The Daily Sniper: Your National Nightmare is Over

News and notes from last night’s action…

Ladies and gentleman, all is well in the world. Sidney Crosby scored not one, but two goals tonight for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Our long, depressing nightmare is over. You can now continue to go about your daily lives, feeling safe once again. The Iraq War is over. Poverty has been solved, and cancer has been cured. All is right with the world now that Sid the Kid has broken the drought.

If only.

On to the scores.

Pittsburgh 6, Toronto 4 — As you already know, the Pens got help from Sid tonight, as he scored the eventual game winner during a power play with just over five minutes to go in the third. In lesser, non-world changing news, Maxime Talbot also had two goals for Pittsburgh. This game really wasn’t as close as it appeared, though. Pittsburgh pelted Vesa Toskala with 51 (yes, FIFTY. ONE.) shots, 46 of which he stopped. The Leafs were out shot 52-27 on the night.

Minnesota 3, Phoenix 2 — The Machine That is the Minnesota Wild continued its roll through the Western Conference tonight. The Wild trailed 2-1 entering the third, but got goals from Mikko Koivu and Eric Belanger to take the victory from the jaws of defeat. Marian Gaborik added a goal and Pavol Demitra had two helpers for Minnesota. On the other side of things, Daniel Carcillo netted two as the Coyotes fell to 2-3 on the season.

Colorado 5, Columbus 1 — Paul who? The Avs became the first team to score on Pascal Leclaire, and they didn’t need any help from Paul Stastny to do it. Milan Hejduk and Joe Sakic (there’s more to Colorado than Paul!) combined for all five Avalance goals to get the win.

Ottawa 3, NY Rangers 1 — And now, back to your regularly scheduled Senators win streak. The Senators netted three goals in the second period, and that’s all they would need to move to 6-1 on the young season. They found seven points from seven different players, as Martin Gerber stopped 36 shots to earn the win. Jaromir Jagr scored his first of the season for New York.

New Jersey 6, Atlanta 5 — Contrary to popular belief, the Thrashers proved that they do indeed have an offense. Surprisingly, five goals were not enough to beat the Devils. Martin Brodeur faced only 17 shots, but surrendered 5 goals. Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrick Elias each had two goals.

Chicago 2, Dallas 1 OT — The only overtime game of the night came in the Windy City, where Robert Lang tied up the game with 3.1 seconds left in the third ice hockey session. Lang would later assist on Jason Williams’ overtime winner. If you want another ridiculous shots on goal margin, you got it; Chicago out shot Dallas 40-18, including a 20-4 margin in the third period alone.

Calgary 7, Nashville 4 — Six different players scored for the Flames, as Kristian Huselius was the only player to have a multi-goal game for either side. He now has four goals in five games. It sure seems like Mike Keenan isn’t affecting him. At least, not yet.

Philadelphia 3, NY Islanders 1 — Martin Biron stopped 29 of 30 shots to lead the Flyers to a victory in their home opener.

Buffalo 7, Washington 3 — Jaroslav Spacek and Derek Roy each had two goals to help lead the Sabres over the Capitals. Brian Campbell had four helpers for the Sabres.

Florida 6, Tampa Bay 4 — Tomas Vokoun had another steallar game, stopping 40 shots for the Panthers.

Carolina 3, Montreal 1 — Cam Ward is now 4-0 for the Hurricanes, who are 4-1-1 as a team.

Vancouver 4, Edmonton 1 — Daniel Sedin had two goals and his brother Henrik had three assists for the Canucks.

Boston 2, San Jose 1 — This game is quite possibly the most unlikely victory of the night. Milan Michalek tied the game for San Jose with :38 to go in the third, but Aaron Ward netted the winner for Boston with only :12 left.