We covered a ton (OK, just 10) of last night’s games, but two of the contests went past our bed times. Let’s recap those late Saturday games for your reading enjoyment.
For at least one night, Darryl Sutter’s off-season additions looked like shrewd moves. Alex Tanguay scored the first goal then added an assist and an empty-netter. Brendan Morrison scored a goal and an assist while mainstay Jarome Iginla tapped in his first goal of the season. Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 41 out of 45 shots, but Miikka Kiprusoff ended up winning this Battle of Alberta in front an appreciative crowd in Calgary.
Even though he’s no longer a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, Dustin Byfuglien continues to torment the San Jose Sharks. He scored some big goals against them in the playoffs last season and added another game-winner as a member of the Atlanta Thrashers, capping the team’s comeback from a 2-0 first period deficit.
Chris Mason made a big save on a third period breakaway when the game was tied while Evander Kane scored on an odd-man rush to ice the game. The Sharks might have to worry a bit about their ability to score even strength goals, as only one of their tallies was 5-on-5 after depending on their PP quite a bit against Columbus in those overseas games.