Despite a relatively small ledger of games, Monday night in the NHL was one of the more entertaining nights of the season thus far. Of most importance, perhaps, and certainly of most awesomeness was the game in South Florida between the Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers.
NHL Scores And More: Zdeno Chara’s Hat Trick Paces Huge Bruins Win; Thrashers Escape Florida After Late Comeback
The Thrashers pulled off a shocking comeback in the final two minutes of play in South Florida, while in Boston, the Bruins embarrassed Carolina 7-0, largely thanks to Zdeno Chara’s first career hat trick.
The Thrashers have essentially fallen apart in the last few weeks, falling from the near-summit of the Southeast Division all the way down to the verge of 9th place in the conference. But Monday’s 3-2 shootout win might just be what the doctor ordered, and not just because it broke a frustrating stretch of four games where the team went 0-3-1.
It’s not that the win came against a bitter division rival in the Panthers, either, although that certainly helps. It’s not even that the win demoralized a Panthers team was just starting to believe they could catch the struggling Thrashers in the ever-tightening Southeast race.
No. It’s the way they did it that matters.
Down 2-0 with just over two minutes left in the game and yet another loss on the horizon, coach Craig Ramsay called his timeout. He had already pulled Ondrej Pavelec and the Thrashers had just escaped a certain fate when Bryan Allen missed an empty net goal by literally about five inches, so they were lucky to even have a prayer with two minutes left in the game.
But they did have that prayer, and it was answered in the form of an ugly Bryan Little goal in Scott Clemmensen's crease and a deflection of a Little shot by Chris Thorburn that found its way through the wickets of the Florida goaltender. 44 seconds apart, tie game. Thrashers elated. Panthers, um, not so much.
Atlanta would steal the extra point in the skills competition after the game on a tougher-than-it-looked shot by Alex Burmistrov, and his team is officially off the schneid, as the kids might say.
- One thing of note: Little was selected the second star of the game while Burimstrov was given the first star, simply because he got the game winner. Little, meanwhile, essentially made overtime possible with his poke and his shot in the final two minutes, and he even scored a shootout tally of his own. Robbed? Sure, but it’s really a meaningless award anyway, right?
- Litter Box Cats says that Ondrej Pavelec was “a sick and twisted maniac” tonight. Bird Watchers Anonymous has the Atlanta perspective.
Happening elsewhere...
In the nationally televised showcase of the night, Jamie Langenbrunner was recognized by his old-now-new team just prior to his 1,000th career game. They gave him a silver stick and a standing ovation and it was all very nice.
Nicer, though, was his goal in the second period that would up being the game winner.
The Kings turned up a furious rally in the final minutes, and with pressuring on Kari Lehtonen's crease, the puck sat on the goal line with under a minute remaining. It came perhaps as close as possible to crossing the line without actually doing so, but Stars youngster Jeff Woywitka closed his hand on top of the rubber and swatted it away. Can't do that, bro. Penalty shot for the Kings.
Lehtonen’s huge save was enough to get the Stars to the finish line. The Kings are falling harder than the Tunisian government.
- Defending Big D talked about the importance of this game, and that, among other things, it helps prove to a national TV audience that a hockey game between a team in the Midwest and a team from the West Coast can actually be exciting. Jewels From The Crown enlisted a word cloud for their recap.
Montreal Canadiens 5, Calgary Flames 4 (OT)
The Habs were hosting the lowly Flames, and of course the NHL’s Canadian hype machine was going thanks to the Heritage Classic that will be played between these clubs next month. The hype quickly turned into laughter, though, as the home team jumped out to a 4-0 lead before even half the game had gone by.
The game would turn, however. The Flames fought back with goals from Rene Bourque, Jarome Iginla, Ales Kotalik and Alex Tanguay all within a 10 minute span between the second and third periods, shocking the Bell Centre crowd and silencing their ole'ing.
Overtime would rear its head. I can't say I'm much of P.K. Subban fan, but I will say that his game-winner was damn impressive. What a shot.
- Check in with Matchsticks & Gasoline and Habs Eyes On The Prize for more on this one.
Jamie Langenbrunner wasn't the only NHL player celebrating a milestone game on Monday. Earlier in the afternoon, Patrick Marleau took the ice for the 1,000th time with the Sharks, the only NHL team he's ever known. Have two players ever played in their 1,000th games in the same day before? Call up Elias Sports Bureau.
Marleau wouldn’t let Langenbrunner top him, either. (Ignore the fact that the Sharks played before the Stars today, because it just doesn’t go with the narrative.) Just 3:45 into the game, Marleau threw a puck on net from an odd angle along the boards and, well, beginners luck. In the net.
Dany Heatley and Logan Couture would add goals for the Sharks, while Joe Thornton sealed the deal with an empty netter late in the third. After immense struggles of late that included a six-game winless streak, San Jose's just a point outside the eighth seed in the West. Amazing how that works, isn't it?
- Fear The Fin was all about Patty Marleau after this win, while Five For Howling focused on a comeback that fell short.
Don’t tell the Devils that they’re the worst team in the Eastern Conference, because the way they’ve played in the four games says otherwise. They’re 3-0-1 in that stretch, and while they haven’t moved in the standings, it’s gotta help the psyche a bit.
On Monday afternoon in an MLK Day matinee, New Jersey took the bull by the horns quickly. Just 4:25 into the game, a weak backhander by Vladimir Zharkov beat the Isles' prone rookie goalie Kevin Poulin to give NJ a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later on the power play, Ilya Kovalchuk's famous cannon from the top of the circle gave the Devils the 2-0 lead. They never looked back.
- In Lou We Trust said that these are the Bizarro Devils, while it’s the same old slow start stuff for the Islanders, said Lighthouse Hockey.
In the first game of a home-and-home series, it’s usually important to set the tone. It’s kind of like the playoffs in that regard, except it’s without the feeling out period you typically see in the first game of a playoff series. The Bruins did just that today, and they certainly did it in a big way.
After jumping out to a 1-0 lead on a goal from Mark Stuart, who hadn't played in weeks thanks to injury, the Bruins thought they had a quick 2-0 lead. Zdeno Chara had committed a penalty behind the play, however, thus nullifying a shot that beat Cam Ward. The ensuing power play, and the fact that Tim Thomas and the Bruins kept Carolina from scoring on it, was the turning point of the game.
Fresh out of the box, Chara jumped up into a forward position. He found himself on a two-on-one, where he quickly redeemed himself for the penalty by beating Ward. 2-0. The Canes pulled their franchise goaltender, but it was to no avail. Chara would score two more for his first career hat trick as the Bruins put a five-spot on backup goalie Justin Peters.
The teams play again on Tuesday night in Raleigh, and the B’s certainly set the stage for that one, didn’t they?
- Justin Peters took two penalties, and Canes Country joked (or maybe it’s not a joke) that he was just showing his defensemen how physical play is done. Meanwhile, Stanley Cup of Chowder had the Boston take.
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