The Night that Was:
Montreal welcomed the struggling Carolina Hurricanes to town last night, with both teams in need of two points to get closer to the playoff picture in the East. Things started well for Montreal when Carey Price rifled a puck off the glass up to Tomas Plekanec to start a two-on-one rush that was capped by a Michael Cammalleri slapper. Yannick Weber would add a power play goal with five minutes to go to give Montreal a 2-0 lead. PK Subban would snap his first of the season home partway through the second after being set up by Max Pacioretty, and Travis Moen would make it 4-0 when he threw one on net from the corner and it someone snuck through Cam Ward. Things would finish up 4-0 as Price made 25 saves, 13 of those coming in the third period. Price had made just 6 saves at the 9-minute mark of the second so the shot clock may have been puffed up a bit. Both Subban and Plekanec finished with two points.
Both the injured Ilya Kovalchuk and the scratched Tyler Myers returned to the lineup for New Jersey and Buffalo last night. Special teams dictated the first period, as Zach Parise scored his sixth two minutes in while shorthanded, Ilya Kovalchuk scored a power play goal three minutes later, and Myers added his own PPG to make it 2-1 Devils after one. Mark Fayne would be the only one to score in the second off of an Adam Henrique faceoff win, before Patrick Elias made it 4-1 to start the third. Myers would score his second to make it 4-2, as David Clarkson and Jordan Leopold would trade goals to get us to the 5-3 final. Both Elias and Henrique would net two point evenings for the Devils as New Jersey chased Jhonas Enroth for his first loss of the season and Martin Brodeur made 29 saves for the win.
The Chicago Blackhawks turned the table on the Vancouver Canucks, as Chicago used the power play to get a leg up on the Canucks 5-1. After a scoreless first period, Jannik Hansen opened the scoring in the second before power play goals by Andrew Brunette and Patrick Kane gave Chicago a 2-1 lead. After that, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp opened it up to 4-1 before Steve Montador made it 5-1 during 4-on-4 time. Cory Schneider gave up five goals on 27 shots while Corey Crawford made 28 saves for the win. Marian Hossa had three assists in the victory while Toews, Kane and Montador all had a goal and an assist.
If you liked tight-checking games with a lot of chances but no goals, you probably liked Anaheim and Los Angeles last night. There were plenty of chances but both sides seemed to have difficulty hitting the net, missing a number of empty net chances. Mike Richards’ power play goal in the second gave L.A. a 1-0 lead before Teemu Selanne snuck one through a Corey Perry screen with four minutes to go in the third to tie the game. A scoreless overtime led to an unbelievable seven-round shootout where Jarret Stoll and Ryan Getzlaf traded goals in the third round before Justin Williams was the only one to score in round number seven. Jonas Hiller made 36 saves in the 2-1 loss while Jonathan Quick made 23 for the victory.
What’s on Tonight?
The Boston Bruins welcome Columbus to town tonight, Montreal goes from the comfy confines of home to Long Island to face the Islanders, and Phoenix travels to Philadelphia to take on Ilya Bryzgalov. Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay re-ignite last night’s playoff rivalry, Florida hopes to take out St. Louis, and Toronto makes a rare trip to Nashville. Minnesota hosts Colorado, Winnipeg greets Washington, and Ottawa continues their Alberta swing, taking on Edmonton. Los Angeles and Anaheim cap a home and home and Detroit takes up residency in the Shark Tank.
The Injury Bug:
-Joni Pitkanen has yet to return to the Carolina lineup. He missed last night’s game vs. Montreal with a lower body injury, making it three in a row he’s missed.
-Roberto Luongo didn’t even dress last night with his upper body injury. No word yet on his status heading towards the weekend.
-Toronto will be without Mikhail Grabovski for two weeks with a lower-body injury. MacArthur meanwhile, is listed as questionable for any games in the immediate future with an upper body injury.
-Don’t expected Sidney Crosby to come back Thursday night either. Word is, he won’t.
News and Rumours Around the League:
-Chris Stewart was handed a three-game suspension by the NHL yesterday for his hit on Niklas Kronwall. The fact that Kronwall wasn’t seriously injured on the play and Stewart has no previous discipline history despite playing a physical player played in to the decision.
-Niklas Hagman attended the game last night between the Ducks and Kings but he did not play. Hagman is still trying to acquired an American work visa after Anaheim claimed him off of waivers.
-Montreal has signed forward Brendan Gallagher to a three-year entry level contract yesterday. He has 31 points in 18 games with Vancouver of the WHL. Gallagher was a fifth-round pick of Montreal in 2010.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line(s) of the Night:
Adam Henrique had a pair of assists in New Jersey’s win last night, one of them coming shorthanded and finishing with a plus-two rating in 20 minutes of ice time for the rookie. Henrique went 7-for-10 on faceoffs and has three assists in the last two games.