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While You Were Sleeping
Los Angeles Kings 1New Jersey Devils 2 (SO)
The first period saw a lot of action.
Simon Gagne gave Los Angeles the early lead as he put a backhanded shot past Martin Brodeur 1:47 into the game. It was one minute later that, returning tough guy to New Jersey, Cam Janssen was called for roughing.
Patrik Elias would score his first of the season just over thirteen minutes into the first to tie the game heading into the first intermission.
The second period saw a new game start – tie game and a new goalie for the Devils as veteran net minder Brodeur went out with what the team was calling an upper body injury and Johan Hedberg came in.
There would not be a single goal scored in either direction until the shootout.
Shootout Results:
Ilya Kovalchuk (NJD) – Goal
Simon Gagne (LAK) – Save
Zach Parise (NJD) – Goal
Anze Kopitar (LAK) – Save
Goalie Stats:
LAK Jonathan Quick stopped 36 of 37 shots with a save percentage of 0.973
NJD Martin Brodeur blocked 10 of 11 shots with a save percentage of 0.909
NJD Johan Hedberg stonewalled all 16 shots he faced in 45 minutes of ice time.
Tampa Bay Lightning 1 New York Islanders 5
Well that did not take long at all – 36 seconds after opening face off New York Islanders John Tavares scored his first of the season as he put an un assisted wrist shot past Lightning’s goaltender Dwyane Roloson.
It would be another young face in the NHL that would tie the game as Tampa’s Steven Stamkos also with his first of the season put the puck past Al Montoya.
The Islanders were not going to just lie down and let the Lightning take over it was Matt Moulson, John Tavares and PA Parenteau with the next three goals to make it 4-1 at the end of the first.
The second period saw the Islanders increase their lead as Michael Grabner put the last one past Roloson which also saw the end of Roloson for the night as Mathieu Garon came in; and stopped all 16 shots he faced.
Washington Capitals 3 Pittsburgh Penguins 2 (OT)
It may have only taken 19 shots on goal for the Capitals to defeat their rival Penguins in Pittsburgh but it took extra time to do it.
First off both teams wore jerseys with a patch for team Lokomotiv of the KHL; and the jerseys will be auctioned off in support of those that lost husbands / sons / fathers when their plane went down on the way to their season opening game in Minsk.
First goal of the game went to James Neal as he gave the hometown the early lead less than two and a half minutes into the game.
It would be Mike Knuble at 1:20 of the second period to tie the game before chaos broke out in the third.
The third period started off with the first Alex Ovechkin goal of the season as he tipped-in a shot form Mike Green just forty seconds into the new period. Minutes later a fight would break out between Capitals Jay Beagle and Penguins Arron Asham and it went a little something like this:
Later in the period Washington’s Troy Brouwer would take a holding penalty that would lead to James Neal’s league leading 4th of the season forcing the game into overtime.
Overtime took just under three minutes as Jordan Staal took a tripping penalty to set the Capitals for a power play goal from Dennis Wideman.
Calgary Flames 4 Montreal Canadiens 1
The Montreal Canadiens may have come out and scored the first of the game in less than two minutes but that would be the end of their offense as the Flames took advantage of some early power plays.
Rene Bourque and Niklas Hagman each tallied a power play goal in the first for the Flames while David Moss scored even strength just before the fifteen minute mark in the opening period.
The second period would see Bourque net his third of the season and the fourth for the Flames that night.
Montreal’s Carey Price stopped 17 of the 21 shots he faced while Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff blocked 35 of the 36 pucks thrown at him from the Canadiens.
Colorado Avalanche 7 Ottawa Senators 1
It was an Avalanche of goals in Ottawa last night as Colorado buried the Senators under seven.
The Senators had sixteen shots on goal compared to the Avalanches’ thirty-nine.
Ottawa would open the scoring with a power play goal form Milan Michalek as he tipped-in a shot from Erik Karlsson for the only goal the Senators would get that night.
It would be a power play for Colorado that would set lose the goal scoring. Milan Hejduk with a wrist shot past Craig Anderson before Gabriel Landeskog would do the same even strength before the end of the first. With just over a minute left in the first it would be Senators’ Zack smith versus Avalanche’s Ryan Wilson in a fight that would also see Smith given two minutes for an illegal check to the head.
The second period would see only one goal go to Joakim Lindstrom to make it 3-1 Colorado heading into the third.
The third period opened with a carry over penalty to Ottawa for too many men and saw Matt Duchene score his first of the season on the power play to start the final period. Minutes later Colorado would take a penalty for roughing that would lead to a short handed goal by Daniel Winnik.
Ottawa gave Colorado two more power plays both of which the Avalanche took advantage up and ran the score up to a 7-1 victory.
Vancouver Canucks 0 Detroit Red Wings 2
Coming off of a loss in Philadelphia the Canucks were looking to correct their luck in Detroit. They benched Roberto Luongo and played Corey Schneider; whom has a history versus Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader from their college days when Abdelkader scored the Championship winning goal on Schneider.
The first period saw no offense in any former but saw seven penalties called including a fighting major to Vancouver’s Maxim Lapierre and Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader.
All of the offense in the game came in the second period and not from any of the three power plays the Red Wings had. Abdelkader scored his first of the season only to be followed up by Valtteri Filppula’s first of the season. Filppula’s goal marked the tenth goal from the Red Wings this season; and he’s also the tenth Red Wing to score.
Jimmy Howard stopped all 25 shots that Vancouver threw at him while Schneider stopped 35 of the 37 from Detroit.
Phoenix Coyotes 5 Nashville Predators 2
Phoenix came out strong and scored three in the first period by David Schlemko, Ray Whitney, and Lauri Korpikoski getting a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Mikkel Boedker would make it 4-0 just over halfway thought the second before the Predators would get on the scoreboard with a shorthanded goal from Ryan Suter.
The third period would see Colin Wilson cut the Coyotes lead in half before Shane Doan would score an empty netter at 18:50 in the third.
Edmonton Oilers 1 Minnesota Wild 2 (SO)
What a game in Minnesota last night. The first star of the game Devin Setoguchi had 0 goals and 0 assist and a 0 plus minus but he did have six shots on goal.
Ryan Smyth scored first giving the Oilers the lead over the hometown Wild before heading into the first intermission.
It would be Matt Cullen at 8:18 of the second to tie the game for the hometown Wild.
The game would see plenty of time in the penalty box as ten penalties were called in regulation and overtime combined – yet neither team scored with one of their special teams.
It would take a shootout to determine which team got the extra point.
Shootout Results:
Matt Cullen (MIN) – Goal
Jordan Eberle (EDM) – Goal
Pierre-Marc Bouchard (MIN) – Save
Anton Lander (EDM) – Save
Mikko Koivu (MIN) – Save
Taylor Hall (EDM) – Miss
Devin Setoguchi (MIN) – Goal
Shawn Hereof (EDM) – Save
Winnipeg Jets 3 Chicago Blackhawks 4
Winnipeg came out strong in the Windy City as Jim Slater scored two within the first seven and a half minutes of play giving the Jets the early 2-0 lead. It would be a power play goal from Andrew Brunette that would change the tide; as then Patrick Kane with his first of the season would tie the game before heading off to intermission.
The second period would see Chicago stay dominate as Marian Hossa scored his first of the season to give the Blackhawks the lead and minutes later Dave Bolland with the insurance goal.
Kyle Wellwood would score his first of the season for the Jets bringing the game within one before heading off to the second intermission; but that would be the end of the offense for both teams.
St. Louis Blues 2 Dallas Stars 3
The Stars came out strong and scored first late in the opening period after Nicklas Grossman left Dallas on the penalty kill it would be Loui Eriksson with a backhanded shot to get a short handed goal (and the lead) to end the first.
The second period saw Dallas score twice more: once by Adam Burish and the other a power play goal from Brenden Morrow; before St. Louis would get on the score sheet 20 seconds after the Morrow goal with a wrist shot from Matt D’Agostini.
Chris Stewart brought the Blues within one of the Starts less than four minutes into the third but it would not be enough to spark the team to tie the game and force overtime.
Up into the Netting
Big announcement out of Pittsburgh yesterday as the team confirmed a two-year $7.45 million contract extension for left wing Chris Kunitz ($3.725 cap hit per year) – oh and that some guy named Sidney Crosby has been cleared for contact.
Flyers fans are making waves again as they boo rivals; alas, it’s during an anti-cancer commercial. There is a time and a place for everything people. Booing during a pre game Hockey Fights Cancer video is not it.
Speaking of pre game videos the Detroit Red Wings have released their in arena pre-game video for the 2011-12 season:
With the deadline for the NHL to decide on a realignment for next season it looks as though everyone is trying to come up with a good strategy. Greg Wyshynski took a look at some of the extreme realignment scenarios for the NHL over at Puck Daddy.
With so many teams affected by realignment, the time for bold, outside-the-norm solutions is upon us. So we’ve collected a few of the more extreme realignment scenarios for your viewing pleasure; ones that range from economic to travel to competitive solutions. Enjoy … and keep a flowchart handy.
As for a look at one blogger from the East thinks of teams from the West heading their way. James Wrabel from Blueline Station took a look at what it would mean for the East if they were to find themselves facing the Detroit Red Wings regularly.
Personally, I would love to see the Red Wings in the East. An Original Six franchise, Detroit – much like their counterpart the Rangers – are a team rich with tradition, harkening back to the Gordie Howe days. Not to mention the winningest NHL franchise in the United States with 11 Stanley cups. Seeing the talents of Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, and Henrik Zetterberg roaming Eastern Conference ice would be a welcomed sight.
The lone Lokomotiv Crash survivor Alexander Sizov speaks to the media for the first time: The Moscow Times and The Voice of Russia have the story.
Top Spots:
Points: David Legwand – Nashville (7)
Goals: James Neal – Pittsburgh (4)
Assist: Erik Karlsson – Ottawa (6)
Plus-Minus: Tim Gleason – Carolina (5)
GAA: Johan Hedberg – New Jersey (1.14)
Save Percentage: Kari Lehtonen – Dallas (0.966)
Wins: Ilya Bryzgalov – Philadelphia (3)
Shutouts: Ilya Bryzgalov – Philadelphia (1)
Northwest: Colorado Avalanche
Pacific: Dallas Stars
Central: Detroit Red Wings
Atlantic: Pittsburgh Penguins
Northeast: Buffalo Sabres
Southeast: Washington Capitals
Face-Off
Carolina Hurricanes at Buffalo Sabres 7:30 p.m. EST
San Jose Sharks at Anaheim Ducks 10:00 p.m. EST