The Night that Was:
If things weren’t bad enough for the Montreal Canadiens, they got worse last night. After a scoreless first period in Chicago, the Habs got themselves out to a 1-0 lead when Andrei Kostitsyn scored his 10th on the power play. That lead, lasted all of six minutes. Andrew Brunette’s 8th tied the game at one and Patrick Sharp’s 18th gave the ‘Hawks a 2-1 lead. It didn’t get better in the third as Viktor Stalberg scored his second in as many days, Jonathan Toews broke the 20-goal plateau for the fifth time in his career, and Bryan Bickell added an empty-netter for a 5-1 ‘Hawks win. Corey Crawford made 20 saves for the win, while Peter Budaj made 23 saves in the loss. Bickell and Stalberg each had a goal and an assist and Brent Seabrook added two assists.
Claude Giroux returned to the lineup last night and the league’s leading scorer had an immediate impact. Coming in to the evening tied for the league lead with 39 points, Giroux’s 17th of the season tied the game at one after Michael Ryder put the Stars up one 56 seconds in. After it was tied, Wayne Simmonds’ 10th put the Flyers up 2-0 on the power play with Giroux recording an assist. Then, in the second period it was Jaromir Jagr’s 11th of the season on the power play making it 3-1 and, you guessed it, Giroux assisted. In the third, it was Andrej Meszaros’ 4th capping the scoring at a 4-1 final and, yes, Claude Giroux assisted on that one too. So to recap, in a 4-1 win, Giroux had a goal and three assists, Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell had two assists each, and Jagr added an assist to his goal. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves for the win.
The Carolina Hurricanes, struggling for wins, were hoping for one against Phoenix last night. They Coyotes opened the scoring with Ray Whitney’s 12th two minutes in on the power play, before Tuomo Ruutu tied it seven minutes later. Things looked like they were getting better for the ‘Canes, as Andreas Nodl’s first and Jiri Tlusty’s seventh got Carolina out to a 3-1 lead before Cal O’Reilly cut it to 3-2. That one goal lead went the way of their two-goal lead however, as Carolina surrendered one to Rostislav Klesla and one to Lauri Korpikoski in the third to end up on the wrong end of a 4-3 final. Jason Labarbera made 34 saves for the victory as Korpikoski and Whitney both finished with a goal and an assist.
Detroit traveled to Vancouver last night in a matchup of hot Western Conference teams as both came in with seven wins in their last ten. It was Vancouver that got the ball rolling as Chris Higgins scored his 10th at the 9:36 mark, and then Cody Hogdson made it 2-0 just twenty seconds later. Todd Bertuzzi would cut the lead in half before Alex Burrows saw to it that Vancouver would leave the first with a 3-1 lead. The second looked like it would pass by scoreless before Drew Miller’s seventh of the season drew Detroit with one entering the last period of play, but Alex Edler would score his sixth, shorthanded, to seal a 4-2 Canucks win. Jannik Hansen was the only Canuck to record multiple points, assisting on the goals by Hodgson and Edler, as Roberto Luongo made 37 saves for his third-straight win and seventh in his last eight games.
The Rest of the Story….
Goals from Paul Stastny and Cody Mcleod gave Colorado a 2-0 lead after a period of play last night before the visiting Blues tied things in the second when David Backes and Chris Stewart scored six minutes apart. Jay McClement’s sixth would come five minutes after it was tied, and that would stand as the winner in a 3-2 win. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 37 saves for the win, his seventh of the season and second in a row.
It was 5-1 for San Jose after a period of play, and while the scoring slowed, the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning couldn’t draw things any closer, falling 7-2. Joe Thornton and Ryan Clowe had two assists in a five-goal first, while Logan Couture had two of the goals. Brent Burns and Patrick Marleau scored in the third, as both finished with a goal and an assist and Michael Handzus added his second assist of the evening as well.
What’s on Tonight?
It’s a busy Thursday night in the NHL. Buffalo visits Toronto in the latest installment of a tense matchup, the Islanders head to MSG to take on the Rangers in the battle of New York, and Florida stops by in Ottawa. Columbus visits Nashville, while Montreal continues their road trip, stopping off in Winnipeg, and Detroit visits Calgary. Minnesota hooks up with Edmonton and Anaheim and Los Angeles meet up in a West Coast matchup.
The Injury Bug:
-Martin Havlat had surgery yesterday and will be out for the next 6-8 weeks. Havlat suffered a partially torn tendon along his left hamstring.
-Martin St. Louis returned to the lineup a bit earlier than expected for the Tampa Bay Lightning, as he scored a goal in his first game back against San Jose last night.
-The Carolina Hurricanes made it official yesterday and placed Jeff Skinner on Injured Reserve with a concussion. The move is retroactive to December 7th.
-Kari Lehtonen is preparing for a return to the Dallas lineup for after Christmas. The Stars’ goalie has been out with a groin injury.
-Still no word on Montreal’s Brian Gionta. He’s been out for most of the month with a lower body injury.
-The expectation is that the Los Angeles Kings will get Mike Richards back in the lineup this evening. Richards missed eight games with a head injury that was NOT confirmed as a concussion.
News and Rumours Around the League:
-Deryk Engelland will have a disciplinary hearing with the NHL this morning. Engelland elevated into the head of Chicago forward Marcus Kruger Tuesday, leading with his forearm. Kruger is now out with a concussion.
The Overlooked Fantasy Line(s) of the Night:
It’s not overlooked at all, but when you score four points in your return you get the nod. Claude Giroux scored the first goal of his team’s win over Dallas, and added two power play assists and an even-strength assist to boot. He had a plus-one rating in just 15:15 of ice time.