It sure looks like that way, after the team won it's eighth straight game last night, beating Buffalo 5-3. Erik Cole led the way by scoring once and adding two assists. Cory Stillman also had a good game for Carolina, notching three assists. Tomas Vanek led the way for Buffalo, scoring twice and adding one assist. Martin Gerber had a great game for the Canes', stopped 41 of 44 shots.
The Penguins continue to struggle, loosing to Atlanta last night 5-0. Marc Savard had a goal and two assists, while Bondra, Kozlov and Hossa all had a goal and an assist. Mike Dunham gets the shutout in goal for Atlanta. Kovalchuk had two assists.
Rucchin, Straka, and Moore scored in regulation, and Prusha scored the only shootout goal as the New York Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 in a shootout. Weiss, Jokinen, and Stewart had the Florida goals. Henrik Lundqvist was back in net for the Rangers, as Kevin Weekes had the night off.
The Blue Jackets got a rare win last night, beating the St.Louis Blues 3-1 last night. Vyborny scored twice for the Jackets, while Zherdev and Malhotra each had two assists. Marc Denis got the win for Columbus, while Patrick Lalime continues to struggle in net for the Blues.
Finally, Detroit beat LA 5-4 in overtime thanks to a Robert Lang game-winning goal. Holmstrom scored twice for Detroit, while Dan Cleary added two assists. Frolov led the way for the Kings with two points. Manny Legace got his first start in net since going down with a knee injury a week and a half ago.
The Hockey Leaks Player Of The Night for November 9th is....Erik Cole! Not only did he get three points last night, but he is the first player in NHL history to have two penalty shots in the same game. He went 1/2.
Alexander Mogilny was recently a healthy scratch because of a lack in performance. New Jersey is looking to make a trade, and they may make one sooner rather than later. I don't expect Mogilny will be dealt, but someone like Kozlov could be on his way out of New Jersey. New Jersey is one of about five teams whose base salary is over the cap.
How about some daily game notes? Dan Cloutier could possibly return to Vancouver's line up tonight, however, he will likely be backing up Dan Cloutier. Cloutier should get his first start since suffering a concussion on Oct. 29th this weekend. Boston will get two big players back for tonight's game against the Senators, as Andrew Raycroft will return from injury, and Alex Zhamnov will make his season debut. I'm going to go out on a limb and pick the Bruins to take this one.
Martin Brodeur will not play tomorrow, but expects to be back in goal for Saturday. Antero Niittymaki is expected to start tonight for the Flyers, as they play host to the Islanders. Carlo Colaiacovo was sent down to the AHL yesterday by the Leafs, however, I have been told he will be called back up and will likely start both Friday and Saturday for Toronto.
Game of the night? Make sure to watch Montreal travel to Pittsburgh, as there is two stories to watch here. First, Sidney Crosby will play his favourite team. Crosby grew up watching the Canadiens, and will definitely be looking to make an impact against them. The other story : the struggling Jocelyn Thibault will start against his former team. This is a game Pittsburgh really wants to win, especially after being shutout last night.
Thats all for now. Please check out hockeyleaks.com for daily updates, and don't forget to email me at cjohnson202@hockeyleaks.com, I respond to every email and I always appreciate suggestions on how to make hockeyleaks better. We have lots of ideas and are hoping to continue to expand our features.
