A Day in the NHL: 4-1 Finals Galore, Ryan Wants Rumours to Stop
By Editorial Staff
The Night that Was:
The Boston Bruins were down 1-0 through the first two periods when Petr Sykora scored his 12th late in the first, but four unanswered goals (Andrew Ference, Nathan Horton, Greg Campbell, and Chris Kelly) gave the Bruins the 4-1 win. Campbell and Shawn Thornton had two points each as Tim Thomas made 30 saves for his 19th win. He needs one more win for his 5th 20-win season.
It was a big third period for the Penguins in New York too. Chris Kuntiz (14th) scored in the first and Carl Hagelin (8th) tied it in the second, but Richard Park snapped the winner home on a 3-on-1 and Evgeni Malkin added two more for a 4-1 Pittsburgh win. Malkin, Kunitz, and James Neal all had two points as Henrik Lundqvist stopped 32 in a losing effort and Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for win number 23.
After a scoreless first where the Islanders surprisingly outshot Philadelphia 12-8, the Isles started to outscore the Flyers in the second. Matt Moulson (22nd) scored 28 seconds in and Josh Bailey (4th-shorthanded) added another in the second, and Mark Streit (3rd) and Michael Grabner (14th) added two in the third for a 4-1 Isles win. Matt Read had the Flyers’ goal as John Tavares and P.A. Parenteau each had two assists in the win. Evgeni Nabokov made 40 saves, his highest one-game total of the year.
Sure Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul were on different lines, but that didn’t stop Lupul from assisting on Kessel’s 25th on a power play in the second. That goal gave Toronto a 3-0 lead after Nazem Kadri (4th) and Joey Crabb (8th) scored in the first. Lupul would assist on Mikhail Grabovski’s 15th in the third period (Lupul’s third assist of the night), but Nick Johnson would break the shutout bid on a bad-angle goal. That would be all Jonas Gustavsson would allow though, as stopped 20 shots for a 4-1 win, his 14th of the season and two shy of tying a career-high.
Pekka Rinne was spectacular last night. Rinne made 38 saves against the Columbus Blue Jackets, as Nashville got two big road goals from Martin Erat (11th) and Mike Fisher (9th) in the second and an empty-netter from Shea Weber (10th) in a 3-0 win. Erat added an assist for a two-point night as Rinne won his 25th of the season and 120th (219 games played) of his career.
Nikolai Khabibulin and Jaroslav Halak dueled last night…well, as much as Khabibulin’s 37 saves compared to Halak’s 15 is ‘dueling’. Khabibulin stopped 19 shots in the first period alone and was stellar all night before Alex Pietrangelo beat him in the third for his 8th and a 1-0 Blues win.
It was Todd Bertuzzi’s night last night in Phoenix. After Raffi Torres gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead in the first, Ian White tied it up and Todd Bertuzzi scored on a rocket in-close to give the Wings a 2-1 lead (it would have killed Mike Smith if he tried to stop it). Gilbert Brule would tie it up though, and after a scoreless third and overtime, Bertuzzi won it for the Wings with a beautiful spin-o-rama goal in the shootout. Kyle Chipchura had a pair of assists for Phoenix as Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk did the same for Detroit. Jimmy Howard now has 28 wins this season and his three up on the two closest goalies (Rinne and Craig Anderson).
The Buffalo Sabres continue to struggle on the road. The Jets got a goal out of Andrew Ladd (16th) in the first, and after Drew Stafford’s 8th tied it in the second, Tobias Enstrom (4th), Tim Stapleton (7th), and Nik Antropov (6th) gave the Jets the win. Ladd, Antropov, and Kyle Welwood all finished with two-point evenings as Ondrej Pavelec moved to .500 on the season with a 25-save effort. Enstrom’s goal gave him goals in three-straight.
Dustin Brown scored in the first and Jarome Iginla scored in the second, but the most exciting period was overtime in the Flames/Kings game. Jonathan quick stacked the pads with a minute left in the extra frame to rob the Flames of a win, and Miikka Kiprusoff followed that up by sweeping one off the goalline with 30 seconds to go at the other end. Justin Williams and Olli Jokinen traded goals in the first round of the shootout before Mike Cammalleri won it for Calgary. Jack Johnson had a goal disallowed in the shootout, on a double-touch/rebound.
It was close for a period in San Jose. The Ottawa Senators, making a rare trip to the Shark Tank, were down 1-0 just three minutes in on Brad Winchester’s 6th, but Kyle Turris tied it up with his fourth, and in the second Erik Karlsson (7th) put the Sens ahead for good. Colin Greening would add his 10th and 11th goals for good measure in a 4-1 win. Craig Anderson was kept busy all night with 36 saves as 12 Sharks had 2 or more shots. Greening, Turris, and Jason Spezza all had multiple points for Ottawa.
What’s on Tonight?
The Pittsburgh Penguins return home to face the Montreal Canadiens, while Washington makes a stop off in Carolina to take on the Hurricanes. The Panthers are hoping for a win to keep pace in the division race in Chicago, but the Blackhawks could use the same thing in a tight Central. Tampa Bay also makes a stop in Dallas.
The Injury Bug:
-Curtis Glencross suffered a knee injury when he hit the boards awkwardly against San Jose. The Calgary forward is now out week-to-week with his injury. The Flames could be getting Alex Tanguay back soon though. He hasn’t played since December 20, but is skating.
-Ryan Suter and Mikko Koivu have very different stances on the All-Star game when it comes to playing despite being injured. Suter has said that if he can’t play for the Predators with his upper-body injury then why bother playing in the All-Star game? Koivu meanwhile, who is on IR with a shoulder injury, hasn’t ruled out playing.
-Ryan Clowe is on IR for San Jose but probably won’t miss much more time than the final few games before the All-Star break. Clowe suffered facial fractures January 10th, and had difficulty playing with a full shield. Some reported Clowe was experiencing blurry vision but he denied that, citing that he simply could not play with the shield and it was obstructing his view, leading to him removing it in a game against Chicago. The Sharks will sit Clowe to allow him to heal.
-Taylor Hall was seen for the first time yesterday, sporting a 30-stitch gash above his left eye that was black and swollen. Hall hopes to return on Saturday.
-Henrik Tallinder of the New Jersey Devils is out 6-to-8 weeks with a blood clot in his left leg.
News, Notes, and Rumours
-There are a couple of rumours out there: The Toronto Maple Leafs have admitted to being deep in the Trade Market right now. Word is they want to add some size to the top-six. Drew Stafford’s name has been brought up in trade rumours along with those of Derek Roy and Brad Boyes in terms of players Buffalo might sell. The Ottawa Senators might not be done buying either, after the Kyle Turris acquisition strengthened the team’s playoff chances.
-Don’t tell Bobby Ryan he’s on the block. Ryan is frustrated with the rumours that he’s on his way out of Anaheim, and looks at the way he’s produced over the past 11 games as a reason people should stop throwing these his direction. Ryan has 11 points during that stretch with 7 goals.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line(s) of the Night:
Joffrey Lupul had the best line of the night with a three-assist evening. Lupul had one power play assist and a plus-two rating to go along with one shot, and even won both faceoffs he took. Shutout shoutouts go to Pekka Rinne and Jaroslav Halak, although Halak’s (15 saves) was far less impressive than Rinne’s (38).