The Night that Was:
At home or on the road, the Dallas Stars keep finding ways to win hockey games and now lead the Western Conference with 20 points. The Stars traveled to Carolina yesterday and jumped out to a quick lead when Eric Nystrom and Stephane Robidas scored before the game was 13 minutes old. 23 seconds after Robidas made it 2-0, Chad LaRose cut the Dallas lead in half, but Jamie Benn made it 3-1 with just 28 seconds left in the first. Michael Ryder would add his fourth and chase Cam Ward before Ben scored his second of the game shorthanded to give Dallas a 5-1 lead to close out the second, as Tuomo Ruutu would score in the third, but it was too little too late as Dallas won 5-2. Ryder and Loui Eriksson each had three points while Benn and Sheldon Souray had two each. Kari Lehtonen made 30 saves for the win.
The Florida Panthers had a great opportunity to show a Southeast Division opponent what they were made of last night, but instead it turned in to an exciting game they were on the wrong end of. The Panthers dominated the first against the Tampa Bay Lightning, getting goals out of Brian Campbell (First as a Cat), Tomas Kopecky, and Mike Santorelli to give them a 3-0 lead after one. Those three goals chased Mathieu Garon from the net and brought in Dwayne Roloson. ‘Rolo’ would shut Florida out in the second period as Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos got Tampa on the board, and Teddy Purcell tied things at three in the third. A scoreless overtime led to a shootout, where Dominic Moore scored after six shooters were stopped and Roloson stopped former teammate Sean Bergenheim after that to cement the win. Roloson made 29 saves in relief for the 4-3 win as Stamkos and Eric Brewer were the only two players to finish with multiple points on either side.
Vancouver was able to make their way back to the .500 mark last night with a 6-2 win over the rival Chicago Blackhawks. David Booth began things with his first as a Canuck before Michael Frolik to leave things tied at one after one. Aaron Rome and Daniel Sedin both scored for Vancouver before the five-minute mark of the second, and while Marcus Kruger cut the lead to one, Jannik Hansen and Dan Hamhuis put the Canucks up 5-2 before Henrik Sedin closed things off in the third, sealing the 6-2 win. The game was naturally chippy with a couple of fights in the second period and an instance in the third were Dan Carcillo earned himself a roughing minor, and unsportsmanlike conduct minor, and a ten-minute misconduct. Henrik Sedin had a four-point game and Daniel had a three-pointer.
The curious case of the Colorado Avalanche continued last night. While the Avs are 6-1-1 on the road, they continued to struggle at home last night, falling 2-1 to Calgary and 1-5 at home on the season. Things started well for the Avs when Paul Stastny scored just 34 seconds in, but Mark Giordano tied it soon after. Curtis Glencross scored his fourth of the season in the second and that was it. Miikka Kiprusoff made 32 saves for the 2-1 win as Calgary has won two of three.
The Rest of the Story:
The other game last night was the New York Rangers hosting the Winnipeg Jets. Derek Stepan scored the first goal of the game at 10:01 of the second and Marian Gaborik added two in the third for a 3-0 Rangers win. Martin Biron made 23 saves for the shutout.
What’s on Tonight?
Easy-going night tonight: The Islanders pay a visit to Boston while San Jose welcomes Los Angeles to the Shark Tank.
The Injury Bug:
-Duncan Keith remains out for the Chicago Blackhawks but they have not elaborated on his status. He is still day-to-day.
-The Canucks were without Alexandre Burrows due to a back injury last night, while Sami Salo continues to be sidelined with a wonky groin.
-Steve Ott’s hip injury kept him out a second-straight game last night. He’s doubtful for Tuesday but could return to practice Wednesday.
-The Rangers placed Wojtek Wolski on injured reserve with his groin injury on Saturday. He’s expected to see a specialist this week.
-Winnipeg could have goalie Chris Mason back in the rotation on Tuesday. He’s also been dealing with a groin injury.
News and Rumours Around the League:
-The biggest news yesterday came out of St. Louis, where the Blues relieved Davis Payne of his Head Coaching duties and replaced him with Ken Hitchcock. The Blues were 6-7-0 through their first 13 games and a troubling 3-6-0 away from home to start the year. Hitchcock has 534 career wins as an NHL Head Coach, a Stanley Cup ring and two Gold Medals. The Blues will be Hitchcock’s fourth team. Payne finished with a career 67-55-15 record as Blues Head Coach.
-After boarding Chris Kunitz on Saturday when the Kings played the Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles’ Ethan Moreau was fined $2,500 by the league.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line of the Night:
Dan Hamhuis should get mention for his two-point game for Vancouver (1ppg/1ppa, 5 shots, +1), but we’ll concentrate more on Sheldon Souray. Souray had two assists last night and a plus-two rating to go along with one shot. He also played 20:15 last night behind Mark Fistric (20:29) and Stephane Robidas (20:24). Souray has played fewer than 19 minutes just once this season and has two points in each of the last three games. It’s been a long road back for Souray but he’s made it.
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