Saturday 12/15

In case you haven't noticed.....I like hockey on Saturday, even though lately I've been catching all the replay highlights because of work.

Phoenix 4 New Jersey 1: Brodeur took the day off apparently, stopping 18 of 22.

Dallas 4 San Jose 2: I was excited for this one. Two of the current top teams in the west. Always tough to win in San Jose. The difference in this game was power plays. Both teams took a lot of penalties, but Dallas was able to convert to tie the game at 2 and then go up 3-2.

Boston 2 Columbus 0: How about Alex Auld in net for the Bruins. Columbus outshot Boston 15-2 in the 3rd and Auld denied them 15 times. Boston is quietly off to a nice start this season. They have 39 points with an 18-11-3 record.

Buffalo 3 Chicago 1: Kane gets a nice early goal and then Chicago falls asleep. Actually, I almost fell asleep watching this one......

Montreal 4 Toronto 1: Toronto's fans must be so pissed these days. The Leafs just don't consistently come to play in games against rivals or tough teams. Highlights of this game have a theme: Koivu gets goal 1 and two, followed by Kostsitsyn and Kovalev.....oh and Kubina had a nice hit on Kostsitsyn as well in the 2nd

Ottawa 7 Atlanta 3: Atlanta has been outscored 11-3 in their last two. They're one point away from being the worst team in the east...when's the next time Atlanta plays Washington for the basement? Wait....after looking at the East standings, the bottom four teams are all from the Southeast division (everyone but Carolina). I'm pulling for Washington to rise to second in the southeast, and for Tampa to trade Vinny to Detroit.

Pittsburgh 3 Islanders 2: Nice job by DiPietro giving the puck to Crosby for an easy empty netter to make it 1-0. He recovered nicely and played well to make the game look closer than it was. On a side note, the FSN Pittsburgh play by play guy has gotta be the most lame, monotone presence I've ever heard. I'm glad I'm not a Penguin fan.

Carolina 6 Philadelphia 5 (SO): Hands down the game of the night. This was a fun one to watch. In fact, my favorite non-Red Wing game of the year. It wasn't just the high scoring. It was the great saves on top of all the goals, the tons of made scrambles in front of the net, and the finish; which involved former Flyer Rod Brindamor needing a goal to win, being booed by his former fans, and getting the goal via hitting the goaltender, the crowd cheering as they thought the save was made, and the puck flyer over Biron's head and into the net.

Washington 3 Tampa Bay 2: The Caps have a positive record in their last ten, which by their standards is an improvement, and the Lightning are fading hard. Did I mention Vinny Lecavalier would look great with a winged wheel on his chest?

Colorado 3 Nashville 1: Every Central team that played but the Wings fell tonight, which is good for the Wings. Goaltending was the difference....the Preds outshot the Avs 32-16 but fell, as Budaj steals one with a nice performance. Other than that, this game was a snoozer.

Edmonton 2 Vancouver 1 (SO): Not Luongo vs Roloson, but Sanford vs Garon, who both had shutouts going deep into the third until the ice was broken. This would've been a fun game to watch live. I like the games that are scoreless/1-1 deep into the third. Edmonton's been playing well after a rough start, and the Northwest Division, top to bottom, is separated by 5 points

Minnesota 2 Los Angeles 1: Excellent game for Harding who stopped 35 of 36. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz