It all began last night. Another chase for the cup, another year of intense rivalries, and a full season of hits, highlight reel goals, and bone-crunching hit. Why wait any longer?
The Night that Was:
The Boston Bruins celebrated their first Stanley Cup Championship since 1972 last night, raising the banner and parading hockey’s chalice around the TD Garden for their fans to absorb and embrace. However in Chris Pronger’s first game wearing the captaincy for Philadelphia, Jaromir Jagr and Wayne Simmonds recorded their first assists as Flyers, Jakub Voracek scored his first goal as a Flyer, and Ilya Bryzgalov made 22 saves en route to his first win as a Flyer to spoil the party. Brad Marchand opened the scoring for Boston on the power play (assists to Tyler Seguin and Joe Corvo-his first point in Boston), but Philly came back with two goals in the last minute of the first period, one by Claude Giroux and the winner by Simmonds. That was all the scoring in a 2-1 Flyers win, as Tim Thomas made 27 saves in a losing effort.
In Toronto, the Leafs got things off on the right foot against the rival Canadiens, as they scored a 2-0 victory on home ice. James Reimer took a page out of Carey Price’s playbook, proving the pre-season is just the pre-season, silencing doubters for an evening with a 32-save shutout. Price made just 16 saves, as a shorthanded rebound put home by Matthew Lombardi (Lombardi also started the rush for his first regular season goal since April 10, 2010), and a huge slap shot from Dion Phaneuf eluded him and gave the Leafs all the offense they needed. Phaneuf recorded an assist as well for a two-point evening.
The potential Stanley Cup Finals matchup of Vancouver and Pittsburgh did not disappoint, as the two took us to our first shootout of the new season. James Neal and Matt Cooke put the Pens up 2-0 in the first before Maxim Lapierre cut the lead to one on a greasy goal to close out the first. Cooke’s second (that’s right, his second…it was his first regular season two-goal game since November 16, 2009) made it 3-1, prior to Keith Ballard trimming it to 3-2 before the second was done. Daniel Sedin ripped home his first of the campaign in the third to send things to overtime, and then to a shootout where Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin sent Roberto Luongo and the Canucks packing. Luongo made 25 saves last night while Marc-Andre Fleury was busier with 33, as Cooke, Letang and the Sedins all had two point evenings (both Sedins, not them as a pair).
What’s on Tonight?
Six games and two of them are in Europe. Buffalo “hosts” Anaheim and the L.A. Kings play home to the New York Rangers in Europe, while Tampa Bay takes on Carolina, Ottawa heads to Detroit, and Nashville takes on Columbus here in North America. Chicago visiting Dallas is your “late” game of the evening, getting underway at 8:30 eastern.
The Injury Bug:
-Ryan Kesler should be ready to return to the Canucks’ lineup sooner rather than later. Kesler, recovering from off-season hip surgery, is expected to be ready in “five or six games” according to General Manager Mike Gillis.
-Chris Campoli left last night’s game against the Maple Leafs. The Canadiens’ defensemen twisted awkwardly infront of his own net and left the game. It was reported that he was on crutches after the game. Blair Betts also sat out this game after recently being acquired by the team on waivers.
News and Rumours Around the League:
-Martin Hanzal and the Phoenix Coyotes have come to an agreement on a five-year contract extension. The deal will pay Hanzal $15.5-million at a $3.1-million cap hit.
-Winnipeg claimed forward Brett MacLean off of waivers from the Phoenix Coyotes. MacLean had three points in 13 NHL games last year, his only career action.
-The New York Rangers sought out some help for their ailing blueline yesterday, claiming Jeff Woywitka off of waivers from the Montreal Canadiens.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line of the Night:
Well…I’m prepared to say it: Matt Cooke. Cooke worked hard for both of his goals last night, proving that he can use his hands for more than just roughing up opponents and protecting his teammates. Not a bad start to the year for a guy with three-times as many career penalty minutes as points.
You can follow Bryan on Twitter at BryanThiel_88