Pittsburgh scored three times in a span of 4:15 in the third period to erase a 2-0 deficit and beat Boston 3-2. Chris Kunitz had the first goal and Brandon Sutter picked up the other two for the Penguins. Boston got goals from Tyler Seguin and Zdeno Chara in the loss.
SPIN: Sidney Crosby failed to get a point for the first time in eight games but that’s no big deal. He’s been part of the most dangerous line in the league with Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis to the tune of 33 points in the last six games. The Bruins unexplainably just broke down in the last 10 minutes and looked like a different team as Pittsburgh stole the game. Boston blocked 26 shots in this game to help goaltender Anton Khudobin who made 31 saves. Marc-Andre Fleury had an easy night in goal only facing 16 shots.
Phoenix Luca Sbisaknocked off Los Angeles 5-2 behind Mikkel Bodeker’s two goal night. Shane Doan and Raffi Torres each picked up a goal and an assist for Phoenix in the win. The Kings got power play goals from Mike Richards and Dustin Brown as they played the second night in a row.
SPIN: Phoenix got out to a 4-0 lead and left Johnathan Quick searching for answers in goal for the Kings. Quick’s play of late is raising some concerns as he has allowed at least four goals in three of his last six starts. Boedker had two goals in his last 16 games before this game so he might be worth a waiver pickup in a deeper league. Doan is starting to pick his game up and should also be looked at in larger leagues as well.
Anaheim slipped past Minnesota 2-1 on a goal with 3:04 left in regulation. Jonas Hiller made 30 saves in goal for the Ducks and moved them to 19-3-3.
SPIN: Hiller was a surprise start after Viktor Fasth suffered an unknown upper-body injury in the morning skate. Hiller looked sharp keeping the Ducks in it as they were outshot 22-7 in the first 40 minutes. Minnesota failed to score on a 5-on-3 power play and they didn’t cash in after Corey Perry was given a major penalty and ejection for elbowing Jason Zucker. Minnesota went 1-of-5 on the power play.
Buffalo beat the Rangers 3-1 behind a pair of Mike Foligno goals. Thomas Vanek had the other goal for Buffalo and Andrej Sekera had a pair of assists in the win.
SPIN: Vanek’s back in the goal column much to the relief of his owners. Foligno’s pair makes him an interesting waiver-wire pickup if you’re in the market for some depth. Derek Stepan had the lone goal and Rick Nash’s 10-game point streak was broken. Buffalo’s power play went 0-for-5 and allowed a league-worst fifth shorthanded goal on this season.
Carolina blanked Washington 4-0 behind a 26-save shutout from Justin Peters. Riley Nash had a pair of goals for the Hurricanes in the win.
SPIN: Peters may very well have wrestled the starting job away from Dan Ellis and now looks like the goaltender to own in Carolina. Nash still isn’t relevant in fantasy and the Hurricanes have won six of their last seven. It might be time to get closer to moving in on some of the lower-end Hurricanes if you need some depth. Washington continues to have a miserable season. With the exception of his hat trick against the Devils, Alex Ovechkin he has one goal in his last 12 games and is pointless in his last three outings.
Vancouver used the shootout to get past Columbus 2-1. Mark Letestu scored for Columbus while Jason Garrison lit the lamp for Vancouver.
SPIN: Sergei Bobrovsky made 37 saves but came up short for the Blue Jackets and nearly outdueled Roberto Luongo who stopped 26 of 27 shots. Columbus continues its run of one-goal games but is still lacking the offensive firepower to get more wins and be more relevant in fantasy. The Canucks have scored two or fewer goals in the last five games leaving owners of the Canucks to ask “Dude, where’s my offense?”
Tampa Bay knocked off cross-state rival Florida 3-2. Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos all scored for Tampa while Tomas Kopecky and Kris Versteeg got the goals for Florida.
SPIN: This was the first time in more than a month that the Lightning’s big three all scored in the same game. Stamkos became the first player to hit the 20-goal mark in the shortened season. Anders Lindback made 37 saves in the win but is still too unreliable to be a consistent starter in fantasy. Lecavalier scored for the first time in nine games. Tampa fired off a meager 13 shots in this game–and still won. Jacob Markstrom was the starting goaltender for Florida, his third straight turn between the pipes.
Winnipeg thumped Toronto 5-2 behind a pair of Blake Wheeler goals. Phil Kessel scored both goals for the Maple Leafs in the loss.
SPIN: Dustin Byfuglien picked up three assists on the night for the Jets and is starting to show why he was one of the first defensemen off the board in the draft. Nik Antropov had a goal and two assists for the Jets as well. Evander Kane picked up his 11th goal of the year and Wheeler now has 10 scores this season. The Jets have won 3 of their last 4 as they try to keep pace with Carolina as they chase the Canes for the top spot in the Southeast Division.
St. Louis doubled up San Jose 4-2 behind Jake Allen’s 39-save effort and a pair of Chris Stewart goals.
SPIN: Brent Burns made his season debut on the goal column of the scoresheet for San Jose and should be able to inject some offense into the struggling Sharks. Allen looks like a good buy-low opportunity or a waiver wire pick up since he inspires the most confidence and consistency of any goaltender on the Blues’ roster. San Jose was 1-for-38 over its last nine games before scoring a power play goal in this one.
Nashville blanked Dallas 4-0 with Pekka Rinne turning aside 32 shots. Shea Weber was one of four Predators who scored a goal in this one.
SPIN: Rinne leads the league with five shutouts this season. The Predators have cashed in on the power play on five of their last ten chances. That’s going to be key as this was the start of a five-game road trip. Colin Wilson and Patric Hornqvist were both out with injuries and Nashville was still able to score four goals. Dallas had scored at least three goals in 13 of its last 15 games before getting blanked in this one. That’s a much better performance than what they had at the start of the season.
Edmonton blanked Colorado 4-0. as Devan Dubnyk turned aside all 36 shots he saw. Sam Gagner and Magnus Paajarvi each had a goal and an assist in the win.
SPIN: The Oilers will finally be back at home after completing a nine-game road trip at 3-4-2. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored just his second goal of the season in this game and continues to be a disappointment. Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall each picked up a pair of assists as eight different Oilers had at least one point.
Multiple Goal Scorers
Boeddker-PHX, Foligno-BUF, Sutter-PIT, Nash-CAR, Wheeler-WPG, Stewart-STL,
Stat of the Night-First One Wins
Nashville is 10-0-5 when scoring first while Dallas is 1-10-1 when allowing the first goal.
Three Stars of the Night
1 Rinne
2 Stamkos
3 Peters
Wednesday’s Games (all times ET)
Ottawa at Montreal 7pm
Philadelphia at New Jersey 730pm
Detroit at Calgary 930pm
