NHL Monday: van Riemsdyk, Maple Leafs spoil Schenn’s return to Toronto

The veteran (can we really call him that when it seems like he’s only played three games in ten years?) goaltender made his second start of the season for the New York Islanders on Monday, and it went worse than the first. This time, he let in five goals on 30 shots, and the Islanders lost to the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-4.

Fans weren’t happy when he let in Carolina’s fifth of the night. As DiPietro stared blankly ahead, the fans rained down “DiPi sucks” chants down on him. (By the way, if you’re the organist, don’t you stop playing music once you realize the fans are using your tune as a jeering device?)

After the recent stretch of awful games for both goaltender Brian Elliott and his teammates, any change would be a good change for Blues fans at this point. So knowing Jaroslav Halak would be making his first start since injuring his groin against Detroit on Feb. 1.

But then it all went wrong in warmups, as Halak apparently reaggravated his groin to the point where he couldn’t start the game. So as the first period started up, it was Brian Elliott (0-3-1 in the last four games) in net and Halak sitting on the bench.

The Blue Jackets might not be any good this year, but they seem ready to go down swinging.

Well, we didn’t have to wait long for answers to both. Former Leafs defenseman Schenn (acquired for James van Riemsdyk this offseason) fired in a shot from the point and Simmonds tapped in the rebound to give the Flyers an early 1-0 lead.

This has to be relieving for Flyers fans. Simmonds already looks back in usual form and Luke Schenn isn’t crumbling under the pressure of being in the spotlight in Toronto. Even though, as one might expect, the Leafs fans in the building booed when his name was announced with the assist.

Here’s a full look at the schedule and tonight’s starting goaltenders:

It will mark the first of five meetings between the Northwest Division rivals this season.

Calgary will be entering the night as winners in two of their last three games and having compiled points in three of their last four. Starting the season with a less-than-stellar 1-3-1 start in January, the club has evened out in the second month of the season.