Roberto Luongo had a bad night is an understatement. Like saying sumo wrestlers are a little overweight, understatement. Luongo gave up eight goals against Detroit and the Canucks got hammered 8-3 by the Red Wings. Damien Brunner led the way for the Red Wings with two goals and two assists.
Joakim Andersson scored twice for the Red Wings while Niklas Kronwall and Henrik Zetterberg each had a goal and two assists. Lost in all of the Detroit offense was a two-goal night for Daniel Sedin.
SPIN: The real interesting thing about this game was that Detroit actually trailed 3-2 after one period. This game was an all-around flop for Vancouver and things like this are going to happen. I’m not soured on Luongo because of one night. Detroit also went 3-of-5 on the power play in this one and those were all second-period goals. This was one of those nights when seemingly everything went right for Detroit and should be looked on as an aberration. This is just the second time this season someone has put up eight goals in a game this season. The other was Tampa bombing Winnipeg 8-3 on the first day of this month.
Boston took down Florida 4-1 behind 34 saves from goaltender Tuukka Rask. Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic were two of the Bruins’ four goal scorers while Tomas Kopecky had the only goal for Florida.
SPIN: Boston is getting that balanced offense that drives fantasy owners nuts since it’s hard to tell who they will rely on. Boston also picked up a rare power-play goal. Rask continues to play well for the Bruins while Jacob Markstrom is getting the starts for the Panthers in goal.
Winnipeg rallied back and doubled up New Jersey 4-2 behind Ondrej Pavelec’s 24-save effort. Andrew Ladd scored his 10th goal of the season and Evander Kane rang up his seventh in the win. Travis Zajac and Steve Bernier scored for the Devils.
SPIN: Johan Hedberg got the start in goal for New Jersey after Martin Brodeur was reportedly injured in warm-ups. The Jets scored three straight goals to erase a 2-1 deficit so they’re starting to show some spunk. It’s not enough to put many of them into my lineups but another couple games like that should be more convincing.
Carolina doubled up the Islanders 4-2. The Islanders coughed up a 2-0 lead as Carolina scored four unanswered goals for the win. Eric Staal and Jordan Staal each scored for the Hurricanes while John Tarvares and Matt Moulson lit the lamp for the Islanders.
SPIN: Kevin Poulin got the start in goal for the Islanders. Evgeni Nabokov got a day off and the Isles waived Rick DiPietro to Poulin got the call up and the start in goal. With Nabokov gobbling up most of the starts, Poulin has little fantasy value.
Corey Crawford stopped all 28 shots and the Blackhawks blanked Columbus 1-0 to improve to 15-0-3 this season. Andrew Shaw had the lone goal for Chicago.
SPIN: Crawford is back from his injury that caused him to miss the last four games so Ray Emery’s fantasy value is going to take a little hit there. Chicago keeps rolling and Columbus has little fantasy relevance.
Pittsburgh knocked off Tampa Bay 5-3 thanks to a pair of goals from Sidney Crosby and a 3-0 lead after the first period. Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists in the loss.
SPIN: Pittsburgh’s stars came to play as did Tampa’s. Stamkos has 29 points this season, one ahead of Crosby for the scoring lead in the NHL.
Anaheim needed overtime to knock off Colorado 4-3. Corey Perry scored twice and had an assist while Ryan Getzlaf scored once and helped on two more. Defenseman Francois Beauchemin assisted on all four Anaheim goals.
SPIN: The Ducks continue rolling and Beauchemin had a great night. If you don’t have him, get him. Anaheim got three of its five goals on the power play which contributed to Beauchemin’s stellar night.
Calgary took down Phoenix 5-4. Jarome Iginla scored twice for the Flames while Raffi Torres bagged a pair for Phoenix. Iginla’s second of the night tied the game with 1:23 left in regulation before Curtis Glencross scored the winner at 19:00 of the third.
SPIN: Phoenix continues to be a surprisingly good offense but the late-game mental breakdowns are too costly. Iginla finally showed a pulse on offense but he needs to get it done consistently to get so much as a shift off of my fantasy bench.
Multiple Goal Scorers
Brunner-DET; Andersson-DET; D. Sedin-VAN; Iginila-CGY; Torres-PHX; Perry-ANA; Crosby-PIT
Stat of the Night
The last time the Red Wings hung an eight-spot on the board was against the Kings on December 17, 2011 in an 8-2 win.
Three Stars of the Night
1. Brunner Four-point night
2. Beauchemin Four-assist game
3. Stamkos Three-point night to take the league lead.
Monday’s Games (all times ET)
Toronto at Philadelphia 7pm The Flyers will try to get to .500 and they shall fail again.
Montreal at Ottawa 730pm
Dallas at Nashville 8pm Will Nashville score for the first time in three games?
Edmonton at Chicago 830pm It’s 18 and counting for Chicago.
Anaheim at Los Angeles 1030pm One team traveled 25 miles to this game and is still the road team.
