1. Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks. Thornton has been on fire as of late. He and winger Dany Heatley have found a great chemistry together and its showing up on the score sheet. A lot. Thornton scored 2 goals (one game winner) this week and 7 assists (4 of them coming against the Flyers Friday night where he was 68.4% on faceoffs). Thornton is leading the league in assists with 25 and second in points with 32.
2. Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens. After coming off a 53 save performance against Nasville, Price continues to be one of Montreal’s best players. Price went 2-0-1 this week with a .940 save percentage and allowing only 2 goals per game. Price won the starting job back (for now) from back-up Jaroslav Halak and if he continues performing the way he is, Halak won’t see the net any time soon.
3. Dany Heatley, San Jose Sharks. Heatley is leading the league in goals (18), power play goals (9) and game winning goals (4) this season. Three of his goals this week came in the form of a hat trick. Heatley scored the first at even strength, the second short handed and finished it off on the power play. All three goals were assisted by Thornton. Heatley’s hat trick is his second of the season and 9th career.
Honorable Mentions
The Carolina Hurricanes got their first win in 14 games Sunday against the Minnesota Wild in a shootout. The Canes have now won 3 of their past 4 games and have points in 5 straight. … The Devils 9 game road winning streak came to an end Monday as the Flyers beat the Devils 3-2. Claude Giroux had 2 assists and Ray Emery made 33 saves in the win. … Corey Perry didn’t have any goals this week but his 4 assists helped extend his career-high point streak to 14 games Linemante Ryan Getzlaf‘s point streak ended at 11 games on Monday against the Penguins. … Jarome Iginla notched his first hat trick of the season and 9th of his career Saturday against the Kings. Iginla has 11 goals in the past 9 games. … The Predators are on a hot streak winning 5 in a row after getting a shootout win Saturday night against the Blue Jackets. Pekka Rinne has been in net for all 5 wins. … After choosing Ryan Miller as my #1 player last week, he puts on his worst performance of the year, allowing 5 goals on 23 shots against Florida. The Sabres gave up 6 goals total, the most they’ve allowed all season long. Keith Ballard had 3 assists, Michael Frolik scored twice and Tomas Vokoun made 26 saves in the 6-2 romp of the Sabres. After a 2-7-1 start, the Panthers have on 8 games in their past 11, including back-to-back wins Friday and Saturday against the Red Wings and Rangers. … Marian Gaborik continues to be the Rangers’ best player, scoring 3 goals in 2 games. Gaborik has 9 points (5+4) in his last 6 games. … Fedor Tyutin had 5 assists in 3 games for the Blue Jackets. … Vincent Lecavalier has been off to a slower start. He scored 2 goals and an assists in a 4-1 win over the Coyotes. … Tomas Plekanec has been fantastic for the Habs this season. He has 22 points in 23 games and 8 points in his last 5. … Mike Fisher scored 2 goals in a fight-filled affair against Toronto Tuesday night and added 3 assists in a 6-2 win against the Penguins Thursday night. … The Sharks saw their 12 game point streak come to an end Tuesday against the Predators in a 3-2 loss, their first since October 22nd. David Legwand and Joel Ward each had a goal and 2 assists for Nashville. … Miikka Kiprusoff suffered his first loss in November at the hands of the Avalanche on Tuesday. Tuesday marked only the 5th time all season the Flames didn’t score first. … Brian Boucher started his second game of the season and made 37 saves for the Flyers win against the Kings. Anze Kopitar was held pointless for the 5th time this season. … Thursday saw a wild game in Carolina as the Canes beat the Leafs in 6-5 in a shootout. Ian White gave the Leafs the lead by scoring with 29 seconds left but Erik Cole tied it with 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation. Tuomo Ruutu had 4 assists in the Canes win.. … Kristian Huselius had 2 goals and an assits in a 4-1 Jackets win against the Stars. James Neal was handed a 2 game suspension for his hit on Derek Dorsett in the second period. … Michael Ryder scored 2 goals for the Bruins in a 4-3 shootout win Thursday night. Ilya Kovalchuk scored a goal and two assists and Ondrej Pavelec made 39 saves for Atlanta. … Keith Tkachuk scored his first goal in 14 games for the Blues and Erik Johnson netted the OT winner in a 3-2 win against the Coyotes. … Zach Parise is currently riding a 7 game point streak. He netted 2 against Nashville in a 3-2 shootout loss. Jason Arnott had both goals for the Predators. … The Blackhawks routed the Flames 7-1 Thursday night. Duncan Keith had 3 assists, Kris Versteeg scored 2 goals and Cristobal Huet made 27 saves. … Scott Niedermayer scored his 13th career OT goal against Tampa Bay. Niedermayer hold the NHL record for most OT goals by a defenseman. Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne each had a goal and two assists in the Ducks win. … Scott Clemmenson got his 4th win in 5 games by making 39 saves and only allowing oen goal against the Red Wings. … The Leafs got their first win in extra time with a shootout win against the Capitals. Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves for the Caps. … Filip Kuba scored a goal and 3 assists against Buffalo Saturday night. Daniel Alfredsson added 2 goals and an assist for the Sens in a 5-3 win. … Montreal lost their first game in extra time Saturday. The Red Wings beat the Habs 3-2 in a shootout. … David Perron scored 2 goals against the Islanders for the Blues. Chris Mason made 23 saves, allowing one goal. … Stephane Robidas and Brad Richards led the Stars to a 5-3 win over the Devils who have lost the past 3 games on the road. Robidas had 2 goals and 2 assists and Richards had 4 assists for the Stars. … 2009 Calder winner Steve Mason seems to be regaining his form. In 2 games for the Jackets this week, Mason stopped 70 of 74, good for .946 save percentage. … Hawks winger Pat Kane is on a 5 game goal streak and 9 game point streak.
Milestones:
-Robbie Earl scored his first NHL goal for the Wild.
-Jussi Jokinen scored his 25th career shootout goal, most in the NHL.
-Tuomo Ruutu notched his 100th career assist Sunday.
-Jason Demers scored his first career NHL goal Sunday night against Chicago.
-Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau got his 100th career win Tuesday against the Rangers. He’s the 4th fastest to reach 100 wins.
-Mike Pyorala scored his first NHL goal.
-Chris Phillips played in his 800th career game Thursday against the Penguins. He also had his first career 2 goal game.
-Milan Michalek scored his 100th career goal.
-Travis Zajac scored his 100th career assist.
-James Wisniewski played his 200th career game, but left with a bruised foot.
-Joe Thornton reached 600th career assist. He’s the 73rd player to get 600 and 26th fastest.
-Claude Giroux has his first multi-goal game, scoring 2 against San Jose.
-Christian Ehrhoff scored his first 2 goal game, scoring two against Colorado.
-Stephane Robidas’ 4 points Saturday night was the first of his career.
Injury Report:
-Scott Walker (CAR), upper body, unknown.
-Ryan Smyth (LAK), upper body, out 4 weeks.
-Rob Scuderi (LAK), lower leg injury, day-to-day.
-Alex Semin (WSH), sore wrist, day-to-day.
-Brian Gionta (MTL), broken bone in left foot, out indefinitely.
-Jay McKee (PIT), finger infection, 2-4 weeks.
-Fabian Brunnstrom (DAL), shoulder injury, unknown.
-Adam Foote (COL), jaw, unknown.
-Dainus Zubrus (NJD), fractured right patella, 4-6 weeks.
-Cory Stillman (FLA), knee injury, “quite a while.”
-Scott Gomez (MTL), lower body, unknown.
-Blair Betts (PHI), separated shoulder, up to 4 weeks.
-Ed Jovanoski (PHO), lower body, unknown.
-Niklas Kronwall (DET), MCL damage due to knee-on-knee hit, 4-8 weeks.
-Jarrett Stoll (LAK), lower body, unknown.
-Shean Donovan (OTT), MCL/ACL damage, 8 weeks or more.
-Derek Dorsett (CBJ), concussion, unknown.
Sheldon Souray (EDM), Alex Ovechkin (WSH), Drew Stafford (BUF), Chris Osgood (DET), Max Talbot (PIT), Sergei Gonchar (PIT), Milan Lucic (BOS), Ryan O’Byrne (MTL), Georges Laraque (MTL) and Brooks Orpik (PIT) all returned from injury or illness.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment