Out of the seven games on Monday night, six of them ended up as one-goal games so we had our first night of tightly-played games of the season. Vladimir Tarasenko’s three-point night led St. Louis to a win over Nashville and got the Blues to a 2-0 start. Let’s take a look at the rest of the action from a closely-contested Monday.
The Blues posted a 4-3 win over Nashville in the shootout. Tarasenko had his second good night of the season. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk posted a pair of assists for the Blues. Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne posted 36 saves in the losing effort. St. Louis goaltender Jaroslav Halak got pulled for Brian Elliott after allowing three goals on 11 shots.
Boston slipped past Winnipeg 2-1 in the shootout. Tukka Rask of Boston and Ondrej Pavelec of Winnipeg each turned aside 26 of 27 shots through the end of the overtime but Rask’s Bruins came out on top.
The Islanders nearly coughed up a 4-0 lead but withstood a third-period rally by Tampa Bay to pick up their first win of the season, 4-3 over the Lightning. The Islanders peppered Tampa goaltender Anders Lindback with 44 shots in the win and John Tarvares picked up a pair of helpers. The Lightning clawed back with three goals in less than six minutes of the third period with Steven Stamkos leading the way. He picked up a goal and an assist in that frenzy.
Buffalo slipped past Toronto 2-1 and Sabres’ goaltender Ryan Miller came within two minutes of posting the shutout. Miller turned aside 34 shots while Jason Pominville had a goal and an assist in the win for the 2-0 Sabres.
Craig Anderson’s 31-save shutout backstopped Ottawa to a 4-0 win over Florida. Kyle Turris scored twice for the Senators.
Detroit had to go to the shootout to slip past Columbus 4-3. Pavel Datsyuk’s goal with 6:04 left in the third sent the game to overtime and Damien Brunner won it in the shootout. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 39 shots in the losing effort.
Anaheim’s offense continues to light the lamp as they put up a five-spot and slipped past the Flames 5-4. Daniel Winnik scored twice for the Ducks while Curtis Glencross tallied twice for the Flames. Winnik is tied with Marian Hossa of Chicago for the league lead with four goals.
Multiple Goal Scorers
Glencross-CGY and Turris-OTT
Stat of the Night
Canadian teams went 1-2-1 Monday with Ottawa posting the lone win.
Three Stars of the Night
1. Tarashenko The rookie continues to impress with 3G-2A in two games for the Blues.
2. Winnik The Ducks’ forward opened 2013 with consecutive two-goal games.
3. Anderson He shutout a Florida team that scored five in the season opener.
Tuesday’s Games (All Times ET)
Winnipeg at Washington 7pm See how much gas the Jets have in their legs after traveling from Boston the day before.
Tampa Bay at Carolina 7pm Will Cam Ward rebound from a terrible first outing? (4 GA on 12 shots in one period)
Florida at Montreal 730pm Which Panthers will show up?
Philadelphia at New Jersey 730pm Can Philly avoid an 0-3 hole to start the season?
Dallas at Detroit 730pm Which Dallas team shows up-The one that beat Phoenix or the one that got blanked by the Wild?
Nashville at Minnesota 8pm The Predators are 0-2 in shootouts already this season and are seeking their first win.
St. Louis at Chicago 830pm Look for plenty of offense as these two teams collide. Check to see who starts in goal for the Blues in light of Halak’s performance last night. Elliott was scheduled to start but it’s up in the air.
LA at Colorado 9pm The Kings visit Denver to start their road schedule.
San Jose at Edmonton 10pm Which team gets the 2-0 start?
