21 replies to this topic

[Dark Knight]

Please post your thoughts, pictures and comments on tonight's games in this thread.

Carolina at Boston
Buffalo-NJD
TBL-NYR
Philadelphia at Atlanta
Chicago at Montreal
Pittsburgh at Florida
Colorado at Detroit
Columbus at STL
Phoenix at Calgary
NYI at Vancouver
Nashville at LAK

[lvsprt]

Islanders for the win, Alex.

[GLOVESAVE35]

The standings are so tight that it's hard to root for any one result that helps the Ducks in one fashion but may potentially hurt them in another... With that said, I'll just hope for regulation wins in the WC with two exceptions ( and need to win) . In interconference games, go EC teams (take note, Islanders!).

[DropThePuck]

TSN's Ice Chips:

Eric Boulton practiced on Monday after injuring his knee five days before. He is doubtful for Tuesday's game against the Flyers, but may return on Thursday when they take on the Panthers. - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Aaron Ward is close to returning to the lineup. Ward has been sidelined since December 21 with a broken foot, but looked good in practice on Monday. He is now at the point where he is working on his conditioning and could be ready to play by the weekend. Patrice Bergeron has progressed to seven-minute workout sessions on the stationary bike. - Boston Herald

Martin Havlat returned from a groin injury Sunday, but it doesn't appear centre Jason Williams, who has also been sidelined with a groin injury, is close to joining Havlat on the ice. Brent Sopel, who broke his finger Dec. 26 and has missed five games, said he was "taking it day by day" in his recovery. Defenceman James Wisniewski missed his fifth game since injuring his knee Dec. 26. - Chicago Tribune

Sergei Samsonov has been placed on re-entry waivers. - TSN

Jose Theodore will get the nod in goal on Tuesday. Theodore earned a 2-1 overtime win over the Islanders on Saturday. Tyler Arnason has recovered from wrist surgery and could be back in the Avalanche lineup as soon as Tuesday night against the Red Wings. - Denver Post

David Vyborny is set to be removed from the injured reserve list by the Jackets. Vyborny, who has sat the last three games with a groin injury, is expected to dress on Tuesday night against the Blues. Fredrik Modin skated hard at practice on Monday and is close to returning to the Columbus lineup. Modin has not appeared in an NHL game since Nov. 1 due to back spasms. Pascal Leclaire has been diagnosed with a viral infection. He did not travel with the team to St. Louis for Tuesday night's game, but beyond that his status is unknown at this time. - Columbus Dispatch

Kirk Maltby is expected back in the Red Wings lineup on Tuesday versus the Avalanche. He has been sidelined since Nov. 27 because of lingering lower back pain. Tomas Holmstrom is projected to return to the Detroit lineup on Tuesday night. He has missed the past eight games with a sprained right knee. - Detroit News

Michael Cammalleri skated for the first time on Monday at practice since straining his ribs on Dec. 22 agaisnt Nashville. He is still considered day-to-day. - LA Times

Marian Gaborik is slowly working himself into coach Jacques Lemaire's doghouse. "Gabby's working, but it's not hard enough - plain and simple," he said. "It's got to be harder. He does that, you add his talent, he's going to have a better chance of success." Gaborik has seen his ice time reduced in some due to his poor effort level. - Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune

Cristobal Huet will start in goal for the Canadiens against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, while veteran defenceman Patrice Brisebois (shoulder) will be back in the lineup.

Defenceman Shea Weber should resume skating this week. However, he is still doubtful to return to the Predators lineup until he gets in a few full practices with the team. Weber has missed the last seven games with a leg injury. - Tennessean

Radek Martinek skated with less pain Sunday in his bruised lower right leg. Coach Ted Nolan said he's hopeful Martinek will return later in a five-game trip that ends Jan. 13 in Ottawa, "but I'm not banking on it." - Newsday

Patrick Eaves (shoulder, out since Nov. 22) had his first team skate since the injury on Monday. He has missed 21 games and there's still no word on a return date. Ray Emery and Brian McGrattan got into a fight at the end of practice - it happened after a skating drill in which Emery accused McGrattan of bumping him. According to McGrattan, it's at least the third time they have fought on the ice. The scuffle didn't last that long as teammates broke it up. Also at practice today, captain Daniel Alfredsson made good on his bet with team owner Eugene Melnyk and wore a Team Canada jersey throughout the first long skate. - TSN

Simon Gagne (concussion) and Scottie Upshall (right knee sprain) are questionable for Tuesday's game in Atlanta. Gagne has missed 25 games and Upshall has missed the last three. GM Paul Holmgren said the club has not decided whether to call up a forward from the Phantoms or continue to rotate players such as Stefan Ruzicka, Denis Tolpeko and Steve Downie. - Philadelphia Inquirer

Defenceman Ryan Lannon and center Ryan Stone were recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Monday. - Press Release

Dimitri Patzold was placed on waivers by the Sharks on Monday. If he clears he will report to the team's AHL affiliate in Worcester. Thomas Griess will likely be called up to serve as Evgeni Nabokov's backup. Ryan Clowe skated for the first time on Monday prior to the team working out. Clowe had not been on the ice since he underwent surgery on his right knee on Nov. 5 to repair damage to his ACL. - Contra Costa Times

The Canucks have recalled defenseman Nathan McIver from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. - Sports Ticker

[Dark Knight]

FINAL SCORES:

Carolina at Boston 1-0
Buffalo at NJD 1-2 (OT/SO)
TBL at NYR 5-3
Philadelphia at Atlanta 4-1
Chicago at Montreal 3-4 (OT)
Pittsburgh at Florida 3-1
Colorado at Detroit 0-1

PARTIAL SCORES:

Columbus at STL 1-3 (Early in 3rd)
Phoenix at Calgary (3-0 late in 2nd)
NYI at Vancouver (0-1 early in 1st)
Nashville at LAK (not yet underway)

[lvsprt]

Well I caught the Wings/ Avs game on VS tonight and I gotta say, the Wings are fast, north and south, to every puck and defend right into your face. They had the replay of our game against the Preds on FSN and our game seemed so nonchalant and slow compared to their contest. Not making any dramatic statement but it appears to me we are going to have to bring on the machine that slows a team like that way down or develop more speed.

Looking at who they have lost to... one of those was to us this year. What is up with the Blackhawks having their number this year. Crazy.

[Dark Knight]

Well I caught the Wings/ Avs game on VS tonight and I gotta say, the Wings are fast, north and south, to every puck and defend right into your face.

Detroit looks like an unstoppable machine. They're efficient and effective and hard to defeat. They're the best team in the NHL right now, hands down.

[GLOVESAVE35]

Nashville 3-0 over LA in the 1st. Three goals scored in a minute fifteen seconds. Boos raining down on LA. LaBarbera pulled in favor of Yo Mama loser.

After their hiccup in Anaheim, Nashville resumes its streak of scoring 3 goals in the 1st period (which isn't even half over yet).

[Dark Knight]

Nashville 3-0 over LA in the 1st. Three goals scored in a minute fifteen seconds. Boos raining down on LA. LaBarbera pulled in favor of Yo Mama loser.

After their hiccup in Anaheim, Nashville resumes its streak of scoring 3 goals in the 1st period (which isn't even half over yet).

How much longer will the "rebuilding" continue in LA ?

[GLOVESAVE35]

How much longer will the "rebuilding" continue in LA ?

Indefinitely if we're lucky.

[Dark Knight]

Indefinitely if we're lucky.

What's another 40 years among friends, right ?

[Dark Knight]

More FINALS:

Columbus at STL 1-6
Phoenix at Calgary 3-1

The Ducks get favorable news with Colorado, Chicago and Calgary losing although Chicago gets a point.

Nashville at LAK 3-0 (early in the second)
NYI at Vancouver 1-1 (late in the second)

[Duckbill]

Well I caught the Wings/ Avs game on VS tonight and I gotta say, the Wings are fast, north and south, to every puck and defend right into your face. They had the replay of our game against the Preds on FSN and our game seemed so nonchalant and slow compared to their contest. Not making any dramatic statement but it appears to me we are going to have to bring on the machine that slows a team like that way down or develop more speed.

Looking at who they have lost to... one of those was to us this year. What is up with the Blackhawks having their number this year. Crazy.

Detroit looked good but they still only got one, Everyone on that Avs team needs to go out and get Theodore a steak dinner because he did everything he could for those bums.

Watcing the Preds and Kings right now. Pitiful, the three goal spurt aside that 4th goal was just pathetic. The Kings young forwards remind me of the ballhog kids playing basketball back when I was young, you remember the guys that never wanted to play defense and would stand around until they got the ball back? Kopitar was practically CRAWLING behind Nichol on that one.

I gotta be careful though, going to add to my Allducks blog about some of this stuff. ;-)

[Duckbill]

did anyone see during the 2nd intermission on VS when they were talking about "Best Defensive Players of 2007". Of the five 'finalists' listed for their segment, three were Ducks and Pahlsson and Pronger each got a nod from the Vs crew. (Scotty was the third Duck).

Holy Crap!

Anyone seen the box score for NYI vs VAN?

The Isles have been called for SEVEN minor penalties, the Canucks TWO. To make matters worse for NY, their lone power play was only 18 seconds long before it was wiped out by a Guerin slashing penalty. They have had 18 seconds of PP to Vancouver's 12:23 and the game is currently tied at two. Against Luongo, in Vancouver. Those guys are playing balls to the wall tonight.

[GLOVESAVE35]

Islanders lost 3-2 in a shootout.

Kings losing 7-0 to Nashville late in the 3rd. Nick Nickson trying to jinx Mason's shutout.

[Duckbill]

The jinx failed. "Kings Live" starts now, except for the fact that the only thing Live about the Kings tonight was the 1400 remaining fans in those last couple of minutes. They were really raining down the boos.

That kid making goofy faces behind Patrick O'Neal in the immediate postgame was hilarious.

[GLOVESAVE35]

LA/Nashville game summary:

The Predators, who set a club record for the fastest four goals allowed during the second period of Monday's 5-2 loss at Anaheim (4:08), established a franchise mark for the fastest three goals scored in the first period against Southern California's other team as Hordichuk, Arnott and Legwand connected in a 1:15 span.

...
Aubin skated about 30 feet out of his crease to clear a loose puck out of the zone, but Nichol played the carom off the boards just inside the blue-line and scored on a 20-foot wrist shot that beat Aubin to the glove side as he was backing up toward the net.

Doh!

[Dark Knight]

Frozen Moment:



Saku Koivu of the Montreal Canadiens and Martin Lapointe of the Chicago Blackhawks take a ceremonial face-off from Denis Savard and Henri Richard as the Canadiens celebrate their 82-year rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images).

[GLOVESAVE35]

They Love L.A. -- The Nashville Predators certainly enjoy playing the Los Angeles Kings – especially goalie Chris Mason.Mason made 28 saves for his 10th career shutout, while the team in front of him scored three times in 75 seconds in the first periods as the Predators devoured the Kings, 7-0, at the Staples Center.

Even Darcy Hordichuk got involved, as he snapped a 64-game drought by potting the game’s opening goal.

“The big problem in the first period was that we didn’t want the puck,” Kings coach Marc Crawford said. “We threw the puck away, then complicated things by trapping ourselves in our own zone. This was one of those nights where there was nothing we could do to save us from ourselves.”

Link

[Dark Knight]

"...This was one of those seasons where there was nothing we could do to save us from ourselves.”

There. I fixed it nicely for Mr. Crawford

[GLOVESAVE35]

There. I fixed it nicely for Mr. Crawford

So true.

[lvsprt]

Sounds like Crawford is doing the tap dance. It would be crazy if Lombardi doesn't see that Crawford might be part of te problem.