News and notes from last night’s action…
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Mats Sundin does not care about your silly goals. |
Ottawa 3, Toronto 2 — It was a sour night for Leafs fans, as their team lost both games in the season opening battle of Ontario, giving the team an 0-2 start. On the bright side, Mats Sundin scored his 389th goal in a Toronto uniform, tying him for first in franchise history with Darryl Sittler. Daniel Alfreddson and Dany Heatley both scored for the Sens, giving each player three on the season. Martin Gerber basically stood on his head in this one, as the Sens were out shot by Toronto 43-29. The Leafs also pulled the double ultra golden sombrero by going 0-for-8 on the power play.
Edmonton 3, San Jose 2 SO — As Barry Melrose himself put it so eloquently on Sportscenter tonight, the Sharks ‘sleepwalked’ through this one, lucky to come out of it with a point. Even at this early juncture, the Oilers have plenty of fight in them. What San Jose has to realize is that it will take the lesser teams a little while to hit the proverbial wall and start handing them games. The Oilers held a 2-1 third period lead until Joe Thornton beat Dwayne Roloson with :11 left thanks to a nasty wrister. Thornton also had an assist and Jarret Stoll potted the shoot out winner for Edmonton.
NY Rangers 5, Florida 2 — It took just over two periods of play, but the Rangers finally woke up in time for their home opener. They trailed 2-1 heading into the final period, but four goals in the third were more than enough for the Blueshirts. New York’s Marek Malik and Chris Drury were your fantasy standouts, each tallying three points. Tomas Vokoun made only 20 saves on 25 shots in his Panthers debut.
Minnesota 1, Chicago 0 — Obviously, Jacques Lemaire is choking the fun out of hockey games early this season. The two teams totaled for only 51 shots, and Wild net minder Niklas Backstrom earned a shutout in his first appearance of the season. The bad injury news for Hawks fans just keeps on coming; Martin Havlat went down with a shoulder injury during the third period. He will have an MRI Friday to determine the severity of the injury. Derek Boogaard and David Koci also had some pretty sweet fights in this one.
Nashville 4, Colorado 0 — After a great showing during their home opener last night, the Avs hit a severe case of jet lag en route to Nashville. They managed to out shoot the Predators, but it wouldn’t matter as the home team rode goals from JP Dumont, Jason Arnott (2) and Dan Hamhuis as well as a shutout from Chris Mason to take the victory.
Phoenix 3, St. Louis 2 — Start planning the Stanley Cup victory parade, the Coyotes are undefeated!
Tampa Bay 3, New Jersey 1 — Three points for Martin St. Louis, two for Vinny Lecavalier.
Philadelphia 3, Calgary 2 — Daniel Briere had two goals in his debut.
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