A Day in the NHL: Quicks Plays 200th, Pacioretty Sits for Three
By Editorial Staff
The Night that Was:
It was a memorable 200th game for Jonathan Quick. Ethan Moreau scored his first as a King partway through the first period when he beat Antti Niemi from a terrible angle to open the scoring. After 11 saves in the first period, Quick made another 9 in the second, and Mike Richards’ 11th gave him some insurance to work with. Dustin Brown made a great individual rush in the third to try and put the Kings up three, but it was deemed Slava Voynov directed the puck in with his foot. That wouldn’t deter Quick though, as 12 saves later, he had a 33-save, 2-0 shutout win. Antti Niemi made 31 saves in the loss for the Sharks.
The Edmonton Oilers were trying to avoid falling to 5-8 in the month of November when they welcomed Nashville to town last night. Jordan Eberle seemed to start things out well when he scored his eighth from the doorstep seven minutes in. The Preds fired 16 shots on Nikolai Khabibulin in the second period, and were able to sneak one through on the power play 11:34 into the period when a wrister from Shea Weber wound it’s way through Khabibulin. Nick Spaling scored his third of the season halfway through the third to give the Preds a 2-1 lead that they wouldn’t let slip away. Anders Lindback had a pretty easy night, making 17 saves for the win.
Dallas began life without Kari Lehtonen last night as Andrew Raycroft got the start. Eric Nystrom scored the only goal of the first, his eighth of the season. After a scoreless second, Michael Ryder’s eighth opened it up to a 2-0 game before Kevin Porter broke Raycroft’s shutout. Ryder would add his second of the game to finalize a 3-1 Stars victory, thanks to Raycroft’s 35 saves. Loui Eriksson would add two assists to help Raycroft to his first win of the season. Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves in the loss.
In a rare meeting with Minnesota, the Tampa Bay Lightning were hoping that they could get the Southeast Division’s longest-tenured coach (Guy Boucher) a win. After a scoreless first where Mathieu Garon made 7 saves and Niklas Backstrom stopped 11 shots, Steven Stamkos’ 15th got the Lightning on the board and out to a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later Cal Clutterbuck would score short-handed to tie things up, and ten minutes after that Pierre-Marc Bouchard put the Wild up 2-1. Mikko Koivu chipped home his fourth with 24 seconds left, rounding out a 3-1 Minnesota win. Both Koivu and Clutterbuck finished with a goal and an assist, while Stamkos’ goal put him one back of Phil Kessel for the league lead. Backstrom made 32 saves for the victory, his first since November 17.
What’s on Tonight?
The New York Islanders head to Buffalo, Pittsburgh takes on the Rangers in the Big Apple, and Ottawa and Winnipeg square off in an all-Canadian matchup. Chicago hosts Phoenix in the Windy City, Nasvhille continues to Albert 2-in-2 in Calgary, and Columbus will try to eek out a win against Cory Schneider and the Canucks. The two most interesting matchups of the night are the St. Louis Blues stopping by in Washington, and Florida visiting Carolina, as the Caps break in Dale Hunter and Kirk Muller coaches his first game behind the ‘Canes bench.
The Injury Bug:
-The Flyers will be without Chris Pronger yet again. The Philadelphia Captain will be out 4 weeks due to knee surgery. The surgery is just to clean up the knee.
-Taylor Hall’s shoulder injury will keep him out of the Edmonton lineup for the next 2-4 weeks. Hall injured his shoulder crashing into the boards during Saturday’s game.
News and Rumours Around the League:
-Max Pacioretty was suspended for three games for his hit to the head of Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang after an over-the-phone meeting with Brendan Shanahan. Letang broke his nose on the hit.
-The returning Sidney Crosby earned the NHL’s first star of the week for last week. Two goalies, Cory Schneider of Vancouver and Brian Elliott of St. Louis, rounded out the winners for the week.
-Tampa Bay re-signed forward Dana Tyrell to a two-year, one-way contract yesterday. Tyrell was drafted in 2007 by the club and has played 80 games for the Lightning.
-Hockey Canada released the roster for their orientation camp taking place in December. The players selected from this camp will compete in the World Junior Championships.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line(s) of the Night:
On the night of his 200th start, Jonathan Quick gets the nod. Quick made 33 saves for the shutout win over San Jose, stopping the Sharks on five power play opportunities. Quick faced double-digit shot totals in two of three periods (11 in the first, 13 in the third), winning his 106th NHL game.
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