Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists to pace Pittsburgh in a 5-2 win over Washington. Pittsburgh scored all five goals in the second period en route to its fifth straight win. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and a pair of assists while James Neal scored and picked up a helper in the win.
Alex Ovechkin scored a cosmetic power-play goal in the third period for Washington who falls to 2-8-1 with its fifth loss in its last six games. Pittsburgh is now 8-3-0 after a 3-3-0 start.
Here’s the rest of the night on ice from a 12-game Thursday:
Chicago is steaming along at 9-0-2 following the Hawks’ second thrashing of Phoenix this season. The Blackhawks hammered Phoenix 6-2 and have now scored 12 goals against Phoenix in two games this season. Chicago got a four-goal first period to get the win. Patrick Kane struck twice on the power play in the first period and Patrick Sharp had three assists in the book before the end of the first twenty minutes.
Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith gave up all six goals and got yanked for Jason LaBarbera after giving up the sixth. Smith made 16 saves on 22 shots while LaBarbera stopped all 11 in relief. Ray Emery picked up his third win of the season by stopping 22 of 24 shots.
Mason Raymond had a goal and an assist for Vancouver in a 95-second span of the second period to help the Canucks to a 4-1 win at Minnesota. Cory Schneider made the start for the Canucks and made 22 saves in the win. Daniel Sedin scored his third goal of the season for Vancouver.
The Buffalo Sabres took on Montreal. Since it’s a Sabres’ story you can say it with me…Buffalo’s Ryan Miller allowed four goals in a game–again–and the Sabres lost won in a shootout 5-4. Thomas Vanek scored twice in the third period including the game-tying goal with less than two seconds left to force overtime. The second goal is Vanek’s tenth of the season and he’s the first double-digit goal scorer in the league. Tyler Ennis had a goal and two assists for Buffalo while Tomas Plekanec had a pair of goals in the loss for the Habs.
New Jersey scored two power-play goals in a 14-second span of the third period to break open a 2-1 game and lead the Devils to a 4-2 win over Tampa. Patrick Elias had a three-point night with a goal and two assists while Andy Greene had a goal and an assist in that 14-second burst. Martin St. Louis had two assists for Tampa Bay while Steven Stamkos had just one to get his name on the score sheet.
The Rangers knocked off the Islanders 4-1 in the battle for New York. J.T. Miller scored twice for the Rangers while Marc Staal had a pair of assists in the win. The Rangers have now beaten the Isles eight times in a row at Madison Square Garden, outscoring them 35-11 in that run.
The Panthers picked up a 3-2 win in the shootout over the Flyers. Dmitry Kulikov had two assists and was the only player with multiple points on the night. Jose Theodore made 30 saves and turned the Flyers away in the shootout to get his third straight win in goal for Florida.
Calgary’s Alex Tanguay scored the game-winner 1:07 into overtime to give the Flames a win over Columbus. Jiri Hudler had a pair of assists as Calgary has won its second straight game. Leland Irving stopped 26 of 29 shots in the win. Mark Letsetu and Vinny Prospal each had a goal and an assist in the loss.
The Hurricanes blew into Ottawa and stormed out with a 3-2 win in overtime when Jay Harrison scored 2:19 into overtime. Cam Ward picked up his second win in a row with a 45-save effort and outdueled Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson in the process. It’s still a sign of a weak defense to allow that many shots through on Ward but hopefully the Carolina netminder is building confidence after nights like this.
Toronto scored twice in less than a minute of the third period to wipe out a 2-1 Winnipeg lead and post a 3-2 win over the Jets. The game-winner for Toronto came from Phil Kessel, yes, Kessel scored for the first time in 11 games to get the Leafs to 6-5-0. Brian Little had assists on both Jets goals in the loss while Tyler Bozak had a goal and an assist in the win.
Detroit rolled past St. Louis 5-1. Petr Mrazek made his NHL debut and stopped 26 of 27 shots for his first win. Cory Emmerton had a goal and an assist for the Wings. They also got a pair of goals 91 seconds apart late in the second period to break open a 2-1 game. Wade Redden of the Blues played in his 1,000th game in the loss. Johan Franzen got tossed from the game for spearing David Perron with 7:22 left in the game. Franzen also picked up a 10-minute misconduct and should be talking to discipline czar Brendan Shanahan in the near future. Look for Franzen to miss a couple games as a result of this incident.
Pekka Rinne made a 32-save shutout as Nashville blanked the Kings 3-0. Colin Wilson scored twice in six minutes of the second period to make it 3-0. The Predators only took 14 shots but got three of them past Johnathan Quick as he falls to 3-3-2 this season.
Multiple Goal Scorers
Kane-CHI, Plekanec-MTL, Vanek-BUF, Miller-NYR, Wilson-NSH
Stat of the Night I-Hot Hawks
The best start in the era of overtime/shootout losses was the 2006-2007 Ducks who started out 12-0-4 and went on to win the Stanley Cup in five games over Ottawa.
Stat of the Night II–Blackjack, baby!
All teams with 21 or more wins made the playoffs in the last lockout-shortened season.
Stat of the Night III-When it rains it pours
Six different teams (Chicago, Toronto, Detroit, Vancouver, New Jersey and Pittsburgh) each scored a pair of goals within two minutes of each other last night and all of those teams won. Montreal and Buffalo twice traded goals within a minute of each other last night. Calgary and Columbus also traded goals within a minute of each other in the first period.
Three Stars of the Night
1. Kane Two PPG as the Hawks improve to 9-0-2.
2. Rinne 32-save shutout as Nashville stands at 5-2-3.
3. Vanek Notched his third multiple goal game and has 10 on the year.
Friday’s Schedule (all times ET)
Anaheim at Dallas 830pm It’s the only game on the docket. Yeah, really, just one game.
