Got a long report tonight!
Here are the scores from Jan 16th's games:
1. Chicago beat Columbus 6-5. Chicago beating Columbus is not the surprise, but almost blowing the game is. Neither goalie looked particularly sharp in this one.
2. Dallas beat Detroit 3-2 in the shootout. A little bit of controversy in this one, as some people feel that the goal Ott scored in the shootout should not have counted. The ref positioned behind the net waved the goal off, and it ended up going to video review in Toronto. Toronto said it was inconclusive(which is supposed to mean the original call stands, which was no goal), yet the other two refs suddenly said that it was a goal even though their view was not as good as the ref behind the net. I am not a Detroit fan by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems like they got screwed in this one. For the record, I could not see a definitive angle that would allow me to say one way or the other.
3. Colorado beat New Jersey 3-1. While Brodeur only gave up 2 goals in this one(the 3rd goal was an empty netter), he was outplayed by Anderson this game. Anderson played great, and he kept the Devils from getting anything more than the single goal. If Anderson plays like this in the playoffs(assuming they make it there), then they have the potential to go far.
This was also the game where Patrik Elias was injured when he was on the receiving end of a hard check. Judging from the video clips I saw, and from what the Devils coach himself said, I do not think it was a dirty hit at all. Elias may not have even been hurt, but he raised his shoulder at the last moment which may have contributed to it. According to ESPN.com he has a possible concussion and neck injury. He had lost conciousness when he hit the ice, but I am uncertain if this was caused by the hit or when he fell to the ice. I hope he makes a full recovery, and that his injury is not too serious.
4. LA beat Boston 4-3 in the shootout. Again, Boston squandered a lead and gave up two goals in the middle of the third period to allow LA to tie the game. One positive that Boston can take from this game(and there isn't a lot, to be honest) is that Milan Lucic is back and he garnered an assist on Boston's first goal. Having Lucic back can only help Boston's offense, something that is sorely needed right now. LA scored on 2-3 of their chances in the shootout, and Boston was 0-2.
5. San Jose beat Edmonton 4-2. Nothing much to say about this one, as Edmonton just continues to fall(this is their 7th loss in a row) and San Jose continues to shine. David Setoguchi(who is having a poor season so far as he had 31 goals and 34 assists last year in his second year) potted two goals. Just what their opponents needed to face...another dangerous skater on the ice. He's only 23 years old, so he should only get better as the seasons go by.
6. Ottawa beat Montreal 4-2. Another win for Mike Brodeur. I am sure he will falter as the season wears on(he is only a rookie after all), but for now he is playing some stellar hockey! Montreal was never really out of this game, as the fourth goal was an empty netter, but they just could not find the equalizer. I think it is safe to say that Ottawa missed Daniel Alfredsson and are very glad that he is back, as he had 1 goal and 2 assists in this contest.
7. The Islanders beat Buffalo 3-2 in the shootout. The Islanders had a 2-0 lead at one point, and let Buffalo back into this game. The goalies weren't particularly sharp in the shootout as Buffalo was 3-8 and the Islanders were 4-8. Tavares got his 7th goal in this game. After a fairly strong start to the season he has tapered off a little.
8. Florida beat Tampa Bay 5-2. The second of a home-and-home series, but this time it was Florida that beat Tampa Bay instead of the way the first game ended up.
9. Atlanta beat Carolina 5-3. Atlanta got very lucky to pull away a win here, as they gave up a 3-1 game and let Carolina tie it 3-3. Atlanta scored their fourth goal of the game, and then got an empty netter to finish it off. Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and an assist in this one, as did Nik Antropov. I wish that he was still a Leaf, as I always liked him when he was on their team.
10. St. Louis beat the Rangers 4-1. A pretty ugly game for the Rangers, as it was yet another game where they could not score goals. They have Gaborik and not much else, and that will hurt them if they make it into the playoffs.
11. Phoenix beat Minnesota 6-4. Phoenix almost blew this one. Minnesota scored 3 times in the third period which had made it 5-4 for Phoenix. Luckily for the Coyotes they scored their 6th goal in the last minute of the game. Bryzgalov did not look sharp in this one, and hasn't in a little while now. That could spell a lot of trouble for the Coyotes as the season goes on.
12. Vancouver beat Pittsburgh 6-2. Even though they played against a rookie goaltender, the Canucks did what they were supposed to do. Pile it on versus a rookie and hope he lets some pucks in. You cannot let up, ever, or you can be made to look like a fool when you get beat by that same goalie who gets a shutout against you. John Curry, the goalie, gave up 5 goals and ended up being pulled. The Penguins then put in a 19 year old Russian who did not even get paid for this game(he was signed to a 1-game contract)! He also had to use Marc-Andre Fleury's equipment as he was not sure if his goaltending equipment was legal for NHL play. He ended up giving up 1 goal off 13 shots, so he played fairly well for his first NHL game. Will he get another chance? Who knows, but I think they should give him another one. Fleury is out because he has a hairline fracture in his hand. He is listed as day-to-day, so he shouldn't be out too long.
-------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------
Here are the scores from Jan 17th's games:
1. Chicago beat Detroit 4-3 in the shootout. Detroit rallied to tie it up at 3, but again they were undone by the shootout. I think they are getting tired of losing in it, that is for sure. Chicago played another shaky game.
2. Washington beat Philadelphia 5-3. Perhaps it can be chalked up to the fact that Emery played in net for the first time since he had his surgery a while back. Talk about a trial by fire! Your first game back against a high-powered offense like the Capitals! Ouch. Not a good day for Jen.
3. The Rangers beat Montreal 6-2. This one was bad. Montreal had a 2-0 lead at one point, which
should have been safe against the Rangers since the Rangers could not seem to score goals very often this season. However, the wheels totally fell off in this one. Montreal seemed to ease off(they had 20 shots on net in total) and the Rangers capitalized. They did not look back and scored 3 goals in the second, and 3 goals in the third. Avery was his normal agitating self and ended up with 9 minutes of penalties(surprisingly it did not hurt the Rangers!). Halak gave up 6 goals off of 34 shots on net. Ila is probably pretty angry about this one.
4. Anaheim beat Calgary 5-4. An ugly game by Calgary. They came back from 3-1 to take a 4-3 lead and then coughed it up and gave up 2 unanswered goals.
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Here are the scores from Jan 18th's games:
1. Ottawa beat Boston 5-1. Remember what I said last game about Ottawa missing Alfreddson? Well, I was right. He had a hat-trick in this one. Boston was totally outplayed in this one judging from the score, as neither team had more than 30 shots(Ottawa had 26 and Boston had 23). Thomas gave up 3 goals off 9 shots and that was it for him. Not a good night for Boston, so they need to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and start playing good hockey again. Otherwise smc will give them a good tolchukking!
2. The Islanders beat New Jersey 4-0. Yep, this one was fugly. The Devils managed just 20 shots and gave up 46. I am not sure why they pulled Brodeur in this one, as he only gave up 4 goals off 32 shots. The Islanders had 18 shots in the first period and 14 in the second(as opposed to just 11 in the same span for the Devils). Fugly, fugly game.
3. Tampa Bay beat Carolina 3-2. I am happy with this just for the fact that it gives the Leafs 2 more points in breathing room for the bottom of the Eastern barrel.
4. Columbus beat St. Louis 4-2. Not much to say about this one either, except it was a game between two teams that are pretty much struggling with all facets of the game.
5. Buffalo beat Phoenix 7-2. Remember how I said in the earlier portion of this report that Bryzgalov was struggling? Well, here is more proof. He gave up 3 goals off 13 shots. That being said, his replacement was just as crappy. He gave up 4 goals off 18 shots. Not a good night for Phoenix's goaltending. Will they recover? They better, otherwise any fanbase they have coming to their games this year will go away yet again.
-end of part 1-