Nightly Scrap: Bruins, Thomas shutout another opponent
Blake Wheeler, Michael Ryder and Nathan Horton all scored for the Bruins, who snapped a two game losing streak of their own. Mark Recchi also added two assists and Thomas earned his League leading fourth shutout of the season. While other goalies like Kari Lehtonen and Brent Johnson fall back to earn the veteran 36-year-old keeps on winning, getting his ninth win in 11 starts and improving already stellar peripherals.
One Atlantic Division team down, three more to go…
The New York Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins after needed an unlikely comeback. The two teams battled for 115 before scoring three goals in the final two minutes making a 1-0 game 2-2 and going into overtime. Erik Christensen held the goal of record for most of the game before Matt Cooke, Chris Kunitz (PP) and Marc Staal all scored. Ryan Callahan would put the goal away after getting a nifty feed by Brandon Dubinsky— who also setup Staal’s game tying goal.
Henrik Lundqvist set aside 37 of 39 came incredibly close to a shutout while Marc-Andre Fleury kept the Pens in the game.
Meanwhile in Philadelphia, the Flyers scorched yet another opponent, dominating Brian Elliott and the Ottawa Senators 5-1. As usual, Claude Giroux and Mike Richards simply owned the scoring and put up three points each. Daniel Briere and Darroll Powe also scored for their team as the Flyers have won nine of their last 10 and firmly look like the same team that made it to the Stanley Cup last year.
Sergei Bobrovsky once again moves into a tie for the League lead in wins with 11 as his team shows simply no sign of slowing down.
Speaking of hot streaks, don’t look now but the Buffalo Sabres have avoided a regulation loss in five straight games and have won two straight with Ryan Miller back between the pipes. Last night’s win was even more impressive considering it came against a strong Vancouver Canuck offense who had won eight of their last nine games. Tyler Ennis, Cody McCormick, Tyler Myers and Steve Montador also scored for the Sabres as they got the production they needed. Goals from Mikael Samuelsson, Daniel Sedin and Alexander Edler went wasted as Cory Schneider finally got his first loss in regulation.
Over in Colorado the Avalanche continue to score goals in bunches. For the third time in their last five games the Avs scored over five goals, this time defeating the St. Louis Blues 6-3. JM Liles put up two goals while Paul Stastny, Kevin Porter, Brandon Yip and David Jones also put the puck in the back of the net. Jaroslav Halak allowed a surprising six goals on 23 shots, which might be due to some rust after watching Ty Conklin play the last two of four.
Finally, the San Jose Sharks delivered to Jonathan Bernier his first lopsided loss of the season. After not allowing more than three goals in all four of his previous starts the Sharks dominated the youngster, winning by a 6-3 margin. Patrick Marleau posted a goal and two assists while Joe Pavelski and Dany Heatley each finished with a goal and an assist. The Los Angeles Kings second line of Ryan Smyth, Justin Williams and Jarret Stoll combined for two goals but proved to be no match for the surging Sharks.
That just about wraps up a very interesting 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.