Poor weather or not, the NHL is getting closer and closer to Ovechkin vs. Crosby in the majesty of outdoors. They’re also preparing for a fairly busy New Years Even as well, with a couple of the teams in action that night warming up their offensive games yesterday.
The Night that Was:
Rick DiPietro shocked the world in his first game since coming off of injured reserve, and Josh Bailey scored his third goal since being called back to the NHL as the New York Islanders scored a surprising win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The shocker that DiPietro pulled last night, was the fact that he stopped 37 of 38 shots, and that one shot he let in had nothing to do with Sidney Crosby. Chris Conner scored the only goal for Pittsburgh (Tyler Kennedy with the assist), as Crosby couldn’t even score in the shootout. P.A. Parenteau had the shootout winner as the Isles took the game 2-1.
While there were a couple of two goal nights, Patrick Eaves had the only hat-trick as the Detroit Red Wings walked over Dallas 7-3. Down 1-0 to start the second, Dallas scored three straight, but then blew the 3-1 lead, as Eaves even added an assist for a four-point night. Five Wings had two-point nights and only five were held pointless, but Jimmy Howard wasn’t one of them. Along with making 28 saves for the win, Howard assisted on Eaves’ hat-trick goal, which closed out the scoring for the game.
In his sixth game of the year, Zach Boychuk started things off quickly with his first and second of the season, helping Carolina to wins on consecutive nights. The ‘Canes, who scored four in Toronto Tuesday night as well, also got goals out of Erik Cole and Patrick Dwyer, both of which were unassisted. In fact, only three Hurricanes recorded assists all night as Cam Ward stopped all 37 Ottawa shots for the 4-0 win. The loss didn’t help the Sens, who are now six points out of eighth in the East, as they now trail Carolina (ninth) and Montreal (eighth) in the conference, and have played more games than both.
Things continue to not go well in New Jersey, and it’s not just that the losses are piling up. Although the team has lost six-straight, the more painful fact might be that, in their past seven losses, the Devils have mustered just one goal in each. Travis Zajac was the lone marksman in last night’s 3-1 loss to the Rangers as Brian Boyle, Brandon Dubinsky, and Michal Rozsival all scored for the Rangers. The one-goal thing was made a little tougher to swallow as the offense showed plenty of life (they fired 44 shots on Henrik Lundqvist), but had nothing to show for it.
Quick Hits:
-Kyle Brodziak, Mikko Koivu, and Brent Burns each had two points as overcame identical two-pointers from Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton, beating San Jose 5-3.
-You could leave after the first period was over in Phoenix. After one period of play it was 4-3 Coyotes, but Shane Doan (his second) and Kyle Turris would add two more as Phoenix doubled up L.A. 6-3.
What’s on Tonight?
It’s another six-game night before a pretty hefty New Year’s Eve. Columbus tackles Toronto, Boston squares off with Atlanta, and Montreal will try to beat Dan Ellis and the Lightning. San Jose gets a second shot at a win as they travel to Chicago, Colorado pays a visit to Oil Country in Edmonton, and Philadelphia continues the Western tour with a stop in Los Angeles.
The Injury Bug:
The Chicago Blackhawks received word yesterday that they have lost Captain Jonathan Toews for up to two weeks to a lower body injury. Toews crashed headlong into the side boards during Tuesday night’s game.
The Edmonton Oilers are expected to activate Gilbert Brule from injured reserve for tonight’s game. Brule has been unavailable since December 20.
Rumours and News Around the League:
Jody Shelley (surprise) has been suspended (again) by the NHL. Shelley will sit out the next two games after he sucker-punched Andrew Alberts of the Vancouver Canucks.
Trevor Daley and the Dallas Stars agreed on a contract extension yesterday. Daley will now be in Dallas for the next six years at $19.8 million. Only slightly less than what Ilya Kovalchuk makes.
Almost as soon as the St. Louis Blues signed Marek Svatos, the Nashville Predators claimed. Because Svatos had to pass through waivers before playing his first game, the Blues exposed him to the league and Nashville swept in and picked him up.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line of the Night:
Kyle Brodziak gets the honors today, thanks to a two-goal performance last night against San Jose. It was his third two-goal performance of the season.
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