Have the new rules opened up the game? The short answer is yes. What a night in the NHL, a lot of high scoring games. Lets start in Toronto, where Montreal slipped by Toronto 5-4. Saku Koivu and Alexei Kovalev led Montreal to victory with 2 assists a piece. Lindros led Toronto with 2 assists. Alexander Steen got his first NHL goal by scoring Toronto's first of the game during the 2nd period. Expect a shakeup of Toronto's defense, as Berg and Belak were both -3 in this game, and both looked terrible.
Hasek got his first shutout of the season, as Ottawa beat Buffalo 5-0. Wade Redden had a goal and an assist, while Dany Heatley scored two powerplay goals. Eric Staal scored his third and fourth goals of the season, but it wasn't enough to beat the Islanders, as New York 3-2. Bates, Satan and Blake scored for the Islanders.
Without Kovalchuk, a lot of people felt Atlanta would struggle to score goals. On a day they announced that Kovalchuk would be back in their lineup sometime next week, Atlanta celebrated with an 8-1 win over Washington. Ovechkin scored Washington's lone goal, but Marc Savard was the story of the night. Savard scored a goal and four assists, while Peter Bondra quietly scored 2 goals.
New Jersey snuck by the Rangers in OT. Rafalski had two points, including the game winner. The Bruin's came from behind, and beat the Penguins 7-6 in Overtime. Crosby scored his first NHL goal and added two assists, but Glen Murray was the difference, scoring 4 points, including the game winner.
The lowest scoring game of the night so far goes to Tampa Bay and Florida. Tampa Bay slipped by Florida 2-1. Luongo has allowed just two goals in his first three games. Back to high scoring games, where in St.Louis the Blues got beat 7-6 by the Sharks. All scoring was pretty balanced in this game, but the story is the goaltenders. Both Lalime and Nabokov continued to struggle.
Another shootout in the NHL! Nashville beat Anaheim 3-2 in a shootout. Yanic Perrault had the two regulation goals for the Preds, and Paul Kariya scored the shootout winner. Colorado beat Dallas 3-2. Sakic and Turgeon both had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche.
Two games still going on. The Oilers currently lead the Canucks 2-1. Sean Horcoff and Rafi Torres have the goals for the Oilers, Naslund has Vancouvers goal. Minnesota is currently tied at 1's with Phoenix. Randy Robataille scored for the Wild, while Nagy scored on a penalty shot for the Coyotes. Gretzky is searching for his first victory as a coach.
I will try to get the Power Play Fantasy League updated tomorrow, but as many of you know this weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving, so I do have a little running around to do for the next few days. I'll do my best. I am thinking of using office pool, but it is $20 US, so if any of you want it, feel free to donate some money. If I get $10 US, I'll pitch the other $10 in. Anyways, have a great night, I'll post recaps of the Van/Edm and Min/Phx games in the morning (If Vancouver wins, I win my proline ticket!). How did we ever go 16 months without hockey?
