It was a light night in the HFNHL yesterday with only 6 games on tap. Here is a summary of the action:
Hurricanes 3 at Thrashers 2
A solid performance from Steve Shields gives the Hurricanes just their second win of the season, stopping 25 of 27 shots. The scoring got underway at 21 seconds of the first period when Boris Mironov wired a slapshot top corner off of a Martin Gelinas feed. The first period ended with a score of 1-0 Atlanta. The second period saw the Hurricanes tie it up on Joffrey Lupul’s first of the season at 2:14. Martin Gelinas took the lead for the Thrashers on a Powerplay marker much to the dismay of Steve Shields who was knocked over by an Atlanta forward infront of the net, allowing Gelinas to score. The Hurricanes finished the game strong scoring 2 unanswered goals from Ronald Petrovicky and Nils Ekman, while outshooting the Thrashers by 10 in the final period. Other notes to this game include Luke Richardson leaving the game after falling awkwardly into the boards on a delayed icing call, team officials say he’s day to day with a foot injury. The Three Stars of this game were: 1. Steve Shields (25 Saves) (CAR), 2. Boris Mironov (1 G, 1 A) (ATL), 3. Joffrey Lupul (1 G) (CAR).
Lightning 2 at Panthers 4
So it continues, those suprising Panthers pull it off again with a 4-2 triumph over Tampa Bay. They do it on the strength of outshooting the Lighting in every period, solid play from goaltender Grahame, and their top line which combined for 6 points. The fans seem to be reading the papers because last nights attendance in Florida was 19200, giving GM Brock Otten something to smile about. Coach Tortorella will be none too pleased with the effort given by his team on this night, being out shot, out hit, and just out played. If not for the play of Ron Tugnutt the score could have been much worse. The scoring didn’t open until the end of the 2nd period when Mats Sundin and Alexandre tossed the puck around until Darius Kasparaitus let a floater from the point go which ended up in the back of the net. The third period saw Tom Kostopoulos score his 3rd of the season, Kasparaitus score his 2nd of the game and of the season, and Raffi Torres get his 5th of the season for the Panthers. The goal scorers for the Lightning were Vladimir Malakhov and Mikael Samuelsson. The Panthers are now a top the Southeast Division with 13 points. Also, Fernando Pisani left the game in the 3rd period complaining of stiffness in his foot. The three stars of this game were: 1. Darius Kasparaitis (2 G, 1 A) (FLA), 2. Raffi Torres (1 G) (FLA), and 3. Mats Sundin (3 A) (FLA).
Blackhawks 3 at Capitals 2
A pretty exciting evening in Washington ended with the Blackhawks leaving with the victory. The scoring was opened by Alexei Kovalev 2:57 into the first when we let a heater from the top of the circle go beating Patrick Lalime high blocker side. Washington responded with 2 unanswered by the end of the first from Saku Koivu and Kyle Calder to take the lead. The Blackhawks finished strong with a goal in the 2nd period from Alexei Kovalev again, and in the 3rd with about 2 minutes remaining from David Vyborny who banged in a goal off a Ken Klee point shot to beat Lalime, and eventually win the game. Stephane Veilleux was assessed a double minor for elbowing in the 2nd period after he took a run at the Capitals’ Saku Koivu, starting a scrum near the buzzer, cooler heads would prevail and the third period saw no penalties. The three stars of the game were: 1. Alexei Kovalev (2 G) (CHI), 2. Alex Tanguay (1 A) (CHI), and 3. Kyle Calder (1 G) (WAS).
Predators 2 at Red Wings 4
Although the Preds out shot the Red Wings it was in a losing effort, as Chris Clark of the Redwings would get a shorthanded goal on a breakaway in the 2nd period to seal the deal for the Wings. The Predators could not find a way to beat Olaf Kolzig even after getting about 10 quality scoring chances. The woes continue for the Preds this season as they see there 1-9-0 record in last place in the Western Conference. The Red Wings improve to 5-2-3 on the season. The three stars of this game were: 1. Brent Sopel (3 A) (DET), 2. Olaf Kolzig (27 Saves) (DET), and 3. Eric Belanger (1 G) (NAS).
Kings 2 at Sharks 5
The up and down ride of the Sharks season continues as they pull off a 5-2 win at home last night. The start of the game did not look good as the Kings’ took a quick 2 goal lead on goals from Olli Jokinen on a nifty breakaway where he went top shelf on the backhand, and Steve Rucchin who fought his way to the net and banged home his own rebound. With the San Jose faithfully restless, they decided to play some hockey after that. Peter Forsberg got things going on his 7th, from Jaroslav Spacek and Mike Rupp. The 1st ended with a bang as Todd Bertuzzi sent new Shark Pavol Demitra head first into the boards, getting himself a 4 minute double minor. This seemed to wake up the sniper as he went on to score 2 goals and add an assist in the last 2 periods. Kings’ call-up Cam Ward entered the game in the third but only faced 1 shot, which he set aside. The Sharks are poised to become the nicest team in league after another 1 penalty game. The Sharks are now 1 point behind these same Kings and the Ducks for first in the Pacific division. Petr Sykora is still day to day with an eye injury. The three stars of this game were: 1. Pavol Demitra (2 G, 1 A) (SJS), 2. Peter Forsberg (1 G, 2 A) (SJS), and 3. Olli Jokinen (1 G) (LAK).
Blues 2 at Stars 1
Last night in Dallas the Blues continued their impressive start to the HFNHL season with a gritty 2-1 victory over the Stars. The first period saw only one goal scored by Bryan McCabe at the 19:39 mark when he let his signature point shot loose top right corner. The first period was also marred by 20 minutes in penalties, with half going to Zdeno Chara of the Blues for a 10-minute misconduct after he gave a mouthful of carbon to Alexei Yashin. The second period saw no scoring, and only 1 penalty. The Stars made it interesting in the third when Eric Boguenicki’s shot from the side of the net hit a defenseman’s skate infront of the net and fooled Martin Biron to make it 1-1. After that, once again in the new HFNHL a 3rd period powerplay was the death of the Stars. A coaching decision put Zdeno Chara infront of the net on the powerplay, and it paid off as he tipped in a Steve Yzerman shot to get the game winning goal. Even with Mikka Kiprusoff on the Bench for the last minute the Stars could not get one passed Biron as he picks up his first win of the season for the Blues. The three stars of the game were: 1. Martin Biron (24 saves) (STL), 2. Bryan McCabe (1 G) (STL), and 3. Eric Boguenicki (1 G) (DAL).
Go easy on me boys, it was my first time.
Hurricanes 3 at Thrashers 2
A solid performance from Steve Shields gives the Hurricanes just their second win of the season, stopping 25 of 27 shots. The scoring got underway at 21 seconds of the first period when Boris Mironov wired a slapshot top corner off of a Martin Gelinas feed. The first period ended with a score of 1-0 Atlanta. The second period saw the Hurricanes tie it up on Joffrey Lupul’s first of the season at 2:14. Martin Gelinas took the lead for the Thrashers on a Powerplay marker much to the dismay of Steve Shields who was knocked over by an Atlanta forward infront of the net, allowing Gelinas to score. The Hurricanes finished the game strong scoring 2 unanswered goals from Ronald Petrovicky and Nils Ekman, while outshooting the Thrashers by 10 in the final period. Other notes to this game include Luke Richardson leaving the game after falling awkwardly into the boards on a delayed icing call, team officials say he’s day to day with a foot injury. The Three Stars of this game were: 1. Steve Shields (25 Saves) (CAR), 2. Boris Mironov (1 G, 1 A) (ATL), 3. Joffrey Lupul (1 G) (CAR).
Lightning 2 at Panthers 4
So it continues, those suprising Panthers pull it off again with a 4-2 triumph over Tampa Bay. They do it on the strength of outshooting the Lighting in every period, solid play from goaltender Grahame, and their top line which combined for 6 points. The fans seem to be reading the papers because last nights attendance in Florida was 19200, giving GM Brock Otten something to smile about. Coach Tortorella will be none too pleased with the effort given by his team on this night, being out shot, out hit, and just out played. If not for the play of Ron Tugnutt the score could have been much worse. The scoring didn’t open until the end of the 2nd period when Mats Sundin and Alexandre tossed the puck around until Darius Kasparaitus let a floater from the point go which ended up in the back of the net. The third period saw Tom Kostopoulos score his 3rd of the season, Kasparaitus score his 2nd of the game and of the season, and Raffi Torres get his 5th of the season for the Panthers. The goal scorers for the Lightning were Vladimir Malakhov and Mikael Samuelsson. The Panthers are now a top the Southeast Division with 13 points. Also, Fernando Pisani left the game in the 3rd period complaining of stiffness in his foot. The three stars of this game were: 1. Darius Kasparaitis (2 G, 1 A) (FLA), 2. Raffi Torres (1 G) (FLA), and 3. Mats Sundin (3 A) (FLA).
Blackhawks 3 at Capitals 2
A pretty exciting evening in Washington ended with the Blackhawks leaving with the victory. The scoring was opened by Alexei Kovalev 2:57 into the first when we let a heater from the top of the circle go beating Patrick Lalime high blocker side. Washington responded with 2 unanswered by the end of the first from Saku Koivu and Kyle Calder to take the lead. The Blackhawks finished strong with a goal in the 2nd period from Alexei Kovalev again, and in the 3rd with about 2 minutes remaining from David Vyborny who banged in a goal off a Ken Klee point shot to beat Lalime, and eventually win the game. Stephane Veilleux was assessed a double minor for elbowing in the 2nd period after he took a run at the Capitals’ Saku Koivu, starting a scrum near the buzzer, cooler heads would prevail and the third period saw no penalties. The three stars of the game were: 1. Alexei Kovalev (2 G) (CHI), 2. Alex Tanguay (1 A) (CHI), and 3. Kyle Calder (1 G) (WAS).
Predators 2 at Red Wings 4
Although the Preds out shot the Red Wings it was in a losing effort, as Chris Clark of the Redwings would get a shorthanded goal on a breakaway in the 2nd period to seal the deal for the Wings. The Predators could not find a way to beat Olaf Kolzig even after getting about 10 quality scoring chances. The woes continue for the Preds this season as they see there 1-9-0 record in last place in the Western Conference. The Red Wings improve to 5-2-3 on the season. The three stars of this game were: 1. Brent Sopel (3 A) (DET), 2. Olaf Kolzig (27 Saves) (DET), and 3. Eric Belanger (1 G) (NAS).
Kings 2 at Sharks 5
The up and down ride of the Sharks season continues as they pull off a 5-2 win at home last night. The start of the game did not look good as the Kings’ took a quick 2 goal lead on goals from Olli Jokinen on a nifty breakaway where he went top shelf on the backhand, and Steve Rucchin who fought his way to the net and banged home his own rebound. With the San Jose faithfully restless, they decided to play some hockey after that. Peter Forsberg got things going on his 7th, from Jaroslav Spacek and Mike Rupp. The 1st ended with a bang as Todd Bertuzzi sent new Shark Pavol Demitra head first into the boards, getting himself a 4 minute double minor. This seemed to wake up the sniper as he went on to score 2 goals and add an assist in the last 2 periods. Kings’ call-up Cam Ward entered the game in the third but only faced 1 shot, which he set aside. The Sharks are poised to become the nicest team in league after another 1 penalty game. The Sharks are now 1 point behind these same Kings and the Ducks for first in the Pacific division. Petr Sykora is still day to day with an eye injury. The three stars of this game were: 1. Pavol Demitra (2 G, 1 A) (SJS), 2. Peter Forsberg (1 G, 2 A) (SJS), and 3. Olli Jokinen (1 G) (LAK).
Blues 2 at Stars 1
Last night in Dallas the Blues continued their impressive start to the HFNHL season with a gritty 2-1 victory over the Stars. The first period saw only one goal scored by Bryan McCabe at the 19:39 mark when he let his signature point shot loose top right corner. The first period was also marred by 20 minutes in penalties, with half going to Zdeno Chara of the Blues for a 10-minute misconduct after he gave a mouthful of carbon to Alexei Yashin. The second period saw no scoring, and only 1 penalty. The Stars made it interesting in the third when Eric Boguenicki’s shot from the side of the net hit a defenseman’s skate infront of the net and fooled Martin Biron to make it 1-1. After that, once again in the new HFNHL a 3rd period powerplay was the death of the Stars. A coaching decision put Zdeno Chara infront of the net on the powerplay, and it paid off as he tipped in a Steve Yzerman shot to get the game winning goal. Even with Mikka Kiprusoff on the Bench for the last minute the Stars could not get one passed Biron as he picks up his first win of the season for the Blues. The three stars of the game were: 1. Martin Biron (24 saves) (STL), 2. Bryan McCabe (1 G) (STL), and 3. Eric Boguenicki (1 G) (DAL).
Go easy on me boys, it was my first time.
