FTS -- 3/13/09

photo credit: AP Photo / Paul Vernon

BLUE JACKETS BLOW LEAD, BUT NOT GAME
HUSELIUS GETS SHOOTOUT WINNER

Columbus avoided a demoralizing loss on home ice Thursday night thanks to Kristian Huselius’ goal in regulation and the only marker in the shootout. The latter nullified the Penguins’ three-goal, third-period comeback. Antoine Vermette scored his first Blue Jacket goal and added an assist as Columbus (35-27-6) stayed four points up on Dallas/Edmonton for 6th in the Western Conference. The Pens’ 7-game winning streak is history; they remain 6th in the Eastern Conference, one point short of Montreal. A Columbus record 19,167 people watched this one.

Bruins 5 – Senators 3

Boston scored three times in the first 10:24 of this game, including Aaron Ward’s first career shorthanded goal, to earn just its fifth win in 16 games Thursday night at TD BankNorth Garden. Phil Kessel scored twice for the Bruins (44-16-9) and Tim Thomas made 25 saves. Daniel Alfredsson (27-30-10) had an assist to extend his point-scoring streak to five games.

Devils 5 – Coyotes 2

Martin Brodeur took another step towards Patrick Roy’s all-time wins mark with a 26-save performance in New Jersey. Brodeur did little work to pickup victory #550 after being given an early 2-0 lead. He can tie Roy’s mark Saturday night…in Montreal. Five different Devils scored, including Zach Parise, who notched #39. New Jersey (44-20-3) won for the 11th time in 14 games and remained six points behind Boston for the Eastern Conference lead.

Capitals 2 – Flyers 1

Alex Ovechkin scored the 48th goal of his season and added an assist in the Capitals’ fifth consecutive road victory. Ovechkin’s goal was his 10th game-winner. Jose Theodore’s 35 saves and Mike Knuble’s goaltender interference penalty, which negated a Kimmo Timonen goal, made that so.

Islanders 3 – Canadiens 2 OT

Another game, another win for the preposterously young Islanders. Kyle Okposo scored 26 seconds into overtime for the Isles’ fifth win in seven games. Montreal drops to 1-0-1 under Bob Gainey and 36-24-8 overall despite a splendid 36-save effort from Carey Price. The Canadiens remain fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point better than the Penguins.

Rangers 4 – Predators 2

Sean Avery’s first goal in his second stint as a Ranger and three points from Scott Gomez helped New York (35-25-8) jump back into the playoff picture in Nashville Thursday night. The Blueshirts went to bed seventh in the East. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 19 Predator shots to reach 30 victories for the fourth consecutive season. Nashville (33-30-5) is tied with Minnesota for ninth in the West.

Stars 3 – Hurricanes 2

Dallas’ six-game home losing streak is finally over. Steve Begin and Brendan Morrison scored their first goals as Stars and Marty Turco made 29 saves. Dallas (32-28-8) wins a tiebreaker with Edmonton for seventh out West at the moment. Eric Staal had an assist for the Hurricans (36-28-6) – that’s 11 points in six games for him.

Sabres 3 – Panthers 1

This was a huge win for Buffalo because it brought it within two points of the 9th-place Panthers. Jaroslav Spacek had a goal and an assist, and Patrick Lalime made 30 saves to improve to 3-4-1 since Ryan Miller’s high ankle sprain. The Sabres have won three straight in Buffalo, while the Panthers have lost two in a row.

Flames 6 – Red Wings 5 SO

Shootout tallies from Oli Jokinen and Mike Cammalleri gave the Flames (40-22-6) the decision in this back-and-forth affair in Detroit. The Red Wings (44-15-9) led 4-2 until Calgary scored at 16:38, 17:29 and 18:40 of the third period to take the lead. But Dan Cleary scored 38 seconds later to force overtime. Jokinen’s skills competition goal was the difference; he also scored twice in regulation.

Lightning 4 – Maple Leafs 1

Tampa Bay (22-32-14) was less bad than Toronto (27-29-13) on this night in the Canadian capital. Martin St. Louis, Ryan Malone, Matt Pettinger and Paul Szczechura scored for the Lightning. The Leafs had earned 15 of 22 points over their previous 11 games.

Blues 3 – Sharks 1

The Sharks continued to flounder, dropping to 1-4-1 over their last six outings, Thursday in St. Louis. San Jose (43-13-10) is now second in the Western Conference, while the Blues (31-28-8) are three games over .500 since being 4-1 way back in October. Brad Boyes, Andy MacDonald and Barrett Jackman scored for St. Louis, which is tied for 10th in the West with Minnesota, a single point behind Edmonton/Nashville.

Avalanche 2 – Wild 1 SO

Minnesota left Denver Thursday night with one point, but failing to get a second against last-place Colorado won’t help their playoff push. The Wild (32-28-7) settle for a tie with Nashville for ninth in the Western Conference. The Avalanche outshot Minnesota, 41-17. Colorado (30-37-1) is now 9-1 in shootouts and 2-0 in overtime.

Thrashers 4 – Oilers 3 OT

Former Oiler Marty Reasoner scored with 50 seconds left in overtime to give the Thrashers their fourth straight win and sixth in eight games Thursday in Edmonton. The bad news for Atlanta: an upper body injury for Ilya Kovalchuk, which kept him out after the opening period. The bad news for the Oil (32-27-8) was getting just one point on home ice. They’ve now lost four out of five, including two in a row in overtime. Edmonton, though, remains in the West bracket as the #8 seed.

IN OTHER NEWS…

Two teams made AHL affiliate decisions Thursday. The Canucks extended their agreement with the Manitoba Moose through the 2011-12 season, while the Flames revealed their hopes to move to Abbotsford, British Columbia. That’s significantly closer to Calgary than Quad Cities, Iowa, but it’s a 24-hour bus ride from the closest AHL affiliate, which may make getting approval from league owners difficult.

Alf Pike, a former Ranger player and head coach, died earlier this month at the age of 91. Ninety-five-year-old Clint Smith is now the only living member of the Blueshirts’ 1940 Stanley Cup-winning team.

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE

Columbus @ Chicago 8:30pm ET
Los Angeles @ Vancouver 10:00pm ET

FTS -- 3/11/09

photo credit: AP/Jim Prisching

B’HAWKS BLOW LEAD, BUT GET SO WIN

CANES’ 4-GAME RUN OVER

The Carolina Hurricanes did all they could to continue their 4-game winning streak Wednesday night in Chicago, but Kris Versteeg’s wrister beat Cam Ward to clinch the shootout and the 3-2 decision for the Blackhawks. Overtime and the skills competition were necessary because Tuomo Ruutu put a rebound past Cristobal Huet to tie the game with :26.5 left. Versteeg’s winner came in the 4^th round of the shootout, and was followed by a Huet stop of Sergei Samsonov.

Versteeg and Troy Brouwer scored in regulation for Chicago (37-19-9), while Rod Brind’Amour had the other Carolina tally. The Blackhawks wake up this morning 4^th in the Western Conference. The Hurricanes (36-27-6) use their one point to tie Pittsburgh for 6^th in the East.

Ducks 4 – Canucks 3 OT

Scott Niedermayer reached back into the early years of his career to rush down the ice and beat Roberto Luongo 3:37 into overtime, giving the Ducks (32-30-6) a 4-3 home-ice win. It was Niedermayer’s second OT winner in a month and the 12^th of his career, the most among defensemen. Anaheim (32-30-6) now has 70 points, which ties it for 9^th out West with Minnesota and Dallas, one point behind Edmonton and Nashville. This was the first time in 12 starts that Luongo allowed more than three goals.

Senators 3 – Lightning 2 OT

It’s too little, too late, but the Ottawa Senators (27-29-10) won again Wednesday night. That’s four in a row, all with Brian Elliott in net. The rookie stopped 22 Tampa shots, while Ryan Shannon, Chris Kelly and Mike Fisher beat Kari Ramo. Fisher got the OT winner 2:38 into the extra session, banging home the rebound of a Chris Phillips shot. The Lightning (21-32-14) have dropped 4 straight and 15 of 19.

IN OTHER NEWS…

Former Oilers owner Peter Pocklington was arrested Wednesday at his Palm Beach Desert home for lying about assets during bankruptcy proceedings. He is accused of failing to disclose two bank accounts and the contents of two storage units. Pocklington, 67, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The Blackhawks have activated goalie Nikolai Khabibulin off injured reserve. He’s been out with a groin injury since February 11^th.

Gary Bettman says he’d like to discuss fighting’s role in the game with Montreal’s Georges Laraque, who was very critical of the anti-fighting thoughts coming out of this week’s GM meetings. Laraque thinks the ideas will eliminate enforcers, but the Commissioner thinks he can show Laraque that that wouldn’t be the case.

And the AHL Board of Governors has voted unanimously to uphold the 20-game suspension given Norfolk Admirals winger Steve Downie for slashing a lineman in the shin during a faceoff. The contended that Downie made contact with the official as part of his natural follow-through on the draw.

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE

Ottawa @ Boston 7:00pm ET

Florida @ Buffalo 7:00

Calgary @ Detroit 7:00

Phoenix @ New Jersey 7:00

Washington @ Philadelphia 7:00

Pittsburgh @ Columbus 7:00 (Game of the Night)

NY Islanders @ Montreal 7:30

Tampa Bay @ Toronto 7:30

NY Rangers @ Predators 8:00

Carolina @ Dallas 8:30

San Jose @ St. Louis 8:30

Minnesota @ Colorado 9:00

Atlanta @ Edmonton 9:30

Dropping the Gloves w/ Andrew Bogusch

CENTENNIAL SEASON GOES AWRY IN MONTREAL

This was supposed to be a season to remember in Montreal, but the Canadiens faithful may soon be forcing themselves to forget the 2008-09 season.

Let’s rewind to last June, when the entry draft pulled into the Bell Centre to drop the ceremonial first puck on the Canadiens’ 100th Anniversary celebration. The “bleu, blanc et rouge” were preparing for a magical season. The All-Star Game was on the horizon and the Stanley Cup could be right behind it.

The Montreal roster contained a nice mix of speed and skill, youth and experience. Aside from Mark Streit, it was basically the same group of players that earned the top spot in the Eastern Conference the year before. There was a rejuvenated Alexei Kovalev on the wing and a blossoming Carey Price in net. And if a tweak or two was necessary, the organization possessed enough prospects to swing a deal.

The optimism, while blown out of proportion in some circles, was certainly warranted.

And the Canadiens only fostered that optimism with an 8-1-1 start. They were 27-11-6 after a shootout defeat of the Senators in Ottawa on January 17th. However, little has gone right since, on the ice or off.

They would win only three times in the next four weeks. That prompted former coach Jean Perron to go on CKAC Radio and say Price, Christopher Higgins and Sergei Kostitsyn’s partying was affecting the team.

Shortly thereafter, local police came across Sergei, brother Andrei and Roman Hamrlik while busting an organized crime ring. The players had done nothing, but associating with a known felon wasn’t part of the anniversary celebration program.

Neither was Alex Kovalev returning to his 2006-07 form. That year, the Russian enigma recorded just 18 goals and 47 points, and was a -19. He recovered last season with 35-49-84 and a +18. But this season, Kovalev has dipped to 16 tallies and 47 points (his plus/minus is even for the season). His play became so disinterested that general manager Bob Gainey sent Kovalev home for two days to clear his head…with his team’s season slipping away.

Kovalev, though, is not the only Canadien disappointment this year. Franchise goalie Price undeservedly started the All-Star Game – and his play has only gotten worse since then. He has just four wins in his last 17 outings, allowing five goals twice and seven once in that stretch. It’s Jaroslav Halak doing the heavy lifting in the Hab net right now.

And the Montreal power-play clearly misses Streit, dropping from first last season (24.1%) to 18th this one (17.9%).

The Canadiens, as of Wednesday afternoon, sat fifth in the Eastern Conference with 79 points (36-24-7), but that’s only three points better than the 9th-place Rangers.

Combine all of this and you get Gainey firing head coach Guy Carbonneau Monday and stepping behind the bench himself – to save the team (and probably his job).

The players’ indiscretions go back to Carbonneau initially, but isn’t the GM just as responsible for keeping the employees in line?

And it wasn’t Carbonneau that whiffed at the trade deadline. While Mathieu Schneider was a nice addition earlier in March, how did Oli Jokinen end up in another Canadian city? The Canadiens had better prospects to deal than the Flames, so either Gainey failed to pick up the phone or the Calgary front office simply beat him – either way, point your finger at Gainey.

And let’s not even discuss the seemingly never-ending Vinny Lecavalier rumors.

No matter how you look at it, the Canadiens’ 100th season has been simply disastrous. Yes, this team should make the playoffs, but without an in-form Price and a significant deadline acquisition, it would be lucky to win a round. And that’s a long way from the storybook ending Montreal’s been expecting.

* * *

The Shootout...Are NHL GMs reading this column? We wrote recently that strengthening the fighting penalties could be used as a deterrent for needless altercations. And what do we read yesterday? NHL GMs want to implement a 10-minute misconduct for fights thought to be staged!

As useless as Tim Thomas’ old school mask appears, he clearly needs it. Thomas was tremendous Tuesday night in Columbus, except when his helmet broke in a collision and he had to wear Manny Fernandez’s while repairs were made to his. That’s when Thomas allowed his only goal of the night, a weak off-wing wrister from Raffi Torres...

And Congratulations to Gary Roberts on a wonderful 21-year career.

As always, please direct your comments, questions, complaints to boguschhockey@gmail.com

FTS -- 3/10/09

WHEN SHOULD WE WORRY?

BRUINS LOSE FOR 5TH TIME IN 6 GAMES

The Boston Bruins won’t blow their Northeast Division lead, but their grip on the Eastern Conference is slipping after a 2-0 defeat Tuesday night in Columbus. That’s five losses in six games and 11 in 15, which has allowed the Devils to creep within six points of the conference’s #1 seed. Boston done in on this night by Blue Jackets rookie goalie Steve Mason (his 9th shutout!) and Tim Thomas’ broken mask. Thomas’ headgear needed repairs after a behind-the-net collision with Jiri Novotny early in the third period. He did not adjust well to the craftsmanship, allowing a rather weak goal to Raffi Torres less than three minutes after the wreck.

Rick Nash found an empty net for the other BJ goal, while Mason made 35 saves. Columbus now has 74 points (34-27-6), three better than Edmonton for sixth in the Western Conference.

TUESDAY'S OTHER ACTION

Devils 3 – Flames 2

Martin Brodeur’s 549th career W was a 35-save effort against the Flames Tuesday night in New Jersey. Brodeur is now two victories away from Patrick Roy’s all-time mark. His Devils (43-20-2) have won a franchise-record-tying eight straight in Newark and now lead the Atlantic Division by seven points over Philadelphia. Jamie Langenbrunner, Brian Rolston and Zach Parise scored for NJ, while the Flames (39-22-6) got tallies from Oli Jokinen and Curtis Glencross. Calgary has lost three straight games.

Flyers 5 – Sabres 2

A 1-1 game through two periods exploded with three Flyer goals in the first 6:24 of the final stanza. Jeff Carter scored twice in that span after posting only two goals in his previous 12 games. Scott Hartnell also had two for Philly (36-19-10), winners of two in a row and eight out of 12. The Flyers remain three points clear of Montreal for fourth in the Eastern Conference, while Buffalo (33-27-7) remains in 10th place, three points behind the idle Rangers.

Penguins 4 – Panthers 3 SO

The Panthers built a 3-1 lead through periods in Pittsburgh, but Jordan Staal and Sidney Crosby scored early in the third to rally the home team. Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin then scored in the shootout to give the Penguins (36-26-6) their seventh straight win – that’s their longest run in over a year. The win pushed Pittsburgh past the Panthers (34-24-9) into sixth place in the conference.

Canadiens 4 – Oilers 3 OT

Montreal captain Saku Koivu tied this game late in the third period, then won it with a power-play goal 1:40 into overtime at the Bell Centre, a dramatic conclusion to Bob Gainey’s first game in place of Guy Carbonneau. The Canadiens (36-24-7) pick up their sixth win in eight outings, but remain fifth in the Eastern Conference. Andrew Cogliano, Sheldon Souray and Sam Gagner scored for Edmonton, all in the second period. The Oilers (32-27-7) are still one point ahead of Nashville for seventh out West.

Red Wings 3 – Coyotes 2 OT

Johan Franzen got the game-winner Tuesday night in Detroit, his 27th marker of the year. Valtteri Filppula had a goal and an assist and Ty Conklin turned away 23 Phoenix shots as the Red Wings (44-15-8) won for the fifth time in six home games. Detroit remains tied with San Jose for the Western Conference lead, and the two are one point behind Boston for the best overall record. The Coyotes, meanwhile, are now 1-6 over their last seven contests.

Sharks 5 – Wild 4 OT

For the second time in less than a week, the Sharks squandered a 3-0 lead against the Wild. But this time in St. Paul, San Jose earned the win thanks to Christian Ehrhoff’s OT tally. Owen Nolan scored twice in the last 6:04 of regulation to force the extra period. As we just discussed, the Sharks (43-12-10) stayed tied for Detroit for the conference’s top spot, while Minnesota (32-28-6) stays out of the playoff picture, in ninth place – one point behind Nashville.

Capitals 2 – Predators 1 OT

Washington’s four-game skid ended Tuesday night in Nashville when Sergei Fedorov’s backhander beat Pekka Rinne 2:20 into overtime. Missing out on the second point kept the Predators (33-29-5) in eighth in the West.

Maple Leafs 3 – Islanders 2 OT

Mikhail Grabovski’s first goal in 18 games kept the Islanders from losing another point in the John Tavares hunt. The Maple Leaf forward beat Joey MacDonald 50 seconds into overtime for his 13th tally of the year. The Fish Sticks left Toronto with 52 points, three less than idle Tampa Bay.

Blues 5 -- Stars 2

Three first period goals propelled the Blues (30-28-8) to an easy home win Tuesday night. David Perron scored twice for St. Louis, which is now 11th in the West with 68 points. Dallas (31-28-8) is two points better than that, in 10th place.

Thrashers 3 -- Avalanche 0

Kari Lehtonen made 35 saves for his second shutout in three starts Tuesday in Denver. Atlanta improves to 8-4-1 over its last 13 games thanks to goals from Zach Bogosian, Todd White, and Rich Peverley.

IN OTHER NEWS…

Montreal tough guy Georges Laraque is worried about the fighting conversation GMs are having this week in Florida during their annual meetings. Managers want the existing instigator penalty called more frequently and want to implement a 10-minute misconduct for an altercation the referee deems staged. Laraque says the ideas are the “stupidest thing ever”. He fears that the new misconduct penalty would eliminate the job of true enforcers.

Gary Roberts officially retired Tuesday after 21 NHL seasons with Calgary, Carolina, Toronto, Florida, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. The announcement was expected since Roberts went unclaimed on the waiver wire. Roberts, 42, scored 438 goals and racked up 2,560 penalty minutes. He played in three All-Star Games and won the Stanley Cup in 1989 with the Flames.

Blackhawks winger Martin Havlat did not practice Tuesday because of an undisclosed lower body injury. The team will only say that Havlat is day-to-day.

WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE

Tampa Bay @ Ottawa 7:00pm ET
Carolina @ Chicago 8:30pm ET
Vancouver @ Anaheim 10:00pm ET (Game of the Night)