A couple of 2-1 wins last night, and a high-scoring one as well. Unfortunately however, everyone’s attention was turned to Chris Pronger.
The Night that Was:
As Toronto battled the Philadelphia Flyers last night, the game was marred by a scary incident in the first period. Mikhail Grabovski tried to slap a loose puck on net just to the right of Sergei Bobrovsky, as a defending Chris Pronger tried to clear the puck. Grabovski’s stick hit off of Pronger’s on the follow through and struck him in the face, close to the eye. Pronger immediately fell to the ice, and then skated to the bench through the aid of his teammates, and could be heard screaming. Afterwards, Paul Holmgren said that Pronger wasn’t hit directly on the eye, but on the side, and that Pronger would be on bed rest for the next few days until the swelling went down. The hope is Pronger can return in ten-to-fourteen days, but Holmgren said not without a visor.
Unfortunately the event cast a shadow over two-goal efforts and three point nights from Jaromir Jagr and Scott Hartnell. Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for the win, while Phil Kessel and David Steckel scored for Toronto.
It was a bit of a clunker last night between the Winnipeg Jets and the visiting Rangers. After a scoreless first period where the teams came close to scoring, hitting a couple of posts and shots tipped wide, Ruslan Fedotenko re-directed a Dan Girardi point shot home on the power play for a 1-0 lead. About ten minutes later, Nik Antropov was able to find the puck off of a scrummed draw and snap one over the shoulder of Martin Biron, with Alexander Burmistrov assisting on it for his team-leading seventh point. Things would stay locked at one until eight minutes into the third when Ryan Callahan threw one infront and banked it off of Zach Bogosian’s skate for his second of the year, the Rangers’ second power play goal, and the Rangers’ second of the game. It would finish that way (2-1 New York), as Martin Biron made 27 saves for the win.
The Montreal Canadiens tried to earn a win yesterday and erase the memories of their horrible start, but a certain rookie goalie stood in the way. Despite giving up an early power play goal to Erik Cole (his first as a Canadien), Jacob Markstrom made 40 saves the rest of the way to stonewall the Canadiens and lead the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win. Tomas Fleischmann scored the tying goal in the first, and Scottie Upshall scored the winner five minutes into the third. Peter Budaj, the last backup goalie to make an appearance this season in the NHL, made 29 saves in the losing effort.
What’s on Tonight?
It’s a busy night with nine games going on. Pittsburgh visits the New York Islanders, Ottawa heads to Carolina, and Detroit takes on Columbus. Buffalo plays host to Tampa Bay, Nashville welcomes San Jose, and Chicago hopes to score a victory over Anaheim as they visit the Windy City. There’s an all-Canadian matchup as Vancouver faces Edmonton, Dallas spends the night in Phoenix against the Coyotes, and New Jersey goes cross-country to take on Los Angeles.
The Injury Bug:
-Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson will miss Tuesday’s game with a hip flexor injury.
-Zbynek Michalek is expected to be out 4-6 weeks for Pittsburgh with a broken finger. Evgeni Malkin is still listed as questionable with his knee injury.
-Jimmy Howard will not be starting for Detroit tonight due to personal reasons—the birth of his first child.
-Sarnia Sting (OHL) forward and top prospect for this year’s draft Alex Galchenyuk is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery on his ACL. The timeline for his injury is unknown, although the Sting expressed hope Galchenyuk would be back later in the year.
News and Rumours Around the League:
-Although Mark Scheifele was returned to the OHL by the Winnipeg Jets, he’s pushed his disappointment aside in order to accomplish another goal: To play for Canada at this year’s World Junior Championship. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins however, doesn’t know whether he’s going to be heading back to Junior or not. He’s played seven games for Edmonton.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line of the Night:
It goes to Jaromir Jagr’s three-point night, marking his true return to the NHL. Two goals (including his first in his return), three breakaways, six shots, and a plus-two rating makes for a pretty solid evening, as Jagr now has seven points in eight games this season.
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