A Day in the NHL: Tuesday January 11
Marc Savard and Matt Cooke met up once again, while the Leafs head West and D’Agostini’s hot streak continued last night. There was also a trade and even the re-seeding of the future of the NHL.
The Night that Was:
It’s not often that the Pittsburgh Penguins blow a lead to an opponent, but in the ‘Matt Cooke vs. Marc Savard’ rematch, Savard’s Bruins got the win. Ultimately, Savard was held off of the scoresheet, but that was fine because Greg Campbell took up the scoring responsibility. With four minutes to go, Campbell set up Boston’s first and tying goals, and Mark Recchi scored the winner with 50 seconds left in the game. Campbell then tacked on an empty-netter for a huge 4-2 win for the Bruins. Campbell wasn’t the only one with multiple points as Dennis Seidenberg and Patrice Bergeron each had two assists. Tuukka Rask only had to face two of his 25 shots in the final period, as Pittsburgh was outshot 13-2 in the third. For Marc-Andre Fleury, it was his third loss in his last fourth games, while Jordan Staal was held scoreless yet again, as he has yet to record a point in since returning to the lineup.
St. Louis came in to last night having lost three straight, and things didn’t get any better for the Blues. Despite trailing 1-0 in the first period, the Coyotes came back and took a 2-1 lead into the third, and then overcame a 3-2 St. Louis lead in the final period (The Blues scored two goals in twenty seconds) thanks to Taylor Pyatt’s game-winner. The 4-3 Phoenix win saw three players (Pyatt, Lauri Korpikoski, and Kyle Turris) record a goal and an assist for ‘Yotes as Matt D’Agostini had his third two-point game in his last four for St. Louis. Jason LaBarbera recorded his second win in his last three starts as Phoenix moved into seventh place in the West with the win.
The Colorado Avalanche must have started to sweat a little bit when they saw a 5-2 lead evaporate against the Detroit Red Wings last night, but the Avs were still able to hold on for a 5-4 win. Colorado led 4-2 after the first period and chased Jimmy Howard from the net. Joey MacDonald would have more success against the Avalanche, stopping 15 of 16 shots as Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom drew Detroit within one, but they couldn’t get any closer. Matt Duchene had two goals and an assist, for his first multiple-point game in six contests.
Out west, the time change didn’t hurt the Maple Leafs as Nikolai Kulemin broke a 2-2 tie in the third period with his 16th, tying his career high. It also established a new career-high for game-winning goals in a season for Kulemin with four as Toronto won their third-straight and the Kings lost their sixth game of their last seven. Darryl Boyce and Joey Crabb each nabbed a point as the two of them continue to make good on their call-ups, while James Reimer faced 30+ shots for a fourth-straight start in the Leafs’ 3-2 win.
What’s on Tonight?
Ottawa visits the Boston Bruins (Who hope they won’t need any comeback magic), Vancouver heads to the Island in New York looking to avenge a rare loss Saturday night, while the Rangers host the Montreal Canadiens. Calgary and Carolina, who hooked up in an early-season trade, will meet up tonight, along with Phoenix and Columbus and Philadelphia, who visits Buffalo. Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals will be without Alex Semin against Florida, Minnesota hooks up with Nashville, and Edmonton meets Jamie Langenbrunner and the Dallas Stars, while Toronto’s second West Coast matchup takes place in Anaheim.
The Injury Bug:
-Alex Kovalev will miss at least the next week for the Ottawa Senators with a knee injury.
-Chris Osgood is out for the foreseeable future for Detroit as he recovers from a sports hernia. Joey MacDonald has been called up by the Red Wings to fill his spot.
-Mike Cammalleri will not travel with the Montreal Canadiens this week thanks to an undetermined illness. Comically, it’s being described as an undisclosed “inner-body” injury.
Rumours and News Around the League:
-The Phoenix Coyotes acquired Michal Rozsival from the New York Rangers yesterday in exchange for Wojtek Wolski. Wolski is now with his third team in the last two years, while Rozsival has been with the Rangers since 2005-06.
-Gabriel Landeskog (Kitchener-OHL) has topped the rankings of North American skaters for the 2011 NHL Draft, while countryman Adam Larsson (Sweden) is the top-ranked European player.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line of the Night:
Greg Campbell had a goal and two assists for the Bruins, pacing their comeback against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was also a plus-one. Without him, the comeback doesn’t happen and the Bruins lose, so he gets the nod today.
You can e-mail Bryan at bryanthiel74@hotmail.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at BryanThiel_88.