NHL Pre-Game Review 11-29-2010

Pens, Rangers continue pursuit of Flyers

	STATS
25	GP	25
15	W	14
8	L	10
2	OT	1
32	P	29
0.640	P%	0.580
2.96	G/G	2.88
2.44	GA/G	2.64
16.4	PP%	16.3
90.2	PK%	82.6
32.0	S/G	27.6
28.2	SA/G	30.6
49.8	FO%	44.4

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Nov 15, 2010	NYR@PIT	NYR, 3 – 2

PENGUINS (15-8-2) at RANGERS (14-10-1)

TV: FS-P (HD), MSG (HD)

Last 10: Pittsburgh 8-1-1; New York 7-3-0

Season series: This is the second of six meetings between the clubs this season. The first one was a thriller won by the Rangers in overtime, 3-2, on Nov. 15.

Big Story — Both Atlantic Division teams are playing well yet neither can catch the red-hot Flyers. This is the first time they’ve seen each other since that fantastic finish in Pittsburgh two weeks ago. Chris Kunitz scored the tying goal with 2:31 left in regulation and Matt Cooke gave the Penguins the lead 38 seconds later. Pittsburgh went on a power play right after Cooke’s goal when Henrik Lundqvistwhacked his stick over the crossbar and received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. However, Rangers defenseman Marc Staal managed to slither in a shorthanded goal with 1:26 to play and then Ryan Callahan won it for the Blueshirts in overtime on a fantastic 2-on-1 with Brandon Dubinsky.

Team Scope:

Penguins — Six years into his career and Sidney Crosby has arguably never been better. Crosby is on pace for his best season ever and he enters Monday leading the NHL with 40 points on 18 goals and 22 assists. He recorded his first hat trick of the season and sixth of his career in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Calgary. He nearly had four goals, but he missed on a penalty shot in the first period. Crosby’s second goal Saturday was the 200th of his career. He’s simply on fire, and not coincidentally so is his team. Crosby has 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points during his current 12 game point streak.

“An elite-level player like him has great creativity in his game and a tremendous skill set,” Calgary coach Brent Sutter said of Crosby following Saturday’s game. “It’s because of his work ethic, and how hard he plays every shift.”

Rangers — The Rangers return home winners of four of their last five games. The big thing about the wins in Florida and Nashville over the weekend was that Henrik Lundqvist got his act together. Lundqvist was struggling with a personal three game losing streak heading into the game against the Panthers, but he made 40 saves for the shutout in Sunrise, Fla. and another 29 saves in a 2-1 shootout victory in the Music City. Lundqvist was perfect against three Nashville shooters in the skills competition.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself (in shootouts) because I want to help the team get that extra point,” Lundqvist said. “Last season showed that extra point can be huge. To come up with all three stops in the shootout felt really good for me.”

Who’s Hot — Penguins defenseman Kris Letang picked up three assists in Saturday’s win and now has 18 on the season and 22 points. Rangers forward Ryan Callahan scored his second goal in as many games Saturday after going five games without a goal. Callahan’s last goal prior to scoring in Florida was the OT winner in Pittsburgh two weeks ago.

Injury Report — The Penguins are still waiting for Jordan Staal (broken hand) to get on the ice this season. He’s at least on the mend for the second time. The Rangers are still without Chris Drury (finger) and Vinny Prospal (knee). Michal Rozsival returned Saturday after sitting out nine games, but Marian Gaborik missed the game in Nashville with the flu. They’re hoping he’s fine for Monday’s game at MSG.

Stat Pack — Lundqvist on Saturday improved to 31-21 for his career in games decided by a shootout. … The Rangers’ power play is 41 for 45 (91.1 percent) in the last 13 games. Their record over that time is 8-5-0. … The Penguins have allowed only four goals in their last four games and entered Sunday ranked fifth in the NHL in goals against (2.36).

Puck Drop — Rangers coach John Tortorella reportedly talked with the team prior to Saturday’s game in Nashville about fighting through fatigue. The message got through as the team did just enough to pick up two points despite playing their third road game in four nights.

“We talked about it in our (pregame) meeting that if we want to get to where we want to be at the end of the year, this is the kind of game — last of a road trip, coming off a big win, played a lot of games in this stretch here — we have to find a way to win,” Tortorella said. “These are the points at the end of the year that kill you if you don’t get them. It was a good gut-check for us in getting points that we needed to get.”

First-place Stars visit Carolina

	STATS
22	GP	23
13	W	10
8	L	10
1	OT	3
27	P	23
0.614	P%	0.500
2.82	G/G	3.00
2.73	GA/G	3.09
15.6	PP%	17.3
76.8	PK%	76.8
28.0	S/G	31.3
31.3	SA/G	33.8
48.7	FO%	40.3

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Dec 16, 2009	DAL@CAR	CAR, 5 – 3
Nov 23, 2009	CAR@DAL	DAL, 2 – 0

STARS (13-8-1) at HURRICANES (10-10-3)

TV: VERSUS, TSN2. 

Last 10: Dallas 5-4-1; Carolina 4-3-3.

Season Series: This is the first of two meetings between the teams. They’ll meet again at American Airlines Center on Dec. 10.

Big Story: While many thought the Pacific Division would boil down to Los Angeles and San Jose, here are the Dallas Stars, who enter Monday’s action locked in a first-place tie with the Phoenix Coyotes. Behind some stellar goaltending by Kari Lehtonen(11-7-1, 2.70 goals-against average), the Stars have reeled off three straight victories and can gain sole possession of first place with a victory on Monday night.

“Last year we got a taste of his potential, and this year he’s just been tremendous,” Stars defensemanMatt Niskanen said of Lehtonen, who was acquired last season from Atlanta. “He competes on every puck and is fundamentally sound. You don’t have to worry when you have a goalie that is playing really solid behind you. The whole team has confidence in him, and he’s given the whole team confidence to do what we need to do with the puck. We don’t have to be nervous.”

Team Scope:

Stars: Dallas made it three in a row on Saturday night when it completed a home-and-home sweep of the St. Louis Blues with a 2-1 victory at the Scottrade Center. Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson scored for the Stars, while Lehtonen made 35 saves. Dallas rallied in both of its wins against the Blues.

“I knew we have that in this group,” Lehtonen said. “If we go down one or two goals, I just need to keep playing the same way and not get rattled and just believe in this group. Against a team that you battle for the playoffs, getting four points against them is great. We can build on this and move forward.”

Hurricanes: Sure they would have liked a victory, but the fact that Eric Staal‘s goal with 7.3 seconds remaining prevented the Hurricanes from leaving Verizon Center empty-handed has to have them in a somewhat decent mood. Staal’s goal erased a 2-1 deficit in what turned out to be a 3-2 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals.

“We battled back against a good team and fought hard,” Staal said. “It’s a tough way to lose. We’ve got to find a way to win the shootout. We managed to get a point, but it would have been nice to get a win at the end.”

Who’s Hot: Brad Richards leads the Stars with 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 22 games, while Eriksson is 10-14-24 and is tops with a plus-12 rating. … Staal’s goal on Sunday was his 11th of the season. He also had an assist and played more than 26 minutes.

Injury Report: Stars defenseman Mark Fistric (groin) is on the injured reserve list. … Carolina is boasting a healthy lineup.

Stat Pack: Dallas is 5-1-1 in its last seven games and is now 5-5 on the road. … Sunday marked the 1,000th NHL game coached by Carolina’s Paul Maurice. Maurice is the 19th coach to reach the milestone, and the youngest at 43 years and 302 days old.

Puck Drop: “We’ve been good, but we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better because the Western Conference is better and everybody is playing and performing well.” — Dallas Stars coach Marc Crawford

Sens continue homestand against Oilers

	STATS
22	GP	24
6	W	11
12	L	12
4	OT	1
16	P	23
0.364	P%	0.479
2.50	G/G	2.38
3.86	GA/G	2.96
14.5	PP%	18.4
67.4	PK%	80.6
25.5	S/G	28.0
35.1	SA/G	32.0
45.1	FO%	51.6

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Mar 9, 2010	OTT@EDM	OTT, 4 – 1
Nov 10, 2009	EDM@OTT	OTT, 4 – 3

OILERS (6-12-4) at SENATORS (11-12-1)

TV: RDS, SNET-W, SNET-E. 

Last 10: Edmonton 2-6-2; Ottawa 4-6-0.

Season Series: This is the first of two meetings between the teams. They’ll meet again at Rexall Place on Feb. 12, 2011.

Big Story: Monday marks the second of a four-game homestand for the Senators, who bounced back from a 2-1 loss at Pittsburgh with a 3-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at Scotiabank Place. The Sens finally got contributions from the line of Mike Fisher-Alex Kovalev-Milan Michalek, as the trio accounted for all of the offense.

“It’s nice to see those guys score goals,” Sens forward Jason Spezza said. “They’ve had a lot of chances lately and it’s nice to see them get rewarded.”

Team Scope:

Oilers: Edmonton nearly rallied from a 4-1 deficit on Saturday night, but fell short in a 4-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks at Rexall Place. Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff and Jim Vandermeer scored for the Oilers, while  Devan Dubnyk made 21 saves.

“The effort was there, I think,” Horcoff said. “But we need wins right now. I think against an experienced team like they are — 10 minutes they took it to us and we weren’t able to hold them off.”

Senators: Just a few hours before his team earned a hard-fought win against the Leafs, team owner Eugene Melnyk gave his group of a vote of confidence. Ottawa had only one victory in its previous five games before blanking Toronto. Brian Elliott made 29 saves in the win.

“Everybody would be a lot happier if we had a different record and kind of reversed things,” Melnyk told the Sens’ web site. “But (Friday) was a really, really important game to see what we can do as a team. Anytime you go out there and take 40-plus shots on a goaltender and you’re playing an elite team and just coming up that short … it’s kind of disheartening. But on the other hand, you look at it and say it could have gone either way. There’s so many chances.

“It just continues to prove what I’ve been talking about, and that is it’s a game of inches and it’s brutal at times.”

Who’s Hot: Oilers rookie Taylor Hall has two goals and two assists in his last five games. … Elliott’s shutout on Saturday was his second of the season. It lowered his goals-against average to 2.94 and raised his save percentage to .911.

Injury Report: Oilers winger Ales Hemsky and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin are both nursing groin injuries and are day-to-day. … Ottawa is boasting a healthy lineup.

Stat Pack: Edmonton rookie Magnus Paajarvi has gone 11 straight games without a point. … Sens goalie Pascal Leclaire has stopped 90 of the last 96 shots he’s faced.

Puck Drop:  “I think our guys put 150 per cent (effort) in, every one of them. Now we have a healthy team and I think you’re going to see a lot of good things coming out of the team on the ice … Don’t underestimate this team or the heart of this team or the experience or I think, most importantly, their will to win. These are tough guys and they’re not going to put up with giving up games like this anymore. Trust me on that.” — Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk

Struggling Flames return home to face Wild

	STATS
22	GP	23
11	W	9
9	L	12
2	OT	2
24	P	20
0.545	P%	0.435
2.54	G/G	2.70
2.73	GA/G	2.96
25.0	PP%	14.1
83.5	PK%	82.3
24.8	S/G	31.2
32.5	SA/G	29.8
51.7	FO%	48.2

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Nov 5, 2010	CGY@MIN	MIN, 2 – 1

WILD (11-9-2) at FLAMES (9-12-2)

TV: FS-N (HD), SNET-CGY (HD)

Last 10: Minnesota 5-5-0; Calgary 3-5-2

Season series: Second of six meetings this season between these Northwest Division rivals. Martin Havlat scored the decisive goal 4:20 into the third period as Minnesota won 2-1 on home ice back on Nov. 5. Rene Bourque opened the scoring for Calgary before Cal Clutterbuck evened things up later in the first period. Winning goalie Niklas Backstrom stopped 33 shots.

Big story: The Flames are back home following a difficult 1-2-2 road trip. While it featured the 10,000th goal in franchise history, scored shorthanded by Curtis Glencross in Philadelphia on Friday, they totaled just nine goals in five games (not counting the decisive goal credited for their shootout win over the Flyers). The Wild, meanwhile, have been struggling to keep the puck out of their own net, yielding 20 goals while losing three of their last four games.

Team Scope:

Wild: Backstrom has seen his goals-against average and save percentage take a major hit over his last three starts, as he’s given up 18 goals on 96 shots. Veteran backup Jose Theodore started in a 5-2 win over Nashville on Friday before Minnesota turned back to Backstrom the following night in Colorado. The Wild suffered a 7-4 defeat, with Backstrom getting pulled for Theodore in the third period.

“He wasn’t sharp but the players in front didn’t help him,” coach Todd Richards said. “I really liked our first period. Then the game gets away from us and we make a couple of bad decisions with the puck.”

Flames: Bourque notched the shootout winner as Calgary got a big two points in Philadelphia on Friday, but the Flames came up short in trying to complete a two-day sweep of Pennsylvania, dropping a 4-1 decision in Pittsburgh on Saturday. They became the latest NHL team to have no answers for Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who recorded the hat trick and extended his points streak to 12 games.

“Up until tonight, I thought we had a good trip,” defenseman Mark Giordano said. “We were playing well. We got points in three of four games and we did deserve maybe a better fate than that. Tonight, we didn’t play well. We know we didn’t play well. We know we have to get on a roll at some point and start piling up some wins.”

Who’s hot: Martin Havlat has 4 goals and 9 assists over his last eight games for the Wild. … In addition to his shootout goal against the Flyers, Bourque had the Flames’ only goal in losses to the Devils and Penguins.

Injury report: Minnesota defenseman Clayton Stoner is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. Already on injured reserve are goalie Josh Harding (ACL/MCL) and forwards Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion), James Sheppard (knee), Chuck Kobasew (groin) and Guillaume Latendresse (sports hernia/hip).

Calgary has defenseman Adam Pardy (shoulder) and forwards Daymond Langkow (neck),Ryan Stone (knee), Ales Kotalik (knee) and Raitis Ivanans (concussion) on injured reserve.

Stat pack: Kyle Brodziak made the most of his nearly 14 minutes of ice time in the Wild’s loss on Saturday, scoring a pair of goals, recording a plus-2 rating and getting into a fight. … Kiprusoff made 24 of his 39 saves Saturday in the first period.

Puck drop: Calgary managed to escape the first period against Pittsburgh in a scoreless tie thanks to the brilliance of its goaltender, but Kiprusoff was unable to win the game by himself.

“We’ve got to give Miikka a rest,” forward Olli Jokinen told the Calgary Herald. “We didn’t have any business still being in the game after two periods but we were still in because of him. We’ve got to find a way.”

Kings, Ducks set to renew rivalry

	STATS
22	GP	25
13	W	11
9	L	11
0	OT	3
26	P	25
0.591	P%	0.500
2.73	G/G	2.56
2.50	GA/G	3.04
15.7	PP%	21.2
86.7	PK%	82.9
29.1	S/G	28.7
28.4	SA/G	34.8
49.1	FO%	48.6

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Apr 6, 2010	LAK@ANA	LAK, 5 – 4
Apr 3, 2010	ANA@LAK	ANA, 2 – 1
Feb 8, 2010	LAK@ANA	ANA, 4 – 2
Feb 4, 2010	ANA@LAK	LAK, 6 – 4
Jan 14, 2010	ANA@LAK	LAK, 4 – 0
Dec 1, 2009	LAK@ANA	LAK, 4 – 3

KINGS (13-9-0) at DUCKS (11-11-3)

TV — FS-W (HD), KDOC (HD)

Last 10 — Los Angeles 4-6-0; Anaheim 4-4-2

Season series — This is the first of six regular-season meetings between these Pacific Division rivals. The Kings took the 2009-10 season series with a 4-1-1 record.

Big Story — The Kings will try to avoid a season-high fourth striaght loss as they face a struggling Ducks team that had lost six straight before a solid 6-4 win at the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. Los Angeles has also lost five of its last seven on the road, so it will look to turn its fortunes around with a visit to Anaheim.

Team Scope:

Kings — Los Angeles began the month of November with four straight wins, which extended its then winning streak to six in a row, dating from Oct. 28 to Nov. 13. However, the Kings have dropped six of seven games since then and only totaled 16 goals over that span when compared to 21 during the winning streak.

The Kings have also been outscored 9-4 during their current three-game losing streak and are now in 9th place in the Western Conference. To get an idea of how tight the West is this season, L.A. sat atop the entire conference following its most recent win over the Boston Bruins on Nov. 20th.

“Scoring is something we’ve got to make it happen, we have to pay a price in order to score sometimes,” coach Terry Murray told the team’s web site Saturday.

Ducks — While Anaheim has lost six of its last seven, it is far from out of the race in the West. Their 25 points has the Ducks at only 11th place in the conference, but a win over the Kings Monday can catapult them right back into the playoff picture. The Coyotes and Avalanche are tied for the Pacific Division lead with only 27 points.

A sign that the offense is finally turning it around was found on Saturday as the Ducks’ top line of Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf exploded for 10 points in a big win at Glendale, AZ. The penalty killing unit also held its own, limiting the Coyotes to only one power-play tally out of six chances.

“I would say our penalty killing bailed us out,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said after the game, “and then our big guys that get paid all the money scored some goals for us.”

Who’s Hot — For the Kings, Justin Williams had a three-game points streak snapped on Saturday. Bobby Ryan notched a hat trick Saturday and now has five goals over his last four games for the Ducks.

Injury Report — The Kings have two skaters on injured reserve: Alex Ponikarovsky (broken finger) is out for at least another week, while while Willie Mitchell (broken left wrist) will be out until at least mid-December. … For the Ducks, Teemu Selanne remains day-to-day with a groin injury. Forwards Jason Jaffray (knee), Matt Beleskey (concussion) and Kyle Chipchura(concussion) are all on injured reserve for Anaheim, as is Joffrey Lupul (back) who could return for his season debut at some point in early December.

Stat Pack — Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller is 5-2-0 with a 1.85 goals-against average at home against Los Angeles.

Puck Drop — In their last five losses, the Kings managed a respectable 1.8 goal differential. However, a close loss won’t net you two points in the standings and the Kings know they need to continue grinding it out to get themselves back in the win column.

“We haven’t been blown out of games, we’ve been in games but we just can’t get over this little hump we’re on,” said defenseman Rob Scuderi following Saturday’s loss. “If we stick with it, don’t panic and stick together, I think we’ll be a better team because of it, but we just need to keep our heads about us.”

NHL Capsule 11-27-2010

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Sidney Crosby scored three times after Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff stopped him on a penalty shot early in the game and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their sixth in a row, beating the Flames 4-1 on Saturday behind backup goalie Brent Johnson.

Crosby made it 2-0 in the second period by putting in Chris Kunitz’s rebound, then scored his 200th career goal midway through the third when Paul Martin’s shot from above the circles deflected off Crosby’s stick.

Crosby completed his sixth regular-season hat trick and first this season by scoring into an empty net with 36.4 seconds left during a Flames power play in which Calgary created a two-man advantage by pulling Kiprusoff.

Crosby has 12 goals and 13 assists during a 12-game scoring streak. He has 18 goals overall.

The Penguins’ winning streak is their longest since they won seven in a row in October 2009.

Johnson made 30 saves during his first start since Nov. 10 against Boston, but lost his shutout when Rene Bourque scored his 11th goal and second in three games at 13:03 of the third.

Arron Asham also scored for Pittsburgh.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP)—Bobby Ryan had his second career hat trick to help Anaheim erase a two-goal deficit and snap Phoenix’s winning streak at seven games.

Ryan scored three of Anaheim’s five consecutive goals after Phoenix took a 3-1 lead early in the second period. The short-handed Ducks had lost six straight and were playing for the second night in a row after losing 4-1 at home to Chicago on Friday.

Rookie Brandon McMillan’s first NHL goal put Anaheim ahead for good at 4-3 with 13:21 to play. Jason Blake and Corey Perry also scored for Anaheim, and Ryan Getzlaf had four assists.

Shane Doan, Keith Yandle and Scottie Upshall and Derek Morris scored for Phoenix. The Coyotes lost in regulation for the first time in 10 games.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—Travis Zajac scored in the fourth round of a shootout, and Johan Hedberg made 40 saves for New Jersey in his fourth straight start with Martin Brodeur sidelined by a bruised elbow.

Adam Mair in regulation to help the Devils win for the third time in four games.

Danny Briere scored on a power-play goal in the third period for Philadelphia.

MONTREAL (AP)—Brian Gionta had two goals and an assist and Carey Price made 34 saves for the Canadiens.

Gionta set up Andrei Kostitsyn’s goal during a two-man advantage in the first, then added goals 4:20 apart in the second to help the Canadiens rebound from a 3-0 loss in Atlanta on Friday.

Kostitsyn had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Plekanec also had two points.

Jordan Leopold scored for Buffalo with 1:13 left.

ST. LOUIS (AP)—Kari Lehtonen stifled St. Louis again, Jamie Benn had another big goal and Dallas beat the Blues to sweep a home-and-home series.

The Stars rallied in the third period for the second straight night, beating Jaroslav Halak on two of their first five shots. Benn tied it and Loui Eriksson scored on a power play for the lead at 5:05.

B.J. Crombeen scored late in the second period for the Blues, who were the last NHL team to lose in regulation at home. St. Louis has 17 points in its first 10 home games, going 8-1-1.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP)—Stephen Weiss scored the winner in the fourth round of a shootout for Florida.

Radek Dvorak scored on a penalty shot, and Dmitry Kulikov and Shawn Matthias also scored in regulation for the Panthers, who stopped a three-game losing streak. Florida went 0 for 4 on the power play and has failed to score in 37 straight opportunities.

Teddy Purcell, Dana Tyrell and Sean Bergenheim scored for Tampa Bay.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Erik Christensen scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Rangers.

After losing in Tampa Bay on Wednesday, the Rangers shut out Florida on Friday and beat Nashville to close their three-game, four-day trip. The Predators have lost four straight, two in shootouts.

Ryan Callahan scored for New York in regulation, and Colin Wilson connected for Nashville.

OTTAWA (AP)—Mike Fisher scored twice and Brian Elliott made 29 saves for the Senators.

The line of Fisher, Alex Kovalev and Milan Michalek accounted for all the scoring, with Kovalev scoring the other goal and adding two assists and Michalek finishing with two assists.

DENVER (AP)—Greg Mauldin scored two goals to fuel Colorado’s four-goal burst in the second period, and the Avalanche had a season-high goals total to snap a three-game losing streak.

Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk, Kevin Shattenkirk, David Jones and Matt Duchene also scored for Colorado. Kyle Brodziak scored twice for Minnesota, and Antti Miettinen and Matt Cullen added goals.

EDMONTON (AP)—Dany Heatley had two goals and an assist for San Jose.

Benn Ferriero and Joe Pavelski also scored for San Jose. The Sharks are 11-7-4 overall and 4-4-2 on the road after winning for the first time away from San Jose since beating Edmonton on Oct. 23.

Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff and Jim Vandermeer scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have lost eight of their last 10 games to drop to 6-12-4.

 

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Patrick Sharp scored for the fifth time in six games to snap a scoreless tie, Patrick Kane also had a goal and an assist, and Chicago finished it annual “circus trip” 4-2-0.

Corey Crawford started consecutive games for the second time this season and made 21 saves, after stopping 26 shots Friday in a 5-2 victory down the freeway in Anaheim.

He lost his shutout bid with 5:02 remaining when Anze Kopitar beat him high to the glove side with a screened 45-foot slapshot in the slot during a 5-on-3 power play. Crawford has allowed no more than two goals in any of his last six starts

 

Blues host Stars in back end of home-and-home

	STATS
21	GP	21
12	W	12
8	L	6
1	OT	3
25	P	27
0.595	P%	0.643
2.86	G/G	2.52
2.81	GA/G	2.52
14.9	PP%	14.6
76.2	PK%	84.2
28.2	S/G	31.2
31.0	SA/G	27.1
49.0	FO%	48.0

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Nov 26, 2010	STL@DAL	DAL, 3 – 2
Oct 16, 2010	STL@DAL	DAL, 3 – 2

DALLAS (12-8-1) AT ST. LOUIS (12-6-3)

TV — FS-Southwest (HD), FS-Midwest (HD)

Last 10 — St. Louis 5-4-1; Dallas 5-4-1

Season series — This is the third game of four between the two Western Conference clubs this season — and the second in as many nights. The Stars rallied with two third-period goals for a 3-2 win on Friday. They also beat the Blues 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 16.

Big story — The Blues were 20 minutes away from stealing the front end of the home-and-home series at the American Airlines Center, but couldn’t close the deal. Eric Johnson’s turnover led to a shorthanded goal by Jamie Benn, who then set up Mike Ribeiro for the winner. St. Louis will be glad to be back in the friendly confines of Scottrade Center, where they are 8-0-1.

Team Scope:

Stars — Mike Ribeiro is better known as a passer than a shooter, but he was the finisher on Friday, converting a pass by Jamie Benn with 3:29 remaining to give the Stars the win.

“He was real good tonight,” Dallas coach Marc Crawford said of Ribeiro, who has 3 goals in his last five games, including two game-winners. “It was nice to see him get such a feed from a play that he’s usually making to a teammate. It was nice to see that one going in.”

Blues — The Blues had gotten points in every game in which they had led after two periods — until they paid the price for a sloppy third period in Dallas.

“We made some mistakes,” Blues coach Davis Payne said. “Tonight’s game was about the 20 minutes in the third period that we needed to be sharper. We made a couple of plays that ended up as turnovers. They weren’t the only ones that we turned over in the third. We were guilty of a lot of neutral-zone stuff. Two of them ended in our net.”

Who’s hot — McDonald has the Blues’ last three goals and 12 points in his past eight games. … Dallas center Brad Richards scored on Friday and has 3 goals and 6 points in his last five games.

Injury report — Dallas defenseman Mark Fistric was placed on IR with a groin problem sustained on Wednesday. … St. Louis forward T.J. Oshie is on injured reserve with a broken ankle, and defenseman Roman Polak is out with a wrist injury. David Perron is also sidelined with a concussion.

Stat pack — The Stars hadn’t beaten the Blues twice in a season since 2007-08. … Benn’s shorthanded goal on Friday was the first of his career. … Dallas forward Loui Eriksson has 9 goals, but hasn’t scored in nine games.

Puck drop — There was a lot of physical play on both sides Friday night, and more of the same is likely in the rematch

“There was a reason why at the end of the period they came after us,” Dallas defensemanStephane Robidas said. “When you know you’re going to play the same team the next day, they want to send a message.”

2010-2011 Season Series

Date	Score	W. Goal
Jan 02 ’11
Nov 27 ’10
Nov 26 ’10	STL 2 @ DAL 3	Mike Ribeiro
Oct 16 ’10	STL 2 @ DAL 3 – SO	Loui Eriksson

DAL  Season vs Opponent

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PP	GW
Brad Richards	2	1	2	3	1	0	0	0
Loui Eriksson	2	1	2	3	1	0	0	0
James Neal	2	1	1	2	1	0	0	0
Jamie Benn	1	1	1	2	2	0	0	0
Mike Ribeiro	2	1	0	1	1	0	0	1
Trevor Daley	2	0	1	1	1	0	0	0
Nicklas Grossman	2	0	0	0	1	6	0	0
Stephane Robidas	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Brenden Morrow	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Karlis Skrastins	2	0	0	0	1	4	0	0
Brandon Segal	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tom Wandell	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Adam Burish	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Matt Niskanen	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brian Sutherby	2	0	0	0	-1	5	0	0
Toby Petersen	2	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Steve Ott	2	0	0	0	-1	5	0	0
Jeff Woywitka	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Krystofer Barch	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Mark Fistric	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0

STL  Season vs Opponent

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PP	GW
Andy McDonald	2	3	0	3	0	0	1	0
Alex Pietrangelo	2	0	2	2	1	0	0	0
David Backes	2	0	2	2	0	4	0	0
Patrik Berglund	2	1	0	1	-2	0	0	0
Barret Jackman	2	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Brad Boyes	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
TJ Oshie	1	0	1	1	0	2	0	0
BJ Crombeen	2	0	0	0	1	2	0	0
Erik Johnson	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brad Winchester	2	0	0	0	-1	5	0	0
Jay McClement	2	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Matt D’Agostini	2	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Alexander Steen	2	0	0	0	-2	2	0	0
Carlo Colaiacovo	2	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Eric Brewer	2	0	0	0	-2	5	0	0
David Perron	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Cam Janssen	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Chris Porter	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Vladimir Sobotka	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Roman Polak	1	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Nikita Nikitin	1	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Tyson Strachan	1	0	0	0	-1	2	0	0

DAL  Season vs Opponent

Goalie	GP	Min	W-L-OT	GAA	Sv%
Kari Lehtonen	2	125	2-0-0	1.92	.943

STL  Season vs Opponent

Goalie	GP	Min	W-L-OT	GAA	Sv%
Ty Conklin	1	65	0-0-1	1.85	.920
Jaroslav Halak	1	59	0-1-0	3.05	.864

 

NHL Capsules 11-16-2010

MONTREAL – Carey Price made 41 saves for his third shutout, Brian Gionta had a goal and two assists, and the Montreal Canadiens extended their winning streak to four with a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

Price stopped 13 shots in the first and 20 more in the second on his way to his seventh career shutout, his second in four games. He stopped 34 shots one week earlier in a 2-0 win over Vancouver which began Montreal’s current streak.

Gionta assisted on Michael Cammalleri’s goal during a two-man advantage midway through the first period. The Canadiens’ captain got his second assist on Tomas Plekanec’s goal 13:48 into the second.

Gionta scored for the third game in a row when he added Montreal’s second power-play goal 6:24 into the third.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for Philadelphia, which lost in regulation for the first time in three weeks. The Flyers, who beat Ottawa 5-1 on Monday, had gone 9-0-1 since a 2-1 loss in Columbus on Oct. 25.

TORONTO (AP)—Kris Versteeg scored second-period power-play goals 59 seconds apart and Toronto overcome an early three-goal deficit in a win over Nashville.

Nikolai Kulemin’s goal late in the second period completed a big comeback as Toronto scored four power-play goals in the second period.

The Leafs lost starting goaltender J.S. Giguere to an apparent injury early in the third period.

However, they managed to hold on for their first win since Oct. 26 with backup Jonas Gustavsson making six saves.

Toronto had dropped eight straight entering the game. Overall, it had gone 1-8-3 since opening the season with four straight victories.

Luke Schenn and Mikhail Grabovski also scored for the Maple Leafs, who went 4 for 8 on the power play.

J.P. Dumont, Jordin Tootoo, Marin Erat and Marcel Goc scored for Nashville.

 

DALLAS (AP)—Brad Richards scored the go-ahead goal after a video review midway through the third period and the Stars edged Anaheim.

With the game tied 1-1, Richards’ shot from the left circle glanced off the post, and the referees initially ruled no goal at 8:24 of the final period.

But replays showed that the puck crossed the goal line in the air and Richards was credited with his 200th NHL goal.

The game marked the debut of Swedish referee Marcus Vinnerborg, who became the first European to work an NHL game. Vinnerborg made the announcement that the goal counted.

Brad Richards’ 3rd-period goal sends Stars to 2-1 victory over Ducks

DALLAS – Brad Richards wasn’t sure his third-period shot crossed the goal-line. Then James Neal assured his Dallas Stars linemate that he didn’t need to worry.

Richards scored his 200th career goal to break a tie after a video review midway through the third period and the Stars edged the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 on Tuesday night.

With the game tied at 1-1, Richards’ shot from the left circle glanced off the post, and the referees initially ruled no goal at 8:24 of the final period.

Jonas Hiller controlled the puck to stop play, and replays showed that the puck fluttered over the goal-line in the air.

“I wasn’t sure,” Richards said. “I thought maybe it was in. But James was right there and he thought for sure it was in.”

The game marked the debut of Swedish referee Marcus Vinnerborg, who became the first European to work an NHL game. Vinnerborg made the announcement that the goal counted, much to the delight of the Stars.

“It was good to see,” said Dallas’ Steve Ott, who added a power-play goal. “I screamed like a 10-year-old girl with all the fans when I saw it on the (replay board).”

Richards greeted the news with a wide grin, and a Stars equipment man saved the puck for him.

“It’s special,” Richards said. “I never thought I’d get a chance to play this long. To get that many goals, I’m fortunate. Hopefully there’s many more and there’s another milestone someday.”

Kari Lehtonen stopped 26 shots as the Stars returned from an 0-3 road trip to win their fourth straight at home.

Dallas managed three goals during the three road losses, but has 17 in the past four home games.

“We’ve had a lot of bad breaks, hit a lot of posts,” Ott said of the road trip. “The last couple games, we had 1-1 games going into the third period and we lost ’em. This is the direction we need to go in.”

Corey Perry scored on the power play and Hiller made 24 saves for the Ducks.

Anaheim was 1 for 6 with the man advantage, missing out on several prime scoring opportunities.

“We had our fair share of chances,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “It wasn’t like we were devoid of chances, we came up empty. Even more-so, we had lots of good chances on our power play, too. … We’re just not really sharp offensively. We got to think ‘shoot more,’ be a little more selfish.”

The Stars got a break midway through the first period when Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne rang a shot off the right post. Lehtonen made a glove save on Todd Marchant’s short-handed breakaway with just under six minutes left in the opening period.

Only 12 seconds later on the same power play, Richards’ pass sent Ott in alone, and Ott shot the puck between Hiller’s pads to give Dallas the lead at 14:43.

“That’s how it happens, you make a good save and something good happens on the other end,” Lehtonen said. “I felt great after that, very confident, and that helped me through the game.”

Anaheim was on its fifth power play of the game when Perry fired a loose puck past Lehtonen at 8:29 of the second period to tie it at 1.

Notes: The NHL hired Vinnerborg over the summer to referee primarily in the AHL, but he’s also scheduled to get a few more NHL games. Vinnerborg is also assigned to officiate Wednesday night’s San Jose at Colorado game. He previously worked in the Swedish Elite League and has handled a number of major international assignments, including the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. … Anaheim won the first two meetings between the teams by a combined score of 9-4. … Marchant returned to Anaheim’s lineup after missing the previous game with an upper-body injury. … Dallas C Mike Ribeiro remains without a goal in his first 16 games, the longest drought at the start of a season in a career spanning 11 seasons.