Bruce Boudreau said about Johnson's performance. "You need that kind of goaltending to win. And when we needed him, he was there." "Extraordinary," Bruins winger Blake Wheeler said. "He's pulling some saves out of thin air." Johnson won his past three starts to improve to 8-4-2 with a 2.47 goals-against average and .918 save percentage, raising the question of whether Boudreau might give him more starts at the expense of Jose Theodore, the 2002 league MVP who joined the Capitals on a $9 million, two-year deal last offseason. Theodore's numbers: 8-6-1, 3.08, .888. Asked if he feels he deserves more playing time, Johnson replied: "No. I feel that I'm going to play whenever Coach tells me to play. That's it." Boudreau was asked about his goalie situation. "You want to start a goaltending controversy -- is that what you want? Theo will get his chance to get in again. I mean, I don't have a controversy by any stretch, but, you know, you want to ride the hot hand. Johnnie's hot right now," Boudreau said.

The Bruins had won five consecutive games and 14 of 16 before last night's loss. Up next for Boston is a home and home with the Thrashers, starting in Atlanta on Friday night. Up next for the Capitals is a home game against the struggling Senators on Friday night.

OTHER HEADLINES

-Sean Avery's fate in Dallas remains in limbo after the suspended forward met with members of the Stars' management team and owner Tom Hicks on Wednesday afternoon. "No comments until after the NHL's suspension ends," Hicks told TSN via email on Wednesday night.Avery is currently serving a six-game suspension for making offensive remarks about ex-girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert, who is currently dating Calgary Flames defenceman Dion Phaneuf. Avery's suspension runs through Dallas' game Saturday night at Nashville. He's eligible to return Tuesday against Phoenix. Even when Avery returns, it's unlikely he will be back in the Stars' lineup. As it stands, there are three likely scenarios the Stars will take with him - suspend him without pay after the league's punishment ends, suspend him with pay and arrange for him to receive counseling or place him on waivers and arrange a buyout at the end of the season. The latest developments come amidst speculation that the Stars could be heading for a front office upheaval. According to a report in The Hockey News, Brett Hull may soon be done as co-general manager to take on another role within the organization and leave the hockey matters to Les Jackson. The report adds that Hull, named to the post last November, has not been fulfilling his duties as GM by assessing the Star's minor-league prospects and hasn't made any scouting trips. However, Hull's fate in the front office may come back to his insistence of signing Avery to a four-year, $15 million deal this past summer. (Courtesy - TSN.ca)

-The Colorado Avalanche will be without captain Joe Sakic for longer than they originally expected. Sakic will miss approximately three months after undergoing surgery on Tuesday night to repair three broken fingers and tendon damage after an incident with a snow blower. He was already out six weeks as he recovered from his herniated disc in his back."Joe's surgery was performed by a hand specialist," said Avalanche Team Doctor Andy Parker. "The procedure went well and he's expected to make a full recovery." Sakic is actually fortunate that the injury was not worse. Reportedly the future Hall of Famer was attempting to dislodge some wet snow from around the blades. While the blower was off, when the snow was cleared the torque from the blades jammed his hand. Sakic suffered five broken bones in his hand and required pins in all three injured fingers. Sakic has only played in 15 games this season, recording two goals and 10 assists.

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Buffalo Sabres (14-11-3) over the Tampa Bay Lightning (6-14-8) 4-2
TOP PERFORMER = Sabres LW Thomas Vanek - 2 goals
-The Lightning jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st period thanks to goals from Martin St. Louis and Mark Recchi. Drew Stafford would answer back on the power play with :38 remaining in the 1st period to cut the lead to 1. In the 2nd period, Thomas Vanek would score goals #21 and #22 on the season (one of them on the power play) to put the Sabres ahead for good. Jason Pominville would add a shorthanded empty net goal late in the game. Lightning G Mike Smith made 33 saves in the loss while Ryan Miller stopped 26 shots to earn the win. Lightning forward Ryan Malone missed his third straight game because of an upper-body injury.Tampa Bay fell to 1-7-3 in its last 11 road games, including eight straight losses.

New Jersey Devils (15-8-2) over the Pittsburgh Penguins (15-9-4) 4-1
TOP PERFORMER = Devils G Scott Clemmensen - 26 Saves
-Travis Zajac would open the scoring in the 2nd period on a great hustle play. In the 3rd period, Zach Parise (16th goal of the season) and Dainius Zubrus scored goals before Matt Cooke finally got the Penguins on the board. Patrick Elias scored an empty netter to seal the game. Colin White, Jamie Langenbrunner and Bryce Salvador each had two assists for the Devils.

New York Rangers (19-10-2) over the Atlanta Thrashers (9-14-4) 3-2 (OT)
TOP PERFORMER = Rangers C Scott Gomez - 1 Goal (GW)

-Rangers winger Colton Orr got the Rangers on the board with his first goal in over a year on a rebound. Joey Crabb answered back for Atlanta with his first career goal. In the 3rd period, Ryan Callahan (SHG) and Ilya Kovalchuk would trade goals to keep the game tied at 2 heading in to overtime. In the extra session, Scott Gomez went coast to coast on a great hustle play to give the Rangers the road win. Rangers D Wade Redden had 3 assists for the Blueshirts. Rangers backup G Stephen Valiquette made 27 saves in the win while Johan Hedberg made 31 saves in the loss. New York has allowed two goals or less in 20 of its 31 games this season and improved to 7-2 against the Southeast Division.

Detroit Red Wings (19-4-4) over the Calgary Flames (16-11-2) 4-3 (OT)

TOP PERFORMER = Red Wings D Brian Rafalski - 1 Goal, 1 Assist
-Craig Conroy and Daymond Langkow put the Flames up 2-0 heading in to the 1st intermission. In the 2nd period, Valtteri Flippula cut the lead to 1 goal in the 2nd period for Detroit. In the 3rd period, David Moss would score on the power play to give the Flames another two goal lead. It would be short lived as Henrik Zetterberg scored one minute later and then Brian Rafalski would tie the game four minutes after that. In overtime, Nicklas Lidstrom scored the game winner on a feed from Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk. Johan Franzen and Dan Cleary had two assists for Detroit and Dion Phanuef had two assists for Calgary. Ty Conklin made 29 saves in the win while Flames backup G Curtis McElhinney turned away 35 pucks in a good effort for Calgary. It was McElhinney's 2nd start of the season. The Red Wings improved to 13-1-4 in one-goal games this season.

Chicago Blackhawks (13-6-7) over the Ottawa Senators (10-11-5) 2-0

TOP PERFORMER = Blackhawks G Cristobal Huet - 23 Saves, shutout

-Patrick Kane scored on the power play 5:17 in to the 1st period on a feed from Patrick Sharp and that would be all the Blackhawks would need. Troy Brouwer added an empty-netter. It was Huet's first NHL shutout since March 29, 2008, against Florida when he was with Washington and the 18th of his career. Martin Gerber made 28 saves in the loss for Ottawa. The Blackhawks had their 14th straight home sellout, two more than all of last season.

Phoenix Coyotes (13-13-2) over the Dallas Stars (10-13-4) 5-3

TOP PERFORMER = Coyotes C Martin Hanzal- 2 Goals

-Dallas and Phoenix would be tied at 2 after the 1st period thanks to goals from Trevor Daley, James Neal (PPG), Martin Hanzal, and Olli Jokinen (PPG). This was Jokinen's first game since 11/26. In the 2nd period, Fabian Brunnstrom scored 8:56 in, but Jokinen would tie the game back up with :04 remaining in the period on the power play. In the 3rd period, Hanzal scored again to put Phoenix up for good. Steve Reinprecht added an empty net goal. Ilya Bryzgalov and Marty Turco both made 29 saves in the game.

Anaheim Ducks (16-10-3) over the St. Louis Blues (12-12-3) 4-2
TOP PERFORMER = Ducks C Brendan Morrison - 1 Goal (GWG)

-BJ Crombeen and George Parros would trade goals within a minute of one another in the 1st period to keep the game tied going in to the 1st intermission. In the 2nd period, Chris Kunitz would put the Ducks ahead on the power play on a feed from Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne. In the 3rd period, Brad Boyes would tie the game back up on the power play for St. Louis at 12:53. Four and a half minutes later, Brendan Morrison would pot the game winner on a set up from Todd Marchant and Selanne. Chris Kunitz scored an empty-netter for his 2nd goal of the game. Jean-Sebastian Giguere made 26 saves in the win. St. Louis goalie Manny Legace left after being kneed in the head late in the first period, and Chris Mason replaced him. Legace faced 11 shots and allowed one goal, and Mason gave up two goals on 24 shots.

RUMOR MILL

-The Rangers and Oilers are in trade discussions. No word on potential names involved yet.

AROUND THE BOARDS

-The Montreal Canadiens will be without defenceman Mathieu Dandenault for an extended period of time after he underwent an operation to repair a broken bone in his arm. Dandenault suffered the injury when he received a hard hit by Flames forward Dustin Boyd during the second period of Tuesday's 4-1 win over Calgary. In addition, the team is also waiting results of an MRI on forward Chris Higgins, who left during the second period of Tuesday's game with an "upper body injury." Higgins will miss tonight's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

GAME OF THE NIGHT
Anaheim Ducks (16-10-3) @ San Jose Sharks (22-3-2) - 10:30PM

The top dogs of the Pacific Division will battle for the 3rd time this season. San Jose opened their season with a 4-1 win at home, but then lost 4-0 in Anaheim a couple of weeks later. The Sharks are coming off a 3-2 OT loss to the Oilers on Saturday night. It was only their 2nd loss at home this season (no home regulation losses yet though). After scoring five times in a win over visiting Columbus on Sunday, the Ducks posted a 4-2 home victory over St. Louis last night. Anaheim enters having won six of its last eight, but both of those losses came on the road, where the Ducks are 7-4-1 overall. They had won six straight at HP Pavilion before losing their last two visits there.

Other Action:
Tampa Bay (6-14-8) @ Montreal (16-6-4) - 7PM
Carolina (13-12-3) @ Philadelphia (14-7-6) - 7PM
Nashville(14-12-2) @ Columbus (11-13-3) - 7PM
NY Islanders (10-16-2) @ Pittsburgh (15-9-4) - 7:30PM
Florida (12-12-3) @ Edmonton (13-11-2) - 9PM
Minnesota (15-10-1) @ Phoenix (13-13-2) - 9PM
St. Louis (12-12-3) @ Los Angeles (11-12-4) - 10:30PM

^ALL TIMES EASTERN


*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Monday evenings

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out Wednesday evenings

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