Monday Night Melee; Plenty To Discuss. Goaltending A Must Watch

10.11.10 NHL Scoreboard - Recap - Boxscore - Highlights

New York Rangers     4
New York Islanders  6

    The battle of New York was a good one. Both clubs entered the third period with 3 goals a side before the Islanders stormed for 3 goals late in the final frame, 2 of which came on the power play. Blake Comeau (2G-1A) Josh Bailey, Frans Neilsen, and Matt Moulson (1G-1A each) had quite a night for Long Island while Artem Anisimov, Michael Del Zotto, and Brandon Dubinsky (1G-1A each) had multi-point nights for the Rangers. Both goaltenders in Rick DiPietro and Henrik Lundqvist saw plenty of action as what was an exciting game was overshadowed by an uncalled for sexual gesture made by James Wisniewski towards Sean Avery. You can expect a suspension.

Anaheim  1
St. Louis   5

    The Anaheim blueline continued to struggle on Monday night as they were hammered for 53 shots against while their underwhelming offense only produced 14 shots on Jaroslav Halak who performed well when needed. Matt D'Agostini had 2 goals on the night while David Backes, BJ Crombeen, and Andy McDonald also netted goals for the blues who continue to look impressive in their youth movement. Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller was yanked in the second period (probably just to give him a break) to let Curtis McElhinney see some time. Saku Koivu had the only goal for Anaheim while TJ Oshie stacked up 2 assists for the Blue notes.

Pittsburgh    3
New Jersey  1

    Due to salary cap issues, the Devils were forced to ice only 15 skaters to the Penguins 18 who got the job in front of backup goaltender Brent Johnson. The shots were surprisingly even in this game as New Jersey (31 shots) fired everything they could at the net to avoid the extra skating only to have Johnson (30 saves) hold the fort while the Penguins scored 3 goals on 30 shots on Martin Brodeur. Alex Goligoski and Mark Letestu scored their second goals of the season for the Pens while Patrik Elias had the lone Devils goal. New Jersey needs to grab a hold of their cap situation to avoid further shorthanded starts that could immensely sour their record.

Chicago  4
Buffalo     3

    Chicago's Patrick Kane was greeted with cheers in his hometown of Buffalo before the game and after his goal that got the Blackhawks attack started after trailing by 2 goals in the first 3 minutes of play by Drew Stafford and Derek Roy of the Sabres. The night didn't look good for Hawks goalie Corey Crawford early on but he hung in there and made 32 saves the rest of the way en route to victory. Marian Hossa scored 2 big goals for Chicago while rookie defenseman Nick Leddy scored his first NHL goal. Buffalo has got to provide Ryan Miller with more support as his numbers continue to decline after letting in 4 goals on 30 shots. The night took a turn for the worse when Buffalo's Jason Pominville was hit violently into the boards from behind by Niklas Hjarmalsson of Chicago. Pominville was looking down at the puck but you can see in the replay that he did peer over his shoulder and most likely saw someone coming, which would almost put the onus on him to brace for the hit. This may be a suspension although Hjalmarsson isn't typically a dirty player because the new NHL rules say that hits that are high on the body/head from a blindside are subject to suspension.

Colorado      2
Philadelphia   4

    Philly's stars were the difference makers in this game as Jeff Carter potted 2 goals, Claude Giroux added a shorthanded goal while Mike Richards added 2 assists. Trailing by 2 going into the second frame, the Avalanche got goals from Brandon Yip and Milan Hejduk before getting shut down by 2 late third period Flyer goals. Goaltending was an exciting aspect to this contest as rookie Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky continued to impress making 25 saves on 27 shots and Craig Anderson had 34 saves on 37 shots for the Avalanche. Look for the Flyers young goaltender to earn more starts soon as he earns coach Peter Laviolette's trust between the pipes.

Ottawa         2
Washington  3OT

    Alex Ovechkin continued his heroics by scoring the overtime game winner against a freustrated and defenseless Pascal Leclaire while Michal Neuvirth added to his credibility with a strong 29 save performance for Washington. Ottawa's secondary scoring decided to show up in this game as Jarkko Ruutu and Peter Regin tallied for the Senators. Washington's Eric Fehr continued his strong start to the season by scoring his second goal in as many games while Alex Semin notched the other regulation marker for the Capitals. All goals in this contest came at even strength which is very rare in the new NHL style of play.

Florida        1
Vancouver   2

    The all Swede line of the Sedin twins and Mikael Samuelsson enjoyed a productive night as Daniel Sedin scored 2 goals while his linemates Henrik Sedin and Samuelsson assisted on both markers. Florida continued to not put up goals no matter what the strategy as Rostislav Olesz scored the lone Panthers tally. The real story here was the goaltending. Roberto Luongo stole the spotlight form his former team making 41 saves for a .976 save percentage in a performance that put his critics to bed while Tomas Vokoun rebounded from a couple of bad nights to stop 33 shots for a .943 save percentage.