Month: December 2009

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Marc-Andre Fleury might not be able to explain his success in the shootout, but the numbers tell the story.Fleury made 31 saves and stopped three more tries in the shootout and Kris Letang scored the only goal in the tiebreaker in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night

TORONTO – Jonas Gustavsson likely couldn’t have picked a better team to get his first NHL shutout against.Making his first start since undergoing minor heart surgery for the second time this season, Gustavsson stopped 25 shots to blank the Boston Bruins 2-0 on Saturday night at Air Canada Centre

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Montreal coach Jacques Martin said he regarded Andrei Markov’s leadership skills so much he made the defenceman an assistant captain before the season

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Troy Bodie registered a hat trick to lift the Toronto Marlies over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-3 on Saturday in the American Hockey League

ATLANTA – Martin Brodeur had no problem with being benched.The New Jersey Devils pulled the record-setting goalie after he allowed three first-period goals, then rallied for three second-period goals and went on to a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night

RALEIGH, N.C. – As the Carolina Hurricanes have retreated to the bottom of the NHL standings, they haven’t been shy about giving opportunities to some of their younger players

HARTFORD, Conn. – P.K. Subban scored a goal and had two assists and Curtis Sanford had 25 saves to lead the Hamilton Bulldogs to a 4-1 road victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday night in the AHL

OTTAWA – A goaltender making his NHL debut and a rookie looking for his first career goal came up big for the Ottawa Senators.Erik Karlsson scored and Mike Brodeur picked up the win in his league debut Saturday night as the Senators defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1

TORONTO – Charles Tator shouldn’t expect to hear form Don Cherry any time soon.Cherry, the popular co-host of the Coach’s Corner segment on CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada”, addressed Tator’s accusations that he is “a negative influence” on hockey on Saturday’s broadcast

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Sabres left wing Thomas Vanek missed Buffalo’s game against Pittsburgh on Saturday because of soreness in his stomach/abdominal region

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Anaheim Ducks forced the Phoenix Coyotes out of their game by drawing penalties and keeping their best players on the ice in short-handed situations that interfered with their regular shifts

CALGARY – Since losing 5-0 to the Calgary Flames at home on Nov. 30, the Nashville Predators have been one of the hottest teams in the National Hockey League

DALLAS – Defenceman Karlis Skrastins broke out in a big way for the Stars.After 32 games without a goal since signing with Dallas, Skrastins scored two for the first time in his career, helping the Stars end ended Detroit’s four-game winning streak with a 4-3 win over the Red Wings on Saturday

OTTAWA – Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom gave new meaning to holding a hot hand Saturday at Minnesota’s pre-game skate.The Wild took to the ice at Scotiabank Place to prepare for Saturday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators bearing signs of the fire a day earlier that destroyed much of the team’s equipment

PHILADELPHIA – Henrik Lundqvist faced a flurry of shots in the third period, and stopped each and every one.When it was over, he’d made 16 of his 36 saves in the final frame and helped the New York Rangers hang on for a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers that spoiled the return of Simon Gagne

Scoring summaries from Friday’s NHL games:Senators 2 at Devils 4First Period1. New Jersey, Langenbrunner 8 (Greene, Ma.Brodeur) 11:53 (pp)Penalties – Bergfors NJ (tripping) 3:43, Picard Ott (interference) 11:09, Mottau NJ (hooking) 17:21

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Mason Raymond showed his value to the Vancouver Canucks at both ends of the rink Friday night.The left-winger scored the tying and winning goals, and Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo stopped a third-period penalty shot as Vancouver got past the Washington Capitals 3-2

Movements in the world of hockey Friday:National Hockey LeagueCAROLINA HURRICANES-Activated F Michael Ryan from injured reserve and assigned him to Albany (AHL)