Sabres 5, Canadiens 1:Patrick Lalime faced 39 shots on Wednesday night and turned aside all but one in Buffalo's 5-1 thrashing of Montreal. Derek Roy and Paul Gausted each scored a pair of goals for the Sabres, as they raced out to a commanding 5-0 lead.
Lalime weathered the storm in the first period, turning aside 18 Montreal shots, until Roy started the party for Buffalo netting a power play goal at the 17:53 mark of the period.
Entering Thursday's game against the Islanders, Pittsburgh found itself with a three-game losing streak. Consider the streak over, as the Penguins systematically dismantled New York with a 9-2 thumping at Mellon Arena. The Penguins received hat tricks from both Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis (each player's first ever hat trick) as they never let up, while fans chanted "we want 10" during the final minute of regulation.
The Penguins scored four goals in both the first and second periods, before Dupuis completed his hat trick late in the third period. Defensemen Mark Streit and Andy Sutton scored the only goals for New York, as Penguins goalie John Curry picked up his second NHL win (both against the Islanders) making 24 saves.
The biggest problem for the Islanders was the fact they couldn't stay out of the penalty box, picking up 34 penalty minutes throughout the game, including three separate occasions where they handed Pittsburgh five-on-three advantages.
Pittsburgh had eight different players finish with multiple points, including Evgeni Malkin (goal, assist) and Sidney Crosby (three assists) who continue to distance themselves from the rest of the pack in the NHL scoring race. Amazingly, Jeff Taffe, recently called up from the minors, found a way to finish the game as a -1.
Should you feel sorry for the Islanders after a loss like this? Of course not. This is the big leagues, and as long as they're going to keep playing hard and physical (as they did), you should expect the other team to keep clicking on all cylinders in an effort to score as many goals as possible. You never know when the other team could mount an unexpected, late-game comeback.
New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus entered play on Sunday with just two goals in his first 19 games this season. He had no trouble blowing that total out of the water during the Devils' 7-3 win over Tampa Bay, as he scored four goals on eight shots, while New Jersey won its fourth straight game.
During the current winning streak, the Devils have scored 21 goals after scoring just 22 in their previous nine games. As for the four-goal effort, it was the first such performance by a Devil since October 29, 2000, when John Madden and Randy McKay each scored four goals in a 9-0 win over the Penguins.
Zubrus scored a pair of goals in the second and third periods, while New Jersey also received tallies from Zach Parise, Brian Gionta and Mike Rupp. Scott Clemmensen earned the start in goal, turning aside 26 shots to pick up the win.
Olaf Kolzig started for Tampa Bay, in place of the injured Mike Smith, and surrendered five goals on 28 shots before being yanked in the second period in favor of Karri Ramo. I'm guessing it wasn't the result Rick Tocchet was looking for following his first NHL win behind the bench, as Tampa Bay has now won just three times its past eight games.
A quick recap of yesterday's action from around the National Hockey League.
1. Olaf Kolzig returns to Washington:Olaf Kolzig spent 15 years as a member of the Washington Capitals, and on Monday night he played his first game in the nation's capital while wearing a different sweater. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't exactly a happy homecoming for the 38-year old goaltender.
Sure, he received a nice welcome from the fans -- who witnessed Kolzig win 301 games as a member of the Capitals -- while his former teammates proceeded to score three goals on their first seven shots (including their first two shots) on their way to a 4-2 victory over Kolzig's new team, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tom Poti and Mike Green opened the scoring with two goals in the first ten minutes, while Eric Fehr added a third tally in the opening period, which would be all the Capitals needed as they carried the play for much of the night over a sluggish Lightning squad.
Tampa Bay lost Ryan Malone to what is being called a "lower body injury" in the first period, while the recently acquired -- and former Capital -- Steve Eminger was a -3 in 20 minutes of action. Gary Roberts represented all of the offense for the Lightning, as he picked up his first two goals of the season.
There are a lot of big names still on the board through the early stages of free agency today. The one position that there's been no shortage of movement at? Goalie. Goalies are changing teams left and right today and the effects of some of the moves are going to be pretty wide-ranging. Let's take a look at some of the moves that have taken place and what they might mean. All of the exhaustive contract details are via TSN.
Jose Theodore to the Capitals- It's a two-year, $9 million deal and Eric's got the details below. Theodore did seem to regain some of his form this past year with the Avalanche, but he melted down in the playoffs against the Red Wings while suffering from a bad case of the flu. He'll probably give the Caps an upgrade over what Olie the Goalie was giving them earlier in the year, but he won't carry them the way Huet did down the stretch last year. And $4.5 million seems like a lot of money for a guy that just might be washed up, doesn't it?
Cristobal Huet to the Blackhawks- With a ton of moneyalready tied up in Nikolai Khabibulin (~$7 million a year), the 'Hawks are now paying Huet $5.635 a year as well. Huet's an upgrade over what the Blackhawks have, for sure, but I'm trying to wrap my mind around paying more than $12 million a year for their top two goalies.
Every day from Monday to Saturday,The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.
This hasn't been a season to remember for Caps' goalie Olaf Kolzig, the cagey veteran who has been playing with a giant fork stuck in his back the entire season.
Want a good reason why the Caps won't make the playoffs? Kolzig, and his near-the-basement 89.2% save percentage. There is a reason why the Caps went out and traded for a different #1 goalie.
With the Capitals trying to keep realistic hopes alive for a playoff spot, Kolzig had little chance to focus on his accomplishments in 17 seasons with Washington. Kolzig is the 23rd goalie to win 300 NHL games.
"I think it'll set in a little more when the season's over, or my career's over," Kolzig said. "I kind of just approach it as a playoff game for us. We're in a must-win situation every night, and it just happened that tonight was my 300."
"It was huge to get this win," Kolzig said. "It was good to get this game to get rid of the demons from the weekend and move forward."
And, yes, Alexander Ovechkin scored, again! Two more goals for 1d8 gives him 56 on the year, and it looks more and more like the NHL will finally have a 60-goal scorer. Wow.
The Washington Capitals have been surging since their mid-season coaching change, but have been hampered in their efforts to secure a playoff spot due to the lackluster goaltending of Olie "The Goalie" Kolzig.
The Capitals were very quiet heading into Deadline Day, but made a big splash by acquiring Cristobal Huet from the Montreal Canadiens.
I'm shocked. I don't think they got enough for Huet. The Montreal Canadiens have had success going with rookie goaltender in the past. But I'm surprised the market was so small for Huet."
For the Caps, this is a seriously sweet deal.
Olaf Kolzig ranks DEAD LAST in the NHL with a putrid 88.5% save percentage and is older than Joan Rivers. Huet? He's up in the good section of town with a 91.6SV%, and is coming off of a seasons of 91.6% and 92.9%. Clearly, the Caps went from the outhouse to the penthouse.
For the Canadiens, this move is puzzling despite the fact that we know Carey Price would take over eventually. Why the rush to put Price in the #1 job so soon? If the Habs want to do anything in the playoffs, why go with a young goalie who has been struggling of late?
I'll give this move two Milburys. Huet is set to be an Unrestricted Free Agent, so it is not as if the Habs will be hurt at all in the long term. Still, the Habs should have stayed with Huet for this season, or at least pilfered more out of the Capitals.
Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.
Despite the best efforts of the referees last night the Atlanta Thrashers hung on for a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers, who for all of the attention they've received for their GM's work in the off-season have exactly one more win than the previously winless Thrashers. There were a ton of story-lines surrounding this game what with GM-turned-coach Don Waddell making his debut behind the bench after finally getting rid of Bob Hartley. Could Tom Renney be right behind him? Probably not, he gives Jaro-me everything he wants.
These Thrashers hadn't won a game since the end of last season as they were swept by the Rags during the first round of the playoffs. On top of that the Thrashers gained the services of Marian Hossa for the first time since their season opener. So, if there was ever a game where a team in disarray had the incentive to play well and win it was The Atlanta Thrashers last night.
And play well they did, opening up a 4-0 lead halfway through the 3rd period despite (or maybe because of) losing starting goalie Kari Lehtonen in the 1st period. A quick look at the box score will tell you why the Thrashers won this game. Special Teams. For once they weren't on the negative side of the ledger with 2 power-play goals and one short-handed goal to counter-act the Rags 3 power-play tallies. To be honest, though, the last one was a 5 on 3 created out of thin air by a pair of referees bound and determined to give the Blueshirts a shot at winning this game.
The more I see of Ryan Hollweg the more I sympathize with Chris Simon.
Sabres 5, Canadiens 1: Patrick Lalime faced 39 shots on Wednesday night and turned aside all but one in Buffalo's 5-1 thrashing of Montreal. Derek Roy and Paul Gausted each scored a pair of goals for the Sabres, as they raced out to a commanding 5-0 lead.
Entering Thursday's game against the Islanders, Pittsburgh found itself with a three-game losing streak. Consider the streak over, as the Penguins systematically dismantled New York with a 9-2 thumping at Mellon Arena. The Penguins received hat tricks from both Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis (each player's first ever hat trick) as they never let up, while fans chanted "we want 10" during the final minute of regulation. 
New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus entered play on Sunday with just two goals in his first 19 games this season. He had no trouble blowing that total out of the water during the Devils' 7-3 win over Tampa Bay, as he scored four goals on eight shots, while New Jersey won its fourth straight game. 
A quick recap of yesterday's action from around the National Hockey League.
There are a lot of big names still on the board through the early stages of free agency today. The one position that there's been no shortage of movement at? Goalie. Goalies are changing teams left and right today and the effects of some of the moves are going to be pretty wide-ranging. Let's take a look at some of the moves that have taken place and what they might mean. All of the exhaustive contract details are via TSN. 
Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.
The Washington Capitals have been surging since their mid-season coaching change, but have been hampered in their efforts to secure a playoff spot due to the lackluster goaltending of Olie "The Goalie" Kolzig.
I'll give this move two Milburys. Huet is set to be an Unrestricted Free Agent, so it is not as if the Habs will be hurt at all in the long term. Still, the Habs should have stayed with Huet for this season, or at least pilfered more out of the Capitals.
