Anyone disliking the game of hockey can’t be my friend. Since I can now say you’re all my friends for reading this, here’s how things shook out around the league tonight. It’s the nightly recap of all the great and mind-numbing performances from around the league.
Sure, the showdown between Tyler Seguin and Phil Kessel got all the attention, but it was Tim Thomas who stole the show. Thomas shutout the Leafs lowering his goals against average and raising his save percentage to even more ridiculous levels to start the year. Thomas stopped 20 shots in the win, meanwhile Seguin showed the Leafs what they could’ve had if they didn’t trade for Kessel by scoring a goal. Patrice Bergeron scored his 100th career goal as well for Boston. Lost in this is the great game by Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson who saved 30 shots in the loss.
Columbus 3 - Edmonton 2 (F/SO)
Despite playing in front of the smallest crowd in team history (again), the Jackets were able to hold off Taylor Hall and the Oilers in the shootout. Hall was able to score his first NHL goal to tie the game at two in the third period, but it would be Rick Nash and Nikita Filatov scoring in the shootout to ice the game for Columbus. Unsung hero of the game for Edmonton was backup goalie Devan Dubnyk. In seeing his first action of the year, Dubnyk stopped 39 shots in the loss. Meanwhile, Steve Mason got the win in stopping 25 shots for the Jackets.
It was a bad night for Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun. Vokoun was lit up for five goals against and made just 23 saves as the Panthers defense overall was helpless to stop the Senators offense. Five different Sens got on the board to supply the victory. Meanwhile, Brian Elliott stopped 28 shots in a solid effort to get the win. On the upside for Florida, their three goal scorers Bryan McCabe, Chris Higgins, and Mike Santorelli each got their first goals of the year.
With Jimmy Howard out thanks to back spasms, Chris Osgood got the nod in goal for Detroit and had a first period to forget giving up three goals and digging a hole for the Wings they couldn’t climb out of. Lauri Korpikoski had two goals for the Coyotes as they took out the Wings in Detroit. Ilya Bryzgalov was stellar in goal for Phoenix, meanwhile, stopping 43 shots in the win. Osgood closed things out with 32 saves, settling down well after a rough first. For Detroit, having to run with Osgood for an extended period of time might make life difficult if Osgood continues to be inconsistent.
Jaroslav Halak is playing every game like it’s the playoffs now. Halak earned his second consecutive shutout after stopping 24 shots in beating the hot Predators in Music City. Halak extended his shutout streak to 151:15 and the Blues are loving it. Matt D’Agostini, Alex Steen, and Patrik Berglund all scored for the Blues. For Steen it was his first goal of the season and a welcome slump buster. Pekka Rinne didn’t play too bad for Nashville either stopping 31 shots in the loss.
The Caps struggles continue, dropping a fast-paced defensive slugfest with the Wild. For Minnesota, it’s about as solid of a game as they’ve played all year, allowing only a late goal to Alexander Ovechkin in the game. Niklas Backstrom stopped 21 shots in the win, while Chuck Kobasew and Mikko Koivu scored for the Wild. Michal Neuvirth had a quiet night in the loss, stopping just 15 shots. The Caps are going to have to get the offense going if they’re going to snap out of their funk.
While Stars fans stayed home to watch the World Series, they missed out on seeing the Kings score goals on them in quick fashion as Alexei Ponikarovsky and Wayne Simmonds scored goals just nine seconds apart in the second period. Jon Quick stopped 30 shots in the win, meanwhile Kari Lehtonen and Andrew Raycroft split duties tonight after Lehtonen gave up four goals in 15 shots through 43 minutes of play. Hey, at least most Stars fans were spared having to watch it.
The night’s wildest game was the last one of the night as the Avs and Flames traded goals all game long just to see the Avs come out on top with Doug Winnik scoring with just over two minutes to go in the third. Chris Stewart’s hot season continues as he scored yet another hat trick tonight as the Avs were able to keep Flames backup goalie Henrik Karlsson flustered all game long. Olli Jokinen was able to snap out of his goal scoring funk netting his first of the year. While the Avs ran with Peter Budaj in goal tonight, the offense was able to bail him out nicely to keep him from taking a tough loss. Meanwhile, expect the night’s off for Flames starter Miikka Kiprusoff to be a bit rarer after this stinker from Karlsson.