Notes from Monday, Oct. 12
Stars of the night
--Jonathan Quick made 28 saves and the Kings won their fourth game in a row and 1,300th in franchise history, 2-1 over the Islanders. Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty scored for Los Angeles.
--Martin Brodeur made 31 saves and stopped Alexander Ovechkin, who had two assists, in the final shootout round in the Devils' 3-2 comeback win over Washington. David Clarkson scored a late goal to tie the game, and Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner scored in the shootout for New Jersey.
--Tyler Kennedy had two goals and Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves in Pittsburgh's 4-1 victory over Ottawa.
Not so home cooking
The Bruins had a league-high five-game homestand to open the season but won only twice, one coming in a shootout against the Islanders. Monday, the Avalanche handed Boston its third loss, 4-3, getting power play goals from Milan Hejduk and Marek Svatos and a shorthanded goal, which proved to be the game-winner, from David Jones.
Have they hit rock bottom yet?
Things just go from bad to worse for Toronto. The Maple Leafs supposedly "rebuilt" their defense in the offseason, but they conceded a touchdown in a 7-2 loss to the Rangers to remain winless. Sean Avery and Daniel Girardi each scored twice and Wade Redden had three points, including a goal.
Lightning strikes again
After scoring three goals in the third period to beat Carolina in the previous game, Tampa Bay netted a pair of goals in the final frame to erase a 2-1 deficit and beat Florida, 3-2. Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone netted the goals, and Antero Niittymaki made 31 saves. Steven Stamkos also scored.
The question isn't can they score...
...it's can the Flames play defense and get decent goaltending? Before the season began, experts wondered if Calgary would be able to put the puck in the net. That's not the problem, with 19 goals in the first five games. But the Flames can't stop the opponents from scoring either. Miikka Kiprusoff and Calgary allowed a 5-0 lead slip away in a stunning 6-5 overtime loss to Chicago. Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists, Patrick Sharp tied the game in the third and Brent Seabrook scored just 26 seconds into overtime for the biggest comeback win in Chicago's history and tied for the best in league history.
Calgary has now scored 24 goals but given up 23 in six games.
That's what you call a good shooting percentage
Edmonton fired only 16 shots on goal through two periods against the Nashville goaltenders but put six of them behind Pekka Rinne and Dan Ellis, and the Oilers coasted to a 6-1 win. Zach Stortini had two goals and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made an impressive 40 saves.
Double secret shutout probation
I'm probably going to have more on Phoenix later, but the Coyotes and Sharks played to a scoreless tie through overtime, and Phoenix won the shootout, 2-1, on Lauri Korpikoski's winner, his first career shootout attempt. Both goalies - Ilya Bryzgalov (26 saves) and Evgeni Nabokov (30 saves) - get credit for shutouts. It is the second impressive win of the season for Phoenix. Maybe even the third if you consider the Coyotes handed the Kings their only loss of the season to date.
Quote of the night
"It stings all the way through and we're embarrassed."
Flames captain Jarome Iginla
Marquee matchup
Tuesday, Oct. 13 (3 games)
Calgary (4-1-1) at Columbus (3-1-0), 7 p.m. ET. The Flames have been scoring a lot of goals but they've needed to in order to support their not-so-solid goaltending. They're fresh off blowing a 5-0 first period lead. They'll get to test the defensive-minded Blue Jackets, who boast last year's Calder Trophy winner in goalie Steve Mason. Maybe Mathieu Garon, who posted a shutout in his first start, gets a look. Rick Nash could give Miikka Kiprusoff nightmares. Everyone else is.
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