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New York Rangers 0 Buffalo Sabres 1
With Ryan Miller out after sustaining an ‘upper body injury’ versus the Toronto Maple Leafs the night before things looked bleak for Buffalo heading into the game.
With two important points for each team it was Swede vs. Swede in net as Jhonas Enroth took on the Rangers Henrik Lundqvist – and won. Lundqvist may have stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced; but his teammates only made Enroth face 23 shots all of which he turned aside for his first career shutout.
The lone goal in the game came from Buffalo’s Tim Connolly on the power play early in the second after New York’s defenseman Marc Staal was called for interference.
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New York Islanders 2 New Jersey Devils 3
It took les than two minutes for Islanders Zennon Konopka and Devils David Clarkson to drop the gloves.
The fight seemed to work as minutes later Ilya Kovalchuk put the Devils on the scoreboard.
Just over a minute after the Kovalchuk goal New Jersey’s Jay Leach and New York’s Matt Martin made a two fights to one goal game – only 5:33 into the game.
David Clarkson would receive a roughing call late in the period along with Islanders Matt Martin.
Second period would see the Devils take a two goal lead thanks to Jacob Josefson; but the Devils could not hold on to the lead as Islanders Frans Nielsen scored twice in the third to tie the game. It was Devils defenseman Andy Greene late in the third with a wrist shot past Rick DiPietro that claimed the victory for New Jersey.
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Montreal Canadiens 2 Carolina Hurricanes 6
It was rookie sensation Jeff Skinner for the Hurricanes that set the tone of the game last night against the Canadiens. Skinner with two goals in the first period to give the Hurricanes the 2-0 lead now has 29 for the season.
An early second period penalty to Carolina’s Brandon Sutter saw Montreal’s Michael Cammalleri cut Skinner’s lead in half. Less than a minute after the Cammalleri goal Jamie McBain put a slap shot past Corey Price for the 3-1 lead.
It would be another slap shot that sneaked past Price this time from Joni Pitkanen (the assists going to Tuomo Ruutu and Jeff Skinner) for the 4-1 lead over the Canadiens heading into the second intermission.
The third period was heated as Montreal came out with Price on the bench while Alex Auld took over in net. P.K. Subban took advantage of a slashing call on Carolina captain Eric Staal to once again cut the lead in half.
Jamie McBain would once again score right after the Canadiens to cut their celebration short. Just over a minute after McBain’s second goal of the night Montreal’s Benoit Pouliot and Subban along with Carolina’s Tim Gleason were given 10 minute misconducts. One minute and one second later Cory Stillman would score on the power play to end the hopes of the Canadiens walking away with a point.
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St. Louis Blues10 Detroit Red Wings 3
It took only 18 seconds into the game for Detroit to get called for a penalty.
Mike Modano scored first to put the Red Wings on the board with an early lead over the Blues that would be erased as the Blues surged to a 3-2 lead before the first intermission which saw Cam Janssen score his first of the season.
The second period saw a complete collapse of the hockey powerhouse known as the Red Wings. In the first half of the period the Blues scored three more times. After the second goal of the period Detroit pulled Joey MacDonald from net and put in 2008 first round pick Thomas McCollum for his NHL debut after playing last week for the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL.
McCollum allowed three goals on eight shots he faced; but don’t blame it all on the rookie who was fed to the wolves as the defense in front of him collapsed – and not around the net to help.
Red Wings Henrik Zetterberg did manage to score a power play goal in the middle the of the second period meltdown in Motown.
The third period saw MacDonald back in net and the Blues score two more to make it a nice even 10 goals.
Post game interview with Henrik Zetterberf from Fox Sports Detroit: “Today we got outworked,” Zetterberg said. “Today we were a disgrace. You just got to go home and forget about it, come back home and regroup.”
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Anaheim Ducks 4 Calgary Flames 2
With Jonas Hiller still battling more vertigo symptoms in practice Ray Emery got the start.
Corey Perry scored twice for the Ducks bringing his goal count for the season to a league leading 46.
It was Calgary’s captain Jarome Iginla that scored first however early in the game. A penalty to Flames Robyn Regehr lead to a power play goal from Bobby Ryan for the tie while a late period power play goal from Corey Perry was the go ahead goal for the Ducks.
The Ducks held their 2-1 lead over the Flames until there was just over a minute left in the second when Lubomir Visnovsky scored to make it a 3-1 lead over the hometown Flames.
Ducks Brad Winchester took a penalty at the end of the second for cross checking that gave the Flames the man advantage to start the third period. It took only 32 seconds for Calgary’s Mark Giordano to put a slaps shot past Emery to make it a one goal game.
In a final push for a tie game to force over time and claim at least a point last night the Flames pulled Miikka Kiprusoff for the extra skaters; and saw Teemu Selanne feed a pass to Corey Perry for the empty net goal and a two goal win for the Ducks over the Flames.
Up into the Netting
The Hobey Hat Trick were announced yesterday:
Cam Atkinson – Boston College
Matt Frattin – University of North Dakota
Andy Miele – Miami University of Ohio
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award honors college hockey’s top player.
Is it possible that the woes of the Fiesta Bowl bring new urgency to the Coyotes sale? The Hockey Writers own Jim Neveau takes a look.
Top 10 players who the guys at Puck Daddy would love to see win their first cup.
Nashville Predators sign, 2010 NHL Entry Draft first round pick, Austin Watson to a three-year entry level deal.
Are you thinking of your prom coming up? Or maybe thinking back to the awkwardness of your prom long ago? Here is one kids story of how he asked his date to prom this year.
Edmonton Oilers sign goalie Olivier Roy to a three-year entry level contract.
Book Review: The Art of Scouting
March is almost over and thus the end of March Madness – taking a look at the 2011 Frozen Four: Thinks We Learned During This Year’s NCAA Regionals.
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) will see a new team join the league for the 2011-12 season. The Minot Minotaurs to be based out of Minot, North Dakota.
St. Louis Blues T.J. Oshie was suspended for two games for missing a practice and Brett Hull says his teammates are at fault. Pro Hockey Talk on NBC’s Joe Yerdon has the story.