THE STARS???!!!!!! WE LOST TO THE STARS???!!!!! AUGH!. The Leafs threw discipline to the wind today, giving up 3 powerplay goals against on ELEVEN chances for the stars. We were outplayed in every period by THE STARS!!! There were two bright sides to this day, however, the first being Roman Cechmanek coming in on his day off to stop all 18 shots thrown his way, earning the second star. As well, the Bruins also lost and the Capitals only tied, meaning we're only slightly worse off playoff-wise than we were before. THE STARS???!!!! Boucher's revenge, I guess. Stupid Salo.
And the baby Leafs got shut out. :angry:
__________________
Resigned=Quit
Re-signed=Signed another contract
It does make a difference: They're opposites.
The Blues powerplay troubles seem to have disappeared this evening. Going 3 for 8 with the man advantage the new PP combinations seem to have worked well with both the first and second units contributing to the effort.
Marc-Andre Fleury made his second straight start since being called up from Worcester, this time picking up the win stopping 27/29 shots, with one of the pucks beating him on the while the Blues were a man short. This is a trend that scares St Louis management however they know it is not the fault of the goalies if the PK isn't working at 100%.
Eric Staal had another great game for the Blues picking up an assist on the PP, but the real offensive story was Boyes (first star) and Sopel (3rd star) to go along with the game's second star Fleury, with each player picking up 3 points each.
Nice to get the win but every other friggin team won as well that I need to pass. Wings only getting 19 shots on net vs the Canes but cashed in on six of them. Danil Markov with a four point game. Peter Nedved and Daymond Lankow found instant chemistry gathering a combined five points.
Mathieu Biron, one of the few players that have been here all season has been stellar. On a team that has most players in the minus or hovering around the even mark, Biron is +16. His defensive play has been one of the highlights for Detroit this season.
In other news it is rumoured that Mathieu Biron may be on the move to a team in the east.
SABRES AND CAPS TIE ONE ON
Wild affair in 'battle' for 9th
Well the Sabres make up no ground in a pride battle for 9th place. Presumably a more important lost point for the Caps who still have the playoffs in their sights.
This game was entertaining, despite the low shot totals. The trio of Horton-Forsberg-Guerin clicked twice for Washington in a 3 minute span at the end of the first period, including Horton's 2nd at the 20 minute mark. The Sabres roared back in the third period however, with Ziggy Palffy picking up 2 key points. The Sabres newly formed 3rd line of Battaglia-Pahlsson-Isbister continued their strong play with a goal by Battaglia-his second in two games since returning to Buffalo. Unfortunately Battaglia fell to a minor injury shortly thereafter. The Flames tied the game up with a late PP marker.
The Sabres continue to play out the string. Rumour has them signing pending UFA Nils Ekman to a long term deal. The Sabres are rumoured to not have any of the other pending team UFAs: Knutsen,Prusek,Heins,Vandenbussche and Webb in their plans. These guys can be had for as little as pick upgrades in the upcoming draft
The Hawks tied the Ducks tonight in the Game of the Week. Notable for the Hawks was Marc Savard who was a warrior, proving that this really is fantasy. Savard produced 9 SOG for the Hawks tonight, nearly 1/3 of the teams production. Even more astonishing are the 4 hits he was credited with. :P
The Hawks outshot the Ducks, something it seems we have not done in a long time was outshoot our oppponent. We were also outgooned by the feathered fowl, and that is pretty much unheard of! Unfortunately the Hawks managed only 1 conversion on 9 PP chances. It was fitting that Savard was rewarded with the only tally of the game for the Hawks, after his hard work in the game.
Somehow Roberto Luongo stole what should have rightfully been Savard's 1st star. :angry:
Senators extract Revenge for game stolen from them a week Earlier
After losing 2-0 earlier to the Flyers the Sens GM made it clear to the Team he was not ammused.
They Resonded by Poundng the Flyers 7-1. Firing 39 shots on goal
Led by Ryan Smyth who has seen his season turn around. he had 2 goals and 2 assists today. Smyth has now scored 19 points for us in only 12 games. I think he likes it in Ottawa.
Ed Jovanovski was the games 2nd star with a Goal and an assist.
While Joe Sakic was named the games 3rd star. Joe Also had a goal and assist tonight. he now has cracked the Century mark for points with 100 on the season.
He currently sits 8 points back of Ziggy for the League lead. Can he make up the difference in 7 games? Dont know but it should be fun to watch. :P
We now have a day off before we face the suddenly Strong Panthers.
The Montreal Canadiens took the Pens a little lightly, it would seem. In a game against the League's Basement dwellers, the Hab started with an early power play goal. However, they then forgot to play hockey. The Pens answered the Habs first period power play goal with one of their own. Then continued to take the play to the Habs through the second period, scoring twice more.
In the third period the Habs came to life. Scoring 3 unanswered goals to win the game 4-3. Players and GM Beerfund were very displeased with the result following the game. The general consensus was that the Habs want a more consisitent effort. Perhaps there will be some late deadline deals to give the team a bit of a boast heading into the playoffs.
Location: I ain't playing nose tackle in a 3-4 defence
Exp:
OILERS WLD RIDE COMES TO AN END
Vokun stones ex-team again
Tomas Vokun has a lot of animosity towards Oilers GM Sylvanfan, and again Wild GM Grant Farhall was able to take full advantage and channel that disdain into a positive result for his young hockey club. The former Oilers main man stopped 30 of 31 shots sent his way to help his team earn a 1-1 draw with the Oilers and snap the Oilers 9 game win streak. The loss leaves the Oilers now only 7 points up on Anaheim and moves the Oilers a full 2 points behind Nashville for first in the Howe conference. Vokun was laughed at earlier this season by Sylvanfan for his so-so play and eventually booted out of town to make room for Martin Broduer. Although Broduer has played very well for the Oilers only losing 1 time in regulation in 21 games, its Tomas Vokun who has the better stats. The ironny is that another former Oiler who used to be on Sylvanfans "you're a spoiled punk kid who thinks his dad owns the Brick" list Jason Spezza who was part of the Broduer deal is now also in Minnesota. As is prospect Alexander Steen who the Oilers aquired with Broduer in that deal, and the Wilds lone goal scorer Brendan Morrow.
Morrow took advantage of a rare defensive gaffe by Karel Rachunek 16:41 into the first and went in alone on Sebastien Caron and beat the Oiler tender to give the Wild the upper hand after one. But the Oilers took advantage of Minnesota trying to make a long change while shorthanded when Caron left the net and played the puck to Tom Poti who turned it up ice to a streaking Scott Mellanby who broke in on a partial break down the right wing and ripped a shot over Vokuns glove hand for his second goal in as many games with the Oilers. Outside of that the game featured solid goaltending and some hard hitting. Shane Doan and Marian Hossa both had point streaks come to an end, but not due to lack of trying as Vokun robbed Doan on three different occasions on the night. Vokuns former understudy Sebastien Caron also had a good game stopping 24 of the 25 shots sent his way and collecting an assist for his best game since January.
The Oilers finish the season series against the Wild with a record of 1-1-2-1 for 5 points. Considering the Wild currently sit 7th, it may foreshadow a tough first round matchup for the Oilers who are guaranteed home ice in the first round. The other 5 teams that the Oilers could face except for the Blueshave fared far worse against the Oil than have the Wild. The Oilers will take a day off to prepare for the Islanders who are one of three teams the Oilers have not beaten this season. The Oilers need any combination of 4 wins or 4 Duck losses in order to win their second straight Martin Division. Last year it only took a mere 98 points whereas this year it looks like 113+ will be needed. With Anaheim and Los Angeles both having a lot of good young talent in the system there will be several good battles in the years to come in what should become a very tough division.
__________________ "I don't think it's me personally, I really don't,"
Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell
