FanHouse RobertNilsson

Kings 5, Capitals 4: Exciting game in Washington as the Caps and Kings combined to light up the scoreboard with nine goals and 80 shots in Los Angeles' 5-4 win. The Kings had a number of two-goal leads throughout the night, including a 5-3 advantage late in the third period. With just over a minute to play in regulation, Brooks Laich scored his 13th goal of the season, closing the deficit to just one.

Jonathan Quick managed to hold on for the Kings in net, as Washington fired 22 shots on goal in the third period, and 45 for the game. Alex Ovechkin scored his 37th goal of the season -- and 200th of his career -- for the Capitals.

Oh my, they're not going to like this in Buffalo. After the Penguins and Sabres skated to a 3-3 tie in regulation, Sidney Crosby deflected an Evgeni Malkin slap shot behind Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller in overtime, giving the Penguins a 4-3 win. As you can see from the above video, it was oh-so-close to being a high-stick.

They key, however, is that the call on the ice was that it was indeed a goal, meaning they would need conclusive evidence to overturn it. Is that conclusive? It's pretty darn close. The fact it's Crosby on the positive end of the call isn't going to sit well with anyone outside of Pittsburgh, I'm guessing, especially after he got away with punching some guy in the goods a week ago. So, cue the conspiracy theories! Anyway, what's done is done, Penguins win, and the Sabres blew three different leads on the night, including a 2-0 advantage in the second period, while going 1-for-6 on the power play.

Pittsburgh's Alex Goligoski picked up three points (two goals, assist) in the win, while Malkin added three helpers in his quest for 100. Malkin, by the way, now has 43 assists on the season -- an amazing number when you consider there were only three players in the NHL entering play on Monday with 43 points (Malkin, Crosby and Alex Ovechkin).

Thanks to a series of injuries to goalies Jose Theodore and Brent Johnson, the Washington Capitals have had some rather unfamiliar faces suiting up the past two nights. On Friday, Ted Starkey told you the story of Brett Leonhardt, the Capitals web producer who had the opportunity to sit on the bench and serve as the backup goalie until Simeon Varlamov could make it to the arena, fresh off his callup from the minors.

On Saturday, it was Varlamov's moment to shine, as the 20-year old rookie turned aside 32 shots in his first NHL start, helping lead the Capitals to a 2-1 win in Montreal. The Canadiens peppered the former first-round pick with 27 shots over the final two periods, but he was up to the challenge, keeping the game tied at one until Michael Nylander scored his third goal of the season at the 17:28 mark of the third period, giving Washington the lead.

Nicklas Backstrom also scored for the Capitals, while Patrice Brisebois tallied the lone goal for Montreal. Jaroslav Halak picked up the start filling in for Carey Price, stopping 24 shots.

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Erik Cole, F (Trade-CAR); Lubomir Visnovsky, D (Trade-LA); Ryan Potulny, F (Trade-PHI), Gilbert Brule, F (Trade-CBJ)

Who's Out: Jarret Stoll, F (Trade-LA); Marty Reasoner, F (FA-ATL); Joni Pitkanen, D (Trade-CAR); Matt Greene, D (Trade-LA); Curtis Glencross, F (FA-CGY); Raffi Torres, F (Trade-CBJ)

What's Changed: Edmonton finished last year on a 18-10-1 run, so the idea in the offseason was to improve this team. The Oilers made their run on the backs of an assortment of young players, and hopes are high in the Land of Oil for this team. Edmonton brought in Cole from Carolina, giving their top line the punch and experience it needed. Cole will likely work with "veteran" Shawn Horcoff (just turned 30) and the greatly-talented Ales Hemsky on the top line.

The other significant move the Oilers made involved replacing offensive-minded defenseman Pitkanen, who was dealt for Cole. Edmonton packaged Stoll and Greene in a deal for Visnovsky, who was minus-18 last year but on a painfully bad Los Angeles team. He'll make sure that the defensive corps doesn't miss Pitkanen too much.

Outside of those two moves, not much has changed in Edmonton, except that the kids are a year older. Andrew Cogliano (45 points in 2007), Hemsky (71), Sam Gagner (49), Robert Nilsson (41), Kyle Brodziak (31), Tom Gilbert (33), and Dustin Penner (47) all were a big part of the team's late-season resurgence, and Penner - at age 26 - is the oldest of this group. Saying that their best days are ahead of them is an understatement.

Tom Luongo is lost somewhere in the nether regions of the universe, so I'll be filling in for him today. The guys are trusting the newbie with the Ice Sheet. Whew, boy. Talk about pressure. At least it's better than the all wedgies and sleeping Sharpie attacks that Earl had to go through. But I digress ... On to the glorious hockey action!

Mike Richards has been one of the most successful players in the NHL this season, but has barely been talked about outside of Philly. He has been one of the main catalysts for the Flyers' current resurgence, and you can find him among the Top 20 point scorers in the league. This morning, he will wake up with the second most secure job in the NHL, behind only Rick DiPietro of the Islanders who is currently in the second year of a 15-year contract. You see, Richards agreed to a 12-year, $69 million contract extension yesterday. Un. Be. Lievable.

Richards is certainly having a career year, but it's hard to imagine why the Flyers would give such a young and unproven player a contract that is more than a decade long. That's not to say that Richards won't live up to the deal, he certainly could do just that. It's just that it's completely impossible to forecast what he could be six years down the road, much less 12. It's safe to say that it is a very, very gutsy decision to give a 22-year old kid who has only 101 career points such a deal. But what's done is done and the Flyers have made it clear that they will be building the team around Richards and teammate Daniel Briere for years to come. This summer, Briere signed a 8-year contract with the Flyers. To his credit, Richards is having quite the year. He assisted on Mike Knuble's goal tonight, giving him 35 points in 29 games this season. That surpasses his previous career high of 34 points, which he set two years ago. He played in 79 games that year.

After the jump: Bill Guerin actually scores, Tomas Vokoun shows no mercy in St. Louis, the Bruins have an attendance of 1,500 and I will in no way mention that darned Mitchell Report that everyone is so worked up about.