Canadian hockey fans know, Saturday night is for one thing and one thing only – Hockey Night in Canada. On a rare Saturday that the beloved Toronto Maple Leafs did not play, all other Canadian teams were in action, as there were 13 different games on tap. It wa the night of the shootout, as six of the games would be decided by the tiebreaker, and a seventh was ended in overtime, giving fans all over the continent plenty of exciting hockey to watch.
Starting out west for a change, Vancouver got five first period goals, including one from fresh-off-injury Daniel Sedin to dump the Edmonton Oilers 7-3. Roberto Luongo made 31 saves to help the Canucks beat an Oilers’ team that has to be wondering what they did to deserve this season. First, Dany Heatley spurns them for San Jose in the offseason. Now, they lead the league in man-games lost to injury, and recently learned that star winger Ales Hemsky will be out for the rest of the season after he undergoes shoulder surgery.
The Oilers’ main rival, the nearby Calgary Flames, gave star goalie Miikka Kiprusoff the night off, and still managed to get a win against Columbus. Curtis McElhinney made 29 saves in regulation and overtime and got some help in the shootout to give the Flames a 4-3 win. Olli Jokinen, Nigel Dawes and Jamie Lundmark all beat Steve Mason in the shootout, as Calgary completed a 3rd period comeback that started with less than six minutes to go.
Minnesota needed a shootout to beat Colorado for the second time in as many nights, as the once-redhot Avs fell to 4-6-3 during November, and 2-5-3 in their last 10. Colorado led 2-0 in the first, but gave up goals in the second and third period, while Josh Harding got his first win of the season for the Wild. In another shootout, the Los Angeles Kings continued their impressive start to the season, holding off Chicago to win 2-1. Jonathan Quick made 32 saves, the most he’s had to make all season, and stopped both Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in the shootout to give the Kings their 15th win of the season. It took the Kings until December 27th to get 15 wins last year.
Detroit, Boston and Washington were the other three teams to win in a shootout, and all three rode 3rd period comebacks to force it. Detroit got a goal from Henrik Zetterberg with under a minute to play to complete their 3rd period comeback and force overtime. St. Louis led 2-0 and 3-2 at different points during the game. Todd Bertuzzi scored the shootout winner. Boston was down 2-0 in their game against Ottawa, but stormed back and got a goal from Mike Ryder to take possession of first place in the Northeast. Finally, the Capitals had to pull their goalie in the final minute, and scored on a last minute powerplay to force overtime. Eric Fehr scored his second goal of the game with 12 seconds to play, and Nicklas Backstrom scored the only goal in the shootout as the Caps dumped Montreal at the Bell Centre. Dallas survived a comeback from the Lightning but managed to save the game in extra time in Saturday’s other overtime match.
In games that didn’t go to overtime, there were still plenty of storylines. The Thrashers beat Philadelphia for the first time in 14 tries, as Johan Hedberg recorded his first shutout of the year. Atlanta had not beaten Philadelphia in over 4 years, dating back to November of 2005 – it was the NHL’s longest running streak of one team’s dominance over another.
Carolina continued to struggle, giving up five 3rd period goals against Buffalo. They gave up five 3rd period goals on Friday night as well against Atlanta. The Canes led 1-0 for most of the first two periods after Matt Cullen scored, but the Sabres got goals from five different players and rookie sensation Tyler Myers had three assists in the 3rd to give the league’s worst team their 16th loss.
Veteran forwards Brian Rolston and Patrik Elias made sure the upstart New York Islanders had no luck in New Jersey on Saturday. Both players recorded two goals and two assists, while the Islanders were unable to get any offense going in the 2nd and 3rd periods against Martin Brodeur. Part of the reason the Devils were so successful was the fact that they kept the Isles two young scorers, John Tavares and Matt Moulson, off the score sheet. Moulson was held without a shot, while Tavares managed no points and only 3 shots on goal.
Florida lost their fourth in a row, losing 4-1 to Nashville, who have now won eight of their last ten. JP Dumont broke a 1-1 tie early in the 3rd and the Predators never looked back, adding another marker four minutes later and an empty netter in the final minute to seal the deal. Florida, who blew a 3rd period lead against Toronto on Friday, now sits 4th in the Southeast Division, only 9 points ahead of the stumbling Hurricanes.
Finally, Sidney Crosby made sure the fans got their money’s worth in Pittsburgh, in more ways than one. On free hat night, the Pens’ star center recorded his fourth career hat trick against the New York Rangers, and added two assists as the Penguins wrecked the Rangers, 8-3. After Crosby’s final goal on a powerplay midway through the 3rd, the ice was littered with hundreds of hats from a sellout crowd.
Toronto, Anaheim, Phoenix and San Jose were the only teams not active on Saturday. Phoenix beat Anaheim on Sunday night in overtime, while San Jose beat Vancouver 4-2 in Sunday’s late night game. Toronto hosts Buffalo on Monday night before going on a three game road trip through Montreal, Columbus and Boston. The Leafs have gone 3-0-2 in their last five after dropping four straight in the middle of November.
