A Day in the NHL: Shutouts and Blowouts
By Editorial Staff
The Night that Was:
It was an afternoon affair on Long Island between the Predators and Islanders, featuring a busy first period. Sergei Kostitsyn scored the first goal of the game 2:17 in, and Matt Halischuk would add his 10th to make it 2-0 5:34 in. David Legwand would add the third goal of the period for a 3-0 lead after one. A scoreless second followed, in large part to 19 saves from Pekka Rinne. He would be equally as good the third except for one blip on the radar when John Tavares tapped in his 16th from the top of the crease with just four minutes to go. Rinne would make 36 saves for the victory while Kevin Poulin made 29 saves in the loss for the Isles.
The Colorado Avalanche stopped by Phoenix for an afternoon game of their own, and probably wished they hadn’t. Gilbert Brule and Chuck Kobasew exchanged goals before the game was 10 minutes old, but Shane Doan would score with a minute-and-a-half left before the intermission for a 2-1 Coyotes lead. Doan would add his second of the game at 10:54 of the second and Boyd Gordon’s first since November 12th made it 4-1. Gordon would add another in the second (5th) and Rostislav Klesla would score one for good measure in a 6-1 Coyotes win. Mike Smith was stellar on the afternoon, making 38 saves for the win, as Gordon, Doan, Brule, Ray Whitney (2A), Keith Yandle (2A), and Chris Summers (2A) all had multi-point efforts. Semyon Varlamov allowed all six goals on 33 shots.
It was a one-sided affair in Detroit too. Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, and Nicklas Lidstrom all scored in the first period to give Detroit a 3-0 lead over Buffalo on just 11 shots. Todd Bertuzzi and Darren Helm would score in the second to cement a 5-0 Red Wings win. Bertuzzi would finish with a goal and two assists, while Pavel Datsyuk had a three-assist night. Jimmy Howard made 27 saves for his fifth shutout of the season and 27th win. Jhonas Enroth relieved Ryan Miller after he allowed five goals on 14 shots and made 12 saves.
The last time the Panthers and Bruins met up it was a one-sided 8-0 victory for Boston. This time, it was closer. Patrice Bergeron scored the only goal of the first, giving Boston a 1-0 lead just 1:20 in to the game, before Jason Garrison tied it with his 12th in the second. Bergeron and Shawn Matthias would exchange goals to close out the second period and send things to the third tied. Boston would outshoot Florida 12-11 in the third period but no one could muster a goal, and Florida would outshoot Boston 5-2 in OT but they’d still need a shootout. The first four shooters couldn’t score, but Stephen Weiss and Bergeron exchanged goals in round three, and after Mikael Samuelsson was stopped by Tuukka Rask, David Krejci scored to give Boston the 3-2 win. Rask made 38 saves for the win, while Scott Clemmensen made 33 saves in a losing effort. Tyler Seguin added two assists to Bergeron’s two goals, as Krejci saw his 11-game point-streak snapped.
The Rest of the Story…
The St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars were scoreless through two periods and half of the third before TJ Oshie fought his way to the front of the net and scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 Blues win. Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves in the shutout-win, as the Blues moved one point up on Vancouver for first in the Western Conference.
Jim Slater scored his 8th goal of the season 49 seconds in, and Tobias Enstrom added his second of the season in the second for a 2-0 Jets win over Ottawa. Chris Mason made 25 saves in his first start in four games and his first win since December 29th. Winnipeg is now three points out of a playoff spot.
What’s on Tonight?
Busy night…the Battle of Ontario heats up against as Toronto hosts Ottawa, Winnipeg continues their road trip in New Jersey, and the Koivu-less Wild stop by to face the Philadelphia Flyers. The Carolina Hurricanes are in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins, the Islanders go from home ice to the road as they stop off in Washington, and Edmonton pays a visit to Columbus. Boston continues their tour of Florida in Tampa Bay, the Predators visit New York’s other team at MSG, and Detroit and Dallas face each other in the second of back-to-backs for both. L.A. and Vancouver go toe-to-toe and the Sharks welcome the Flames to the tank.
The Injury Bug:
-Ed Jovanovski left last night’s game against the Bruins with an upper-body injury after a fight with Dan Paille.
-Brandon Dubinsky may return to the New York Rangers’ lineup tonight. Dubinsky had been held out of New York’s previous games for precautionary reasons with a shoulder injury.
-Mike Green’s absence from the Caps’ lineup has an official timeline now. The defenseman will undergo abdominal surgery and be sidelined four-to-six weeks.
-Tyler Bozak will return to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup tonight after a seven-game absence. Bozak was on IR with a shoulder injury.
-The Dallas Stars have placed Mike Ribeiro on IR with a lower-body injury. Ribeiro has missed three games so far with the injury.
-Sidney Crosby will meet once again with chiropractor Ted Carrick. Carrick met with Crosby when he was recovering from his first concussion, and Crosby’s progress has reached a point that he needs to meet with him once again.
News, Notes, and Rumours
-The NHL suspended Dane Byers of the Columbus Blue Jackets for three games yesterday for a hit to the head of San Jose’s Andrew Desjardins. The hit occurred on Saturday.
-Because we missed it yesterday thanks to the afternoon games, the NHL’s Three Stars were Craig Anderson (Ottawa), Viktor Stalberg (Chicago), and Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh).
The Overlooked Fantasy Line(s) of the Night:
Chris Summers finished with two assists for the Phoenix Coyotes last night and a +3 rating in their 6-1 win over Colorado. Those were Summers’ first two NHL points. Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and two assists for Detroit and a +3 rating in their 5-0 victory over Buffalo. It was Bertuzzi’s first 3-point night this season.