A Day in the NHL: No Suspension for Lucic, Patrick Dwyer’s No Shorty…

The Night that Was:

The Philadelphia Flyers needed a win last night to move into first in the Eastern Conference while Carolina was hoping for back-to-back wins for the first time in a month. Claude Giroux opened the scoring a minute in with his tenth, and Maxime Talbot added his sixth seven minutes later. The ‘Canes would cut the lead in half as late as you possibly could as Patrick Dwyer scored shorthanded with a second left to make it 2-1. Giroux would add his second early in the second and Wayne Simmonds would make it 4-1. The Carolina would get the next two as Tuomo Ruutu made it 4-2 in the second and Dwyer scored his second shorthanded goal early in the third on a penalty shot. Matt Read added the insurance to make it 5-3 with four minutes to go as Philly moved into first in the East. Both Giroux and Chris Pronger recorded three points while Read, Jakub Voracek, and Jaromir Jagr all had two each.

Montreal went in to last night looking for three-straight overtime victories, and they at least had their chance against Buffalo. The Sabres got off to a slow start as much of the first was spent in their end where Jhonas Enroth made all 10 saves. Erik Cole scored to open the second and give the Canadiens the lead before Max Pacioretty’s eighth gave Montreal a 2-0 lead and points in four of his last five. In the third, Jason Pominville slammed home a one-timer to cut the lead in half 53 seconds in, and then Derek Roy slithered his way through the slot with 12 and a half to go to tie the game up. After a scoreless overtime, Tomas Plekanec led the shootout off but was stopped. Thomas Vanek, Max Pacioretty, and Brad Boyes all scored, leaving Brian Gionta to extend it. Gionta was stopped however, and the Sabres won 3-2. Both Enroth (25 saves) and Price (30 saves) had strong evenings as Roy, Vanek, Cole and Pacioretty all finished with multiple points.

Tampa Bay went in to Winnipeg last night looking for a win, but the Jets were hot off the hop. Evander Kane opened the scoring with his sixth early in the game, before Dustin Byfuglien slammed home a slapshot to make it 2-0 after one. Mark Flood would make it 3-0 before Martin St. Louis finally got Tampa Bay on the board. Andrew Ladd closed out the scoring in the second and Tim Stapleton opened it in third to make it 5-1 before Steven Stamkos’ 11^th made it 5-2, the way it would finish. There was a bit of an awkward end to this as Steven Stamkos was tripped by Jim Slater late in the third, and then tracked him down and retaliated, drawing an interference penalty. Byfuglien, Kane, Stapleton and Stamkos all finished with two points and Ondrej Pavelec made 30 saves.

What’s on Tonight?

Make late plans because there are a healthy slew of early games tonight. New Jersey visits Boston, Toronto hosts the Phoenix Coyotes, and the Rangers take on the Islanders in the battle of New York. Minnesota takes a trip to Columbus, Colorado goes across the country to Pittsburgh, and Detroit and St. Louis face off in a Central Division matchup. Washington travels to Nashville for a date with the Predators, the Florida Panthers meet up with the Dallas Stars, and it’s an all-Canadian matchup when Ottawa visits Calgary.

The Injury Bug:

-The Buffalo Sabres announced yesterday that Ryan Miller is out for an undetermined amount of time with a concussion, suffered at the hands of Milan Lucic.

-Speaking of concussions, Sidney Crosby’s return will not be on Tuesday. Still no word on when the superstar will return.

-The Los Angeles Kings placed Dustin Penner on injured reserve yesterday. Penner has been out since last Thursday with a hand injury.

News and Rumours Around the League:

-Milan Lucic will not be suspended or fined for his hit on Ryan Miller. Many players and coaches came out in confusion of why a suspension wasn’t handed down.

-Tyler Seguin, Jimmy Howard, and Jonathan Toews were named the NHL’s Three Stars of the week.

-Milan Hejduk was named the Captain of the Avalanche yesterday. He has spent his entire career in Colorado, playing 927 games with the Avs and scoring 364 goals and 769 points.

-Niklas Hagman was claimed off of re-entry waivers from the Calgary Flames by the Anaheim Ducks.

The Overlooked Fantasy Line(s) of the Night:

It’s not often that a player scores not one, but two shorthanded goals in the same game. In fact, Patrick Dwyer had never had a two-goal game before. He had two last night, both shorthanded, and a plus-one rating with three shots on goal in 12:32 of icetime.