The Day that Was:
-Mathieu Perreault opened the scoring for the Washington Capitals, but that was it for Ovie’s squad from there on out (Well…that’s if he was in the lineup last night). The Predators came back with four unanswered goals to beat the Capitals 4-1. Nashville’s goals came from Colin Wilson, Matt Halischuk, Shea Weber, and Cal O’Reilly, as Weber and Craig Smith ended up with two points each. Pekka Rinne went 23/24 on saves while Tomas Vokoun made just 23 saves.
-Evander Kane had a pair of goals adn Blake Wheeler had the other as Winnipeg scored a 3-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in the ‘Peg. Tim Brent had a beautiful goal for Carolina’s only tally, as Zach Bogosian had two assists for the Jets. Brian Boucher made 35 stops in a losing effort for Carolina, while Chris Mason got the home start and made 17 saves.
-In a Central Division matchup that’s made headlines the past few seasons, the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings faced off in the highest-scoring game of the night as the teams combined for seven goals in a 4-3 Chicago win. Fabian Brunnstrom had two for the Wins in a losing effort as Drew Miller added the other, and Brendan Smith and Cory Emmerton had two assists each for the Wings. Chicago got goals out of Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook, Ben Smith, and Marian Hossa, in addition to a three assist night from Duncan Keith and two from Jonathan Toews. Corey Crawford (17 saves) and Ty Conklin (20 saves) both played the entire game. The game however, was marred by a hit to the head that we’ll deal with in News and Notes.
-The Kings singlehandedly gave our last game a run for it’s money as the highest scoring of the evening as Los Angeles shut out Colorado 6-0. Anze Kopitar had a hat-trick, Jack Johnson had three assists, and Justin Williams, Slava Voynov, and Trent Hunter all finished the evening with two points. Jonathan Quick made 27 saves for the shutout while Seymon Varlamov allowed six goals on 32 shots.
-Roberto Luongo got the pre-season start last night against the Anaheim Ducks, but he and the Canucks came up short against Jonas Hiller and the Ducks. Hiller made 31 saves en route to a 3-2 win and Bobby Ryan and Cam Fowler recorded a goal and an assist each. Lubomir Visnovsky added a goal of his own, as Henrik Sedin had the lone two-point night for Vancouver. Sami Salo added a goal for the Canucks.
What’s on Tonight?
The New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers tangle, while Minnesota faces Columbus, Ottawa takes on Boston, and Tampa Bay heads to Montreal. Colorado looks to avenge last night’s loss against Los Angeles when they take on St. Louis, Florida heads to Dallas, Phoenix goes head-to-head with Calgary, and Vancouver battles San Jose.
News and Notes:
-Jason Arnott underwent surgery yesterday for a cataract in his right eye. The Blue is expected to be out of St. Louis’ lineup for at least a week.
-The man in the banana-throwing incident from London, Ontario has been charged. Chris Moorehouse has been served a summons for engaging in a prohibited activity under the Provincial Trespass to Property act. The max fine Moorehouse will pay is $2,000 after the crime was not deemed a hate crime by the local authorities.
-Chris Neil will not be suspended for his hit on Mikhail Grabovski. Neil clipped Gabovski during Tuesday night’s game between the Maple Leafs and Senators.
-Tom Sestito however has been suspended for the remainder of the pre-season and two regular season games for his hit-from-behind on Andre Deveaux.
-Defenseman Brendan Smith of the Detroit Red Wings is bound for a meeting with Brendan Shanahan. The hearing will take place at some point over the next two days, in regards to a hit to the head of the Chicago Blackhawks’ Ben Smith in last night’s game. The referees told Joel Quenneville that this is the precise hit that the game is trying to eliminate. Brendan Smith was given a match penalty and Ben Smith had to be helped from the ice.
-The Leafs Nazem Kadri will be out for 3-4 weeks. Kadri sprained his knee during the Leafs game against the Senators Tuesday after crashing into the end boards.
You can follow Bryan on Twitter at BryanThiel_88.