Another wonderful night of hockey last night. The Habs beat the Rangers 3-2 in overtime last night. What a night for Michael Ryder, notching another two goals. I watched most of this game and was praying for it to go to a shootout. I'm not sure I like the shootout yet, as the first one I saw didn't impress me. First off, it has nothing to do with me being a Leaf's fan, and Toronto loosing. I watched all of the Ottawa/Toronto game, and it was a great game, close from start to finish. The teams played very well, and it was a well fought game. For the game to be decided by a gimmick, it just didn't suit the rest of the game. The shootout was fun to watch, but instead of a shootout, I'd be more impressed with continuous overtime all season long. How awesome would that be? Anyways, Habs are now 2-0, and play their home opener this Saturday against Toronto. Jagr picked up an assist in this game, giving him four points in two games.
The Great One's second game didn't go any better than his first. Not only did he lose the game, but he made a line up error, forcing the team to play a man short. He had Sjostrom as a scratch, even though Sjostrom was in the lineup. Nedved was listed on the lineup, even though he was a scratch. In the end, Gretzky had neither Nedved or Sjostrom in the lineup to face the Kings. Phoenix dropped their second straight game, loosing to the Kings 3-2. Kolanos and Saprykin scored for Phoenix, while Robataille, Frolov and Demitra scored for LA.
The other game last night was the second of a home and home featuring St.Louis and Detroit. Detroit took both games, winning last night's 4-3. McAmmond, Weight, and Roach scored for the Blues, while Shanahan, Fischer, Samuellson and Lang scored for the Wings. Jeremy Williams had three assists for the Wings.
Tonight is a night I am really looking forward to, as I am interested to see how a few teams perform. There were a lot of surprises opening night, and tonight is a night to see which teams are for real, and which teams just got lucky. Pittsburgh has a rough opening night, loosing 5-1 to New Jersey. They hope to rebound when they face Carolina tonight. Rookie Cam Ward will be in net for the Hurricanes. Philly lost their opener to the Rangers, and hope to turn things around against the Devils, who found some offense against the Pens on Wednesday.
Calgary also lost their season opener to Minnesota, a team that many predicted to own the basement in the West all season long. Calgary looks to improve to 1-1 when they face the Blue Jackets. Columbus also wants to win this game bad, after loosing to Washington.
Speaking of Washington, can this team really compete? If they are going to compete, Ovechkin would have to keep up his two goals a game performances. Washington plays host to Atlanta tonight. Mike Dunham will replace Lehtonen in net for the Thrashers, as Lehtonen was placed on the IR yesterday by Atlanta with a groin injury.
Other games tonight are Boston at Buffalo, Tampa Bay at Florida and San Jose at Chicago. A reminder for those in the yahoo fantasy leagues, to make sure your rosters are kept up to date on both yahoo and our forums. Speaking of the forums, Yick and Jordan still lead the game predictions league, with records of 12-6. I'm doing awful with a 7-11 record!
Rumours are still pointing to Kovalchuk going back to Russia. I don't believe it, and I feel that her will sign with the Thrashers early next week. With Sundin going down, maybe the Leafs should tender him an offer? Just Kidding. Jeff O'Neill may miss Saturday's game against Montreal, and the Leafs have called up rookie Kyle Wellwood, who will likely play tomorrow night.
Thats all for now. Email me at cjohnson202@hockeyleaks.com for any questions or comments you might have. Make sure to watch a few games tonight, as some are going to be great. New Jersey and Philly is definitely the game of the night, though Pittsburgh and Carolina will probably be the game I watch, as I'm still waiting for Crosby's first goal.
