The Daily Sniper: Saturday Night Madness

News and notes from last night’s action…

Toronto 4, Montreal 3 OT — The Leafs got their first win of the year and, as TSN points out, they “do indeed have a pulse.” Tomas Kaberle netted the overtime winner and Mats Sundin had three helpers. There’s still no word as to if any naked locker room shots of the Leafs have been leaked.

Pittsburgh 5, Anaheim 4 — The Ducks looked like they had shook off the jet lag for a bit, but nonetheless found themselves in a two goal hole late in the third before Corey Perry scored in garbage time. The Ducks have now lost three straight on North American soil, with only one point to show for it. Maybe they should play all their games in England? Chris Kunitz, Francois Beauchemin and Ryan Getzlaf all had multi-point nights for Anaheim. Sid the Kid netted his first point of the season, an assist, and Petr Sykora had three points for the Penguins.

Ottawa 2, Rangers 0 — The Senators continue to roll, and are now 3-0 with a win at home against the Rangers. Daniel Alfreddson had two points and Martin Gerber continued his stellar play by stopping all 35 shots he faced. In a related story, Mark Messier is still a douche.

Nashville 5, Dallas 1 — Don’t look now but the Preds are 2-0, have outscored their opponents 9-1, and have an average attendance of 14,271 according to NHL.com. At least something is going right in the Music City. Brett Hull will neither confirm nor deny reports as to whether or not the Stars actually showed up tonight.

Islanders 3, Buffalo 2 — The Islanders held on by the skin of their teeth in the third, getting out shot 17-6, nonetheless holding on for the victory. Their top line of Comrie-Fedotenko-Guerin combined for two goals and six points. Buffalo’s two goals were both scored on the powerplay. The Sabres fall to 0-2 with the loss.

Edmonton 5, Philadelphia 3 — The Oilers are undefeated in two games, thanks to third period goals from Geoff Sanderson and Joni Pitkanen, spoiling Joffrey Lupul’s return to Edmonton. I’m sure Oiler fans missed him tons. Daniel Briere picked up another two points in the loss, as did Simon Gagne.

Vancouver 4, Calgary 3 OT — Daniel Sedin netted a power play goal to give the Canucks an overtime victory over their Western Canadian rivals. All four Canuck goals were scored on the power play, including three in the second period, as the ‘Nucks went 4-for-7 with the man advantage. Daymond Langkow scored twice for the Flamers Flames.

St. Louis 5, Los Angeles 3 — The Blues scored four third period goals to top the Kings in their return to North American hockey action. Jamal Mayers, Lee Stempniak and Paul Kariya all had two points for the Blue Notes. Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar each had three point for Los Angeles.

Chicago 4, Detroit 3 OT — The Blackhawks aren’t about to give up on winning the central just yet. Nine different Hawks tallied in this one, with Patrick Kane scoring the decisive goal in the shoot out in addition to getting his first NHL point. Henrik Zetterberg assisted on each of Detroit’s goals.

Tampa Bay 5, Atlanta 2 — My pick to win the southeast division is slow out of the gate, as the Thrashers have started the season losing two games to division rivals. Atlanta was out shot 34-15, as both Brad Richards and Vaclav Prospal had a pair of goals for Tampa.

Minnesota 3, Columbus 2 — Third period goals from Eric Belanger and Brent Burns carried the Wild to their second home win of the year. Brian Rolston also had three assists for Minnesota. Nikolai Zherdev had two points for the BJs.

New Jersey 4, Florida 1 — Tomas Vokoun looked weak yet again in stopping only 20 shots, and committed a costly turnover behind his own net, which led to a Devils goal. John Madden had two goals for New Jersey, as the Devils notched their first win of the year.

Washington 2, Carolina 0 — Alex Ovechkin scored his first of the year, and that would be all the Caps needed to win their home opener. Olaf Kolzig stopped 23 shots to earn the shutout.

Boston 3, Phoenix 1 — Boston won a game which could be considered a preview of the battle for the #1 pick in June’s draft.
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