A Day in the NHL: Malkin’s Hat-Trick, Habs Bury Rangers, Benn and Koivu Out

The Night that Was:

It turns out that Evgeni Malkin could have beaten the Tampa Bay Lightning almost single-handedly last night. In the first period, James Neal (assisted on by Malkin) scored two minutes into the game on a power play for a 1-0 lead, and Richard Park added his third of the season to make it 2-0. After a scoreless second where Pittsburgh outshot Tampa 15-8 (It was worse in the first, outshooting them 17-5), Neal chipped in with his second PPG and 24^th of the season 34 seconds into the third, also assisted on by Malkin. Matt Gilroy would cue the comeback as his first as a member of the Lightning, along with goals from Ryan Malone and Teddy Purcell tied the game. Once that happened though, Malkin figured it was time to score some goals, potting two within two minutes of each other, and an empty-netter for the hat-trick. Both Purcell and Vincent Lecavalier finished with multiple points for Tampa, while just Malkin and Neal did it for Pittsburgh. The game featured a pretty ugly scrum halfway through the third period that saw Neal, Levacalier, and Pavel Kubina all handed 10-minute misconducts, and the events also included a sucker-punch from Lecavalier to Malkin.

The Washington Capitals were lucky to escape the first period scoreless when they hosted the Carolina Hurricanes last night. The Caps were outshot 13-4 in the opening period, leaving heavily on Tomas Vokoun. Washington would open the scoring late in the second when Alex Semin scored his 11^th for the 1-0 lead, but with just 17 seconds left, Jussi Jokinen tied it up on the power play. In the third, it was an unlikely hero getting the win for Washington early, when Dmitry Orlov’s scored his first NHL goal, one that finalized a 2-1 win. Vokoun would end up making 43 saves for the win, his 19^th of the season.

In Montreal, the Canadiens finally gave their fans something to cheer about, and it came at the expense of the conference-leading New York Rangers. Max Pacioretty scored 2:39 in to give Montreal a 1-0 lead, but John Mitchell tied it up at 12:49. The second period was all Habs though, much to the chagrin of John Tortorella. The Rangers’ coach watched as his team gave up goals to Max Pacioretty (15^th), Mike Blunden (2^nd), and David Desharnais (7^th) in the second, and Montreal rode a scoreless third to a 4-1 victory. There was an incident where Montreal defenseman PK Subban spit in the direction of Michael Del Zotto, so we will have to await word on whether there is any fall-out. Subban denied that he was spitting AT Del Zotto. Pacioretty (2G/1A), Desharnais (1G/2A), and Erik Cole (3A) all had three-point nights.

The Chicago Blackhawks shot themselves out to a lead in the first, but it was about as late as you could get a two-goal lead in the opening frame. David Bolland’s 13^th came at 18:01 of the first, and Viktor Stalberg made it 2-0 at 19:39 with his 14^th. The San Jose Sharks came right back in the second, when Joe Pavelski and Jamie McGinn both scored before the period was 2:10 old. Jonathan Toews’ 24^th however would send Chicago to the third with a 3-2 lead. Andrew Shaw’s fourth goal in seven NHL games made it 4-2 and another rookie, San Jose’s Tommy Wingels, scored his first NHL goal to cut it to 4-3, but that’s the way it would end. Stalberg and Toews each had a goal and an assist, while Torrey Mitchell had two assists for the Sharks.

The Rest of the Story…

It took overtime in Edmonton last night. Justin Williams tied the game in the third for the Kings, sending it to the extra session tied at one. Taylor Hall would score his 15^th of the season on the power play though, giving the Oilers the win. Magnus Paajarvi recorded an assist, his first point since returning to the NHL.

Jason Blake had a pair of goals, and Bobby Ryan and Nick Bonino added tallies as well for a 4-2 Ducks win over Vancouver. Blake added an assist for a three-point night and Jonas Hiller made 21 saves for the win.

What’s on Tonight?

The Nashville Predators pay a visit to the New York Islanders for an afternoon date, while the same thing happens in the desert as Colorado visits Phoenix. Then it’s four 7:30 games as Boston visits Florida, Winnipeg and Ottawa make an all-Canadian matchup, Buffalo stops by in Detroit with former-Wing Ville Leino, and Dallas stops by St. Louis.

The Injury Bug:

-The Carolina Hurricanes activated Jeff Skinner off of the IR Sunday and he played against Washington. Skinner had been sidelined with a concussion.

-Mikko Koivu left Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury. The thought is that it’s a shoulder injury and Koivu will be out for at least a month. More will be revealed today following Wild practice.

-James van Riemsdyk is sidelined indefinitely with a concussion, however he took part in the Flyers’ morning skate on Saturday.

-Those hoping for a return of Mike Green to the Capitals’ lineup will have to wait until at least early February. Green was placed on long-term IR with his groin injury.

-For precautionary reasons, the New York Rangers held Brandon Dubinsky out of action over the weekend with a shoulder injury. The injury is not considered serious but the Rangers are taking a cautious approach.

-Jamie Benn underwent an appendectomy on Sunday. That means he will be out of the Stars’ lineup for the next 10 days to two-weeks.

News, Notes, and Rumours

-Columbus winger Dane Byers has a hearing today with the NHL to discuss his hit Saturday against the San Jose Sharks. He was assessed a match penalty for the hit during the game.

The Overlooked Fantasy Line(s) of the Night:

We’ll give it to Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais, and Erik Cole. Pacioretty had two goals and one assist, Desharnasi a goal and two assists, and Cole three assists in a 4-1 win over the Rangers. All three finished with plus-three ratings, and all three were in on Pacioretty’s game-winning goal.