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Riding the Zamboni - Friday, January 21st

Kevin Poulin

New York Islanders goalie Kevin Poulin looks over the ice during the third period of the NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils Monday, Jan. 17, 2011, in Uniondale, New York. The Devils beat the Islanders 5-2. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

AP

Here are recaps of Friday’s 7:30 pm ET games. We’ll take a look at the Dallas Stars-Calgary Flames contest later on.

Montreal 7, Ottawa 1

Talk about two teams going in completely different directions. The Habs are only one point behind the Bruins for the Northeast Division lead as they’ve spun off a 7-1-2 run in their last 10 games. Meanwhile, the Senators are now win-less in five games, with a 1-7-2 mark in their last 10.

The stark contrast between these two clubs was highlighted on Friday night, as the Canadiens scored the last five goals after a respectably competitive 2-1 first period. Alex Kovalev returned after missing six games with a knee injury but obviously didn’t help Ottawa much.

Tomas Plekanec scored two goals while Andrei Kostitsyn and Max Pacioretty scored a goal and an assist each. Carey Price stopped 33 out of 34 shots while the Habs power play was an efficient 2 for 3 in the game.

NY Islanders 5, Buffalo 2

While these wins might be considering “consolation prizes” at this point for the draft lottery bound Islanders, the young team certainly could use a confidence boost after years of losing and losing often. They’re far from a playoff team right now, but they’ve been a bit frisky as of late.

The Islanders scored the game’s first four goals before Nathan Gerbe provided two tallies in only five seconds for the Sabres. It wasn’t enough to help Buffalo earn a last minute comeback, though, as Michael Grabner iced the game with an empty-netter. Kevin Poulin stopped 26 out of 28 shots for the Isles.

Tampa Bay 2, Florida 1 (SO)

You have to wonder how a team with a negative goal differential will fair in the playoffs, but the Lightning are scrapping their way to valuable wins. They’re now on a three game winning streak, all thanks to shootout wins against the Panthers, Thrashers and Blue Jackets.

It sounds like Dominic Moore’s shootout goal was a bit controversial in this game, but the Lightning won the “skills competition” based on that tally all the same.

In a rare night of good goaltending by someone not named Dwayne Roloson, the Lightning received stellar netminding via Dan Ellis. He stopped 29 out of 30 shots and was perfect in the shootout. Tomas Vokoun wasn’t as busy, but he stopped 19 out of 20 and only allowed that debatable Moore goal in the shootout.