Month: October 2008

TORONTO – The Tampa Bay Lightning had a lot of question marks entering the season, but not many people wondered whether they’d be able to score goals.

MONTREAL – Saku Koivu scored the lone goal in the shootout as the Montreal Canadiens finally beat the Carolina Hurricanes at home with a 3-2 decision Tuesday.

ATLANTA – Mike Knuble, Simon Gagne and Joffrey Lupul each scored two goals and the Philadelphia Flyers earned their 11th straight win over the Atlanta Thrashers, 7-0 on Tuesday night.

WASHINGTON – Michael Nylander scored the pivotal goal in a shootout, and the Washington Capitals generated enough firepower to overcome the absence of Alex Ovechkin and beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 Tuesday night.

TORONTO – Vincent Lecavalier scored a pair of highlight-reel goals and Mike Smith made 37 saves to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – New York Islanders defenceman Andy Sutton, who has missed the first eight games of the season following hand surgery, is expected to play Thursday at Philadelphia, the team said Tuesday.

MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens honoured the three most successful coaches in their history on Tuesday when they unveiled columns in the Bell Centre mezzanine for Dick Irvin, Hector (Toe) Blake and Scotty Bowman.

It’s decision time for NHL clubs as to whether they’ll keep teenagers in their lineups, which could impact Canada’s fortunes at the world junior hockey championship in Ottawa.

TORONTO – Steven Stamkos doesn’t have to win the rookie of the year award for the Tampa Bay Lightning to consider his season a success. In fact, he doesn’t even necessarily have to come close.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Boston Bruins winger Milan Lucic received a special gift from his former junior hockey team Tuesday.The Vancouver native, who won Memorial Cup title with the WHL’s Giants in 2007, was presented with a new championship ring to replace the one that was stolen from his home over the summer.

EDMONTON – Coach Craig MacTavish was the first to admit the Edmonton Oilers looked better in the standings than on the ice when they began the season with four straight wins.

MONTREAL – Peter Laviolette says hitting the milestone of 300 games behind the Carolina Hurricanes bench is as much about good players as good coaching.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Ken Klee is on the move again.The veteran defenceman has been claimed on re-entry waivers by the Phoenix Coyotes.Klee was acquired by the Anaheim Ducks in a trade earlier this month and played three games with them before being sent to the American Hockey League.

When the Philadelphia Flyers suit up for their ninth game Tuesday, 18-year-old defenseman Luca Sbisa will be with them.
Playing in the game means the first year of Sbisa’s entry-level contract will count.

It’s official, Buffalo will be the host of the IIHF World Junior Championship tournament in 2010-11.
The games for the event will be played at HSBC Arena, home of the Buffalo Sabres, and Niagara University’s Dwyer Arena.

LOS ANGELES – Valtteri Filppula took advantage of a sloppy turnover to score the tying goal with 1:54 left in the third period, and Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored in a shootout as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 Monday night.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Injury-plagued Vancouver Canucks forward Rick Rypien has a sports hernia that will require surgery and is out indefinitely.

EDMONTON – Dennis Wideman scored 3:18 into overtime as the Boston Bruins blanked the Edmonton Oilers 1-0 on Monday night, opening up their first two-game winning streak of the season.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Mikko Koivu assisted on goals by Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen and Brent Burns to lead the Minnesota Wild over the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Monday night.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Rangers captain Chris Drury scored his first two goals and Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves in a 4-2 victory over the Islanders on Monday night in the opening all-New York matchup of the season.