In just his fifth NHL start, goaltender Chad Johnson turned aside all 21 Nashville shots and Phoenix posted a 4-0 win over the Predators Monday night in Glendale, Ariz. Johnson was called up last week from Portland (AHL) to be the backup once Mike Smith went down with a lower-body injury. Johnson got the start to give Jason LaBarbera a night off.
Let’s see who else stood tall on this light night of action.
Boston used a pair of late third-period goals to break a 3-3 tie and knock off Carolina 5-3. Zdeno Chara led the way with a goal and an assist for the Bruins while Eric Staal had the same for Carolina. Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward is now 1-3 with a 4.51 GAA and .861 save percentage.
Columbus stunned Dallas 2-1 as Vinny Prospal’s goal 1:33 into the third period was the game-winner. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 of 25 shots in the win as both teams are now 2-3-1 this season.
Edmonton knocked off visiting Colorado 4-1. Sam Gagner and Taylor Hall each picked up two assists while Devan Dubnyk turned away 37 Colorado shots to get the win.
Slava Voynov’s goal with 44 seconds left tied the game for the Kings at 2-2 and Jeff Carter scored the lone goal in the shootout as the Kings rallied to knock off the Canucks 3-2.
Multiple Goal Scorers –NONE for the first time this season.
Stat of the Night–Shooting Blanks
Nashville was shutout for the second time in its last three games. The Predators have not put more than 21 shots on goal in any of those three games. Nashville is now 1-2-3 this season and needs to find offense. Tonight’s shutout was the first of four straight road games and the rest of them are tougher teams (LA, SJ, STL) before returning home to take on the Kings.
Three Stars of the Night
1. Johnson 24-save shutout;first of his career
2. Dubnyk 37 saves in the win for the Oilers
3. Chara Only player with a three-point night.
Tuesday’s Schedule (all times ET)
New Jersey at Boston 7pm A matchup of division leaders in the early going.
Toronto at Buffalo 7pm A pair of 2-3 teams go head to head.
Philadelphia at NY Rangers 7pm Can the Flyers continue their surge after an 0-3 start?
Winnipeg at Montreal 730pm One of these teams will get its fourth win this season.
Washington at Ottawa 730pm The Caps take on the Sens for their only meeting before the last week of the season.
NY Islanders at Pittsburgh 730pm These two teams are right at the cut line for the playoffs.
Florida at Tampa Bay 730pm The 1-4 team travels across the Sunshine State to battle the 4-1 team.
Dallas at Detroit 730pm These are two of the six teams tied in the standings with five points…
Columbus at Minnesota 8pm …and these are two more of them.
Anaheim at San Jose 1030pm The Sharks look to match Chicago at 6-0 but the Ducks stand in their way.
