Two of the top teams square off, and after looking at the final score you’d never know that Dallas had a lead in this one. The Stars blew a 3-1 second period lead by giving up five unanswered goals with Patrick Eaves leading the way with a hat trick. Eaves also added an assist on his way to a four point night. Pavel, who? Jamie Benn had a goal and an assist for Dallas.
NY Islanders 2 - Pittsburgh 1 (F/SO)
We know you all had the Islanders circled as the team that would break Sidney Crosby’s 25-game point streak. Of course you did. The Isles pull off yet another win and rebound nicely after their dismal effort against the Rangers the other night. Josh Bailey had the regulation goal and P.A. Parenteau had the shootout winner. Rick DiPietro played out of his mind making 37 saves in the win.
It was a valiant effort by the Devils but, alas, they’ll continue to be the NHL’s cellar dwellers thanks to the work of Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist stopped 43 shots on his way to victory. Brian Boyle, Michal Rozsival and Brandon Dubinsky each had goals for New York, the latter being an empty netter. The Devils played much better and tougher, but couldn’t crack Lundqvist. Martin Brodeur, meanwhile, will lose sleep over the goals given up to Boyle and Rozsival. Boyle’s was a brutal whiff by Brodeur while Rozsival’s goal bounced in off defenseman Andy Greene’s glove.
When these two get together in Phoenix, the Kings might want to think about changing things up in their routines. The Coyotes ran the Kings out of the house again, this time after a wild first period that saw seven goals scored and the Yotes coming out of it with a 4-3 lead. Shane Doan led the way with two goals and an assist for Phoenix and Keith Yandle added three helpers to pace Phoenix. Jon Quick was less-than stellar for L.A. going just 30 minutes into the game and giving up six goals on 18 shots.
Every now and then Cam Ward shows us why he won the Conn Smythe Trophy back in 2006 and tonight was one of those nights. Ward stopped 37 shots on the way to his second shutout of the year. Zach Boychuk scored his first two goals of the season in helping knock off a hapless Sens team that could’ve used the momentum to build things up. Perhaps the absence of Jason Spezza will be this team’s undoing.
Right when you think the Sharks are about to go on a tear and break out in the West, they lay an egg like this against the Wild. The Sharks had two different leads in this game and blew them both, ultimately getting picked apart for three goals in the third period. Kyle Brodziak had two goals, Brent Burns had a goal and an assist, and Martin Havlat had two assists to lead the Wild. The Sharks got points and big plays from their star players, but they didn’t get the goaltending from Antero Niittymaki who stopped just 19 shots in the loss. The Sharks have now dropped their last two games.