The Edmonton Oilers found themselves on the short end of a killer first period by the San Jose Sharks in one of the nine games played Tuesday night. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk was shelled by the Sharks to the tune of 17 shots and six goals against in the first 20 minutes. Not surprisingly, the Oilers lost 6-3. Patrick Marleau posted his second consecutive two-goal game while Logan Couture struck twice for the Sharks. Joe Thornton added three assists in the win.
Let’s take a look at the other eight games that were a little lower scoring.
Winnipeg picked up a road win over winless Washington 4-2. Tobias Enstrom picked up three assists in the win. Nicklas Backstrom had a pair of assists in the losing effort and Alexander Ovechkin picked up his first point of the season, also with an assist.
Tampa Bay knocked off Carolina 4-1 behind a 35-save effort from Matthieu Garon. Vincent Lecavalier had a pair of first-period assists. Cam Ward continues to struggle in goal for Carolina allowing his second straight four-goal game.
Michael Ryder scored both goals for Dallas as they edged Detroit 2-1. Kari Lehtonen stopped 39 shots but allowed Damien Brunner to score for Detroit in the final four seconds to lose his shutout at the end.
Andrei Markov scored a pair of power-play goals to lead Montreal to a 4-1 win over Florida.
The Devils blanked the Flyers 3-0 behind Martin Brodeur’s 24-save performance. Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and an assist as Philadelphia continues to stumble out of the gate at 0-3.
Martin Erat’s goal at 11:45 of the third period was the winner as Nashville knocked off Minnesota 3-1.
Chicago had three different goal scorers as they knocked off St. Louis 3-2 and improved to 3-0 this season.
The Colorado Avalanche scored three goals in a seven-minute span of the third period to down LA 3-1. Gabriel Landskog picked up his first tally of the year in the Colorado home opener.
Multiple Goal Scorers
Ryder-DAL; Markov-MTL; Couture-SJ; Marleau-SJ (consecutive games with two goals)
Three Stars of the Night
1. Ryder Scored both goals in the win over the Red Wings.
2. Brodeur Stopped 24 shots for his 120th NHL shutout.
3. Enstrom Picked up helpers on three of the four Winnipeg goals.
Wednesday’s Schedule (all times ET)
Toronto at Pittsburgh 7pm How can the Leafs slow down the Pens’ top line?
Boston at NY Rangers 730pm Will Henrik Lundqvist rebound from a slow start?
Calagry at Vancouver 10pm Another battle between Western Canadian rivals.
Columbus at Phoenix 10pm Will Mike Smith rebound from his slow start?
Note: Wednesdays are usually the lightest day of the NHL week with no more than five games being played on any Wednesday this season. Keep that in mind especially if you play in leagues with limits on games played.
