This might be the only fight the Sabres have in them this season.
Jason Pominville‘s power play goal with 10 seconds left in the second period proved to the game winner as his new team, the Minnesota Wild, knocked off his old team, the Buffalo Sabres 2-1. Kyle Brodziak had the other Minnesota goal while Brian Flynn was the only Sabre to light the lamp.
Josh Harding is holding his own in goal for the Wild (3-1-2) as he stopped 22-of-23 shots in the win. Jhonas Enroth (18-of-20) took the hard-luck loss as Buffalo slides to 0-6-1 this season.
Let’s pump the brakes a little bit on Harding here. His next two games are road games at Toronto and Tampa Bay, two teams that know how to score. He’s looked good in holding Winnipeg, Dallas and Buffalo to one goal each as the Wild has won three in a row. Be ready to use him Saturday when the Wild takes on Florida and follows it up with a home game next Tuesday against Nashville. Backstrom is day-to-day for now but the Wild should ride the hot hand and Harding is it.
Enroth (and Ryan Miller) are performing well in net but are getting barely any support. The Sabres have scored one goal or fewer in six of their seven games this season. The only exception was the deuce they put up on Tampa Bay before losing it in overtime. If you need to bolster yourself in saver percentage and GAA categories, then Miller and Enroth are for you. Just don’t expect wins. Ever.
Washington’s three-goal second period led the Capitals to a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk Jason LaBarbera gave up the four goals on only 20 shots. Braden Holtby stopped 28-of-30 on the other end of the ice for the win. Boyd Gordon got the Oilers on the board first in the middle of the first period before Washington scored four unanswered goals. Brooks Laich, Alex Ovechkin, Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer did the damage for the Caps. Will Acton picked up his first goal of the season for the Oilers in the final two minutes. Nicklas Backstrom had three assists in the win.
The Oilers must be feeling a lot of pressure right now as they are off to a 1-4-1 start with their lone win coming in a shootout. They’ve allowed at least four goals in every game so there is a major issue between the pipes right now for the Oil. They have four more games on thus road trip so it might be a while before things settle down. They still visit PIT, NYI, OTT and MTL before seeing the Caps again at home.
Detroit bumped off Boston 3-2. A total of 15 different players had a point in this game where Tuukka Rask (24-27) was beaten by Jonas Gustavsson (28-30) between the pipes. Jimmy Howard got a night off and Gustavsson responded nicely. Daniel Cleary, Henrik Zetterberg and Stephen Weiss scored the goals for the Red Wings. Loui Erikkson and Milan Lucic lit the lamp in the loss.
Gustavsson got the call he was going to start about 20 minutes before faceoff since Howard has an apparent hand injury. He’s doubtful to play Tuesday against Columbus so Gustavsson could be worth an add based on the matchup. Also of note, Todd Bertuzzi skated the with the Wings’ top line for the second straight game.
Tuesday’s Games (all times ET) The big dozen!
Minnesota at Toronto 7pm
Buffalo at NY Islanders 7pm
Vancouver at Philadelphia 7pm
Edmonton at Pittsburgh 7pm
Chicago at Carolina 7pm
Los Angeles at Tampa Bay 730pm
Columbus at Detroit 8pm
San Jose at St. Louis 8pm Game of the night! It’s a battle of unbeatens between SJ (5-0-0) and STL (4-0-0).
Florida at Nashville 8pm
Montreal at Winnipeg 9pm
Dallas at Colorado 9pm
Ottawa at Phoenix 10pm
If you’re looking for a couple of new players to add to your roster, check out these guys as adds.
Harding has been playing well and makes a nice depth addition. As mentioned above, the schedule ahead is a little rough but he does have good value as a backup goaltender and could help you steal a win from time to time.
Jacob Markstrom in Florida has an opportunity to get a lot of work if Tim Thomas slows in his recovery from a groin injury. Defenseman Seth Jones of the Predators is getting time on the top defensive pairing with Shea Weber. Mike Santorelli of the Canucks is on the line with the Sedin Twins so his opportunities will be there.
Martin Biron has been waived by the Rangers and with his vomit-inducing stats (7.61 GAA and .763 save percentage) it’s easy to see why. Cam Talbot seems to be the front runner for the backup spot in the Big Apple. He’s a name to watch if King Henrik continues to perform like a poor peasant between the pipes.
