Showing posts with label red wings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label red wings. Show all posts
4/14/2014
11/02/2007
Busy night
Two thirds of the league's teams were in action last night and here are some thoughts.
The Colorado Avalanche remain strong on home ice (6-0 so far) as they rallied from a 0-2 deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. The Penguins continue to struggle with inconsistency.
Henrik Lundqvist took all 31 shots fired at him by the Washington Capitals to, once again, bail out his team. The Rangers managed to score a goal in each of the last two periods to seal a 2-0 win. Forward Brendan Shanahan said, "You have to give all the credit to Hank...in the first period it was really just him." Couldn't have said it better myself.
The seemingly unstopable Henrik Zetterberg was named NHL's player of the month for October, and against the Calgary Flames he just kept on rolling. The visiting Red Wings won the game 4-1 and Zetterberg was credited with two goals. Chris Osgood was solid in goal. After his 26 save, .963 night in Alberta he is a perfect 7-0 this season.
The Nashville Predators were looking for their first win on the road, and who better to get it from than the hopeless Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks were 1-5 in their own building and of course they lett this one slip through their fingers as well as the Preds won it 3-0.
What is going on with the Minnesota Wild? After the beating at home against St. Louis, they have no wins in the last five games. That 7-0-1 season start seems ever so distant right now.
In Ottawa the Senators collected their fifth straigh win after a close call with the Atlanta Thrashers. Sens were up 5-0 after two periods, but then saw the Thrashers come within a goal before Daniel Alfredsson scored a short-handed goal to seal the win. Three of Atlanta's goals came from Ilya Kovalchuk who appeared in his 400th NHL game.
Mathieu Schneider made his long awaited debut for the Anaheim Ducks in a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. To top it off he also scored the game-winner in the shoot-out. Rob Niedermayer, who returned after missing three games (groin), also scored for the Ducks.
Philadelphia are 4-0 at home this season, but on the road they have now dropped three of the last four games. After losing twice down in Florida and then winning in Beantown, they fell short 5-2 against the Montreal Canadiens. Flyers forward Daniel Briere, who turned down an offer from the Habs to sign with the Philadelphia, was booed every time he touched the puck throughout the night.
The Boston Bruins bounced back from their only loss on home ice, against Philadelphia, to beat visiting Buffalo. Marco Sturm got the winner in overtime.
The Colorado Avalanche remain strong on home ice (6-0 so far) as they rallied from a 0-2 deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. The Penguins continue to struggle with inconsistency.
Henrik Lundqvist took all 31 shots fired at him by the Washington Capitals to, once again, bail out his team. The Rangers managed to score a goal in each of the last two periods to seal a 2-0 win. Forward Brendan Shanahan said, "You have to give all the credit to Hank...in the first period it was really just him." Couldn't have said it better myself.
The seemingly unstopable Henrik Zetterberg was named NHL's player of the month for October, and against the Calgary Flames he just kept on rolling. The visiting Red Wings won the game 4-1 and Zetterberg was credited with two goals. Chris Osgood was solid in goal. After his 26 save, .963 night in Alberta he is a perfect 7-0 this season.
The Nashville Predators were looking for their first win on the road, and who better to get it from than the hopeless Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks were 1-5 in their own building and of course they lett this one slip through their fingers as well as the Preds won it 3-0.
What is going on with the Minnesota Wild? After the beating at home against St. Louis, they have no wins in the last five games. That 7-0-1 season start seems ever so distant right now.
In Ottawa the Senators collected their fifth straigh win after a close call with the Atlanta Thrashers. Sens were up 5-0 after two periods, but then saw the Thrashers come within a goal before Daniel Alfredsson scored a short-handed goal to seal the win. Three of Atlanta's goals came from Ilya Kovalchuk who appeared in his 400th NHL game.
Mathieu Schneider made his long awaited debut for the Anaheim Ducks in a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. To top it off he also scored the game-winner in the shoot-out. Rob Niedermayer, who returned after missing three games (groin), also scored for the Ducks.
Philadelphia are 4-0 at home this season, but on the road they have now dropped three of the last four games. After losing twice down in Florida and then winning in Beantown, they fell short 5-2 against the Montreal Canadiens. Flyers forward Daniel Briere, who turned down an offer from the Habs to sign with the Philadelphia, was booed every time he touched the puck throughout the night.
The Boston Bruins bounced back from their only loss on home ice, against Philadelphia, to beat visiting Buffalo. Marco Sturm got the winner in overtime.
10/29/2007
Wild find more trouble in Denver
It seems the problems are piling up for the Minnesota Wild. The team that not long ago looked like the best in the league, beating one top team after another, suddenly find themselves in what could be a injury nightmare. First they lost goalie Niklas Backstrom (groin) and last night, against Colorado, they played without top offensive duo Pavol Demitra and Marian Gaborik (both groin). Being without these three key players is obviously a big problem for the Wild, they are now 0-2-1 after that promising seven wins start.
The Colorado Avalanche had no trouble beating the limping Wild 3-1 and they improved to 5-0 at home, the best opening since the move to Denver. There is less and less doubt (none at all to be honest) in my mind that this team will go far in the playoffs. Guys like Joe Sakic (2 assist last night) and Ryan Smyth (1 goal and 1 assist) will only get better the closer we get to crunch time.
* * *
It must be so frustrating to score and then see the momentum snatched away because the other team replies instantly with a goal. This is what happened the Vancouver Canucks who faced the Detroit Red Wings at home. Granted these Red Wings are red hot right now with five straight wins, but the Canucks are in serious trouble early in the season. They are 1-5-0 at home, tied with Phoenix for last place (not counting New Jersey, who are 0-1-0). Even though several players up front, like captain Markus Naslund, is underachieving, it seems the biggest problem lies at the other end. Four other teams out west have scored more goals than Vancouver, while only two (Los Angeles and Edmonton) have given up more than the 37 allowed by the Canucks.
I predict there will be no playoffs at the end of the tunnel for the Vancouver Canucks. They did virtually nothing during the UFA race, and now they are paying for it.
* * *
Henrik Zetterberg increased his point streak to 12 games. It seems nothing can stop this guy right now. Now he only has 39 more games to reach Wayne Gretzky's point-streak record of 51 games set during the 1983-84 season.
The Colorado Avalanche had no trouble beating the limping Wild 3-1 and they improved to 5-0 at home, the best opening since the move to Denver. There is less and less doubt (none at all to be honest) in my mind that this team will go far in the playoffs. Guys like Joe Sakic (2 assist last night) and Ryan Smyth (1 goal and 1 assist) will only get better the closer we get to crunch time.
* * *
It must be so frustrating to score and then see the momentum snatched away because the other team replies instantly with a goal. This is what happened the Vancouver Canucks who faced the Detroit Red Wings at home. Granted these Red Wings are red hot right now with five straight wins, but the Canucks are in serious trouble early in the season. They are 1-5-0 at home, tied with Phoenix for last place (not counting New Jersey, who are 0-1-0). Even though several players up front, like captain Markus Naslund, is underachieving, it seems the biggest problem lies at the other end. Four other teams out west have scored more goals than Vancouver, while only two (Los Angeles and Edmonton) have given up more than the 37 allowed by the Canucks.
I predict there will be no playoffs at the end of the tunnel for the Vancouver Canucks. They did virtually nothing during the UFA race, and now they are paying for it.
* * *
Henrik Zetterberg increased his point streak to 12 games. It seems nothing can stop this guy right now. Now he only has 39 more games to reach Wayne Gretzky's point-streak record of 51 games set during the 1983-84 season.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)