Feb 27 2009
PREGAME
-You are reading live from our living room. The Penguins visit the Windy CIty for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
-The Pengins' scratches are Sidney Crosby and Bill Thomas.
-Chicago will scratch Craig Adams and Aaron Johnson.
-Marc-Andre Fleury and Cristobal Huet.
-Chris Kunitz will wear No. 14 for the Penguins. Chris Minard previously had that number. That's the second time he's had to give up his jersey number to a player picked up in a trade. He gave up No. 32 to Mathieu Garon earlier this season.
-Kudos to FSN Pittsburgh for showing the national anthem. It's not quite like what it was in the early 1990s at Chicago Stadium, but they do the anthem right in Chicago:
FIRST PERIOD
20:00: Kunitz begins his Penguins career on a line with Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy.
19:25: Brian Campbell fires a shot wide of the cage.
19:10: FSN PIttsburgh shows us tonight's lines and defensive pairings:
(Nice to see Satan made a big impression Wednesday night.)
18:46: Fleury fights off a wrister by Andrew Ladd from the left wing.
18:14: Martin Havlat sneaks a wrister from a bad angle on the left wing. Fleury knocks it away with his stick.
17:44: Kris Letang puts a slapper on net from the right point. Huet punches it away with his blocker.
17:03: Eric Godard tries to jam one in on a wraparound. Huet holds his ground.
16:24: There's a welcome sight. Jordan Staal going to the net and scoring. Staal coasts up the right wing and leaves a drop pass for Sergei Gonchar. Gonchar picks it up and snaps a rising wrister on net. Huet makes the save but has trouble with the rebound. Staal jumps on it and punches it up over Huet on hte glove side. Sloppy goal for Huet to give up but big goal for Staal. It's only his second in 19 games. Gonchar and Kunitz get assists. It's Kunitz's first point as a Penguin. Penguins 1-0.
15:53: Havlat works his way through the deven and goes behind the net on a wraparound. He tosses it in front to Dave Bolland. Bolland get get a clean shot on net. the puck comes loose and Brent Seabrook jumps on it. He has a seemingly open net to shoot but Petr Sykora makes a nice backcheck and denies him a shot.
15:45: Ruslan Fedotenko is sent off for delay of game.
14:14: Staal blocks a slapper by Duncan Keith at the top of the slot.
14:09: Staal works the puck up the right wing. He holds off Keith and dishes a feed to Pascal Dupuis coming up in the slot. Huet is able to makes a big save on Dupuis. Staal's played strong so far the first six minutes here.
13:39: As Fedotenko's penalty expires, James Wisnewski blocks a wrister by Kunitz.
13:09: Fleury fights off a shot by Ladd with his blocker. The puck sails out of play.
12:37: Is it us or does Kunitz kind of look like former Rangers goaltender Mike Richter?
11:26: Staal whips a wrister on net from the right wing. Huet kicks it out with his right leg.
11:16: Kunitz does what he was brought here to do. He scores a dirty goal. Staal blasts a one-timer from the right faceoff circle that misses the net. It riccochets off the back boards. It comes right to Kunitz just to the side of the cage. He gathers it and sneaks it under Huet with a backhander. He just went to the net and scored. Just like Staal earlier this period. Forget Sidney Crosby. The Penguins have found a winger for Jordan Staal. Staal and Kennedy get assists. Fire Ducks general manager Bob Murray. Penguins 2-0.
10:47: Wisniewski blasts a shot on net. It gets blocked. Fleury covers the rebound.
9:41: Ladd snaps a wrister wide.
9:18: Sykora gets a feed in the slot but he misfires and the puck goes into the corner.
8:32: Patrick Kane makes an appearance and gets a shot off in tight. Fleury makes the save.
7:51: Kane tosses a shot towards the cage from the left wing. Fleury scoops it up.
6:45: Satan steals a puck and zips a pass through the crease.
6:32: Cam Barker rockes a slapper coming in from the left point. Fleury is able to kick it out despite some traffic.
5:48: Evgeni Malkin gets a pass in the slot, makes a slick move by Keith and tries to put a backhander through Huet's five-hole. Huet comes up with a big save. The game's not over if Malkin's scores there, but it's a pretty deep hole for the Blackhawks.
5:31: Brent Seabrooks snaps a wrister from right wing. Fleury is able to fight it off.
4:21: Kennedy is nabbed for hooking.
4:16: That looked a little too easy. Right off a faceoff win, Barker fires a slapper from the right point. Jonathan Toews is there in front and re-directs it over FLeury on the glove side. Nice effort by Toews. Barker gets the only assist. Penguins 2-1.
-No idea what song that is.
4:06: Huet fights off a shot by Ruslan Fedotenko.
2:34: Brooks Oprik drops Kris Versteeg with a check along the boards.
2:25: Fleury covers a puck in the slot. Old friend Ben Eager is there digging for a rebound. Maxime Talbot pulls Eager away from his goaltender. FSN Pittsburgh comes up with a nice list showing the youngest captains in the NHL:
2:21: Kennedy's penalty is killed.
2:13: Tim Wallace fires a slapper over the net.
1:14: Havlat gets a shot on net from the left wing. Fleury gloves it.
0:54: Matt Walker hammers a slapper from the right point. It hits a body in front.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 2, Blackhawks 1.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-Great first period for the Penguins. Going into Chicago against one of the better teams in the Western Conference and have a lead? That's pretty big.
-Staal is playing great so far. He's going to the net, getting shots off and playing solid defense.
-So far so good with Kunitz. He's doing all the little things expected of him. Getting some shots towards the net, playing defense, being physical along the boards.
-Chicago has a 13-10 lead in shots.
-Staal, Kane, Toews and Wisniewski each lead the game with two.
-The Blackhawks have a 10-8 edge in faceoffs.
-Dave Bolland is 4-for-6 (67 percent).
-Staal is 4-for-8 (50 percent).
-Keith leads the game with 8:17 of ice time.
-When was the last time Staal led the Penguins in ice time? He has 8:08.
-Kunitz and Fedotenko lead the game with two blocked shots each.
SECOND PERIOD
19:43: Satan gets a chance with Minard Kunitz and Staal. He steals a puck along the boards, moves into the slot and rips a wrister. Walker is there to deflect it out of play.
18:40: Sykora gets a long feed at the Chicago blue line. He moves in, hesitates and forces a pass to Talbot. Barker is there to break it up. He needs to shoot that.
18:29: Brian Campbell is called for interference against Talbot.
17:50: Malkin tries to stand up Adam Burish at the Penguins' blue line. Burish is having none of it and simply runs over Malkin.
17:26: Huet kicks out a wrister by Sykora.
16:28: Troy Brouwer dumps a puck down ice and kills off Campbell's penalty. Not a lot going on for the Penguins there.
16:15: Dupuis snaps a wrister off in tight. Huet is able to kick it out with his left leg.
16:07: Fleury scoops up a shot by Havlat.
14:55: Kunitz gets a cross-ice pass from Staal. From the left wing Staal shoots a rising wrister on net that Huet denies.
14:48: Bob Errey backs our campaign to keep Staal and Kunitz together.
14:24: Gonchar is called for holding Jack Skille. Skille embellished the penalty a bit but it's the right call.
14:12: Fleury kicks out a one-timer by Barker from the left point.
13:34: Wisiewski hammers a one-timer from the left point wide of the cage.
13:23: Toews gets his second in a weak way. Kane dishes a pass to Toews in the corner. Toews moves in towards the net and shoots. He whiff on the shot a bit. He pushes it towards the net off the heel of his stick. It slides in on net and bounces off Fleury and into the net. That is the definition of a garbage goal. Kane and Baker get assists. Blackhawks 2, Penguins 2.
-They played Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry after that goal however.
13:03: Fleury denies slap shots from the point by Seabrook and Keith.
12:16: Dave Bolland is called for hooking. For some reason, we want to punch this guy from this Subway commercial in the face:
-Kunitz, Sykora, Malkin, Gonchar and Letang are on for the power play.
11:16: With Kunitz battling in front, Malkin snaps a wrister on net. Huet is able to fight it off.
10:54: Malkin pushes a shot wide.
10:41: Minard Kunitz gets away with some goaltending interference.
10:21: Satan fires a slapper from the slot. A Blackhawks defender gets a piece of it.
10:16: Bolland's penalty is killed. The Penguins had some things going on there but couldn't cash in. It was refreshing to see Minard Kunitz battling in front of the cage.
9:30: Dupuis chips a puck on net that trickles in on net. Huet covers it.
9:20: Godard gets a one-timer in the left faceoff circle. It's blocked.
9:15: Godard takes stupid penalty as he hits Dustin Byfuglien high while Byfuglien was on his knees. Not smart. It's two minutes for roughing.
8:23: Gill (6-foot-7, 250 pounds) delivers a check to Kane (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) on the boards. There's a slight difference in sizes there.
7:57: Kane snaps a wrister from the right point. Fleury punches it away with his blocker despite traffic.
7:38: Kane distributes a feed to Seabrook in the slot. Seabrook fires a one-timer which Fleury in perfect position to eat up. Big save. Nice pass by Kane to set up that shot.
6:30: Fleury fights off a point shot by Walker.
6:16: Off a nice pass from Fedotenko, Letang is robbed by Huet. Huge save.
5:52: Fedotenko gets his second delay of game penalty as he chips a puck out of play. Ugh. The Penguins need to quit putting this team on the power play.
5:35: Barker has a shot and he's not afraid to use it. He fires a slapper from the right point. Fleury eats it up.
4:51: Jonathan Toews again? Barker (Who else?) fires a slapper from the left point. Toews is in front and re-directs it by Fleury. It's a hat trick for him. Fleury immediately calls it a high stick. Officials rule it a goal but review it immediately. Replays are a little iffy. Who ever was the genius to decided to give out hard hats needs to be fired. The ice is littered with them.
-Johnny B. Goode is played again.
-After a lengthy review, it's called a no goal. Wow. That's an iffy call. We don't have high definition, but there was hardly a definitive replay by our book. The Penguins caught a break there. Fans chant something about cow manure. Can't blame them. They lost their hats for nothing.
3:52: Fedotenko's penalty is killed.
3:40: Play is halted after Cooke and Baker are engaged in a heated conversation about Graf Zeppelin. We think. Cooke, Barker and Wisniewski each get roughing penalties. The Penguins end up with a power play. The offiicals aren't helping the Blackhawks too much tonight.
1:36: Just as power play ends, Satan cashes in. That felt odd to type. Fedotenko gets a pass from Staal in the corner. Fedotenko slides out in front of the cage and fires a shot. Huet makes the save but gives up a bad rebound. Satan is right there to by a helpless Huet. Bad goal for Huet to give up but it was a nice dirty goal for the Penguins and Satan to get. Fedotenko gets the only assist. Staal probably should get one too. Penguins 3-2.
0:58: Another garbage goal. Geez. Did this team bring Ryan Malone and Kevin Stevens back? Talbot just kinds of shuffles the puck on net from the side of the cage. It hits off Barker's skate in the slot and goes under Huet. Uuuuuugllleeeee. But who cares? The Penguins are getting most of the bounces tonight. Dupuis and Cooke get the assists. Terrible Towels are flying. Penguins 4-2.
0:22: Malkin swoops behind the net, turns and rips a wrister. Huet fights it off.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 4, Blackhawks 2.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-Raise your hand if you thought the Penguins would crumble after allowing Chicago to tie the game? We'll confess we did. The way this team has played the past two months, we just couldn't rule it out. They made a statement that period and fought back against a quality team to take a lead in their barn.
-That said, they are getting some help from the officials. The Toews non-goal was an iffy call. There usually has to be definitive evidence to overturn the call on the ice. Again, we don't have the benefit of HD television, but that was really iffy.
-The power play the Penguins had late was a questionable call too. The Penguins didn't score on the power play but they might as well have. That Satan goal came just as the Blackhawks' had their fifth skater coming on the ice.
-Huet is having issues.
-Chicago has a 24-22 edge in shots.
-Toews leads the game in shots with four.
-Dupuis, Staal, Fedotenko and Malkin lead the Penguins in shots with three each.
-Chicago is ripping up the faceoff circle, 25-14 (64 percent).
-Versteeg is 6-for-9 (67 percent).
-Talbot is 5-for-10 (50 percent).
-Keith leads the game with 17:13 of ice time.
-Staal is tops for the Penguins with 15:20.
-The legend of Chris Kunitz grows. He leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Keith leads Chicago with two two.
-Geez. Huet is pulled in favor of Antti Niemi. Ugh.
THIRD PERIOD
19:44: Bolland fires a slapper from the left wing. Fleury makes the save despite having a screen in front.
19:29: Satan is called for tripping up Wisniewski who got away with a bit of dive.
19:03: Fleury fights off a shot by Wisniewski.
18:45: They're just now announcing the Penguins' second period goal? John Barbero wouldn't tolerate this sorry stuff.
18:38: Barker blasts a slapper from the left poing. Fleury kicks it out.
18:05: Toews gets his hat trick finally. Barker controls the puck at the point, fakes a slapper and dishes a pass to Toews at the left of the net and rips it behind an out of place Fleury. What a pass. Hard hat litter the ice again. Why can't the Penguins' power play ever do something like that? Barker and Wisniewski get assists. "Johnny B. Goode" is played. This has been a pretty entertaining game so far. It's Toews' first career hat trick. Penguins 4-3.
16:42: Campbell winds up and puts a slap shot into a Penguins defender.
16:34: Campbell cranks a slapper from the slot wide.
15:57: Keith gets a shot on net. Fleury makes the save and covers the rebound. A scrum develops in front. The Blackhawks are just dominating this period so far. Bylsma calls a time to break Chicago's momentum. During the stoppage, Bob Errey talks about Kunitz's wife expecting to deliver a baby on April 15. Errey suggest he write the new kid off on his taxes, "I don't know what the new rules are with Obama."
15:40: Kunitz and Seabrook have a discussion about the Emirate of Transjordan. We think.
15:01: Fedotenko fires a slapper from the left wing that sails over the net.
14:27: Niemi kicks out a wrister by Cooke from the right wing.
14:06: Ladd puts a shot on net from the right point. Fleury makes the save but gives up a rebound. Bolland jumps on it, hestitates enough to allow Fleury to recover and shoots. Fleury with the save.
13:42: Has anyone seen Evgeni Malkin?
13:28: Kane slides a shot through the slot.
12:39: Byfuglien muscles Letang off a puck behind the net. He tries to jam it by Fleury. No dice. The Penguins are just getting outskated this period. They're sitting back on their heels and letting the Blackhawks do all the attacking.
11:35: Off a steal by Malkin behind the Chicago net, Sykora snaps a wrister that gets blocked in front.
10:29: Just as he gets popped by Seabrook, Cooke snaps a wrister on net which Niemi kicks out.
10:08: After Malkin has the puck stolen by Toews, Kane is robbed on a one-timer by Fleury. Big time save for Fleury.
9:11: Versteeg whips a spinning backhander on net. Fleury makes the save. Fleury's keeping the Penguins in the lead this period.
8:53: Steigerwald mentions Tyler Kennedy has left the Penguins' bench.
8:09: Wallace makes weak pass out of his zone that's easily intercepted by the Blackhawks. Can't have that.
7:56: Errey mentions Kennedy will not return due to an illness. He was eating too many Chicago style hot dogs. We think:
6:48: Geez. What is wrong with the Penguins? Rob Scuderi chips the puck into the stands. That's two minutes for delay of game. That's the third time tonight. Big two minutes here.
6:34: Versteeg pushes a shot through the crease and wide.
6:07: Havlat snaps a wrister in tight. Fleury is there for the save.
5:40: Gill slaps a puck down ice. Big clear there.
5:20: Talbot clears the puck down ice and almost sends it out of play again. Ugh.
4:45: Just as Scuderi's penalty expires, Chicago ties it. Havlat works the puck up the right wing and tosses a shot on net. Fleury makes the save but give us up a rebound. Ladd follows up on it and chips it through the crease. Bolland somehow is able to get the puck and toss it just inside the post from a tough angle. Fleury gave up a bad rebound there. Blackhawks 4, Penguins 4.
3:18: Satan whips a wrister on net from the right wing. Niemi wakes up and punches it out.
2:15: Steigerwald calls for Malkin to do something. We agree.
1:53: Malkin flies through the offensive zone and runs into four blackhawks stcked at the blue line.
1:30: Havlat tries to jam a puck by Fleury from the side of the cage. Fleury holds it out. Ladd crashes in and shoves a few Penguins into the net. Fleury punches Ladd in the leg. A scrum develops. Havlat and Gonchar takes swings at each other. Gonchar and Havlat each get roughing calls. Four-on-four. It's going to be wide open the rest of hte period.
0:50: Seabrook pushes a shot on from in tight. Fleury fights it off.
0:36: Malkin swoops behind the net and dishes a feed to Fedotenko in the slot. Fedotenko can't get a clean shot off
0:21: Versteeg trips up Malkin a bit. Malkin took a bit of a dive. The officials are letting that go quite a bit tonight for each team. The Penguins will have a four-on-three advantage for 51 seconds.
0:15: Did anyone else scream at the television seeing Eaton other there for the power play then quickly realize Gonchar was in the box?
0:11: Malkin throws a puck at the net for Sykora . Sykora can't get a his blade on the puck.
0:00: End of period. Blackhawks 4, Penguins 4.
THIRD INTERMISSION
-Chicago out-shot the Penguins, 20-4, in that period. Geeeez.
OVERTIME
4:38: Malkin snaps a wrister from the top of the slot. Kunitz is there to screen. Kunitz takes the pass and gets a backhander on net. Niemi comes up with a big save.
4:30: Bolland tosses a shot on net. Fleury kicks it out. Gonchar's and Havlat's penalties are killed.
4:21: Sykora snaps a wrister from the slot that's blocked.
3:41: Malkin blasts a one-timer wide.
3:34: Wisniewski blocks a shot by Malkin.
3:24: Gonchar slides a pass over to Malkin in the left faceoff circle. Malkin drops the hammer and blasts a one-timer over a sprawling Wisniewski and by Niemi's glove. What a shot. Gonchar and Satan get assists. End of game. Penguins 5, Blackhawks 4.
POSTGAME
-What a game. A seven game series between these two would be just amazing to watch. Up and down action, plenty of scoring. That was a big contrast from Wednesday's snore-fest with the Islanders.
-What a moment for Malkin to finally contribute. Other than one rush on net in the first period, Malkin had very little going on. He wanted the puck in overtime and won the game.
-Buzzkill time. What in the world did they do in that third period? Chicago just dominated them that 20 minutes. They totally abandoned Dan Bylsma's approach of attacking the net and just sat back allowing the Blackhawks to attack and attack. And this team has tons of skill. You can't just allow them to enter the zone freely and attack the net.
-We totally blame Ryan Whitney for those two goals in the third.
-The Penguins' power play got the goal in overtime, but how much different were these two power plays tonight? Chicago just shot the puck and got it on net most of the time. Additionally, they had people in front of the net causing trouble for Fleury. Kunitz tried that a bit tonight and that's a step in the right direction for the Penguins but Chicago's power play looked a million times better. Its not like the Blackhawks have a skill advantage over the Penguins either. They have some very good players but is their talent core better than the Penguins? Even without Sidney Crosby?
-All around, the Penguins' special teams were a big problem tonight.
-Cam Barker really impressed us. He has a shot and he uses it.
-Did anyone see Brian Campbell?
-Chris Kunitz was as advertised. He did a little bit of everything for the Penguins. Got some pucks on net. Got a goal. Was a little physical. Went to the net. Had a little scrum with Seabrook.
-Kunitz had a goal and an assist, 18:13 of ice time, two shots, three blocked shots, was credited with four hits and was a plus-2.
-We still see Chris Minard when we see No. 14 on the ice. Except with skill.
-Fleury wasn't great but wasn't bad considering how Chicago dominated the third. He made 41 flipping saves. We'll give him a break.
-We will again doubt the validity of the call that overturned Toews' non-goal. We don't have the benefit of what technology the War Room in Toronto has, but that was a really iffy decision from what we could see.
-Satan kind of came out of no where to contribute some offense. He had a goal and an assist. It was his first two-point game since a 6-3 home loss to the Capitals, Jan. 14.
-Staal had a goal and a two-point effort for the first time since a 6-2 home win against the Rangers, Jan. 28.
-Kunitz had his first two-point game since a two-goal effort for the Ducks in a 7-3 win at Anaheim, Jan. 27. He has four points (two goals, two assists) in his last thee games.
-Chicago ended up with a 45-28 advantage in shots. Geez.
-Toews led the game with six shots. Bolland, Baker and Havlat each had five.
-Skille, Campbell, Eager and Colin Fraser were the only skaters for Chicago who failed to record a shot.
-Staal and Malkin each led the Penguins with four.
-Chicago controlled the faceoffs, 34-27 (56 percent).
-Versteeg was 7-for-10 (70 percent).
-Kunitz was the only Penguin over 50 percent (1-for-1).
-Keith led the game with 25:42.
-Gonchar led the Penguins with 24:28.
-Kunitz, Fedotenko, Orpik and Wisniewski each led the game with three blocked shots.
-Gonchar had two assists and moved past George Ferguson for 35th place on the team's all-time scoring list. Gonchar has 197 points to Ferguson's 195.
-Staal passed up Duane Rupp, Andy Bathgate and Dick Tarnstrom on the list. Staal is now in 72nd place all-time with 104 points.
-Talbot moved pass Greg Hotham for 93rd place on the list with 74 points.
-Kennedy moved past Leo Boivin, Alex Hicks, Josef Melichar, Bob Paradise and Dmitri Mironov for 155th place all-time with 40 points.
-Look out Lemieux. Kunitz is now in a 10-way tie for 435th place in the team's history with two points. He's tied with Doug Barrie, Ed Gilbert, Eric Godard, Shawn Heins, Brian McKenzie, Pat Neaton, Doug Smith, Garry Swain and Mike Wilson. All of those players have recorded a goal and and assist in their Penguins careers.
-Toews had the first hat trick by a Blackhawks player against the Penguins since Michel Goulet's three goals in a 7-2 Chicago win, Nov. 8, 1992.
-Kudos to shpensfan for some on the spot reporting in the comments.
-Game summary.
-Event summary.
-Highlights.
Feb 27 2009
Penguins
-Ron Cook says you'll miss Ryan Whitney (right, with Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar).
-Bob Smizik says don't expect the second coming of Marian Hossa in Chris Kunitz.
-What is the long-term impact of the Penguins-Ducks trade?
-What do you think of the move? Vote on it here.
-Illegal Curve gives the Ducks the advantage in the deal.
-PensBurgh likes the move.
-Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! thinks the trade is good for each side.
-The Confluence thinks Ray Shero's not done.
-Hooks Orpik takes a look at Ryan Whitney's time as a Penguin.
-Yesterday was weird one for Whitney.
-How does the move influence Whitney's fantasy value?
-Whitney grew up idolizing current teammates Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer.
"I guarantee you it's harder to get a top-four defenseman than a top-six forward." - Ducks general manager Bob Murray.
-Just a programming note. We hope to have a Ryan Whitney edition of "The Departed" for Saturday.
-Dan Bylsma used to be a teammate of Chris Kunitz.
-Maple Leafs overlord and former Ducks general manager Brian Burke called Kunitz a "Swiss Army knife player."
-Even though he's from Philadelphia, half of new Penguins prospect Eric Tangradi's family roots for the Penguins and Steelers. He wants to convert the other half.
-This may be a tad early to do this, but we're going to start taking futures on "Eric Tangradi is from Philadelphia" remarks on Penguins-Flyers telecasts. It could very well reach Umbergerian proprotions. Let's go with 234 1/2 in that first game whenever it might be.
-Faceoff-Factor scored an interview with Penguins prospect Nathan Moon.
Atlantic Division
-It's amazing what 50 games off can do for a goaltender's energy. Martin Brodeur (right) played his first game in nearly four months, made 24 saves and led the Devils to a 4-0 win against the Avalanche. It was his 99th career shutout. Zach Parise and Travis Zajac each had a goal and two assists for New Jersey while Jamie Langenbrunner added a goal and an assist.
-Brodeur wasn't exactly tested all that much by Colorado.
-Devils defenseman and former Canadian prime minster Paul Martin also returned to the lineup last night.
-With forward Daniel Briere expected to return to the lineup tonight, the Flyers put forward Glen Metropolit and defenseman Ossi Vaananen on waivers.
-Should the Islanders hang on to Yann Danis as their backup goaltender?
-Rangers fans still hate remember Islanders hall-of-fame defenseman Denis Potvin.
-Today's "Glen Sather has ruined the Rangers" piece is brought to you by Mark Herrmann of Newsday.
Northeast Division
-The Ryan Whitney era didn't get off to such a hot start in Anaheim. Tim Thomas made 35 saves while Michael Ryder had two goals and an assist for the Bruins who blasted the Ducks, 6-0. Teammate Chuck Kobasew added two goals. For his part, Whitney was OK. He had 24:19 of ice time, had an even plus/minus, one shot and three blocked shots. He was beaten one-on-one for a fluky power-play goal. Michael Ryder challenged Whitney and kind threw a puck on net that bounced off Phil Kessel's leg. Only Chris Pronger (25:42), a former Norris Trophy winner, had more ice time for Anaheim.
-A last minute decision last night prompted Whitney's debut with Anaheim.
-Boston forwards Milan Lucic and Marc Savard left the game with "upper body" injuries.
-This is how Savard got injured:
-Lucic showed a lot of guts hitting Anaheim's Mike Brown repeatedly while he was on the ice last night:
-Amazing how Bruins television broadcaster Jack Edwards will routinely call out opposing players for similar acts but was outright exulting in Lucic's cowardice.
-Bruins defenseman Aaron Ward did not play due to an illness.
-Shootout goals by Jason Blake and Tim Stapleton led the Maple Leafs to a 5-4 defeat of the Islanders. Blake and Ian White each had two assists for Toronto. Jon Sim and Mark Streit had a goal and an assist each for the Islanders.
-Stapleton came up huge in his NHL debut:
-Check out Blake's goal:
-Check out this cheap shot New York defenseman Brendan Witt landed on Toronto's Niklas Hagman last night:
-Assuming Hagman's girlfriend is alright, we don't anticipate the NHL to give Witt a suspension.
-Montreal's Guy Carbonneau is the latest head coach not happy with former Penguins enforcer Georges Laraque.
-Darren Dreger of TSN is reporting Canadiens defenseman Mathieu Dandenault has requested a trade.
-Some good news for the Sabres. Forward Thomas Vanek is close to returning from a broken jaw that has sidelined him since Feb. 7.
-Senators forward Chris Neil wants to remain in Ottawa.
Southeast Division
-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Nice to see that coaching change has really helped the Rangers. Craig Anderson made 40 saves and led the Panthers to a 2-1 defeat of the Rangers. New York is 0-1-1 since John Tortorella took over for Tom Renney as head coach. Florida and New York are in sixth and seventh place respectively in the Eastern Conference with 70 point each, four more than the Penguins who are in tenth place with 66 points.
-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: This was the last thing the Penguins needed. Two teams they're chasing each getting at least one point. Jussi Jokinen's shootout goal gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 win against the Sabres. Cam Ward made 36 saves in the win. Former Penguins goaltender Patrick Lalime made 31 saves for Buffalo. The Sabres and Hurricanes are in eighth and ninth place respectively with 69 points, three more than the Penguins.
-Check out this hit by Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta on Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour:
-Is that dirty? Other than leave his skates, did Kaleta do anything wrong there? He didn't hit Brind'Amour in the head or from behind.
-Alexander Semin had a goal and two assists for the Capitals who edged the Thrashers, 4-3. Teammate Mike Green added his 16th power-play goal of the season and an assist. He tied Scott Steven's franchise record for power-play goals in a season. Ilya Kovalchuk and Todd White each had a goal and an assist for the Thrashers.
-Washington's Donald Brashear and Atlanta's Eric Boulton knocked the daylights out of each other last night:
-Are the Capitals on track to run into similar salary cap issues as the Penguins?
-Panthers forward Cory Stillman (ankle) and goaltender Tomas Vokoun (ear infection) are dealing with ailments.
-The Lightning is a team that gets it. At least in terms of how to treat its fan base. Tampa Bay is lowering season-ticket prices.
(Photos: Whitney and Brodeur-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)