The Boston University Terriers and the Boston College Eagles will meet in the Beanpot tournament finals for the fourth time in the past seven years when the two squads hook up next Monday at the TD Garden.  Both teams secured their spot in next week’s championship game with victories over Harvard and Northeastern.

In the first match-up of the day it was the heavily favored BU Terriers who would flex their muscle by way of a 3-1 victory over former Bruin Ted Donato’s Harvard Crimson. Backstopped by 29 saves from netminder Kieran Millan (Colorado Avalanche), the Terriers received offensive contributions from Matt Nieto (San Jose Sharks) and budding power forward Wade Megan (Florida Panthers).

Nieto’s goal opened the scoring at the 8:14 mark of the first frame and Megan followed by adding two tallies in the second period to take over the team lead in goals (10) , and build a 3-0 lead for BU. Harvard would answer on a power-play late in the second when Tampa Bay Lightning draftee Alex Killorn solved Millan with a top-shelf wrister. However, it would be too little, too late for a Crimson squad that couldn’t muster much offense in the third period. The 3-1 loss would put the Harvard Crimson into the Beanpot consolation game for the fourth consecutive year.

One player who particularly stood out during the early game, despite being on the losing end of the contest, was Harvard blueliner and captain Ryan Grimshaw. He seemed to be in the right position all the time and made quite a few fantastic defensive plays throughout the duration of the game.

In the nightcap, the Boston College Eagles proved why they are widely regarded as one of the best teams in the nation. Jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, thanks to goals from Paul Carey (Colorado Avalanche) and Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames) the Eagles looked to be in complete control. The Huskies were able to get one back midway through the period when Anthony Bitetto (Nashville Predators) blasted a slapshot past BC netminder Parker Milner during a 5-on-3 Northeastern power-play.

It was in the second period that the Eagles would assert their dominance, tilting the ice completely in their favor, firing 13 shots on Husky goaltender Chris Rawlings. Short-handed tallies from Stevan Whitney would sandwich Johnny Gaudreau’s second of the night as Boston College entered the second intermission with a commanding 5-1 lead.

Senior forward Barry Almeida would add another midway through the third period and Paul Carey would notch his second of the night soon after to seal a 6-1 blowout victory for the Boston College Eagles.

The results of Monday’s action sets up what should be a riveting final day of the tournament next week when we are treated to two more exciting college hockey contests. Harvard and Northastern will meet in the consolation game, beginning at 4:30 PM, and of course (#5) Boston College and (#1) Boston University will meet for the Beanpot Title at 7:30. Both games will be broadcast on NESN and the championship game will also be broadcast on 98.5 The Sports Hub.

This will mark the fourth time these two cross-town rivals have met this season, with the Terriers taking two of the previous three match-ups.

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Joey MacDonald, who made his first start of the season, certainly can’t be singled out as he kept the Red Wings in the game by stopping 20 of 22 shots.  Johan Franzen scored the lone goal for the Red Wings and became the first on the team to reach the 20-goal plateau.

For the first time this season, the Red Wings couldn’t solve Coyotes’ netminder Mike Smith, who made 30 saves, including 13 in the second period.

The Coyotes jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 7:22 of the first period when Boyd Gordon scored a short-handed goal.  The Red Wings looked to cash in on their first power-play opportunity, but Gordon took advantage of a player miscommunication and went in on a breakaway and undressed MacDonald to get the Coyotes on the board.

In the second period, both teams exchanged power-play goals as Martin Hanzal gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead, but Franzen got the Red Wings on the board late in the second period when he was in front of Smith and picked up a pass from Henrik Zetterberg.

The Red Wings had their chances to tie the game in the third period, but Smith stopped everything that they threw at  him. With MacDonald pulled for an extra skater, Hanzal scored the empty-net goal with 29 seconds left.

The Coyotes are playing for their playoff lives, while the Red Wings are desperately looking for a goalie.

With Jimmy Howard out for 4-6 weeks with a broken pinky, MacDonald is the number one netminder for the time being. How do you think Ty Conklin feels right about now?  He’s the backup goalie to someone who’s spent this season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, which is the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate.  Expect the Red Wings’ front office to be actively shopping for a number two goalie and so far the names that are surfacing are Evgeni Nabokov and Antero Nittymaki.

To quote Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home” because the next six games for the Red Wings will be at the Joe Louis Arena. This is the perfect remedy for a team that is sporting a 20-2-1 record and a 17-game winning streak on home ice . They start their homestand with a familiar opponent as the Edmonton Oilers come to town this Wednesday. Their last encounter was this past Saturday when the Oilers edged the Red Wings 5-4 in a shootout.

The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by eight points. Tampa Bay is in 11th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference, eight points out of a playoff spot.

After 51 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with 34. He leads the Bolts in and is third in the NHL in points with 57. Martin St. Louis is tops in assists with 33. Marc-Andre Bergeron leads the team in rating with a +8.

Forward Steve Downie is last in rating with a -16 and has accumulated 119 penalty minutes. Goalie Mathieu Garon has 16 wins, a 2.88 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:19 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 181.

The Lightning have scored 145 goals (10th in the NHL) and allowed 170 goals (30th (last) in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams are far from average. The power play success rate is 13.7% (26th in the NHL) and the penalty kill is at 80.6% (24th in the NHL). The league average power play percentage is 17.3% and the average NHL team kills off 82.7% of their penalties successfully.

Tampa Bay is 21st in the league in faceoff percentage, winning just 49.3% of their draws.

Box Scores

Game 49 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Washington Capitals 3 OT

Game 50 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Winnipeg Jets 2 OT

Game 51 – Tampa Bay Lightning 6 – Florida Panthers 3

Three Stars of the Week

Martin St. Louis – Four goals and two assists.

Steven Stamkos – Two goals and three assists.

Vincent Lecavalier – One goal and three assists.

Transactions

The Lightning recalled and then reassigned Pierre-Cedric Labrie to Norfolk (AHL).

Injuries

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Forward Adam Hall is out with an upper body injury and may return next week.

Forward Dana Tyrell is out for the year after having successful knee surgery.

Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Ryan Malone is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Bolt Notes

The Bolts are eight points out of a playoff spot and eight points away from a division championship. 62 points are still out there to be won with 31 games left. For the Lightning to get into the postseason tournament, they will probably need to get 44 of those remaining 62 possible points. There are eight more games against divisional foes and the Bolts need to win all of those to have a chance. Realistically, Tampa Bay needs to win the division to make the playoffs. Possible? Yes. Probable? No.

The next handful of games will tell GM Steve Yzerman whether or not he  is a buyer or seller. If he is a seller, look for impending unrestricted free agents Dominic Moore, Ryan Shannon, Adam Hall, Pavel Kubina, Brett Clark, Matt Gilroy, Dwayne Roloson and Bruno Gervais to be offered up to the rest of the NHL.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Los Angeles on Tuesday. They travel to the New York Rangers on Thursday, Buffalo on Saturday and Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

After the All-Star break, Norfolk found itself in Adirondack for a Friday night game against former Admiral Michael Leighton and the Phantoms. The Phantoms claimed an early one goal lead as Leighton baffled the Admirals offense. Adirondack would score once more in the second. Norfolk’s Carter Ashton finally put the Admirals on the board midway through the second period. Unfortunately, Leighton and the Phantoms would shut down the Admirals offense for the rest of the night. The Phantoms would add another goal for insurance and send Norfolk on to Springfield with a 3-1 loss.

Saturday, Springfield goalie Manny Legace was hoping to celebrate his 40^th birthday with a win. Norfolk jumped out to a two goal lead with goals from Evan Oberg and Richard Panik. Springfield struck back with a goal five minutes into the second period. The Admirals Trevor Smith scored twice to make it 4-1. Manny Legace was pulled in favor of backup goalie, Paul Dainton. Dainton was put to the test and surrendered goals to Mark Barberio and Jeff DImmen. Norfolk and Springfield both went scoreless in the third and the Admirals retired for the night with the 6-1 win.

Super Bowl Sunday was not so super for the Admirals. After a goal filled game the previous night, the Admiral fans were hoping to see more of the same offensive power on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately they would be disappointed. Springfield grabbed the early lead, 1-0 after the first period. The Admirals owned the second period as Pierre-Cedric Labrie and Michel Ouelett each scored. Disaster struck in the third as the offense was shut down and the defense mailed the remainder of the game in.Springfield struck three times and took home a 4-2 win.

Cory Conacher (25G 26A 51Pts +4), Trevor Smith (18G 32A 50Pts +21) and Mark Barberio (6G 33A 39Pts +16) find themselves at the top of the Ad’s scoring list. Conacher was unusually quiet this weekend with just two assists. Goaltender Dustin Tokarski (19-11-0 2.50GAA) went 1-1 this week while Jaroslav Janus (8-8-2 3.16GAA) went 0-1.

For the Season the Admirals are 27-18-1-2 with 57 points. They are currently six points behind the East Division leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Norfolk is currently on a 0-1-0-0 streak and is 5-5-0-0 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Trevor Smith – Two goals and three assists.

Evan Oberg – One goal and three assists.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie – One goal and two assists.

Transactions

Pierre-Cedric Labrie – Returned to the Norfolk Admirals (AHL).

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

Alexandre Picard – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

The second half of the season is in full swing. Norfolk finds itself in fifth place in the division. The Admirals need every point that they can get. This road swing was brutal as they gave up four out of a possible six points and fell three more points behind the Penguins. It does not look like the Penguins or the Hershey Bears are going to make this any easier for Norfolk. Adirondack will be in town this weekend and the Admirals need to play every game like it’s a playoff game. They played like that at home against the Bears, but it seems that they play down to their competition. It is high time that the Admirals snap out of it and play each game like it is their last!

The Week Ahead

The Admirals play a weekend series at home against the Adirondack Phantoms this Friday and Saturday night.

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Team Leaders:

Goals: Johan Franzen-19

Assists: Pavel Datsyuk-39

Points: Pavel Datsyuk-53

Plus/Minus: Ian White-+31

Penalty Minutes: Todd Bertuzzi-48

Power Play Goals: Johan Franzen-9

Game-Winning Goals: Johan Franzen-9

Short Handed Goals: Brad Stuart/Valtteri Filppula-1

Shots on Goal: Henrik Zetterberg-161

Shooting Percentage: Jiri Hudler-23%

Average Ice Time Per Game: Nicklas Lidstrom-23:52

Goalie Stats:

Jimmy Howard- 32-11-1; 2.03 goals against average; .924 save percentage; 5 shutouts

Ty Conklin- 3-5-0; 3.40 goals against average; .878 save percentage, 1 shutout

Joey MacDonald-0-0-1; 1.33 goals against average; .957 save percentage

Game 51:  Detroit Red Wings 3  Calgary Flames 1

The Red Wings began the second half of the season with a win on the road at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Jimmy Howard held down the fort by stopping 28 shots while Cory Emmerton, Jiri Hudler and Drew Miller scored for the Red Wings. The third and fourth lines made solid contributions in the win. Both teams tied the season series at 2-2.

Game 52:  Detroit Red Wings 4  Vancouver Canucks 3 (SO)

The Red Wings got goals in the shootout from Pavel Datsyuk and Jiri Hudler to get by the Canucks, who received stellar goaltending from Roberto Luongo who made 40 saves. The Red Wings controlled the tempo for the first two periods, but the Canucks stormed back in the third period. Hudler, Danny Cleary and Drew Miller scored goals in regulation for the Red Wings, who remained perfect in the shootout (6-0).

Game 53:  Detroit Red Wings 4  Edmonton Oilers 5 (SO)

Joey MacDonald replaced starter Ty Conklin to begin the second period and was sharp between the pipes, but the Oilers only goal that went past MacDonald was the deciding goal in the sixth round of the shootout by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.  With RNH’s game-winning tally, the Red Wings suffered their first loss in the shootout this season. The hottest stick in the NHL belonged to Sam Gagner who scored two goals and added an assist in his encore performance from his eight point night on Thursday.  The Red Wings rallied from 3-1 to take the lead with 3:41 left in regulation when Todd Bertuzzi scored his second of the game, but Jordan Eberle scored his second of the game to tie it with 39 seconds left in the third.

Red Wings’ Three Stars of the Week:

1. Drew Miller-three goals, +1 rating

2. Danny Cleary-one goal, three assists, +1 rating

3. Henrik Zetterberg-two assists, +5 rating

Team Transactions:

February 3: G Joey MacDonald recalled from Grand Rapids (AHL)

This Week’s Games:

The Red Wings wrap up their five-game road trip on Monday when they head to the desert and face the Phoenix Coyotes.  Wednesday, they return to Hockeytown and start a six-game homestand by hosting the Edmonton Oilers in a rematch from Saturday night’s game at the Rexall Place. Friday, the Anaheim Ducks pay a visit to the JLA. The Red Wings will end the week with the Philadelphia Flyers in town for a Sunday matinee affair.

5.) Tommy Cross (D) #4 Boston College (Boston Bruins)

 – The captain of the Boston College Eagles, senior defenseman Tommy Cross will be playing in his final BeanPot tournament this month after spending four seasons under legendary coach Jerry York in Chestnut Hill. Taken in the second round of the 2007 Entry draft by the Boston Bruins, Cross is a card-carrying veteran of the B’s summer development camp. The 6’3″ blueliner is strong in his own end and often shows great puck-handling abilities. If he can avoid the injury bug, it wouldn’t be farfetched to suggest that Cross could project as a Dan Girardi-type player in the NHL.

4.) Alex Killorn (F) #19 Harvard (Tampa Bay Lightning)

– Also taken in the 2007 Entry Draft, Killorn was selected 77th overall (3rd Round) by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 6’2″ senior has always been skilled with the puck and been able to put the puck in the net, but he biggest knock against the Montreal native has been his deficiencies in his own end of the ice. From all reports, Killorn has done nothing but impress during their annual summer development camps and is expected to compete for a roster spot with the big club next season.

3.) Kevin Hayes (C) #12 Boston College (Chicago Blackhawks)

 – Spending much of his freshman season on the shelf after suffering an early-season knee injury, Hayes has truly emerged as an offensive force this season, contributing 19 points (5G/14A) in 27 games played thus far. Hayes was taken in the first round of the 2010 draft because of his rare combination of size and speed. The Dorchester, MA native plays more of a finesse type game and his best asset is his uncanny awareness in the offensive zone.

2.) Adam Clendening (D) #5 Boston University (Chicago Blackhawks)

– The undersized, offensive defenseman from Niagara Falls, NY may be the most exciting player to watch in this entire tournament. Leading the charge on the Terrier blueline, Clendening has posted two goals and added twenty assists in only 23 games this season. Taken early in the second round of the 2011 Entry Draft, Clendening has proven that he has the talent to make a serious bid for a roster spot in Chicago sooner rather than later.

1.) Chris Kreider (F) #19 Boston College (New York Rangers)

– Taken with the 19th overall selection in the 2009 draft, the offensively gifted Kreider has done it all at Boston College and could be playing in his final BeanPot tournament this year. A prototypical power forward with speed, Kreider has reportedly contemplated forgoing his senior season for a chance to go pro with the Rangers next fall. The 6’3″ Boxford, MA native has scored 16 goals and added 14 assists in 27 games this year.

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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who missed the last 13 games with a shoulder injury, scored the deciding goal in the sixth round of the shootout. Danny Cleary had a chance to tie it and send it to round number seven, but not only did Oilers’ goalie Devan Dubnyk denied Cleary, he denied the Red Wings their seventh straight shootout win.

The biggest story in the NHL for the past couple of days was the red-hot Oilers’ forward Sam Gagner. Coming off an eight-point performance on Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks, Gagner’s didn’t disappoint in his encore as he followed up with a two-goal, one assist effort, all in the first period.

The Oilers played like the Red Wings normally do on their home ice in the first period.  The Red Wings trailed after 20 minutes 3-1 and before the start of the second period, Red Wings starting goalie Ty Conklin was replaced by Joey MacDonald who was sharp for the next 20 minutes by stopping all 13 shots that went his way. MacDonald kept the Red Wings in it and after 40 minutes, the Oilers kept the lead at 3-1.

The Red Wings got their offense going early in the third period as Todd Bertuzzi scored his first of the game and his 300th of his NHL career when he picked up the rebound after Henrik Zetterberg tried a wraparound.  Drew Miller scored his third goal in his last three games to tie the game at 3-3 when he buried a rebound past Dubnyk.  Bertuzzi gave the Red Wings the lead when he skated around Andy Sutton and fired a shot and picked up his own rebound to beat Dubnyk to make it 4-3 with 3:41 left in regulation.

With Dubnyk pulled for an extra attacker, Jordan Eberle, who has a flair for the dramatics (i.e. ’09 WJC against Russia) scored his second of the game with 39 seconds left to tie the game at 4-4. The game was sent to overtime and with no one lighting the lame, the game had to be decided by a shootout.

Gagner beat MacDonald in the second round for the 1-0 lead in the SO, but Bertuzzi tied it up in the third round with a howitzer of a shot.  No one came through until Nugent-Hopkins stepped up in the seventh round and beat MacDonald cleanly. Cleary had the door slammed on him by Dubnyk and that’s how it ended.

The hit of the night belonged to Niklas Kronwall when he delivered his trademark hit on Ales Hemsky, who had his head down. Not a good idea when you’re on the ice against number 55 wearing the red and white. Hemsky got ‘Kron-Walled” and that drew the ire of the Oilers’ players, especially Corey Potter, who seeked revenge but ended up with a four-minute penalty for roughing Kronwall.

The Red Wings left Edmonton with a point in the standings and were lucky at that. They weren’t ready and it showed. The young Oilers team were the ones that wanted it more and what they showed against the Red Wings is a sample-size of how good they’ll be in the near future.  They’re still green and beating the NHL’s best team will give them a huge boost of confidence. The untouchables of this team are Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, their top pick of this summer’s NHL Draft and for now Sam Gagner.

Speaking of now, for the first time this season is a Red Wings goalie controversy and it doesn’t involve Jimmy Howard. The All-Star netminder is out for up to two weeks with a broken finger and simply put, his understudy, Ty Conklin isn’t getting the job done. He showed it tonight after giving up three goals in the first 20 minutes (one in the last second to Eberle) and was pulled for Joey MacDonald, who was steller despite the loss.

MacDonald, who was recalled from Grand Rapids on Friday, should be the starting goalie for now until Howard comes back. Once when Howard is back between the pipes, the backup goalie situation should definitely be addressed.  Howard is no doubt the team’s (and arguably the league’s) MVP and losing him is very crucial.

There are some viable options out there besides Conklin, who can’t be trusted, and the one that comes to mind is the Islanders’ Evgeni Nabokov. Nabokov’s contract for this season is $570,000 and that would be perfect for the Red Wings’ room for the salary cap. The asking price for Nabokov would be a second or third round pick and that might pull Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland away from the bargaining table.

The Red Wings final game of their five-game road trip is this Monday as they face the Phoenix Coyotes at the Jobing.com Arena. All fingers are pointing to the direction of Joey MacDonald. He was sharp against the Oilers and he could get the start on Monday and if the “Mac Attack” plays like he did tonight, he could be the man until Howard comes back.

When things are going your way, everything seems to be clicking, you play with confidence, you tend to get the breaks here and there. You feel as if nothing is ever going to go wrong.

However, when you’re struggling it’s a completely different ball game. All of a sudden you’re not catching the breaks, nothing is going your way. It seems like you’ll never get things back on track.

Unfortunately for Boston, after a two month stretch of dominating the competition, the Black and Gold just can’t seem to get much going as of late. That trend would continue on Saturday afternoon when they hosted Evgeni Malkin and the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins.

After what most would consider a rather lifeless first frame from both sides, the Pens would take advantage of a late-period power-play opportunity as Malkin would knock a rebound past Tim Thomas to put Pittsburgh ahead with only 0:09 seconds remaining on the clock. The 6’3” Russian forward once again re-asserted himself as the best player in the game today, picking up his 28^th goal and league-leading 60^th point of the season as he continues to run roughshod on the rest of the NHL .

“He’s been the catalyst for our group all year. It’s amazing sometimes. When you don’t think he can do it anymore, he goes out there and scores another goal. He’s been great for us and hopefully we’ll keep him going.” – Joe Vitale

The B’s where not able to muster up many real offensive chances throughout the entire second frame despite being given a four-minute power-play chance courtesy of a Pascal Dupuis double minor for high sticking.

Early in the third Pittsburgh would tack on an insurance tally when the villainous Matt Cooke out-worked two Bruin defenders in front of Thomas and knocked in his 9^th  goal of the season. The man Bruins’ fans love to hate has now scored two goals in as many games against Boston this year and has put up sixteen points in twenty-five career games against the Black and Gold.

Atoning for his earlier mistake, defenseman Joe Corvo would find the back of the Penguins’ net as his wrist shot made it through a Marchand screen and past Marc-Andre Fleury to cut the deficit to one.

“Marchand did a great job of standing in front of him until the last minute until it kind of got to the net. It was the right height to where the goalie was kind of staying low and trying to see it and it just went in.” – Joe Corvo

Unfortunately for Boston, the rest of the third period would simply be more of the same for a Bruins  squad that simply cannot find it’s groove right now. They unloaded nine more third period shots against Fleury but were still unable to tickle the twine and tie the score.

“You’ve got to give credit to the last two goalies we’ve played. They played really good games I think, and the last two teams we’ve played have played a pretty solid 60 minutes of defense.” – Tim Thomas

Boston has now only managed one goal on their last 81 shots through their last 132:51 minutes of play.

“The last two games, we’ve had almost 80 shots and only one goal showing for it. It’s frustrating right now, but thankfully we got a game tomorrow to focus on.” – Daniel Paille

Boston hasn’t managed to beat the Penguins at TD Garden since November 10….. of the year 2009. Today’s loss marks the B’s fourth defeat in their past six games and their record has dropped to 4-5-1 over their last ten games.

KEY STATS

Goals–                PIT (2)   BOS (1)

Shots–                PIT (28)   BOS (29)

Power-Play–    PIT (1-3)   BOS (0-2)

Penalty-Kill–   PIT  (2-2)   BOS (2-3)

Ben’s Three Stars….. 3.) Matt Cooke  …..2.) Evgeni Malkin …..1.) James Neal

What’s Next?

It’ll be a quick turnaround for the Black and Gold as they depart from Boston this afternoon for a 12:30 PM Super Bowl Sunday matinee contest with the Caps at the Verizon Center in Washington tomorrow. The Pens will also be on the move fairly quickly as they are scheduled for a 1 PM contest in New Jersey tomorrow afternoon.

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With the win, the Red Wings are stretching their lead in the much-heated Central Division by five points over the second place Nashville Predators and six over the St. Louis  Blues and Chicago Blackhawks. They still have the best record in the NHL with 71 points.

The Red Wings got goals in regulation from Hudler, Danny Cleary and Drew Miller.  Jimmy Howard recorded 22 saves for his league-leading 32nd win of the season. Howard was rarely tested in the first two periods, but he had to face a Canucks’ onslaught in the third period by stopping 13 of 15 shots.

On the other side of the Red Wings’ net was the Canucks’ best player. Roberto Luongo made 40 saves for his team and if it weren’t for him, the Red Wings would have won convincingly. Luongo has been under a microscope in Vancouver, but tonight he can’t be at fault. He stopped Valtteri Filppula, Todd Bertuzzi and Johan Franzen on breakaways in the first period, so here was his defense the first two periods?

The Red Wings took control of the game for the first 40 minutes, but they took the foot off of the gas pedal in the third period by blowing two third-period leads.

Danny Cleary netted his 11th goal (150th career goal) to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead, but Ryan Kesler responded back with his 15th of the season to tie things up at 1-1.  Hudler gave the Red Wings the lead at 13:51 of the season as he got the puck with a cross-ice pass from Filppula, beating Luongo from the left faceoff circle.

The Canucks tied the game at 2-2 when Alex Burrows recovered a turnover by Drew Miller and blasted a shot from the center of the left faceoff circle.  Miller rebounded from the gaffe and scored when he picked up the loose puck to put it past Luongo. The Red Wings’ lead was short-lived when Mason Raymond blasted a shot from outside the left circle and beat Howard, who was screened to tie the game at 3-3.

The Red Wings had their chance to win it in overtime, but couldn’t beat Luongo, who stopped all five shots in the extra session.  The odds were in the Red Wings favor going into their sixth shootout of the season.  Howard was barely tested in the shootout, but Luongo didn’t have a chance with Datsyuk and Hudler beating him stick side.  The Red Wings are now a perfect 6-0 in shootouts this season.

Instead of the Red Wings sending their next opponents a “Thank You” card, they have to do battle with the Edmonton Oilers at the Rexall Place on Saturday night.  The Oilers are off to a good start in the second half of the season with their last game an 8-4 blowout of the Blackhawks. Maybe they should find a way to contain Sam Gagner who did his best Wayne Gretzky impression as he had an 8-point night (four goals, four assists) against the Blackhawks.

Despite being mired in the Eastern Conference basement with the league’s worst road record, Kirk Muller’s bunch of hard-working Hurricanes had managed to amass a 3-0-0 record against the Northeast division-leading Boston Bruins thus far this year. “It seems like they bring out the best in us” said Cam Ward of the Black and Gold. Much to the dismay of the 17,565 that packed into TD Garden, that trend did not change on Thursday when the ‘Canes invaded TD Garden for the fourth and final showdown of the season for these two Eastern Conference foes. Backstopped by 47 saves from netminder Cam Ward, Carolina again bested the B’s, this time via a 3-0 shutout.

The ‘Canes would get on the board first as Jiri Tlusty would find a wide open Eric Staal in front after taking down Johnny Boychuk in the corner.  The Carolina Captain made no mistake, blasting it past Boston’s goaltender Tuukka Rask for his 12^th goal of the season. Despite an early Boston surge, including a 22-shot onslaught in the first frame, the ‘Canes stood their ground and entered the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.

 ”As the period went on they got a lot of shots, took a lot of point shots, and Wardo (Cam Ward) was really sharp. And then we adjusted well after the first, tightening up defensively and limiting some of the shots, and then putting pucks in areas where we can get them back and create some offense at the other end. – Eric Staal

“To walk away out of the first period with a 1-0 lead, we felt good about that and improved our play in the second period.” – Cam Ward

In what became an unfortunate theme for Boston, the ‘Canes were able to cash in once again after a defensive zone breakdown by the B’s and extend their lead to 2-0 at the 16:41 mark of the second period. Completing a solid two-point night it was durable pivot Brandon Sutter who would tack on an insurance goal for Carolina when he went upstairs with a wrister on Rask after a beautiful centering feed from Tuomu Ruutu.

The three tallies would be more than enough for Cam Ward who was in top-form all night, denying each and every scoring chance that the Black and Gold could throw his way. The first overall selection in last year’s all-star game fantasy draft, Cam Ward has been absent from the national hockey scene for quite a while now. Often overlooked by many across the league – perhaps due to his playing in a non-traditional hockey market on a struggling team—Ward may be the most underrated goaltender in the league. The 27-year-old Saskatoon native admittedly felt great between the pipes tonight, and it showed in his 47-save shutout performance.

“I felt really comfortable. I felt like I was seeing the puck well and for the most part I was really happy with my rebound control and we had to get off to a good start because we know that they play extremely hard, especially in their building.” – Cam Ward

With the loss the B’s dropped their record to a pedestrian 6-5-1 since their 4-3 loss to Vancouver in a Stanley Cup Finals rematch back on January 7. B’s players have recognized the errors in their play over the past month and are aware of what they must do in order to right the ship. An especially disgruntled Shawn Thornton had this to say during his post-game media scrum:

“Not good enough, – same thing we’ve been talking about for the last however long. Absolutely fell asleep in the second period – not good enough at all. I don’t think we had everyone going again. Seems to be the same old story – we’re not that good that we can come out and go through the motions and expect to be successful. When we were on top of our game, it’s because everyone was working and that’s not happening right now.” – Shawn Thornton

That about sums it up for the way the B’s have been playing lately. It won’t get any easier for the Black and Gold as they prepare for weekend matinees with Malkin’s red-hot Penguins and Alex Ovechkin’s Caps.

KEY STATS

Goals–                CAR (3)   BOS (0)

Shots–                CAR (31)   BOS (47)

Power-Play–    CAR(0-4)   BOS (0-2)

Penalty-Kill–   CAR (2-2)   BOS (4-4)

Ben’s Three Stars….. 3.) Eric Staal …..2.) Brandon Sutter…..1.) Cam Ward

What’s Next?

Boston will finish up their current three-game home-stand on Saturday afternoon when they host the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden before heading to Washington for a Super Bowl Sunday Matinee with the Capitals. The Hurricanes will return home to the RBC Center for a Saturday evening tilt with Anze Kopitar and the Los Angeles Kings.

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Cory Emmerton, Jiri Hudler, and Drew Miller scored for the Red Wings and All-Star goalie Jimmy Howard recorded 28 saves for his league-leading 31st win. The Red Wings and Flames tied their season series at 2-2.

The Red Wings scored the lone goal at 5:57 of the first period when Jan Mursak carried the puck into the Flames’ zone and dropped it for Justin Abdelkader, who blasted it from the top of the left circle, but Cory Emmerton picked up the rebound to put it past Flames’ goalie Mikka Kiprusoff.

The Flames tied things up at 1-1 early in the second period when the recently-acquired Mike Cammalleri scored a power play goal, but that was all that the home team could get past Howard.

The Red Wings got the lead midway through the third period when Valtteri Filppula skated around Chris Butler, who fell on the blueline, and buzzed around the Flames’ net and found an open Hudler, who was in front to poke it in.  Miller closed out the scoring as he got a nice goal-mouth pass from Danny Cleary for the 3-1 lead.

Give props to the Red Wings’ third and fourth lines with their solid contributions. The Emmerton-Abledkader-Mursak and Cleary-Helm-Miller lines were very effective and picked the scoring pace.

This gives the Red Wings a 1-1-0 on this current five-game road trip. Yes, we do have to count the 7-2 drubbing by the Montreal Canadiens last Tuesday before the break.  This was two points that they had to have, especially on Calgary’s home ice where they haven’t had much success.

The road win gives the Red Wings a 14-14-0 record away from the Joe Louis Arena.  They remain on top of the NHL standings with 69 points and having a 20-2-1 record on home ice certainly helps, doesn’t it?

With a three-point lead in the Central Division, they have a litle bit of breathing room. The Nashville Predators are in second with 66 points while the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues are tied for third with 65 points.

The Red Wings take their show on the road when they pay a visit to the Vancouver Canucks at the Rogers Arena on Thursday. Their last meeting on December 21 was a chippy one with the Canucks coming out on top 4-2. This is going to be a huge test for the Red Wings and could be another statement game for them.

Recovering from a 1-0 deficit after allowing a Zdeno Chara power-play goal, the Sens would quickly adjust and build a 3-1 lead by the mid-point of the second frame.

The goals were scored by three men who are sure to be integral pieces of the hockey scene in Ottawa for many years to come; rookie Colin Greening, sensational sophomore Kyle Turris and all-star blueliner Erik Karlsson.

However, late in the second period the B’s were able to cut the deficit to one and more importantly swing the momentum back into their favor when Milan Lucic took a slick cross-ice feed from Rich Peverley and wristed one past Craig Anderson to make it a 3-2 game as we entered the final frame.

“We know we played a terrible second period, they scored on us a few times on breakdowns in the neutral zone and the defensive zone and for us to get momentum going into the third definitely helped us come back in this game.” – Dennis Seidenberg

The third and final frame would not be too kind on the Senators as Boston would jump all over them, out-shooting Ottawa 13-7 and scoring the only two goals of the period. “We started playing like ourselves in the third, we did a great job finding a way to win and at the end of the day that’s what matters” quipped Brad Marchand. After a Karlsson penalty put Boston on the power-play, it wouldn’t take long for the undersized winger to knot the score at three when he outworked a couple of Sens’ defensemen and poked a rebound into the Ottawa goal.

The fourth Boston tally was without doubt the least spectacular of them all as it was Dennis Seidenberg who would wind up and blast one past Anderson….. from the red line. The goal was far from pretty, but as they say “it’s not how, it’s how many”.

“It skipped and it turned and it twisted. Those things are going to happen, we can’t point any fingers about that. Every once in a blue moon, that’s going to happen.” – Paul MacLean

Boston would salvage this one-goal lead and hold one to secure their third victory in three tries against Ottawa this season. In what’s becoming more and more of a trend here in the Hub, the B’s are relying heavily on strong third periods to bail them out of games in which they haven’t been at their best. While being able to win games in which you don’t have your best stuff is obviously a fantastic trait that many teams would love to possess, members of the Black and Gold know that they must improve their game and come out with more sixty-minute efforts.

“It almost feels like we’re waiting for the third to come around. If we can just stay close and play our standard third period then we’ll win the game. But like I said, that type of play doesn’t last very long.” – Joe Corvo

Playing their third consecutive hotly contested tilt against the B’s, the Senators proved tonight that they should be taken seriously in the Eastern Conference.  Being able to hang with the defending Stanley Cup champions is no small feat, especially for a young Ottawa team trying to make a name for itself.

“I think we played good throughout most of the game but we just didn’t play good enough for sixty minutes.  That’s why we lost this game. I think that when we’re at the top of our game we can compete with any team in this league.” – Erik Karlsson

KEY STATS

Goals–                  OTT (3)        BOS (4)

Shots–                  OTT (33)      BOS (30)

Power-Play–      OTT (0-0)    BOS (2-4)

Penalty-Kill–      OTT (2-4)     BOS (0-0)

Ben’s Three Stars– ….. 3.) Milan Lucic ….. 2.) Erik Karlsson  ….. 1.) Brad Marchand

What’s Next?

The B’s will be back at it on Thursday as they continue their home-stand against Eric Staal and the Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens will make a return home to ScotiaBank Place where they will host the New York Islanders on Friday evening.

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Tonight’s Line-Up (Subject To Change):

FORWARDS

Marchand–Bergeron–Seguin

Lucic–Krejci–Peverley

Pouliot–Kelly–Hamill

Paille–Campbell–Thornton

DEFENSE

Chara–Boychuk

Seidenberg–Corvo

Kampfer–McQuaid

GOALTENDER

Thomas

Rask

Scratches– …… Ference (Suspended) , Caron (Healthy) , Horton (Concussion)

NEWS & NOTES

– Nathan Horton, who was absent from practice on Monday, is expected to miss his second straight contest after suffering his second concussion in eight months on Sunday against the Flyers. Also, defenseman Andrew Ference will be serving the third and final game of the three game ban he was given for his boarding incident against the Rangers’ Ryan McDonagh.

– Tonight will mark the third of six match-ups between these two squads and the second of three to be played here in Boston. The Black and Gold have won both contests thus far by a combined 10-5 margin. The first of which was back on November 1 when the B’s pulled out a come-from behind win at TD Garden that sparked an impeccable 12-0-1 streak. The second match-up was back on December 14 when a pair of Daniel Paille goals lead Boston to a 5-2 win at ScotiaBank Place.

– Team captains Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara will go head to head once again after leading their respective all-star squads into action this past weekend during the annual All-Star Weekend up in Ottawa. Alfredsson’s team dominated Saturday’s skills competition, but Chara’s team won the game 12-9 on Sunday night thanks to big performances from Marians; Gaborik and Hossa.

– B’s forward Patrice Bergeron has scored two goals and added one assist in the two games against the Sens this season, the year after scoring his first career hat-trick against the team hailing from Canada’s capital. Boston’s alternate captain has always fared well against Ottawa and it’d be wise for one to look for him to have yet another big performance against the Red and Black in this evening’s contest.

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Although they have the best home record in the NHL with a 20-2-1 record, the Red Wings need some of that home magic away from the Joe Louis Arena (13-14-0). Their next four games will be on the road and this will be their most crucial road trip this season.

Team Leaders:

Goals: Johan Franzen-19

Assists: Pavel Datsyuk-33

Points: Pavel Datsyuk-53

Plus/Minus: Ian White +26

Penalty Minutes: Jonathon Ericsson-43

Power Play Goals: Johan Franzen-9

Game-Winning Goals: Johan Franzen-9

Short Handed Goals: Brad Stuart-1

Shots on Goal: Henrik Zetterberg-152

Shooting Percentage: Jiri Hudler-21.7%

Average Ice Time Per Game: Nicklas Lidstrom-23:43

Goalie Stats:

Jimmy Howard- 30-10-1; 1.98 goals against average; .924 save percentage; 5 shutouts

Ty Conklin- 3-5-0; 3.20 goals against average; .886 save percentage, 1 shutout

Game 49:  St. Louis Blues 1  Detroit Red Wings 3

In an old-school Norris Division battle, the Red Wings got goals from Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, and Niklas Kronwall, while Jimmy Howard held the fort by stopping 21 of 22 shots for his league-leading 30th win of the season. The Red Wings matched the Blues with grit and toughness and then some. The Blues’ emotions got the best of them and it showed as the Red Wings cashed in on two power-play opportunities. It was another home ice win for the Red Wings, who won their 17th straight at the Joe Louis Arena.

Game 50:  Detroit Red Wings 2  Montreal Canadiens 7

The Red Wings’ last game before the All-Star break was a very forgettable one as the host Canadiens jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes and chased Jimmy Howard out of the game. Replacing Howard with Ty Conklin didn’t change the outcome for the Red Wings, who played without Nicklas Lidstrom. He sat out with the flu and they sure missed him all right. The only highlight was a two-goal effort from Jiri Hudler.

All-Star Game: Team Chara 12 Team Alfredsson 9

Jimmy Howard and Pavel Datsyuk represented the Red Wings at the All-Star Game in Ottawa and both played for the winners, Team Chara. Datsyuk had three assists and Howard stopped 11 of 14 shots, including a penalty shot by Steven Stamkos.

Team Transactions: None

This Week’s Games:

This Tuesday, the Red Wings travel to Calgary for a night with the Flames. Thursday, they head to Vancouver to face the Canucks and Saturday, they end the week with a date with the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place.

5.) —–> To Chicago: Hal Gill, Travis Moen, 5th Round Pick

—–> To Montreal: Kyle Beach, Brandon Saad, 2nd Round Pick

– Seemingly going nowhere this season it may be time for the Habs and GM Pierre Gauthier to start thinking about unloading some pieces in an attempt to build for the future. Both Gill and Moen are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer and could provide a Cup-hunting Blackhawks team with some added depth and grit for a playoff run this spring. Neither Moen nor Gill give you much in the way of flash or skill, but both are very durable players who have a Stanley Cup on their resume. For Montreal, both Beach and Saad fit the mold of what the Habs need the most: big, strong power forwards who can put the puck in the net. While neither will give Montreal much in the way of immediate assistance, they both have the potential to become cogs in the Canadiens’ lineup for years to come.

4.) —–> To Boston: Tuomo Ruutu, Bryan Allen

—–> To Carolina: Jordan Caron, Matt Bartkowski, 2nd Round Pick

– For a team that has simply run roughshod on the Eastern Conference since the start of November there really aren’t many glaring holes on a roster full of Stanley Cup winners. However, like we saw last February, GM Peter Chiarelli isn’t afraid to tinker with his team in order to add the necessary depth to make another run at Lord Stanley. This trade makes perfect sense for a Boston team that still relies on an inexperienced Steven Kampfer as it’s seventh defenseman. The hard-nosed Bryan Allen isn’t known much for his offense (0G/7A in 51 games this season) but can provide a solid defensive presence in his end of the ice, as well as log some valuable time on the penalty kill. Like Allen, the 28-year-old Ruutu will be a free agent on July 1. The Finland native seems to have been cut from the same mold as Boston winger Rich Peverley in the way that he can be trusted in any situation. Ruutu has posted fifteen goals and added eleven assists in 51 games this season while being shuffled up and down the Carolina lineup.

3.) —–> To Philadelphia: Ryan Suter, 3rd Round Pick

—–> To Nashville: James Van Riemsdyk, Brayden Schenn, Andrej Meszaros, Jody Shelley, 1st Round Pick

– Now, I’d put this trade as the least likely to happen, at least not until this summer. A deal like this makes perfect sense for a Flyers team that will be without captain Chris Pronger for the remainder of the season. Ryan Suter is perhaps the most underrated defenseman in the entire NHL. Often overshadowed by Shea Weber, Suter has quietly stacked together one all-star season after another and is slated to finally cash in this summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The question still remains as to if the cash-strapped Predators can re-sign Suter to a long term deal to keep him in Nashville. However, if GM David Poile comes to the realization that he will not be resigning with the Preds, he would be better served to deal him now than let him walk for nothing this July. The package I’ve presented seems like quite a hefty price for one player but keep in mind, true number one defensemen simply do not grow on trees. While I really can’t see this one happening before the deadline, if Suter is adamant about not re-upping in Nashville, I can’t see any better scenario for the Predators’ franchise both now and into the future.

2.) —–> To Toronto: Jeff Carter, 3rd Round Pick

—–> To Columbus: Luke Schenn, Nikolai Kulemin, 2nd Round Pick

– There’s no question that Jeff Carter’s brief stay in Ohio’s capital is coming to an early end. Reportedly frustrated by the entire situation, the former Flyers star has put up only seventeen points (10G/7A) in 30 games this season while playing for the league-worst Columbus Blue Jackets. While many teams would be skeptical of accepting any player with ten years left on his contract, the Leafs have been on a league-wide search for a true number one center since Brian Burke took the helm in November of 2008. It’s my belief that if Carter is surrounded by a talented team (like he was in Philadelphia) he will once again be able to return to his elite form. While many could think of this as an overpayment for Carter, I would argue that while Schenn still looks like a future all-star, he seems to be the odd man out on a Leafs’ blueline already manned by Dion Phaneuf, Mike Komisarek and John-Michael Liles — all of whom are signed to lucrative contracts. Kulemin is a young player with loads of skill and potential who seems to be struggling under the hockey-crazed pressure cooker that is Toronto. Perhaps a change of scenery would do him a world of good. In Toronto, Maple Leafs’ fans may be foaming at the mouth with the thoughts of putting an elite pivot in between all-star wingers Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul.

1.)  —–> To Minnesota: Zach Parise

—–> To New Jersey: Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle, Jonas Brodin, 2nd Round Pick

– This trade simply makes too much sense. With Parise still unsigned and the Devils’ ownership situation still uncertain, it’s easy to suggest that New Jersey will be unable to retain Parise at year’s end. Recent speculation has suggested that the 5’11″ Minneapolis would like nothing better than to return to his home state to continue his career, making him a perfect fit for the Wild. However, a former 40-goal scorer with extensive leadership qualities simply does not come cheap. With this package the Devils pick up a solid return for a guy who will likely be gone for nothing on July 1. Devin Setoguchi is a solid young winger who can play top-six minutes and provide some pop playing across from Ilya Kovalchuk. In Coyle and Brodin New Jersey receives two former first round selections who look to be sure bet NHL contributors in the near future. Parise should provide the right type of boost for a Wild team trying to work themselves off of the playoff fringe.

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On December 12, 2010 in Michigan Stadium, 113,411 in attendance saw the Michigan Wolverines beat the Michigan State Spartans 5-0 at the "Big House" in Ann Arbor. It's all but official that the Detroit Red Wings will host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium in next year's Winter Classic. Photo by cariberry.

To quote Kent Dorfman, aka Flounder from the classic movie Animal House when the Deltas crashed the Homecoming parade, “Oh, boy is this great!”.

It’s the worst-kept secret in the NHL, but the cat will be officially be out of the bag, most likely during the Detroit Red Wings’ six-game homestand next month, that they will face the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2013 Winter Classic, which will be held at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

This is going to be hockey heaven for not only Red Wings fans, but also for members of the Leaf Nation. Hockey fans north of the border will also be coming in droves from both the Ambassador and Blue Water Bridges.  The plan of Red Wings’ owner Mike Ilitch was to have the event held at Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers, but the league wants this event to set the attendance record. Not to leave out the hockey fans in Michigan and Ontario, but fans from bordering states and provinces will also want to take part of hockey history.

In the five previous WC contests, a Canadian team has not taken part of this event, but the Leafs would be the first. Many would say that the Leafs should be part of another NHL outdoors event, the Heritage Classic. It’s like the Winter Classic, but it’s on Canadian ice.  On February 20 of last year, the Calgary Flames blanked the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

There were call-ins on the local sports talk shows saying that it was too far from Comerica Park and that it would hurt businesses in the Detroit area.

As far as the pending events in downtown Detroit, Illitch will get his fair share of hockey.  Comerica Park would get a second rink and hold the Maple Leafs/Red Wings Alumni game and possibly the Great Lakes Invitation, which is an NCAA 4-team tournament held every year at the Joe Louis Arena.  The Windsor Star reported that there are talks of an additional game that could pit two of the OHL’s teams, the Windsor Spitfires and the Saginaw Spirit.

Imagine how much money will be made for the actual Winter Classic events. Let’s say that the average ticket price is $45 and 110,000 seats will be filled at the Big House. Add the prices of merchandise sold and together and you get Scrooge McDuck jumping into his pile of money.  It absolutely makes sense that the NHL would want the game in Ann Arbor.

Setting the business aside, as a hockey fan myself who lives about 20 miles away from downtown Detroit and would have to drive almost an hour for the game in Ann Arbor, I definitely have no problem driving almost three times the distance I would normally go for a Red Wings game.  It’s the cause of being a hockey fan. It’s not that often that two of the Original Six teams clash outdoors. It’s not that often these days that the Red Wings and Leafs face each other, but that’s another story.

Plus, the event in Ann Arbor would set the league attendance record that would stand for an eternity and what better place to have it than in Michigan Stadium. The question is what took so long (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)? I got a sample of what it could be like a few months ago when I went to an exhibition game between the Leafs and Red Wings at the Joe Louis Arena. There were chants of “Let’s Go Red Wings” followed quickly by “Go Leafs Go.” I’m going to go on a hunch and say that there’s a 99.9999% chance of that happening in Ann Arbor.

What I miss the most is seeing the Leafs and Red Wings square off in the Norris Division, especially in the home and home series. On a Friday night, the two would go at it at the Joe Louis Arena and then the next night, both teams go at it again at the Maple Leaf Gardens on “Hockey Night in Canada”. Those were the good ol’ days. This would be an awesome event, but imagine what the Alumni game would be like?! Where do we start with the lineups?!

If all of this falls into place, it will be hockey heaven and at the end everybody wins. That is, when it’s all official.

5.) Jackets Fail For Nail

– Without question the worst team in hockey through the first half of the season, the Blue Jackets have been an unmitigated disaster all year long. Entering the season most hockey journalists (including myself) had Columbus pegged for their second post-season appearance in franchise history. However, the aforementioned NHL pundits could not have been more wrong. With the acquisitions of Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski not panning out, look for the Blue Jackets to deal one of the two before the deadline. Purely based on Wisniewski’s massive contract, my guess would be Carter moves on for greener pastures elsewhere. The former Flyers’ standout should bring GM Scott Howson a decent haul and will help them continue to build for the future as they trudge along on the “Fail For Nail” campaign.

4.) Kessel Posts 90 Points, Finally Quiets Critics

– Perhaps the most talked about trade in recent Boston sports history, the Bruins–Leafs swap of September 2010 sent crafty winger Phil Kessel to the epicenter of hockey in exchange for three draft selections. Bruins’ GM Peter Chiarelli then used those picks to select forwards Tyler Seguin and Jared Knight as well as defenseman Dougie Hamilton. While Seguin has exploded onto the scene in the Hub, amassing 19 goals and 24 assists through 46 games this season Kessel has truly emerged as one of the league’s most prominent scorers. With 51 points (26G/25A) in 49 games, he and linemate Joffrey Lupul (20G/32A) have completely turned the Toronto franchise around, leading them to a top-eight position in the Eastern Conference. In the second half of this season, I believe that Kessel will easily reach the 40-goal marker and surpass his career high of 64 points to finally justify this trade and quiet the throngs of critics who have harassed the Minnesota native ever since he arrived on the scene in Toronto.

3.) Hitchcock, Blues Continue Magical Run

– Without doubt the biggest positive surprise of any team in the league this season has taken place underneath the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The Blues, who struggled mightily to begin the season under former coach Davis Payne, have been given new life since the arrival of veteran bench boss Ken Hitchcock. With no players in the NHL’s top-50 scoring leaders, the Blues’ team-first philosophy has shown through this season, leading them to the fifth seed in the Western Conference — a comfortable eleven points ahead of ninth place Colorado –. Captain David Backes seems to have his team — a seemingly perfect blend of youth and experience — poised for a deep run through the post-season. In the shocker of the season, I can see the Blues becoming this year’s NHL Cinderella story, upsetting a team or two and making it to the Conference Finals this spring.

2.) Sabres, Habs Continue Rapid Fall From Grace

– Mired in the basement of the Eastern Conference, this season simply has not gone the way fans in Buffalo and Montreal had once thought it would. Currently sitting eight and ten points out of the playoff picture, the Sabres and the Habs have been absolute train-wrecks on ice the entire season. In Montreal, things went awry immediately out of the gate and have only been trending downwards since then. In a year that’s seen the departure of both an assistant coach and a head coach, an unheard of mid-game trade and continuous public outcry for a French-speaking bench boss, the city of Montreal has been an absolute circus all year long. In Buffalo, fans and players alike had Stanley Cup aspirations after new owner Terry Pegula’s ill-advised off-season spending spree. Unfortunately for the hockey-mad folks in Western new York, it just hasn’t quite worked out this season as their beloved Sabres sit tied for dead last in the Eastern Conference. What’s worse? GM Darcy Regier is handcuffed by the insanely generous contracts of Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino.

1.) Bruins, Rangers Will Battle For Eastern Conference Crown

– Now I could be getting ahead of myself a bit here but right now all signs are pointing towards an Original Six showdown with a spot in the Cup Finals on the line. Without a doubt the two best teams in the East through the first half of the season, New York and Boston have put together the two best records in the Conference through the first half of the season. Armed with gritty, two-way players who aren’t afraid to put the team before themselves, the B’s and Blueshirts almost mirror one another in terms of playing style. After putting together an instant classic earlier this month at TD Garden, it’d be easy for one to expect three more beautifully played contests between these two squads this season. However, I’m going to take it a step further and say that New York and Boston will once again meet in the Eastern Conference Finals this spring for yet another chapter in the Boston  vs. New York rivalry.

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The Montreal Canadiens were the team that wanted it more and they made a statement by schooling the Red Wings 7-2 in a rare matchup between the two “Original Six” teams at the Bell Centre.

The loss ended the Red Wings’ seven-game winning streak and they are now one game below .500 away from the Joe Louis Arena (13-14-0). With the win, the Canadiens are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings and are eight points behind the final playoff spot.

The Red Wings desperately missed the Captain tonight. Nicklas Lidstrom was out with the flu and for the first time since April 12, 2009, 213 games ago, he missed a regular season contest. It was the 30th game in his career that he didn’t suit up.  It seemed like his teammates who skated in Montreal played like they were sick as well.

Tonight’s version of the Canadiens played like the team from the late 1970s.  No, Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Yvan Cournoyer and Jacques Lemaire weren’t lighting the lamp for Montreal.

Jimmy Howard had a horrible first period by giving up four goals on 12 shots to Rene Bourque, Alexie Emelin, David Desharnais and Tomas Plekanec. As expected, Howard’s night was soon over and he was replaced by Ty Conklin, who didn’t fare any better. Conklin played the rest of the game, but gave up goals to Desharnais, Max Pacioretty and Erik Cole.

On the other side of the ice, the role of Ken Dryden was played by Carey Price who stopped 23 of 25 shots for his 17th win of the season.  In the first period, Price might as well have been browsing today’s edition of the Montreal Gazette because he was rarely tested as he faced six shots.

In the second period, the Red Wings started to gain some momentum and got 12 shots on Price, who stopped them all. They finally got on the board early in the third period when Jiri Hudler scored his first of the two Red Wing goals.

The Detroit Red Wings played a spirited game on home ice this past Monday against the St. Louis Blues. It was action packed the entire game, but if you were to base that on a movie in a game of  Word Association, Predator comes to mind. Now, for anybody who has seen it, it’s a great action movie. It starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had a great supporting cast. It featured Carl Weathers and it provided the film debut of Jesse “The Body” Ventura who said one of the greatest lines in cinematic history: “I ain’t got time to bleed.”

Now we have tonight’s game in Montreal. If Monday’s game was Predator, then tonight’s game was Predator 2—bad and barely watchable. The Red Wings were just plain gassed. Perhaps the game on Monday took a lot out of them. Despite tonight’s performance, they’re still on top of the NHL standings with 67 points.

Jimmy Howard and Pavel Datsyuk are on their way to Ottawa for this weekend’s All-Star Game, while the rest of the team will get some time away from the rink as they recharge their batteries.  Since this will be Howard’s first All-Star game appearance, tonight’s game is a sample size of what he’ll be facing because defense and All-Star Games are like Kim Kardashian and marriage; they don’t belong in the same sentence.

The Red Wings’ next game is six days from now and that is also the first of a four-game road trip that will start in Calgary for a clash with the Flames.

Thanks to the wonder that is DVR, I was able to go back and watch Sunday’s hockey game in it’s entirety. I’m going to go in a new direction here and offer you with my five thoughts on Sunday’s matinee action and the interesting forty-eight hours it has been for the Black and Gold.

5.) Ference Hit With  Three-Game Shanaban

– Prior to Sunday’s matinee contest, defenseman Andrew Ference was slapped with a three game ban courtesy of NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan in the aftermath of his dangerous hit on Rangers’ blueliner Ryan McDonagh on Saturday. As I pointed out in Saturday’s blog, this was the fair punishment for an honest player with no history of malicious hits. No. 21 will not be eligible for a return to the team until a February 2 face-off with the Hurricanes at TD Garden.

4.) Rough Sunday Between The Pipes

– Sunday afternoon was a tough day to be a goaltender. In a contest that saw two all-star netminders square off for the third time this season, one could have expected a low-scoring affair. However, that was not to be as Tim Thomas and Ilya Bryzgalov combined to allow ten goals in regulation and another three in the shootout. That performance good for a pedestrian .866 combined save percentage.

3.) Tom Sestito’s Deplorable Actions

– Twice during Sunday’s action it was Flyers’ forward Tom Sestito who would draw the ire of the B’s by taking a run at a member of the B’s and delivering a high hit directed at the head. The first of which came in the first period against Steven Kampfer, who was possessing the puck behind the Boston goal. The second however had much more impact on the B’s. Early in the second frame, Sestito came across Nathan Horton’s blindside and delivered a clear blow to the skull of Boston’s top line winger after he fired a shot on goal. Sestito, a career minor-leaguer was simply out there trying to make a name for himself, but did so in the completely wrong way. You can check out the video below. In my opinion, Sestito should be given a three-to-five game suspension for the concussion-causing hit he delivered to Nathan Horton.

Click here to view the embedded video.

2.) B’s Not Taking Kindly To Opponents’ Physicality

– Not that this will come as a surprise to any Black and Gold supporter, but the Bruins’ team togetherness and support for one another was once again on full display Sunday. In what’s becoming a trend around these parts, each and every time a player wearing the eight-spoked “B” is met with any sort of hit –whether it be clean or dirty– a teammate takes exception to it. This was evident again this weekend after the Flyers’ Brayden Schenn delivered a beautifully executed clean hit to Steven Kampfer, which sprung Chris Kelly to immediately step in and drop the gloves with Schenn. Bruins’ players going to bat for one another is an honorable trait, but can also help add to the villainous image the B’s have created for themselves nationally.

1.) Thomas skips out on Obama, White House Visit

– Prepare yourselves folks, the remainder of this blog is about to combine politics and sports. Yeah, I don’t believe it either.

On Monday the Bruins were invited to the White House by President Obama in order to commemorate the team’s Stanley Cup championship season of one year ago. However, they would make the visit without one of the biggest contributors to the ending of Boston’s 39-year Cup drought, their Vezina trophy winning goaltender Tim Thomas. No explanation of his absence was reported from the White House, but this statement was left on his official Facebook page earlier this evening:

“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.
This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.
Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.

This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT” – Tim Thomas

Now, this is simply a subject that one has to be very careful with as politics is very much a touchy subject and much like opinions, everybody seems to have their own. The one thing I will point out is this; The very foundation of this country was built on the principles of freedom. That was what separated us from the rest of the world. That is what still sets us apart from countless nations worldwide. On Monday, Tim Thomas simply utilized his right to decline the president’s invite.

For those asking, I do not think Thomas’ decision not to attend the ceremony will have any long term effects on the Bruins as a team. This is because I firmly believe that the players in that locker room are consummate professionals — each and every one of them — and they can understand the importance of separating on-ice performance from personal opinions and conflicts.

As I said before, there really is no right or wrong in this situation, just a matter of conflicting opinions.

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The Red Wings now have some breathing room in the standings department.  Not only do they have a three-point lead over the Blues and Chicago Blackhawks in the Central, but they also have a three-point lead over their division rivals including the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins to top the NHL with 67 points.

Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, and Niklas Kronwall scored for the Red Wings, while Jimmy Howard made 21 saves to become the first netminder to reach 30 wins this season. Howard has more wins than 27 other NHL teams.

The Blues capitalized on one of the scarce Red Wings’ mistakes that led to the first goal of the game.  Midway through the first period, the Red Wings were caught in the middle of a line change and that led to a three-on-one, ending with Scott Nichol beating Howard with a wrist shot.

The Red Wings got on the board when Datsyuk scored his 14th of the season on the power play with a nifty backhander to tie the game 51 seconds into the second period. Franzen gave the Red Wings the 2-1 lead when he was in front of the Blues’ net to grab a rebound and put it past Jaroslav Halak.  The lead was stretched to 3-1 late in the third period when Kronwall score the team’s second PP goal with a slapshot from the top of the right circle.

This was a classic Norris Division battle between two of the best teams in the NHL. There was plenty of rough stuff, mostly instigated by the Blues. Towards the end of the first period, Brad Stuart rocked Alex Pietrangelo with a hit and Chris Stewart took it upon himself to start a scrap with Stuart. Stewart and Stuart both received five for fighting, but Stewart also received an instigating penalty as well as  a 10-minute misconduct.

The Red Wings started off slow, but the Stuart/Stewart fight seemed to start the motor for the home team.

The third period showcased more rough play, which was started by Todd Bertuzzi and David Backes at near the 15-minute mark, but the Main Event was with seconds left in the game when Pietrangelo crashed the Red Wings net trying to take out his frustrations on Howard. The Red Wings’ netminder stood his ground and showed once again that this is his crease.

The Blues have to realize that clean hits are part of the game.  Minutes earlier, Pietrangelo was once again rocked by a hit from Darren Helm and Carlo Colaiacovo retaliated with a headlock to Helm that led to a roughing penalty.  The Red Wings cashed in when Kronwall’s only shot of the game counted when he scored his 11th goal of the season with 3:30 left in the game.

The Blues kept themselves in the game, especially Jaroslav Halak, and it if weren’t for him, the Red Wings probably would have won by at least  four goals.  At the end, the Red Wings, who had the cooler heads, prevailed.

The Red Wings lead the season series 3-2 over the Blues with wins coming from the home team. Jimmy Howard has given up two goals or less in 31 out of 41 starts in goal this season.

The latest home win is now the 4th longest winning streak in league history, passing the 1975-76 Boston Bruins club.

There’s one more game to be played before the All-Star Break and that is on Wednesday when the Red Wings make a rare trip to Montreal for a date with the Canadiens.

The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by ten points. Tampa Bay is in 13th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference, nine points out of a playoff spot.

After 47 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with 32. He leads the Bolts in and is second in the NHL in points with 52. Martin St. Louis is tops in assists with 30. Marc-Andre Bergeron leads the team in rating with a +8.

Forward Steve Downie is last in rating with a -17 and has accumulated 111 penalty minutes. Goalie Mathieu Garon has 13 wins, a 2.95 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:23 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 163.

The Lightning have scored 130 goals (11th in the NHL) and allowed 160 goals (30th (last) in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts futile special teams got even worse this past week. The power play success rate is 13.3% (28th in the NHL) and the penalty kill is at 79.6% (25th in the NHL). The league average power play percentage is 17.3% and the average NHL team kills off 82.8% of their penalties successfully. Currently, the Lightning is mired in a 4-41 power play drought, including a 1-34 road power play skid.

Tampa Bay is 23rd in the league in faceoff percentage, winning just 49.1% of their draws.

Box Scores

Game 45 – Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – Boston Bruins 3

Game 46 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – Dallas Stars 1

Game 47 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Phoenix Coyotes 3

Three Stars of the Week

Martin St. Louis – One goal and four assists.

Teddy Purcell – Three goals.

Vincent Lecavalier – One goal and three assists.

Transactions

The Lightning reassigned defenseman Evan Oberg to Norfolk (AHL).

Injuries

Forward Ryan Shannon is out with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Defenseman Victor Hedman is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Forwards JT Wyman is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Adam Hall is out with an upper body injury.

Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Ryan Malone is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Forward Steve Downie is day to day with an upper body injury.

Bolt Notes

The Bolts went 3-0 this past week with two straight road wins. The playoffs are not out of the question, but with 35 games remaining, the Bolts are nine points out of the last playoff spot and they need to jump over five teams. The injury list is long and the AHL call ups are many. Tampa Bay should get much healthier after Tuesday’s game when the league will fall silent during the All-Star break. The Lightning look like they will stand pat and not look for help through trades. Dwayne Roloson is now clearly the backup goalie to Mathieu Garon, but that could change at any moment as Tampa Bay has pulled its starting goalie a total of nine times through 47 games.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Columbus on Tuesday before the All-Star break.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

First up for the Admirals this past week was the Albany Devils. The Devils have won all previous meetings with Norfolk this year. Albany struck first and built a 3-1 lead after one period of play. Cory Conacher scored the lone Admiral goal. The Admirals scored twice early in the second with goals from Evan Oberg and Mark Barberio. Albany would score their last goal of the night in the second before surrendering two more goals to Michel Ouellet and Admirals Captain, Mike Angelidis. Both teams went scoreless in the third period. Despite the rough first period, the Admirals were able to battle back for the 5-4 win. Dustin Tokarski played well, with the exception of the first period.

The Admirals moved on to Syracuse, New York for a Friday night matchup against the Syracuse Crunch. Once again Norfolk dug themselves a big hole. At the end of two periods it was six goals for the Crunch and a big goose egg for Norfolk. At the beginning of the third period goalie Jaroslav Janus was pulled in favor of Dustin Tokarski. Mike Angelidis and Richard Panik scored goals, but it was not enough to win the game.Syracuse took home the 6-3 victory and sent Norfolk on a nice bus ride to Connecticut.

It was just a week ago that Connecticut and Norfolk met down in Virginia. The Admirals won both of the games at Scope and were hoping to add one more in Connecticut. This game was very similar to the two previous matches as Norfolk found themselves down 3-1 at the end of one. Dustin Tokarski was pulled after surrendering three goals on three shots. Tyler Johnson scored the lone Admiral goal. Ondrej Palat would cut the lead to 3-2 with the lone goal of the second period. Carter Ashton opened the scoring in the third to tie the game at three. Cory Conacher would put the Admirals ahead 18 seconds later to give Norfolk the 4-3 lead. Less than two minutes laterSyracuse would tie the game and send it to overtime. After a scoreless overtime period a shootout took place. It took ten rounds to complete the shootout, but in the end Richard Panik secured the 5-4 win for the Admirals.

Cory Conacher (24G 22A 46Pts +3) and Mark Barberio (5G 32A 37Pts +16) find themselves at the top of the Admirals in scoring. Conacher leads the AHL in goals scored and is fifth overall in scoring. Carter Ashton (16G 14A 30Pts +7) is holding on to fourth place in scoring. Dustin Tokarski (17-9-0 2.53GAA) was pulled from the Connecticut game after allowing three goals on three shots. Jaroslav Janus (8-6-2 3.17GAA) went 1-1 this week.

For the Season the Admirals are 25-14-1-2 with 53 points. They are currently two points behind the East Division leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.Norfolk is currently on a 1-0-0-0 streak and is 5-3-1-1 in their last ten games.

Angelidis leads the way for the Admirals

Three Stars of the Week

Mike Angelidis – Three goals.

Cory Conacher – Two goals and an assist.

Mark Barberio – One goal and an assist.

Transactions

Trevor Smith – Recalled to the Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL).

Kevin Quick – Assigned to the Florida Everblades (ECHL).

Charles Landry – Returned to the Norfolk Admirals (AHL).

Evan Oberg – Returned to theNorfolk Admirals (AHL).

Injuries

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

Lately the Admirals have let the opposition build an early lead. In all three games this week Norfolk had to fight back from two to three goal deficits. They lost one, won one in regulation and won in the tenth round of a shootout. Even with the call ups missing from the lineup they still have a potent offense and it shows. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Tampa Bay not only has a goalie situation in the NHL, but the AHL netminding isn’t looking that good either. You can look at the stats and say that Tokarski isn’t having a bad season, but what you see on paper is not always what you see on the ice. He need some work before the Bolts bring him up.

The Week Ahead

Next up for the Admirals is a three-game home stand starting Tuesday night against the Charlotte Checkers followed by a Friday and Saturday night series against the Hershey Bears.

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The trade deadline is more than a month away and the Red Wings should look at making adjustments to their roster before February 27.  They have the cap room to do it and can land a top name or two. Players like  Bobby Ryan, Zach Parise and Tuomu Ruutu or Ales Hemsky have mentioned in trade rumors and any of them would be great additions to the Red Wings’ roster.

Team Leaders:

Goals: Johan Franzen-18

Assists: Pavel Datsyuk-38

Points: Pavel Datsyuk-51

Plus/Minus: Ian White +26

Penalty Minutes: Jonathon Ericsson-39

Power Play Goals: Johan Franzen-9

Game-Winning Goals: Johan Franzen-8

Short Handed Goals: Brad Stuart-1

Shots on Goal: Henrik Zetterberg-148

Shooting Percentage: Jiri Hudler-19.7%

Average Ice Time Per Game: Nicklas Lidstrom-23:40

Goalie Stats:

Jimmy Howard- 29-10-1; 1.98 goals against average; .926 save percentage; 5 shutouts

Ty Conklin- 3-5-0; 3.10 goals against average; .892 save percentage, 1 shutout

Game 45:  Buffalo Sabres 0  Detroit Red Wings 5

Pavel Datsyuk had three assists,  Todd Bertuzzi netted a goal and two assists and Jimmy Howard stopped all 26 shots for his fifth shutout of the season. With the win, the Red Wings tied the 1965-66 club for the franchise record with 15 straight home wins and did so in convincing fashion.  The Red Wings scored all of their goals in the first 25 minutes of the game and chased out Sabres’ netminder Ryan Miller after his brother, Ryan, assisted on Darren Helm’s goal to make it 5-0. Datsyuk reached another milestone by becoming another member of the Red Wings’ 700 club as he became the eighth member in team history to reach 700 points for the franchise. Henrik Zetterberg scored a goal and ended a 14-game scoring drought.

Game 46:  Detroit Red Wings 3  Dallas Stars 2 (SO)

Jiri Hudler scored a goal in regulation and also scored the game-winner in the shootout to stretch their winning streak to four games.  The Red Wings were getting dominated on the ice in the first period, but got a break early in the second period when Hudler attempted a cross-ice pass in the Stars’ zone, but it went off a Stars’ player and went past an un-prepared Richard Bachman.  Backup goalie Ty Conklin stood tall for the Red Wings by making 25 saves for his third win and played better as the game went on.

Game 47:  Detroit Red Wings 3  Phoenix Coyotes 2 (SO)

It was the same scenario as it was exactly a week ago, but this time the game was played on Phoenix’s home ice.  Both teams were tied at 2-2 after 60 minutes and they couldn’t settle the score in overtime so it had to be decided via the shootout.  This time, it was Todd Bertuzzi who was the hero as he won it  by doing a spin-o-rama move to beat Mike Smith, who probably had nightmares of allowing shootout goals to Red Wing players. With the win, the Red Wings reached the .500 mark on the road with a 13-13-0 record.

Game 48:  Columbus Blue Jackets 2  Detroit Red Wings 3 (SO)

The Red Wings set the franchise record with their 16th straight home win at the Joe Louis Arena and did so against the NHL’s worst team. It was thought to be an easy win and two points in the standings, but instead, it was the Blue Jackets that started out strong.  The Red Wings either trailed by one or were tied, but the only time that they led was in the shootout when Valtteri Filppula scored the first goal in the fourth round.  Ryan Johansen attempted to tie things up and go to a fifth round, but Jimmy Howard shut the door and sealed the win for the Red Wings as they won their sixth straight game.

Red Wings Three Stars of the Week:

Jimmy Howard: 3-0-0, 1.27 goals against average, .949 saver percentage, 1 shutout

Todd Bertuzzi: two goals, two assists, +3 rating, 1 game-winning goal in a shootout

Pavel Datsyuk: five assists, +3 rating

Team Transactions: None

This Week’s Games:

This Monday, the Red Wings host the St. Louis Blues in a battle for first place in the Central Division and they head to Montreal for their final game before the All-Star break as they face-off against the Canadiens in a rare matchup of two “Original Six” clubs.

Jimmy Howard stopped the final shooter, Ryan Johansen, to seal his 29th win of the season, which leads all NHL goalies.  Howard stopped 17 shots, while his counterpart Curtis Sanford, the hard-luck losing netminder for the Blue Jackets, made 29 saves.

As of now, the Red Wings lead the NHL with 65 points overall, with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers are tied for second with 64.

The Blue Jackets got on board first at 8:51 of the first period when Howard made a partial save on Derek Dorsett, but Ryan Russell was there to pick up the rebound and put it past the Red Wings’ goaltender.  Niklas Kronwall tied the game at 1-1 when he quickly shrugged off a hit and fired a shot from the slot.

Nikita Nikiten scored to give the Blue Jackets the lead, but the Red Wings tied it up again midway through the second period when he blasted one from the point and went wide of the net.  The puck bounced off the end boards, which went off of Sanford’s right pad and into the net.

The Red Wings had chance after chance to score in the first half of the third period, but couldn’t figure out Sanford.  The Blue Jackets goalie stopped 12 shots during that span and that’s why he was their team’s best player tonight.

The Red Wings’ home-winning streak was on the line midway through the third period when Henrik Zetterberg was penalized for a five-minute boarding call and a game misconduct (more on that later), but the PK unit successfully killed off the penalty and that was very crucial.  After 60 minutes the game remained tied at 2-2.

Since no one scored in overtime, the Red Wings went to a shootout for the third straight game.  Pavel Datsyuk, Jiri Hudler and Todd Bertuzzi didn’t put the puck past Sanford while Rick Nash, Derek Dorsett and Derick Brassard came up empty against Howard.  Enter Filppula, who had a chance to win it in the last second of regulation, but was denied when time expired.

In the fourth round of the SO, Filppula went in and beat Sanford top shelf for the 1-0 lead, and it was up to Johansen to score and go another round, but Howard slammed the door shut for the win.

The victory was anything but sweet. The Red Wings started the game looking sluggish and if it they played any team other than the Blue Jackets, the 15-game home winning streak would have been over. The Red Wings have a healthy roster, while on the other hand the team they faced was an injury-depleted squad that’s missing six players from their starting line-up.

The Red Wings’ power-play unit got a bit of a boost tonight by scoring only their fourth goal with the man-advantage over the last 17 games.  With 48 games into the season, it’s something that needs to get back on track.

Henrik Zetterberg could be getting a phone call from a former teammate and the topic on hand will not likely be about old times.  It’s a 99.9% chance that the discussion will be about Zetterberg’s five-minute boarding call that led to his ejection for the evening.Zetterberg had his glove on Nikitin, who had just begun to get off balance going in for the puck in the Blue Jackets’ zone and was pushed into the boards, twisting his left ankle under him.

Taylor Fedun, is an Edmonton Oilers’ prospect that was in the same situation as Nikitin. He was battling for the puck in his own zone in an exhibition game this past September and was slightly pushed by Eric Nystrom, who like Zetterberg, received a five minute boarding call and a game misconduct. Fedun suffered a fractured femur and won’t be able to play until next season and as for Nystrom, he wasn’t suspended.

In his 634th NHL game, Zetterberg was given his first major penalty of his career. Looking at the replay, there was no malice and zero intentions to injure Nikitin.  Zetterberg is definitely not in the same category as the Oilers’ Andy Sutton or the Blue Jackets’ James Wisniewski, so don’t be surprised if there isn’t a suspension.

The injury to Nikitin is a reason why there should be a no-touch icing rule in the NHL. If this would have been institued, players like Nikitin, Fedun and Kurtis Foster wouldn’t have suffered these leg injuries.  Also, the no-touch icing rule also helps speed up the game.

The Red Wings need to bring their “A” Game back to the JLA this Monday, because they have a date with their division rival, the St. Louis Blues. If they played like they did tonight, their winning streak on home ice will be toast.

With only 3.6 seconds left in overtime in what was perhaps the best and most hotly-contested Bruins’ home-game of the season –far surpassing that of January 7th’s Finals rematch– it was Marian Gaborik who would play the role of hero as he buried a rebound at the tail end of an extended 4-on-3 power-play. Besting B’s all-star defenseman and fellow countryman Zdeno Chara in the battle for the puck, the Slovakian sniper ended Saturday’s action with his second tally of the day.

“He’s (Chara) one of the best, if not the best defenseman in the league. To be out there every shift against him, it’s a big challenge. He’s a big guy, you just try to get in his face and forecheck him because obviously it’s hard to take the body on him because he’s such a monster, but we took advantage their and won the game.” – Marian Gaborik

The goal lifted the Rangers to yet another victory and moved them into a tie (With Chicago) for the most points in the NHL, with 64.

Goaltender Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for the Bruins, who played most of the overtime period on the penalty kill, after defenseman Andrew Ference was slapped with a five minute major and an ejection for sending Rangers’ blueliner Ryan McDonagh crashing head first into the boards. A dangerous hit that will likely make no. 21 the next recipient of a lengthy suspension, courtesy of NHL discipline czar Brendan Shanahan. McDonagh had to be helped off the ice by the Rangers’ team trainer, and Ference has been informed that he will indeed face a discipline hearing for the hit.

“Well, I’m obviously going as fast as I can to try and get to the puck. I realized I wasn’t going to get there first, he boxed me out, I tried to lean back, but I was going too fast. Obviously it was a dangerous position, so I tried to let up and didn’t let up fast enough.” – Andrew Ference

Despite the notion that McDonagh may have saw Ference coming and turned his body towards the boards, there is simply no defense for a hit like this. In my opinion, it was simply a case of an honest and humble player becoming the unfortunate victim of a bad situation.

“Ference isn’t a dirty player – he’s one of those guys who supports what the league is trying to do as far as minimizing those injuries.” — Claude Julien

However, regardless of such, this type of incident is exactly what the league is trying to eliminate. On a day when the presumably retired Marc Savard was in attendance, it’s next to impossible to find any reason why Ference should avoid a suspension, even for the most die-hard Black and Gold supporters. You can check the video evidence below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Bruins were only able to muster up two goals through over sixty-four minutes of action as they were once again stymied by noted B’s killer Henrik Lundqvist. The Rangers’ all-world netminder stopped 32 of Boston’s 34 shots on goal and improved his career save percentage to an other-worldly .947 against the Black and Gold. It was Ference and fellow defenseman Adam McQuaid who would provide the only offense of the day for Boston. Ference on a beautiful backhand move after a slick little cross-ice feed from David Krejci. McQuaid was responsible for the B’s second tally when he fired an off-angle wrister towards the net mouth, where it deflected off Brian Boyle and into the goal.

With the Rangers maintaining their position as top dog in the East, a mere two points ahead of the Black and Gold, Boston players have become fully aware of what to expect from the hard-nosed Blueshirts, now and possibly into the post-season.

“I think the guys they’ve had in the past are maturing as players and are starting to become players in the league, and they have a lot of depth. Not unlike other years, they play a physical game and work hard.” – Adam McQuaid

“I think we were aware that they’re very well-structured defensively, they work hard, they have good goaltending. They work extremely hard, actually, and they’ve got a lot of depth. So no real surprises. It was kind of the game we expected.” – Shawn Thornton

While many may disagree with me on this, I’d be all for it, should these two titans of the East meet up during the great marathon that is the NHL playoffs. Especially if we’re lucky enough to see 4-7 games like this one. Today was an extravagant showcase of hockey at it’s finest, put on by the two clear cut favorites in the Eastern Conference.

KEY STATS

Goals–                       NYR (3)                   BOS (2)

Shots–                       NYR (33)                    BOS (34)

Power-Play–           NYR (1-4)                   BOS (0-4)

Penalty-Kill–           NYR (4-4)                    BOS (3-4)

• Ben’s Three Stars– ….. 3.) Andrew Ference  ….. 2.) Henrik Lundqvist   ….. 1.) Marian Gaborik

What’s Next?

It’ll be a quick turnaround for Boston as they boarded a post-game flight to Philadelphia this afternoon, in anticipation of Sunday’s 3 P.M. matinee tilt with the Flyers. A game that will undoubtedly suffer from poor ratings locally due to the New England Patriots’ AFC Championship game set to be played at the same time. The Broadway Blueshirts will now return home to Madison Square Garden, where they will host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday evening.

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Tonight’s Line-Up (Subject To Change):

FORWARDS

Marchand–Bergeron–Seguin

Lucic–Krejci–Horton

Pouliot–Kelly–Peverley

Paille–Campbell–Thornton

DEFENSE

Chara–Boychuk

Seidenberg–Corvo

Ference–McQuaid

GOALTENDER

Thomas

Rask

Scratches– ….. Kampfer (Healthy) , Hamill (Healthy) , Caron (Healthy)

NEWS & NOTES

– Today’s contest will mark the B’s first return home to Garden ice since their January 12 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Over that span the team has concluded a four-game road swing. The Black and Gold were met with a few bumps in the road during the trip while posting a pedestrian 2-2-0 record. However, Boston seemed to have found their stride during a three-goal third period explosion that lead them to a victory in New Jersey on Thursday evening.

– Based on the recent trends showcased during the past few match-ups between these two Original Six foes, it would be wise for one to expect yet another hotly contested low scoring affair. My guess? A 1-0 or 2-1 win for either team.

– Today’s battle will also be a match-up of strength vs. strength as the Rangers’ 15-7-2 road record will be tested by Boston’s 16-7-1 mark on home ice.

– Despite this not being the most intense of rivalries nowadays, the B’s and Rangers always provide sixty minutes (or more) of solid hockey for all those watching. Both squads are built from the same mold; hard-hitting, defense-first hockey, backed up by ever-so-solid goaltending. We should be in for a treat this afternoon.

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It is the Red Wings’ fifth straight win (third SO win in a week), and they are now at the .500 mark away from home with a 13-13-0 record. They are one point ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks and St.Louis Blues in the Central Division.

Jimmy Howard made 31 saves for his NHL-leading 28th win while Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen each had two assists for the Red Wings (31-15-1).

Raffi Torres started the scoring early in the first period when he scored on a wrap-around goal to give the Coyotes a 1-0 lead.  That’s how it looked after the first 20 minutes of play. The Red Wings had their chances to tie things up in the first, but they had a case of heavy metal. A lot of their shots hit the goal post.

The Coyotes out-shot the Red Wings 13-12, but the most mind-boggling stat from the period was the Red Wings not converting on their three power play opportunities.  Two of the chances with the man-advantage resulted from the Coyotes’ not learning to count—they were called for having too many men on the ice.

The Red Wings got their groove back early in the second period when Ian White ripped a shot from outside the left face-off circle tying the game at 1-1. Midway through the second period, Todd Bertuzzi gave the Red Wings the lead when he blasted a shot from the left side of the goal and beat Smith. The 2-1 lead was short-lived when Gilbert Brule jumped out of bench after a line change and went through the defense to beat Jimmy Howard, once again tying the game.

The second period saw the Red Wings out-shoot the Coyotes 14-9; their work on the Coyotes’ net seemed to pay off, but after two failed PP conversions, they saw themselves 0-for-5 with the man-advantage.

Once again, the Coyotes received their third penalty for having too many men on the ice, but the Red Wings again failed to convert on the PP opportunity.  There was no scoring in the third period and that meant the Red Wings were headed to their fourth overtime in five games.

In overtime, the Coyotes had a chance to win it with the man-advantage, but the Red Wings’ PK unit came through in the extra period. No scoring after 65 minutes and for the second time in a week both teams went to another shootout.

The Coyotes went to Shane Doan, Radim Vrbata and Brule, but didn’t score. The Red Wings went to Datsyuk, who was robbed by Smith, and Jiri Hudler, who didn’t repeat Tuesday’s magic. It was all up to Todd Bertuzzi, who did his own version of the spin-o-rama to win it for the Red Wings.

The Red Wings have had a flair for the dramatic over the last few days. Four out of their last five wins were decided after 60 minutes of play; the one against the Blackhawks was decided in OT thanks to Bertuzzi, while the other three were decided in the shootout.

The team received a scare when Johan Franzen left the ice and headed to the locker room after blocking a shot, but he did return.  The Red Wings can’t afford to lose Franzen for any time, period, especially for their playoff run.

They are still in a three-way dance with the Blackhawks and Blues for the Central Division Title.  It’s like a “Money in the Bank” Ladder Match at a WWE Pay-Per-View.  Every point in the standings will be crucial and they could be knocked down to either second or third place with a loss or a win by either or both clubs. From the looks of things, it’s going to be like this for the rest of the season.  The division title won’t matter, but winning the Stanley Cup certainly does.

This Saturday, the Red Wings hope to continue their winning ways, but this time they return to the Joe Louis Arena when they host the  Columbus Blue Jackets, who are also leaders of the “Fail For Nail” campaign (referring to consensus #1 pick in this summer’s draft, Nail Yakupov). Even though the Blue Jackets beat the Red Wings early in the season, do you see the home team making it 16 wins in a row on JLA ice?