Nightly Scrap: A full night of upsets
The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Washington Capitals 5-0 last night in one of many upset victories. Not only were the Thrashers heavily favored to lose the contest but it was even more unlikely that they would win via shutout, especially after allowing six goals against just a week ago versus these same Caps.
Starting goalie Ondrej Pavelec was just outstanding, stopping all 29 shots and every wave of the Caps’ attack. Evander Kane, Nik Antropov and Ben Eager all finished with a goal and an assists while seven other Thrashers finished with a point– including the injury Dustin Byfuglien scoring his League leading sixth goal. Rookie backup Braden Holtby got the early hook by allowing three goals on his first five shots.
From one drastic upset to another we travel to Calgary where the Flames simply dominated the defending Stanley Cup champions, 7-2. Marty Turco allowed all seven goals including a hat trick to Jarome Iginla (don’t forget to vote to the right, we don’t know how many more games Iggy has like this). David Moss and Alex Tanguay each finished with three points while Niklas Hagman, Curtis Glencross and Brenden Morrison all put together a goal and an assist.
John Madden and the Minnesota Wild stole a win from the Detroit Red Wings, winning 4-3 in overtime. Mikko Koivu beat Jimmy Howard late in the third period to tie the game before Madden sealed the deal in extra innings. Brent Burns also scored in his first game back from suspension and ties Byfuglien for the League lead in goals amongst defenseman. The Red Wings got production out of unlikely sources with Darren Helm and Patrick Eaves both scoring; Johan Franzen also added a powerplay tally.
Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres continue to cruise, winning five of seven and beating the first place Los Angeles Kings 4-2. Second line center Tim Connolly finally started to show what he is capable of, adding a goal and an assist and being on the ice for a third goal. Primary scoring has not been a concern with the Sabres but secondary players like Connolly, Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville needed to step up– and last night they did just that. Kings’ backup Jonathan Bernier allowed the four goals on 26 shots.
In Anaheim, the Ducks have now lost four straight after dropping a 4-3 contest to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Rick Nash proceeded three second period goals– scored by Jakub Voracek, Chris Clark and Mike Commodore— which made the difference in the end as the Ducks simply could not come back on the strength of Corey Perry and the first line. To add insult to injury, Teemu Selanne left the game and would not return.
The Phoenix Coyotes also beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3… The Colorado Avalanche dominated the New York Rangers 5-1 in the first game back for Craig Anderson… The St. Louis Blues and Ty Conklin found a win against the down-and-out Ottawa Senators… The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes via shootout 5-4.
That wraps up another exciting night of hockey. Be sure to check us all day as we bring you the most relevant fantasy hockey news possible. You can follow us on twitter @dailyfaceoff as we continue to bring you information on starting goalies, team lineups and major injury updates as well as provide in-depth injury updates and player rankings in the future.