Nightly Scrap: Not exactly a goalie dual in Pittsburgh
When you looked at the two starting goalies when the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Boston Bruins, it became an automatic goalie dual. Brent Johnson entered the game with a 6-1-1 record and 1.62 GAA while Tim Thomas entered with a 7-0-0 record and 1.04 GAA– impressive to say the least.
However, the 7-4 drubbing handed out by the Bruins certainly did not help either player’s peripherals. Seven different Bruins– Zdeno Chara, Scott Thornton, Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton, Brad Marchand, Mark Recchi and Blake Wheeler— all scored for their team as they broke a two game losing streak. By contrast, this loss marks the third in four games for the Pens as they continue to struggle with consistency.
Meanwhile, in Columbus, the Blue Jackets simply spanked the St. Louis Blues 8-1. Coming into the game with seven straight wins, the Blues looked to roll over a weaker Western Conference team. Thanks to two goals from both Chris Clark and Jakub Voracek, the Blue Jackets instead easily cruised to their third win in the last four games. Derick Brassard added three assists of his own, giving him an eight game point streak (5G, 6A).
Not only did the Blues lose by an embarrassing margin, but also they lost top line forward TJ Oshie. Similarly their opponents played without the services of captain Rick Nash for most of the third period but he is believed to be ok.
In New Jersey, the Devils lost for the seventh time in the their last nine games. This time they found a way to lose in an open, high-scoring game against the Buffalo Sabres. The team came back twice in the game thanks to timely goals by David Clarkson, Jamie Langenbrunner and Jason Arnott but it was ultimately a shootout flub by Ilya Kovalchuk that decided the game.
With this victory the Sabres have now won two straight and have to be happy with their top players’ performance. Derek Roy and Tyler Myers both had multi-point games while the rookie Jhonas Enroth won his second straight, via shootout.
The Florida Panthers extended the Toronto Maple Leafs’ losing streak to seven games with their 4-1 win last night. The top line of Michael Frolik, Stephen Weiss and Shawn Matthias combined for five points as the Cats continue to hover around .500.
It may have sounded stupid before the game but Jason LaBarbera led the Phoenix Coyotes to a 2-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks. Previously losing three straight the Yotes needed a win and got just that with help from Kyle Turris and Eric Belanger. With Shane Doan out the team needs everyone to chip in, running out three balanced scoring lines.
Finally in Anaheim Curtis McElhinney and the Ducks shut out the hapless New York Islanders. After receiving 41, 41 and 42 shots in his first three starts, McElhinney was able to turn aside all 27 shots faced and earn his second win of the year. Saku Koivu scored his sixth goal of the year which was all the team needed to win. Moreover, Teemu Selanne assisted on the lone goal, giving him 13 points in his last 11 games.
That just about wraps up a pretty 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.